As a former member of the PIDS Board of Trustees and advisor to its many projects, Dr. Gelia T. Castillo is one of those who have vastly helped in building up the institute’s research agenda and in establishing linkages with other local and international institutions. Her perspective from a non-economic point of view and her multidisciplinary approach to looking at key policy and development issues has, on many occasions, urged the Institute’s researchers to take a look at the problem on hand and view it outside the context of purely economic theories and principles. The papers presented here are of close interest to the honoree. Hopefully all the papers will help shed light on major developments in social issues and at the same time, tickle our brains into thinking of numerous and innovative ways of resolving them.