Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations Vol. 13, No. 2, June 2002 ( C  2002) Philippine NGOs and Multistakeholder Partnerships: Three Case Studies Fernando T. Aldaba 1,2,3 This paper discusses an emerging role for Philippine NGOs—building and main- taining intersectoral cooperation among various sectors of society to tackle key issues like agricultural development, HIV/AIDS, and agrarian reform. The three case studies elaborated in the paper show that Philippine NGOs play important intermediary and bridging functions crucial for the success of multistakeholder partnerships. NGOs are well equipped for this because of their middle-class and professional nature and because of various characteristics like autonomy, flexibil- ity, and the ability to mobilize resources. KEY WORDS: NGOs; multistakeholder partnerships; intersectoral cooperation; Philippines. INTRODUCTION The Philippines is known to have one of the most dynamic nongovernment organization (NGO) communities in the world. From influencing public policy and implementing social programs, Philippine NGOs have created significant impact in various areas of the political and socioeconomic spheres. National policies relating to agrarian reform, environment, housing and urban land reform, decentralization and local governance, cooperatives, health reform (i.e., generics law, HIV/AIDS), gender and women’s rights, and indigenous people’s concerns are just some of the more important issues where NGOs have successfully made their mark. Philippine NGOs have also been recognized in their networking activities at the local, national, and international levels. And in recent years, after the people power revolution of 1 Department of Economics, Ateneo de Manila University Quezon City, Manila, Philippines. 2 Southeast Asia Advocacy Research Officer, Catholic Institute for International Relations, United Kingdom. 3 Correspondence should be directed to Fernando T. Aldaba, Department of Economics, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, P.O. Box 154 Manila, Philippines; e-mail: ftaldaba@ admu.edu.ph 179 0957-8765/02/0600-0179/1 C  2002 International Society for Third-Sector Research and The Johns Hopkins University