Persistent disparities in poverty, education, health, and labor outcomes in the Philippines show that the weak representation of marginalized groups in national statistics continues to make exclusion harder to diagnose and easier to perpetuate. This Policy Note examines why improvements in profiling indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities have yet to translate into genuine inclusion. It finds that inclusion failures increasingly reflect systemic weaknesses in data, institutions, and incentives rather than the absence of programs. This Note recommends treating data systems as core development infrastructure to support a shift from statistical visibility to meaningful opportunity and inclusion.
