Lesson 3: Science and Technology and Nation Building

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
 discuss the role of Science and Technology in Philippine nation building;
 evaluate and demonstrate government programs pertaining to science and technology in
terms of their contributions to nation building;
 identify actual science and technology policies of the government and appraise their
impact on the development of the Filipino nation;
 determine the purpose of Science education;
 describe the concept of Science education Identify government projects and programs
available for science education in the Philippines
 Cite issues/ problems encountered in Science education in the Philippines; and
 identify indigenous Science and Technologies produced in the Philippines.

Key Terms:
Philippines Science and Technology Agencies Nation Building
Government Policies and Programs Science Education

Introduction

Every nation is made with different systems to function with different purposes like in the food
production, education, information, security and etc.- each makes a nation whole. The
government is working hard to make sure these all works for country’s sustainability and all of
these aspects are in the legs of Science and technology.

A. History

Even before the colonization by the Spaniards in the Philippine islands, the natives of the
archipelago already had practices linked to science and technology. Filipinos were already
aware of the medicinal and therapeutic properties of plants and the methods of extracting
medicine from herbs. They already had an alphabet, number system, a weighing and measuring
system and a calendar. Filipinos were already engaged in farming, shipbuilding, mining and
weaving.

The colonization of the Philippines contributed to growth of science and technology in the
archipelago. The Spanish introduced formal education and founded scientific institution. During
the early years of Spanish rule in the Philippines. Parish schools were established where
religion, reading, writing, arithmetic and music was taught. Sanitation and more advanced
methods of agriculture was taught to the natives. Later the Spanish established colleges and
universities in the archipelago including the University of Santo Tomas.
Accounts by Spanish friars in the 1580s showed that astronomy was already known and
practiced. The accounts also give the local names of constellations, such as Moroporo for
the Pleiades and Balatik for Ursa Major among others.
The progress of science and technology in the Philippines continued under American rule. On
July 1, 1901 The Philippine Commission established the Bureau of Government Laboratories
which was placed under the Department of Interior. The Bureau replaced the Laboratorio
Municipal, which was established under the Spanish colonial era. The Bureau dealt with the
study of tropical diseases and laboratory projects. On October 26, 1905, the Bureau of
Government Laboratories was replaced by the Bureau of Science and on December 8, 1933, the
National Research Council of the Philippines was established. The Bureau of Science became
the primary research center of the Philippines until World War II.

Science during the American period was inclined towards agriculture, food processing, medicine
and pharmacy. Not much focus was given on the development of industrial technology due to
free trade policy with the United States which nurtured an economy geared towards agriculture
and trade. In 1946 the Bureau of Science was replaced by the Institute of Science.
During Ferdinand Marcos' presidency, the importance given to science grew. In the amended
1973 Philippine Constitution, Article XV, Section 9 (1), he declared that the "advancement of
science and technology shall have priority in the national development." In his two terms of
presidency and during Martial Law, he enacted many laws promoting science and technology.

In 1986, during Corazon Aquino's presidency, the National Science and Technology Authority
was replaced by the Department of Science and Technology, giving science and technology a
representation in the cabinet. Under the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan for the
years 1987-1992, science and technology's role in economic recovery and sustained economic
growth was highlighted. During Corazon Aquino's State of the Nation Address in 1990, she said
that science and technology development shall be one of the top three priorities of the
government towards an economic recovery.

Science and technology in the Philippines describes scientific and technological progress made
by the Philippines and analyses related policy issues. The main agency responsible for
managing science and technology (S&T) is the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
There are also sectoral councils for Forestry, Agriculture and Aquaculture, the Metal Industry,
Nuclear Research, Food and Nutrition, Health, Meteorology, Volcanology and Seismology.

Among the men and women who have made contributions to science are Fe del Mundo in the
field of pediatrics, Eduardo Quisumbing in plant taxonomy, Gavino Trono in tropical
marine phycology and Maria Orosa in the field of food technology.

B. The Philippine Government Science and Technology Agencies, their Agenda and
Major Development Programs in Science and Technology in the Philippines

Strategic framework and related legislation

(Harmonized Agenda, 2002-2020)

The Department of Science and Technology is the key government institution for science and
technology, with policy development being co-ordinated by a series of sectorial councils. Within
the framework of the current National Science and Technology Plan, 2002–2020 (NSTP), the
strategic focus is on building technological self-reliance. The Harmonized Agenda for Science
and Technology, 2002–2020 reflects this focus in its approach to problem-solving related to
inclusive growth and disaster risk reduction. The Harmonized Agenda was presented to the
President in August 2014. Although science and technology are guided by the NSTP, the
Harmonized Agenda attempts to provide more detail of how the country can become
technologically self-reliant to sustain science and technology beyond the mandate of the
administration in power at the time of the Agenda's adoption.

The Harmonized Agenda focuses on the development of critical technologies such as remote
sensing, LiDAR processing, testing and metrology facilities, advanced climate change and
weather modelling, advanced manufacturing and high-performance computing. Five centres of
excellence are being established or upgraded by 2020 in biotechnology, nanotechnology,
genomics, semiconductors and electronic design. The five centres of excellence are all
government-funded:

- the Centre for Nanotechnology Application in Agriculture, Forestry and Industry (est.
2014) is based at the University of the Philippines Los Baños;
- the Biotech Pilot Plant (est. 2012 and since upgraded) is housed at the University of the
Philippines Los Baños;
- the Philippine Genome Centre (est. 2009) is hosted by the University of the Philippines
Diliman; it operates two core facilities in DNA sequencing and bioinformatics;
- the Advanced Device and Materials Testing Laboratory is located in the Department of
Science and Technology's compound in Bicutan in Taguig City and has been operational
since 2013; it houses three laboratories in surface analysis, thermal, chemical and
metallurgical analysis; n the Electronic Product Development Centre will also be located
in the Department of Science and Technology's compound in Bicutan in Taguig City; it
will provide state-of-the-art design, prototyping and testing facilities for printed circuit
boards.

The government policies outlined above are seeking to create and fund infrastructure to
support the development of ‘core technologies', in order to solve pressing problems. This
approach reinforces the economic rationale for government intervention in the science system
to address market failures and make markets work within the purview of good governance. A
key challenge will be to build sufficiently solid infrastructure to sustain current efforts. One
example of the virtues of sustained support for research is the International Rice Research
Institute based in the city of Los Baños.

Legislative Reform

The Technology Transfer Act (2010) is expected to enhance innovation by providing a

framework and support system for the ownership, management, use and commercialization of
intellectual property arising from government-funded research and development (R&D).

To better address needs in terms of human capital, the Fast- Tracked Science and Technology
Scholarship Act (2013) expands the coverage of existing scholarship programmes and
strengthens the teaching of science and mathematics in secondary schools. The Philippine
National Health Research System Act (2013), meanwhile, has formed a network of national and
regional research consortia to boost domestic capacity.
Trends in investment in R&D

 Human investment in R&D

- The Philippines trails its more dynamic ASEAN peers for investment in both education and
research. The country invested 0.3% of GDP in higher education in 2009, one of the lowest
ratios among ASEAN countries. After stagnating for the first half of the century, tertiary
enrolment leapt from 2.6 million to 3.2 million between 2009 and 2013. The rise in PhD
graduates has been even more spectacular, their number having doubled over the same five-
year period from 1 622 to 3 305, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. This may
explain the leap in the number of researchers in just a few years. The Philippines counted just
78 researchers (in full-time equivalents) per million inhabitants in 2007 but the country's
researcher density had more than doubled to 188 researchers per million inhabitants by 2013,
according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. This is still well below the global average of 1,083
per million (2013).
Scientific output is modest, with Filipino scientists producing just nine articles per million
inhabitants in 2014, according to Thomson Reuters' Web of Science (Science Citation Index
Expanded). The global average in 2014 was 176 publications per million. [92] Seven out of ten
Filipino researchers (70%) co-authored papers with foreign scientists between 2008 and 2014;
their preferred collaborators were based in the US, Japan, Australia, China and the United
Kingdom, in descending order.

 Financial investment in R&D

The level of domestic investment in R&D remains low by any standards: 0.11% of GDP in 2007
and 0.14% of GDP in 2013, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. It will be a
challenge to bring science to underpin innovation and development, unless the level of
investment rises. Achieving this will include leveraging foreign direct investment in areas like
electronics, in order to move closer to the higher end of the scale for value-added goods in the
global value chain.

Do the following activities to familiarize your-self with the agencies of Science and Technology
in the Philippines and what they can do for nation building.