-
7/28/2019 Science and Technology in the Philippines Past and
Present
1/4
Physics Research for the PeopleA draft orientation paper of
Physics Research Group
I. Introduction
The state of science and technology determines part of the
socio-economic progress of a country. It is a well-
known fact that national progress is highly correlated to the
capacity of a country to produce local industrialgoods for domestic
needs and that industrialization is very much dependent on the
capacity of a country touse science and technology to process
locally-found raw materials into high-tech products and tools
forhouseholds and other users.
Physics being the most basic among the sciences must, therefore,
be given important attention for a countryto produce modern tools
and products that can be used in other fields and activities. Given
the rightperspective, physics is an indispensable tool for farmers
to improve their yield and modernize agriculture.Physics education
shall do away the unscientific and superstitious beliefs of many
Filipinos about theirsurroundings.
As practitioners and experts in physics, physicists are part of
the broader S&T sector that must be mobilizedtowards national
progress where the Filipino people can enjoy the fruits of modern
science. Hence,
physicists and physics educators must unite among themselves in
order to contribute to the realization of thedemocratic aspiration
of the Filipino people. This unity can be achieved through an
organization thatconducts physics research that aims to advance
domestic production of important tools, materials, andequipment
that is currently imported from multinational and transnational
corporations and promotes physicseducation to as broad population
as possible.
II. Current State of S&T in the Philippines
A. S&T Situationer
There is a seemingly unanimous observation from Filipino
scientists that the state of the country's S&T isbackward. They
cite the following reasons:
According to the Technology Index of 1982, the S&T in the
Philippines is defined to be -0.1 compared to theU.S., the world's
technology leader, which is 100. The technology index is defined as
the average of the sumof the number of patents and registration of
new designs, technology trade, value added in manufacturingand the
export of technology-intensive goods.
The Philippines also ranks low in terms of technological
capacity. This is seen in the shortage of scientistsand engineers
doing R&D (research and development), and of the inadequate
national resources and budgetdevoted to R&D. All these factors
translate to the minimal patents granted in the Philippines, which
likewiseindicates little or no economic significance.
With regards to the type of basic technologies--Materials
Technology, Equipment Technology, EnergyTechnologies, Information
Technologies, Life Technologies and Management Technologies, the
Philippineshas only a pre-operative capability in the third-wave of
development in these technologies.
There is no significant research and development in the country.
This is caused by the low number ofpersonnel involved in R&D,
the lack of adequate research laboratories and facilities, low
output of scientificresearch publications, lack of funding and lack
of government support for science education.
The present R&D of the country is not focused in developing
basic industries and processes. R&D in thecountry is limited to
quality control, process alteration and marketing strategy. At
present, there is no basicindustry to speak of in the country no
pulp and paper industry, steel and cement industry. No
significantmanufacturing of these products is done in the country
and these products are mostly imported.
Page 1 of 4
-
7/28/2019 Science and Technology in the Philippines Past and
Present
2/4
Due to the above, there is only a low level of technology used
by local manufacturing firms in the productionof goods. Since 1998
studies by the Federation of Philippine Industries show that
Filipino manufacturingfirms do very minimal research and
development. This then leads to products of low technological
input,which, if sold in the international market, would cost less
than products manufactured with high technologicalinput.
There is a low quality of science and mathematics education in
the country. There are many causes of thisproblem. According to the
UP Institute of Science and Mathematics Education "many teachers do
not havethe content background required to teach the subjects they
are teaching".
Aside from unqualified teachers, the state of science education
is made worse by lack of funding, laboratoryand classroom
facilities. A 1996 Third International Mathematics and Science
Study (TIMSS) revealed thatFilipino 13 year olds ranked 37th out of
39 in mathematics and 40 out of 41 in science. This status did
notimprove during the 1999 TIMSS-Repeat.
We can also site, in particular, the number of physicists with
Ph.D.s as an indicator of how far behind we arein science and
technology compared to other Third World countries. In the
Philippines, we only have around70 Ph.D.s in physics while Latin
American country Brazil has around 3000, Mexico and Argentina 2000
andCuba, Chile, Venezuela, and Colombia 300. In these terms, we are
comparable to Costa Rica, Peru,Uruguay, Ecuador, Bolivia,
Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, and the
Dominican
Republic, where the number of active physicists is finite but
fewer than 100. For comparison, U.S. isproducing more than 1000
physics Ph.D.s every year.
There is no concrete and comprehensive S&T plan for the
Philippines and the S & T in the country does notefficiently
address the basic needs of the Filipino (irrigation, seed
technology and storage technology forfarming, etc.)
Scientists agree that one of the major problems of the country's
S&T is its technological dependency onother
countries--particularly from the US and Japan. In the main, the
technological dependency of thecountry is rooted in its colonial
past and the backward systems and institutions created by the
colonialmasters have not changed much since the declaration of
independence in 1898.
B. Situation of the S&T Sector
As students, the budding scientists, technologists and engineers
of our country are already at adisadvantage. Students find
themselves with unqualified teachers, inadequate books, shabby
laboratoryconditions and the high cost of education.
Underemployment, misemployment and the lack of available jobshound
college graduates. As professionals, our S&T practitioners
receive low salaries and are deprived ofthe opportunity to improve
their skills and hone further their technological knowledge.
Basic industries such as pulp & paper, cement and steel
should be the main benefactors of sciencegraduates of a country.
Given the absence of such basic industries, and the lack of
government interest intruly industrializing the country, our
engineers are forced to become mere technicians and supervisors
inassembly lines and our scientists and researchers mere teachers
at universities.
Even with the outstanding personal achievements of individual S
& T workers in the Philippines, such have
little effect in the betterment of the overall S&T situation
in the country. Efforts by scientists and technologiststo improve
the state of the sector are frustrated by the lack of budget and
genuine government support toimprove the sector, and by foreign
control over the R&D in the country.
While some R& D is being done in private companies and big
multinational companies operating in thecountry, there is little
hope that these will ever be used for the benefit of Filipinos
since these companies aremostly foreign-owned. As proprietary
entities, it is in the interest of these companies to keep any
innovationsit develops to itself. The current Intellectual Property
Rights Law further prevents any meaningfultechnological transfer
from these foreign-controlled corporations to the Philippines.
Page 2 of 4
-
7/28/2019 Science and Technology in the Philippines Past and
Present
3/4
III. Science and Technology in the Philippines: A Historical
Perspective
Before Spain colonized the country, some indigenous technology
existed with regards to wet rice and dry riceagriculture. The use
of technology was also evident in the handicrafts, pottery,
weaving, metal ware andboats used by ancient Filipinos.
When the Spaniards colonized the country, they forever changed
the lives of the native peoples. Historyshows us that the primary
reason for such colonization was for Spain to obtain a source of
raw materialswhich it shall then use for international trade. The
entire colonial government in the Philippines then was setup for
easy extraction of raw materials and faster production of goods
that shall be traded by the mothercountry.
Socio-political systems were created and designed to divide the
countrys land, resources and people inorder for the colonial
masters to readily extract from the country any valuable resource
it finds (e.g. theencomienda system, hacienda system).
After three hundred years under Spain, the country had evolved
into a colony largely exporting it rawmaterials and importing those
that it cannot produce. Any local technological innovation was by
far and largestifled by the importation of foreign manufactured
goods.
During the American colonial rule, the feudal systems
established by the Spanish were maintained but thistime, a farce
"trading" system between the colony and its colonial master was
established. Philippine rawmaterials of low technological input
were traded for foreign finished products of high technological
input. Asthe value of the country's export products are less than
that of foreign finished products, trade between thePhilippines and
more advanced countries is basically unequal. This trade imbalance
has caused for lesser-developed countries to incur loans to pay for
this trade deficit. Such foreign loans grew steadily, as thebalance
of trade became more unequal.
In order for the colonial powers to maintain their dominance in
the world market, it was essential that othercountries, including
their colonies, do not develop its own system of manufacturing
goods and services thatshall compete with the goods produced by the
mother country. For the Philippines, this would mean that nogenuine
program for scientific and technological advancement would ever be
drawn up.
After World War II and fifty years under American rule, the
Philippines had slid down from being the secondcountry next to
Japan in terms of technological development to being next to the
bottom of the barrel in termsof technological development in South
East Asia.
Even after 100 years of "independence", our country has yet to
rid itself of the systems first created by thecolonial masters and
later on adopted by the succeeding Philippine governments.
Until now, science and technology agencies created by the
Philippine government still do not serve theneeds of the Filipino
masses. There has been little or no contribution to agriculture,
our country's main modeproduction of which 75% of our population is
engaged in. It has done nothing to spur rural
industrialization,that which is very much needed by 85% of our
population who reside in the countryside. To this day, wehave yet
to establish our basic industries--paper, cement and steel. We have
yet to efficiently develop ourinfrastructure, energy generation,
transportation, communication, information technology, and basic
services
(utilities, healthcare, etc.)
The little science and technological innovation that can be made
in the present situation is still in service ofthe old system of
exporting raw materials in exchange for importing high-input
finished products. This systemis expected to continue should there
be no sincere efforts to address the state of the country's
S&T, and toseriously root out the problems of technological
backwardness.
Thus, until the vicious cycle of poor science education,
backward science and technology, trade imbalanceand economic
subservience is stopped, the Philippines may well become the
technological laggard of the21st century.
Page 3 of 4
-
7/28/2019 Science and Technology in the Philippines Past and
Present
4/4
IV. Scientists as Advocates
Scientists and technologists are essential in a developing
world. They are one of the key players in acountry's quest for
industrialization. They are the lifeblood of research, innovation
and have important roles inthe industry and the manufacturing
sector. Together with their roles in nation-building, scientists,
too, have aresponsibility to advocate for the betterment of S&T
in their countries.
For the Philippines, in order to halt the vicious cycle of
technological backwardness and poverty, it isimportant that
scientists and technologists themselves be aware of the sad plight
of S&T in the country andto advocate for its improvement. This
can only be done when scientists and technologists realize the need
toeducate, organize and engage their ranks in support of genuine
national industrialization.
It is likewise essential to realize that improving the state of
S&T in the country can only be done successfullyand
meaningfully when linked with the efforts of other sectors to
achieve genuine national prosperity andprogress.
PRG Advancing Physics Research for the People
The Physics Research Group (PRG) is the realization of the need
to unite the physicists and physics educators in order to
effectsocial change towards national progress. PRG shall
independently and/or in collaboration with other sectors within the
scientificcommunity and the entire Philippine society as a whole
conduct a long-term campaign to conduct and promote physics
research andeducation to as broad population as possible along with
a continuous effort to produce local experts in different areas in
physics.Guided by a Constitution and By-Laws, PRG must vigorously
pursue the following objectives:1. promote and advance physics
research and education;2. encourage and conduct researches and
educational activities that aims to promote the scientific culture
of the Filipinos;3. establish linkages with other organizations and
agencies that support physics research and education;4. initiate or
participate in periodic scientific gatherings where research
activities are reported;5. advocate for national progress where
physicists and other scientists are actively engaged in.
Depending on the capacity of the group, PRG shall also conduct
the following more specific tasks:
Publication and Information Dissemination1. publish a regular
newsletter that report on the activities
organized and/or participated by PRG;2. form a journal that
discusses established theories about
nature and reports on updates of current researches bymembers
and non-members of PRG;
3. write position papers and educational articles fornewspapers
and other publications;
4. hold public fora, roundtable discussions, and public
seminaron important topics in physics;
Projects and Extension1. train local physics educators and help
in the advancement of
physics education in nearby schools and communities;
2. conduct direct community service and exposure trips;3. draft
project proposals for possible collaboration with other
organizations and/or agencies;4. establish regular tie-up with
nearby communities and help in
their development;
Sectoral and Multi-Sectoral Campaigns1. organize a campaign to
promote and improve physics
education in the country;2. hold public fora and group
discussions on relevant issues
that affect the sector;3. make a comprehensive campaign plan
and/or join mass
actions on issues that affect the sector;
Expansion and Strengthening of Membership1. conduct orientation
and educational discussions in offices of
PRG members;2. establish contacts in areas and/or offices where
there are no
PRG members;3. consult all members on issues, projects, and
activities of the
group on a regular basis;4. encourage all members to participate
in various activities
organized by the group and to suggest activities andprojects
where they can be in charged with or can contributemore on;
5. encourage members to contribute to the financialrequirements
of the group;
Page 4 of 4
