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7/31/2019 The Historical Roots of Technological Dependence
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Even before their contact with Western
cultures, Filipinos already had an alphabet,
some mathematics, a calendar, and a system
of weights and measures. They were engagedin rice farming, fishing, and the mining of
gold. Medicine based on local herbs was
practiced. Small boats and ships up to 2,000
tons were being constructed out of logs.
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The Spaniards introduced the manufacture of lime,
cement,
and bricks and
the use of concrete materials. Primary education was started by the Spanishmissionaries in 1565.
There were about a thousand of these parish primaryschools by the end of the sixteenth century.
The Spaniards also started higher education in as
early as 1597 with the establishment of the Colegiode Cebu (now the University of San Carlos), and theUniversity of Santo Tomas opened in 1611.
Admissions to these schools were limited to a selectfew.
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The emphasis in the church schools was on
classical learning, specifically Latin, Greek,
philosophy, the humanities, and law.
Although medicine and pharmacy were taught,
the natural sciences and engineering were
generally neglected.
The educational system, primarily based on the
propagation of Roman Catholicism, did not foster
a scientific tradition of scholarship.
On the contrary, it reinforced the superstitious,
pre-scientific outlook of the existing folk beliefs.
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The teaching of science was disdained and
Filipino students were discouraged from its
pursuit.
The emphasis was on rote learning. The objective of the lesson, for example,
was not to teach physics, but to convince
Filipino students that they were incapable of
learning physics. Yet the Spanish systemproduced Filipinos whose liberal education
was comparable to that of the graduates of
European universities.
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In the Spanish colonial period, the cultivation
of sugar and coconuts was started, and to
support these activities the first agricultural
school was established in Manila in 1861.Since then, sugar and coconuts have become
the prominent elements of the Philippine
economy.
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The significant change during the Americancolonial period (18981946) was theestablishment of an alternative to sectarianeducation.
A department of Public Instruction was created.American teachers were imported, and Englishwas used as a medium of instruction.
In 1901, a Bureau of Government Laboratories(now the National Institute of Science andTechnology) was established and concerned itself
initially with activities related to chemistry andtropical diseases. In 1908, the first stateuniversity, the University of the Philippines (UP)was established.
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In the following year, 1909, the College of
Agriculture was set up in Los Banos. In 1910,
the College of Medicine was organized from
the already existing Philippine MedicalSchool.
In 1926, scientific research was started at
the College of Veterinary Medicine, and the
School of Hygiene and Public Health wasadded to the University of the Philippines.
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It is interesting to note that, as in the Spanishperiod, the focus of the American period wasalso on agriculture and the medical sciences.
Industrial technology was initially relegated tothe vocational level at the Philippine School ofArts and Trades.
This bias is also reflected in the emergence ofscientific periodicals.
The Philippine Agricultural Reviewwas firstpublished in 1908, whereas the UP Natural and
Applied Science Bulletin was started 22 yearslater.
Even today, there are no specialized journals inphysics. The history of the formation of scientificsocieties also reflects this uneven development.
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The Philippine Medical Society was organized
in 1901 while the Philippine Society of Civil
Engineers was formed only in 1933.
The early bias towards agriculture andmedical sciences was also prominent in the
manpower training programme.
The Philippines was effectively transformed
into an exporter of agricultural products andraw materials and an importer of
manufactured goods.
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This hindered the emergence of economic self-reliance and industrialization.
There was practically no demand for researchengineers and physical scientists.
The emphasis was on agricultural and medicalresearch.
The momentum of this colonial policy hascontinued up to the present.
Caoili points out that factors associated with this
colonial condition resulted in the cultivation ofFilipino tastes for American brands and products.
Cultural imperialism also critically influencedthe outlook of the nascent Filipino scientificcommunity.
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In 1934, the American colonial government
sanctioned the formation of the National
Research Council of the Philippines, which
was patterned after American models. Filipino scientists and their research were
more relevant to the American condition,
since the US was where they obtained their
training and where their peers resided. Beyond the social effects of colonialism, the
impact on the industrialization process itself
has been profound.
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As Yoshihara points out,4 the entrepreneurial
class in the Philippines dramatizes its
colonial origins.
Only one-third of entrepreneurs today arenative Filipinos, the other two-thirds being
mostly foreigners.
Even during the early years of independence,
Philippine industries were dominated by theAmericans.
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After the end of direct American rule in
1946, the uneven development of S&T in the
Philippines continued.
Most of the scientific organizationsestablished by the independent Philippine
government were also predominantly
agriculture-based.
The physical sciences, engineering, andmathematics continued to be neglected.
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In 1956, a National Science Board wasestablished by Republic Act 1606 to promotescientific, engineering, and technologicalresearch. In the same year, the Chairman of theSenate Committee on Scientific Advancement
submitted a "Report on the Status of Science inthe Philippines" to the President.
Among other things, it recommended "an all-outfinancial support of scientific work and theestablishment of a coordinating agency to handle
scientific matters." This gave birth to theScience Act of 1958 (Republic Act 1067), whichabolished the newly established National ScienceBoard and created the National ScienceDevelopment Board (NSDB).
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As reflected in the expenditures for R&D, the
emphasis continued to be on agriculture and
medicine, which accounted for more than half of
all R&D funds.
Basic research in the physical sciences was given
something like 1-3 per cent of the total R&D
budget, and applied industrial research about 5-
15 per cent.
According to NSDB figures for the 1960s, therewere more physical scientists and engineers
engaged in R&D, together constituting about 68
per cent of the total R&D workers
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Life scientists (including medical and
agriculture) were only about 15 per cent of
the total. Thus, R&D expenditures were also
biased in favour of agriculture and medicine.
The year 1968 is significant in the history of
S&T in the Philippines.
Presidential Proclamation No. 376 provided
NSDB with a 35.6 hectare area in Bicutan tohouse the future Bicutan Science Community,
consisting of research laboratories, pilot
plants, science museum, etc.
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Moreover, the Congress of the Philippinespassed Republic Act 5448, which imposednew taxes for a Special Science Fund tofinance scientific activities for the next five
years. In the early 1970s, NSDB's principal concern
was the infrastructural development of thescience community.
Most of the Special Science Fund was usedfor construction of the buildings of theNational Science and Technology Authority(NSTA) and the other institutions.
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The gross national expenditure for S&T for the period1970-1975 varied from 0.21 to about 0.48 per cent ofthe GNP. Almost one-half of the research grants wentto the University of the Philippines (UP). Thesignificant developments in this decade were the
establishment of the Philippine Council forAgriculture and Resources Research
(PCARR) and the Technology Resource Centre (TRC).PCARR became the effective research coordinatingmechanism in the agricultural sector, resulting inmore efficiency in the allocation of resources.
This further strengthened the already dominant roleof agriculture. The creation of TRC outside the orbitof NSDB was only the beginning of the dismantlingand weakening of NSDB's monolithic hold onPhilippine S&T.
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In this period, the Metals Industry Research and
Development Centre and the Philippine Textile
Research Institute were transferred from the
NSDB to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The National Computer Centre was established
under the Ministry of National Defense.
The TRC operates a technobank and a
computerized database connected to foreign and
local databases.
The NSDB was pre-empted by others in the new
and vital information technologies.
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In 1982, NSDB was reorganized into a NationalScience and Technology Authority (NSTA) withfour sectoral councils patterned after PCARR.
In spite of this, however, NSTA was outside the
mainstream of the Philippine industrializationprogramme.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) wassupervising the Technology Transfer Board andthe establishment of the country's major
industrial projects. On the other hand, the TRC was implementing
the so-called Technology Utilization of Energyunder the Philippine National Oil Company.
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The control of MTI and TRC was in the hands
of non-scientists.
The management of S&T development in the
Philippines was fragmented among variousagencies.
In spite of the transformation of the NSDB
into an NSTA, it has, in fact, been
considerably weakened by the loss of controlover some of the important elements of
national S&T development.