STS – K2 | Science, Technology, and Society October 2, 2018

Group 4 Reflection Paper

CUNANAN, Ma. Liezl D.
MAGADAN, Mark Vincent T.
PALER, Dannie P.
YU, Lucille G.

Prof. Eve Fernandez – Gamalinda, Ph.D.

Activity Title:
Science and Technology in the Philippines: Where are we going?
Some of the significant accomplishments of the S&T in the Philippines that shows the
strengths of research and development are in as follows: 1) Agriculture and natural resources 2)
Industry and energy and 3) Health and nutrition.
Agriculture and natural resources. The developments in the crop production of yellow
corn varieties (with higher protein content than the other varieties), new soybean, high-yielding
cassava and local wheat varieties all with commercial potentials are part of the few ventures that
our government undertook to provide scientific and technological inputs advocating its funds to
our agricultural sector. Irrigation systems were then planned and some were restored to take care
of the farmer’s water necessities. Also, the introduction of modern mechanical equipment like the
tractor, seed drill, plow and reaper gave advantage from planting the crops up to the harvesting
seasons. Conducted researches of the past decade also gave some remarkable contributions like
the conversion of agricultural wastes (banana rejects, rice hull, and straw) to turn into animal feeds
and even hollow blocks (used soil and bagasse from sugar canes), the development of new fish
culture techniques (monoculture and polyculture) and integrated fish-crop-livestock farming
system (agro-fishery) which increased fish production yield. All of which spearheaded the efforts
of the past administrations in integrating potential technologies in certain areas of on-farm research
communities.
Industry and energy. Its strong foundation is supported by the presence of specialized
training programs in corporate set-ups and the number of Filipinos with the specialized know-how
in applicable innovations including the number of researchers, specialists, and professionals in
relative fields. The highlights of our local industrial revolution here in the Philippines are as
follows:
a) Demonstration of the feasibility of generating electric power using geothermal energy
through pioneering geological surveys of thermal springs as potential sources of electricity.
b) Development of several fuel-saving devices for automobiles which allow replacement of
20-40 per cent petroleum fuel with ethyl alcohol.
c) Design and fabrication of appropriate low-cost equipment for small and medium
industries, e.g. chipping machines, wood-fired boilers, mixer machines.
d) Commercial production of cotton and the use of abaca fibers in preparing high-quality
pulp for use in the manufacture of fine and specialty papers.
STS – K2 | Science, Technology, and Society October 2, 2018
Group 4 Reflection Paper
e) Coconut industry:
 Production of coco-diesel or petroleum fuel substitutes from coconut oil.
 Conversion of coconut logs into lumber.
 Integrated coconut processing with products from coconut milk to activated carbon.
 Production of chemicals for the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries from coconut oil.
Health and nutrition. Food consumption surveys accumulated household nutritional data
as basis for more effective policy-making and planning in health and nutrition. Local scientists
also developed low-cost, high-protein snack-food items from indigenous sources like legumes and
coconut. The government also made used of its human resources in the modification of its health-
care delivery approach to utilize government-employed paramedics and resident health workers.
Despite the efforts exerted by our government to support the S&T and to strengthen the
quality of the research and developments of our beloved national scientists, the Philippines still
has its weak points. We cannot deny the fact that there will always be a shortage of research funds
and shortage of manpower and qualified teachers (for some chose to go abroad for greener
pastures). As a result, the lack of science consciousness among typical Filipinos who are not yet
exposed and will never be exposed to certain scientific conferences and the lack of coordination
of research work can accumulate and perhaps yield to insufficient and inefficient outcomes.
Technological dependence is evident. Way back to the old local industries, technological
capabilities remained low compared to the other neighboring Asian countries like China, Japan
and Singapore. The role of Philippine science has been restricted to the exploration aspects. Truth
be told, the local mastery that has been developed in this area is of world-class quality.
Unfortunately, the actual installation of most modern machinery was done by foreign multinational
companies. Without a doubt, the Philippines was absolutely reliant on imported capital hardware
for most of its ventures. These technology imports tend to repress the growth of local initiatives
in a similar industry as a result of the latter's inability to contend as far as quality and cost is
involved. Given the lack of technological capability to create substitutes, a local vested interest
grows up around such enterprises, which end up overwhelming the market and assuming a
dominant role in the national economy. At this stage, the persistent importation of technology
winds up hard to oversee and regulate.
So, is the support of the government for science and technology research adequate (in
terms of its prioritization compared to other expenditure)? Over the years, the government has
shown a lot of attention on education over other aspects in our society. One of the biggest leaps
for them was offering students free tertiary education for public schools. This encouraged students
to continue studying on their desired universities. But is this enough? I believe we are still far from
adequate. Basing from the Competitiveness Ranking provided by the DOST, as of 2017, we are
ranked 83rd in technological readiness, 51st on company spending on R&D and 75th on quality
of scientific research institutions out of 150 countries. We do create a lot of promising
professionals, but in the end, they choose to work abroad due to lack of opportunities here in the
Philippines. In order to attract them into working in our homeland, the government should also
prioritize and fund projects that would cater post graduate students and researchers.
STS – K2 | Science, Technology, and Society October 2, 2018
Group 4 Reflection Paper
Lastly, the top research priorities should also reflect the main problems that our country
is currently facing. For instance, a good research priority would be regarding the constant increase
in oil price as it affects the prices of all the services and goods here in our country. The government
should fund researches regarding alternatives for oils, and perhaps a more efficient and optimal oil
production. This should solve our overdependence on oil.

Another problem is the rice shortage. They should fund researches regarding a new
cultivar of rice, a replacement or a better alternative of IR8, in which we can have a cheaper
production of rice without sacrificing that much quality. Or they can attack the method of growing
rice. There should be other factors that needs to be improved for better production of rice.

And last is our excessive production and use of plastics. There were already attempts in
replacing plastics, like carton bags instead of plastic bags and steel straws instead of plastic ones.
But do note that there are cases in which we really cannot replace them with other materials. As
such, our government should also fund researches regarding methods in decomposing and
degrading plastics really fast without harming our environment, or a method where we can reuse
them efficiently. These researches do not only solve our problems, but we also get to lead an
innovation over other countries, as well as encouraging other Filipinos to do the same.

To encourage support for science and technology, we can organize frequent scientific
forums (maybe small-scaled forums to cater those who are not in the academe) that will enable
not just the students but also the potential investors and local scientists as well as our politicians
to gather up and share insights about significant prospects for government projects. The main keys
for success are our resourcefulness and open-mindedness hopefully to be accompanied by the
undying support of our government. It should start in small and simple and end great for the
common good.

References:

 http://archive.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu04te/uu04te00.htm
 http://archive.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu04te/uu04te0k.htm#5%20the%20philippin
es
 http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/ae946e/ae946e03.htm
 http://www.worldstopexports.com/philippines-top-10-imports/
 www.dost.gov.ph/.../ST_Competitiveness_Rankings_of_the_Philippines_2012-2018
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_production_in_the_Philippines