T˙ S–tlight
12 SEP 2019
DOST: Advancing
science, technology
agenda best option
for PHL growth
By GRADE 10-NEWTON
IN a recent meeting with members
of the Makati Business Club and sev-
eral foreign chambers of commerce,
the government’s chief scientist For-
tunato dela Peña encouraged local
and foreign businessmen to invest in
technology-related enterprises. Dela
Peña, Secretary of the Department of
Science and Technology (DOST), said
this is relevant as the government is
now investing heavily in science and
technology.
The chief scientist cited advance-
ment in health and medicine devel-
opment with the county’s numerous
traditional medicinal herbs as focus,
education, energy, disaster resiliency,
and climate-change adaptation, in-
cluding enterprises that deal with cre-
ativity such as designs.
A civil servant for two decades
now holding various teaching and
civil-service positions up to his ap-
pointment as top official of the DOST
under the present administration,
Dela Peña said that for a time, the
country seemed to have grown “re-
sistant” to science- and technology-
related endeavors, although a core
number of advocates persisted in
pushing the science agenda.
The progressive minds seemed to
have prevailed, the DOST official
said.
Recently, the Philippines ranked
73rd out of 128 economies in terms of
Science and Technology and Innova-
tion (STI) index, citing the country’s
strength in research and commercial-
ization of STI ideas. The report also
said that 60 percent of companies in
the country offer training to improve
the technical skill of their employees.
Investment
HOWEVER, a study by the
Philippine Institute for Development
Studies highlighted the weak ties be-
tween innovation-driven firms and the
government, and it also identified the
country’s low expenditure in research
and development (R&D).
According to Dela Peña, this is
the reason the government is now ex-
tending all its efforts to reach out
with the private sector, explaining
that STI plays an important role in
economic and social progress and is a
key driver for a long-term growth of
an economy.
Technology adoption, the official
said, allows a country’s firms and cit-
izens to benefit from innovations cre-
ated in other countries, and allows it
to catch up and even leap-frog obso-
lete technologies.
This can lead to significant im-
provements in productivity for exist-
ing firms in agriculture, industry and
services.
For one, long-term investments in
building local capacity for technol-
ogy generation can lead to innova-
tions that will give local firms a com-
petitive advantage. This can result
in the creation of new firms and even
entirely new industries.
For another, the local medicine
sector has been showing potential,
the DOST official said, citing the case
of two dozen local herbs or medicinal
plants being studied as one example.
Lagundi
WHEN asked about the case of
Lagundi (Vitex negundo), whose ef-
ficacy as medicine is being challenged
by drug manufacturers, DOST Assis-
tant Secretary for International Co-
operation Leah J. Buendia said that
the shrub was subjected to 20 years of
stringent clinical trials and has been
proven consistently as effective.
“But since the DOST, and the
government for that matter, is not
into commercialization, private com-
panies are the ones who manufac-
ture the component of the medici-
nal plant into commercially available
medicines,” Buendia said, adding
that the agency only gives the results
which include the right formula and
volume of the medicinal component.
Asked on the possibility that
private manufacturers might know-
ingly dilute the required strength
for the medicine to be effective to
cut cost and unwittingly made the
medicine commercially available inef-
fective, the official declined to com-
ment.
She, however, assured that the
private sector is working with the
agency for the purpose of commer-
cializing discoveries made and stud-
ied by the DOST in partnership with
the private sector, as these “prod-
ucts would not help private compa-
nies profit but advance the country’s
agenda.”
The science agenda that, despite
advances, is still in need of prioritiza-
tion and more funding. This agenda
is in the Philippine Development Plan
2017-2022, which devotes an entire
chapter on STI.
STI culture
RECENT positive developments
and advancement in science and tech-
nology notwithstanding, there re-
mains a low level of innovation in the
country. This is brought by weak-
nesses in STI human capital, low
R&D expenditure and weak linkages
in the STI ecosystem.
In the Global Innovation In-
dex (GII) Report last year, the
Philippines ranked 74th among 128
economies in terms of overall inno-
vation, garnering a score of 31.8 out
of 100. This is a slight improvement
from the score of 31.1, ranking 83rd
out of 141 economies in 2015.
The country also ranked fifth out
of seven members of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)
that were included in the survey.
The Philippines was ahead of Cam-
bodia (95th) and Indonesia (88th)
but lagged behind Singapore (6th),
Malaysia (35th), Thailand (52nd)
and Vietnam (59th).
The factors behind the weak per-

formance of the STI sector include a
weak STI culture, Dela Peña said.
There is lack of public awareness
and interest in STI and many sectors
do not recognize, appreciate and un-
derstand the use of technology- and
science-based information in their
daily activities.
There’s also a number of weak-
nesses in social and professional cul-
ture, i.e., research culture in uni-
versities, commercialization of results
from public research, among oth-
ers. According to Dela Peña, a lack
of awareness on intellectual property
rights, in the research community and
the general public, still persists.
Despite its availability, adop-
tion and application of technologies
among micro, small and medium en-
terprises (MSMEs) and sectors like
agriculture and fisheries remains low,
he added.
Research
LOW government and private
spending on STI is another factor be-
hind the weak performance of the STI
sector, according to the GII report.
Investments in R&D are central
for enhancing the country’s innova-
tion ecosystem, the report said. Ex-
penditures on R&D and innovation
activities, as well as the support given
to the development of human re-
sources in various fields of science and
technology (S&T), are the parame-
ters scrutinized in the monitoring and
evaluation of STI.
While nominal R&D expenditures
increased by 80 percent to P15.92 bil-
lion in 2013, the proportion of R&D
spending to GDP stood at only 0.14
percent. This is substantially be-
low the 1-percent benchmark recom-
mended by the United Nations Edu-
cational, Scientific and Cultural Or-
ganization (Unesco) and the global
average of 2.04 percent. It is also low
compared to other Asean countries,
such as Vietnam, 0.19 percent, Thai-
land with 0.36 percent, Malaysia with
1.09 and Singapore’s 2.0 percent. The
data is available online from Unesco’s
Institute for Statistics.
The country’s relatively low rank-
ing in the GII Report was pulled
down by weaknesses in human capital
and R&D, with a score of 22.7 out of
100, ranking 95th. This is due to the
low public and private expenditures
The Spotlight 12 SEP 2019
on education and R&D, as well as low
tertiary inbound mobility. Tertiary
inbound mobility refers to the num-
ber of students from abroad studying
in a given country, as a percentage
of the total tertiary or college enroll-
ment.
The bulk of the R&D spending,
about 60 percent, comes from the
public sector. These were directed
to agricultural and industrial produc-
tion and technology, protection and
improvement of human health, con-
trol and care of the environment,
among others. Most of the R&D ac-
tivities in the country are still con-
centrated in the National Capital Re-
gion, Calabarzon and Central Luzon.
Manpower
ANOTHER indicator measuring
the capacity for technology genera-
tion is the number of S&T human re-
sources engaged in R&D.
As of 2013, the country has a to-
tal of 36,517 R&D personnel, of which
26,495 are key researchers, scientific,
technological and engineering person-
nel engaged in R&D; the rest are
technicians and support personnel.
The figures denote that there are
only 270 researchers for every one mil-
lion Filipinos. Such ratio falls short of
the Unesco norm of 380 per million
population and the 1,020 researchers
per million population average across
developing economies of East Asia
and the Pacific.
Of the total researchers in the
country from the government, higher
educational institutions (HEIs) and
private nonprofit sectors, 14 percent
had doctoral degrees (PhD), 38 per-
cent had master’s degrees, while 34
percent had Bachelor of Science (BS)
up to post-BS degrees. The low
number of researchers in the coun-
try reflects the propensity of the ed-
ucational system in the country to
produce graduates outside of science,
technology, engineering and mathe-
matics, or Stem, programsthe disci-
plines where R&D flourishes. Nev-
ertheless, the latest GII report indi-
cates that in terms of graduates in
science and engineering, the country
garnered a score of 25.5 out of 100,
ranking 26th.
Capital
AN assessment of the country’s
innovation system conducted by a
2
program of the United States Agency
for International Development (Us-
aid) reveals that the supply of Stem
graduates exceeds local demand.
As a result, there is an out-
migration and, worse, underemploy-
ment of many skilled, locally trained
scientists and engineers. The report
by the Usaid’s Science, Technology,
Research and Innovation for Develop-
ment, or Stride, program also cited
a shortage in training for fields criti-
cal for innovation, particularly in in-
formation technology. Such short-
age contributes to the challenge that
many local companies face, especially
in securing employees with the skills
required to grow the business.
This somewhat explains the na-
ture of brain drain the country has.
It is not so much because of Filipinos
not being “nationalistic” but simply
because there is limited opportunity
for people of science to stay in the
country.
However, Buendia said the issue of
nationalism has some credence, if not
the absolute answer, citing the case
of South Korea in the 1950s.
When South Korea was in its low-
est in terms of economic level, the
government called on all its scientists
and engineers scattered around the
world to go home and help build their
economy, and many responded, she
said.
According to Buendia, this brain
drain contributes to the problem as
potential researchers, scientists and
engineers, the key actors for the inno-
vation ecosystem to flourish, prefer to
seek employment overseas due to bet-
ter economic opportunities and po-
tential for advancement. Since knowl-
edge and technology are mostly em-
bodied in human resources, this em-
phasizes the urgency to accelerate
the development of R&D human re-
source.
Patents
THE output of R&D is commonly
measured in terms of patents applied
and granted to Filipino residents.
However, reports show that many
universities do not have the expertise
to market their patent portfolios for
commercial use. Furthermore, tech-
nology generators face persisting is-
sues on technology ownership while
researchers are constrained by the

“publish or perish” phenomenon.
This results in the weak technol-
ogy transfer system in the country.
An annual average of 209 patent
utility models and 597 industrial de-
sign applications were filed from 2005
to 2015. In the same period, an an-
nual average of 54 patents, 446 util-
ity models and 502 industrial designs
were granted.
In 2016, the World Economic Fo-
rum (WEF) ranked the Philippines
86th out of 128 economies for the
number of patents filed under the
Patent Cooperation Treaty per mil-
lion population. Invention patents
granted to local inventors represent
the smallest share in number of intel-
lectual properties granted from 2001
to 2003. Industrial design and util-
ity models consistently comprise the
majority of the intellectual property
granted.
The country also needs to catch
up in research publications since the
number of scientific publication in
peer-reviewed journals per million
population stands at 55, substan-
tially below that of Asean member-
states like Singapore with its stag-
gering 10,368, Malaysia with 1,484,
Thailand with 478 and Vietnam with
105.
Ecosystem
ANOTHER factor behind the
weak performance of the STI sector
is the weak linkages among players in
the STI ecosystem.
The 2009 survey of Innovation Ac-
tivities and the 2014 Usaid-Stride As-
sessment of the Philippine Innova-
tion Ecosystem discovered that inno-
vation actors have weak cooperation,
partnerships and trust among them-
selves. Most HEIs perceive collabo-
ration with companies as outside of
their core missions and a risk to ex-
ploitation.
Consequently, firms report that
difficulties in convincing HEIs of their
shared interests stem from resent-
ment, suspicion and distrust. In ef-
fect, firms end up with little technical
assistance from the government and
research institutions.
Another factor in this equation
is restrictive regulations that hamper
implementation of R&D programs
and projects.
The tedious government procure-
The Spotlight 12 SEP 2019
ment process hobbles the immediate
procurement of equipment and other
needed materials for research, which,
in turn, delays the implementation of
R&D projects, the GII report said.
This was confirmed by the Usaid-
Stride study, which revealed that re-
strictive regulations make the pro-
curement of equipment and consum-
ables for research extremely slow and
unnecessarily complex, decreasing re-
search productivity, publication po-
tential, and speed-to-market of inno-
vation.
In addition, the report said the
government research grants do not
compensate universities for the salary
of faculty members’ research activi-
ties. This practice is rarely seen out-
side the Philippines.
The final factor in the weak per-
formance of the STI sector is inade-
quacy of an STI infrastructure that
includes laboratory facilities, testing
facilities and R&D centers.
Many existing hubs need upgrad-
ing to improve their services, which
contributes to the lack of absorptive
capacity in research institutions, the
Usaid-Stride report said. It also cited
that the public institutions failed to
provide young researchers with equip-
ment packages, particularly those re-
turning from PhD studies abroad
with more advanced research agen-
das.
The country’s leading research in-
stitutions also remain concentrated in
Luzon.
Hopes
DESPITE the many inadequacies,
from funding to human capital, there
are some technology-intensive re-
search and capacity-building projects
which resulted in products which are
currently being used successfully.
One is the micro-satellite.
In April 2016, the country
launched into space its first micro-
satellite called Diwata-1. It was
designed, developed and assembled
by Filipino researchers and engineers
under the guidance of Japanese ex-
perts. The Diwata (deity in English)
satellite provides real-time, high-
resolution and multi-color infrared
images for various applications, in-
cluding meteorological imaging, crop
and ocean productivity measurement
and high-resolution imaging of natu-
3
ral and man-made features.
It enables a more precise estimate
of the country’s agricultural produc-
tion, provides images of watersheds
and floodplains for a better under-
standing of water available for irriga-
tion, power and domestic consump-
tion. The satellite also provides accu-
rate information on any disturbance
and degradation of forest and upland
areas.
The country also has the Nation-
wide Operational Assessment of Haz-
ards (Noah), which uses the Lidar
(light detection and ranging) technol-
ogy. Project NOAH was initiated in
June 2012 to help manage risks asso-
ciated with natural hazards and dis-
asters. The project developed hy-
dromet sensors and high-resolution
geo-hazard maps, which were gener-
ated by light detection and ranging
technology for flood modeling.
Noah helps the government in
providing timely warning with a lead
time of at least six hours in the wake
of impending floods.
According to Buendia, the coun-
try is now training the Cambodians
on this technology, as part of the
partnerships among Asean countries,
just like in the case of Japan which
assisted the country’s scientists and
engineers in building its first micro-
satellite.
Another hope lies in the so-called
Intelligent Operation Center Plat-
form.
Established through a collabora-
tion between the local government of
Davao City and IBM Philippines Inc.,
the center resulted in the creation of
a dashboard that allows authorized
government agencies, such as police,
fire and anti-terrorism task force, to
use analytics software for monitoring
events and operations in real time.
Initiatives
THE DOST, in cooperation with
HEIs and research institutions, es-
tablished advanced facilities that seek
to spur R&D activities and provide
MSMEs access to testing services
needed to increase their productivity
and competitive advantage.
One is the Advanced Device and
Materials Testing Laboratories. The
center houses advanced equipment for
failure analysis and materials char-
acterization to address advanced an-
 The Spotlight 12 SEP 2019 4

alytical needs for quality control, anticipated to relieve pressure on the

materials identification and R&D. relatively strained Russian suppliers,
Closely related to this facility is but increase Mongolia’s imbalance of
the Electronics Products Develop- trade with its larger neighbour.
ment Center, used to design, develop Historically the only competitor
and test hardware and software for to China in the far eastern moose
electronic products. markets has been Singapore but the
tiny island nation is set to report a
net loss, expecting a decrease of more
There are also high-performance than five percent on last year’s 50,000
computing facilities that perform moose counted. The head of Singa-
tests and run computationally in- pore’s Agency for Agriculture, Jing-
tensive applications for numerical Reuters Feng Lau, explained to an incredu-
weather prediction, climate modeling, lous Singaporean parliament yester-
day that bad weather had contributed
as well as analytics and data model- International to this season’s poor showing, most
ing and archiving.
Moose Count notably when a cargo of 150 moose
were swept out into the Indian ocean
Underway in a monsoon.
The Philippines could also boast Yet again the global demand for
of its Genome Center, a core fa- By BOB O’BOBSTON moose will be met largely by the
cility that combines basic and ap- US and Canada. The recession-hit
plied research for the development States is taking comfort in its moose
of health diagnostics, therapeutics, growth figures with gross production
The UN-sponsored International
DNA forensics and preventive prod- expected to break 700,000 and net ex-
Moose Census got off to a flying
ucts, and improved crop varieties. ports to grow by 2%. The worldwide
start today with hopes for an increase
in the worldwide moose population dominance of Canada shows no signs
compared to last year’s disapointing of abating though with this year’s
According to Buendia, the coun- figures. Among the traditional early moose population expected to match
try also has drug-discovery facilities, reporters were Egypt, returning fig- last year’s record figures of one hun-
which address the requirements for ures of six moose, a twenty percent dred million billion.
producing high-quality and globally increase on 2011’s figures of five, and Europe’s rise as an international
acceptable drug candidates. She said Uruguay whose moose population re- moose power will slow slightly this
the Philippines also has nanotechnol- mains stable at eleven. year as a response to the European
ogy centers, which provide techni- According to Robbie McRobson, Union’s move towards standardising
cal services and enabling environment head of the UN Moose Preserva- the European moose. Stringent qual-
for interdisciplinary and collaborative tion Council, worldwide moose num- ity controls are holding back the de-
R&D in various nanotechnology ap- bers are expected to grow markedly velopment of the eastern european
plications. on last year due to the traditional populations compared to last year
moose strongholds of Canada and the when they contributed significantly
United States, with the larger de- to europe’s strong growth figures.
veloping moose ecologies also poised Norway, which is not an EU member
Buendia said there are also radia- but has observer status, strengthed
to make gains. The largest percent-
tion processing facilities that are used in numbers relative to the Euro area
agege increase in moose will likely
to degrade, graft, or crosslink poly- with numbers of Norweigian moose,
come from China’’, says McRobson,
mers, monomers, or chemical com- known locally as elk’’ expected to rise
The Chinese government has invested
pounds for industrial, agricultural, for the tenth consecutive year, partic-
heavily in moose infrastructure over
environmental and medical applica- ularly thanks to a strong showing in
the past decade, and their committ-
tions. The Philippines could also the last quarter.
ment to macrofauna is beginning to
boast of its Die and Mold Solutions
pay dividends’’. Since 2004 China has As moose season reaches its close,
Center, which enhances the competi-
expanded moose pasture from 1.5% researchers world wide are turning to
tiveness of the local tool and die sec-
of arable land to nearly 3.648% and science in an attempt to boost next
tor through the localization of cur-
moose numbers are expected to rise year’s figures. NASA stunned the
rently imported dies and molds.
to 60,000 making China a net moose scientific community today with the
exporter for the first time. This is announcment of their discovery that
good news for neighbouring Mongo- the moon is significantly smaller than
These reflect that we are advanc- lia, a barren moose-wasteland whose previously believed. This conclusion,
ing, albeit slowly, to a culture that inhabitents nonetheless have an insa- which is the conclusion of a ten-
embraces STI as a sure path to tiable desire for the creatures. The in- year collaborative project, will have
growth, according to Dela Peña. crease in Beijing-Ulanbataar trade is profound implications for the moose

community as the gravitational field
is now known to be of the right
strength to support moose in orbit.
According to John Johnson, head
of the NASA Moon Sizing Experi-
ment the first delivery of moose into
low moon orbit could be achieved as
early as the third quarter of next year.
The technology to nurture moose in
space is available now’’, he said, ’’all
that is needed is political will’’.
Granny wins
World Wrestling
Championship
By ROY MCROYSTON
Records were smashed in
Nicaragua’s World Wrestling Cham-
pionship last night as 78-year-old
Maud Johnson, grandmother of five,
became the first woman for fifty-six
years, and the oldest competitor ever,
to claim the gold medal. She walked
away with her million dollar share of
the prize money, runner up Tommy
Thompson from Nigeria taking half a
million, and third place New Zealan-
der John Smith receiving a warm
handshake from the umpire.
Having started the tournament a
rank outsider she began to impress
in her second match when she took
US number three Ron Ronson by sur-
prise and subdued him in twenty sec-
The Spotlight 12 SEP 2019
onds with her unique move that has
been dubbed "Maud’s Death Grip".
The injection of a new wrestling style
into the tournament was welcomed
by spectators and Johnson’s pre- and
post-match breakdances have proved
entertaining to fans. However, she
was still not expected to win in
round three last Wednesday, facing
off against title-holder Paulo "Spine-
Snapper" Lutti, of Vatican City. Un-
derdog Johnson was soon showing her
worth with stamina and agility easily
matching last year’s winner. Lutti’s
experience paid off initially as he took
the first two rounds, but as John-
son became more confident her su-
perior strength came to the fore and
she clawed back two rounds to take
the contest into a decider. By this
time Lutti’s body language indicated
that he already felt overawed by the
pretender to his crown, and the new-
comer took advantage of this to en-
gage a mutual headlock which she
held for three hours until the Vat-
ican man retired from exhaustion.
The next seven matches were barely
a contest as the news of Johnson’s
supremacy overawed all her oppo-
nents who became too indimidated to
fight properly.
Nigerian Tommy Thompson is
also a relative newcomer to the
wrestling scene, but with his 210lb
frame he was expected to fare well
against Johnson who weighs in at
only 90lb. However Johnson’s lithe
and slender, some would say scrawny,
5
figure belies her agility and strength
which she demonstrated by holding
Thompson above her head several
times during the bout and throwing
him into the crowd once. With the
scores tied at 2-2 time ran out and the
contest went to a panel of judges to be
assessed. They awarded Thompson a
C grade whilst Johnson received an
A, becoming the first grandmother to
ever win the title.
The new champion explained her
success as the result of a strict train-
ing regimen instituted by her coach
and grandson five-year-old Sammy
Johnson. "I’ve been drinking ten
raw eggs for breakfast every morning,
sprinting fifty miles a day and carry-
ing my daughter’s car to the end of
the road and back whenever I felt my
arthritis was OK" she said. Sammy
added "I always knew she could do
it. She’s my grandma.". The young-
ster is also her manager and has re-
portedly arranged sponsorship deals
which will dwarf her one million dol-
lar prize fund. Her new contract with
headband designer Nike alone is set
to earn her fourteen billion dollars
over the next year. She will also be
promoting Tupperware, Halliburton,
the Republic of Macedonia, and Gala
Bingo. Her continued participation in
the sport is not assured as she wants
to spend more time on her bungee-
jumping business, and knitting. Ev-
eryone here at the World Champi-
onships, however, hopes for her re-
turn.