Science, Technology and Nation-Building

Introduction:
This chapter will discuss the influence of science and technology in the development of
the Philippine society. It identifies government programs, projects, and policies geared
toward boasting the science and technological capacity of the country.It also identifies
some strategies to promote science education in the country to establish science
schools that will encourage students to pursue their career in science and technology
and to nurture their gifted potentials in science. This also include the discussion on
indigenous science and technology of the Filipinos during early times, tried to invent
tools that will help them in everyday life.
Activity:
Video streaming showing how science and technology helped shape the Philippines
before and after.
(youtube video: Republic of the Philippines (Then and Now)
https://youtu.be/Zi_yWetmdtA

Preliminary Activity Sheet

(Shape-Up Your Mind)

Name: JOHANE GREI C. DINGDING Course /Yr/Sec: BSIT 1C AMAZON Date:

4/16/2021
Instruction: Please answer the following questions after watching the 4minutes video
presentation.
1. What have you observed in the video presented and identify some achievements
in the field ofscience and technology?

I have clearly observed the modernization of the Philippines as the

year’s progress. I have also distinguished the time where science through the
intervention of technology was not yet introduced to the Filipino people. As
presented in the video it is noted that during the 1900’s Philippines is not
considered as a modernized country during that era unlike rich countries like
America and the United Kingdom. Although we are greatly influenced by them
specially with our buildings and our environment it is still a fact that our country
are just mirrors of other progressing countries in the past where at an early
onset they already utilized the benefits of science and technology.

On the first part of the video itself it flashed a brief historical background
of what were Philippines then and how science and technology changed the
country for the better, from the American period (1898–1946) up until the
recent years. This is the start were we are Americanize, Filipinos reorganized
the learning of science, which then puts us on the pedestal together with rich
countries like the US.

A number of great Filipino inventors whom contributed to the

developments of technology was born before the 21 st century era where they
developed scientifically based tools and methods that can help the betterment
of living not just for Filipinos but also for the whole human raise.

One of the greatest achievement of science and technology in the

Philippines is that it prepared the whole country and its people to meet
demands of a technologically driven and capacitate the people to live in a
world driven by facts and science.

On a further note, I have also observed that part of a country's

socioeconomic development is determined by the status of science and
technology. It is a well-known reality that national development is strongly
correlated with a country's ability to generate local industrial goods for
domestic needs, and that industrialization is heavily reliant on a country's
ability to use science and technology to turn locally-found raw materials into
high-tech products and resources for households and other users.
 Through science and technology, Philippines had witnessed drastic
changes over the past years and its impact is still growing. The old Philippines
is slow and it seems like life is way harder or things are difficult to accomplish
such as in the field of communication and transportation. With that being said
after the 20th Century, the Filipino people had begun to realize the value of
science and technology, which then began the modernization of our country as
shown in the video.

It is obvious that the Philippines deserve a higher profile on the

international stage. Other countries may have greater resources, greater
technological progress, a higher standard of living, and more notable artistic
and cultural achievements. However, we Filipinos also lead the world in many
ways, especially in fields such as science and technology. I have noticed in
the video that we have acquired various achievements and recognitions. It is
flashed in the video how we incorporated technology in our transportation
services for a fact that there has been a remarkable development in modern
transportation. The steam engine and then the steam trains have emerged
and spread at this time and in abundance until the discovery of natural gas
and oil was an evolution of transportation. Thus, the sedans and vehicles
began to run in oil. There was also a sudden change of the appearance of our
transportation because the old versions of our cars are not considered as
modern or have bad specifications.

Because of modernization through science and technology the

structures and streets not just in Manila but the entire Philippines drastically
changed over a century. Since we are colonized by the Spaniards some of our
structures were in European style but the onset of the developments of
science and technology during the early 20 th and 21st Century paved the way
for more modern and hype look for the Philippines, since now at this
generation we have more options or choices all thanks to science and
technology.

Some notable achievements which then 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.

To conclude, Science and Technology hold the key to the progress and
development of any nation. Technology plays a Fundamental role in wealth
creation, improvement of the quality of life and real economic growth and
transformation in any society.

2. What do you think are the major contributions of the Philippines to the field of
science and technology at present?

The Philippines have contributed a lot in the field of science and

technology. In fact, there have been inventions by Filipino scientists. The
following are just some of the inventions by the Filipinos: Lamps using sea
water instead of kerosene. This was invented by a Filipina scientist.
Cooking stove using methane gas from farm animals waste. This was
invented by a Filipino scientist. Filipinos also introduced a running a car
machine using water instead of gasoline. This was conceptualized by a
Filipino scientist. And lately, a group of Filipino students invented robotic
toy cars. There was also another group Filipinos who was also able to
invent dengue testing kits.
 The aforementioned are just some of the inventions by Filipino
scientists. Their inventions may not be that big, but their inventions can
contribute to the science and technology not just in the Philippines, but also
to the world.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), based in the

Philippines, is perhaps the most visible example of one of these research
institutions. It is Asia's largest non-profit agricultural research centre. In the
1960s, it was responsible for the development of numerous cultivars that
enabled rice to be grown on an industrial scale throughout Asia. IRRI-
developed cultivars or descendants of IRRI cultivars account for 60% of the
world's rice crops.

Fields such as biology, agriculture, food processing, and

conservation, have extensive research infrastructure in the Philippines (a
legacy of the American commonwealth era), and Filipinos seem to excel in
those.

Furthermore, there was also another group Filipinos who was also
able to invent dengue testing kits. The aforementioned are just some of the
inventions by Filipino scientists.

With the brilliant inventions of the great minds of the Filipino people,
the Philippines had somehow contributed to the betterment of the society.
Each of these inventions has affected how people relate to one another
and how cultures have expanded or ended. Technologies are the reason a
few people are very rich, that people are more social, and that teaching
and learning is changing.