C.

Historical Development of Science and Technology in the Philippines

The current state of science and technology in the country can be traced back to its historical
development and the latent events that helped shape it since the pre-colonial period to contemporary
time. What we have or lack today in terms of science and technology is very much an effect of the
government policies that had been enacted by past public officials in trying to develop a technological
society that is responsive to the needs of time.

Pre-Spanish Era.

There is not much written about the Philippines during pre-colonial time but analysis from
archeological artifacts revealed that the first inhabitants in the archipelago who settled in Palawan and
Batangas around 40 000 years ago have made simple tools or weapons of stone which eventually
developed techniques for sawing, drilling and polishing hard stones. This very primitive technology was
brought by primal needs of survival by hunting wild animals and gathering fruits and vegetables in the
forest. They learned that by polishing hard stones, they can develop sharp objects that are useful in their
day-to-day activities. From this early, we can see that technology was developed because of a great
necessity.

Still on its primitive state, the first inhabitants in the country are learning what can be harnessed
from the environment. They have come to understand that when clay is mixed with 2 water and then
shaped into something before sun drying, it hardens to an object that can also be useful to them. And
because clay is moldable, it can be shaped into various objects.

As the early Filipinos flourished, they have learned how to extract, smelt and refine metals like
copper, gold, bronze and iron from nature and consequently fashion them into tools and implements. At
this point, the inhabitants of the country are showing a deeper understanding of their nature because
they were able to obtain valuable resources from nature.

As the inhabitants shifted from wandering from one place to another and learned to settle in
areas near the water source, they also learned how to weave cotton, engaged themselves in agriculture
and are knowledgeable on building boats for coastal trade.

From the above-mentioned facts, it can be concluded that primitive Filipinos are practicing
science and technology in their everyday lives. The ancient crafts of stone carving, pottery and smelting
of metals involves a lot of science, which is understanding the nature of matter involved. The ingenuity
of the Ifugaos in building the Banaue Rice Terraces The smelting of metals exhibited the primitive
Filipino’s knowledge on the composition of alloy and the optimum temperature that will produce the
metal with acceptable tensile strength. All in all, the primitive Filipinos were living in perfect harmony
with nature and they obtain from it what is just needed in their everyday life through a very simple
science of understanding how mother nature operates
Spanish Colonial Era.

As claimed by Caoili (1983), the beginnings of modern science and technology in the country can
be traced back to the Spanish regime because they established schools, hospitals and started scientific
research that had important consequences in the development of the country. These schools, which are
mostly run by Spanish friars, formed the first Filipino professionals. The 3 highest institution of learning
during this time was the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas.

But the very strict hold of the church among citizens and its intervention and meddling to the
government propelled by fear of intellectual awakening among Filipinos have greatly hindered the
progress of these professionals to further enhance their knowledge, conduct scientific investigations and
contribute to the advancement of society. But a few of persistent Filipino scientists succeeded by
educating themselves abroad. One notable example of course is our national hero, the great Dr. Jose P.
Rizal. Dr. Jose Rizal is the epitome of the Renaissance man in the Philippine context. He is a scientist, a
doctor, an engineer (he designed and built a water system in Dapitan), a journalist, a novelist, an urban
planner and a hero. Being a doctor and scientist, he had extensive knowledge on medicine and was able
to operate his mother’s blinding eye. When he was deported in Dapitan, his knowledge on science and
engineering was translated into technology by creating a water system that improved the sanitation of
households in the area. Dr. Jose

Dr. Jose Rizal was a brilliant man and his life stood out among his contemporaries. But it cannot
be said that there is no contribution to science and technology among the Filipino men and women
during the Spanish era. The charity hospitals became the breeding ground for scientific researches on
pharmacy and medicine, with great focus on problems of infectious diseases, their causes and possible
remedies. And in 1887, the Laboratorio Municipal de Ciudad de Manila was created and whose functions
were to conduct biochemical analyses for public health and to undertake specimen examinations for
clinical and medico-legal cases. Its publication, probably the first scientific journal in the country was
titled Cronica de Ciencias Medicas de Filipinas showed the studies undertaken during that time.

As the colonization of the Spaniards lengthened, they began to exploit the natural resources of
the country through agriculture, mining of metals and minerals and establishing various kinds of
industries to further promote economic growth. As such, scientific research on these fields were
encouraged by the government. By the nineteenth century, Manila has become a cosmopolitan center
and modern amenities were introduced to the city. However, little is known about the accomplishments
of scientific bodies commissioned by the Spanish government during this time. Because of limited
scientific research and its consequent translation to technology during the Spanish regime, none of the
industries prosper. The Philippines had evolved into a primary agricultural exporting economy, and this
is not because of the researches undertaken on this field, but was largely because of the influx of foreign
capital and technology which brought modernization of some sectors, notably sugar and hemp
production.

American Period
 If the development in science and technology was very slow during the Spanish regime, the
Philippines saw a rapid growth during the American occupation and was made possible by the
government’s extensive public education system from elementary to tertiary schools. The establishment
of various public tertiary schools like the Philippine Normal School and University of the Philippines
provided the needs for professionally trained Filipinos in building the government’s organization and
programs. The growth and application of science were still concentrated on the health sector in the
form of biochemical analyses in hospitals. The government supported basic and applied research in the
medical, agricultural and related sciences. The University of the Philippines Los Baños opened the
College of Agriculture in 1909 while the University of the Philippines – Diliman opened the Colleges of
Arts, Engineering and Veterinary Medicine in 1910. The College of Medicine was opened four years later.

During this time, there were already quite a number of qualified Filipino physicians who held
teaching positions in the College of Medicine, whereas most of the early instructors and professors in
other colleges such as in the sciences and engineering were Americans and foreigners. Capacity building
programs that include sending qualified Filipinos abroad for advanced training were conducted to
eventually fill up the teaching positions in Philippine universities. Moreover, the American colonial
government sent Filipino youths to be educated as teachers, engineers, physicians and lawyers in
American colleges to further capacitate the Filipinos in various fields.

However, there was difficulty in recruiting students for science and technology courses like
veterinary medicine, engineering, agriculture, applied sciences and industrial-vocational courses. The
enrollment in these courses were dismal that the government had to offer scholarships to attract
students. The unpopularity of these courses stemmed from the Filipinos’ disdain toward manual work
that developed from the 400 years under Spanish colonization. The Filipinos then prefer prestigious
professions at that time like priesthood, law and medicine.

The government provided more support for the development of science and created the Bureau
of Government Laboratories in and was later changed to Bureau of Science. It was composed of a
biological laboratory, chemical laboratory, serum laboratory for the production of virus vaccine, serums
and prophylactics, and a library. The bureau was, initially managed by American senior scientists but as
more Filipinos were trained and acquire the necessary knowledge and skills, they eventually took over
their positions. The Bureau of Science served as the primary training ground for Filipino scientists and
paved the way for pioneering scientific research, most especially on the study of various tropical
diseases that were prevalent during those times like leprosy, tuberculosis, cholera, dengue fever,
malaria and beri-beri. Another great contribution of the Bureau of Science to the development of
science and technology in the country was the publication of the Philippine Journal of Science. This
scientific journal published researches done in local laboratories and reported global scientific
developments that had relevance to the Philippine society. The Bureau of Science became the primary
research center of the Philippines until World War II. Lastly, on December 8, 1933, the National
Research Council of the Philippines was established.

Commonwealth Period

When the Americans granted independence and the Commonwealth government was
established, the Filipinos were busy in working towards economic reliance but acknowledge the
importance and vital role of science and technology for the economic development of the country by
declaring that “The State shall promote scientific research and invention...” The short-lived
Commonwealth Government was succeeded by the Japanese occupation when the Pacific war broke out
in 1941. The prevailing situations during the time of Commonwealth period to the Japanese regime had
made developments in science and technology practically impossible. This is also true when World War
II ended and left Manila, the country’s capital, in ruins. The government had to rebuild again and
normalize the operations in the whole country.

Science and Technology since Independence

In 1946 the Bureau of Science was replaced by the Institute of Science and was placed under the
Office of the President of the Philippines. However, the agency faced lack of financial support from the
government and experienced planning and coordination problems. In a report by the US Economic
Survey to the Philippines in 1950, there is a lack of basic information which were necessities to the
country's industries, lack of support of experimental work and minimal budget for scientific research and
low salaries of scientists employed by the government. In 1958, during the regime of President Carlos P.
Garcia, the Philippine Congress passed the Science Act of 1958 which established the National Science
Development Board (NSDB).

The Philippine government focused on science and technology institutional capacity-building

which were undertaken by establishing infrastructure-support facilities such as new research agencies
and development trainings. However good these projects were, it produced insignificant effects because
of lack of coordination and planning, specifically technology planning, between concerned agencies
which hindered them from performing their assigned functions effectively. This was aptly illustrated in
the unplanned activities of the researchers within the agencies. Most areas of research were naively left
to the discretion of the researchers under the assumption that they were working for the interests of
the country. They were instructed to look for technologies and scientific studies with good
commercialization potential. Without clear research policy guidelines, researches were done for their
own sake, leaving to chance the commercialization of the results.

Likewise, during this time, rebuilding the country involved establishing more state funded
manual and trading schools which would eventually become the current state universities and colleges.
The trade schools produced craftsmen, tradesmen and technicians that helped in shaping a more
technological Philippines while still being an agricultural based nation. Eventually, when these trade
schools were elevated to college and university status, they produced much of the country’s
professionals, although there was a great disparity on the low proportion of those in agriculture, medical
and natural sciences with those from teacher training and commerce/business administration courses
which had higher number of graduates. The increase in the number of graduates led to the rise of
professional organizations of scientists and engineers. These organizations were formed to promote
professional interests and create and monitor the standards of practice.

As summarized by Caoili, “There has been little innovation in the education and training of
scientists and engineers since independence in 1946. This is in part due to the conservative nature of
self-regulation by the professional associations. Because of specialized training, vertical organizations by
disciplines and lack of liaison between professions, professional associations have been unable to
perceive the dynamic relationship between science, technology and society and the relevance of their
training to Philippine conditions.