Colegio de San Gabriel Arcangel

PACUCOA Accredited – Level 1 Status

COLLEGE DEPARTMENT City of San Jose del
Monte, Bulacan

LEARNING ACTIVITY 4
Name: ______________________________ Grade / Score : _______________
Colleges: ____________________________ Program/Course : _______________
Course Title: ________________________ Date : _________________________
Type of Activity (Check or choose from below)
Concept Notes Laboratory Report Formal Theme Others:
Skills: Exercise / Drill Illustration Informal Theme ____________

Activity Title : The Philippine Government Science and Technology Agenda

Learning Target : I can discuss the role of Science and Technology in Philippine
nation building.
References : UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030. Paris: UNESCO.
2015. pp. 693–731. ISBN 978-92-3-100129-1.
: Cariño, Virginia S. (1993). "Science and Technology in the
Philippines - Past to Present". Philippine science and
technology: time for bold moves. Diliman, Quezon City: UP
Center for Integrative and Development Studies in cooperation
with the University of the Philippines Press. ISBN 978-
9718797082
: "Philippine Science High School System - The 6-Year PSHS
Curriculum". www.pshs.edu.ph. Retrieved 2015-12-09

Discussion:

Science and technology in the Philippines describes scientific and technological

progress made by the Philippines and analyses related policy issues. The main agency
responsible for managing science and technology (S&T) is the Department of Science
and Technology (DOST). There are also sectoral councils for Forestry, Agriculture and
Aquaculture, the Metal Industry, Nuclear Research, Food and Nutrition, Health,
Meteorology, Volcanology and Seismology.

The Department of Science and Technology is the key government institution for science
and technology, with policy development being coordinated by a series of sectorial
councils. Within the framework of the current National Science and Technology Plan,
2002–2020 (NSTP), the strategic focus is on building technological self-reliance. The
Harmonized Agenda for Science and Technology, 2002–2020 reflects this focus in its
approach to problem-solving related to inclusive growth and disaster risk reduction. The
Harmonized Agenda was presented to the President in August 2014. Although science
and technology are guided by the NSTP, the Harmonized Agenda attempts to provide
more detail of how the country can become technologically self-reliant to sustain
science and technology beyond the mandate of the administration in power at the time
of the Agenda's adoption.

The Harmonized Agenda focuses on the development of critical technologies such as

remote sensing, LiDAR processing, testing and metrology facilities, advanced climate
change and weather modelling, advanced manufacturing and high-performance
computing. Five centers of excellence are being established or upgraded by 2020 in
biotechnology, nanotechnology, genomics, semiconductors and electronic design. The
five centers of excellence are all government-funded:

• the Centre for Nanotechnology Application in Agriculture, Forestry and Industry

(est. 2014) is based at the University of the Philippines Los Baños;
• the Biotech Pilot Plant (est. 2012 and since upgraded) is housed at the University
of the Philippines Los Baños;
• the Philippine Genome Centre (est. 2009) is hosted by the University of the
Philippines Diliman; it operates two core facilities in DNA sequencing and
bioinformatics;
• the Advanced Device and Materials Testing Laboratory is located in the
Department of Science and Technology's compound in Bicutan in Taguig City
and has been operational since 2013; it houses three laboratories in surface
analysis, thermal, chemical and metallurgical analysis; n the Electronic Product
Development Centre will also be located in the Department of Science and
Technology's compound in Bicutan in Taguig City; it will provide state-of-the-art
design, prototyping and testing facilities for printed circuit boards.

The government policies outlined above are seeking to create and fund infrastructure to
support the development of ‘core technologies', in order to solve pressing problems.
This approach reinforces the economic rationale for government intervention in the
science system to address market failures and make markets work within the purview of
good governance. A key challenge will be to build sufficiently solid infrastructure to
sustain current efforts. One example of the virtues of sustained support for research is
the International Rice Research Institute based in the city of Los Baños.
In connection to this, The Technology Transfer Act (2010) is expected to enhance
innovation by providing a framework and support system for the ownership,
management, use and commercialization of intellectual property arising from
government-funded research and development (R&D). To better address needs in
terms of human capital, the Fast- Tracked Science and Technology Scholarship Act
(2013) expands the coverage of existing scholarship programs and strengthens the
teaching of science and mathematics in secondary schools. The Philippine National
Health Research System Act (2013), meanwhile, has formed a network of national and
regional research consortia to boost domestic capacity.

Education is a core part of the Philippine Science and Technology agenda. To culture
individual who will partake to future scientific endeavors in the country, educational
institutions are geared to nurture aspiring scientists. The Philippine Science High School
(PSHS) System is a specialized high school program in the Philippines under the
Department of Science and Technology. It offers scholarships to students that are gifted
in science and mathematics. High school students are bound by law to major in pure
and applied science, mathematics or engineering. PSHS have 12 regional campuses in
addition to the main campus. PSHS follows the K-12 basic education program of the
government. The Regional Science High School (RSHS) System is a specialized high
school program in the Philippines under the Department of Education. RSHS have
regional campuses and follows the K-12 basic education program of the government.
Various universities offer science courses that encompasses the different fields of
science. The Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act of 2017 provides for
free tuition and exemption from other fees in public universities and colleges for Filipino
students, as well as subsidies for those enrolled in private higher education institutions.

Activity:

1. Based from the discussion above, it is apparent that the Philippine Agenda for
Science and Technology focus primarily to health and education, whereas other
nations are more inclined in energy production and military power. If you are the
head of the state, in which sector do will you dedicate the advancement of
Science and Technology? Why do you think of as such scheme?

If I am the head of the state, in health care sector i will dedicate the advancement of
Science and Technology because the health care sector in the Philippines is poor.

2. Why do you think that it is only proper to bind the growth of the scientific community
to the law? What could be the implications of a legally-unbound scientific progress?
Without a human rights approach to science, technology, and development, the uneven
distribution of goods — from services and natural resources to intangible resources such as
human dignity and autonomy — would only grow exacerbated, resulting in further
environmental degradation and, above all, heightened