AHI

STORYOFSCI
ENCEANDTECHNOLOGYI
NTHEPHI
LIPPI
NES

By
:Ol
i
viaC.Caoi
l
i

I
ntr
oduct
ion

The need to dev

elop a count
ry'
sscience and t
echnologyhasgenerall
ybeen
r
ecogni
zedasoneoft heimperati
vesofsocioeconomicprogressinthecont
emporary
wor
ld.Thi
shasbecomeawi despreadconcernofgover
nment sespeci
all
ysi
ncethepost
-
worl
dwarI Iyear
s.

Among Thi rd Wor l

d countr
ies,ani mpor tantdimensionoft hi
sconcer ni st he
problem ofdependencei nscienceandt echnologyast hi
si scloselytiedupwi t
ht he
i
ntegr i
tyoft hei
rpol it
icalsovereigntyand economi c self-
reli
ance. Ther e existsa
conti
nui ng imbalance bet ween sci ent
if
ic and t echnologi
cal dev elopmentamong
contempor ar
ystateswi th98percentofal lresearchanddev elopmentf acil
i
tieslocated
i
n dev eloped countries and almostwhol ly concer ned witht he l
atter
's problems.
Dependence oraut onomyi n science and t echnol
ogyhas been a sal i
enti ssue in
conferencessponsor edbyt heUnitedNat i
ons.

I
tiswi t
hint heabov econt extthatthispaperattemptst oexaminethehistoryof
sci
enceandt echnologyi nt hePhi l
i
ppines.Rat herthanfocusingsimplyonast rai
ght
chronol
ogyofev ents,i tseekst ointerpr
etandanal yzethei nter
dependenteffectsof
geography,colonialtrade,economi candeducat i
onalpoli
ciesandsoci o-
cult
uralfact
ors
i
nshapi ngtheev olut
ionofpr esentPhili
ppinesci
enceandt echnology.

Asusedinthi
spaper,sci
enceisconcernedwi ththesystemat
icunder
standing
andexplanat
ionofthel
awsofnat ur
e.Scienti
ficactivi
tycent
ersonresear
ch,theend
resul
tofwhichisthedi
scover
yorproduct
ionofnewknowl edge.Thisnewknowl edge
mayormaynothav eanydir
ectori
mmediateapplicat
ion.

I
n compar i
son,t echnology has oft
en been understood as the "
sy st
emat i
c
knowledgeoft heindust r
ialart
s."Asthisknowledgewasi mplementedbymeansof
techni
ques,technologyhasbecomecommonl ytakentomeanbot htheknowledgeand
themeansofi t
s ut i
l
ization, thati
s,“abody,of knowl edge aboutt echniques.
"
Modernt echnologyalsoinv ol
ves syst
emati
cresearchbuti
tsoutcomei smoreconcrete
thanscience,i.e.thepr oducti
onof" athi
ng,achemi cal
,apr ocess,somethi
ngt obe
boughtandsol d."

Inthepast ,scienceandt echnologydevelopedseparatel

y,withthelatterbeing
l
argelyapr oductoft ri
alander rorinresponsetoapar t
icul
arhumanneed.I nmoder n
ti
mes, howev er
,theprogressesofsci enceandtechnol
ogyhav ebecomei nt
imatelyl
inked
together
. Manysci enti
ficdiscoveri
es hav e beenf acil
it
atedbyt hedevelopmentof
newt echnology.Newsci entifi
cknowl edgeintur
nhasof t
enl edtofurt
herref
inementof
exist
ingtechnologyorthei nv
entionofent i
rel
ynewones.

Pr
ecol
oni
alSci
enceandTechnol
ogy

Ther eisav er
ylit
tl
er el
iablewritteninformati
onaboutPhi l
ippi
nesoci et
y ,cult
ure
andt echnologybef oret hear ri
valoft heSpaniardsi n1521. Assuch,onehast o
reconst r
uctapi ctur
eofthispastusingcont emporaryar chaeol
ogicalfindi
ngs, accounts
byear lyt r
adersandf orei
gnt ravel
ers,andt he nar rati
ves aboutcondi ti
onsi nt he
archi
pel agowhichwer ewritt
en byt he f ir
st Spani sh mi ssionari
es and col onial
offi
cials. Accor ding t
ot hese sour ces,t her
e wer e numer ous,scat t
ered,t hr
ivi
ng,
rel
ati
v elysel
f-
suf f
ici
entandaut onomouscommuni tieslongbef oretheSpaniardsar r
ived.
Theear lyFil
i
pinoshadat t
ainedagener al
l
ysimplel eveloftechnologi
caldev elopment ,

1
compared wi
tht hoseoft
heChi
neseandJapanese,butt
his wassuf
fi
cientf
ort
hei
r
needsatt
hatper
iodofti
me.

Archaeol ogicalf i
ndingsi ndicatethatmoder nmen( homosapi ens)f r
om t heAsi an
mai nlandf ir
stcameov er-l
andand acr ossnar row channel st oliv einPal awanand
Batangasar ound50, 000y ear sago.Forabout40, 000y ears,t
heymadesi mpl et oolsor
weaponsofst onef l
akesbutev entual
lydev el
opedt echniquesforsawi ng,dr i
lli
ngand
poli
shi nghar dst ones.TheseSt oneAgei nhabitants,subsequentl
yf ormedset tlement s
i
nt hemaj orPhi l
ippine islands such asSul u,Mi ndanao ( Zamboanga,and Dav ao)
,
Negr os,Samar ,Luzon( Bat angas,Laguna,Ri zal
,Bul acan and theCagay anr egi on).By
about3, 000B. C.,theywer epr oducingadzesor nament sofseashel lsandpot ter
yof
vari
ousdesi gns. Themanuf actureofpot ter
ysubsequent lybecamewel ldevel opedand
fl
our i
shedf orabout2, 000y ear sunt i
litcamei ntocompet i
ti
onwithi mpor tedChi nese
porcel ai
n.Thusov erti
mepot t
erymaki ngdecl i
ned. Whathassur vivedoft hi sanci ent
technol ogyist hel owestl ev el,i
.e.,t
hepr esentmanuf actureoftheor dinarycooki ngpot
amongsev eral l
ocal communi ti
es.

Graduall
y,t
heear l
yFi l
ipinoslear nedt omakemet al toolsandimplements--copper
,
gold,
bronzeand, later
,iron. TheI ronAgei sconsideredt ohav el
astedfrom thesecond
orthi
rdcent ur
yB.C.t othet enthcent uryA. D.Excav ati
onsofPhi l
i
ppinegravesandwor k
sit
eshav eyiel
dedi r
onsl ags.Thesesuggestt hatFil
ipinosdur i
ngt hi
speriodengagedin
theactualextr
acti
onofi ronfrom or e,smel ti
ngandr efi
ning.Buti tappearsthatt
heiron
i
ndustry,li
kethemanuf actureofpot tery,didnotsur vivet hecompet i
ti
onwi t
himported
casti
ronf r
om Sarawakandmuchl at er,f
rom Chi na.

Byt hef ir
stcenturyA.D.
,Fil
ipi
noswer eweav i
ngcot
ton,smelt
ingir
on,making
pott
er yandgl assornamentsandwer ealsoengagedinagr
icul
tur
e.Lowlandri
cewas
cul
tivatedindi kedfi
eldsandint heinteri
ormountai
nregi
onsasi ntheCordi
l
ler
a,in
ter
racedf i
eldswhichutil
i
zedspri
ngwat er.

Fil
i
pinoshadalsolearnedt obuil
dboatsforthecoastalt
rade.Byt hetenthcentury
A.D.,thi
shad becomeahi ghlydev el
oped t
echnology. Inf act,theear l
ySpani sh
chroni
clerstooknoteoft her ef
inedplank-
bui
ltwar shi
pcall
edcaracoa. Theseboat s
werewel lsuited f
orinter
-island tr
ader ai
ds. TheSpani ardslateruti
li
zed Fil
ipi
no
experti
seinboat -
buil
ding andseamanshi p t ofighttheraidi
ngDut ch,Por t
uguese,
Muslims andt he Chi
nese pi r
ate Limahongaswel lastobuil
d and man t hegall
eons
thatsail
edtoMexico.

By thet ent
hcent uryA. D.,theinhabit
antsofBut uan wer et r
ading with Champa
(Vietnam) ;t
hoseofMa- i(Mi ndoro)wi thChina.Chi neser ecordswhi chhavenowbeen
translatedcont ai
nal otofr eferencest othePhi li
ppi nes.Thesei ndicatethat regular
trade r el
ati
ons bet weent het wocount ri
es had been wel lestabli
shed dur ing t he
tenth t o the f if
teent h cent uries. Archaeologicalf i
ndings( invariouspartsoft he
archipelago)ofChi nesepor celainsmadedur i
ngt hisper iodsuppor tthiscontention.
From t heSung( 960- 1278)andYuan( 1260-1368)Dy nast i
es,therear edescri
ptionsof
tradewi ththePhi l
ippines, andf rom theSungandMi ng( 1360-1644)Dy nast
iestherear e
noticesofFi l
ipinomi ssionst oPeki ng.

Themostf requent lyci t

edChi neseaccounti nPhili
ppinehi st orytextbooksist hatof
ChaoJu- Kuain1225. He descr ibedt he communi ti
es andt radi
ngact ivi
ti
esi nt he
i
slands of Ma- i( Mi ndor o)andSan- hsu( l
it
eral
lythreei slandswhi ch pr esent -
day
hi
stor i
anst hi
nkr ef ert ot hegr oupofPal awan and Cal ami anI slands).Thepeopl eof
Ma- iand San- hsu t raded beeswax,cot ton, true pearls,t or toi
se shell
,medi cinal
betelnuts,yu-t
acl ot h( probablyj ute orr amie?)and coconuthear tmat sf orChi nese
porcelain,i
ronpot s,leadf ishnetsi nkers,coloredglassbeads,i ron needl esandt i
n.
Thesewer epracti
cal l
yt hesamecommodi t
iesoft radebet weent heisl
andsandChi na
which t hefir
stSpani shcol onialoffi
cialsrecordedwhent heycamet ot hePhi l
ippines
mor et hantwocent urieslat er.

2
 TheFi li
pinosinMi ndanaoandSul ut radedwi thBor neo,Mal accaandpar t
soft he
Mal ayPeni nsula.Thi st radeseemst ohaveant edatedt hosewi t
ht heChi nese.Byt he
ti
met heSpani ar
dsr eached t hear chi
pelago,t heset rader elat
ionshad been f i
rmly
establishedsucht hatt heall
iancebet weent herulersofMani l
aandBr uneihadbecome
strengt henedbymar riage.I twast hrought hesecont actst hatHi ndu-Buddhist
,Mal ay-
Sanskr itandAr ab-Musl i
m Culturalandt echnologicalinf
luencesspr eadt othePhili
ppines.
Ther ehav eal sobeensomer eferences( byear l
yt r
avelersdur i
ngt hepr ecoloni
alper
iod)
tot rader elati
onsbet weenJapanandt hePhi l
ippines. Todat ehowev er,Phili
ppine
histori
anshav enotf oundanypr ehispanicr ef
erencest othePhi l
ippi
nesi nJapanese
l
iteratur eoftheperiod.

Byt het i
met heSpaniardscamet ocoloni
esthePhili
ppinesin1565;t heyfound
many scattered,autonomous v i
ll
age communiti
es (cal
l
ed bar angays)allov erthe
ar
chipel
ago.Thesewer ekinshipgr
oupsorsocialuni
tsrat
herthanpol i
ti
calunit
s. They
wereessential
lysubsi
stenceeconomiesproduci
ngmainlywhattheyneeded.

Thesecommuni ti
esexhi bit
edunev ent echnologicaldev elopment . Set tl
ement s
along t hecoastalareaswhi chhadbeen exposed t of or eign t rade andcul tural
cont actssuch as Mani la,Mi ndor o,Cebu,Sout hernMi ndanaoandSul u,seem t ohav e
attained a mor esophisticated t echnol ogy .In1570, forexampl e,theSpani ardsf ound
the t own ofMi ndoro" forti
fiedby a st one wal lov er fourteen f eett hick,"and
defendedbyar medMor os- -" bowmen, l
ancer s,and somegunner s, l
instocksi nhand. "
Ther ewer ea"largenumberofcul v eri
ns"al lalongt hehillsideoft het own.Theyf ound
Mani lasimil
arl
ydef endedbyapal i
sadeal ongi tsfrontwithpi ecesofar t
il
leryatitsgat e.
ThehouseofRaj aSoliman( whi chwasbur neddownbySpani ar ds)r epor tedlycontained
valuablear t
icl
esoft rade- -" money ,copper ,iron,porcelain,bl anket s,wax,cot tonand
woodenv at
sf ul
lofbr andy .
" Nextt ohi shousewasast orehousewhi chcont ained:
muchi ronandcopper ;aswel lascul veri
nsandcannonswhi chhadmel ted.Somesmal l
andl ar
gecannonhadj ustbegun.Ther ewer et heclayandwaxmoul ds,t helargestof
whi chwasf oracannonsev enteenf eetlong, resemblingacul ver in.
..

Theser eport
si ndi
catethatt heFilipinosi nMani l
ahadl ear
nedt omakeanduse
modernartil
l
ery.TheSpani sh colonizersnot ed thatallovertheisl
ands, Fil
i
pinoswer e
growi
ng rice,vegetables and cotton;r aisingswi ne,goats and f owls;maki ngwi ne,
vi
negarandsal t
;weav i
ngclothandpr oduci ng beeswaxandhoney . TheFi li
pinoswer e
al
somi ni
nggol dinsuchplacesasPanay , Mi ndoroandBi col
.Theywor ecolorful cl
othes,
madet hei
rowngol djewelryandev enfill
edt heirteet
hwi t
hgol d. Thei rhouseswer e
madeofwoodorbambooandni pa.Theyhadt hei
rownsy st
em ofwr iti
ngandwei ght
s
andmeasur es.Somecommuni t
ieshadbecomer enownedf ortheirplank-buil
tboat s.
Theyhadnocal endarbutcountedt hey earsbymoonsandf rom oneharv esttoanot her.

Intheint
eri
orandmountainsettl
ements,manyFi
li
pinoswerest
il
ll
iv
ingashunter
s.
Theygatheredfor
estproduct
st otradewiththel
owlandandcoastalset
tl
ements.But
theyal
somade" Ir
onlance-
poi
nts,daggersandcer
tai
nsmal lt
ool
susedintr
anspl
anti
ng.
"

On the whole,t he pre-colonialFi l

i
pinos wer e sti
llhighl ysupersti
ti
ous. The
Spaniardsfoundnot empl esorpl acesofwor ship. Al t
hought heFi l
i
pinosknewhowt o
readandwr it
eintheirownsy stem, thi
swasmai nlyusedf ormessagesandl ett
ers.They
seem nottohav edev elopedawr it
tenliter
aryt raditi
on att hatt ime.(
20) Thi swoul d
hav eled to a more sy stemat i
c accumul ation and di ssemi nation ofknowl edge,a
conditi
onthatisnecessar yfort hedev el
opmentofsci enceandt echnology.Becauseof
theabundanceofnat uralresour ces,abeni gn env ir
onment andgener al
ly spar se
populati
on,thereseemedt o hav e been l it
t l
epr essuref ori nventi
onandi nnov at
ion
amongt heearly Fil
ipinos. Asgov ernorFr anciscodeSandeobser vedin1575,t he
Fil
ipi
nosdonotunder standanyki ndofwor k,unl essi tbet odosomet hingact uall
y
necessary--suchast obui l
dt heirhouses, whichar emadeofst akesaftertheirfashi
on;
tof i
sh,accordi
ngtot heirmet hod;t or ow,and per formt hedut i
esofsailors;and t o

3
cul
ti
vat
ethel
and.
..

Dev
elopment
sinSci
enceandTechnol
ogy

Dur
ingt
heSpani
shRegi
me

The begi
nningsofmoder n science and t echnologyinthePhili
ppinescanbe
tr
acedt otheSpanishregime.TheSpani ardsest abl
ishedschool
s,hospi
tal
sandst ar
ted
scientif
icresear
chandt hesehadimpor tantconsequencesf ortheriseofthecountry’
s
professions.Butthedirectionandpaceofdev elopmentofscienceandtechnologywere
greatlyshapedbyt heroleoft her
eli
giousor dersintheconquestandcolonizati
onofthe
archipelagoandbyeconomi candtradeadopt edbyt hecoloni
algover
nment.

Theinter
act
ionoft hesef
orcesandther esul
ti
ngsocio-
economicandpol i
tical
changesmust ,t
heref
ore,beanal
yzedi
npresent
ingahi st
oryofsci
enceandtechnology
i
nt hePhil
i
ppines.

Spanishconquestandt hecol onizat

ionoft hear chi
pelagoweregreat
lyfaci
li
tated
byt headopt ionofanessentiallyreli
giousst r
at egywhi chhadear li
erbeensuccessfull
y
usedi nLatinAmer i
ca.Knownasr educcion,i
tr equiredt heconsoli
dati
onofthefar
-fl
ung,
scat t
ered barangaycommuni tiesintof ewer,l argerand mor ecompactset tl
ement s
withint heheari
ngdistanceoft hechur chbel l
s. Thi swasanecessar yr
esponsetot he
i
nitialshort
ageofSpani shmissi onari
esi nthePhi li
ppines.Thi spol
icywascarri
edoutby
acombi nati
onofreli
giousconv ersi
onandmi li
tar yforce.

Thenetr esultofreduccionwast hecreat i

onoft ownsandt hefoundat i
onofthe
presentsystem oflocalgov ernment . Thepr ecoloni
alr ulingclass,thedat usandtheir
heredit
arysuccessor s,wer eadopt edbytheSpani shcol onialgovernmenti ntothisnew
system toser v
east heheadsoft helowestl evelofl ocalgov er
nment ;i
.e.ascabezas
de barangay . The col onialauthor i
ti
es found t he new set -
up expedi t
ious f or
establi
shi
ng cent r
alizedpolit
icalcont r
olovert hearchipelago- -f
ort heimpositi
on and
coll
ecti
on oft hetribut
et ax,enforcementofcompul soryl aborser vi
ces among t he
nativeFil
i
pinos,andi mpl
ement ati
on of t hecompul sorysal eofl ocalproductstothe
government.

The Fili
pinosnat urall
yresistedreduccionasi tt ook them awayf r
om t heirrice
fi
elds,thestreamsandt he forests whichwer et heirtradi
tionalsourcesofl i
vel
ihood
and al so subj ected them t ot he oner ous economi c exact i
ons by t he coloni al
government.Thus t he f i
rstcenturyofSpani shr ule brought about ser ioussoci o-
economi c dislocation and a decl i
ne ki n agricult
ural product i
on andt radi
tional
craft
si nmanypl aces.I nthe region sur rounding the wal l
edci tyofMani la,Fil
i
pinos
migrated fr
om t hei rbarangaystot hecityinor dertoser veint heconv ents andt hus
avoidt hecompul soryl
aborser vi
cesi nt he shipyards andf orests.Ov erthecent uri
es,
thi
spopul at
ionmov ementwoul dgr eatl
ycont ri
butet othecongest i
onofMani laandi ts
suburbs.

Ther el
igi
ousor der
slikewi
seplayed amaj orrol
ei ntheest abl
ishmentofthe
colonialeducat
ionalsyst
em i
nthePhi
li
ppines.Theyalsoinf
luencedthedevel
opmentof
technologyandpr omoti
onofscient
if
icr esear
ch. Hence,theserolesmustnextbe
exami ned.

Var
ious decr eeswerei ssuedi nSpaincall
ingforthe est
abl i
shmentofa school
system inthecol onybutt hese wer e noteffecti
vel
ycarri
ed out . Primaryinstr
ucti
on
duri
ngt heSpani shr egimewasgener all
ytakencar eofbyt hemi ssi
onar i
esandpar ish
pri
estsint hev i
ll
agesandt owns.Owi ngtothedear thofquali
fiedteachers,text
books
andot heri nst
ructionalmat eri
als,pri
maryinstructi
onwasmai nlyreli
giouseducation.
Higher educat ion was pr ovi
ded byschool s setup byt he di f
fer
ent r el
igi
ous

4
ordersi nt heurbancent ers,mostofthem inMani l
a.Forexampl e,theJesui t
sfounded
i
nCebuCi tytheCol egiodeSanI l
defonso( 1595)andi nMani la,theCol egiodeSan
Ignacio( 1595),theCol egiodeSanJose( 1601)andt heAt eneodeMani la( 1859).The
Domi nicanshadt heCol egiodeSanJuandeLet ran(1640)inMani l
a.Accesst ot hese
schoolswas, howev er,li
mitedtotheelit
e oft he colonialsociety--the European-born
and localSpani ards,themest i
zosandaf ew nat i
veFi l
ipi
nos.Cour sesleadingtot he
B.A.degr ee,Bachil
lerenAr t
es,weregi v
enwhi chbyt heni neteenthcent uryincl
uded
sciencesubj ectssuchasphy si
cs,chemistr
y,naturalhi
storyandmat hematics.

Onthewhol e,however
,hi
ghereducat i
onwaspur suedfort
hepr i
esthood or f or
cler
ical posit
ions in thecol
onialadministr
ati
on. I
twasonlyduri
ngt helatt
erpar
tof
the nineteent
h centur
yt hattechnical
/vocati
onalschool
s were establi
shed by t
he
Spaniards.(
26)

Throughoutt heSpani shr egime,t heroyalandpont i

ficalUni ver
sit
yofSant oTomas
remained as t he highesti nst i
tut
ion ofl earning. Run by t he Dominicans,itwas
establ
ishedasacol l
egein1611byFr ayMi gueldeBenav i
des.I tinit
ial
l
ygranteddegr ees
i
nt heology,philosophyandhumani t
ies. Dur ingtheeight eent
hcent ury
,thef acul
tyof
j
urisprudenceandcanoni callawwasest abli
shed.In1871,t heschoolsofmedi cineand
pharmacywer eopened.Fr om 1871t o1886, t
heUni v
ersi
t yofSant oTomasgr antedt he
degreeofLi cenciadoenMedi cinato62gr aduates.Forthedoct oratedegreeinmedi cine,
atleastanaddi tonalyearofst udywasr equir
edatt heUni versi
dadCent r
aldeMadr idin
Spain.

Thest udyofphar macyconsi stedofapr epar atorycour sewi t

hsubj ectsinnat ural
hi
stor y and gener alchemi stry and f i
vey ear s of st udies in subj ect
s such as
pharmaceut icaloperati
onsatt heschoolofphar macy .Attheendoft hisperiodoft he
degreeofBachi l
lerenFar maciawasgr anted.Thedegr eeofl i
centiatei nphar macy ,
whichwasequi valenttoamast er
'sdegr ee,was gr antedaf t
ert woy earsofpr act
icei na
pharmacy ,onel ofwhi chcould bet aken si mul taneousl ywi t
ht heacademi ccour ses
aft
ert he secondy earcourse ofst udy.I n1876, t
heuni versi
tygr antedthebachel or'
s
degreei nphar macyt oitsf
irstsixgr aduatesi nt heschoolofphar macy .Amongt hem
wasLeonMa.Guer r
ero,whoisusual lyreferr
edt oast he"FatherofPhi li
ppinePharmacy "
becuaseofhi sextensiveworkont hemedi cinalpl antsoft hePhi l
ippinesandt heiruses.
Thet otalnumberofgr aduatesinphar macydur ingt heSpani shperiodwas164.

Therewer enoschool soffer

ingengineer
ingatt hattime. Thef ew whost udied
engineeri
nghadt ogot oEurope. There was aNaut icalSchoolcr eatedon1Januar y
1820whi choffer
ed a f our-y
ear course ofst udy( f
ort heprofessionof pi l
ot of
merchantmar ine)thati
ncludedsubject
sasar i
thmeti
c,algebra,geomet ry,
tri
gonomet ry,
physics,hydr
ography,meteorol
ogy,nav i
gati
on andpilotage. ASchoolofCommer cial
Account i
ngandaSchool ofFrenchandEngl i
shLanguageswer eest
ablishedin1839.

In 1887,t heManilaSchoolofAgr i
cul
ture was cr eated byr oyaldecr ee buti t
wasabl et oopenonl yin Jul y 1889. TheSchoolwasdesi gnedtopr ovi
det heoretical
andpr acticaleducat i
onofski l
ledf ar
mer sandov erseer sandt opr omoteagr i
cult
ur al
devel
opmenti nt hePhil
i
ppinesbymeansofobser vation,experimentandi nvest i
gat
ion.
Agri
culturalst ati
onswer eal soest abl
ishedinI sabela,Ilocos,Albay,Cebu,I l
oilo,Ley t
e
andpar tsofMi ndanao.Thepr ofessorsintheSchoolwer eagr i
cult
uralengineers. The
Schoolwasf inancedbyt hegov er
nmentbuti tappear sthatitsdirecti
onwasal soleftto
thepri
est s.Thecer ti
fi
catesofcompl eti
onoft hecour sewer eawar dedbyt heUni versity
ofSantoTomasort heAt eneoMuni ci
pal.Itseemst hatt heSchoolwasnotsuccessf ul
asFil
ipinosdi dnotshowmuchi nclinati
onforindustrialpursuits.

I
n1863,thecol onialauthor
it
iesissuedar oyaldecr
eedesignedt oref
ormt he
existi
ngeducati
onalsystem inthecountry.I t provi
ded for t
heestabli
shmentofa
system of elementary,secondary andcol l
egi
ateschools,t
eacher-
tr
aini
ng schools,
andcal l
ed f
orgov er
nmentsuper visi
onoft hese school
s. Thefulli
mplementat
ionof

5
t
hisdecr
ee,
howev
er,
wasi
nter
rupt
edbyt
hecomi
ngoft
heAmer
icansi
n1898.

Higher educat i
on dur i
ngt heSpani sh r egime was gener al
ly v i
ewed wi th
suspicionandf earedbyt hecol onial author i
ties asencour agi ng conspi racyand
rebell
ion among t he nat i
v e Fi l
i
pinos. Fort hisr eason,onlyt he mor e dar ing and
persev eringstudent swer eabl etounder takeadv ant
agedst udies.Theat tit
udeoft he
Spanish f ri
arst owards t he study oft he sci ences and medi ci ne was ev en mor e
discour aging. AsoneRect oroft heUni versit
yofSant oTomasi nt he1960ssai d:
"Medici neandt henat uralsciencesar emat eri
alisti
candi mpiousst udies."I twasnot
surpri
si ng,therefore,thatfewFi li
pinosventur edt ost udythesedi scipl
ines.Thosewho
did wer e poor l
yt rai
ned when compar ed wi t
ht hose who had gone t o Eur opean
universiti
es. Sci encecour sesatt heUniver si
tyofSant oTomaswer et aughtbyt he
l
ect ur
e/ recitat
ionmet hod. Labor atoryequi pmentwasl i
mi t
edandonl ydi splay edfor
visi
torst o see. Ther ewasl it
tleornot raining i n sci entif
icr esearch. Si rJohn
Bowr i
ng,t heBr i
ti
shGov er
norofHongkongwhomadeanof fi
cialv isi
ttot hePhi lippi
nes
i
nt he1850swr ote:

Publ
icinst
ruct
ionisinanunsat
isf
act
orystat
eint
hePhi
l
ippi
nes-
-t
hepr
ovi
sions
ar
eli
tt
lechangedfrom t
hoseoft
hemonkishages.

I
ntheUni
versi
tyofSantoTomas..
.noat
tent
ionisgi
vent ot
henat
uralsci
ences.
..
norhaveanyoft heeducati
onalrefor
mswhichhavepenetr
atedmostofthecoll
eges
ofEuropeandAmer i
cafoundt
heirwaytothePhil
i
ppines.

I
nspiteofthesmallnumberofFil
ipinogr
aduat
esfrom t
heUSTinmedi ci
neand
thesci encestheysti
llf
acedt heprobl
em ofunemployment. Thiswasbecauset he
colonialgov er
nmentpreferr
ed to appoint Spani sh and ot
herEuropean-
tr
ained
professional
sto

Att hestartoft heAmer icanregime,aGer manphy sicianofMani l

asubmitteda
reporttotheauthorit
iesont hecondi t
ionsatUST' smedicalcol l
ege.Ther eportmentions,
among ot her
s,i tsl ack oflibraryfacil
it
ies,theuseofout dated textbooks (some
publi
shedi n1845) ,thatnof emal ecadaverhadev erbeendi ssectedand t heanatomy
coursewasa" far
ce",t hatmostgr aduates "nev erhad attended ev en onecaseof
confinementor seen a case of laparotomy" andt hatbacteriol
ogyhadbeen
i
ntroducedonl y sincet he Amer i
can occupat i
on and " was st i
llt aught without
microscopes!" Manyoft hese graduatesl aterj
oinedther evol
uti
onarymov ement
againstSpain.

Wi t
ht heopeni ngoft heSuezCanali n1869andt heconsequenteasei nt r
av eland
communi cationst hatitbr oughtabout ,theliberali deasandsci enti
fi
cknowl edgeoft he
West al so r eachedt he Phi l
ippines. Thepr osper it
yt hatresult
edf rom incr eased
commer cebet weent hePhi lippi
nesandt her estoft hewor l
denabl edFil
ipi
nost udent sto
got oEur opef orpr ofessionaladv ancedst udies.Thesei ncludedJoseRi zalwhowas
abletopur suest udies i nMedi cine and speci alizeinopht halmologyinSpai n and
Germany ;Gr aciano Apaci ble who st udied medi cine in Madr i
d;Ant onio Luna who
obtai
nedhi sPh. D.inphar macyi nMadr idandl aterwor kedwi threnownedsci ent i
stsin
GhentandPar is;JoseAl ejandri
no whot ookupengi neeri
ngi nBelgi
um,andot hers.It
wast hisgr oupofst udentswhi chsetupt hePr opagandaMov ementi nEur opet hat
eventual
lyledtot hePhi li
ppi nerev olut
ionagai nstSpai n.

Ther eligiousorderspr ovidedmostoft heteachi ngfor ceandi nst

it
utionsofl earni
ng
i
nt hecol ony . Thiswassi mi l
artothesituati
ont hathadear lierprevail
edi nEur ope
(wheret heyhadcomef rom)dur ingthemedi ev alages. I nev
itably
,member soft he
rel
igi
ousor dersalsot ookt hel eadintechnologicali nnov at
ionandsci entifi
cresear ch.
Thisinvolvementi nvariablyar ose fr
om theirneedt opr ovi
def orbasicnecessi tiesas
theywentar oundthear chipelagotoperf
ormt heirmi ssionarywor kofpr opagat i
ngthe
Catholi
cf aithandt of inancet he coll
eges,hospi tal s andor phanagest hattheyhad

6
est
abl
i
shed.

TheSpaniar
dsi ntr
oducedthetechnologyoft ownplanningandbui l
dingwit
hstones,
bri
ckandt il
es. Inmanypl aces,rel
igi
ous( suchasBi shopSal azari
nMani l
a)personall
y
l
edi ntheseundertakings.Becauseoft hel ackofski ll
edFi l
i
pinosintheseoccupations,
theSpaniardshadt oimpor tChi
nesemast erbui l
ders,art
isansandmasons.Thenat i
ve
Fil
ipi
noswer edrafted,thr
ought heinst
it
utionofcompul sorylaborservi
ces,t
owor kon
theseproject
s. Int hismanner,theconst ructionoft hewal lsofMani l
a,it
schur ches,
convents,hospit
als,schoolsandpubl i
cbui l
dingswer ecompl et
edbyt hesev ent
eenth
century.

Towardst heendoft hesi xteenthcent ury,ther eli

giousor dershadest abl
ished
severalcharit
yhospi talsi nt hear chipel
agoandi nfactpr ovi
dedt hebul kofthispubl i
c
servi
ce. Thesehospi tals became t he setti
ngf orr udi ment ar
ysci enti
fic workdur i
ng
the Spanishr egimel ongbef oretheest abli
shmentoft heUni versi
tyofSant oTomas
(UST)col l
egeofmedi cine.Resear chint hesei nst
itutionswer econfinedt opharmacy
andmedi cineandconcent ratedont heproblemsofi nfect i
ousdiseases, t
heircausesand
possibleremedi es.Sev eralSpani shmi ssionariesobser ved,catal
oguedandwr oteabout
Phil
ippineplants,part
icul arl
yt hosewi thmedi cinalproper ti
es.Themostnot abl
eoft hese
was Fat herFernandodeSt a.Mar ia'sManualdeMedi cinasCaser aspubl i
shed in1763
whichwassoi ndemandt hatithadunder gonesev eraledi ti
onsby1885.

Byt hesecondhal fofthenineteenthcentury,studiesofinfect

iousdi seasessuch
as smal l
pox,cholera,buboni cpl
ague,dy sentery
,leprosyandmal ari
awer eintensi
fi
ed
witht hepar ti
cipati
onofgr aduatesofmedi cineandphar macyfrom UST. (45)Att hi
s
ti
me, nat i
veFil
ipinosbegantopar ti
cipatei
nsci ent
ifi
cresearch.In1887, theLabor at
ori
o
Munici paldeCi udaddeMani l
awascr eat
edbydecr ee. I t
smai nf unct i
onswer eto
conduct bi ochemi cal anal
y ses for public health and t o under take speci men
exami nati
onsf orcli
nicalandmedi co-l
egalcases.Ithadapubl i
cati
oncal ledCronicade
CienciasMedi casdeFi l
ipi
nasshowi ngscienti
fi
cstudiesbeingdonedur ingt hatti
me.

Therewasv eryl i
tt
ledev el opmenti nPhil
ippineagr icul
tureandi ndustrydur i
ngt he
fi
rstt wocent uriesofSpani shr ule. Thi swasl ar gelyduet othedependenceoft he
Spanishcol onizer sont hepr of i
tsf rom theGal leonorMani la-
Acapulcot rade,whi ch
l
asted from 1565 t o 1813. I twasact ual
lybased on t het r
adewi t
h Chi na whi ch
antedatedSpani shr ule.Thegal leonsbr oughttoLat inAmer i
caChi nesegoods- -si
lkand
othercloths,por celainandt hel i
ke- -andbr oughtbackt oMani laMexi cansil
v er. When
theSpanish and Por tugueset hroneswer eunitedf rom 1581 t o 1640,goods br ought
toMani l
abyshi psf rom JapanandPor t
ugueseshi psf r
om Si am, I
ndia,Malacca, Bor neo
andCambodi awer eal so car riedby t he gall
eonst oMexico.Dur i
ngt hetime,Mani l
a
prosperedast heent repotoft heOr ient.

TheFili
pinoshardl
ybenef i
tedf r
om t heGalleont r
ade. Directpar t
icipati
oninthe
tradewasl i
mi t
edt o SpanishinhabitantsofMani l
awhower egivenshar esofladi
ng
spacei nthegal l
eons.Manyoft hem simplyspecul at
edont hesetradingrightsandliv
ed
offont hei
rprofits.I
twastheChi nesewhopr ofi
tedmostf rom thet r
ade.Theyact edas
thet rade'
s packer s,mi
ddlemen,r etail
ersandal soprovi
dedser vicesandot herskil
ls
whi chtheSpanishcommuni t
yinI ntr
amur osneeded.

Spani shpreoccupat i
onwi tht heMani laGal l
eonev entuall
yl edt othenegl ectof
agri
cul tur
e and mi ni
ng and the decl i
ne ofnat i
ve handi
craftsand i ndustri
esi nthe
Phil
ippines.Thedel et
eriouseffectsofthet radeont hearchipel
ago'sdomest i
ceconomy
hadbeenpoi ntedoutbysomeSpani shof fici
alsasear l
yas1592.Butt hi
sseemst o
havebeenl ar
gelyignoredbycol onialpol
icy-makers.Onl ythelocalshipbuil
dingindust
ry
continuedt opr osperbecauseofnecessi ty--t obuildthegal leonsandot herships
requiredf ori
nternalcommer ceandt hedef enseoft hearchipel
ago.Thi shadbecome
quit
e wel ldev el
oped according to a Fr ench visi
torint he nineteenth centur
y. He
obser ved:

7
 Inmanypr ov
incesshipbuil
ding i
sentir
elyinthehandsoft henativ
es. The
excel
l
enceoftheirworkisproofthattheyar
eperfect
lycapabl
eofunder
taki
ngthest
udy
ofabstr
usesciencesandt hatmat hemati
calequati
onsarebynomeansbey ondthei
r
comprehensi
on..
..

Agri
cultur
aldevelopmentwasl efttot heresidentChi neseandt heSpani shf ri
ars.
Thelattersawi nthecul t
ivati
onoft heirlargeest atesar oundMani laasteadysour ceof
fi
nancialsupportfortheirchur ches,col leges,hospi t
alsandor phanagesinI ntramur os.
Thefriarestatesprofi
tedf rom t heexpandi ngdomest icfoodmar ketasar esultoft he
populati
on growth ofMani la and i ts subur bs. Butt he f
riar
s contri
bution int he
devel
opment of exi sting agr icult
uralt echnology was mor e of quant i
tati
v et han
quali
tati
veinnat ure. Thepr of i
tabil
i
t yoft hei
rest ateswasl argelyderi
vedf rom the
i
ntensiveexploit
ati
onofnat i
vetechnol ogyandt heirfreecompul sorypersonalser vi
ces.

Successi
veshi pwrecksofand pi r
ati
calatt
acksont hegall
eonstoMexicoledto
decl
iningprofit
sfrom the tr
ade andtr
igger
edaneconomi cdepressi
oninManil
aduring
thelatterpartofthesev ent
eenthcent
ury.Thissituat
ionwasaggravat
edbyincr
easing
rest
ricti
onsont hegoodscar ri
edbytheMani l
aGalleonasaconsequenceofopposit
ion
comingf rom Andalusi
onmer chant
sandmer cant
il
istsi
nSpain.

Att he beginni
ng oftheeighteenth century,the Bourbondy nasty ascended to
the Spanishthrone and broughtwi thi tpolit
icalandeconomi cideasoft heFrench
Enl
ightenment. Thi spavedt hewayf ormor egov er
nmentat tent
iont otheeconomi c
developmentoft hePhili
ppines. Enter pr
isi
ngSpani ardsbegant oexploitthemi neral
wealthoft heisl
ands,developitsagricult
ure,andest abl
ishi
ndust r
ies. Theseef fort
s
weref ur
therencouragedbyt heneedt opromot eeconomi crecovery aft
ert heBr i
ti
sh
OccupationofMani l
ain1762-1764.

Research inagr i
cultur
eandi ndust rywasencour aged byt hefoundi ngoftheReal
SociedadEconomi cadel osAmi gosdelPai s deFi l
ipinas (Roy alEconomi cSoci etyof
Friendsoft he Phili
ppines)byGov ernadorJose BascoyVar gasunderaut hori
tyofa
royaldecree of1780.Composedofpr i
vateindi
vidual s and gov ernmentof f
ici
als,the
Society f uncti
oned somewhat l ike t he Eur opean l earned soci eti
esdur ing the
eighteenthandni neteent h centuriesand a moder nNat i
onalResear chCounci l,I t
under t
ook t hepromot ion oft hecul t
ivati
onofindi go,cot ton,ci nnamon,andpepper
and t he dev el
opmentoft hesil
ki ndustry. During t heni neteenth cent ury,itwas
endowedwi thfundswhi chi tused t opr ovi
de pr i
zesf orsuccessf ulexperimentsand
i
nv entionsforthei mpr ovementofagr icult
ureandi ndustry
:t ofinancet he publicati
on
ofsci enti
fi
candt echnicallit
erat
ure,tri
psof sci ent ist
sf r
om Spai ntot hePhi l
ippines,
professorships;
andt opr ovi
deschol arshipstoFil
ipinos.

In 1789,Manilawasopenedt oAsianshippi
ng. Thi sinaugur
atedaneraof
i
ncreasi
ngPhi
li
ppineexport
sofri
ce,hemp,sugar
,tobacco,i
ndigoandot
hersandri
sing
i
mpor t
sofmanuf act
uredgoods.In1814,Manil
awasof fi
cial
l
yopenedtowor l
dtr
ade
andcommerce;subsequent
lyot
herPhil
i
ppi
neportswereopened.

For eigncapi talwasallowedt ooperateonanequalf oot

ingwithSpani shmer chants
i
n1829. Byt hismeansagr icul
tur
alpr oductionpar ticular
lyofsugarandhemp,was
acceler atedandmoder ni
zed. Locali ndust r
iesf l
our i
shedi nMani l
aandi tssubur bs- -
weav ing,embr oider y,hatmaki ng,car r
iage manuf acture, r ope-making,ci garand
ci
gar ettes-maki ng. Muchof t he f
ini
shedpr oduct softhesei ndust r
ieswer e
expor ted.Yetal thoughPhi l
ippineexpor tskeptr isi
ngdur i
ngt heni neteenthcent ury,
i
mpor ts ofmanuf actur
ed goods al so rose and f oreign,parti
cular
lyEngl ish capi tal
domi nat edext ernalt r
adeandcommer ce.Thi spar t
lybecauseofshor t-
sightedSpani sh
colonialt rade pol i
ciesand t he rel
ativ
ei nexperienceandl ackofcapi t
alofSpani sh
colonialt radepol iciesandt her el
ati
veinexper ienceandl ack ofcapitalofSpani shand
Fil
i
pinomer chants.

8
 Thepr osperityarisingfrom expandedwor l
dt radeandcommer ceint henineteenth
centuryledt oMani la'
sr apiddev elopmentasacosmopol it
ancent er.Moder nameni ti
es
--awat erworkssy stem, steam t r
amway s, electri
cl i
ght s,
newspaper s,abankingsy stem -
-wer eintroducedi ntotheci tybyt helatterhal foft henineteenthcentury. Undoubt edly,
commer cialneedsl edt ot heSpani shgov ernment sest abli
shmentofaNaut i
calSchool ,
vocationalschool sand a School of Agr icult
ur e dur i
ng t he nineteenth cent ury.
Vari
ousof fi
cesandcommi ssionswer eal socr eatedbyt heSpanishgov ernmentbyt he
Spanishgov ernmentt o under take studi es andr egulat
ions of mi nes,r esear
chon
Phil
ippine f l
ora,agr onomi cresearch andt eachi ng,geologicalresearchandchemi cal
analysisofmi neralwat ersthroughoutt hecount ry .Howev er,l
it
tleisknownaboutt he
accompl ishment soft hesesci enti
ficbodi es.

Met eorol
ogicalstudies wer e promoted by Jesui ts who f ounded t he Mani l
a
Observ atoryin 1865. The Obser vat
orycol l
ect ed and made av ail
ablet yphoon and
cli
mat ologicalobservat
ions. Theseobser vati
onsgr ew innumberandi mpor tanceso
thatby1879,i tbecamepossi bleforFr.Federi
coFaur atoi ssuethef i
rstpubl i
ct yphoon
warning. Theser v
icewassohi ghl
yappr eciated by t hebusi ness andsci enti
fi
c
communi ti
est hatinApr i
l1884, a r oyaldecr ee made t heObser vat
or yanof fi
cial
i
nstit
ut i
onr unbyt heJesuit
s,andal soestabli
shedanet wor kofmet eorol
ogicalst ati
ons
underi t.In1901,t heObservatorywasmadeacent ralstat
ionoft hePhi l
i
ppineWeat her
Bureauwhi chwassetupbyt heAmer icancoloni alauthorit
ies.Itremai nedundert he
Jesuitsci enti
stsand pr ovi
ded notonl ymet eor ol
ogicalbutal so seismol ogicaland
astr
onomi calstudi
es.

Thebenef i
tsofeconomi cdev elopmentdur i
ngt heni net eent hcent urywer eunev enly
dist
r i
but edi nt hear chipelago.Whi leMani l
apr osper edandr apidlymoder nized,muchof
thecount rysider emai ned under dev eloped and poor . Theexpansi onofagr i
cultural
product ionf orexpor texacer bat edexi sti
ngsoci o-economi ci nequalityt hathadbeen
cumul ati
v econsequenceoft hei ntroduct ionofl andaspr i
v atepr opertyatt hebegi nning
ofSpani sh r ule. Ther ewasi ncreasi ng concent ration ofweal th among t hel arge
l
andowner s- -theSpani ar ds,especi all
yt her eli
giousor der s,t heSpani shandChi nese
mest izos,t henat i
vePr i
nci pali
a- -andpov ertyandl andl essnessamongt hemasses.
Thisi nequal i
ty,coupledwi thabusesandi njusti
cescommi ttedbyt heSpani shf r
iarsand
offi
cial sgav erisetoPhi l
ippinenat i
onal ism andev entual lytheRev olut
ionof1896.
Att heend oft heSpani sh r egime,t hePhi l
ippineshad ev olved i nt
o apr i
mar y
agriculturalexpor ti
ngeconomy . Pr ogressi nagr i
cul turehadbeenmadepossi bleby
somegov ernmentsuppor tforr esear chandeducat i
oni nt hisf ield.Buti twasl argelythe
entryoff orei gncapi t
alandt echnol ogywhi chbr oughtaboutt hemoder nizati
onofsome
sector s,not ablysugarandhemppr oduct i
on. Thel ackofi nterestandsuppor tf or
resear chanddev el
opmentofnat ivei ndustrieslikeweav ing,f orexampl e,eventuallyled
tothei rfailuret osur vi
vet hecompet i
tionwi thforeigni mpor ts.Becauseofnecessi tyand
thesoci alpr est i
geat tachedt ouni versityeducat i
on,medi cineandphar macyr emai ned
themostdev el
opedsci ence- basedpr ofessionsdur i
ngt heSpani shr egime.

Sci
enceandTechnol
ogydur
ingt
heFi
rstRepubl
i
c

Therewasv eryli
tt
ledevelopmentinsci enceandt echnologyduringt heshort
-l
ived
Phil
i
ppi neRepublic(1898-1900). Thegov ernmentt ookstepst oest ablishasecular
educationalsyst
em byadecr eeof19Oct ober1898;itcreatedt heUniversidadLi
terari
a
deFi li
pinasasasecul ar,state-
support
ed i nst
it
uti
on ofhi gherlearning. Itoffered
coursesi nlaw,medici
ne,surgery,phar
macyandnot arypublic.Duringitsshor tl
i
fe,the
Universit
ywasabl etohol dgraduati
onexercisesinTar l
acon29Sept ember1899when
degreesi nmedici
neandl awwer eawarded.

Dev
elopment
sinSci
enceandTechnol
ogy

9
Dur
ingt
heAmer
icanRegi
me

ScienceandtechnologyinthePhi l
ippi
nesadv ancedrapidl
ydur i
ngtheAmer ican
regime. Thiswas made possi bl
e by t hesi
mul t
aneousgov ernmentencour
agement
andsuppor tf
oranextensivepubli
c educati
onsy st
em;t hegranti
ngofscholar
shipsfor
highereducati
oninsci enceandengi neeri
ng;theor gani
zat
ionof sci enceresearch
agenciesandestabli
shmentofsci ence-based publi
c ser v i
ces.

TheAmer icansi ntr

oduced asystem ofsecul ar
ized publ
icschooleducat i
on as
soonasci vilgov ernmentwassetupi nt heislands.On21Januar y1901, t
hePhi l
ippine
Commi sion,whi chact edast heexecut
iveandl egislati
vebodyf orthePhi li
ppinesunt i
l
1907,pr omul gated ActNo.74 cr eati
ng a Depar tmentofPubl i
cI nstr
uction int he
Phil
i
ppines.I tpr ovi
dedf ortheest
abli
shmentofschool sthatwouldgi vefreepr i
mar y
educat
ion,wi thEngl ishasthemedium ofi nstructi
on.Thi swasf ol
lowedbyt hesetting
upofaPhi lippineNor malSchoolt
ot r
ainFi l
i
pi not eachers. Secondar yschool swer e
opened aftera f urtherenactmentoft he Phi li
ppine in Commi ssion in 1902. The
Phil
i
ppineMedi calSchoolwasest abl
ished in 1905 and wasf ol
lowed byot her
prof
essionaland t echni
calschool
s. Thesewer elaterabsorbedintot heUni v
ersit
yof
thePhi
lippines.

Thecolonialauthori
ti
esi niti
all
yadoptedacoor dinatedpol icyf ort hepr omoti
onof
highereducat i
oni nthesci encesandgov ernmentresearchi nstitutionsandagenci es
performingtechnicalfuncti
ons. TheUni versi
tyofthePhi li
ppi neswascr eatedon18
June1908byActoft hePhilippineLegisl
ature.Amongt hefirstcol legest o beopened
wer etheCollegeofAgr iculturei n LosBaños,Lagunai n1909,t heCol l
egesofLiber al
Arts,Engineeringand VeterinaryMedi ci
nei n1910andt heCol legeofLaw i n 1911.By
1911,t he Universi
tyhad an enr oll
mentof1, 400 students, FourYear sl at
er,its
enroll
menthadal mostdoubl ed( to2,398)andt heUniversit
yi ncludedt wonew uni ts,a
SchoolofPhar macyandaGr aduateSchoolofTr opi
calMedi cineandPubl i
cHeal t
h.I n
1916, t
heSchool ofForestryandConser v
atoryofMusi cwere est ablished;andin1918,
theCol l
egeofEducat i
onwasopened.

Excepti nt heCol l
egeofMedi cine,wheretherewer eal r
eadyanumberofFi lipino
phy sicianswhower equali
fiedto become i tsfacult
ymember s wheni twasopenedi n
1907,mostoft he earlyinstr
uctors andpr ofessorint hesciencesandengi neeringat
theUni versi
tyofthePhi l
ippineswer eAmer i
cansandot herforeigners.Qual i
fi
edFi li
pinos
wer esentabr oadf oradvancedt r
ainingandbyt hismeansf oreignf acultyweregr adual l
y
replaced byFi li
pinos. Forexampl e,in 1920,Fili
pino Ph.D.gr aduat es of U. S.
univer siti
es took ov erthe Depar tmentofAgr i
cul
ture Chemi str
yi nt he Coll
ege of
Agr i
cul ture.ByDecember1926,t he universi
ty'
senr ol
lmenti nallcollegeshadr eached
6,464andoutofat ot
alteaching st af
fof463,onl y44 wer eAmer icansand ot her
foreigner s.

Befor e 1910,t he Amer ican colonialgov ernmentencour aged y oung men and
woment ogethi gherpr ofessi onaleducat i
onasmuchaspossi bleinAmer i
cancol leges.
In1903,t hePhi l
ippi
necommi ssionpassedanActt ofinancet hesendi ngof135boy s
andgi rl
sofhi ghschoolaget ot heUnitedSt atest obeeducat edast eacher s,engineer s,
physiciansandl awyers.Onet hir
doft hesewer echosenbyt hegov ernor-generalona
nation-widebasi sandt her estbyt heprovi
ncial author
it
ies.Inexchangef ort hi
sprivil
ege,
thepensi onados,ast heycamet obecal l
ed,wer etoserveint hepubl i
cser vi
cef orfive
yearsaf t
ert heirret
urnf rom t heirst udi
es.Bet ween1903and1912, 209menandwomen
wereeducat edundert hispr ogr am i nAmericanschool s.Af t
ert heestablishmentoft he
Universit
y of t hePhi li
ppi nes,schol arshi
ps f or advancedst udi
esofasci entifi
cor
technicalnat ureinAmer ican Uni versi
ti
eswer egi venonlyinpr eparati
onf orassignment
tojobsi nt hepubl i
cser vice.

The Phi
l
ippi
ne Commi
ssi
oni
ntr
oducedsci
ence subj
ect
s andi
ndust
ri
al and

10
vocationaleducat ioni ntot he Phi l
ippine schoolsy st
em butt heyf oundthati ndust ri
al
andv ocation cour ses wer ev ery unpopul arwi tht heFi l
ipi
nos.Whent heMani laTr ade
Schoolwasopenedi n1901,t heschoolaut hori
tiesf oundi tdi ff
icultt ogetst udentst o
enrollint hesecour ses.Becauseoft hei ralmost400y earsofcol oni alexperienceunder
theSpani ards,mi ddlecl assFi lipinos haddev el
opedagener aldisdai nformanualwor k
and apr ef er
ence f orthepr estigiouspr ofessionsoft he t i
me,namel y,t
hepr i
esthood,
l
awandmedi ci
ne.Educat ioni nthesepr ofessionscamet ober egar dedast hemeansof
maki ngt hebestoft hel i
mi t
edoppor tunit
iesi nt heSpani shcol oni albureaucracyand
thusofr i
singf r
om one' ssoci al class.Hence, evenatt henewl y-openedUni versi
tyoft he
Phili
ppi nes,itwasdi f
ficultt ogetst udent st o enr olli n cour seswhi chr equiredf iel
d
wor ksuch as,f or exampl e,agr icultur
e, vet
er i
narymedi cine, engineeri
ngand ot her
appli
ed sci ence. Schol arshipswer et husof f
ered byt hegov ernmentt o at t
racta
suffi
ci entnumberofst udent st oenr olli n coursest hatwer e needed t of i
llupt he
technicalposi t
ionsi nt hegov ernmentser vice.

Int hef i
eld ofmedi ci
ne,thePhi l
i
ppineCommi ssi
on pr ov i
ded f or as many
scholarshi
ps as there werer egul
arlyor ganized pr ovinces int he Islands.These
wereawar dedbyt heschool depar t
ment saftercompet it
iveexami nati
onsint he
provi
nces.A r ecipi
entoftheseschol arshi
pswasr equiredtor et
ur nt ot heprovince
fr
om whence hecameandt oserveasaphy sicianforasmanyy ear s as his medi cal
educati
on waspai dforby the government . Thispolicywasadopt ednotonl y
to assuret he medi calschoolacont i
nuingsuppl yofcar ef
ull
yselected st udent
sbut
alsot oensureabal ancedgeogr aphicaldistri
buti
onof phy si
ciansi nt hediff
erent
provi
ncesandt ocount er
acttheirtendencyt osettl
einthel ar
geurbanar eas.

Selected graduates oft heschool sofmedi ci

ne and nur singwer e alsosenton
governmentschol arshiptouniv ersit
ies int heUnit
ed St at
es f orpost gr
aduat ecourses
andt r
aining in specialfi
elds. I n 1921,t heRockefell
erfoundat ionprov i
ded forsi x
fel
lowshipsforqual i
fi
edFi l
ipi
nosi nuniv ersi
ti
esinthe UnitedSt ates and Eur ope,two
eachin hef iel
dsofpubl icheal t h(prev ent
ivemedicine),
publ i
cheal thlaborator
ywor k
and t eachert r
aini
ng i n nur si
ng educat i
on. Ov ersev er
aly ears,theFoundat ion
provi
dedmor et hant hi
rt
yoft hesef el
lowshipsandal sof inancedshor terobser vat
ion
tri
psofmanyot herhealthoffi
cials.

I
tal
sogr
eatl
yai
dedint
heest
abl
ishmentanddev
elopmentoft
heGr
aduat
eSchool
ofPubl
i
cHeal
thandHygi
enei
ntheUni
versi
tyoft
hePhi
li
ppines.

Whent heBur eauofPubl icWor kswascr eatedi n1901,t heAmer icansf oundt hat
therewer enocompet entFil
ipinoengineers,andAmer i
canengi neer shadt obei mpor ted.
Asaconsequence,aspeci alef for
twasmadet oat t
ractFi l
ipinost opursueadv anced
studies l eadingt ocar eersasengi neers. I nmany casesgov ernmentf i
nanci al
assistancewaspr ov i
dedtoenabl ethem t ocompl etethei rprof essionalstudiesi nt he
UnitedSt ates. Uponachi evingtheirprofessionalqual if
icationst heywer eempl oyedas
j
uniorengi neer si
nt heBur eauofPubl i
cWor ks.Manyoft hem r apidlyadv ancedi nthei r
positi
ons.Thei rcareerprogresscanbeseen f r
om t hef actthatwher easi n1913t her e
were onl y18Fi l
ipinoengineer soutofat otalof145engi neersi nt he BureauofPubl i
c
Wor ks,ther estbeingAmer i
can; bytheendof1925, outof190engi neersint heBur eau,
only16wer eAmer i
cansand174wer eFilipi
nos.

Theest abl
ishmentoft heUni ver
sit
yoft hePhil
ippi
nessat isfiedtheshor t
-runneeds
forpr ofessi
onally t rained Fili
pinosi nt hecolonialgovernment '
sor ganizati
on and
progr ams.Whatt heauthoriti
esdi dnotr ecogni
zewast hatbypr ovi
dingforanext ensiv
e
public schoolsy stem att he elementar yand secondaryl ev elstheyhad i ncr
eased
tremendousl ythesocialdemandf orpr ofessi
onaleducati
on. The Uni versit
y of the
Phi l
i
ppi nesr emained the onl ypubl icl
y-support
ed insti
tut
ions f or hi
ghereducat ion,
and,si nceitcoul dnotmeett he increasing soci
aldemandf oruni ver
siti
eswasl ef
tto
thei niti
ati
veofent er
pri
singFi l
ipi
nos.FormanyFi l
ipi
nos,pri
v ateeducationbecamet he
alternativeforprofessi
onal educat i
on.

11
 Manyoft heexisti
ngpr i
vatenonsectari
anuni v
ersi
tieswer eorganizeddur i
ngt he
earl
yperiodoft heAmericanregimetohelpmeett heincr
easi ngdemandf orprofessi
onal
educati
onandt hecountr
y'
sneedf ortr
ainedmanpower . Att hesame t ime, these
schoolsr emaineddisti
ncti
velyFil
i
pinoi
nor i
entati
on as t heywere conceived byt hei
r
foundersasameans t o conser ve t
henat ionalheri
tageandpr ev entthecompl ete
Amer i
canizat
ionoftheFili
pinos.

Attheout setoft heAmer i

canr egi
me,t herewasnodef initegov ernmentpol i
cyon
pri
vateschools. Becauseoft hewi despr
eaddi sor gani
zati
ont hatf oll
owedamor eof
theseschoolswer esetup,gov ernmentr egulat
ionandcont rolwasf oundnecessar y
.
Thefir
stattemptt or egul
atepr i
vateschool swast hrought heCor por at
ionLaw ( Act
No.1459)enact edbyt hePhil
ippineCommi ssi
oni n1906. I nef fect,ittr
eatedt he
schoolsl
ikecommer ci
alfi
rmsorbusi nessent er
prisesexceptt hattheywoul dbeunder
thesupervi
sionoft heDepartmentofPubl icInstructionrat
hert hant heDepar tmentof
TradeandIndustr y
.

In 1917,ActNo.2076 ( Pri
vate SchoolAct )was enact ed by t he Phi l
ippine
Legi
slature. TheActr ecogni zedpr i
vateschoolsaseducat i
onalinsti
tutionsandnot
commer cialv entur
es. I trequired the Secretar
y ofPubl i
cI nstr
uction t
o" mai nt
aina
generalst andard ofef fici
encyi nallprivat
eschool sand coll
egessot hat.
..
(they
shal
l)furnishadequat ei nstructi
on tot he publi
c..
."andauthor i
zedhi mt o" i
nspectand
watch" t heseschool and col l
eges. Thesuper vi
sion of t hese school s was
entr
usted t o ast af
foff ourwi thi
nt he Department of Publ ic Instructi
on- -a
superi
ntendent ,anassistantsuper int
endentandt wosuper visors.

Thenumberofpr i
vatecol l
egesi ncreased r api
dly .In 1925 asur vey of t he
educat ionalsystem oftheIsland was aut hor i
zedSur vey which was headedbyPaul
Monr oe made a compr ehensiv
ei nvesti
gati
onofal lpublicandpr iv
ateinst
itut
ionsof
l
ear ningi nt hecount r
y.TheMonr oeSur veyfoundmostpr i
vateschoolssubstandard.I
t
repor tedt hatmostoft hesewer ephy si
call
yillequippedandwi t
hmor epart-
ti
met hanful
l
-ti
mef acult
ymember s.Amongt hepr i
vatecollegesanduni versi
ti
es,itf
oundoutt hat
:
"Theequi pmentofal lthesei nst
itutionsisowef ullyinadequate,thelabor
atoryforthe
teachi ngofsci encebeingbutacar icatureofther ealthing".

As aconsequenceoft hef i
ndingsoft heMonr oeSur vey,t
heGov ernment t ook
steps toi mprovet he machi neryf or the superv
ision ofpr i
v ate schools. The
Phil
ippine Legislaturecr eatedt heOf fi
ceofPr iv
ateEducat iontolooki ntosuchmat ter
s
asphy sicalplant,schoolf acili
ti
es,l i
brari
es,laborator
yequi pmentand st udentl oad,
andadmi nist
rati
ve wor k such asenf orcement ofr el
ev antgov ernmentr egulati
ons,
evaluating creditst akenbyst udents,managi ngadmi ssionoff oreignstudent sand
the like. Asar esultoft hei ncreasedout layforsupervisionofpr ivateschools,their
standardswer eimpr ov ed.

Dur i
ngt heAmer i
canr egime,t hedev el
opmentofsci encegainedmor egov ernment
suppor talongwi t
hef fort
st oest abli
shanol dextensi
vepublicschoolsystem andpubl i
c
health progr ams. The ol d Labor at
or i
o Muni ci
palwas absor bed byt he Bureau of
Gov ernmentLabor ator i
escr eatedbyt hePhi li
ppi
neCommi ssi
oni n1901.I n1905,t he
l
at t
erwasr eorgani zedandr enamedBur eauofSci ence. I tremainedt hepr i
ncipal
gov er
nment r esear chest ablishmentunt i
ltheendoft heSecondWor ldWar .I thada
biol
ogi callabor atory,achemi callaboratory,aser um l
aboratoryforthepr oductionof
vaccinev ir
us,ser umsandpr ophy l
actics,al ibrar
y. Mostoft heseniorscienti
stsinthe
Bureauwer ei niti
allyAmer icansbutasFi l
i
pinosacquiredt henecessaryt r
aini
ng,they
gradual l
ytookov ert heirpositi
ons.

TheBur
eauofSci
enceser
vedasav
aluabl
etr
aini
nggr
oundf
orFi
l
ipi
nosci
ent
ist
s.I
t

12
perfor
medt heneededchemi calandbi ol
ogicalexami nati
onsf orthePhili
ppi
neGener al
Hospitaland Bur eauofHeal th and manuf acturedt heser umsandpr ophylact
ics
needed byt hel atter.Pi oneeri
ng r esearch was doneatt he Bureau ofSci enceon
suchdi seasesas l eprosy ,t
uberculosis,chol era,dengue f ev er,malari
a and beri-
ber i
.
Resultsoft hesest udi
eswer er eadil
yav ail
ablet ot heBur eauofHeal thforusei nits
vari
ouspr ograms. St udies on t hecommer ci
alv alue oft r
opicalproducts,tests of
Phil
ippine mi ner als and r oadbuildi
ngmat erial
s,thenut ri
tionalv al
ue off oods,and
otherwer esimi larl
ydoneatt heBur eau of Sci ence. Fr om 1906,i tpubli
shedt he
Phil
ippineJour nalofSci encewhi chrepor t
ed notonl ywor kdonei nlocallaborator
ies
butalso sci entifi
cdev elopment sabr oadwhi chhadr el
evancet oPhi l
i
ppineproblems.

TheAmer i
cancol oni
alaut hor i
ti
esor gani
zedot herof
ficeswhi ch,byt henatureof
thei
roperati
ons, contri
butedf urthertot hegr owthofsci ent
if
icresear ch.Thesewer ethe
WeatherBureau( 1901),t he Boar d(laterBur eau)ofHeal th( 1898) ,BureauofMi nes
(1900),Bur
eauofFor estr
y( 1900) ,BureauofAgr iculture(
1901),Bur eau ofCoastand
GeodeticSurvey( 1905),Bur eauofPl antI ndustr
y( 1929)andBur eauofAni malIndust
ry
(1929) (82)Fr om 1927,t herewer epr oposalsf rom professi
onalsoci eties forthe
creat
ion ofaNat i
onalMedi calResear chCounci landaNat ionalResear chCouncil
simil
artothosei nt heUnited St ates,Canada,andAust ral
i
a.ThePhi li
ppi
neLegislat
ure
passedanext ensivelyemul atedabr oad."

Actin1933cr eat
ingtheNat i
onalResearchCounci
loft hePhil
i
ppineIsl
ands
(NRCP).Asidef r
om workingforthepr omotionofsci
enti
fi
c r esear
ch, the NRCP
acti
vel
y parti
ci
pated i
nt hedeli
berat
ions anddraf
ti
ngofprovi
sionsaff
ecti
ng sci
ence
andindustr
yinthe1934Consti
tuti
onalConventi
on.

Educat i
onalandsci encepol icydur i
ngt heAmer i
canr egimewasnotcoor di
nat ed
withcol onialeconomi cpolicy. Whi l
eFi l
ipinoswer epr ovidedoppor t
uni ti
esf orhi gher
educat i
oni nt hesci encesandengi neering,theeconomyr emai nedbasi callyagr i
cultural
.
Toagr eatext ent,Phi l
ippineeconomi cdev el opmentwas det ermined by f r eet rade
rel
at i
ons est abl i
shed i n 1909 bet ween t he Phi l
ippinesandt heUni ted St ates,and
these cont inuedl ongaf terindependencewasachi evedi n1946.Asar esultoft hi
s
poli
cy ,thePhi l
ippineeconomybecamet iedt ot hatof t he Uni ted Stat es,r emai ning
pri
mar i
l
y an expor ter ofagr icul
turalcr opsandr aw mat eri
al sandani mpor terof
Amer icanmanuf actured goods. Undoubt edl yt hisdelayedPhi lippi
nei ndust r
ializ
at i
on.
The r elati
ve under developmentoft he phy si calsciences v i
s-a-vi
st he medi caland
agricult
uralsci encesmaybet r
acedt ot hispol icy.Basi candappl i
edr esear chi nt he
medi cal,agriculturalandr elat
edsci encesr ecei v edmuchgr eatergov ernmentsuppor t
duringtheAmer icanr egimet handidindust r
ial research.

Sci
enceandTechnol
ogy

Dur
ingt
heCommonweal
thPer
iod

In1935,t hePhil
ippineCommonweal t
hwasi naugurat
edandusher edinaper iodof
tr
ansi t
iontopolit
icalindependence.TheConst i
tut
ionacknowledgedthei mportanceof
promot ing sci
enti
fi
cdev elopmentfortheeconomi cdev el
opmentoft hecount ryby
i
ncor porati
ngapr ovi
sion( Arti
cleXI
II
,Sect
ion4)declar
ingthat"TheSt
at eshallpromote
scienti
ficresear
chandi nv enti
on,Ar
tsandLett
ersshall
beunderi t
spat
ronage..
."

Thegover
nment,whichwasbyt hist i
mecompl et
elyunderFi l
ipi
nomanagement ,
conti
nuedtoexpanditspubl
icschoolsyst
em to accommodat etheincreasi
ngnumber
ofschoolchi
l
dren.TheGov ernmentabolishedGradeVI Iast heterminalgradeint he
elementar
y curri
cul
um andal so inst
it
uted the "doubl e-
singl
esession" plan thus
reducingt
he ti
me all
otmentordr oppi
ng cer t
ain subjectsintheelementaryschool
.

13
Thegovernmental
so enact
ed Commonwealt
hActNo.180 ( 13 Nov
ember 1936)
reest
abl
i
shingt
heOff
iceofPri
vat
eEducat
ionwhichhadbeenaboli
shedi
n1932.

Ont hewhol e,hi

ghereducationwaspr ovi
dedmainlybythepr i
v atesect or.By1936,
there wer e 425 pr i
vat
e school sr ecognized by t
he gov ernment ,64 ofwhi ch we
i
nst i
tutionsat theCol legeleveland7wer euniver
siti
es. Thesewer eCent roEscolar
University, Far East erUni versi
ty, Nat ional Universi
ty, Phil
ippineWomen' s
University,Si
l
limanUni versi
ty,Universit
yofMani l
aandt heUni versityofSant oTomas.
Toget herwi t
ht heUni versi
tyoft hePhi l
i
ppinesthesehadat otalof19, 575coll
ege
student sinalluniv
ersit
iesinthecount r
y. Thecombi nedsignif
icanti ncreaseintrai
ned
scientistsandengineersinthePhi l
i
ppi nesbeforet
heSecondWor ldWar .

TheCommonweal t
hgov er
nmentwor kedt owar dst hedev elopmentofeconomi c
self-
rel
iancewhi chwoul dbenecessar ytosust aingenui nepol iti
calindependence. I t
createdtheNat ionalEconomi cCounciltopr epar eaneconomi cpr ogram andadv isethe
governmentoneconomi candf i
nancialquest ions. Sev eral gov ernmentcor porat
ions
wer ereorganizedandnew oneswer ecr eat edt oper for m suchv ariedfuncti
onsast he
exploit
ati
onanddev elopmentofnat uralresour ces( e.
g.,theNat i
onal PowerCor porati
on);
thedev elopment and pr omotion ofl ocal i ndustr i
es ( such as t he Nati
onal
Dev el
opment Company( NDC)and i t
s subsi diari
es,t heNat ionalAbacaandOt her
FibersCor por
ation);promot ionof agr i
cult
ur alpr oduct ionandmar keting;andt helike.
The NDC was especi all
y mandat ed t o under take t he dev elopmentofsuccessf ul
researchesofgov ernmentsci enceagenci es( suchast heBur eausofSci ence,Animal
IndustryandPl antI ndustr
y )forcommer cialpr oduct i
on.

TheCommonweal t
h governmentl i
kewiseadopt ed measur est o encourageand
provideassist
ancet opriv
ateFili
pinobusi nessmeni nt heest abl
ishmentofi ndust r
ies
andmanuf acturingent
erpri
ses.Forexampl e,itcr eatednew agenci es,suchas t he
Bureau ofMi nes, to provi
de assi st
ance to businessmen under t
aking mi ning
explorat
ion anddev el
opment.I talso increased appropriat
ionsf orthe Bur eaus of
Science,Pl
antandAni malIndustr
y ,andtherebyencour agedmor escientif
icr esearch
fori ndust
ri
al pur poses.

Inspit
eofal ltheseeffort
s,theCommonweal t
hgovernmentwasunabl etoachi ev
e
i
tsgoalofeconomi c self
-r
eli
ance.Thiswaspr i
mari
lybecauseforei
gntrade and tari
ff
poli
ciesremained under t hecont r
oloft he Ameri
can gov ernment. Fr eetrade
rel
ati
ons also continued and thus perpetuat
ed the pref
erent
ialt
reatmentof
exportsofagri
culturalrawmat eri
als.Moreover
,thePacif
icWarbr okeoutin1941and
thePhi l
i
ppineswasoccupi edbyJapaneset r
oops.

The occupat i
on oft he Phi l
ippi
nes by t he Japanese during t he Warbr ought
educationalandscientif
icact i
vi
tiespract
icall
yt oahaltasablebodi edci ti
zensjoi
nedt he
resi
stancemov ement .Wor sestill
,muchoft hecountrywasr educedt or uinsduringthe
batt
les oughtf ort he l
iber at
ion in 1944-45. Mani la,which was t he centerofal l
educationalandsci enti
fi
cact i
vit
ies,wasr azedt ot
hegr ound,destroyingev eryt
hingthat
hadbeenbui ltupbef ore. I twasi nthiscondi t
iont hatthePhi l
i
ppi nesbecamean
i
ndependentst ate. Thegov ernmenthadt ocontendwi t
heconomi cr econst
ructi
on,
normalizati
onofoper ati
onsaswel last het askofplanningt hedirectionofeconomi c
development .

Sci
enceandTechnol
ogysi
nceI
ndependence

The underl
yi
ng patt
ern ofeducat
ion and tr
aini
ng ofscient
ists,engineersand
physi
cians est
abli
shed dur i
ng theAmer ica regime,aswel last hedi recti
onof
governmentsupportforscient
if
icr
esearchanddev el
opment,hasbasi cal
l
yr emained
unchanged si
nceindependencein1946.St at
esupportf
oreducationcontinuestobe

14
concentr
atedattheel
ementary schoollev
el;pri
vatecol
l
egesanduni
ver
sit
iespr
ovi
de
educati
onf ort
hemajor
it
yofthecollegi
atepopul
ati
on.

Thenumberofst ateuniversit
iesandcol legeshasbeeni ncreasingsi nce1946.
Howev er
,theirgrowt h has notbeen based on a r ati
onalpl an. Par t
isan pol it
ical
considerati
onsof t
endet ermi
ned t hecr eation,l
ocationandst affi
ngoft hesei nstit
utions.
Hence,manyoft hem wer ei l
l-
equi pped and i l
l-
prepared to provide qual ityhigher
educat i
onpar t
icul
arlyinthesciencesandengi neering.St at
euni versit
iesandcol leges
varyi nstandardsar i
singlar
gelyf rom t heunev endistri
buti
onoff acultydev el
opment
programs.TheUni ver
sityofthePhi li
ppi nesSy stem remainst hemostdev elopedwi t
h
extensivegraduateandunder gr
aduat edegr eeprogramsi nthesciencesandengi neering.
Itr eceiv
esov erhalfofthenati
onal budgetf orst at
euniversi
tiesandcol leges.

Privateuni versi
ti
esandcol l
egeshav esimi larl
yi ncreasedi nnumber ssince1946.
Howev er ,thesev aryinstandards. Mostnon- sect ari
anuni versit
iesandcol legesar e
organizedandmanagedl i
kebusi nessent er
pr i
sesandar eheav ilydependentont uit
ion
fees. Tooper at
epr ofi
tably
,theyt endt oconcent rat eonl ow-costcour seslikebusi ness
administration,liberalartsandeducat ion,andencour agel argeenr ol
lment sint hese.
Sectarianuni v
ersiti
esandcol l
eget endt obef inanci al
lybetterendowed.Hence,t hey
havebeenabl etoi mposesel ecti
veadmi ssions, lowerf aculty-
studentr ati
osandpr ovide
l
abor atoryandl i
brary f
acil
iti
esr equiresforsci enceandengi neer i
ngpr ogram. The
l
arge numberofpr i
vatecol l
egesand uni versiti
est o besuper vised andt helimited
Depar t
mentofEducat i
on and Cul tur
e( now t heMi nistr
yofEducat i
on,Cul tur
eand
Sports)st affto doi thashamper edef fect i
vegov ernmentsuper v
isionandcont rolof
thei
rst andar ds.

Thenumberofcol l
egest udent sandgr aduatesf rom publ i
candpr ivateuniver si
ti
es
andcol l
egeshasshownt remendousi ncreasessi nce 1946. Nev erthel
ess,t he
proportion of t hoseinagr iculture,medi calandnat uralsciences,andengi neeringhas
remainedr elat
ivel
ylow.Ther ear ev eryfew graduatesi nt hephy si
calsciences.Most
students(andgr aduates)inagr iculturecomef rom stat einsti
tutionswhi l
emostoft hose
i
nengi neeri
ngandmedi calsci encescomef rom pr ivateinst i
tuti
ons. I nbot h,the
majorit
yofcol legestudentsandgr aduat escontinuet obei nt eachert r
aining/educat i
on
andcommer ce/busi
nessadmi nistrati
oncour ses.Thi ssi t
uationr esul
tsf rom thef act
thatst udentst end to enr olli n cour ses wher et her e are per ceiv
ed empl oy ment
opportuniti
esandwhi cht heirf ami li
escanaf f
ord. Engi neeringandsci encecour ses
entai
llongerper i
odsofst udyandhav egener al
lybeenmor eexpensi vetopur sue.

Ther iseofpr ofessi

onalor ganizati
onsofsci enti
stsandengi neer sfoll
owedcl osely
thegr owt hofhi ghereducationi nt hePhi l
ippines. Theear li
estor ganizat
ionswer ein
medi cineandphar macy ,pr
of essionswhi chwer ethef i
rsttobei ntroduceddur ingthe
colonialer a. As t he numberofgr aduat es in a particulardi scipli
ne i ncreased,
associ ati
onswer ef ormedtopr omot eprof essionalinter
estsandr egulatestandardsof
practiceandt hesewer emodel ledaf tertheircount erpar
tsi nt heUni tedStates. Sel f-
regulationbypr ofessionalassoci ati
onswasev ent
uallyinstituti
onalizedingov ernment
l
awswhi chestabli
shedpr of
essi onalexami ningboar dsandl icensingpr ocedures.

Incertai
ncases,pr ofessionalor ganizati
ons i nitiatedchangesi nt hecollegiate
curri
culum f ort heirspeci al
izati
on and wor ked f ori mpr ov ement si n educat i
onal
standards. The Phi l
ippine Medi calAssoci ati
on ( PMA)act i
v el
ywor ked toi mpr ove
standardsofmedi caleducat i
onbyl imiti
ngenr oll
menti nmedi calcol l
eges andaddi ng
coursesr equiredf orthemedi caldegr ee.Academi cmember soft he profession hav e
l
edi n quest ioning t he r elevance of Western-or iented medi calcur ri
culum t o
Phil
ippine condi ti
ons.Thi shasr esultedi nrecentinnov ationsi nmedi calt rai
ning such
as mor e exposur e ofst udent st o communi ty medi cine and t he experi
ment al
curri
culum topr oducedoct or sforr ur
alar eas. Inthef ieldofengi neering,thePhi l
ippine
Insti
tute ofChemi calEngi neersini t
iatedaser iesofconf erencet odi scuss cur r
iculum
revi
sionsf oritspr ofession.Resul tsoft heseconf erences wer et hen endor sedt ot he

15
Depar t
mentofEducat i
onand Culture(DEC)foroffi
cialadopt i
on.Inotherbranchesof
engineeri
ng,t hegovernmentthroughDECconv enedmeet ingsofeducat or
s,member s
ofpr of
essionalexaminingboards,repr
esent
ati
v es ofprof essi
onalorgani
zati
onsand
thepr i
vat
esect ort
oupdateandadoptuni f
orm core curr
iculaf oralluniv
ersi
tiesand
coll
egest of oll
ow.Thesedevelopmentstookplacein1973-1974.

On t he whole,therehasbeen l it
tl
ei nnovat
ion int heeducat
ionandt r
ainingof
scient i
stsand engi neerssi nce independence i
n 1946. Thi si sin partdue tot he
conser vat i
venatureofsel f
-regulati
on by theprofessionalassoci
ati
ons. Because of
speci ali
zed traini
ng,vert
icalor ganizat
ionby disci
pli
nes andl ack ofliai
sonbet ween
prof essions,pr of
essional associ ati
onshav e been unabl etoperceivethedy namic
relationship betweensci ence,t echnology and societyand t he r
elevance of thei
r
trainingt oPhil
ippi
necondi t
ions.

Parall
eli
ng t he i ncreasingnumberofst ate colleges anduni v er
sit
ieshasbeena
ri
sei ngov ernmentsci enceagenci essi nce1946. I n 1947,t heBur eauofSci encewas
reorganized i nto anI nst i
tute of Sci ence.(
95) Int hesamey ear ,an I nsti
tut
er of
Nut r
it
ion,andi n1952,t heSci enceFoundat i
onoft hePhi l
ippines( SFP) wer e created
andpl aced( along wi th t he Inst i
tute of Science)undert heOf fi
ceoft he
President.(
96) TheI nstitut
eofNut r
iti
on was t o per form r esear ch,adv i
sory and
extension funct ionswhi letheSci enceFoundat i
onwast ost i
mul ater esearchint he
sciencesandengi neeringandpr omot escienceconsci ousnessamong t he peopl e.I n
1952, theCommi ssiononVol canologywasal so cr
eat edandpl acedundert heNat i
onal
Resear ch Counci l oft he Phi li
ppines ( NRCP) .I tsf uncti
onwas pr imaril
y basi c
researchonv olcanol ogy .

Sci entif
ic wor ki n governmentsuf f
ered from a l ack ofsuppor t,planni
ng and
coor dinationdur i
ngt heear l
ypost waryears.TheU. S.Economi cSur veyMi ssi
ontot he
Phili
ppi nes i n1950,not edi nitsRepor tthedear thofbasi ci nformat i
on neededby
i
ndust ri
esoft he country,the neglectof exper i
ment al wor kand t he meager
appr opriation int he nationalbudget f or sci
enti
f i
cr esearch,i ncl
udingthelow
salaries ofgov ernmentsci enti
sts. The BellMi ssion recommended,among ot her
thi
ngs,t he sy stemat i
c explorati
onoft he country'
s nat ur
alr esour
cest odet er
mi ne
theirpot ent i
ali
ti
esf oreconomi cdevelopment.

Fol
lowing the Bel l Mission'
s Repor t,the I nsti
tut
e of Sci
ence was
reorganizedin1951.RenamedI nstitute ofScienceand Technol ogy,itacquir
edthe
status of a gov er
nment-owned cor porat
ionand waspl aced undertheof f
iceof
Economi cCoor di
nati
on.Added toi t
sf or
merfuncti
onsofr esourcessurvey
,testi
ng and
standardizat
ion,wer et he responsibil
it
yf or improving indust
rialprocesses and
sti
mul at
ingtechnologi
caldevel
opment .

I
n 1957, areportwassubmi tt
edt othe Presi
dentpointi
ngoutt hedeteri
or ati
onof
Phili
ppinesciencesincet heearl
yy earsoft heAmer i
canregime.Ther eportanal y
zed
thecausesoft hi
sdecl i
ne- -thelackofgov ernmentsupport;dearth ofscientist
sof
hightraini
ngandabi li
ty;low moral
eofsci enti
stsand a lack ofpubl i
cawar enessof
Science. It made sev eralr
ecommendat i
ons towardsal ong-
rangedev el
opmentof
sciencei nthecountry.Consequent l
y,Congressenact
edtheScienceActof1958.

The Sci ence Actcreat

edt heNat i
onalScience Devel
opmentBoar d( NSDB)t o
for
mul atepol
iciesf
orthedevelopmentofscienceand coor
dinat
et he workofsci ence
agencies. The Actalso cr eat ed t
hePhil
ippi
neAtomicEnergyCommi ssion(PAEC)
and theNat i
onalInsti
tut
eofSci enceandTechnology(NI
ST)and placedt hese,along
wit
ht heNRCP, undert
heNSDB.

I
nt he 1960s addit
ionalsci
ence agenci
es were cr
eated bylaw which t
hereby
expandedNSDB' sorgani
zationandfuncti
ons. Thesewer ethe Phil
ippi
ne Inv
entors
Commi ssi
on (1964),Phi l
i
ppineCoconutResearchInsti
tut
e(1964)
,Phili
ppi
ne Texti
le

16
Resear
chI nst
itut
e(1967),andForestProductsResearch and I
ndustri
esDevel
opment
Commi ssi
on( 1969)
.(
102)Severalexist
ing agencieswere alsoatt
achedt oNSDBfor
pol
icycoor di
nati
on--the NRCP,Met alsIndust
ryResearchandDev elopmentCent
er
(MIRDC),theSFP,Phili
ppi
neScienceHi ghSchool( PSHS)andPhi l
ippi
neCouncilfor
Agri
cult
ureandResourcesResearch(PCARR).

The creati
on oft hese science agenci
es undoubt
edl
y shows increasi
ng
governmentconcer
n and suppor
tf orthe devel
opment ofPhil
i
ppi
ne sci
ence and
technol
ogy.I
n1974,anat
ionalsci
ence

In 1982, NSDB wasf ur

ther reorgani
zed i nt
o a Nat i
onal Sci
enceand
Technol ogyAuthori
ty(NSTA)composedoff ourr esearchandDevelopmentCouncils;
Phili
ppine CouncilforAgricult
ure and Resour ces Resear ch and Dev el
opment ;
Phili
ppine Council for I
ndustryandEner gyResearchDevelopment;Phi
li
ppine
Counci lforHealt
h Research andDev el
opmentandt heNRCP. NSTA has alsoeight
researchanddev el
opmenti nsti
tut
esand suppor t agenciesunder it
. Thesear e
actuall
yt heformerorgani
c and at t
achedagenci esofNSDBwhi chhav ethemselves
beenr eorgani
zed.

Theexpandi ngnumberofsci enceagenci eshasgi v enr i

set oademand f orhi gh
cal
ibresci entistsandengi neers t o under taker esearch andst affuni versit
iesand
col
leges. Hence,measur eshav e also beent akent owar dsthei mpr ovementoft he
country;
ssci enceandmanpower .I nMar ch1983,Execut iv
eOr derNo.889wasi ssued
byt hePr esi
dentwhi chpr ov i
dedf ortheest abli
shmentofanat i
onalnet wor kofcent er s
ofexcellencei nbasi csciences. Asa consequence,si xnewi nstit
uteswer ecr eated:
The Nat ionalInstit
utes ofPhy sics,GeologicalSci ences,Nat uralSci encesResear ch,
Chemi st
ry ,BiologyandMat hemat icalSciences. Rel at edt o t hi
s ef fort
swast he
establi
shmentofa Sci entifi
c Car eerSystem intheCi vilSer v
icebyPr esidentialDecr ee
No.901on 19Jul y1983.Thi sisdesignedt oat t
ractmor equal i
fiedsci enti
stst o wor k
i
ngov ernmentandencour agey oungpeopl et opur sue sci encedegr eesandcar eer s.

Summar
yandConcl
usi
on

This paper hasshownt hatt hedev el

opmentof sci ence andt echnologyinthe
Phil
i
ppi neshasbeengr eat
lyinfluencedbyi tshist
oricalexperi
enceasacol onyofSpain
andt heUni t
edSt ates.Colonialpol i
cies,part
icul
arlythoseoneconomi cdev el
opment
andext ernaltrade,haveov erthecent ur
ies fost
ered a pr i
maril
yagr i
cultur
al,export
-
ori
ent edeconomydependenton t he out si
dewor l
d as mar ketforit
spr oductsanda
source ofmanuf actur
edgoods. Thi s has led toanegl ectand lack ofsuppor tfor
i
ndust ri
ali
zat
ion.

This problem ofcol onialdevel

opmenthas effected t
hehi st
ori
caldev
elopment
ofPhili
ppinesci enceandt echnol
ogy. Theagricul
tur
alsciencegener al
l
yt endedto
recei
vemor efundi ngandsupportcompar edtothephysical
sciences.Thispat t
ernof
supportpersisteddespi t
et heintr
oduct
ionoftheot her sciencesintothecountry
's
educati
onalsy stem dur
ingtheAmer i
canregi
me.

The continui
ngdependenceoft hePhi l
ippi
neeconomyon t heUnitedStatesev en
aft
eri ndependencei n1946,asar esultoft hef r
ee t r
ader elat
ionsandt hev i
rt
ual
i
mposi tionofthe "pari
ty"amendmentt ot hePhili
ppineConstit
uti
onbyt heUSCongr ess
has per pet
uat ed the predomi nant l
y agr i
cul
tural and r ural character of
Phil
ippineeconomyand soci ety. Thi s dependentdev el
opmentofPhi l
i
ppinesociety
andeconomyhas had ser i
ousr epercussions for the adv ancementof Phi l
i
ppine
sci
ence andt echnology.I ncreasi
ngsoci aldemandf orhighereducation hasl ed to
the gr owth of hi ghly
-tr
ained pr ofessional manpower , parti
cul
arly scienti
sts,

17
engi neers and phy sici
ans. Howev er,becauseoft heunder dev elopedst ateoft he
economy ,manyoft hesesci ence-
based pr ofessionals hav e ei t
herbeen unempl oy ed
or underempl oy ed. Consequent l
y ,manyoft hem hav ebeen f or ced tomi gratet o
dev elopedcount ri
es,t huscr eati
nga" braindr ai
n"orl ossofv aluabl ehumanr esour ces
fort hePhi l
ippines.(108)Wor sesti
l
l,t his" braindr ain"hel pst oper petuate Phili
ppi ne
dependentdev el
opmentasmanyoft hosewho l eav ear ehi ghlyeducat ed andbet t
er
trai
nedpr ofessional swhoar eneededi nt hecount ry's dev elopmentef fort
s.Ther ei s
thusa need f ort hegov ernmentt o cr i
ticall
yreexami net he i nterrelati
ons bet ween
past and pr esent educat i
on and sci ence pol i
cies wi t ht hose of i t
s economi c
dev elopment pol iciesi nor dertobeabl e t o redi rectt hese t owar ds t he goalof
attaining a st rong,sel f
-rel
i
ant economyand soci ety
. Awel ldev el
oped nat ional
scienceandt echnol ogyi sacr i
ti
calfactori ntheachi ev ementoft hisgoal .

18