Government wants to fully harness S&T for growth

The nation began observing National Science and Technology Week (NSTW) last Monday, with the Arroyo administration optimistic that it can fully harness science and technology to accelerate the country’s development.

With "Science and Technology: Foundation for Economic Growth" as theme, this year’s NSTW celebration is being led by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), with activities at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) in Diliman, Quezon City.

A related activity, the two-day 24th annual scientific meeting of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) headed by its president Dr. Perla Santos Ocampo, began yesterday at the Manila Hotel with President Arroyo as keynote speaker. Theme of the NAST meet is "Enhancing Philippine Science and Technology Through ICT (Information and Communication Technology)."

The President set the tone of this year’s NSTW in a message describing the theme as reflective of the "government’s aspiration to utilize the gains and developments in S&T in improving our economy."

The Arroyo administration’s optimistic S&T outlook in the years to some stems from its formulation of the National Science and Technology Plan (NSTP) for 2002-2020.

The NSTP was launched during the NSTW’s opening program last Monday, with Science and Technology Undersecretary Fortunate de la Peña presenting it.

The NSTP envisions the following:

• By 2004, S&T shall be an important factor and catalyst for national productivity and competitiveness and as a means for solving pressing national problems.

• By 2010, S&T shall be the foundation for accelerated economic growth and improved quality of life, and the Philippines shall have carved niches and has become a world-class knowledge provider and user in some S&T areas.

• By 2020, a wide base of globally competitive products and services from the Philippines with high technology content shall be produced.

The NSTP’s area thrusts are agriculture, forestry and natural resources, health and medical services, biotechnology, ICT, microelectronics and mechatronics, earth and marine sciences, fisheries and aquaculture, environment, natural disaster mitigation, energy, materials science and engineering, and manufacturing and process engineering.

Philippine S&T, indeed, has gone a long way since the creation of the Bureau of Government Laboratories (BGL) on July 1, 1901 through Philippine Commission Act No. 156.

The BGL was reorganized into the Bureau of Science (BoS) through PCA No. 1407 on Oct. 26, 1905. The BoS’ efforts were devoted mainly to understanding and controlling the transmission of tropical diseases such as cholera, beri-beri, dysentery, leprosy, malaria, smallpox and yaws.

The bureau also did pioneering research in geology, microbiology, volcanology, sericulture, botany, zoology, immunology, serology and chemistry, and instituted steps to develop a metrology system in the country.

On June 13, 1958, the government passed Republic Act 2067, or the Magna Carta of Science of the Philippines, the charter of the National Science Development Board (NSDB).

On March 17, 1983, the NSDB was overhauled into the National Science and Technology Authority (NSTA), which assumed "broader policymaking and program-implementing functions."

The biggest breakthrough in S&T policy came through Executive Order 128 issued on Jan. 30, 1987 by then President Corazon Aquino elevating the NSTA to what is now the DOST.