Chemical education in the Philippines

(Fifth and last of a series)

The Commission has recognized six Centers of Excellence (Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, Mindanao State University Iligan Institute of Technology, University of San Carlos, University of the Philippines Diliman and University of the Philippines Los Baños) and one Center of Development (Central Luzon State University). The Centers of Excellence will be supported for graduate education and research while the Centers of‘ Development will be supported for undergraduate education. The support to be provided by the Commission will be in terms of scholarships, faculty development funds, laboratory and library facilities upgrading, and research funds, in the case of the Centers of Excellence. This support will be for 3 years after which their performance will be evaluated for renewal of their status and support. The other Chemistry departments which, at this point, do not meet minimum standards in terms of faculty and facilities will be supported in terms of faculty fellowships while encouraging them to invest in facilities upgrading.

Over the years, because of the “sandwich” program, visiting professorship program and post-doctoral fellowships for our faculty, we have been able to develop long-term relationships with departments and faculty abroad. These relationships are now being formalized as agreements and joint programs. The University of the Philippines Diliman (UP Diliman) and University of Houston are negotiating to offer a joint Ph.D. program in Chemistry. New Jersey Institute of Technology and UP Diliman implemented a five-year environmental research project funded by USAID. Negotiations are ongoing between UP Diliman and University of Toronto for similar arrangements. Taiwan is accepting scholars doing their thesis or dissertation research. In addition, the Filipino faculty members continue to maintain close ties with professors from Japan and Australia with whom they have been collaborating over the years.

In 1988, the Philippine Council for Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development Council (PCASTRD) was established under the DOST sectoral council system. Prior to that time most of the funds for research in Chemistry were available only through the National Research Council of the Philippines which had very meager funds shared by everybody, including the social sciences and humanities. With the establishment of the new council, Natural Science and Mathematics had a more definite source of research funds, which gave them highest priority and allowed for longer-term planning for the development of the Natural Science disciplines, including Chemistry.

While the education and research systems were being developed the professional chemistry associations were also being strengthened. At present there are four of these, and together with a student organization, are now federated into the Philippine Federation of Chemistry Societies (PFCS). PFCS has been holding annual chemistry congresses over the last 23 years and publishes a newsletter. The quality of the papers presented in these annual congresses parallels the strides that the discipline has made in the country over the last 28 years. One of the member organizations, the Kapisanang Kimika ng Pilipinas (Chemical Society of the Philippines), publishes a scientific journal. PFCS is also an active member of the Federation of Asian Chemistry Societies, having hosted the 1995 Asian Chemistry Congress. This year is a banner year for Philippine Chemistry, hosting the 10th EURASIA Chemistry Congress in January with four Nobel Prize winners and several internationally renowned chemists, including Dr. Baldomero Olivera, giving the keynote and plenary lectures.

Future prospects

Chemistry education has come a long way since the early 80s when the early development efforts were set up. We in the profession feel that these efforts are now starting to bear fruit. However, there are many more obstacles to be hurdled and the momentum has to be maintained.

The Department of Science and Technology and the Commission on Higher Education are exerting all-out efforts to increase the funding allocation for Science and Engineering. The national government, for its part, has provided the University of the Philippines, during its Centennial Year, funds for a Chemistry building. We are sure that the discipline, because of its centrality in all national development efforts, will continue to be strongly supported. 

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Dr. Ester Albano-Garcia is currently the president of the University of the East, a position she has held since 2006. She was chairman of the Commission on Higher Education from 1999-2003. From being chair of the UP Department of Chemistry in Diliman in the late 1970s, she was promoted to associate dean of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics division of the College of Arts and Sciences. She was assistant to the UP President for Science and Technology and a member of the Project Advisory Group of the World Bank Engineering and Science Education project of the DOST from 1993 to 1998, while simultaneously chairman of the CHED-DOST Technical Working Group. Albano-Garcia, together with other concerned scientists, was one of those who influenced the creation of the PhD consortium in chemistry, which to date has enabled the UP to graduate 25 PhDs in chemistry, bringing her closer to her vision of the “critical mass” that hopefully will one day put our country in the science and technology map.