President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday called on Filipino scientists to stay in the country and share their expertise with the younger generation as he vowed to support their research and development (R&D) initiatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI urge you to stay in the country as you pursue your career. We will continue to support you and continue to look to you to be active partners of the government. Let us dedicate our knowledge and skills, and work harmoniously so as to uplift the lives of our countrymen,\u201d Marcos said in a speech during the 2022 National Science and Technology Week (NSTW) opening ceremony at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.<\/p>\n
Marcos underscored the important role of Filipino scientists, researchers, inventors, and innovators in generating new knowledge and devising better strategies to safeguard and advance the well-being of Filipinos.<\/p>\n
He, however, also recognized that many research ideas, particularly in the food and agriculture industry, are not immediately integrated into government programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat [Department of Science and Technology Secretary] Dr. [Renato] Solidum [Jr.] and I discovered is that there are many research institutions that are doing really remarkably food research however problem that we are finding is that research is not directed. Everyone has their own program, has their own projects. It\u2019s not their fault. They\u2019re studying what they are interested in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Marcos said it was the government\u2019s job to \u201cgive direction\u201d so that R&D outcomes are immediately useful to farmers; businessmen; micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and citizens.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve spoken to some of the researchers and some of those administering research institutes around the country not only agriculture but all kinds of other R&D, and they\u2019re willing to take direction from us, from the private sector as to what are the necessary technologies for the Philippines in terms of improving well again climate change mitigation adaptation and our foods supply, our economic transformation all of these things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said his administration will \u201cwholeheartedly\u201d support their R&D solution to the country\u2019s problems, especially in agriculture and trade.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe administration assures you our firm commitment to championing science and technology research, developing data-driven and science-based policies, and implementing evidence-based responses supporting your community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Marcos urged the DOST and their partner institutions to provide more scholarships to Filipino students to develop a bigger pool of scientists, researchers and innovators in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough this, we will institute a scholarship program specifically for STEM students and this will not be limited to those who have shown their capabilities, their ability, and how they deserve these scholarships here in the Philippines but to any institution that they are accepted to abroad,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He also called for improvements in the country\u2019s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) program, citing the need to become more globally competitive.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately in the Philippines when we are graded alongside our neighbors in Asia, in ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations], do not do very well when it comes to the STEM subjects and that is what we need to encourage. The material I can see is available. It is just a question of us incorporating it into our curricula, it is just up to us to give it an emphasis because in every aspect the STEM subjects have become terribly, terribly important,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Marcos said the government must provide opportunities for scientists to learn new skills because science and technology will determine the country\u2019s success in the coming years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhereas before we train people to be carpenters and plumbers and electricians and construction workers. Now the training is in computer science, it is encoding, it is block chain technology, it is computer engineering,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Marcos also tipped his hat off to his father, the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., for institutionalizing NSTW through Proclamation No. 2214.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough the decades, this celebration has continued to create a platform for professionals, for administrators, for policymakers, and for students to converge and collaborate in order to harness the power of science and technology \u2014 solving many of society\u2019s problems, finding opportunities for growth and for development,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Marcos acknowledged the efforts of the DOST and its attached agencies for continuously implementing programs that create solutions to address the country\u2019s pressing problems such as food security, job creation, health education and climate change adaptation, among others.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time we speak of any subject, we can talk about agriculture, we can talk about public works, we can talk about tourism, every subject, sumisilip yung subject ng climate change (the subject of climate change peeks through), it affects everything and everyone and so once again we look to science, we look new technologies, we look to engineers to find us solutions to mitigate, to adapt our very vulnerable country to the effects of climate change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Among these valuable innovations, he said, are the DOST\u2019s GeoRisk PH, the country\u2019s platform for data gathering, sharing, and analyzing hazard and risk information, and the CRADLE and SETUP programs, which are designed to help companies as well as MSMEs improve their products, processes and service to boost their productivity and competitiveness.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour efforts do not only generate development opportunities for young scientists, they contribute to our shared goal of enhancing the quality of Filipino life,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
He lauded the DOST for organizing the 2022 NSTW exhibits and activities that aim to educate, encourage, and enhance the skills of scientists, inventors, and advocates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is another very important part of the mission that you are having to fulfill is to get the information disseminated so that people know what might be applicable or useful in their own community situations. So I hope this year\u2019s celebration will be a beacon of hope for all Filipinos to bounce back better by building upon science, technology, and innovation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Before his speech, Marcos also visited the techno-exhibits which featured prototypes of e-tricycle and e-jeepney.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s NSTW focuses on research and development (R&D) projects and services related to agriculture, food security, health, environment, water and blue economy, and job creation. (PNA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Marcos pledged additional support to Filipino scientists’ research and development initiatives to encourage them to stay and serve the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":230006,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-230007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized"],"zyndk8_nxtgen_metadata":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=230007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/230006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=230007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=230007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=230007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}