DUTERTE SIGNS BALIK SCIENTIST LAW

Science and technology in the country scored another milestone

with the signing of the Balik Scientist law by President Rodrigo Roa
A. Duterte on 15 June 2018. Republic Act No. 11035, also known
as an “Act Institutionalizing the Balik Scientist Program,” would
give more incentives to returning Filipino experts, scientists,
inventors, and engineers who would share their expertise in the
country.

The enacted law would strengthen the implementation of the

Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Balik Scientist
Program which was first established in 1975 through Presidential
Decree No. 819 but was only implemented in 1986. Since its
implementation, several scientists have come back to the country
on short- and long-term basis to mentor science and engineering
students and faculty along their line of expertise through research
and development, teaching, and other activities. This sharing of
expertise significantly contributed to the acceleration of the
scientific, agro-industrial and economic development of the country.

Through the Balik Scientist Law, a returning scientist can

participate in DOST’s Grants-in-Aid research and development. A
grant may be provided to the Balik Scientist and released through
the host institution for the implementation of the project in
accordance with relevant government regulations and the need of
the program involved.

Aside from that, a Balik Scientist can also enjoy various

compensations that include tax and duty exemptions to importation
of professional equipment and materials, free medical and accident
insurance covering the award period, reimbursement of expenses
for baggage related to scientific projects, and even exemption from
“renouncing their oath of allegiance to the country where they took
the oath.” The benefits also include special working and non-
working visas, a round-trip airfare from a foreign country to the
Philippines, exemption from local travel tax, and DOST-subsidized
visa application. Also under the bill, long-term Balik Scientist
awardees can enjoy relocation benefits, such as support in securing
job opportunities for the spouse of the awardee, and admission
support for the children of awardees in preferred schools, relocation
allowance and monthly housing or accommodation allowance, and
funding for the establishment and development of a facility or
laboratory.

‘BUILD, BUILD, BUILD’ PROGRAM

The government’s massive infrastructure projects under the “Build,

Build, Build” program are not only starting point for the country’s
swift recovery after the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic
but are also economic benefits. Speaking in his 5th State of the
Nation Address Monday, President Rodrigo R. Duterte said, “To
realize the maximum benefit from the country’s investments, the
infrastructure projects under the ‘Build, Build, Build’ Program,
which are labor and capital intensive, are not mere springboards for
the country’s swift recovery [post]-pandemic. They are economic
benefits --- economic benefits to be distributed to all corners of the
country and push sustainability in urban centers, particularly
Metro Manila".

He also cited the statements of the government’s economic cluster

that investments in infrastructure will help start up the economy
which will benefit the people. Duterte said the Department of Public
Works and Highways has resumed the construction of some key
infrastructure projects such as the North Luzon Expressway Harbor
Link, the NLEX-SLEX Connector, the Cavite-Laguna Expressway,
the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3, the R-1 Bridge Project, the
Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway Project, and the Subic
Freeport Expressway Project, among others. Duterte said the
government is set to release a report of the accomplishments under
‘Build, Build, Build’. “We have accomplished significant
infrastructure projects under the ‘Build, Build, Build’ Program. I
will not dwell lengthily on the nitty-gritty of our infrastructure
accomplishments now lest I bore you. Instead we will release a
comprehensive written report on our collective milestones and the
details of accomplishments to remind us that perseverance,
patience and determination will help us move forward even in the
most difficult of times,” he added. From 2017 to 2022, the
government will be building roads, bridges, airport, railways among
others, with a total budget of PHP8 trillion, under the ‘Build, Build,
Build’ program.

Duterte OKs DOST-developed technology that locates hazards

in PH

President Rodrigo Duterte has approved two technologies that will

help the government collect data for environmental hazards and
assess situations for immediate disaster response. Presidential
Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Duterte approved the
Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-developed
technologies during the Cabinet meeting. He said one of the
technologies, GeoRisk Philippines Initiative, is meant to further
improve data gathering for environment hazards, Panelo said. “It is
an integrated system or database where one can map or locate
hazards in a specific location and view it on an application called
the Hazard Hunter Philippines,” he added. Panelo said another
application is the Situation Data Mapper, which “receives real time
assessment on a situation and can provide analysis for high level
decisions for disaster response”. He, meanwhile, said the DOST has
recommended that all agencies update and share with them their
hazard information to further develop the system.

The Filipino minds of our scientists and engineers from the

Department of Science and Technology (DOST) are once again
recognized with the conferment of the 2019 Presidential Lingkod
Bayan award in their chosen field of expertise.
The prestigious recognition was given by Philippine President
Rodrigo Roa Duterte during the awarding ceremonies at Malacañan
Palace on September 10, 2019. The ceremony was part of the 2019
Outstanding Government Workers Award annually administered by
the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

The Philippines' New Weapon to Fight Typhoons, Earthquakes and

Floods

The Republic of the Philippines has given life to a new national

organization. Its president, Rodrigo Duterte, has placed it under
his direct authority to act as the main preventive and reactive
instrument against the natural disasters that year after year
strike an archipelago inhabited by some 110 million people and
made up of over 7,100 islands. Named after the English acronym
PhilSA, the main raison d'être of the Philippine Space Agency is to
use space science and technology to manage and mitigate the
disasters that periodically ravage major areas of the country and
cause the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, the
destruction of countless critical infrastructures and major economic
losses. 

The above disasters are a consequence of the Philippines'

geographical location in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire and also of
its tropical climate, which generates a significant annual number of
typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and major
floods. Philippine government agencies are increasingly relying
on satellite data, as the relentless forces of nature strike
similarly at the largest and most populous of the islands, Luzon
- in the north, where the capital Manila is located - as well as
Mindanao in the far south and the countless smaller Bisayas.  

Duterte Reassures support to Science, R& D

The Duterte administration gave reassurance of its commitment to

the science, technology and innovation sector. This was established
in the big increase in the budget of the Department of Science and
Technology (DOST) this year.

In a speech by President Duterte, delivered by Budget Secretary

Benjamin E. Diokno during the opening of the National Science and
Technology Week (NSTW) 2017, he said the DOST’s budget has
quadrupled in the last seven years “from P5 billion in 2010 to P20.8
billion in 2017.”

The department’s role in providing science and its benefits to the

people has, indeed, broadened by aiding Filipinos both in research
and entrepreneurial ventures, where science, technology and
innovation can be applied, he said.

“Meanwhile, the budget for research and development [R&D] grew

by nearly six times over the same period of time, from P1 billion in
2009 to P5.8 billion in 2017,” Duterte said in the speech at the
NSTW held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City on July 11.

The President also noted that the national government has been
able to set an organized management of scientific activities, such as
formulating programs and policies that help shape the country.

“I am pleased that over the last few years, the science department
and the country’s S&T base have become more outward-oriented
and attentive to the growing needs of its constituents and
stakeholders while keeping their ears close to the ground, paying
close attention to the latest trends, developments and issues that
affect both the domestic front and the global community,” he said.

DuterTech: R&D

The science initiative must be distributed to the regions, especially where

food production needs to be improved, where industry needs to grow, and
where innovation needs to be developed. –Rodrigo Duterte