SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY

in the PHILIPPINES
 Activity #2 (40 points)
• Reading: A HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE
PHILIPPINES by Olivia C. Caoili
Questions:
1. Trace the development of science and technology from Pre-Colonial times up to
the present and discuss how do these contributions help the Philippines in nation-
building?
a. Enumerate and describe development of science and technology of the Filipinos
in Pre-colonial Period. (10 points)b. What are the major contributions of Spanish
and Americans Colonization in the development of science, technology and science
education in the Philippines? (10 points)
2. Name at least 10 Filipino scientists and 10 Filipino inventors, and discuss their
contribution help in Philippine nation-building. (20 points)
 Assignment #2 (50 points)
Video: Prometheus Bound (The State of Science and Technology in the Philippines)
Questions:
1. Identify the problems faced by our country in the field of science and
technology? (15 points)
2. Enumerate government policy/programs of each administration in development
of science, technology and science education. Discuss how do these contributions
help the Philippines in nation-building? (35 points)
a. Ferdinand Marcos e. Gloria Arroyo
b. Corazon Aquino f. Benigno Aquino
c. Fidel Ramos g. Rodrigo Duterte
d. Joseph Estrada
 Topics
• History of Science and Technology and Science Education in the
Philippines
• Major Development Programs in S&T in the Philippines
• The Philippine Government S&T Agenda
• Famous Filipino Scientist/Inventors and Selected Indigenous
Science/Technologies
 Objective
• Discuss the role of Science and Technology in Philippine nation
building
• Evaluate government policies pertaining to science and
technology in terms of their contributions to nation building
• Identify actual science and technology policies of the
government and appraise their impact on the development of
the Filipino nation
 The First Settlers in the Philippines
• Archeological findings show that modern man from
Asian mainland first came over land on across narrow
channels to live in Batangas and Palawan about 48,000
B.C.
• Subsequently they formed settlement in Sulu, Davao,
Zamboanga, Samar, Negros, Batangas, Laguna, Rizal,
Bulacan and Cagayan.
 Pre-colonial Period: STONE AGE

•They made simple tools and

weapons of stone flakes and later
developed method of sawing and
polishing stones around 40,000 B.C.

•By around 3,000 B.C. they

were producing adzes
ornaments of seashells and
pottery.
 Pre-colonial Period: STONE AGE

•Pottery flourished for the next

2,000 years until they imported
Chinese porcelain. What has
survived of this ancient
technology is the present
manufacture of the ordinary
cooking pot among several
local communities.
 Pre-colonial Period: IRON AGE
(3rd century B.C. to 11th century A.D.)

•Filipinos learned to produce

copper, bronze, iron, and gold
metal  tools and ornaments.
 Pre-colonial Period: IRON AGE
(3rd century B.C. to 11th century A.D.)

• Filipinos werealso
engaged in the
extraction melting and
refining of iron from
ores until the
importation of cast
iron from Sarawak
and later from China.
 Pre-colonial Period: IRON AGE
(3rd century B.C. to 11th century A.D.)

•They learned to weave cotton,

make glass ornaments, and
cultivate lowland rice and diked
fields of terraced fields utilizing
spring water in mountain regions.

•The Banaue Rice Terraces are

among the sophisticated products
of engineering by pre-Spanish era
Filipinos.
 Pre-colonial Period: IRON AGE
(3rd century B.C. to 11th century A.D.)

•They also learned to build boats for

trading purposes.

The Spaniards later utilized Filipino

expertise in boat-building and
seamanship to fight the raiding
Dutch, Portuguese, Muslimsand the
Chinese pirate Limahong as well as
to build and man the galleons that
sailed to Mexico.
 Pre-colonial Period: IRON AGE
(3rd century B.C. to 11th century A.D.)

Based on Spanish chronicles,

refined plank built warships
called caracoa suited for inter-
island trade raids.
 Pre-colonial Period: IRON AGE
(3rd century B.C. to 11th century A.D.)

•Filipinos from the Butuan were trading

with Champa (Vietnam) and those from
Ma-I (Mindoro) with China as noted in
Chinese records containing several
references to the Philippines.

Archaeological findings indicated that

regular trade relations between the
Philippines, China and Vietnam had been
well established from the 10th century to the
15th century A.D.
 Pre-colonial Period: IRON AGE
(3rd century B.C. to 11th century A.D.)

•The people of Ma-I and San-

Hsu (Palawan) traded bee wax,
cotton, pearls, coconut heart
mats, tortoise shell and medicinal
betelnuts, yu-ta cloth (probably
jute or ramie?) for Chinese
porcelain, leads fishnets sinker,
colored glass beads,iron pots, iron
needles and tin.
 Pre-colonial Period

•Filipinos were already

engage in activities and
practices related to
science forming
primitive or first wave
technology. They were
curative values of some
plant on how to extract
medicine from herbs.
 Pre-colonial Period

•They had an alphabet, a

system of writing, a method of
counting and weights and
measure.
• They had no calendar but
counted the years by the
period of the moon and from
one harvest to another.
 Pre-colonial Period

•The Banaue Rice Terraces

are among the sophisticated
products of engineering by
pre-Spanish era Filipinos.
 Spanish Colonial Period

•Sanitation and more

advanced methods of
agriculture were
taught to the natives.
 Spanish Colonial Period

 The Spanish introduced formal education and founded

scientific institutions.
•Early years of Spanish rule, Parish
schools were established where religion,
reading, writing, arithmetic and music
were taught.

•Colleges and universities in the

archipelago including the University of
Sto. Tomas were established.
 Spanish Colonial Period

 The Spanish introduced formal education and founded

scientific institutions.
•The Spanish also
contributed to the
field of
engineering by
constructing
government
buildings,
churches, roads,
bridges and forts.
 Spanish Colonial Period

 The Spanish introduced formal education and founded

scientific institutions.

•Study of medicine
was given priority
in the Spanish era, 
especially in the
later years.
 Spanish Colonial Period

 The Spanish introduced formal education and founded

scientific institutions.
•Biology is given focus.

•Contributors to science in the archipelago during the 19th

century were botanists, Fr. Ignacio Mercado., Dr. Trinidad Pardo
de Tavera and Dr. Leon Ma Guerrero, chemist Anaclento del
Rosario, and medicine scholars Dr. Manuel Guerrero, Dr, Jose
Montes and Dr. Elrodario Mercado.
 Spanish Colonial Period: 16th Century

Development of schools
• Colegio de San Ildefonso-Cebu-1595
• Colegio de San Ignacio-Manila-1595
• Colegio De Nuestra Senora del Rosario- Manila-1597
• Colegio De San Jose-Manila-1601

Development of Hospitals
• San Juan Lazaro Hospital - the oldest in the Far East was
founded in 1578.
 Spanish Colonial Period

•The Galleon Trade have accounted in the Philippine

colonial economy.
 Spanish Colonial Period

•The Galleon Trade have accounted in the Philippine colonial

economy.

•Trade was given more focus by the Spaniard colonial authorities due to
the prospects of big profits. Hence, agriculture and industrial development on
the other hand were relatively neglected.

•The opening of the Suez Canal saw the influx of European visitors to
the Spanish colony and some Filipinos were able to study in Europe
influenced by the rapid development of scientific ideals brought about
by the Age of Enlightenment.
 Spanish Colonial Period: 17th & 18th Century

• Successive shipwrecks of and attacks of pirates on the galleons

led to declining profits from the trade that led to economic
depression in Manila during the later part of the 17th century.
 Spanish Colonial Period: 17th & 18th Century

• The Real Sociedad Economica de los Amigos Del  Pais de

Filipinas founded by Governador Jose Basco  y Vargas in 1780
encouraged research in agriculture  and industry. The society
promoted cultivation of  indigo, cotton, cinnamon, and silk
industry.

• In 1789, Manila was opened to Asian shipping,  inaugurating

an era of increase in export of rice,  hemp, tobacco, sugar, and
indigo, and imports of  manufacturing goods.
 Spanish Colonial Period: 19th Century

•In 1863 the colonial authorities

issued a royal degree to reform
the existing educational system.
•In 1871 the school of medicine
and pharmacy were opened in
UST. After 15 years it granted the
degree of Licenciado en Medicina
to 62 graduates.
 Spanish Colonial Period: 19th Century

•The licentiate degree equivalent to a

Master degree was granted Bachelor’s
degree in pharmacy to its 1st six graduates
who included Leon Ma. Guerrero
considered was the father of Philippine
Pharmacy due to his works on Medicinal
Plants of the Philippines.
 Spanish Colonial Period: 19th Century

•There were no school for engineering but they offered nautical

four year course for pilot of merchant marine that includes the
subjects: Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Physics,
Hydrography, Meteorology, Navigation and Pilotage.
 Spanish Colonial Period: 19th Century

•Higher education was generally viewed with suspicion as

encouraging rebellion among native Filipinos and thus only few
daring students were able to undertake higher studies.
 Spanish Colonial Period: 19th Century

•The expanded world trade and commerce in the later part of

the 19th century led to the rapid development of Manila as
cosmopolitan center.
 Spanish Colonial Period: 19th Century

•  Modern amenities such as steam tramways, waterworks, 

newspaper, electric lights, banking system were introduce  in 19th
century.
 Spanish Colonial Period: 19th Century

•Jesuits promoted
meteorological
studies founding
Manila observatory
at the Ateneo
Municipal de Manila
in 1865.
 American Period and Post-Commonwealth Era
• On July 1, 1901 The
Philippine Commission
established the Bureau of
Government Laboratories
which was placed under the
Department of Interior. The
Bureau replaced the
Laboratorio Municipal,
which was established
under the Spanish colonial
era. The Bureau dealt with
the study of tropical
diseases and laboratory
projects.
 American Period and Post-Commonwealth Era
•On October 26, 1905, the Bureau of
Government Laboratories was
replaced by the Bureau of Science.

•On December 8, 1933, the National

Research Council of the Philippines
was established. The Bureau of
[2]

Science became the primary

research center of the Philippines
until World War II.
 American Period and Post-Commonwealth Era
•Science during this period was inclined towards agriculture,
food processing, forestry, medicine and pharmacy.

•Not much focus was given on the development of industrial

technology due to free trade policy with the United States
which nurtured and economy geared towards agriculture and
trade.
 American Period and Post-Commonwealth Era
•In a report by the US Economic Survey to the Philippines in
1950, there is a lack of basic information which were necessities
to the country's industries, lack of support of experimental work
and minimal budget for scientific research and low salaries of
scientists employed by the government.