EVERY country needs a science agenda, and I feel sad that our country does not seem to have one.
Yes, we do need a science agenda but just to put this notion in the proper context, what we really need is a national science culture, and everything else will follow.
As it is supposed to be, a science agenda could easily emerge if only we had a national science culture.
Now that we know that there is a cause and effect relationship between these two goals, we should make it our priority now to start building a national science culture. We know that that is what we need, but do we know how to go about it?
Based on the history of nations, the fastest way to build a national science culture is to have a ruling political party push for it. That is what happened in the leading countries in the free world, and that is also what happened in the communist world.
As we now look at the political parties in the Philippines, not a single one of them seems to have a very clear science ideology and that is perhaps the reason why they are not able to bring forward a science oriented platform. In much the same way that it is a national science culture breeds a science agenda at the society level; it is a science ideology that breeds a science oriented platform.
Without a national science culture and without a political party that is pushing for a science oriented platform, it seems that there are only two choices for science advocates to choose from; to form a new political party or to join an existing political and try to convince its members and leaders to adopt a clear science ideology.
Going back to the basics however, science is really just a tool for economic development. What is even more basic than that is that science breeds new inventions that in turn breed new intellectual properties that in turn breed new value added. This is a proven formula that the leading countries of the world know very well, regardless of whether they are capitalist or communist.
I strayed into the science advocacy somewhat by chance. Years ago I was assigned at the Philippine Consulate General in New York City where I volunteered to be a member of the Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC), an organization composed of Filipino scientists and professionals who were working to bring home technologies and other resources back to the Philippines. At that time, the primary activity of STAC was “Exports thru Expats”, a program designed to promote exportable Filipino products through the help of overseas Filipino nationals. Aside from New York City, there many other STAC chapters all over the world, organized through the efforts of former Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary for Economic Cooperation Dr. Federico M. Macaranas.
Upon my recall to the Home Office, I was assigned as a Special Assistant to Dr. Macaranas, who entrusted me to manage all of his science related areas of responsibilities, namely the Science & Technology Office (STO), the Science & Technology Coordinating Council (STCC), the National Information Technology Council (NITC), the Transfer of Knowledge thru Expatriate Nationals (TOKTEN), Return of Knowledge & Technology (RKT), the Technological Information Promotion System (TIPS), the Balik Scientist Program (BSP), the Brain Gain Network (BGN) and the STAC National Secretariat.
I also managed World Watch, a clearing house for science & technology information that was reported by the foreign posts and STACNET, a mail server program of STAC that was an early precursor of the present day internet discussion groups. (To be continued)/PN
