By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
I found very interesting the column article of Dr. William D. Dar in the Manila Times two days ago, July 13, 2018. This corner finds it useful to give way to that article of Dr. Dar.
Dr. Dar is the first and only Filipino who had headed an international research institution within the Consultatitve Group of International Agricultural Research Centers. He is proud to acknowledge even in the international arena to have been educated in the Cordillera region for his Bachelor and Masteral degrees. He completed those degrees from the then Mountain State Agricultural College (now BSU).
The said article is so timely for local universities, public or private, to refocus their energy and resources for the needed scientific researches to advance science in general and local agriculture in particular.
There are a lot to overcome, however, for this to become a reality. For instance, the Commission on Audit, at least in the Cordillera region, had wittingly blocked the progress of scientific researches in state colleges and universities. For some years now, it had disallowed and is still disallowing giving honorarium to researchers even if outside funding agencies are explicitly allocating such honorium in their budget approval. The result is reduced number of researches that are now being conducted. Blame that in large part to the overzealous (or over jealous?) COA factotums who inconsiderately sliced a deserved monetary incentive, however, paltry it may be. To think that COA would like to be considered as a partner and not a watchdog!
Anyway, here’s the article of Dr. Dar (not in its entirety, cropped as seen fit for this corner):
“Obviously, there is weak collaboration between the agriculture sector and the academe in so far as R&D, and technology transfer are concerned. And much of that R&D is not Research for Development (R4D).
But how does the country’s industrial sector and the academe measure up when it comes to R&D collaboration?
Not much I would say, which should be a cause for concern because the country cannot forever be dependent on technology from abroad. Also, the academe not undertaking R&D relevant to the needs of industry will stifle the growth of higher educational institutions (HEIs), especially those offering courses related to S&T, including those related to agriculture.
Strangely, there are laws that can provide the impetus or accelerate R&D collaboration between the academe and industry. A discussion paper by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) in 2014 entitled “Industry-Academe Collaboration for Research and Development” showed that HEIs and state colleges and universities (SCUs) can tap into various funding mechanisms for their R&D. The paper noted that several Philippine laws provide for public funding of R&D in a number of areas, namely, agriculture and fisheries, renewable energy, and air and water pollution. The SCUs and private HEIs can access the funds.
One good example of this is The Renewable Energy Act of 2008 or Republic Act 9513 that establishes a Renewable Energy Trust Fund administered by the Department of Energy to enhance the development and greater utilization of renewable energy. The utilization of the fund is exclusive to research, development, demonstration, and promotion of the widespread and productive use of renewable energy systems for power and non-power applications, as well as to provide funding for R&D institutions engaged in renewable energy studies undertaken jointly through public-private sector partnership, including provision for scholarship and fellowship for energy studies. Also, the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997 or RA 8435 has a provision stating “The budget for agriculture and fisheries research and development shall be at least 1 percent of the gross value added [GVA] by year 2001 allocating at least 1 percent of the total amount by 1999. The Department of Finance in consultation with the Department [of Agriculture]shall formulate revenue enhancement measures to fund this facility.”
For sure, there are quarters who would argue that it would be less costly for industry to tap off-the-shelf or existing technologies from foreign sources. But that type of mindset will surely contribute to the “dumbing down” of the country’s academe, discouraging the sector from achieving a higher level of expertise when it comes to R&D and S&T. Also, that would lead to the stagnation of the country’s R&D and S&T systems, which are essential for long-term economic growth and social transformation, particularly eradicating poverty.
So despite the enabling legislation for HEIs and even research institutions to tap into R&D funding, why is it that there is very little research and scientific collaboration between the academe and industry?
Research by InangLupa, which I founded and head, showed that the country’s scientific infrastructure remains largely undeveloped or nearly non-existent. Based on findings from the IMD World Competitiveness Center and the World Economic Forum (WEF) in its Global Competitiveness Index 2017-2018 report, the Philippine got a score of 60 when it came to “scientific infrastructure,” with 1 being the highest score and 63 the lowest.
In Southeast Asia, Singapore got the highest score of 17, followed by Malaysia (29), Thailand (42), and Indonesia (49).
When it came to “technical infrastructure” using the same scoring, the IMD and WEF report gave a score of 46 for the Philippines. Singapore topped countries in Southeast Asia with a score of 2 followed by Malaysia (24) and Thailand (36). Indonesia got a lower score of 57.
In the area of “innovation and sophistication factors,” the Philippines got a score of 45 based with 1 being the highest score and 137 the lowest. Singapore also topped the competitive index with 12 followed by Malaysia with 21.
The scores the Philippines got for scientific infrastructure, technical infrastructure, and innovation and sophistication factors no longer surprises me and other experts, because R&D spending in the country remains low based on recommendation of UNESCO, which is at least 1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
The Philippines has spent an equivalent of 0.1 percent of its GDP for R&D while Singapore invested 2.2 percent, Malaysia 1.3 percent, Thailand 0.5 percent, and Vietnam 0.4 percent. If there is any consolation, Indonesia also invested an equivalent of 0.1 percent of its GDP for R&D.
But all is not lost for the Philippines in ramping up its R&D efforts, especially through academe-industry collaboration.” (Dr. Dar is supposed to follow this up in his next column article).
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