What is the role of the Department of Science and Technology in the Philippines?
If I’m not mistaken, its role is to enhance and promote the development of science and technology in the country. And the reason why the government mandated its creation because of the need to further encourage local inventors and scientists from coming out with bright ideas that would eventually contribute to the country’s growth.
However, it seems this is not what the DOST officials wanted. The way I looked at it the DOST officials only wanted to get a crack at small things and they don’t want the Philippines to become an advanced country when it comes to inventions. In my many decades of existence, not to mention my stint as a journalist for a long time, I haven’t heard a new invention being supported by the DOST. What I meant is something that made the country known in the international science and technology circle as an inventor of what? Nothing so far. It’s indeed a pity that the Philippines remains a poor country because the government doesn’t want to move further in so far as technology is concerned.
Aside from bad politics, the only time I learned the Philippines was put on the international limelight was when a group of AMA programming students from Cavite, Philippines had invented the "I Love You" virus that rocked the advanced countries’ computer hardwares. But where are these students now? If I’m not wrong, they had been hired by Bill Gates to work with him.
The Philippines has the brightest minds when it comes to engineering and technology. But our only problem is that the government lacks the interest to support their ideas. Perhaps, after the Chinese government told us that there is no oil in the Spratly’s, we can push through with the exploration of the heavy water off Surigao, which can be a big source of billions of dollars for the country. Once this is done, the Philippines will be able to pay off its huge external debts and become one of the richest countries in the world.
From the way it looks, this is far from reality knowing fully well that developed countries are not serious enough to help the Philippines become an economic tiger like Singapore and Taiwan. They are always afraid that the Philippines will become big headed. When this happens, the Philippines would be difficult to tame. Unless the country is able to show off to the world it has come out with an outstanding invention can we begin to gain the respect of other countries that only see the country as a speck in the world map.
To DOST officials, enough of egoism, selfishness and politics. What you can do, perhaps, is to encourage and support our local inventors. Instead of them selling their inventions to other countries, why can’t we propagate them for our own good?