The Historical Roots of Technological Dependence

7/31/2019 The Historical Roots of Technological Dependence

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Even before their contact with Western

cultures, Filipinos already had an alphabet,

some mathematics, a calendar, and a system

of weights and measures. They were engagedin rice farming, fishing, and the mining of

gold. Medicine based on local herbs was

practiced. Small boats and ships up to 2,000

tons were being constructed out of logs.


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The Spaniards introduced the manufacture of lime,

cement,

and bricks and

the use of concrete materials. Primary education was started by the Spanishmissionaries in 1565.

There were about a thousand of these parish primaryschools by the end of the sixteenth century.

The Spaniards also started higher education in as

early as 1597 with the establishment of the Colegiode Cebu (now the University of San Carlos), and theUniversity of Santo Tomas opened in 1611.

Admissions to these schools were limited to a selectfew.


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The emphasis in the church schools was on

classical learning, specifically Latin, Greek,

philosophy, the humanities, and law.

Although medicine and pharmacy were taught,

the natural sciences and engineering were

generally neglected.

The educational system, primarily based on the

propagation of Roman Catholicism, did not foster

a scientific tradition of scholarship.

On the contrary, it reinforced the superstitious,

pre-scientific outlook of the existing folk beliefs.


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The teaching of science was disdained and

Filipino students were discouraged from its

pursuit.

The emphasis was on rote learning. The objective of the lesson, for example,

was not to teach physics, but to convince

Filipino students that they were incapable of

learning physics. Yet the Spanish systemproduced Filipinos whose liberal education

was comparable to that of the graduates of

European universities.


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In the Spanish colonial period, the cultivation

of sugar and coconuts was started, and to

support these activities the first agricultural

school was established in Manila in 1861.Since then, sugar and coconuts have become

the prominent elements of the Philippine

economy.


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The significant change during the Americancolonial period (18981946) was theestablishment of an alternative to sectarianeducation.

A department of Public Instruction was created.American teachers were imported, and Englishwas used as a medium of instruction.

In 1901, a Bureau of Government Laboratories(now the National Institute of Science andTechnology) was established and concerned itself

initially with activities related to chemistry andtropical diseases. In 1908, the first stateuniversity, the University of the Philippines (UP)was established.


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In the following year, 1909, the College of

Agriculture was set up in Los Banos. In 1910,

the College of Medicine was organized from

the already existing Philippine MedicalSchool.

In 1926, scientific research was started at

the College of Veterinary Medicine, and the

School of Hygiene and Public Health wasadded to the University of the Philippines.


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It is interesting to note that, as in the Spanishperiod, the focus of the American period wasalso on agriculture and the medical sciences.

Industrial technology was initially relegated tothe vocational level at the Philippine School ofArts and Trades.

This bias is also reflected in the emergence ofscientific periodicals.

The Philippine Agricultural Reviewwas firstpublished in 1908, whereas the UP Natural and

Applied Science Bulletin was started 22 yearslater.

Even today, there are no specialized journals inphysics. The history of the formation of scientificsocieties also reflects this uneven development.


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The Philippine Medical Society was organized

in 1901 while the Philippine Society of Civil

Engineers was formed only in 1933.

The early bias towards agriculture andmedical sciences was also prominent in the

manpower training programme.

The Philippines was effectively transformed

into an exporter of agricultural products andraw materials and an importer of

manufactured goods.


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This hindered the emergence of economic self-reliance and industrialization.

There was practically no demand for researchengineers and physical scientists.

The emphasis was on agricultural and medicalresearch.

The momentum of this colonial policy hascontinued up to the present.

Caoili points out that factors associated with this

colonial condition resulted in the cultivation ofFilipino tastes for American brands and products.

Cultural imperialism also critically influencedthe outlook of the nascent Filipino scientificcommunity.


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In 1934, the American colonial government

sanctioned the formation of the National

Research Council of the Philippines, which

was patterned after American models. Filipino scientists and their research were

more relevant to the American condition,

since the US was where they obtained their

training and where their peers resided. Beyond the social effects of colonialism, the

impact on the industrialization process itself

has been profound.


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As Yoshihara points out,4 the entrepreneurial

class in the Philippines dramatizes its

colonial origins.

Only one-third of entrepreneurs today arenative Filipinos, the other two-thirds being

mostly foreigners.

Even during the early years of independence,

Philippine industries were dominated by theAmericans.


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After the end of direct American rule in

1946, the uneven development of S&T in the

Philippines continued.

Most of the scientific organizationsestablished by the independent Philippine

government were also predominantly

agriculture-based.

The physical sciences, engineering, andmathematics continued to be neglected.


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In 1956, a National Science Board wasestablished by Republic Act 1606 to promotescientific, engineering, and technologicalresearch. In the same year, the Chairman of theSenate Committee on Scientific Advancement

submitted a "Report on the Status of Science inthe Philippines" to the President.

Among other things, it recommended "an all-outfinancial support of scientific work and theestablishment of a coordinating agency to handle

scientific matters." This gave birth to theScience Act of 1958 (Republic Act 1067), whichabolished the newly established National ScienceBoard and created the National ScienceDevelopment Board (NSDB).


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As reflected in the expenditures for R&D, the

emphasis continued to be on agriculture and

medicine, which accounted for more than half of

all R&D funds.

Basic research in the physical sciences was given

something like 1-3 per cent of the total R&D

budget, and applied industrial research about 5-

15 per cent.

According to NSDB figures for the 1960s, therewere more physical scientists and engineers

engaged in R&D, together constituting about 68

per cent of the total R&D workers


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Life scientists (including medical and

agriculture) were only about 15 per cent of

the total. Thus, R&D expenditures were also

biased in favour of agriculture and medicine.

The year 1968 is significant in the history of

S&T in the Philippines.

Presidential Proclamation No. 376 provided

NSDB with a 35.6 hectare area in Bicutan tohouse the future Bicutan Science Community,

consisting of research laboratories, pilot

plants, science museum, etc.


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Moreover, the Congress of the Philippinespassed Republic Act 5448, which imposednew taxes for a Special Science Fund tofinance scientific activities for the next five

years. In the early 1970s, NSDB's principal concern

was the infrastructural development of thescience community.

Most of the Special Science Fund was usedfor construction of the buildings of theNational Science and Technology Authority(NSTA) and the other institutions.


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The gross national expenditure for S&T for the period1970-1975 varied from 0.21 to about 0.48 per cent ofthe GNP. Almost one-half of the research grants wentto the University of the Philippines (UP). Thesignificant developments in this decade were the

establishment of the Philippine Council forAgriculture and Resources Research

(PCARR) and the Technology Resource Centre (TRC).PCARR became the effective research coordinatingmechanism in the agricultural sector, resulting inmore efficiency in the allocation of resources.

This further strengthened the already dominant roleof agriculture. The creation of TRC outside the orbitof NSDB was only the beginning of the dismantlingand weakening of NSDB's monolithic hold onPhilippine S&T.


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In this period, the Metals Industry Research and

Development Centre and the Philippine Textile

Research Institute were transferred from the

NSDB to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The National Computer Centre was established

under the Ministry of National Defense.

The TRC operates a technobank and a

computerized database connected to foreign and

local databases.

The NSDB was pre-empted by others in the new

and vital information technologies.


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In 1982, NSDB was reorganized into a NationalScience and Technology Authority (NSTA) withfour sectoral councils patterned after PCARR.

In spite of this, however, NSTA was outside the

mainstream of the Philippine industrializationprogramme.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) wassupervising the Technology Transfer Board andthe establishment of the country's major

industrial projects. On the other hand, the TRC was implementing

the so-called Technology Utilization of Energyunder the Philippine National Oil Company.


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The control of MTI and TRC was in the hands

of non-scientists.

The management of S&T development in the

Philippines was fragmented among variousagencies.

In spite of the transformation of the NSDB

into an NSTA, it has, in fact, been

considerably weakened by the loss of controlover some of the important elements of

national S&T development.

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The Historical Roots of Technological Dependence

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