Essay: The Importance of Research and Development in the Philippines amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

Mr. Speaker, my distinguished colleagues in Congress, and to my fellowmen:
Today, I utilize my personal and collective privilege to speak on a very important issue, the very reason why our country, the Philippines, is still suffering from the hands of this pandemic and is continuously losing the opportunity to keep up with the development of other countries.
It’s been past a decade since technology has first emerged and since then, we have invented cars, medicine, electricity, and even genetic engineering. Technology has been known as the greatest innovation of science and its development brings positive impacts to our society allowing us to have a convenient lifestyle.
But unfortunately, even if we are already aware of the benefits that it brings us, the global pandemic that is happening right now only proves that we have not given enough importance on the overall role of research in ensuring that we are able to adequately respond on matters like this.
Mr. Speaker,
[1] In our country alone, the Philippines, the COVID-19 virus has resulted in 563, 456 patients, of which 28, 488 of those are active cases and has resulted in a total of 12, 094 deaths. Our fellowmen are still not able to go back to their normal lives and this has drastically affected our economic status.
In developing countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has also affected them a lot. Not only are the healthcare facilities not enough, but there is also the lack of testing and research facilities that will help them study and make enough vaccines for everyone which will then speed up the process of recovery from this unexpected virus that has affected all of us. [2] According to the World Health Organization, there have been a total of 111,102,016 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 2,462,911 deaths.
Mr. Speaker,
There is a need to learn from our mistakes. The statistics itself show that research activities get less priority in developing countries, and the Philippines is one of those.
[3] Just recently, on September 9, 2020, the budget for research was cut by ₱76 million, resulting in an allocated budget of ₱20.5 billion as compared to the initially proposed amount by the Department of Budget and Management which was supposed to be ₱36.2 billion.
This funding decision by the Department of Budget and Management alone has negatively affected the whole country and somehow proves that even those who are in our government provide little importance to Research & Development programs.
[3] In a statement made by DOST Asec. Maridon Sahagun, she informed the public that aside from the budget cut, even the proposed allocation for several Research & Development projects wasn’t approved by DBM even those that were supposedly to be used for COVID-19 research.
In our House Committee alone, certain bills on strengthening our research council and promoting research work in our country were filed in 2019, but unfortunately, until now has not been supported and approved by the judiciary committee.
[4] One of the bills filed was “An Act Strengthening the National Research Council of the Philippines of the Department of Science and Technology for the Promotion of Research Work Along Scientific Lines and Appropriating Funds Therefor” which aims to support the harmonization of the national research agenda and shall provide opportunities by allocating enough budget to our researchers, scholars and scientists.
This is not just an issue that affects researchers but the whole country and this definitely needs significant attention from our national government. [5] We are not only depriving these sectors from opportunities but we are also losing the chance to develop communities, to diagnose cancer early, to provide better facilities to our fellowmen or even the chance to be involved in the development of vaccines.
[6] Due to these budget cuts, several institutes like the Forest Products Research and Development Institute, Metals Industry and Development Institute, Philippine Nuclear Research Institute, and Philippine Textile Research Institute.
We feign ignorance for we cannot see immediate effects from research activities but without it we won’t be able to produce innovative solutions. We will never be able to adapt to the fast changes in this world and there is a big possibility that in the future, we will fail again to address health issues like this, or worse, even the drastic effects that climate change caused by environmental pollution may bring in the near future.
Mr. Speaker,
This is not the only pandemic we will face. This is not the only global issue that ought to affect everyone. This is only the beginning. If we continue to neglect the role of science, technology and research on the aforesaid matters, it is most likely that we will never be able to produce innovative solutions to help people and our country will continue to lag behind our regional peers in many aspects.
We can see the weakness in scientific education and how developing countries like the Philippines are falling behind. If this isn’t addressed, our country will have to suffer longer due to low innovation and we will continue to deprive opportunities from our researchers, scholars, and scientists.
The lack of these aspects will always result in more barriers.
There is endless potential in science, in technology, in research and if we are able to utilize its full potential we will be able to use it to lessen the problems that we are facing and get past these constraints.
Mr. Speaker,
I call on the need for the Congress, to my fellow lawmakers, to help in strengthening and improving the provisions on the allocated budget for research work and provide importance by expanding the opportunities available to all researchers, scholars, and scientists. Let us not give all our attention to foreign investors, but instead, unlock the potential of local investors through providing support to our local businesses which is more likely to reinvest and provide local direct investment in the long run.
[7] Since 2019, we have been seeing a decline in the inflow of Foreign investments, which was down by 23 percent from the $9.95 billion we got from the prior year (2018). Until now, due to the global pandemic, there are still not enough investments flowing in our country, which has not been rising steadily like before, and foreign investors do tend to pull out in a few years, scared away by several factors like the trade war.
Therefore, I file a resolution to better support local micro businesses who will be our target investors and to sustain this trend for the longer term.
To the Department of Budget and Management, you claim that the [8] 2021 national budget will “focus on containing the spread and mitigating the effects of the coronavirus while restarting the economy to help the nation reset, rebound and recover” from the pandemic but why does the figures not show that? If I were to compare it from the previous national budgets, why does it like the usual and not inclined in helping our country mitigate the effects of this pandemic?
[8] Research & development programs along with other critical sectors have been underfunded for years and despite this fact, even suffered a major cut in the 2021 budget.
This only proves that the national budget is still inclined or focused on prioritizing the military and police sector or infrastructures which does not seem to align with your goal of helping the country restart its economy and recover from the pandemic. There is a need to ponder on what should be prioritized and it requires a national effort if we all want to achieve the change our country needs.
I reach out to all agencies of the government, those who have the same stand on this issue and those who still oversee its necessity. Let us not stop with our duty to use our voice until the day comes when we don’t have to plead with anybody regarding this issue anymore. Let us all work together to bring change to our country until we reach the point that we can finally say that the Philippines is not lagging behind and is able to adapt with the fast progress of technology in the world.
To the developed countries, I call on the need to collaborate with developing countries like the Philippines and provide a platform for researchers and scientists to showcase their talent and skills and help provide innovative solutions for issues like the global pandemic that we are currently facing.
Thank you very much.