DoST Secretary Mario G. Montejo explained that the first in the department’s agenda for 2012 is to explore avenues opened by public and private partnerships (PPPs) in order to use Science and Technology to solve pressing national problems.
He said the DoST will rely heavily on research and development programs to address dengue, telehealth services, potable water, malnutrition, rice shortage, brown/fortified rice, baby food program, coral reef rehabilitation, disaster mitigation, red tide control and management, and the Fusarium Wilt infestation problem affecting our banana plantations, among others.
Second, the DoST will also develop and diffuse appropriate technologies to create growth in the countryside such as world-class technology-based products, food processing technologies, and super farms.
Third, Montejo said that the DoST will leave no stone unturned to improve industry competitiveness.
“We already have the Automated Gateway Transit System, while under various stages of development and prototyping are technologies that can raise the productivity of industries spanning BPO, electronics, renewable energy (solar, wind), and mining industry (gold, copper, nickel pilot processing plant),” he said.
Fourth, Montejo said they will use Science and Technology to enhance the delivery of government and social services. Initiatives along this line include the Government Broadband Network, National Telehealth Services, and the National 3D Mapping.
Montejo said the fifth part of their development program is to build and enhance capacity in emerging technologies such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, genomics, advanced food production technology, and advanced manufacturing systems like in robotics and automated process control.
“Our motto has always been ‘local technology works.’ As such, we will always promote local technologies toward the nurturing of a business environment that addresses the special needs of technology-based entrepreneurship. It is our wish to impress upon our publics the impact of DoST’s mandate in accelerating the pace of knowledge-driven development in accordance with its growth potential in the country,” Montejo said.
At the same time, Montejo urged other stakeholders to join them in their journey to make Science and Technology an integral part in the lives of all Filipinos.
In another development, parliamentarians in the Asia-Pacific Region, including a Philippine delegation, will meet next week in Tokyo for a five-day summit to identify and discuss matters of common regional concern and interests.
“The past few years have seen the need to revisit the Asia Pacific region’s policies on political and security matters,” Senator Franklin M. Drilon, a former Senate President, said.
Senators Drilon and Edgardo J. Angara will leave Saturday to represent the country in the 20th Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) that will be held from January 8 to 12, in Tokyo.
An annual conference held in various Asia Pacific countries, the APPF was formally created in 1993 in Tokyo, with 59 parliamentarians from 15 countries adopting what is now called the “Tokyo Declaration.”
This declaration sought to provide opportunities for national parliamentarians of Asia Pacific region to identify and discuss matters of common concern and interest.
“Addressing these two issues – political and security matters – will pave the way for better economic and trade relations, greatly enhancing much-needed regional cooperation between member countries,” Drilon said.
The Philippines, as a founding member, hosted the second meeting in Manila in 1994, with member-parliamentarians formally adopting a resolution covering the rules of procedure that will apply in the management of administrative matters within the organization.
Acting as the legislative branch of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the APPF is comprised of 27-member countries. (With a report from Mario B. Casuyuran)
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Francis T. Wakefield
Quelle/Source: Manila Bulletin, 03.01.2012
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