AFRICA, Krystyll Claire F.

Science, Technology, and Society

BUNAG, Sherilyn C. Reading Assignment No. 1

The statements below answer the following questions:

 What is the document all about?

 Describe the present state of the Philippines in terms of economy, demography, politics
and physical characteristics
 What are the four areas for strategic policies, programs, and projects of the present
administration?
 What are the plans of the government in terms of advancing science and technology in
our country?
 Evaluate government policies pertaining to science and technology in terms of their
contributions to nation building

(1) Philippine Development Plan 2017 – 2022 by National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA) contains the long-term development plans and strategies of the different
aspects for the nation. As stated in the document, an extensive nationwide survey revealed that
Filipinos desires a matatag, maginhawa, at panatag na buhay. From this result, PDP collective
ambition AmBisyon Natin 2040 was derived which also became the basis for the formulation
and implementation of the projects by the current administration.

The signing of Executive Order No. 5, s. 2016 by President Rodrigo R. Duterte led to the
approval and adoption of the 25-year long-term vision entitled AmBisyon Natin 2040 as a guide
for the development planning. The strategic policies, programs, and plans included in this plan
are divided in four areas for the next 25 years.

Before achieving a matatag, maginhawa, at panatag na buhay for Filipinos, there must
be a strong foundation for more inclusive growth wherein trust, resilience, and global-
competitiveness are present. In the introductory part of this development plan, three pillars were
presented which will support the attainment of this goal. The first pillar, Malasakit, focuses on
enhancing the social fabric. It aims to build greater trust and engagement between the
government and the Filipino citizens. It also includes the reduction of corruption, enhancement
of administrative governance and establishing better and more people-centered government
systems. Secondly, the pillar of Pagbabago which aims an inequality-reducing transformation. It
centers on providing opportunities especially to the vulnerable sector from the domestic market
and the rest of the world. Finally, Patuloy na Pag-unlad, the pillar for increasing growth of
potentials, promotes adoption of modern technology in the different sectors and encourages
more investments for research and development, especially the agriculture.

In order to accomplish the long-term goal of this development plan, PDP 2017-2022
contains seven parts for the complete elaboration of the overall strategic framework. The first
part introduces the entire context of the development plan. The succeeding three parts expound
the three supporting pillars of the AmBisyon 2040 collective motto. The fifth part encourages a
supportive economic environment for sustainable development, while the sixth part tackles the
foundation for inclusive and sustainable growth. Lastly, part seven discusses the implementation
and monitoring system to make sure that this development plan is being conducted and in
progress.

(2) As of 2015, the total population in the Philippines has increased to 101 million. Due to
the average annual population growth rate of 1.6%, it is expected to grow around 110 million by
2020. Presently, CALABARZON, NCR, and Central Luzon, respectively, are the three regions
with the largest populations in the country and are anticipated to remain so for the succeeding
years. Highly-urbanized areas such as Metro Cebu, Metro Davao, and Cagayan de Oro City are
some of the areas identified as having largest populations in the Philippines. Population has
also been linked to the gross regional domestic product. Thus, regions with the highest
populations were also accounted of having the highest GDP (62.3%). On the other hand, ARMM
(0.7%), Caraga (1.3%), and MIMAROPA (1.6%) have the lowest GDP contributions.

National Spatial Strategy, on the other hand, is a twenty-year planning framework that
serves as a guide for public investments and catalyze private investments to maximize
agglomeration competences, develop connectivity, and build up resilience against natural
hazards and disasters. This strategy takes into account population trends, economic activities
and programs in determining and defining the desired spatial structure of the country. It
anticipates and prepares a network connecting metropolitan centers with the ones located in
regional and sub-regional areas.

(3) The current administration divided the development strategic plans and programs in
four major areas. These areas include (a) building a prosperous, predominantly middle-class
society where no one is poor; (b) promoting a long and healthy life; (c) becoming smarter and
more innovative; and (d) building a high-trust society.
 (4) Advancing science and technology in our country will catalyse improvements in
education, health, production, energy, and infrastructure. This may be done through the
increased use of scientific and technological advancements in par with the plans of the
government.

One of the pillars of the Philippine Development Plan is the “Pagbabago” or the
Inequality-Reducing Transformation that seeks to make it easier for the marginalized subsectors
and people groups to participate in economic progress. In line with this is the desire to
accelerate human capital development wherein Filipinos will have more opportunities to develop
their full potential by 2022. To meet such goal, a list of strategies were formed, one of which
includes the improvement of the quality of higher and technical education and research for
equity and global competitiveness implemented to ensure lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Under this strategy is a plan to allow and attract reputed foreign professors and researchers,
especially in the Science, Technology, and Innovation field, to be appointed in higher education
institutions.

On the other hand, the Increasing Growth Potential or the “Patuloy na Pag-unlad” pillar
of the PDP will employ strategies that will be essential in the promotion of science and usage of
technology, and innovation to drive long-term growth of the economy. Furthermore, this pillar
focuses on science, technology, and innovation.

By strongly advancing science, technology, and innovation, the efficiency and

productivity of the agriculture, industry, and services sectors will be improved by 2022. These
will be made possible through the maximization and adoption of science, technology, and
innovation (STI).

Strategies to make ends meet for these goals include (1) increasing STI utilization in
agriculture, industry, and services sector. This can be made possible with the promotion of
commercialization and utilization of technological advancements from public- and private-funded
research development as well as with the development of Intellectual Property Rights culture;
(2) increasing the investments in STI-based start-ups, enterprises and spin-offs by encouraging
more innovative financing mechanisms and private sector investments; (3) enhancing the
creative capacity for knowledge and technology generation, acquisition and adoptions by
supporting research and development agendas, increasing funding for human resource
development, tapping foreign and overseas Filipinos expertise, strengthening infrastructure for
STI ecosystem, fostering STI culture, and establishing and promoting innovation hubs and other
similar mechanisms. Lastly, (4) strengthening collaboration among actors in the STI ecosystems
with the strengthening of collaboration among the government, the academe, and the industry
together with the intensification on international cooperation in STI.

To explain further the plans of the government to promote and accelerate technology
adoption and stimulate innovation in the advancement of the country’s Science, Technology, and
Innovation (STI), an illustration is provided below:
 (5) The plan to utilize STI for the agriculture, industry and service sectors can encourage
more citizens to partake in the development of such sectors thus, promoting nation-building.
With the application of technology for the production of goods, workers may find easy way to do
things that trouble them at work.

Moreover, with the increase in the investments in STI-based start-ups, enterprises, and
spin-offs, several entrepreneurs are more likely to succeed in their businesses. In addition to
this, many other citizens might feel the urge to start their ventures thus promotion economic
growth as well as stability.

As the Philippines is classified as third world country, dealing with the greatest
technological breakthroughs might be hard so with the collaboration with the other actors in the
STI ecosystem, locally and internationally, the Philippines can play along such advancements
and deal with the changes brought about by these advances.