Pinoy scientists need more sophisticated laboratories

NAGA CITY, Camarines Sur, Philippines — To stop Filipino scientists from leaving the country, the government will have to construct and equip more sophisticated laboratories.

At present, most laboratories in the country are university-based. More sophisticated laboratories abroad are prompting Filipino scientists and microbiologists to seek professional growth elsewhere.

There may also be a sense of frustration among Filipino scientists and microbiologists that after doing extensive research, their products and technologies end up in archives and don’t get the chance to reach their intended end-users on a commercial scale.

Dr. Reynaldo Ebora, executive director of the Philippine Council for Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development (PCASTRD), made this statement to The STAR after he delivered the keynote address before 300 microbiologists and scientists who gathered for their 39th annual convention and scientific here last week.

The PCASTRD is one of the sectoral councils of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) tasked to develop, integrate and coordinate the national research system for advanced science and technology.

Ebora said research and development is a pressing concern among Filipino scientists in responding to climate change.

He said that in agriculture, the department has been developing drought-tolerant crops but genes and specific species of microorganisms need to be studied and identified more extensively to come up with products and technologies for these crops.

Ebora said climate change has also developed different breeds of pathogens and deep research is needed to address these pathogens. 

Ill-equipped laboratories in the country have frustrated Filipino scientists and microbiologists who want to combat an outbreak. 

“We tend to have difficulty holding our scientists here because they find more professional growth in other countries. If you look at the figures, some of our best scientists have gone abroad basically because they want to work in more advanced laboratories,” he said.

“Those are the things the department would like to address. We are trying to construct laboratories in the Philippines that are comparable to those abroad so we can encourage our scientists to stay and at the same time provide them with resources so that they can do advanced research,” he added.

To encourage Filipinos scientists and microbiologists to stay, Ebora said the DOST offers scholarships and resources for research and provide well-equipped laboratories where they can work and possibly collaborate with their fellow researchers in other countries. But thus far, efforts have not been enough to make them stay.

But then scientists and microbiologists may have also been nursing a sense of frustration when their products and technologies from extensive research and development tend to end in archives and don’t get to be produced on a commercial scale or reach its intended users.

Ebora said there is a program under the DOST called “Technicom” where grants are available to fund products or technologies that are mature for commercialization.

He said there is a need for innovative collaborative arrangements with multinational companies whose products compete with those developed by Filipino scientists.