EDITORIAL - Frustrated scientist

In his youth, President Marcos revealed last Friday, he wanted to become a scientist. But he said his father and namesake told him a career in science would not make him rich. And so Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he became a “frustrated scientist.”

While politics is truly the easier path to wealth and influence in this country, without the exceptional intellectual capacity and extensive research work typically required of scientists, a strong message must be sent that a career in science and technology can be deeply rewarding, in terms of finances, prestige and self-fulfillment.

Science and technology allowed the United States to become a superpower, and turned Japan into an economic powerhouse, allowing the country to rise dramatically from the ashes of World War II. South Korea is tracking a similar path.

The world’s advanced economies owe much of their prosperity to S&T. Among the world’s richest individuals are trailblazers in digital technology and cutting-edge industries. There are enough role models to convince young Filipinos that STEM – science and technology, engineering and mathematics – can be a path to immense wealth.

In the economic conflagration ignited by the pandemic, among the most prominent survivors are the companies that rushed to give the world deliverance from sickness and death, producing COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and testing kits in record time. The world continues to rely on these companies and their scientists for the emergency responses to the rapidly mutating strains of the COVID virus.

Apart from health care, S&T also boosts agricultural productivity and consequently promotes food security. Henry Lim Bon Liong, a mechanical engineering graduate of the University of the Philippines, has shown how technology can boost rice production. After developing the country’s first tropical hybrid rice variety, his company, SL Agritech Corp., now exports hybrid rice seeds as well as premium rice produced in the Philippines under his Doña Maria brand.

STEM is also crucial for national security and credible self-defense. With one of the world’s longest coastlines, the Philippines should have developed a robust shipbuilding industry a long time ago and its own technology to monitor its waters and keep out intruders.

Promoting STEM requires a high quality of education, and a proper environment for nurturing S&T startups. The new administration has promised to create this environment. Perhaps under a frustrated scientist, the promise will be realized.