Filipino scientists (Photo courtesy of Department of Science and Technology)
MANILA – The National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) on Thursday said it supports the discoveries and inventions of Filipino scientists nationwide.
“In fact, sa kasalukuyan, ang pinopondohan namin ay ‘yung basic research. Pagdating sa application, may iba’t ibang ahensiya sa pamahalaan na iyan ang trabaho (currently, we fund the basic research. When it comes to application, there are different government agencies taking care of that),” NRCP Executive Director Dr. Bernardo Sepeda said in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview over PTV4.
He noted that the Department of Science and Technology conducts and funds research.
“Upang, halimbawa, ang DILG [Department of the Interior and Local Government], ang DICT [Department of Information and Technology] o kaya even ang DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] at ang DA [Department of Agriculture], mayroon silang pondo naman para gamitin naman iyong natuklasan ng ating mga mananaliksik (So that, for example, the DILG, DICT, or DENR, and DA have funds for the discoveries of the researches),” he added.
The DOST regional offices have experts looking for “real solutions to real problems in the community”.
In connection with this, the NRCP pushes for discussions among stakeholders — experts, scientists, and local government units — nationwide.
“There is a lot of support on the ground, lalung-lalo na sa regional offices. Ang kailangan lang siguro nila ay lumapit sa regional office ng (especially in the regional offices. They just need to reach out to the regional office of) DOST,” Sepeda said.
On March 12, the NRCP Annual Scientific Conference and 91st General Membership Assembly will be attended by over a thousand researchers together with invited government officials
The goal of assembly and scientific conference is to provide an avenue for experts to share their latest researches, especially in the field of artificial intelligence.
“Alam nating ito’y napakagandang tool upang tumugon sa lahat ng mga problema ng ating hinaharap ngayon maging sa transportasyon, sa pagkain, sa kalusugan at sa iba’t iba pang larangan ay kailangan nating gumamit ng (We know that this is an excellent tool in responding to all the problems in transportation, food, health, and other fields needing the use of) artificial intelligence,” he said.
The NRCP is composed of at least 6,000 scientists from different fields and disciplines researching for the country to address issues in science, technology, and innovation.
