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Increase the number graduate degrees. Strengthen the assistance for education and training of potential scientists. Establish career path for researchers. Increase the ratio of scientists to the general population.


These are a few of the recommendations of a consultative workshop convened by the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) on how to make the country highly competitive when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) turns into a free trade market by 2015.
Other recommendations include the following: 1) increase investments in research and development up to 2 percent of GDP, 2) streamline the procedure for the disbursement of research funds, 3) require government-funded research to be patented, 4) consult with industry to identify priority commodities, for export and import, and 5) ensure that technical standards and regulations are at par with other countries.

Hoping to get a sizeable part of a $10-trillion ASEAN consumer base in terms of GDP, the Philippines is looking at ways in which to move in the free flow of goods, services, investment and even employment within the ASEAN Economic Community by then. It is a highly lucrative single market and production base of more than 530 million consumers by 2020.

The NRCP, a consultative body of the Department of Science and Technology, organized the high-level consultation with the country's leading scientists and industry stakeholders to map a blueprint for the ASEAN free market which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

ASEAN free trade area
The ASEAN Free Trade Area is already in place since January 1, eliminating duties on nearly 100 percent of all tariff lines for the world's ninth largest economy and the third largest in Asia.

When the regional free market expands, the stakes are considerably higher. Japan has already called for a pan-Asian free trade area involving itself, the ASEAN, Australia, China, South Korea, India, and New Zealand with a combined population of 3.1 billion people and a gross domestic product of almost $10 trillion.

“These are exciting times leading to 2015,” Science Secretary Mario G. Montejo said. “Barriers will be down and it will be a very good opportunity for our producers to penetrate a market involving big, big numbers — four to five times bigger than the current Philippine market.”

The Philippines gearing up
“We have to prepare for this, we are not competing with the West but with ASEAN countries that have the same level of competence in many areas. We have to look for our niche strengths,” he said.

As an example, Montejo cited the lagundi cough syrup, a distinctly Philippine pharmaceutical product which is al ready a P500-million industry. “All other local drugs such as those that are based on moringa (malunggay), for instance, will follow,” he said.

Montejo admitted the competition will be stiff, saying that the country “must be prepared vis-à-vis science and technology that should make us competitive.”

“Our collective desire to achieve national economic sufficiency is laden with complex challenges,” he said. “But we must embrace every challenge as an opportunity to acquire the skills, knowledge and flexibility that are necessary to be a self-reliant economy confident to trade with other economies.” (Paul M. Icamina, S&T Media Service)

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The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is fast-tracking research on extending the shelf-life of brown rice to close the deficit between the production and consumption of white cereal, the country's staple.

“To address the persistent rice shortage, we propose a shift in our preference from white rice to brown rice,” says Science Secretary Mario G. Montejo. “If all of us eat brown rice, we can chew up the rice shortage.”

“In milling the palay to brown rice, you get 10 percent additional yield compared with white rice, which is equivalent to the country's rice production deficit,” he points out.

“We should think outside the box, we should change our mind set. We should look at the problem, which is lack of rice,” he says. “Adding brown rice could fill the gap.”

Lengthening brown rice shelf-life
For a start, DOST will develop ways to lengthen the shelf life of brown rice which is shorter than that of white rice. The DOST is now developing a process, which will be completed in 2011, “to solve this disadvantage,” Montejo says.

At the same time, he wants to put brown rice on the base of the food pyramid, starting with its price that must be made comparable to that of white rice.

Because of the low demand, brown rice is currently more expensive and not available in many markets.

The DOST will also fortify brown rice with vitamins, minerals and other essential micronutrients.

Montejo proposed the major shift of the country's cereal preference during the Technology Incubation Marketplace event, one of the DOST's fast-track efforts to ease the country’s problems.

With the bran and the nutrient-rich embryo intact and with fewer broken grains, the whole-grain milling recovery is as much as 10 percent higher than for white rice, says Dr. Emil Q. Javier, president of DOST’s National Academy of Science and Technology.

What is brown rice?
Brown rice is unpolished whole grain rice that is produced by removing only the hull or husk.

The remaining bran gives the brown color to the grain. Rice becomes white or polished when the bran layer is stripped off in milling, the whitening process.

Brown rice may come from long- or short-grain and even sticky rice. It is produced during the first stage of milling when the hull is removed. The next stage of milling removes the bran layer, leaving milled white rice. (By Paul M. Icamina, S&T Media Service)


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Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Mario G. Montejo (2nd from left) welcomes International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano (center) at the DOST office in Bicutan, Taguig City for a courtesy call that updated the secretary on the latest developments in the peaceful application of nuclear energy especially on water management. Dir. Gen. Amano attended the closing ceremony of the 38th Atomic Energy Week celebration at DOST’s Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) in Quezon City. Photo shows (from left) DOST Undersecretary for Regional Operations Carol M. Yorobe, PNRI Director Alumanda Dela Rosa, and DOST Undersecretary for S&T Services Fortunato T. Dela Peña. (S&T Media Service)

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Nuclear science and technology applications in agriculture, medicine, industry and the environment will be featured in activities during the 38th Atomic Energy Week (AEW) celebration on December 6–10, 2010 at the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) - Department of Science and Technology.

PNRI Director Alumanda dela Rosa said that the theme for this year’s celebration is “Accelerating Socio-Economic Development through Nuclear Science and Technology. “

Representative Angelo Palmones, vice chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives, will be the keynote speaker at the opening ceremonies program on December 6. Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano will be the guest speaker at the closing ceremonies on December 10.

Activities slated for the 38th AEW celebration include the opening of exhibits on December 6, technical sessions for professionals and students on December 7, on-the-spot poster making and essay writing contests for high school students on December 8, and video showing and guided tours from December 6 to 10.

Added attractions in the weeklong celebration are mutant ornamental plants, irradiated beehives, and other products of nuclear science and technology applications.