A lawmaker, information expert, educators, local chief executives, and a scientist from the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) were named Science Ambassadors of the region during the CAR leg of the Department of Science and Technology’s recent Science Nation Tour in Baguio City.
Named DOST’s Science Ambassadors during the event’s Stakeholder’s Night at the CAP Convention Center in Camp John Hay were the following: Dr. Ben D. Ladilad, president of Benguet State University; Hon. Mauricio G. Domogan, mayor of Baguio City; Hon. Abraham B. Akilit, mayor of Bauko, Mountain Province; Dr. Raymundo D. Rovillos, UP Baguio chancellor and Cordillera Regional Health Research and Development Council chairperson; Hon. Marcelo V. Dela Cruz Jr., mayor of Rizal, Kalinga; Dr. Daniel C. Peckley Jr., a DOST Balik Scientist; and Dr. Helen R. Tibaldo, regional director of Philippine Information Agency-CAR.
DOST-CAR Regional Director Dr. Julius Caesar V. Sicat added that a science ambassador is not solely a scientist. Instead, science ambassadors are those who inspire, engage, and convert their constituents to science and technology in different ways throughout their careers.
“We have educators who brought knowledge out of the classrooms down to the barangay levels where it is most needed. We have local chief executives who have skillfully learned the tricks of the trade and had maximized the potentials of collaboration to bring about countryside technology-based economic development. Likewise, we have a self-distinguished lawmaker who successfully brought quality education opportunities within the grasp of poor but deserving students from the Cordilleras, and a lady who, just like our national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal, acknowledges the might of the pen over the sword and had used such prowess to help bring science and technology news and information to the people who needs it most,“ said Sicat.
These local personalities have “demonstrated unparalleled appreciation of the potentials of science as a tool for making lives better, a tool for making the lives of Mang Juans and Aling Marias of the Cordilleras a lot better,” he said.
Science Nation Tour is a nationwide roadshow that aims to showcase the benefits of DOST’s various programs to Filipinos in various regions of the Philippines.
According to DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo, “This event is a nationwide program with an end goal of reaching out with various stakeholders. In DOST, we want to inspire, engage and convert the public to be believers in science, technology and innovation.“
DOST Sec. Mario G. Montejo (middle) with the seven Science Ambassadors of Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) during the Stakeholders’ Night at CAP Convention Center in Baguio City, namely (holding plaques, from left) DOST Balik Scientist Dr. Daniel C. Peckley Jr.; Mayor of Rizal, Kalinga Hon. Marcelo V. Dela Cruz Jr.; Mayor of Bauko, Mountain Province Hon. Abraham B. Akilit,; UP Baguio Chancellor and Cordillera Regional Health Research and Development Council Chairperson Dr. Raymundo D. Rovillos; Benguet State University President Dr. Ben D. Ladilad; Baguio City Mayor Hon. Mauricio G.Domogan; and PIA-CAR Regional Director Dr. Helen R. Tibaldo. Also with them in photo are DOST-CAR Regional Director Dr. Julius Caesar V. Sicat (left), DOST Assistant Secretary for Countryside Development Dr. Urdujah A. Tejada (second from left), and DOST Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara (right). (Photo by Arjay C. Escondo / Text by Ma. Lotuslei Dimagiba, S&T Media Service, DOST-STII)
