FEU Public Intellectual Lecture Series | Dr Giovanni Tapang | Part 1

Summary

The transcript highlights the underdevelopment of science and technology in the Philippines, ranking poorly in ASEAN for science and math. It emphasizes the lack of hands-on science education, with 35% of high schools lacking equipment, leading to a theoretical approach that hinders practical understanding. The country's economy is primarily agrarian with a declining manufacturing sector, resulting in a service industry that doesn't produce tangible goods. The script points out that the Philippines exports labor due to a lack of local job opportunities, and even with government efforts, the trend of low production and manufacturing persists. It calls for a focus on developing industries and integrating research and development into policy-making to address issues like unemployment and low value-added manufacturing.

Takeaways

• 🌱 The Philippines' science and technology sector is not yet at its peak, indicating potential for growth and improvement.
• 📉 The country ranks low in science and math among ASEAN countries, with a significant gap in preparedness for scientific careers post-K-12 education.
• 🏫 The lack of proper science equipment in schools, with only 60-65% of high schools having such facilities, hinders practical learning and experimentation.
• 🏭 The industrial capacity is limited, reflected in the lack of basic industries and job opportunities, with a flat production trend since the 1950s.
• 📊 The GDP graph shows a decline in agriculture and a stagnation in manufacturing, pointing to a reliance on services to fuel the economy.
• 📈 Services sector growth is notable, but it doesn't contribute to material production, which is essential for the country's self-sufficiency.
• 🔩 The country's main export, electronics, has a large import component, indicating assembly rather than manufacturing as the primary activity.
• 👨‍🔬 There's a significant brain drain, with many trained scientists and engineers seeking employment opportunities abroad due to limited local demand.
• 💡 The script emphasizes the need for policy changes and integration of research and development in industry to address the country's challenges.
• 🌐 International comparisons reveal that the Philippines has a lower researcher density compared to its neighbors, suggesting a need for more focus on nurturing local talent.

Q & A

What is the current state of science and technology in the Philippines according to the transcript?

The transcript suggests that the Philippines is not yet at its peak in terms of scientific capabilities. There is potential for growth, but the country is currently far from being a leader in science and technology.

How does the transcript describe the performance of the Philippines in science and math among ASEAN countries?

The transcript indicates that the Philippines ranks very low in science and math among ASEAN countries, being 45 out of 46 in science and 43 out of 45 in math.

What is the issue with the education system in the Philippines concerning science and technology as per the transcript?

The transcript highlights that the education system in the Philippines is ill-prepared in science and math, with only 60-65 percent of high schools having science equipment, leading to a lack of hands-on experience.

How does the lack of industrial capacity reflect on the job market in the Philippines?

The transcript points out that the lack of industrial capacity in the Philippines is reflected in the lack of jobs, as the country does not have basic industries to produce goods, leading to high unemployment.

What is the role of services in the Philippine economy as discussed in the transcript?

The transcript explains that services, such as call centers and back-end offices, have taken up a significant part of the economy, providing jobs. However, these services do not produce material objects and are not indicative of a strong industrial base.

What does the transcript say about the manufacturing sector in the Philippines?

The transcript states that the manufacturing sector in the Philippines has remained relatively flat since the 1950s, producing roughly one-fourth of the economy's needs, and is characterized by low value-added manufacturing.

Why does the transcript suggest that the Philippines is not an industrial economy?

The transcript suggests that the Philippines is not an industrial economy because it does not produce a lot of goods domestically and relies heavily on imports for even basic necessities.

What does the transcript imply about the future of the workforce in the Philippines?

The transcript implies that the future of the workforce in the Philippines is challenging due to high unemployment rates, especially among the youth, and a lack of job opportunities in line with educational qualifications.

How does the transcript characterize the agricultural sector in the Philippines?

The transcript characterizes the agricultural sector in the Philippines as being in decline, with a significant portion of the population engaged in low productivity agricultural work, and a lack of modernization and industrialization.

What is the transcript's view on the role of research and development in addressing the country's challenges?

The transcript views research and development as crucial for addressing the country's challenges, but notes that it is not well integrated into the thinking of policymakers and industry, leading to a lack of innovation and problem-solving.

Outlines

00:00

🔬 Science and Technology in the Philippines

The paragraph discusses the current state of science and technology in the Philippines, emphasizing that it is not at its peak potential. It points out the need for improvement and the significant challenges faced, such as the country ranking 45th out of 46 in science and 43rd out of 45 in math among ASEAN countries. The speaker highlights the lack of preparedness in science and technology among the youth after K-12 education, with most not entering STEM tracks. The inadequacy of science equipment in high schools is also mentioned, with 35% of schools lacking proper equipment, leading to theoretical rather than practical learning. The paragraph concludes by stressing the importance of hands-on experience in science education.

05:01

🏭 Industrial Capacity and Job Scarcity

This section of the script addresses the lack of industrial capacity in the Philippines, reflected in the absence of basic industries and the consequent scarcity of jobs. The speaker presents a historical view of the country's GDP, showing a steady decline in agriculture's contribution and a plateau in manufacturing since the 1950s. The reliance on imports for everyday items is criticized, and the country's status as a net importer of even its top exports, like electronics, is highlighted. The narrative suggests that the low labor costs lead to a focus on assembly rather than innovation, and despite government efforts, the trend of declining production and manufacturing continues. The services sector is identified as a job provider, but it is noted that services do not produce tangible goods, which are mostly imported.

10:04

🌾 Agricultural and Manufacturing Challenges

The paragraph delves into the challenges faced by the agricultural sector, where 70% of the population is engaged but only receives a small share of the economy's output. The stagnation in manufacturing is also discussed, with the speaker noting that the productive capacity has remained flat since the 1950s. The reliance on imports for basic needs is emphasized, and the irony of the Philippines being a top exporter of electronics while not having a robust electronics market domestically is highlighted. The paragraph concludes by discussing how the lack of production leads to a dependence on services, which do not contribute to tangible goods or industrial development.

15:04

📉 Economic Shifts and Labor Exodus

This section discusses the shift in the Philippine economy from agriculture to services, with a significant portion of the labor force working abroad due to limited job opportunities at home. The speaker points out that even basic jobs in countries like Saudi Arabia are comparable to entry-level construction jobs in the Philippines, indicating a willingness of Filipinos to take any job opportunity. The paragraph also addresses the issue of unemployment, particularly among the youth, and the lack of assurance that a good education will lead to job security. The need for manufacturing resurgence is mentioned, but the overall characterization of the economy remains one of low production and value addition.

20:05

🧪 Science and Technology Development

The final paragraph emphasizes the importance of developing expertise in science and technology and retaining talent in the country. It discusses the lack of funding and the insufficient number of researchers to absorb increased funding. The speaker highlights the low density of researchers and compares the Philippines unfavorably to its neighbors in terms of research and development. The paragraph concludes by stressing the need for better integration of research and development in policy-making and industry to address challenges such as sewage and transportation, and the importance of retaining scientific professionals to contribute to the country's development.

Keywords

💡Science and Technology

Science and technology are fields that involve the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment, and the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes. In the video, it is discussed that the Philippines has not yet reached its peak in terms of scientific capabilities, indicating a need for growth in these areas to improve the country's capabilities and economic development.

💡ASEAN Countries

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a geopolitical organization of ten countries located in Southeast Asia. The script mentions surveys among ASEAN countries, highlighting the Philippines' ranking in science and math, which is used to emphasize the need for improvement in educational outcomes related to these fields.

💡K-12 Education

K-12 education refers to the 13-year compulsory education program consisting of kindergarten and 12 years of basic education. The video discusses the inadequacy of the K-12 system in preparing students for science and technology careers, suggesting that most graduates do not continue on a path to become scientists or engineers.

💡Manufacturing

Manufacturing is the process of transforming raw materials into finished goods through manual labor or machinery and equipment. The script points out that the manufacturing sector in the Philippines has remained relatively flat since the 1950s, indicating a lack of industrial growth and production capacity.

💡Agriculture

Agriculture is the art and science of cultivating plants and livestock for food, fiber, and other products. The video notes the decline of agriculture's contribution to the GDP since 1946, which is a concern because a large portion of the population is engaged in this sector.

💡GDP

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year. The video uses a graph of the Philippines' GDP over time to illustrate trends in agriculture, manufacturing, and service sectors, highlighting the economy's shift away from production and towards services.

💡Services

Services are intangible products that involve the performance of some activity for a customer. The video discusses the rise of the service sector in the Philippines, which has absorbed the labor force that could not find employment in manufacturing or agriculture, but notes that services do not produce material goods.

💡Labor Force

The labor force consists of all individuals who are employed or seeking employment. The script mentions that a significant portion of the Filipino labor force works abroad due to lack of job opportunities at home, which is a consequence of the country's economic structure.

💡Research and Development

Research and development (R&D) refers to original investigation undertaken to gain new knowledge and the creation of new products or processes. The video implies that there is a lack of R&D in the Philippines, which is a barrier to advancing science and technology and creating higher value industries.

💡Value-Added

Value-added refers to the increase in the value of a product at each stage of production. The video discusses the concept in the context of the Philippines' economy, noting that much of the production is low value-added, such as assembly of electronic components, rather than creating higher value products.

💡Expertise

Expertise refers to a high level of knowledge or skill in a specific area. The video points out that there is a shortage of experts in various scientific fields in the Philippines, which limits the country's ability to develop and innovate in science and technology.

Highlights

The current state of science and technology in the Philippines is not at its peak, indicating potential for growth.

The Philippines ranks 45 out of 46 in science and 43 out of 45 in math among ASEAN countries.

Only 60-65% of high schools in the Philippines have science equipment, with the rest relying on theoretical instruction.

The lack of industrial capacity is reflected in the scarcity of jobs and the need for importation of basic goods.

Agriculture's contribution to the economy has significantly decreased since 1946, affecting a large portion of the population.

Manufacturing has remained flat since the 1950s, contributing to a stagnant economy.

The Philippines' main export, electronics, has a large import component, indicating a lack of local production capabilities.

The service sector has become a significant part of the economy, but it does not produce material goods.

Approximately 10-11% of the Filipino labor force works abroad due to limited job opportunities at home.

The unemployment rate among young adults is high, with more than half in the 18-24 age range struggling to find jobs.

The economy's inability to absorb the labor force is a significant challenge, even for well-educated individuals.

The lack of value-added industries is a barrier to developing science and technology in the country.

The Philippines has a low density of researchers, with only around 10,000 research scientists and engineers.

Many experts, including scientists and engineers, leave the country due to a lack of opportunities.

The need for research and development is not well-integrated into the thinking of policymakers and industry leaders.

Agricultural modernization and industrialization are not significant priorities in the country's development plans.

Transcripts

[Music]

and then let's discuss

what is the role the current role of

science and technology in the country

right now

and then let's ask ourselves what do we

need to do

it's easier to understand rather than

saying it's stunted and underneath it it

stunted urban so

because it did not have the opportunity

to grow

it did not grow as

[Music]

means that we can still do a lot this is

not yet

the peak of philippine

capabilities we can do a lot with what

we have we can do a lot

by improving what we have and therefore

there's a lot of things that we can do

with scientific values

the problem is we're not there yet we're

very far

from that position in fact we asked

uh surveys uh among

asean countries and our neighbors we're

actually going to be very hard

numerically number 45 out of 46

for science 43 out of 45

in math and therefore if you look at it

numerically high but you're

really at the end of the line they're

not really prepared to do science and

technology

and if they after k-12

most of them would not get into the

stamp track most of them will not be

scientists or engineers

so this is obviously an education

because obviously

as i've said earlier your filipino 13

year old is

ill prepared in science and math um

only 60 65 percent of our

high schools would have science

equipment

and therefore 35 percent will just

draw their experiments in the board and

tell

the students this is what will happen if

we had experiments

and that's not the way to do science to

do science

effectively you have to have hands-on um

experience in other words you cannot

imagine

electricity unless you see a light uh

light bulb light

you cannot imagine the cell phone until

you actually

fold the cell phone and use it you

cannot just describe that

and this is that is what really happens

not only in the basic science but even

in that life science

in many areas not only in the high

school

but also in the tertiary level

now in industrial growth it's much

more edited the evidence that i will

point to is

the lack of jobs

the lack of industries is one big

reflection of the lack of industrial

capacity

in the country we don't have basic

industries

we don't have any ways to make things

that we would be using

now and of course without industries you

don't have

jobs and without jobs you don't have a

future

and this is one of my favorite slides

it's a graph

it's a graph of the gdp the gross

domestic production of the

country in terms of production services

and public utilities

100 that's the whole economy and that's

from 1946 to 2008

there's a second part of the slide

the data is actually a trending trend

now the first thing that you would

notice is that

since after the war okay 1946

agriculture has been steadily going down

that's green

now agriculture is very important in the

country uh

because it's it's the way that we will

feed our dishes

now the fact is 70 of our people is

engaged in agriculture

7 out of ten is engaged in agriculture

and if you look at it in 1946 41

of our economy is agriculture right now

41

uh that 41 has gone down

to less than 10 and the problem

there is of course is that it's not that

we cannot just feed ourselves that's

one of the most evident problem for

students like you

the problem would be that the 70 percent

that is engaged in agriculture is now

just sharing a very very small five

that's not even the problem

the bigger problem the bigger problem is

in

production in the manufacturing part the

manufacturing part

that's the grey dashed line so

manufacturing first agriculture is equal

to the blue line which is production

so the manufacturing part that the

dashed gray line

is actually the ones that make the

things that we use

your computer your chair your clothes

your food etc the things that you use

and if you will see

after the war we don't really have

production that's obvious because all

industrial production has been destroyed

during the war

but it has steadily increased but just

plateaued

or stayed there at around 23

on the average since 1950s

so a productive capacity of the

philippines has stayed relatively flat

since the 1950s in terms of percentage

we were just producing

whatever we can we have produced in the

1950s

numerically you know in terms of number

but

in terms of part of our economy we

haven't really been

producing that much we're just producing

roughly

one fourth of our economy is in

production

and our problems

the problem of the lack of things that

you would be needing

in everyday life will be the problem so

you'll go to a mall all the things that

are important

not because by choice of course there

are very

posh malls there but because there's

nothing being produced here

everything will be imported you go to

asari sari store

not necessarily your trendiest place to

buy things

but you will not find anything that is

produced here

except for a very few items so even our

condiments even are i mean this is the

usual joke

even our toothpick is made outside

that's true

not just the toothpick most of the

things that you would use

now if there is ever any production here

is

mostly very small okay

not a very large scale production or

if it's being produced here then it has

a very large

import component what do you think is

the biggest export of the country

it's something that you cannot eat it's

something that you actually use every

day it's

hardest it's electronics

you you would wonder electronics so that

means if i go

in recto okay

then i can buy electronics at a very

very

um reduced price because it's it's your

top

export and therefore there must be we

must be awash with electronics but we're

not

okay that largest export has a very

large

import component in other words to

produce the electronics that we export

we import everything else what do we do

what do we add

all the things that we add is just labor

now the problem of course is

the labor costs here in the philippines

are very low above ambassador

etc and therefore you don't really do

any

science and technology anymore you just

assemble things you export them

that's it and that has gone

even after the government has tried to

recalculate changing baselines

the trend of going production going down

manufacturing going flat agriculture

falling

is actually the same so where

what has taken up our economy i mean

that means something is actually

giving jobs however small to our

economy no that's the services services

like

call centers back-end offices the

service crews that you actually

encounter in fast food

the rentals that you have etc these are

services

now what is the very distinct

nature services the problem with

services is that you don't really get

to hold anything from services you call

a call center

you don't bring home anything you get a

service

your rent house okay the rental itself

is a service

okay so the services services do not

really produce

material objects the problem of course

as i

said earlier if you need something it

will not come from services

man so that's the whole problem of our

economy right now

um we don't produce a lot we're not an

industrial economy

we're pre-industrial we're still

agrarian but backward at that

backward in the sense that even up until

now 2018

we still have people in doing

agriculture by literally pushing their

their their animals and literally doing

artisanal work

by hand

they do it themselves and that's a very

low productivity way

of doing agriculture now even if you

give them

tractors they don't really own the land

so nothing comes to them

so what do we do what do filipinos if

there's no jobs here

what do most of your um

uh detox ditas

do they go out they go abroad

most of our well 10 now around 11

10 to 11 of our filipino labor force is

actually outside of the country

and that's one way of finding jobs

but do you know how much the jobs in

saudi right now is

is actually the same as the entry-level

construction worker here in the country

that just means that people filipinos

would take any job opportunity even if

it's outside of the country

even if they don't have to come home

okay

and this headline is not surprising

anymore

right um that was that was last year

you can actually find um that this trend

has been

going up the joblessness uh

in fact it was surprising that even our

philippine statistics authority does not

report joblessness anymore

they report um the percentage of those

who have jobs it's a negative genome

but joblessness but this is actually

increasing

since the last few years now

most of you would be 18 to 24 right

or wish to be 80 21

where do i divide so half of you

it can be my left or my right will not

have jobs if you try to find

jobs right now in fact more than half

52 of your age range cannot find

jobs it doesn't matter if you're from

fau

from ust from ub or any of those top

universities because on the average

that uh you your age group

will have difficulties in finding jobs

and that's the

promise of um the job market

you can find jobs if you have a good

education but

in this economy a good education is not

a very big assurance that you will find

jobs

why it's not because you don't have

credentials

it's because the economy cannot absorb

the labor force that we're producing

right now

it's even the researchers in the

in in the government and

she's now a uh under secretary of elite

el dova in

the dti and she was being

she has been saying that we need to have

manufacturing

that they did try to have a

manufacturing resurgence

but this still is the main

characterization

of our economy we don't produce

things if ever we have production

we have extraction on one hand so we do

have mining

we do have sales at the other end right

but we don't have production in the

middle

so what do we do if you need metal if

you need

iron what do you

we do have iron ore we need iron in

buildings

but we don't actually produce iron bars

so what we do is to export the iron ore

and then buy it back that's why

okay because the value that that cost

there is because it

it tries to reflect the value added the

value added is

transforming that or to

to steal we don't have those value-added

industries here now value-adding is part

of

science and technology and engineering

if you have new processes to make

better steel then you can sell your

steel at a higher price

but do you really need methodological

engineers

do you really need any chemistry

because you don't really have that

production you don't have that need

maybe you would need structural

engineers because you're building things

but at the cost maybe you just need one

you don't need

thousands right you might need mining

engineers

but probably not those experienced

because all you need to find is the rock

and that's the problem so you cannot

really develop your science and

technology

because we don't have those industries

so what do we do we have low value added

manufacturing and low value added

manufacturing yesterday i was in an

electronics company

they import as i said earlier a lot of

their electronics

resistors capacitors all the parts here

all they do is to really put it together

you put them together and then make a

radio for your car make a

uh make a device for your um

for your computer et cetera we do

manufacture hard disks in the

philippines

so even the hardest computer is

sometimes made in the philippines

but all they do is to actually assemble

and most of our

production is in that state

so do you really need phds in chemistry

et cetera how many of those

that you will do and therefore it's not

surprising to find

scientists to go out okay it's not just

ordinary professionals it's even our

highly trained scientists and engineers

going out of the country

nurses as well okay medical

professionals

etc who actually go and

seek employment elsewhere reason

we don't really have places for them in

our economy they can participate in the

economy but sometimes not a scientists

or engineers

and if you actually look around and find

where are our experts there are

you will find in general were around

again very high

96 out of 139

well numerically i'm sorry um at least

numerically high but we're at the tail

end as well

and what this means is that if you're

looking for an expert

more often than not we cannot find the

experts

okay there's roughly around 100 100 page

decent physics

in the country okay and this is roughly

100 million

people that makes me a one in a million

guy

right

the weight will actually press on my

shoulders because there's

one million people in the philippine

center it's actually

depending on me to

decide or to give anything information

model anything in physics

that's not a nice thing to think about

and it's even worse for a lot of other

scientific professionals

if we're actually going to to add

together

all the scientists and engineers do you

know how many

are there that includes all the experts

here in

feu would you guess would anybody guess

there's only 10 000 in fact 9870

research scientists and engineers in

other words

those who are really engaged in research

you only have 10

000 in the whole country about 10

million

i know some of the people here in your

university

research fellows

you don't really have a lot of people

and therefore

it's very important that scientists or

science

students okay would actually try to

develop

and become more experts and stay here in

the country

so psy that includes everything science

chemistry

physics basic sciences economics etc

because if you stay here then you add

more

number to whenever the people would

need the experts right

the reason here is partly because you

don't really have a lot

of funding

but even if you double the funding

even if you triple the funding which the

government plans to do

okay you don't really have people to

absorb it

i mean you get more um sometimes

researchers if you don't have students

to

work with you you cannot do any

everything

okay the way to do it is that

you should actually generate and let

them

let the experts stay here the problem is

they don't have

places to go and

we only have like around one per 12 000

uh researcher density in the country

that's very far from singapore it's one

out of 164

okay but you know singapore is smaller

than manila

but thailand is a nice number to look at

has one-fourth of what we have

indonesia is a very large population has

one half of what we know

and vietnam as well the situation right

now where we're

in is that we don't have the industry we

don't have any program for

developing our the rural

area to industrialize the area

agricultural modernization is not even

a big idea

that is working in the agricultural

department earlier

they were talking about the sugar

shortage

okay and the solution was to import

not to develop our sugar production

but to input okay all ways to import

now the reason was given um

is that the they have to fill the need

immediately but that was the same thing

that they were saying a few years ago

so lagging along

and that's the same thing for a lot of

areas

the research and development is not

really integrated in the thinking

of our policy makers and even of

industry

if you look at if you ask industry do

you have any

thing to make do you have any research

and development

in your country in your company they

would say no we have very little

in fact the federation of filipino

industries says that they actually have

little or none research and development

in the country but those problems

of sewage

transportation etc can be actually

solved

okay by research and technology but

not just researching technology but by

better policy

[Music]

you