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Download a-history-of-science-and-technology-in-the-philippines2.pdf and more Assignments History in PDF only on Docsity! A HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE PHILIPPINES* Olivia C. Caoili** *Paper prepared for the University of the Philippines Science Research Foundation in connection with its project on "Analysis of Conditions for National Scientific and Technological Self-Reliance: The Philippine Situation," June 1986. **Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. Introduction • The need to develop a country's science and technology has generally been recognized as one of the imperatives of socioeconomic progress in the contemporary world. This has become a widespread concern of governments especially since the post world war II years(1). • Among Third World countries, an important dimension of this concern is the problem of dependence in science and technology as this is closely tied up with the integrity of their political sovereignty and economic self-reliance. There exists a continuing imbalance between scientific and technological development among contemporary states with 98 per cent of all research and development facilities located in developed countries and almost wholly concerned with the latter's problems.(2) Dependence or autonomy in science and technology has been a salient issue in conferences sponsored by the United Nations.(3) More about S&T • In the past, science and technology developed separately, with the latter being largely a product of trial and error in response to a particular human need. In modern times, however, the progress of science and technology have become intimately linked together. Many scientific discoveries have been facilitated by the development of new technology. New scientific knowledge in turn has often led to further refinement of existing technology or the invention of entirely new ones. Precolonial Science and Technology • There is a very little reliable written information about Philippine society, culture and technology before the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521. (8) • As such, one has to reconstruct a picture of this past using contemporary archaeological findings, accounts by early traders and foreign travelers, and the narratives about conditions in the archipelago which were written by the first Spanish missionaries and colonial officials. • According to these sources, there were numerous, scattered, thriving, relatively self-sufficient and autonomous communities long before the Spaniards arrived. • The early Filipinos had attained a generally simple level of technological development, compared with those of the Chinese and Japanese, but this was sufficient for their needs at that period of time. Precolonial Science and Technology • Archaeological findings indicate that modern men (homo sapiens) from the Asian mainland first came over-land and across narrow channels to live in Palawan and Batangas around 50,000 years ago. • For about 40,000 years, they made simple tools or weapons of stone flakes but eventually developed techniques for sawing, drilling and polishing hard stones. • These Stone Age inhabitants, subsequently formed settlements in the major Philippine islands such as Sulu, Mindanao (Zamboanga, and Davao), Negros, Samar, Luzon (Batangas, Laguna, Rizal, Bulacan and the Cagayan region). Precolonial Science and Technology • Filipinos had also learned to build boats for the coastal trade. By the tenth century A.D., this had become a highly developed technology. In fact, the early Spanish chroniclers took note of the refined plank-built warship called caracoa. These boats were well suited for inter-island trade raids. • The Spaniards later utilized Filipino expertise in boat-building and seamanship to fight the raiding Dutch, Portuguese, Muslims and the Chinese pirate Limahong as well as to build and man the galleons that sailed to Mexico. (12) Precolonial Science and Technology • By the tenth century A.D., the inhabitants of Butuan were trading with Champa(Vietnam); those of Ma-i (Mindoro) with China. • Chinese records with have now been translated contain a lot of references to the Philippines. These indicate that regular trade relations between the two countries had been well established during the tenth to the fifteenth centuries. • Archaeological findings (in various parts of the archipelago) of Chinese porcelains made during this period support this contention. From the Sung (960-1278) and Yuan (1260-1368) Dynasties, there are descriptions of trade with the Philippines, and from the Sung and Ming (1360-1644) Dynasties there are notices of Filipino missions to Peking.(13) Precolonial Science and Technology • The most frequently cited Chinese account in Philippine history textbooks is that of Chao Ju-Kua in 1225. He described the communities and trading activities in the islands of Ma-i (Mindoro) and San-hsu (literally three islands which present-day historians think refer to the group of Palawan and Calamian Islands).(14) • The people of Ma-i and San-hsu traded: • beeswax, cotton, true pearls, tortoise shell, medicinal betelnuts, yu-ta cloth (probably jute or ramie?) and coconut heart mats for Chinese porcelain, iron pots, lead fishnet sinkers, coloredglass beads, iron needles and tin. • These were practically the same commodities of trade between the islands and China which the first Spanish colonial officials recorded when they came to the Philippines more than two centuries later.(15) Precolonial Science and Technology • These communities exhibited uneven technological development. Settlements along the coastal areas which had been exposed to foreign trade and cultural contacts such as Manila, Mindoro, Cebu, Southern Mindanao and Sulu, seem to have attained a more sophisticated technology. In 1570, for example, the Spaniards found the town of Mindoro "fortified by a stone wall over fourteen feet thick," and defended by armed Moros -- "bowmen, lancers, and some gunners, linstocks in hand." There were a "large number of culverins" all along the hillside of the town. They found Manila similarly defended by a palisade along its front with pieces of artillery at its gate. The house of Raja Soliman (which was burned down by Spaniards) reportedly contained valuable articles of trade -- "money, copper, iron, porcelain, blankets, wax, cotton and wooden vats full of brandy." Next to his house was a storehouse which contained: much iron and copper; as well as culverins and cannons which had melted. Some small and large cannon had just begun. There were the clay and wax moulds, the largest of which was for a cannon seventeen feet long, resembling a culverin... (17) Precolonial Science and Technology • These reports indicate that the Filipinos in Manila had learned to make and use modern artillery. The Spanish colonizers noted that all over the islands, Filipinos were growing rice, vegetables and cotton; raising swine, goats and fowls; making wine, vinegar and salt; weaving cloth and producing beeswax and honey. The Filipinos were also mining gold in such places as Panay, Mindoro and Bicol. They wore colorful clothes, made their own gold jewelry and even filled their teeth with gold. Their houses were made of wood or bamboo and nipa. They had their own system of writing,(18) and weights and measures. Some communities had become renowned for their plank-built boats. They had no calendar but counted the years by moons and from one harvest to another. Precolonial Science and Technology • On the whole, the pre-colonial Filipinos were still highly superstitious. The Spaniards found no temples or places of worship. Although the Filipinos knew how to read and write in their own system, this was mainly used for messages and letters. They seem not to have developed a written literary tradition at that time.(20) This would have led to a more systematic accumulation and dissemination of knowledge, a condition that is necessary for the development of science and technology. Because of the abundance of natural resources, a benign environment and generally sparse population, there seemed to have been little pressure for invention and innovation among the early Filipinos. As governor Francisco deSande observed in 1575, the Filipinos do not understand any kind of work, unless it be to do something actually necessary -- such as to build their houses, which are made of stakes after their fashion; to fish, according to their method; to row, and perform the duties of sailors; and to cultivate the land... (21) Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • The beginnings of modern science and technology in the Philippines can be traced to the Spanish regime. The Spaniards established schools, hospitals and started scientific research and these had important consequences for the rise of the country's professions. But the direction and pace of development of science and technology were greatly shaped by the role of the religious orders in the conquest and colonization of the archipelago and by economic and trade adopted by the colonial government. • The interaction of these forces and the resulting socio-economic and political changes must,therefore, be analyzed in presenting a history of science and technology in the Philippines. Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • Spanish conquest and the colonization of the archipelago was greatly facilitated by the adoption of an essentially religious strategy which had earlier been successfully used in Latin America. Known as reduccion, it required the consolidation of the far-flung, scattered barangay communities into fewer, larger and more compact settlements within the hearing distance of the church bells. This was a necessary response to the initial shortage of Spanish missionaries in the Philippines. This policy was carried out by a combination of religious conversion and military force. Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • The net result of reduccion was the creation of towns and the foundation of the present system of local government. The precolonial ruling class, the datus and their hereditary successors, were adopted by the Spanish colonial government into this new system to serve as the heads of the lowest level of local government; i.e. as cabezas de barangay. The colonial authorities found the new set-up expeditious for establishing centralized political control over the archipelago -- for the imposition and collection of the tribute tax, enforcement of compulsory labor services among the native Filipinos, and implementation of the compulsory sale of local products to the government. Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • Various decrees were issued in Spain calling for the establishment of a school system in the colony but these were not effectively carried out.(23) • Primary instruction during the Spanish regime was generally taken care of by the missionaries and parish priests in the villages and towns. • Owing to the dearth of qualified teachers, textbooks and other instructional materials, primary instruction was mainly religious education. Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • Higher education was provided by schools set up by the different religious orders in the urban centers, most of them in Manila. • For example, the Jesuits founded in Cebu City the Colegio de San Ildefonso (1595) and in Manila, the Colegio de San Ignacio (1595), the Colegio de San Jose (1601) and the Ateneo de Manila (1859). The Dominicans had the Colegio de San Juan de Letran (1640) in Manila.(24) Access to these schools was, however, limited to the elite of the colonial society -- the European-born and local Spaniards, the mestizos and a few native Filipinos. • Courses leading to the B.A. degree, Bachiller en Artes, were given which by the nineteenth century included science subjects such as physics, chemistry, natural historyand mathematics.(25) Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • On the whole, however, higher education was pursued for the priesthood or for clerical positions in the colonial administration. It was only during the latter part of the nineteenth century that technical/vocational schools were established by the Spaniards.(26) Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • The study of pharmacy consisted of a preparatory course with subjects in natural history and general chemistry and five years of studies in subjects such as pharmaceutical operations at the school of pharmacy. • At the end of this period of the degree of Bachiller en Farmacia was granted. The degree of licentiate in pharmacy, which was equivalent to a master's degree, was granted after two years of practice in a pharmacy, one lof which could be taken simultaneously with the academic courses after the second year course of study. • In 1876, the university granted the bachelor's degree in pharmacy to its first six graduates in the school of pharmacy. Among them was Leon Ma. Guerrero, who is usually referred to as the "Father of Philippine Pharmacy" becuase of his extensive work on the medicinal plants of the Philippines and their uses.(30) The total number of graduates in pharmacy during the Spanish period was 164. (31). Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • There were no schools offering engineering at that time. The few who studied engineering had to go to Europe. • There was a Nautical School created on 1 January 1820 which offered a four- year course of study (for the profession of pilot of merchant marine) that included subjects as arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, physics, hydrography, meteorology, navigation and pilotage.(32) • A School of Commercial Accounting and a School of French and English Languages were established in 1839.(33) Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • There were no schools offering engineering at that time. The few who studied engineering had to go to Europe. • There was a Nautical School created on 1 January 1820 which offered a four- year course of study (for the profession of pilot of merchant marine) that included subjects as arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, physics, hydrography, meteorology, navigation and pilotage.(32) • A School of Commercial Accounting and a School of French and English Languages were established in 1839.(33) Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • Higher education during the Spanish regime was generally viewed with suspicion and feared by the colonial authorities as encouraging conspiracy and rebellion among the native Filipinos. For this reason, only the more daring and persevering students were able toundertake advantaged studies. • The attitude of the Spanish friars towards the study of thesciences and medicine was even more discouraging. As one Rector of the Univesity of Santo Tomas in the 1960s said: "Medicine and the natural sciences are materialistic and impious studies."(35) Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • Higher education during the Spanish regime was generally viewed with suspicion and feared by the colonial authorities as encouraging conspiracy and rebellion among the native Filipinos. For this reason, only the more daring and persevering students were able toundertake advantaged studies. • The attitude of the Spanish friars towards the study of thesciences and medicine was even more discouraging. As one Rector of the Univesity of Santo Tomas in the 1960s said: "Medicine and the natural sciences are materialistic and impious studies."(35) Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • It was not surprising, therefore, that few Filipinos ventured to study these disciplines. Those who did were poorly trained when compared with those who had gone to European universities. • Science courses at the University of Santo Tomas were taught by the lecture/recitation method. Laboratory equipment was limited and only displayed for visitors to see. • There was little or no training in scientific research.(36) • Sir John Bowring, the British Governor of Hongkong who made an official visit to the Philippines in the 1850s wrote: “Public instruction is in an unsatisfactory state in the Philippines--the provisions are little changed from those of the monkish ages.” Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • The religious orders provided most of the teaching force and institutions of learning in the colony. This was similar to the situation that had earlier prevailed in Europe (where they had come from) during the medieval ages. • Inevitably, members of the religious orders also took the lead in technological innovation and scientific research. This involvement invariably arose from their need to provide for basic necessities as they went around the archipelago to perform their missionary work of propagating the Catholic faith and to finance the colleges, hospitals and orphanages that they had established. Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • The Spaniards introduced the technology of town planning and building with stones, brick and tiles. • In may places, the religious (such as Bishop Salazar in Manila) personally led in these undertakings.(40) Because of the lack of skilled Filipinos in these occupations, the Spaniards had to import Chinese master builders, artisans and masons. • The native Filipinos were drafted, through the institution of compulsory labor services, to work on these projects. In this manner, the construction of the walls of Manila, its churches, convents, hospitals, schools and public buildings were completed by the seventeenth century.(41) Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • The Spaniards introduced the technology of town planning and building with stones, brick and tiles. • In may places, the religious (such as Bishop Salazar in Manila) personally led in these undertakings.(40) Because of the lack of skilled Filipinos in these occupations, the Spaniards had to import Chinese master builders, artisans and masons. • The native Filipinos were drafted, through the institution of compulsory labor services, to work on these projects. In this manner, the construction of the walls of Manila, its churches, convents, hospitals, schools and public buildings were completed by the seventeenth century.(41) Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • There was very little development in Philippine agriculture and industry during the first two centuries of Spanish rule. This was largely due to the dependence of the Spanish colonizers on the profits from the Galleon or Manila-Acapulco trade, which lasted from 1565 to 1813. It was actually based on the trade with China which antedated Spanish rule.(47) • The galleons brought to Latin America Chinese goods -- silk and other cloths, porcelain and the like -- and brought back to Manila Mexican silver. When the Spanish and Portuguese thrones were united from • 1581 to 1640, goods brought to Manila by ships from Japan and Portuguese ships from Siam, India, Malacca, Borneo and Cambodia were also carried by the galleons to Mexico.(48) Duringthe this time, Manila prospered as the entrepot of the Orient. Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • There was very little development in Philippine agriculture and industry during the first two centuries of Spanish rule. This was largely due to the dependence of the Spanish colonizers on the profits from the Galleon or Manila-Acapulco trade, which lasted from 1565 to 1813. It was actually based on the trade with China which antedated Spanish rule.(47) • The galleons brought to Latin America Chinese goods -- silk and other cloths, porcelain and the like -- and brought back to Manila Mexican silver. When the Spanish and Portuguese thrones were united from • 1581 to 1640, goods brought to Manila by ships from Japan and Portuguese ships from Siam, India, Malacca, Borneo and Cambodia were also carried by the galleons to Mexico.(48) Duringthe this time, Manila prospered as the entrepot of the Orient. Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • The Filipinos hardly benefited from the Galleon trade. • Direct participation in the trade was limited to Spanish inhabitants of Manila who were given shares of lading space in the galleons. Many of them simply speculated on these trading rights and lived off on their profits. • It was the Chinese who profited most from the trade. They acted as the trade's packers, middlemen, retailers and also provided services and other skills which the Spanish community in Intramuros needed.(49) Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • Successive shipwrecks of and piratical attacks on the galleons to Mexico led to declining profits from the trade and triggered an economic depression in Manila during the latter part of the seventeenth century.(54) • This situation was aggravated by increasing restrictions on the goods carried by the Manila Galleon as a consequence of opposition coming from Andalusion merchants and mercantilists in Spain. Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Bourbon dynasty ascended to the Spanish throne and brought with it political and economic ideas of the French Enlightenment. • This paved the way for more government attention to the economic development of the Philippines. Enterprising Spaniards began to exploit the mineral wealth of the islands, develop its agriculture, and establish industries. These efforts were further encouraged bythe need to promote economic recovery after the British Occupation of Manila in 1762-1764.(55) Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • Research in agriculture and industry was encouraged by the founding of the Real Sociedad Economica de los Amigos del Pais de Filipinas (Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Philippines) by Governador Jose Basco y Vargas under authority of a royal decree of 1780. • Composed of private individuals and government officials, the Society functioned somewhat like the European learned societies during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and a modern National Research Council, (56) • It undertook the promotion of the cultivation of indigo, cotton, cinnamon, and pepper and the development of the silk industry. • During the nineteenth century, it was endowed with funds which it used to provide prizes for successful experiments and inventions for the improvement of agriculture and industry: to finance the publication of scientific and technical literature, trips of scientists from Spain to the Philippines, professorships; and to provide scholarships to Filipinos.(57) Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • Foreign capital was allowed to operate on an equal footing with Spanish merchants in 1829. By this means agricultural production particularly of sugar and hemp, was accelerated and modernized. Local industries flourished in Manila and its suburbs -- weaving, embroidery, hatmaking, carriage manufacture, rope-making, cigar and cigarettesmaking.(59) • Much of the finished products of these industries were exported. Yet although Philippine exports kept rising during the nineteenth century, imports of manufactured goods also rose and foreign, particularly English capital dominated external trade and commerce.(60) This partly because of short-sighted Spanish colonial trade policies and therelative inexperience and lack of capital of Spanish colonial trade policies and the relative inexperience and lack of capital of Spanish and Filipino merchants. Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • The prosperity arising from expanded world trade and commerce in the nineteenth century led to Manila's rapid development as a cosmopolitan center. • Modern amenities – a waterworks system, steam tramways, electric lights, newspapers, a banking system – were introduced into the city by the latter half of the nineteenth century.(61) • Undoubtedly, commercial needs led to the Spanish governments establishment of a Nautical School, vocational schools and a School of Agriculture during the nineteenth century. Various offices and commissions were also created by the Spanish government by the Spanish government to undertake studies and regulations of mines, research on Philippine flora, agronomic research and teaching, geological research and chemical analysis of mienral waters throughout the country.(62) However, little is known about the accomplishments of these scientific bodies. Developments in Science and Technology During the Spanish Regime • Meteorological studies were promoted by Jesuits who founded the Manila Observatory in1865. • The Observatory collected and made available typhoon and climatological observations. These observations grew in number and importance so that by 1879, it became possible for Fr. Federico Faura to issue the first public typhoon warning. • The service was so highly appreciated by the business and scientific communities that in April 1884, A royal decree made the Observatory an official institution run by the Jesuits, and also established a network of meteorological stations under it.(63) • In 1901, the Observatory was made a central station of the Philippine Weather Bureau which was set up by the American colonial authorities. It remained under the Jesuit scientists and provided not only meteorological but also seismological and astronomical studies. Science and Technology during the First Republic • There was very little development in science and technology during the short-lived Philippine Republic (1898-1900). • The government took steps to establish a secular educational system by a decree of 19 October 1898, it created the Universidad Literaria de Filipinas as a secular, state-supported institution of higher learning. • It offered courses in law, medicine, surgery, pharmacy and notary public. • During its short life, the University was able to hold graduation exercises in Tarlac on 29 September 1899 when degrees in medicine and law were awarded.(64) Developments in Science and Technology During the American Regime • Science and technology in the Philippines advanced rapidly during the American regime. • This was made possible by the simultaneous government encouragement and support for an extensive public education system; the granting of scholarships for higher education in science and engineering; the organization of science research agencies and establishment of science-based public services. Developments in Science and Technology During the American Regime • The Americans introduced a system of secularized public school education as soon as civil government was set up in the islands. • On 21 January 1901, the Philippine Commision, which acted as the executive and legislative body for the Philippines until 1907, promulgated Act No. 74 creating a Department of Public Instruction in the Philippines. • It provided for the establishment of schools that would give free primary education, with English as the medium of instruction. • This was followed by the setting up of a Philippine Normal School to train Filipino teachers. Secondary schools were opened after a further enactment of the Philippine in Commission in 1902. • The Philippine Medical School was established in 1905 and was followed by other professional and technical schools. These were later absorbed into the University of the Philippines. Developments in Science and Technology During the American Regime • Before 1910, the American colonial government encouraged young men and women to get higher professional education as much as possible in American colleges. • In 1903, the Philippine commission passed an Act to finance the sending of 135 boys and girls of high schoolage to the United States to be educated as teachers, engineers, physicians and lawyers.(68) • One third of these were chosen by the governor-general on a nation-wide basis and the rest by the provincial authorities. In exchange for this privilege, the pensionados, as they came to be called, were to serve in the public service for five years after their return from their studies. • Between 1903 and 1912, 209 men and women were educated under this program in American schools.(69) After the establishment of the University of the Philippines, scholarships for advanced studies of a scientific or technical nature in American Universities were given only in preparation for assignment to jobs in the public service. Developments in Science and Technology During the American Regime • The Philippine Commission introduced science subjects and industrial and vocational education into the Philippine school system but they found that industrial and vocation courses were very unpopular with the Filipinos. • When the Manila Trade School was opened in 1901, the school authorities found it difficult to get students to enroll in these courses. Because of their almost 400 years of colonial experience under the Spaniards, middle class Filipinos had developed a general disdain for manual work and a preference for the prestigious professions of the time, namely, the priesthood, law and medicine. • Education in these professions came to be regarded as the means of making the best of the limited opportunities in the Spanish colonial bureaucracy and thus of rising from one's social class. Hence, even at the newly-opened University of the Philippines, it was difficult to get students to to enroll in courses which required field work such as, for example, agriculture, veterinary medicine, engineering and other applied science. Scholarships were thus offered by the government to attract a sufficient number of students to enroll in courses that were needed to fill up the technical positions in the government service.(70) Developments in Science and Technology During the American Regime • In the field of medicine, the Philippine Commission provided for as many scholarships as there were regularly organized provinces in the Islands. • These were awarded by the school departments after competitive examinations in the provinces.(71) A recipient of these scholarships was required to return to the province from whence he came and to serve as a physician for as many years as his medical education was paid for by the government. • This policy was adopted not only to assure the medical school has a continuing supply of carefully selected students but also to ensure a balanced geographical distribution of physicians in the different provinces and to counteract their tendency to settle in the large urban areas. Developments in Science and Technology During the American Regime • When the Bureau of Public Works was created in 1901, the Americans found that there were no competent Filipino engineers, and American engineers had to be imported. • As a consequence, a special effort was made to attract Filipinos to pursue advanced studies leading to careers as engineers. • In many cases government financial assistance was provided to enable them to complete their professional studies in the United States. • Upon achieving their professional qualifications they were employed as junior engineers in the Bureauof Public Works. Many of them rapidly advanced in their positions. • Their career progress can be seen from the fact that whereas in 1913 there were only 18 Filipino engineers out of a totalof 145 engineers in the Bureau of Public Works, the rest being American; by the end of 1925, out of 190 engineers in the Bureau, only 16 were Americans and 174 were Filipinos.(74) Developments in Science and Technology During the American Regime • The establishment of the University of the Philippines satisfied the short-run needs for professionally trained Filipinos in the colonial government's organization and programs. • What the authorities did not recognize was that by providing for an extensive public school system at the elementary and secondary levels they had increased tremendously the social demand for professional education. • The University of the Philippines remained the only publicly-supported institutions for higher education, and, since it could not meet the increasing social demand for universities was left to the initiative of enterprising Filipinos. For many Filipinos, private education became the alternative for professional education. Developments in Science and Technology During the American Regime • In 1917, Act No. 2076 (Private School Act) was enacted by the Philippine Legislature. The Act recognized private schools as educational institutions and not commercial ventures. • It required the Secretary of Public Instruction to "maintain a general standard of efficiency in all private schools and colleges so that...(they shall) furnish adequate instruction to the public..." and authorized him to "inspect and watch" these school and colleges. • The supervision of these schools was entrusted to a staff of four within the Department of Public Instruction -- a superintendent, an assistant superintendent and two supervisors. Developments in Science and Technology During the American Regime • The number of private colleges increased rapidly. In 1925 a survey of the educational system of the Island was authorized Survey which was headed by Paul Monroe made a comprehensive investigation of all public and private institutions of learning in the country. • The Monroe Survey found most private schools substandard. It reported that most of these were physically ill equipped and with more part-time than full-time faculty members. • Among the private colleges and universities, it found out that: "The equipment of all these institutions is owefully inadequate, the laboratory for the teaching of science being but a caricature of the real thing"(77) Developments in Science and Technology During the American Regime • As a consequence of the findings of the Monroe Survey, the Government took steps to improve the machinery for the supervision of private schools. • The Philippine Legislature created the Office of Private Education to look into such matters as physical plant, school facilities, libraries, laboratory equipment and student load, and administrative work such as enforcement of relevant government regulations, evaluating credits taken by students, managing admission of foreign students and the like. • As a result of the increased outlay for supervision of private schools, their standard were improved. Developments in Science and Technology During the American Regime • The American colonial authorities organized other offices which, by the nature of their operations, contributed further to the growth of scientific research. These were the • Weather Bureau (1901), the Board (later Bureau) of Health (1898), Bureau of Mines (1900), Bureau of Forestry (1900), Bureau of Agriculture (1901), Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Survey (1905), Bureau of Plant Industry (1929) and Bureau of Animal Industry (1929) (82) Developments in Science and Technology During the American Regime • From 1927, there were proposals from professional societies for the creation of a National Medical Research Council and a National Research Council similar to those in the United States, Canada, and Australia.(83) • The Philippine Legislature passed an Act in 1933 creating the National Research Council of the Philippine Islands (NRCP).(84) • Aside from working for the promotion of scientific research, the NRCP actively participated in the deliberations and drafting of provisions affecting science and industry in the 1934 Constitutional Convention. Developments in Science and Technology During the American Regime • Educational and science policy during the American regime was not coordinated with colonial economic policy. While Filipinos were provided opportunities for higher education in the sciences and engineering, the economy remained basically agricultural. • To a great extent, Philippine economic development was determined by free trade relations established in 1909 between the Philippines and the United States,(85) and these continued long after independence was achieved in 1946.(86) • As a result of this policy, the Philippine economy became tied to that of the United States, remaining primarily an exporter of agricultural crops and raw materials and an importer of American manufactured goods. (87) Undoubtedly this delayed Philippine industrialization.(88) The relative underdevelopmentn of the physical sciences vis-a-vis the medical and agricultural sciences may be traced to this policy. Basic and applied research in the medical, agricultural and related sciences received much greater government support during the American regime than did industrial research.(89) Science and Technology During the Commonwealth Period • On the whole, higher education was provided mainly by the private sector. • By 1936, there were 425 private schools recognized by the government, 64 of which were institutions at the College level and 7 were universities. • These were Centro Escolar University, Far Easter University, National University, Philippine Women's University, Silliman University, University of Manila and the University of Santo Tomas. • Together with the University of the Philippines these had a total of 19,575 college students in all universities in thecountry.(91) The combined significant increase in trained scientists and engineers in thePhilippines before the Second World War. Science and Technology During the Commonwealth Period • The Commonwealth government worked towards the development of economic self-reliance which would be necessary to sustain genuine political independence. It created the National Economic Council to prepare an economic program and advise the government on economic and financial questions. • Several government corporations were reorganized and new ones were created to perform such varied functions as 1. the exploitation and development of natural resources (e.g., the National Power Corporation); 2. the development and promotion of local industries (such as the National Development Company (NDC) and its subsidiaries, the National Abaca and Other Fibers Corporation); 3. promotion of agricultural production and marketing; and the like. • The NDC was especially mandated to undertake the development of successful researches of government science agencies (such as the Bureaus of Science, Animal Industry and Plant Industry) for commercial production. Science and Technology During the Commonwealth Period • The Commonwealth government likewise adopted measures to encourage and provide assistance to private Filipino businessmen in the establishment of industries and manufacturing enterprises. • For example, it created new agencies, such as the Bureau of Mines, to provide assistance to businessmen undertaking mining exploration and development. It also increased appropriations for the Bureaus of Science, Plant and Animal Industry, and thereby encouraged more scientific research for industrial purposes. Science and Technology Since Independence • The underlying pattern of education and training of scientists, engineers and physicians established during the America regime, as well as the direction of government support for scientific research and development, has basically remained unchanged since independence in 1946. • State support for education continues to be concentrated at the elementary school level; private colleges and universities provide education for the majority of the collegiate population. Science and Technology Since Independence • The number of state universities and colleges has been increasing since 1946. However, their growth has not been based on a rational plan. • Partisan political considerations often determined the creation, location and staffing of these institutions. Hence, many of them were ill-equipped and ill-prepared to provide quality higher education particularly in the sciences and engineering. • State universities and colleges vary in standards arising largely from the uneven distribution of faculty development programs. • The University of the Philippines System remains the most developed with extensive graduate and undergraduate degree programs in the sciences and engineering. It receives over half of the national budget for state universities and colleges.(93) Science and Technology Since Independence • Private universities and colleges have similarly increased in numbers since 1946. However, these vary in standards. • Most non-sectarian universities and colleges are organized and managed like business enterprises and are heavily dependent on tuition fees. To operate profitably, they tend to concentrate on low-cost courses like business administration, liberal arts and education, and encourage large enrollments in these. • Sectarian universities and college tend to be financially better endowed. Hence, they have been able to impose selective admissions, lower faculty-student ratios and provide laboratory and library facilities requires for science and engineering program. • The large number of private colleges and universities to be supervised and the limited Department of Education and Culture (now the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports) staff to do it has hampered effective government supervision and control of their standards. Science and Technology Since Independence • In certain cases, professional organizations initiated changes in the collegiate curriculum for their specialization and worked for improvements in educational standards. The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) actively worked to improve standards of medical education by limiting enrollment in medical colleges and adding courses required for the medical degree. • Academic members of the profession have led in questioning the relevance of Western oriented medical curriculum to Philippine conditions. This has resulted in recent innovations in medical training such as more exposure of students to community medicine and the experimental curriculum to produce doctors for rural areas. Science and Technology Since Independence • In the field of engineering, the Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers initiated a series of conference to discuss curriculum revisions for its profession. Results of these conferences were then endorsed to the Department of Education and Culture (DEC) for official adoption. • In other branches of engineering, the government through DEC convened meetings of educators, members ofprofessional examining boards, representatives of professional organizations and the private sector to update and adopt uniform core curricula for all universities and colleges to follow. • These developments took place in 1973-1974. Science and Technology Since Independence • On the whole, there has been little innovation in the education and training of scientists and engineers since independence in 1946. This is in part due to the conservative nature of selfregulation by the professional associations. Because of specialized training, vertical organization by disciplines and lack of liaison between professions, professional associations have been unable to perceive the dynamic relationship between science, technology and society and the relevance of their training to Philippine conditions.