Mendoza, Manuela Marie D.

October 2, 2018

BSA 1-1 STS

HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE PHILIPPINES

Across the globe, countries have been heavily immersed in fostering scientific and technological
innovation due to its unyielding importance in terms of improving every individual’s life. This is clearly pronounced
with how science and technology, while continuously evolving in various forms and adeptly conforming to
people’s necessities, have led mankind to the prosperous state of living we are experiencing this very day. This
recognition science and technology have been receiving is, from a macro perspective, also due to their roles as
corner stones of every nation from which social and economic developments arise, justifying the highly distinct
dependency coming from Third World countries, such as the Philippines. Given such context, it is no surprise
that fragments of scientific and technological evolution within the Filipino nation can be traced back from the very
roots of early ancestry, forming a journey contrived by time, natural culture, foreign influence, and above all—
exigency.

Although very little written information was accumulated, reliable sources taken from archeological
findings, traveler accounts, and old Spanish documents stated that early Filipinos had already established their
own instigation of science and technology even before the foreign intrusions took place in the Philippines.
However, compared to the rapid improvements we are experiencing today, there seemed to have been little
pressure for invention and innovation among the early Filipinos due to the abundance of natural resources,
benign environment, and generally sparse population. Basically, the flourishment in the country began primarily
only due to the early Filipinos acting upon necessity. Dawning this Pre-Colonial period is the Stone Age, which
was dotted with the use of simple tools or weapons made of stone flakes, leading to the development of
techniques for sawing, drilling, polishing hard stones, and pottery. This was followed by Iron Age wherein
Filipinos engaged in the use of copper, gold bronze, and in the actual extraction of iron from ore, smelting and
refining. Unfortunately, however, both the pottery developed in the ancient time and the iron industry did not last
due to foreign competitions particularly China, as to why early Filipinos just resorted to agriculture, as evidenced
by cultivated lowlands and mountains, both utilizing spring water for farm work. Filipinos also learned how to
build boats such as the caracoa, paving way for coastal trades within and outside the Philippines. This highly
benefited the country in terms of establishing strong relations with other countries such as China, Japan, and
Brunei, consequently leading to the spread of Hindu-Buddhist, Malay-Sanskrit and Arab-Muslim Cultural and
technological influences within the Philippines. Early Filipinos also started the system of barangay which was
treated before as autonomous village communities that exhibit uneven yet varied technological development.
Some utilized modern artillery, while others stuck with ancient practices such as farming, hunting, and mining.
Filipinos also had their houses built using woods and bamboos, used moons to count years for harvest as an
alternative for calendar, and formed their own writing system that, although lacked literary tradition, were useful
for composing messages and letters.
 With the invasion of Spaniards in 1565, what the Filipinos established in the Pre-Colonial period was,
however, eventually overlapped by the modernization of science and technology. Under the Spanish regime,
many changes took place starting with the integration of religious beliefs amongst the people, forcing them to
live within the range of the sound of church bells, serve in convents, and do forced labor. These implementations
caused serious socio-economic dislocation and massive migration from barangays to city which caused urban
congestion. International trading was also prohibited and limited only between Manila and Mexico which resulted
to very little development in agriculture and industry. Decrees from Spain then mandated the establishment of
school system in the country; however, since the friars who were in charge of the education were not entirely
concerned with seriously enhancing the knowledge of the Filipinos, the colonial education became primarily
religious in nature without much importance given to natural and physical sciences. On a positive note, the
establishment of education gave birth to various professions, with medicine and pharmacy as the most
developed, and signaled the conduct of scientific research which somehow improved agriculture, industry,
medicine, and meteorology in the country. The lack of interest and support for research and development of
native industries like weaving, however, led to their failure to survive the competition with foreign imports.
Eventually, Manila was again opened to Asian shipping, which boosted Philippines’ export system. There was
also a huge improvement in the country’s infrastructures due to the Spaniards’ introduction of town planning and
building technology with stones, brick and tiles, giving birth to churches, hospitals, schools, and other public
buildings. By 19th century, modern amenities such as waterworks system, steam tramways, electric lights,
newspapers, and banking system were also introduced. Economic development made its way into the country’s
system, but not every Filipinos benefited, resulting to many underdeveloped and poor areas in the nation. By the
end of the Spanish regime, the Philippines evolved into a primary agricultural exporting economy.

While the colonization of the Spaniards was religion-centered, the Philippine Republic which followed
was secular in nature. Courses such as law, medicine, surgery, pharmacy and notary public were offered. There
was very little development in science and technology during the short-lived Philippine Republic, and it was
eventually followed by the invasion of the Americans. Under the American regime, education received the biggest
spotlight which, similar to the preceding era, was also non-religious. Americans gave huge importance to
education as to why the government provided simultaneous encouragement and support for an extensive public
education system, and even granted scholarships for higher education. In addition, several laws was passed in
support to better educational system in the country such as the Private School Act (Act No. 2076) which
recognized private schools as educational institutions and not commercial ventures to ensure teaching efficiency,
while organizations like National Research Council of the Philippine Islands (NRCP) were established for the
scientific enhancement. With more and more Filipinos being educated, partnered with the organization of science
research agencies and establishment of science-based public services, science and technology experienced
advanced rapid development under the American Regime. However, while Filipinos were provided opportunities
for higher education in the sciences and engineering, the economy remained basically agricultural, and there
was, unfortunately, great decline in the field of industrialization. Philippine economic development became
dependent to free trade relations with United States. This low importance given to industry resulted to relative
underdevelopment of the physical sciences vis-a-vis the medical and agricultural sciences. Basic and applied
research in the medical, agricultural and related sciences received much greater government support than
industrial research during the American regime.

The Commonwealth Period, which is completely under the Filipino government, followed suit. Its
commencement in 1935 ushered a period of transition to political independence. The Constitution acknowledged
the importance of promoting scientific development for the economic development of the country by incorporating
a provision (Article XIII, Section 4) declaring that "The State shall promote scientific research and invention, Arts
and Letters shall be under its patronage..." Both public and private educational system expanded. To sustain
political independence, the Commonwealth government worked towards the development of economic self-
reliance through ways such as reorganizing several government corporations and creation of new ones to
perform varied functions for natural resources and research development. Unfortunately, the government’s goal
of economic self-reliance was not achieved primarily due to foreign trade and tariff policies remaining under the
control of the American government, and the continuing free trade relations. In 1941, Pacific War broke out and
Japanese troops occupied the Philippines which stopped educational and scientific activities. Worse, many parts
of the country including Manila, which was the center of all educational and scientific endeavors, was razed to
the ground, destroying everything that had been built up before. The government had to contend with economic
reconstruction, normalization of operations as well as the task of planning the direction of economic
development. It was in this condition that the Philippines became an independent state.

Philippines finally achieved independence in 1946. However, the country remained dependent on the
United States with the remnants of the said colonizer’s pattern of education and direction of government still
being apparent. This dependent development of Philippine society and economy caused serious repercussions
for the advancement of science and technology. In the earlier years of being in freedom, Philippines experienced
high increase in the number of educational institutions. Nonetheless, many of them were incapable of providing
quality education particularly in the sciences and engineering as to why rise of professional organizations of
scientists and engineers, medical training innovations, and science agencies became vital factors to pave way
for the growth of higher education, and encourage the pursue of science degrees and careers. This increased
social demand for higher education has led to the growth of highly-trained professional manpower. However,
because of the underdeveloped state of the economy, many of these science-based professionals have either
been unemployed or underemployed. Consequently, many of them have been forced to migrate to developed
countries; thus creating a "brain drain” or loss of valuable human resources for the Philippines. Worse still, this
"brain drain" helps to perpetuate Philippine dependent development as many of those who leave are highly
educated and better trained professionals who are needed in the country’s development efforts.

Science and technology in the Philippines have come a long way. Unfortunately, our country is still lacking
in many aspects; hence, what the government needs is to critically reexamine the interrelations between past
and present education and science policies with those of its economic development policies in order to be able
to redirect them towards the goal of attaining a strong and self-reliant economy and society. In totality, as a
critical factor in goal-achieving and thriving, a well-developed national science and technology is a vital necessity.