From a “country of importation,” the Philippines can become an agricultural and industrial powerhouse if only the government invests 10 percent to 20 percent of the national budget on research and development (R&D) to create and market Filipino-made goods, Partido Reporma chairman and standard-bearer Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said.
Speaking at an “Online Kumustahan” event in Dumaguete City over the weekend, Lacson said a bigger national R&D budget would not only stop excess importation, but would also support Filipinos in developing more products for the global market, and prevent them from offering their talents to employers abroad, reversing a decades-long “brain drain.”
“Ang ginagawa natin, pag may kailangan tayong mga gamit, import tayo nang import. ’Yung ating research and development, Google, naghahanap ng mabibili. E ang dami nating talents sa Pilipinas,” the longtime public servant said in the capital of Negros Oriental province.
[What we’re doing is if we need something, we keep importing stuff. Our research and development is Google—we’re looking for stuff to buy. But we have so many talents here in the Philippines.]
However, the government has only earmarked 0.4 percent of the national budget to research and development, “kaya tayo hindi umaasenso (that’s why we’re not prospering),” added the veteran lawmaker, who has meticulously examined the budget in his 18 years in the Senate.
“‘Yung ginagawa nila doon binibili natin sa mas mahal. E bakit hindi natin buhusan ng pondo ’yung research and development?” added Lacson on how Filipino farmers and scientists alike would benefit from heightened R&D spending.
(What others are creating abroad we’re buying at a much higher rate. So, what if we pour funding into our research and development?)
“Hindi pwedeng 0.4 percent. Dagdagan natin at least—i-angat natin maski 10 percent man lang o 20 percent nang sa ganoon ’yung ating mga talent dito, mga scientist, huwag nang umalis,” he added.
[It can’t be just 0.4 percent (of the budget). Let’s add to it at least—let’s raise it to at least 10 percent or 20 percent, so that our local talents, our scientists, don’t have to leave for abroad.]
Lacson said the Philippines’ propensity for importation extends not just to the goods it takes in but even to the skilled manpower it hires from other countries to lead or push its development projects.
“We are a country of importation. Import tayo nang import. Import tayo ng gulay; import tayo ng prutas; import tayo ng langis; import tayo ng palay o ng bigas dahil ’yung ating sektor ng agrikultura kulang ng suporta,” the Partido Reporma chairman told the crowd of residents and local leaders in Dumaguete.
(We import everything—vegetables, fruits, oil, rice, and why? Because our agricultural sector doesn’t get enough support.)
One proof, he said, is that despite the passage of the Free Irrigation Act, which he authored in the Senate, the Philippines remains last among its neighboring countries in providing vital water services to its farmers.
Compared to Vietnam or Thailand, Lacson said, the Philippines has only irrigated two-thirds or about 2 million hectares of its 3.12 million hectares of irrigable land.
“Paano natin tutulungan ’yung ating mga magsasaka kung lagi na lang tayong import nang import? Papatayin natin ’yung (kabuhayan) ating mga magsasaka (kung ganyan),” added the former National Police chief.
(How are we going to help our farmers if we keep importing? We are in fact killing their livelihood instead.)
