STS

• A history of science and technology in the Philippines was discussed by Olivia C. Caoili.
• The development of science and technology in the Philippines can be traced from Pre-Colonial times up to the present and these contributions help in nation-building.
• The major contributions of Spanish and Americans Colonization in the development of science, technology and science education in the Philippines are discussed.
• The Philippine Government has implemented various programs and policies in the development of science, technology and science education.
• Low salaries of scientists employed by the government were also noted in the US Economic Survey to the Philippines in 1950.
• The US Economic Survey to the Philippines in 1950 highlighted a lack of basic information necessities to the country's industries, minimal support of experimental work, and a low budget for scientific research.
• During the American Period and Post-Commonwealth Era, there was a lack of focus on the development of industrial technology due to the free trade policy with the United States which nurtured an economy geared towards agriculture and trade.
• The role of Science and Technology in Philippine nation building is discussed.
• Government policies pertaining to science and technology in terms of their contributions to nation building are evaluated.
• The actual science and technology policies of the government are identified and their impact on the development of the Filipino nation is appraised.
• The First Settlers in the Philippines were the Tabon Man from Tabon cave in Palawan about 48,000 B.C.
• The Filipino Ancestors include Aetas / Negrito (12000 – 15000 years ago), Indones (with little technical skill), and Malay from Borneo Island, considered as the most civilized among the group.
• During the Pre-colonial Period, Filipinos used simple tools, weapons of stone flakes, and made sawing and polishing stones (40,000 B.C.).
• Filipinos learned to use and produce copper, bronze, iron, and gold metal tools and ornaments during the Pre-colonial Period.
• During the Pre-colonial Period, Filipinos were trading with Champa (Vietnam) and those from Ma-I (Mindoro) with China.
• Regular trade relations between the Philippines, China and Vietnam were established during the 10th – 15th century A.D.
• Filipinos were engaged in primitive or first wave technology such as extracting medicine from plants, a system of writing (alibata), and a method of counting and weights and measure during the Pre-colonial Period.
• Fr. Ignacio Mercado, a botanist, was a contributor to science during the Spanish Colonial Period.
• Pre-colonial Period was counted by the period of the moon and from one harvest to another.
• Chemists Dr. Trinidad Pardo de Tavera and Dr. Leon Ma Guerrero were also contributors to science during the Spanish Colonial Period.
• In 1871, the school of medicine and pharmacy were opened in UST, granting the degree of Licenciado en Medicina to 62 graduates during the Spanish Colonial Period.
• Trade was given more focus and priority during the Spanish Colonial Period, resulting in agriculture and industrial development being relatively neglected.
• The Spanish Colonial Period contributed to the field of engineering by constructing government buildings, churches, roads, bridges and forts.
• Jesuits promoted meteorological studies, founding Manila observatory at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1865 during the Spanish Colonial Period.
• Dr. Manuel Guerrero, Dr. Jose Montes, and Dr. Elrodario Mercado were medicine scholars during the Spanish Colonial Period.
• San Juan Lazaro Hospital, the oldest in the Far East, was founded in 1578 during the Spanish Colonial Period.
• Parish schools were established during the Spanish Colonial Period where religion, reading, writing, arithmetic and music were taught.
• The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 led to an influx of European visitors to the Spanish colony, influencing some Filipinos to study in Europe.
• In 1863, the colonial authorities issued a royal degree to reform the existing educational system during the Spanish Colonial Period.
• Real Sociedad Economica de los Amigos Del Pais de Filipinas, the first research society in the Philippines, was founded in 1780 during the Spanish Colonial Period.
• The Spanish introduced formal education and founded scientific institutions during the Spanish Colonial Period.