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President Gloria Arroyo at-tended the program
commemorating the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean)
Science Week at the World Trade Center in Pasay City on Monday,
wearing a rose-colored attire made from pina and dyed with a
substance from coconut husk.
During the program, she called
attention to her smartly tailored coat-and-dress ensemble, saying:
“These are examples on how
indigenous products, like coconut, can make their mark in this
modern day and age.” She received a resounding applause.
The President cited the potentials
of coconut as the source of food, medicine and many other useful
products if fully developed through scientific research.
The celebration, which coincided
with the 50th anniversary of the Department of Science and
Technology (DOST), was attended by representatives of Asean’s
10-member countries.
It brought into focus the strides
made by individual countries of the regional organization in science
and technology over the past many years. Based on its research
performance, the Philippines appears to be logging behind the other
nations.
The Philippines abounds with cash
crops that can earn billions of dollars in the world market if
developed to their fullest potentials. But this is not happening.
Abaca is one such crop but it is
not being developed fully enough. There used to be an Abaca
Development Board, which was created by the government to promote
abaca production and explore its many uses. The agency, however,
died a natural death.
Manila hemp, the main product of
abaca, used to be a big dollar earner for our country. Today, we are
losing the market to the US and other countries.
Many products can be derived from
abaca fiber, such as paper, linen, twine or rope, carpets, fish
nets, table cloth and hundreds other items. The failure of our
scientists to develop the appropriate technology for the manufacture
of these products contributed to the industry slump.
This is a sad reflection on the
performance of Filipino scientists and researchers. One reason for
this is the lack of government incentives to promote scientific
research. Inventions are mostly individual initiatives, without
logistical support from the government.
Filipinos have proven their
inventive genius and capacity for excellence in scientific research.
What they lack is proper motivation and adequate funding.
The DOST should look into ways of
advancing the frontiers of science and technology with a view to
discovering more uses of our natural resources.
President Arroyo, in her speech,
said the country “is looking to science and technology to put food
on the table for Filipinos, among other purposes.” We look forward
to greater achievements in this field.
VAT hurting senior citizens
Time and again, we hear the
public clamor for the removal of the value-added tax (VAT) on food
and medicine purchases of senior citizens. It has become a boring
refrain with the elderly hearing the call so often but with no
response from the government.
I am glad that the Catholic
Bishops of the Philippines (CBCP) has brought it up in its call for
the government to reconsider its economic policies—in particular,
the removal of the 12-percent VAT on oil and a review of the oil
deregulation law.
It said these two issues have
been hurting the poor people in terms of the resulting increase in
the cost of prime commodities. The oil deregulation law, it
explained, has deprived the government of the authority to control
the price of gasoline
The CBCP, in its call for the
removal of VAT on oil, voiced its concern over the application of
the law on food and drug purchases of senior citizens. Such
purchases are governed by a law, allowing them a 20-percent
discount. But with the VAT law slapping a 12-percent tax on these
purchases, the net discount becomes only 8 percent.
This is a legal imposture on
senior citizens because while the government maybe crowing about
giving senior citizens a 20 percent on their purchases, the
effective discount is only 8 percent.
The VAT issue has gained
ascendancy with the CBCP taking issue with the government on this
subject.
agr0324@yahoo.com
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