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Sen. Edgardo Angara has been promoting science and technology but I
never realized that his advocacy has found some disciples in some
unexpected quarters in the Senate until I read Senate Bill No. 2644.
The bill has many technical terms, no doubt
because it deals with a technical subject—Lymphatic Filiarisis
Research. The author seeks to make the subject more comprehensible
by defining what lymphatic fiilarisis is. To quote the bill,
“lymphatic filiarisis shall refer to the parasitic and infectious
tropical disease that is caused by thread-like parasitic worms of
the type filarial nematode, which causes enlargement of the entire
leg or arm, the genitals, vulva and breasts.”
Now, that definition should properly make one
understand what the bill is all about. Or, does it? I must confess
my head is still swimming after reading that definition! Anyway, the
bill’s author tries to further explain why there should be a
research and information campaign on this type of filarial nematode.
He wrote:
“The elimination of lymphatic filariasis as a
public health problem in the Philippines is a 20-year strategic plan
for the world community, with the vision of all endemic communities
to be free of transmission of lymphatic filariasis by 2020 and with
the commitment to ensure the delivery of quality technologies and
human services to eliminate lymphatic filariasis worldwide through a
multi-stakeholder global alliance of all endemic countries. This
global goal of elimination of lymphatic filariasis is a significant
opportunity for partnerships—a world with less poverty through
sustainable development and free from the scourge of lymphatic
filariasis.”
Now, do you get it? I hope you do because all
these explanations are above my head. I still need somebody to
explain that “explanation” to me. Oh well, I guess the author is
so technically well-versed that he could not explain it in
layman’s terms. The author, by the way, is Sen. Lito Lapid.
Surprise! Surprise!
Really, wonders never cease. For a senator who
had admitted a limited knowledge of English, Lapid has really gone a
long way on his fourth year as a senator. He started his term in the
Senate in 2004 by hiring a person whose job is to translate English
to Tagalog or Pampango, his native tongue. Now, he is using
impeccable English in his bill. And not only that—he has
progressed to using technical terms! We are living in an age of
miracles, indeed!
If Lapid astounds you with SBN 2644, wait till
you read his SBN 2640 titled “Promoting Aeroponics Technology in
Agricultural Production.” Again, for the uninitiated like me,
Lapid provides a “clear” definition of terms. “Aeroponics,”
he writes, “is the process of growing plants in an air or mist
environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium.
Aeroponic culture differs from both hydroponics and in-vitro [plant
tissue culture] growing. Unlike hydroponics, which uses water as a
growing medium and essential minerals to sustain plant growth,
aeroponics is conducted without a growing medium.” Huh!
He then seeks to give a clearer picture on why
aeroponics should be promoted. He writes in SBN 2640: “With
aeroponics, the deleterious effects of seed stocks that are infected
with pathogens can be minimized due to the separation of the plants
and the lack of shared growth matrix. In addition, due to the
enclosed, controlled environment, aeroponics can be an ideal growth
system in which to grow seed stocks that are pathogen-free. The
enclosing of the growth chamber, in addition to the isolation of the
plants from each other helps to both prevent initial contamination
from pathogens introduced from the external environment and minimize
the spread from one plant to others of any pathogens that may
exist.” Can he sponsor them?
I could hardly wait for Senator Lapid to sponsor
these two bills on the floor once they are reported out by the
appropriate committees. Indeed, that would be the day! I still have
to hear him sponsor anything on the floor. I may be wrong but I am
not aware of any bill of which he is the principal author that has
become a law. But that could soon change with his sole authorship of
the bills on lymphatic filiarisis and aeroponics technology in
agricultural production, with emphasis on “sole” because no
other senator had thought of them.
I am certain Senator Lapid had read enough
about the subject matters before filing the bills. As such, he
should be fully prepared to defend them on the floor. And when he
does, I presume he will continue to use the same technical terms
with which he has profusely littered his two measures. Wow! I only
hope Sen. Jamby Madrigal would not spoil his moment of glory by
asking him about the Pythagorean Theorem.
efrendanao2003@yahoo.com
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