Country Report of the Philippines
By
Dr. Estrella F. Alabastro
Secretary
Department of Science and Technology
Mr. Chairman
Excellencies
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is a great pleasure and an honor for me to participate in the Fourth Forumfor Nuclear Cooperation in Asia. On behalf of the Philippine Government,
my delegation and I thank the Government of Japan for inviting us to thisForum. It gives me great pleasure to have the opportunity again to share ourexperience in harnessing science and technology particularly nuclear
technology to uplift the lives of the general populace.

Mr. Chairman
The development agenda of the Philippine Government is strongly anchoredon the goals of economic growth accompanied by social equity andecological responsibility for the present and future generations of Filipinos.

The national science and technology policies and programs support thisdevelopment agenda by addressing pressing national problems, supporting
industry especially the small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs),
accelerating technology transfer and utilization, supporting human resource1development and S & T infrastructure, and promoting/popularizing scienceand technology.

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is giving priority to
two important programs : The Small Enterprise technology Upgrading
Program or SETUP and Technological Innovation Commercialization
Program or TECHNICOM . SETUP is a nationwide program designed
to upgrade the productivity of small and medium enterprises (SME) throughtechnology application/upgrading. Under this program, enterprises in theregions/provinces, whether in the agricultural, manufacturing or service
sector are being provided with the appropriate technology upgrading
assistance and services in an integrated manner. The socio-economic benefit
accruing from this program is the development of the countryside.
TECHNICOM is designed to facilitate technological innovation enterprisespin offs. It is a holistic and comprehensive package of focused assistance tofast track the commercial scale adoption or utilization of innovations inpriority areas. The program hopes to stimulate technological innovation,
strengthen the R & D capacity of SMEs, increase private sector adoption
and commercialization of government-initiated R & D activities, andmaximize benefits from government investments in R & D activities.
Mr. Chairman

Nuclear science and technology is an important component of the national S& T system, and will continue to play a significant role in the socioeconomic and technological development of the country. It has developed its
niche in the priority areas of agriculture, health, biotechnology, earth and2

marine sciences, energy, materials science, manufacturing and processengineering and environment. Allow me to cite some developments relating
to these applications.
In the agricultural sector, our Department of Agriculture has just constituted
an Experts Group for the evaluation of the Commercial Use of Irradiation
for Agricultural Food Products. Chaired by the Philippine Nuclear ResearchInstitute (PNRI) , the Experts Group has been tasked initially to evaluate thecommercial application of irradiation as a quarantine treatment forPhilippine fruits. In the area of mutation breeding, the PNRI conducted anOpen Lecture in conjunction with the Workshop of the FNCA Mutation
Breeding project last September 2003.

As a result of its participation in theOpen lecture, one leading ornamental company in Mindanao has used ourIrradiation Facility.
In the health sector, more nuclear medicine laboratories, radiotherapycenters, and tissue banks have been established in both private andgovernment hospitals. A new medical cyclotron and PET center wasinaugurated in 2001 in a private hospital, and has since served the needs ofcancer patients.

New radioisotopes such as Rhenium-188 are now being

tested for special types of cancer with the assistance of the IAEA.
Philippine participation in the FNCA Project on Radiation Oncology isfacilitating the development of the best protocols in the treatment of ourcancer patients, particularly those afflicted with uterine cervix cancer andnasopharyngeal cancer.

3

On the environment, the Philippines has led a regional effort to provide amore sensitive , faster, and cheaper assay of saxitoxin, the key toxin in
harmful algal blooms. The Philippines is upscaling its procedure for theradiolabeling of the toxin.

Through the use of nuclear and analyticaltechniques, the PNRI maintains a database on fine particulate data in Metro
Manila, the first of its kind in the country, which can be used to obtain
information on the major sources of pollution. Through isotope techniques,characterization of the groundwater systems was accomplished for Davao
City, a city envisioned to be the premier socio -economic and tourism growthcenter for the whole of Mindanao. Such information could be used toprovide data to decision makers and water managers for delineatingwatershed protection zones and undertaking preventive measures to abate
drinking water quality degradation.
These are only examples of our inroads in nuclear science and technology.
We will continue to promote the applications of nuclear technology in ourpriority areas of concern where it has the added advantage over conventional
technologies.
Mr. Chairman
Trained manpower is an important element for the successful andsustainable implementation of long-term national nuclear programs.

ThePhilippines’ HRD strategy will place a strong emphasis on the following:1) nuclear science & technology education in schools and universities(nuclear S & T for the young generation,2) role of international cooperation,43) new techniques for education and training,4) preservation of expertise.

With regards to international cooperation, the Philippines reiterates its
proposal for the sharing of expertise in the region, making extensive use ofIT or cyberlearning. The Philippines also supports all the recommendationsof the FNCA 2003 Workshop on HRD, which includes the proposal that theScientist Exchange program of MEXT be expanded to include M.S. andPh.D. academic programmes in the nuclear field.
Mr. Chairman

The FNCA projects which we are participating in are progressing according
to the project milestones. The Philippines would like to reaffirm her strong
commitment to the FNCA. In this regard, we would like to offer to host theWorkshop on Radiation Oncology in 2004, and the Workshop on Nuclear
Safety Culture in 2005. We would consider it our privilege to host the 9thFNCA in 2008.
In conclusion, we would like to state that we firmly believe that nuclear
science and technology provide unique inputs towards providing a better
quality of life for the Asia and Pacific region, especially the developing
country member states.

The sustainability of nuclear science andtechnology in the region will depend to a large extent on the open andforthright cooperation among the countries in the region. The FNCA has
proven to be a mature vehicle for fostering such cooperation.

5

It is our hope that it will be the continuing resolve of the FNCA
participating countries to contributed to its continue growth and strength.

My wishes for a successful Meeting.

6