Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS 
Third Regular Session 
House Bill No. _____ 
___________________________________________________________________ 
Introduced by Representative PABLO JOHN F. GARCIA     
___________________________________________________________________  
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Constitution provides that “Science and technology are essential for national 
development and progress. The State shall give priority to research and development, 
invention, innovation, and their utilization; and to science and technology education, 
training, and services [x x x].”1 It likewise states that “The Congress may provide for 
incentives, including tax deductions, to encourage private participation in programs of 
basic and applied scientific research. Scholarships, grants-in-aid, or other forms of 
incentives shall be provided to deserving science students, researchers, scientists, 
inventors, technologists, and specially gifted citizens.”2 
Section 5(5) of Article XIV also provides, “The State shall assign the highest 
budgetary priority to education and ensure that teaching will attract and retain its rightful 
share of the best available talents through adequate remuneration and other means of job 
satisfaction and fulfillment.” 
Based on the World Economic Forum’s Readiness for the Future of Production 
Report 2018, the Philippines is not yet prepared to manage the Fourth Industrial 
Revolution as manifested in its weak performance across the drivers of production, which 
include technology and innovation, human resources, global trade and investment, 
institutional framework, sustainable resources, and demand environment, among others.3 
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a way of describing the blurring of boundaries between 
the physical, digital, and biological worlds.4 
1Const. art. XIV, § 10. 
2Const. art. XIV, § 11. 
3See generally World Economic Forum, Readiness for the Future of Production Report 2018, available 
at http://www3.weforum.org/docs/FOP_Readiness_Report_2018.pdf. 
4Devon 
McGinnis, 
What 
Is 
the 
Fourth 
Industrial 
Revolution?, 
available 
at 
https://www.salesforce.com/blog/what-is-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-4ir/. 
July 27, 2021
10:16 am
9883


As with any industry or endeavor, human resources are the most crucial element.5 
It is the key engine of progress. The ingenuity and intellectual potential of Filipinos should 
be fostered to enable our country to be more prepared for this world ever-barreling towards 
the Fourth Industrial Revolution. And as we aim to bounce back from the COVID-19 
pandemic, all aspects of the economy, not just tangible industries such as the agricultural 
and manufacturing sectors, must be empowered to help with this national revival—
including the Knowledge Economy. 
The concept of the Knowledge Economy may be defined as production and 
services based on knowledge-intensive activities that contribute to an accelerated pace of 
technical and scientific advance, as well as rapid obsolescence.6 The key component of 
a knowledge economy is a greater reliance on intellectual capabilities than on physical 
inputs or natural resources.7 
This sphere of activity is quite vast and involves anything that relates to the 
productive application of knowledge. The movers of this economy include researchers, 
entrepreneurs, scholars, inventors, innovators, and every Filipino in between whose minds 
dwell on what’s possible for the better. 
This bill aims to catalyze the Knowledge Economy by infusing greater incentives 
and resources to its most important component—the people who belong to it. This bill will 
seek more funding for activities such as the expansion of scholarships and training, the 
implementation of entrepreneurship-related courses, the creation of skills development 
programs, and other endeavors focused on innovation and empowerment. It also desires 
to create more jobs, strengthen institutions, and reduce poverty. 
It is hoped that this measure will help spark a wildfire of creativity and excellence 
that will permeate the nation. May this help us bounce back from this pandemic in the 
short-term and set a stronger foothold for long-term intellectual progress. 
In view of the foregoing, the urgent passage of this bill is earnestly sought. 
Rep. PABLO JOHN F. GARCIA 
3rd District, Province of Cebu 
5For more information about the DOST’s HR blueprint, see Department of Science and Technology, 
Science and Technology Human Resource Development Plan 2017-2022, available at 
https://sei.dost.gov.ph/images/downloads/publ/hrdpplan2017-2022.pdf. See also Albert, Tabunda, et. 
al., Future S&T Human Resource Requirements in the Philippines: A Labor Market Analysis, available 
at https://pidswebs.pids.gov.ph/CDN/PUBLICATIONS/pidsdps2032.pdf. 
6Walter Powell and Kaisa Snellman, The Knowledge Economy, 30(1) Annual Review of Sociology 199 
(2014), available at https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.100037. 
7Id. 


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS 
Third Regular Session 
House Bill No. _____ 
___________________________________________________________________ 
Introduced by Representative PABLO JOHN F. GARCIA     
___________________________________________________________________ 
AN ACT 
STRENGTHENING THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY HUMAN RESOURCES OF 
THE PHILIPPINES BY INCREASING THE APPROPRIATIONS FOR 
SCHOLARSHIPS, SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, INNOVATION AND ENTERPRISE, 
EDUCATION AND SKILLS TRAINING, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Congress of the 
Philippines in session assembled: 
CHAPTER I 
PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS 
Section 1.  Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Knowledge 
Economy Human Resources Development Act”. 
Section 2.  Declaration of Policy. - Science and technology are essential for 
national development and progress. The State shall give priority to research and 
development, invention, innovation, and their utilization; and to science and 
technology education, training, and service. It is hereby declared the policy of the State 
to foster inclusive and sustainable growth through an innovative Knowledge Economy. 
To achieve this end, the State shall infuse more resources to promote the 
advancement of raw scientific learning and research; their productive application 
towards entrepreneurial, industrial, and other developmental uses; and the 
enhancement of overall Filipino education and skills development. The State shall 
likewise support the Science for Change Program (S4CP) of the Department of 
Science and Technology. 
The State shall also aim to: 
(a)
Achieve the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization benchmark of 380 researchers, scientists and engineers per 
9883


million population; 
 
(b) 
Increase 
the 
government’s 
Research 
and 
Development 
expenditure to at least one percent (1%) of the Gross Domestic Product; and 
 
(c) 
Align all efforts in the Knowledge Economy to achieve greater 
employment, less wealth inequality, and the elimination of poverty. 
 
 
Section 3. 
Knowledge Economy Defined. - The Knowledge Economy is an 
economic system in which production and services are based on knowledge-intensive 
activities that contribute to an accelerated pace of technical and scientific advance, as 
well as rapid obsolescence. The key component of a knowledge economy is a greater 
reliance on intellectual capabilities than on physical inputs or natural resources. It 
includes every endeavor concerning the productive generation and application of 
knowledge to areas such as scientific research, information and communications 
technology, engineering, innovative entrepreneurship, industrial activity, education 
and skills development, and the like. 
 
CHAPTER II 
FRAMEWORK, FUNCTIONS, AND ROLES 
 
 
Section 4. 
Role of the National Innovation Council. The National 
Innovation Council (“NIC”) created under Republic Act No. 11293, otherwise known 
as the “Philippine Innovation Act”, shall put the development of human resources for 
the knowledge economy at the forefront of the National Innovation Agenda and 
Strategy Development. 
 
Section 5. Government-Industry-Academe Synergy. To promote synergy 
among the government, the industrial sector, and the academe, the Secretary of 
Science and Technology, Director General of the National Economic and 
Development Authority, Secretary of Trade and Industry, Secretary of Labor and 
Employment, Chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education, Secretary of 
Education, and the Executive Members of the National Innovation Council shall form 
a Knowledge Economy sub-group under the NIC. 
 
 
Section 6. 
Role of the Department of Science and Technology. - The 
Department of Science and Technology (“DOST”) shall ensure that Filipino scientists, 
teachers, researchers, and innovators are given full support and that all the benefits 
under this Act and other laws are given to them to promote their participation in the 
human resources of government or private institutions to accelerate the progress of 
the nation. It shall provide such scholarships, stipends, research grants, and other 
incentives as may be necessary to deserving Filipino thinkers in line with the declared 
policies of this Act. 
 


The DOST shall likewise foster a culture conducive to science and technology 
in the country and encourage the participation of all sectors in the Knowledge 
Economy. 
 
 
Section 7. Role of the National Economic and Development Authority. - 
The National Economic and Development Authority (“NEDA”) shall monitor the 
development of the Knowledge Economy and its human resources and shall 
accordingly advise the NIC and/or the above sub-group of desirable actions that may 
be taken in order make the Knowledge Economy complement or otherwise conform 
with the country’s socioeconomic policies, plans and programs. The NEDA shall 
ensure that these endeavors shall be  continuing, coordinated, and fully integrated. 
 
Section 8. 
Role of the Department of Information and Communications 
Technology. - The Department of Information and Communications Technology 
(“DICT”) shall see to it that the country’s information and communications technology 
agenda conforms with Knowledge Economy goals. It shall ensure, among others, that 
government scientists and researchers as well as public schools, universities, and 
colleges have adequate access to internet facilities and communications 
infrastructure. It shall align its projects to ensure that technological development shall 
reach and empower those who have the least access to knowledge resources and 
opportunities. 
 
Section 9.  Role of the Department of Trade and Industry and the 
Department of Labor and Employment. - The Department of Trade and Industry 
(“DTI”) shall make sure that Knowledge Economy capacity-building resources and 
materials are available to promising Filipinos who seek to capitalize on innovative 
knowledge-based businesses, industries, and other enterprising activities. The DTI 
shall also incentivize start-ups and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises related to 
these. The DTI shall likewise implement a workforce development program for skills 
conversion and upgrading and the enhancement of employability of workers outside 
the knowledge-based sector. 
 
The Department of Labor and Employment (“DOLE”) in turn shall ensure that 
jobs and opportunities concerning the Knowledge Economy, particularly those closely 
associated with it such as fields in science, engineering, research, technology, data, 
and the like, are promoted and offered as much as possible to Filipinos. 
 
Section 10. Role of the Commission on Higher Education and the 
Department of Education. - The Commission on Higher Education (“CHED”) and 
Department of Education (“DepEd”) shall ensure that up-to-date and age-appropriate 
lessons as well as the proper encouragement concerning Knowledge Economy 
careers, resources, opportunities, seminars, training, and the like are made available 
to those whom they respectively cater to. They shall incorporate lesson plans and skills 
development programs that capacitate Filipinos towards more participation in the 


Knowledge Economy, with due regard to academic freedom. 
 
 
CHAPTER III 
APPROPRIATIONS 
 
Section 11. Appropriations. - In order to fulfill the declared policies and goals 
of this Act, the following amounts, or so much thereof as may be necessary, are hereby 
appropriated to strengthen the Knowledge Economy human resources development 
of the Philippines on top of any amounts that the funds mentioned in this provision 
may already have under the annual General Appropriations Act: 
 
(a) 
One billion pesos (Php 1,000,000,000.00) for an increase in the 
Science and Technology Scholarship Fund under the DOST, as provided in 
Republic Act No. 7687 otherwise known as the “Science and Technology 
Scholarship Act of 1994” and Republic Act No. 10612 otherwise known as the 
“Fast-Tracked S&T Scholarship Act of 2013”. An additional one billion pesos 
(Php 1,000,000,000.00) shall be appropriated to the Fund per year for a period 
of five years; 
 
(b) 
One billion pesos (Php 1,000,000,000.00) for an increase in the 
National Broadband Plan program under the DICT for information and 
communications technology infrastructure for scientists, researchers, public 
schools, universities, colleges, and needful areas as provided under Section 8 
of this Act; 
 
(c) 
Five hundred million pesos (Php 500,000,000.00) for the activities 
of the DTI and DOLE concerning capacity-building, entrepreneurship, 
innovation, and employment as provided under Section 9 of this Act; and 
 
(d) 
Five hundred million pesos (Php 500,000,000.00) for an increase 
in the Philippine Science High School System for capital outlay; Five hundred 
million pesos (Php 500,000,000.00) for an increase in the Higher Education 
Development Program of the CHED for lessons, training, and skills 
development programs; and Five hundred million pesos (Php 500,000,000.00) 
for public science high schools under the DepEd.. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
FINAL PROVISIONS 
 
Section 12. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The National 
Innovation Council shall issue within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act the 
necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this Act. 
 


Section 13. Repealing Clause. - All laws, executive orders, proclamations, 
rules, regulations and other issuances or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the 
provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended, or modified accordingly. 
 
Section 14. Separability Clause. - If any part or provision of this Act is held 
unconstitutional or invalid, other parts or provisions thereof which are not affected shall 
continue to remain in full force and effect. 
Section 15. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following 
completion of its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
 
Approved,