ARMM celebrates National Science and Technology Week

COTABATO CITY – The Department of Science and Technology of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DOST-ARMM) celebrated recently the 2017 National Science and Technology Week with various exhibits at the municipal gymnasium of Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao province.

Students from the Sultan Kudarat Islamic Academy can now benefit from Starbooks, the first Philippine science digital library, established by the DOST-ARMM in Sultan Kudarat. The municipality was also the recipient of Project DEWS or Deployment of Early Warning System, a device that will provide a six hour lead-time warning to vulnerable communities against impending floods..

“Aside from the DEWS and Starbooks, we have also given Sultan Kudarat the Rxbox, a telemedicine device designed to provide better access to life-saving health care services in isolated and disadvantaged communities nationwide,” said DOSTARMM Secretary Myra Mangkabung.

The event was led by Sec. Mangkabung, Sultan Kudarat Mayor Shameem Mastura and attended by DOST Secretary Fortunato Dela Peña, DOST undersecretary for regional operations Brenda Manzano and Director Edgar Garcia of the DOST Technology Application and Promotion Institute.

Sec. Mangkabung and Mayor Mastura signed a memorandum of agreement covering projects given by DOSTARMM to the municipality. “Science shouldn’t be just a theory or a research paper; it should also be utilized at the grassroots level. One of the goals of DOSTARMM is to alleviate poverty in the region,” Sec. Mangkabung said.

With the theme ‘Science for People’, the celebration highlighted the significant contributions, innovations, and breakthroughs of science and technology on the lives of the Filipinos towards a holistic countryside development.

The National Science and Technology Week is celebrated through Proclamation No. 169 issued in 1993. It aims at bringing science and technology closer to the people by letting them experience the vital role of science, technology, and innovation in improving the people’s quality of life, protecting the environment, and contributing to national development, particularly in poverty alleviation.