Invasion in Innovation.

Christine Dianne M. Corpuz

Innovation has truly made the world a modern place. A place wherein a single tap on a search bar would give you tens and thousands of result for your question. A place wherein living in another planet is possible. After all, innovation is important to keep up on the modernistic society that we are living nowadays.

Science contributes many things as to how innovation thrive the civilization that we live right now. At core, a general understanding in science is needed for the development of innovative ideas. Scientists grant out these ideas that would greatly help in the development. However, the Philippines is currently lacking in scientists that are needed in the innovation that we need right now.

Currently, the Philippines only has 189 scientists per million, whereas the ideal ratio is 380 per million population. Additionally, the concurrent salary for scientists, on average, is only Php 225,765 a year. Compare to other countries in the world, for example, in Australia, wherein the average salary is about Php 2,498,790 a year. That’s 11 times as much salary earn if Filipino scientists go to abroad. The lack of scientists contributing to our country is the “invasion” in the innovation of our country.

On a good note, the Philippines already established a law called “The Balik Scientist Program” in which it encourages Filipino scientists, technologists, and experts to return to the country and share their expertise for the country's scientific, agro-industrial, and economic development, including the development of our human capital in science, technology and innovation.

To sum it up, we do hope that these solutions would solve the ever lasting problem of the lack of development in the country and in the near future, our society would thrive as to how the first-world countries prospered in the modern word we are currently in as of now. After all, the development of the modernistic society would guide the future generations to come.

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The author is Teacher III at Porac National High School