The Philippines has the capability to become the hub of
space technology and space applications in Southeast Asia where engineers,
scientists, and industry stakeholders around the region can converge, instead
of the country sending its professionals abroad to learn and be trained.
This was stated by Astrophysicist Dr. Rogel Mari D. Sese in
an interview with the media after a press conference for the 23rd Session of
the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF-23) held at the Sofitel
Philippines Plaza Manila from November 15-18, 2016.
Furthermore, he is the focal person for the Philippine Space
Science Education Program of the Department of Science and Technology-Science
Education Institute (DOST-SEI).
Sese, a member of the APRSAF Space Environment Utilization
Working Group, claimed that having a space industry in the Philippines will
translate to jobs not only for astrophysicists, engineers, and others directly
involved with the space industry, but also for support personnel.
“We’re looking toward building our own space industry. We
are a little bit behind. But if we do things right, we can take the lead in the
Southeast Asian region,” said Sese.
“It had been stated that we need around 800 aerospace
engineers and scientists in the next 10 years. Studies have shown that for
every one person that is directly involved in the space field, there are four
other people who serve as support personnel,” he added.
Moreover, DOST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña at the
press conference revealed that these are the areas where we would like to have
an impact thru space technologies: national security and development, hazard
management and climate studies, space industry and capacity building, and
education.
He also added that government has earmarked P1B for space
technology from 2017-2018, after which the yearly allocation would be around
P2B.
“The initial strategy is to send our scholars abroad. The
best strategy is to institute some academic programs here in the Philippines
and that might involve the invitation of some foreign experts to help us
initialize some of these programs. But eventually, we hope that we will be able
to train our own,” said de la Peña.
In addition, with a local space industry generating a lot of
jobs, the brain drain that currently characterizes local manpower will
hopefully be put to a halt.
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“The Philippines is pursuing this space technology
development because we are also asking our lawmakers to have a bill approved
for the creation of a Philippine space agency and a national space development
program for the next ten years,” said APRSAF Co-Chair and DOST Usec. Rowena
Cristina L. Guevara.
“I assure you space technology is very useful for this
country,” she added.
The bills are House Bill 3637 and Senate Bill 1211 which
both aim to legislate a Philippine Space Development and Utilization Policy and
create a Philippine Space Agency.
Aside from the Philippine Science Education Program, SEI is
also in constant collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency for
several space awareness programs for local schools, and is currently working
toward including space education in the K-12 curriculum for both elementary and high school levels, among
others.
The APRSAF, which the country is co-hosting with Japan for
the first time, is the largest space-related conference in Asia-Pacific
attended by space agencies, government bodies, international organizations,
companies, and research institutes in the region.
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Source: DOST
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