Senate OKs Balik Scientist Bill on final reading

MANILA, Philippines – A proposed measure to help attract Filipino scientists and experts back home has hurdled the third and final reading at the Senate.

The Senate passed Senate Bill No 1533 or the Balik Scientist Bill on  third and final reading with a vote of 13-0. It aims to provide incentives and benefits for Filipino scientists based overseas who decide to return home to help in the country’s research and development sector.

It aims to help address the shortage of scientists, engineers, and experts in the Philippines, who are lured by other countries with better pay and working conditions and facilities.

SB 1533 aims to institutionalize the Balik Scientist Program, a program of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) that gives incentives and benefits to Filipino scientists who return to work the country.

The DOST defines “balik scientists” as Filipino citizens, former Filipino citizens, or foreigners of Filipino descent who live abroad and are contracted by the government to work in the Philippines for a certain period of time.

At present, the Philippines only has 189 scientists per million people, which Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV said is a far cry from the UNESCO standard of 380 scientists per million.

This figure pales in comparison to South Korea (5,300), United States (3,500), Malaysia (2,100), Singapore (6,700), and Israel (8,300), which leads the world in the statistic.

“This is a step towards improving the country’s research and development sector. We must support more initiatives to empower our scientists and researchers,” Aquino said in a statement on Monday, November 27.

The DOST previously said that the Balik Scientist Law will significantly increase funding for the Balik Scientist Program.

The 2017 budget for the program was at P25 million.

The late strongman Ferdinand Marcos established the Balik Scientist Program through Presidential Decree No. 819 in 1975, and was implemented until 1986. President Fidel V. Ramos revived the program through Executive Order No. 130 in 1993, placing it under the DOST.  – Rappler.com