MANILA — Science researchers across the Philippines have to be supported through scholarships, acknowledgment, and knowledge-sharing, a top official of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has said.
“We really need to capacitate researchers in the country because what’s the use of having the finances but we don’t have researchers?” Jaime Montoya, executive director of the DOST’s Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) this week.
“This is why we (DOST) keep on strengthening the research programs in the regions,” he continued, speaking on the sidelines of the 2nd National Summit on Social Determinants of Health organized by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) in Makati City.
Montoya said the PCHRD encourages researchers by providing them with free scholarships so they could get masteral or Ph.D. degrees.
“We also provide awards for outstanding researchers and mentors every two years,” he said.
The summit gathered the stakeholders in the health industry. Their inputs will be submitted to the Department of Health (DOH) to help the agency in creating its policies.
“NAST has organized this summit, and we hosted this because there’s a lot of data in research,” he said.
The summit focused on heath policies in attaining the government’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Montoya said the event also aimed to identify the role of every stakeholder, since the policies need to reach the ground level.
Meanwhile, Montoya mentioned that his agency continues to partner not just with other government agencies, such as the DOH and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), but also with the private sector.
Partnering with various sectors helps the council to better empower the scientists or researchers, Montoya said. (PNA)
