Sunday, September 28, 2008 Mercado: Restoring hope By Juan L. Mercado Sidebar
THEY never looted the government treasury or shot up the place.
Hence, they rarely featured in the headlines. Now, 50 of these men and women are in the news for a change.
On its “golden anniversary,” the Department of Science and Technology cited “50 men and women of science.” Their work in laboratories, classrooms or newsrooms infuses hope in a country that seemed to have Dante’s billboard tacked above the door: Lasciate ogni speranza chi voi entrate (“Abandon hope all you who enter here.)
Look at some of these vitaes and say instead: “When you say a situation is desperate, you slam the door in God’s face.”
Dr Josette Biyo: Because of her research, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory named a minor planet, originally dubbed Planet 13241, as “Planet Biyo.” Despite shoddy rural high school facilities, she developed, over 24 years of teaching, innovative teaching methods in science research. She beat 4,000 teachers from around the world to win the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. She is also the first to receive an Award for Excellence, in Louisville, Kentucky. This honored teachers who promote inquiry and inspire students to engage in research.
Dr. Angel Alcala is a marine biologist. He won the Magsaysay Award for his studies and organization of marine sanctuaries first in Apo Island, Negros Oriental. Its success led to changes in Philippine laws on marine resources and setting up of similar sanctuaries nationwide. He taught at Silliman University and produced generations of Filipino marine biologists. He has written over 169 scientific papers.
Dr. Arsenio Balisacan: For every percentage gain in literacy, Filipinos reduce poverty by three percent, this scientist found in his research into penury here. He oversees preparation and publication of Philippine Human Development Report. This factual, insightful and incisive analyses of issues here is the national counterpart of the global United Nations Human Development Report.
Queen Lee-Chua is a mathematician and clinical psychologist. A full professor at the Mathematics Department of Ateneo de Manila, she has developed skill on making math and science “fun through simple and more understandable language.” Thus, she writes a science column for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and has written books on the subject. “In today’s world, knowledge of science and technology is indispensable. For our country to advance substantially, people need to be literate and numerate in science and technology.”
Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, SJ is president of Ateneo de Manila University. Trained in mathematics at Stanford University, Fr. Nebres has pioneered in developing a consortium of leading Manila schools to develop PhD programs in math. But he also has developed an innovative program for school children in notorious scavenger dumps like Payatas.
Jose Burgos Jr. It is perhaps a tribute to his work, as a science communicator, that years after his death, DOST saw fit to honor Burgos in its golden anniversary “as an outstanding communicator who brought to national consciousness the importance of rice and food security through appropriate science-based agriculture methods, and environment conservation.” He fought the Marcos dictatorship and won, in the process, other awards: one of the 50 World Press Freedom Heroes and International Journalist of the Year (Interpress Service, United Nations, New York, 1986).
“A society that is informed about the latest scientific developments is open to new ideas," former New York Times correspondent Alice Villadolid writes. “And journalists are the bridge between scientists and people.”
