TWO of the Philippines media advocacy groups joined forces in prodding the government to allocate bigger budget for science research and development (R&D) programs, particularly in agriculture.

The Philippine Science Journalists Association Inc. (Pscijourn) and the Philippine Federation of Rural Broadcasters (PFRB) vowed to help reverse the absurd situation of the country’s marginal farmers who sweat out but continue to get poorer while the traders are enjoying huge profits from the former’s efforts.

The two groups held a joint two-day Science and Agriculture Media Forum at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Muñoz Science City on August 22 and 23.

The participants noted that the government places science and technology at the bottom rung of the budget, thus making the state of the country’s R&D dismal.

For example, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)—which leads all the R&D efforts of the other government agencies—scrimps for external donations because the central government only provides around 0.18 percent of its yearly proposed budget.

By 2010 it aims to have at least a 1-percent slice of the government agencies’ budget pie.

Victoria Bartilet, of DOST and Pscijourn executive director, however, clarified that her office’s budget rose from last year’s P3.2 billion to P5.7 billion this year.

“It is still minimal considering our role in promoting science and technology. We have to squeeze that up and tie up some projects with other agencies,” she admitted.

Pscijourn president Angelo Palmones, dzMM radio station manager, dared the participating journalists and government information officers to “once and for all break the gap between the poor and the rich.”

As an example, he said: “The war in Mindanao can end if only there is enough food. They would not let their ancestral domain be given away just like that because they will lose their source of food, as well as their shelters.”

For his part, Louie Tabing, PFRB head, told media practitioners to shift their focus to building the economy in their rudimentary reporting.

He said: “Let us not be like the white termites that destroy; instead we should be black ants that build.”

Pscijourn is composed of the country’s leading science writers and broadcasters, while PFRB rallies mainstream radio and television practitioners and government information officers toward community development.

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Pscijourn, PFRB call for bigger R&D budget

TWO of the Philippines media advocacy groups joined forces in prodding the government to allocate bigger budget for science research and development (R&D) programs, particularly in agriculture.

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