Senators have expressed their concern on the reduction of the budget of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), saying the cut would adversely affect the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sen. Franklin Drilon said he is worried on the cutback by Malacañang and the House of Representatives in the proposed 2022 budget of the DOST and its attached agencies.
In his interpellation during the hybrid marathon session Monday, Nov. 15, Drilon asked why the DOST budget was reduced by P1.12 billion from P24.916 billion in 2021 to P23.793 billion for next year.
He said the reductions were from agencies involved in research and development. “This is a little bit worrisome. I would like to suggest to the good vice chairman of the finance committee to give this a good review and if merited, we should restore it (budget),” Drilon said.
“We appeal to our colleagues to take a good look at the budget of this whole agency,” he said, adding that the National Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) has a budget of P30 billion, which is higher than what was allotted to the DOST.
Sen. Imee Marcos also expressed concern over the reduction made in the proposed budgets of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) and the Philippine Science High School (PSHS).
Marcos noted the P87 million cut in the PSHS budget and the P321 million cut in the budget of the FNRI at a time when the country has problems with the supply chain and logistics and the threats to national food security.
“We recommend that we take a look once again at the projects that will be severely impacted in the food and nutrition research so direly needed in this time. There is also a significant budget cut for the Philippine Science High School, which as we know, is the home of the best and the brightest Filipino students. I am deeply concerned by the threat it poses against the scholarship of our brilliant but impoverished PSHS students,” Marcos said.
Sen. Francis Tolentino, on the other hand, specifically pushed for the additional allocation for the DOST’s Philippine Council for Industry Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD), an agency that provides support for startups.
The senator emphasized that this is crucial to invigorate the Philippine startup ecosystem as he underscored the need to invest in startups to help jumpstart the economy once herd immunity is achieved.
Tolentino noted that despite the vital role that the PCIEERD plays in economic recovery, the agency’s budget allotment for next year was reduced and set to only P815,221,000.
“I humbly feel that if there is a program that should be sustained and nourished, this is it. I believe the reduction in budget is probably not timely and relevant because once we go through a post-pandemic period, we need startup groups similar to what they are doing in Silicon Valley and other areas. We have to sustain the creativity of our youth, our young entrepreneurs. This will be needed post-pandemic,” he said.
Sen. Joel Villanueva, who’s sponsoring the budget for DOST, agreed to look into the budget cuts.
