Of science, space and P80,000

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‘If we cannot fund the trip of a young and aspiring scientist but have the funds for a P20B office building for 24 senators — not to mention gowns worth thousands of pesos — then forget about health and science and research.’

IT’S SONA day again today and again we will witness that extraordinarily senseless parade of gowns and barongs down a red carpet, something I have never found amusing at all, given that more than half of our countrymen still live in abject poverty.

Then again, in this country of ours, there is only a fine line indeed between politics and entertainment. In fact, more often than not, one cannot fault the Filipino for feeling that politics is entertainment of the tragi-comedy kind.

The fashion show aside, a State of the Nation Address is an important moment in our democracy that we Filipinos do not take very seriously. A SONA is the report of the President of the Philippines to us the people, detailing what he believes are his administration’s accomplishments for the year just passed as well as his targets for the year coming. This is why we should be paying close attention because we need to be able to agree or disagree with what is being reported… and, when the time comes, express our approval or disapproval at the ballot box.

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That’s how our democracy is supposed to work.

I have to admit that for some time now I have been a bad citizen, preferring to watch YouTube videos than listening to SONAs.

There are a number of reasons for that, including lack of “paki” or care for what those in government have been doing. This despite believing that a citizen who cares only for voting on Election Day and caring for nothing else after that has very little reason to complain if things are not going right for him or the country. Being a good citizen is a 24/7, 365-day responsibility; abdicating that responsibility allows the scalawags to get away with murder, literally and figuratively.

So this time I will make it a point to listen. And I will be keenly listening to the part where the President will touch on health and science and (hopefully) research. I know someone has mocked the value of research but I suspect she really didn’t mean that. This is the reason why many of our neighbors are far ahead of us in the fields of education, science and health.

I may have been tipped wrong but there might be a point where the President will cite a young Filipino named William whose proposal for an experiment in space was one of those that were actually carried out in space! The young man was one of hundreds (if not thousands) who had responded to an invitation from the Japan Space Agency to submit ideas for an experiment to be conducted by Japanese astronauts. And believe it or not, his proposal was one of a handful that had been accepted.

As part of the exercise, the finalists were supposed to fly to Japan and witness the space travel of the astronauts who were to conduct their experiments. And every finalist did indeed fly to Tokyo to be there for the special moment. Every finalist, that is, except one: William.

William was told that the government (was it the DOST?) did not have the ₱80,000 needed to cover his travel expenses.

Imagine that.

So let’s see if PBBM will indeed mention William, because if he does let’s hope it comes with an apology.

If we cannot fund the trip of a young and aspiring scientist but have the funds for a ₱20B office building for 24 senators — not to mention gowns worth thousands of pesos — then forget about health and science and research.

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