DoST Assistant Secretary for Finance and Strategic Planning Maridon Sahagun reported that the number of R&D personnel has tripled, from a headcount of 25,000 in 2015 to 75,000 in 2018. "Half of the R&D personnel in the Philippines in 2018 are researchers, one-third are auxiliary personnel, and the remaining 16 percent are classified as technicians," she said. The majority of R&D spending came from the private industry at P31.6 billion, followed by the government (P13.5 billion), HEIs (P11.8 billion), and private non-profit institutions (P1 billion). He said that his department has always been pushing for maximum economic and social benefits of science and technology (S&T) to the people. "These R&D statistics are important in coming up with indicators that are globally recognized and serve as metrics to measure the country's progress in achieving economic and sustainable growth.

Source: Manila Times November 22, 2021 03:40 UTC