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The Philippines makes history once again as it joins a review body that would set the science education policy of an international organization for the next seven years.

The only ASEAN country to join the panel, the Philippines joins the big wigs in the international science education scene in reviewing the science education policy of the International Council for Science (ICSU), an international non-governmental organization devoted to international co-operation in the advancement of science.

Deliang Chen, Executive Director of ICSU, said the organization has confirmed the nomination of Science Education Institute Director Dr. Ester B. Ogena by the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) to ICSU's review panel.

In a letter to Ogena, Chen said the panel would be meeting twice a year starting next year in Paris to start its deliberation on the policy directions on science education.

According to Chen, the strategic review would include an assessment of ICSU's past and current activities in relation to science education, a consideration of the broader context of science education and a recommendation on the future mandate for ICSU on science education.

The review panel will be chaired by Dr. Roberta Johnson, the executive director of the National Earth Science Teachers Association in the United States.

ICSU, formerly called the International Council of Scientific Unions, was founded in 1931 whose members include national scientific bodies, and international scientific unions, including the International Mathematical Union, the International Astronomical Union and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.

ICSU was founded to bring together natural scientists in international scientific endeavors. As of 2007, it comprises 113 multi-disciplinary National Scientific Members, Associates and Observers (scientific research councils or science academies) representing 133 countries and 29 international, single-discipline Scientific Unions. ICSU also has 24 Scientific Associates.

In response, Ogena expressed gratitude to the recognition given by the international to the Philippines.

"We will put forward the interest of the Filipino people as well as our ASEAN neighbors as we join the strategic review panel of ICSU's science education policy," she said.

Ogena said that it is the first time that the Philippines would be taking part in a science education policy review panel at the international level.

"We hope to take science education at a different level that would be more relevant to the people and to the recent developments we are experiencing," she said.

Department of Science and Technology Fourteen students, including two sisters, from 10 schools in the Philippines obtained the highest honors in the recently concluded 2009 Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC). Four students from the Philippines got AMC medals for their outstanding performance. They are Seanne Ng of Saint Jude Catholic School, Justrin Edric Yturzaeta of Jubilee Christian Academy , Julius Vincent Sy of St. Stephen’s High School and Amiel Sy of PSHS-Main Campus. Sy got a perfect score in the AMC. Sisters Audrey Celine and Czarina Lao, both from Saint Jude Catholic School, netted the AMC Prize Award, the highest award given to AMC competitors for being at the top 1 percent of the competitors. Other students who got the Prize Award are Lormes Pedeglorio of Butuan City Special Education Center, Miguel Lorenzo Ildesa of Parents for Education (PAREF)-Westbridge School, Adrian Sy of Saint Jude Catholic School, Aldric Cristoval Reyes of Chiang Kai Shek College, John Russel Virata of Gideon Academy, Alvin Uy Lim of Quezon City Science High School, Emiliano Tan of Philippine Science High School (PSHS) -Main Campus, and Jake Gacuan of University of the Philippines. Besides the 14 students who got top awards, 43 other students from different schools in the Philippines obtained High Distinction honors for being at the top 2 percent of examinees in their year level. Eleven students also obtained a Prudence Award for garnering the most number of correct answers from question 1 of the AMC. The AMC is a correspondence type exam, administered by the Australian Mathematics Trust, aimed at highlighting the importance of mathematics as part of the curriculum and discovering talents in mathematics. It is conducted in cooperation with the Mathematics Trainers’s Guild and the Australian Mathematics Trust. Six students also from different schools in Metro Manila obtained perfect scores in the 2009 Rio Tinto Big Science Competition. They are Johanna Wileen Go of St. Jude Catholic School, Henry Jefferson Morco and Richard Milante of Chiang Kai Shek College, Timothy Augustus Ong of Xavier School, Elvis Jeremy Ayroso of PSHS-Main Campus and Ariana Benipayo of St. Paul College-Pasig. All the winners of the AMC and the Rio Tinto were presented their awards today (October 19) at the Sofitel Hotel, Pasay City . Dr. Ester B. Ogena, Director of the Science Education Institute, expressed hopes that the students who obtained top marks in the said competitions would take courses in science and engineering when they go to college. “The recent typhoons that has been hitting our country and the devastation it has left us shows that we need more scientists and engineers to counter the onslaught it causes,” she said. Ogena said that besides encouraging math-inclined students to excel in international competitions, the SEI also provides help to students through science scholarships at the undergraduate and graduate levels.. “In the undergraduate level, we continue to provide scholarships to deserving students that help them to realize their dream of becoming scientists and engineers. Through the Advanced Science and Technology Human Resource Development (ASTHRD) and the Engineering for Research and Development Technology (ERDT) Programs, we provide enticing packages for students and graduates to pursue graduate studies in science and engineering,” she said.

By Alexander Villafania MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines may be fighting China in its bid over the disputed Spratly Islands but the country may someday become part of the mainland. A scientist from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said the archipelago is moving towards the Asian mainland by approximately seven centimeters per year. However, it would take another 50 million years to reconnect with the mainland. The Philippine landmass is situated on its own tectonic plate, ostensibly called “Philippine Plate.” It is also surrounded by four other plates, the Okhotsk Plate to the north, Australian Plate to the south, the Eurasian Plate to the West and Pacific Plate to the east. The Philippines broke away from a super continent called Rodinia about 1.1 billion to 750 million years ago. Yumul explained that the breaking up of continents was due to a phenomenon called Super Continent Cycle where the Earth's continents alternately merge into a single supercontinent, the splits into numerous continents, then merge again. The Super Continent Cycle is estimated to span 300 to 500 million years. DOST Undersecretary Graciano Yumul, Jr. said during the recent Earth Sciences International Conference that the one of the indicators of the Philippines’ movement towards the west is the presence of an old submerged railroad off the coast of Cavite. Another is an old artesian well off the waters of Mindoro Island. “These scenarios corroborate our researches on tectonic movement since nobody would put neither a railroad nor a well into the sea,” Yumul explained. But while it may seem that the Philippines is moving towards the same country that is fighting for the Spratly Islands, Yumul still joked that with that happening, Filipinos would not need to have their own visa to visit China.

DOST-SEI EIGHT teams from seven schools in the Philippines are now gearing up to battle it out with over 1,000 students from 32 countries to conquer the 2009 World Robotics Olympiad to be held at Pohang City, South Korea. Forming the Philippine contingent are Philippine Science High School – Bicol Region and Science and Technology Education Center for the Regular Category – High School Division; Claret School of Quezon City and Grace Christian College for Regular Category – Elementary Division; Dr. Yanga’s College and Makati Science High School for the Open Category – High School Division; and Grace Christian College and First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities for the Open Category – Elementary Division. The said teams won in the recently concluded 8th Philippine Robotics Olympiad (PRO) held at SM North Annex Bldg., Quezon City. Science Education Institute Director Dr. Ester B. Ogena congratulated all the teams that joined the PRO as she expressed optimism that the winning teams would do great in the international competition. “Our students have shown their best and given more opportunities like these, we could tap more potential in the field of robotics,” she said. Ogena said SEI supports participation in competitions like the PRO and WRO to open up the students’ eyes to the world of science and encourage them to venture into careers in science and technology. “SEI will provide more support to our students who are joining these prestigious competitions so that they would acquire skills for robotics which could be tools for honing their talent in science and math,” she said. The students in the open category would be competing under the theme: “Artist Robots,” a synergy of artistry, ingenuity and scientific flair that would show their talent, especially in the field of Science and Technology. In the regular category elementary division, robots would be doing the Iron Robot Triathlon where a robot carrying one ping-pong ball from start area passes through the labyrinth and grey floors up to the base camp where the robot shoots the ball. In the high school division of the regular category, robots would be competing in the Robot Match wherein a robot follows the obstacle way till mission point and then gets as many ping-pong balls as possible and then travels back to the base camp following another obstacle course. The PRO is done in partnership with Felta Multi-media, Inc. and the Department of Education.

By Alexander Villafania INQUIRER.NET MANILA, Philippines – “Keep your interests alive.” This was the message of Balik-Scientist awardee Dr. Baldomero Olivera at the start of the 2009 National Science and Technology Week at the Manila Hotel. Olivera, a distinguished professor of biology at the University of Utah, first gained fame for his discovery of painkilling properties in the highly toxic, ocean-going cone snails that are abundant in Philippine waters. Olivera’s discovery led to the development of a commercial painkiller called Ziconotide (Prialt), which is administered to patients suffering from extreme pain. Unlike traditional painkiller morphine, Ziconotide is not known to cause painkiller addiction and lasts much longer in the system. Olivera graduated from the University of the Philippines and moved to the US to take up his graduate degree in chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. His interests in cone shells started long before he started college; in fact, he started out at a tennis court collecting shells. “Seashells were used to compact the surface of tennis courts. They were dredged from Manila Bay and were dumped near the tennis courts. While waiting for my dad, I used to sift through the heap of shells and identified what were interesting.” It was this interest that made him go back to cone snails for possible research. It also won him “Scientist of the Year” in 2007 by the Harvard Foundation. At his keynote speech during the NSTW opening ceremonies, Olivera said he hopes more Filipino scientists to continue their research endeavors and to give back to the country. He said many researches can provide economic gains to both the scientific community as well as to the country. Department of Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro said this year’s NSTW aims to spur Filipino scientists and researchers to find ways in resolving global issues. One goal is to alleviate global climate change, which is causing destruction in many industries in the Philippines, particularly agriculture. Numerous programs will be conducted in different locations nationwide for the entire week of the NSTW. There are seminars of nanotechnology, robotics, awareness programs on waste management, business ventures based on scientific output, research presentations on health, genetics, food development, among others. The NSTW was first created under Presidential Proclamation 2214 in 1982 and was later amended in 1993 through Republic Act 169. This declared celebrations for the NSTW on the third week of July every year.