Science Graduates, Cease To Envision A Bright Future That Barely Resembles Today!

Dean Dr. Caesar Saloma, our distinguished guest Professor Emeritus Dr. Gemino Abad, National Scientist Dr. Lourdes Cruz, members of the College Executive Board, department heads, dear graduates, parents, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.

I am extremely honored to be standing in front of an audience consisting of brilliant and potentially productive talents, each of whom is presently facing a crossroad in his or her journey through life. Allow me to take this opportunity to congratulate the graduating batch of 2007, as well as our proud parents, relatives, and loved ones who may even have traveled a long way to get here and witness this momentous event of our lives. I also would like to salute the professors, the instructors, and the research advisers who, by serving as role models, have been instrumental to our success.

A week ago I met a former neighbor I had not seen in a long time. He asked me, "How have you been?" I replied, "A week from now I will be a doctor." Then he innocently remarked, "May I take the pleasure of being your first patient?" I quickly responded by saying I will not be the type of doctor he had thought. But his remark struck me with a sad reality I have almost forgotten -- that in this country, medicine is the only profession that people know would earn you the right to prefix "Dr." to your name. Today I feel honored to dare stand against that norm along with 19 fellow outstanding Ph.D. graduates of the College of Science this year.

Earning a Ph.D. degree is a daunting task that entails a considerable amount of discipline and sacrifice. Ph.D. study eats up at least five years more of your youth and your productive time after obtaining a college diploma. It usually conflicts with your employment and financial obligations to your family. Sometimes it even meddles with your personal life. In the College of Science, the bar to obtaining a Ph.D. has even been raised higher by the requirement of at least one international scientific publication -- a requirement that had not been in place just a few years back. With my experience at the National Institute of Physics, the publication requirement has caused some students to postpone graduation year after year.

I pondered the question, "What is the rationale for enforcing a requirement as stringent as writing a scientific manuscript that would be visible to researchers all over the world?" Each of us here knows the answer, which I believe is this. We Filipinos, as a people, are seeking to affirm and regain that inherent confidence in ourselves -- a confidence subdued by centuries of colonial rule. Unsurprisingly, we all are moved by the winnings of Manny Pacquiao, not because he is an outstanding boxer, but because he is a Filipino. With him we associate a national pride of our creative potential for contributing something important to the world that we would be recognized for. Our contribution as scientists, I suppose, is in communicating novel scientific discovery, theory, and ideas through writing and publishing.

We have been acquainted with the scientific method even as far back as we were just beginning to memorize the multiplication table. Standard textbooks and teachers say it starts with an observation; then, an inference; next, experimental validation; and lastly, a conclusion. Nevertheless, the scientific method taught in school had a missing piece we had not been explicitly instructed about -- that is, to publish our results. Scientific research is incomplete unless technically reviewed results are published. But even though our country boasts of more than 90 percent literacy rate, writing does not come naturally to most of us, markedly if English is the required medium of communication.

Filipinos are generally not literature-oriented people, so I was told. Few people write because few people care to read. When a pedestrian sees that conspicuous MMDA signboard that says, "Huwag tumawid, nakamamatay," the pedestrian usually moves on crossing the road as though the signboard -- and even the rampaging vehicles -- did not exist. I suppose this is not due to a lack of time for reading the sign, and neither to a lack of ability to read, but rather because of the ingrained aversion to reading (and writing) in our culture. For anyone, such as you and I, who is raised in such a culture, the barrier to publish is considerably steep.

Another common excuse against writing is inaccessibility to sources of information. In this Age of Information, however, that ceases to be an excuse. The Internet has opened the gateway to a vast ocean of scientific knowledge by providing unprecedented information access. Through inexpensive Internet access, geographical boundaries are dissolved and economic disparities are leveled off.