By Monsi A. Serrano
When Department of Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato “Boy” de la Peña announced in an online media briefing last March 2020, that the Philippines has developed the first-ever COVID-19 testing kit, for me it was a ray of hope, given the fact that the coronavirus’ fast transmission and cases of surge remain unabated.
Thanks and kudos to the 15 Filipino scientists from the Philippine Genome Center, led by Dr. Raul V. Destura, and the University of the Philippines Manila – National Institutes of Health (UPM-NIH) for successfully coming up with Philippine made test kits.
According to Secretary de la Peña the Filipino developed COVID-19 testing kit will be a cell-based immunoassay for serologic testing, noting that there were three types of tests available.
As a strong believer in Filipino ingenuity and innovation, the idea of mass production of these test kits to be done in the Philippines presented promising ideas in my head not just to brandish our talented scientists, but also look at it as an opportunity to have our very own manufacturing of these test kits and export these to other countries!
However, 6 months after the drumbeating such as President Rodrigo Duterte supported this invention and even ramped up the approval from the Food and Drug Administration, lo and behold, nothing was heard about it anymore.
I tried to reach out to one of the DOST officials and asked about the Filipino developed COVID19 testing kits, and I was just given a crying emoji as an answer. It seems to me that the Duterte admin wanted to import from other countries than support our locally made testing kits.
Science and Technology, like our sports as well as arts and culture, have been deprived of the right budget. We appreciate our scientists, athletes and artists when they accomplish something and reward them. Sadly and oddly, Duterte never gave them the support they needed to excel by funding their training, and in the case of our scientists and innovators, bankrolling their Research & Development. If the President can give too much pork to the lawmakers, policemen and soldiers in time when he calls for austerity measures, then we can all assume that he’s out to take advantage of the pandemic by advancing his selfish agenda and use the occasion to make more money, while Filipinos suffer and die because of his indifference of their situation.
Yes, they always say We Heal as One, but the truth is, They Steal as One. What do you think?