Guiang, Francisco Jayme Paolo A. 2021. “Science for National Development: State-Science Engagements through the Research Exploits of the National Research Council of the Philippines during the Commonwealth Period (1934-1941)”. Philippine Social Sciences Review 73(2): 63-94.

Abstract

This essay intends to show that the state-science nexus during the Commonwealth period mobilized the Filipino scientific community through the NRCP’s research exploits despite limited government support and other challenges beyond the council’s control. It expounds on the nature of state-science engagements in other countries in order to understand how this operated within the Philippine setting. It then examines the Commonwealth’s vision for economic independence and how the Philippine state mobilized the NRCP by providing important but very limited support for the council’s research projects and activities. Finally, it probes into the council’s research works published in selected NRCP Bulletins from 1934 to 1941 in order to demonstrate how Filipino scientists tried to influence policy-making. This essay is an attempt to assess state-science engagements during the Commonwealth period as seen in the example of the NRCP which contributed not only to the national endeavor but most especially to the progress of Filipino science.