Are ‘native’ scientists not good enough?

Are native scientists not good enough? I ask this question on the heels of the Philippine government’s apparent tendency torely on foreign scientistswhen it comes to studying the country’smarineresources.

Last January, the government called in marine scientists from China to conduct underwater exploration in the Philippine Rise — a 13-million-hectare undersea plateau, which is part of the Philippine territory. This resource-rich, submerged landmass east of the largest Philippine island of Luzon was earlier called Benham Rise, named by American surveyors who discovered it in 1933 when the Philippines was a US colony.

Philippine maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal hascriticised the government在媒体中低估了当地科学能力探索菲律宾上升的能力，并允许中国进行research在该地区的。他说，菲律宾政府“贬低”和“贬低”菲律宾科学家的能力。

“The problem is the belief that foreigners are always more knowledgeable, more experienced than Filipinos”

Kelvin Rodolfo

Another ‘foreign incursion’ was also opposed by a local scientist earlier this year. Philippine geologist Kelvin Rodolfo objected to thegovernment’s plan to hire Dutch scientiststo study Manila Bay in order to draft programmes and projects toprotectits vulnerable coastal zones.

Rodolfo said the government “ignores the fact that we have a world-class Marine Science Institute . . . The problem is the belief that foreigners are always more knowledgeable, more experienced than Filipinos”.

He continued, "The fact that [no Filipino scientist] was present at the meeting [to discuss the project] with the Dutch ambassador is in keeping with our country’s colonial mentality.”

History of colonisation

The issue is touchy in the Philippines and other Asian countries that were colonised by the West — the Philippines by Spain and the United States; Indonesia by the Netherlands; Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Singapore by the UK; and Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam by France. Only Thailand escaped colonisation.

Indonesian social scientist Hermin Indah Wahyuni tellsSciDev.Net:“Sometimes we feel that people tend to demean scientists in developing countries of Asia-Pacific. I feel sometimes a bias [against Asian scientists] from Western colleagues. I respect [Western] colleagues and hope to develop real scientific ‘dialogue’ with them.”

Wahyuni, a communication professor and head of the Centre for South East Asian Studies atGadjah Mada Universityin Jogjakarta, points out that Indonesian scientists have made their mark in fields like volcanology and tropical disease.

亚洲海洋科学专业

Batongbacal,迪rects theUniversity of the Philippines Institute of Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, objected to a government spokesman’s claim that Philippine scientists lack the ability and resources to carry out underwater research.

His position is staunchly supported by Angel Alcala, a prominent Asian marine scientist andRamon Magsaysay awardeein marine conservation. “We have the marine science expertise and the marine scientists to do it [underwater exploration] in the Philippine Rise,” Alcala, who is the director ofthe Silliman University Angelo King Centre for Research and Environmental Management, tellsSciDev.Netin an interview.

Alcala believes that the Philippines, an archipelago, is on par with the rest of the world in terms of marine science expertise. He cites Edgardo Gomez, a retired marine scientist from the University of the Philippines, as a top name in the field.

Hilconida Calumpong, a budding professor atSilliman Universityand member of the UN-mandatedWorld Ocean Assessment一群研究了五年（2011-2015）研究了世界海洋状况的海洋科学家小组提供了更柔和的解释。

“我们在沿海和浅水区与世界其他地区相提并论，但是当涉及到深水时，我们处于不利地位。我们缺乏facilities and equipmentfor detailed deep-water studies,” Calumpong says.

他补充说：“我们也没有进行长期研究的持续资金。”“由于我们的许多科学家，尤其是年轻的科学家，我们都缺乏进行此类研究的温暖身体abroadnot only for greener pastures but also for infrastructure and funding support.”

克服“殖民心态”

There is no question that the less developed countries of Asia-Pacific need help and upgrading in many fields of science, outside perhaps of a few, such as marine science, tropical medicine, volcanology and tropical agriculture.

But what they lack isfundingand equipment, rather than expertise. For example, there was no need toinvite vaccine experts from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the UK, and the USto sort out thebotched Philippine dengue mass vaccination程序。由于登革热在菲律宾是特有的，因此该国在这一领域拥有丰富的经验和专家。

每当我们遇到问题时，都会呼吁来自西方的外国专家，甚至只是为了裁判当地专家，他们因偏见或自私的利益而无法同意，这是不必要的。它仅表明在亚洲的前西方殖民地仍然存在殖民地心态。

We might learn more from consultations, joint research, and exchanges of experts with the more advanced countries in the region — like Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia — who have moved up in various fields of science and medicine because of their increased investments in research and development.

Crispin C. Maslog, former journalist with Agence France-Presse, is an environmental activist and former science professor, Silliman U and UP Los Banos, Philippines. He is a founding member and now Chair of the Board, Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) based in Manila.

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