Thank you to our Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr.
The National Research Council of the Philippines, the NRCP President Dr. Cristine Villagonzalo; the participants in the 2023 Annual Scientific Conference and the 90th NRCP General Assembly who are present physically and also who are watching us virtually; my fellow workers in government; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon to you all.
I extend my good recognition to the Department of Science and Technology and of course, the National Research Council of the Philippines for successfully organizing the 2023 Annual Scientific Conference.
It is truly a delight for me to stand before our country’s outstanding scientists, researchers, and experts from various fields, especially since it is the first face-to-face meeting that we have had for the last two and a half years.
And I’m glad that we — I am able to attend at this conference and that we are starting to feel the diminishment of the problems that we had been feeling during the pandemic.
But your invaluable contributions form part of the solid foundations of all that we did for our society.
On behalf of the entire Filipino nation, we thank you. Because after all, it was science that helped us work through the pandemic. It was science that brought to us the cures that we were looking for. It was science that developed the vaccine. It was science made us understand, what we were facing, the unseen enemy of COVID. It was science who provided the answers and it will continue to be science as we are continuing down the path of high technology, and high technology and science once again will be providing the answers and that is why we look to you our eminent researchers, our eminent institutions for the different solutions that we are going to need to have to face this new world that the pandemic has left us.
And so I encourage you all to continue broadening your fields of expertise, collaborate with all other experts, inspire Filipino youth especially to pursue fulfilling careers in science and technology.
We have become familiar with the negative perception of VUCA, which stands for “volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous” global environment.
This is true in many sectors today, casting shadows of doubt in our inherent humanistic capacities.
Today, I can see the shroud of uncertainty slowly beginning to disappear, as movers like you have changed our traditional ways of seeing and of building our world.
I cannot think of a better, a more qualified group of individuals who will help clear the shadows of doubt and become beacons of light, than our women and men in the fields of science.
Indeed, this year’s theme speaks well of your community’s stand to challenge the uncertainties ahead with innovation, with research, and evidence-based solutions.
With “Visionary, Understandable, Clear, Agile, Digital, and Diverse” future, well, we can counter the negative perceptions of our environment.
By integrating science and good governance, we can build a future where our children can look back at our generation and say that we did truly changed the 21st century and we did that change for the better.
Imagine what we can accomplish together once we light our path with the foundations of science: sustainable agricultural technology that will help our farmers; cities that will run on green energy; safe and affordable medicines for diseases that were once thought incurable, amongst many others successes that we have seen from the scientific field.
Indeed, I feel that our spirits can run high, thinking about the many other feats that we can collectively achieve.
Seeing you all here assures me that there are experts like you who are ready to move mountains and use science and technology as well as evidence-based solutions that will lead to meaningful action and policies.
Many of our endeavors will depend on our willingness and resolve to use science and technology for national development.
Let us, therefore, use them well.
These will be our contribution to the expansion of human knowledge and our collective capability to learn more about ourselves and the world.
Ladies and gentlemen, the future may be uncertain, the future may be unpredictable. But, I firmly believe that the future belongs to those who plan for and who build it.
We must remain steadfast, overcome the challenges ahead, and carry on with our collective efforts to build a much better and brighter future for all.
I wish everyone, especially our 2022 NRCP awardees, a productive and successful year ahead.
Thank you very much. Maraming salamat po at magandang hapon sa inyong lahat.