Senator Edgardo J. Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, allocated almost R1 billion in the 2010 budget of the University of the Philippines for its science- and health-related projects.

The bulk of the budget will go to the National Tele Health Project, the Engineering Research and Development for Technology (ERDT) and the UP Sports Complex, said Angara.

Angara, former UP President, said the allocation is in line with the government’s commitment to invest in Science, Technology and Engineering.

“These projects are aimed at improving the country’s science education and ensuring the efficient delivery of basic health services,” he said.

He added, “in order to strengthen UP’s position as the leading research university, we have to support its programs geared towards nurturing our capacity for technical innovation.”

The National Telehealth Initiative will provide under-served communities with a telehealth system that would allow for remote consultations, addressing the problems of low doctor-to-patient ratio in the Philippines and the concentration of medical specialists in urban areas, he said.

The UP-PGH will implement the project, with support from the Department of Health.

“We will be able to stretch our resources farther if we focus our expenditures on the academe and on specific research priorities. These priorities must be based on the urgent needs of Filipinos: food, jobs, energy and health,” he said.

Angara explained that science and engineering graduates provide a principal source of innovation and growth in the modern economy. The quality of undergraduate science education directly affects both the number of scientists and the capabilities of students who will later on become engineers, researchers and teachers.