Balik Scientist Program: The Final Plug to Brain Drain?

 

Illustrated by Brian Alfred Mortera (Crypton)

“Ibalik natin ang galing ng Pilipino sa Pilipinas.”

These are the crux of the speeches of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the past year concerning the brain drain of Filipino researchers. A “frustrated scientist” as he once coined himself, Marcos Jr. has spared no moment in expressing his advocacy for the development of science and technology for the sake of nation-building. 

One of the projects dedicated to curbing the brain drain is the Balik Scientist Program. First introduced in 1975 to reverse the emigration of Filipino scientists and S&T professionals, the Balik Scientist Program was institutionalized into law in 2018 under Republic Act 11035 or the Balik Scientist Act. 

The Balik Scientist program offers allowances and medical insurance to returning experts, who shall then share the expertise they honed abroad. In the past year, 44 scientists returned under the program, bringing the total number of returning scientists to 631 since 1975. 

Throughout its run, the government takes pride over (or overly romanticizes, as some science advocate-critics have argued) the accomplishments of the program, but we must hold our applause. 

While the experts’ homecoming breathes new life into addressing the problem of emigration of S&T professionals, does the program truly reverse brain drain or perpetuate it?

The brain drain issue stems from a harsh reality: there is no job security for scientists in the Philippines. A DOST study using data collected from 1990 to 2015 showed that most graduates of S&T courses work outside their field of study. Even when they land jobs in research and development (R&D), most local scientists are only paid a fraction of what they would make abroad; they aren’t paid what they’re worth.

Even Balik scientists themselves hesitate to work in the Philippines. While the program offers glimmering benefits, the prospect of work overload, delayed wages, and rundown facilities hound all researchers working in the country. 

Moreover, navigating the bureaucracy of scientific institutions in the country as a researcher is toilsome, made even more difficult by our crippling infrastructure for research and development. The country’s gross expenditure on research and development stands at only 0.1 percent, which is much lower than the 2 percent global average.

The frustrations of scientists pile up in a manner that not even Marcos Jr. can single-handedly reverse with the Balik Scientist program. The project itself is marred with glaring caveats for researchers planning to return to the country, which can be traced back to the crises in our bureaucratic and education systems. 

To properly entice young Filipinos to pursue careers in R&D and stay in the country, the government must improve the resources for S&T education, and provide job opportunities with competitive wages for S&T graduates. Well-equipped and functioning R&D laboratories and funding for projects indicate the government’s willingness to retain talent and manpower within our shores.

Hence, the alarming budget cuts faced by DOST agencies and academic institutions in 2024 must be imminently revisited. In the proposed 2024 expenditure program, the Philippine Science High School System is facing a whopping Php329-million budget cut and the Science and Technology Development Program with a Php8.47-million decrease.

Meanwhile, 117 state universities and colleges will suffer from a Php6.2-billion decrease in budget, with the University of the Philippines bearing roughly half of the grunt. The forthcoming budget cuts hinder the provision of quality education to STEM students, the pursuance of research ventures, and the continuation of S&T programs that build toward our scientific infrastructure. 

If we do not address these chronic challenges faced by the Filipino scientific community, the Balik Scientist program could become an inevitable step in the cycle of emigrating scientists who eventually return to the country and find it buried under the same problems that compelled them to leave in the first place. 

Until sufficient job security and financial support in scientific and cultural infrastructures are provided, our budding scientists will continue to seek greener pastures in other countries better equipped to cater to the horizons of their scientific minds. The Balik Scientist Program, albeit a noble cause in rectifying the exodus of scientific manpower, is only a band-aid solution to the decades-old brain drain in the country.