Albay Representative Joey Sarte Salceda became the first recipient of the Department of Science and Technology's (DOST) House (of Representatives) Exponents of Responsive and Outstanding Engagement in Science (HEROES) Award.
Salceda received the award in a recently-concluded ceremony hosted by the DOST-Region V on May 17 for his invaluable contributions to DOST in pushing for DOST-related legislations and upholding the importance of S&T in the country.
According to DOST, Salceda co-authored the following laws:
- Republic Act No. 11035, an Act Institutionalizing the Balik Scientist Program
- Republic Act No. 11312, An Act Strengthening the Magna Carta for Scientists, Engineers, Researchers and Other Science and Technology Personnel in the Government, Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 8439
- Republic Act No. 11363, Philippine Space Act
- Republic Act No. 11337, Innovative StartUp Act
- Provincial Science and Technology Office (PSTO) Act
- Republic Act No. 11534, or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act of 2021
- Education Act of 2017
- Republic Act No. 11467, or the Sin Tax Law of 2020
- Republic Act No. 11569, or Estate Tax Amnesty Extension
- He principally authored bills that were enacted into 11 other laws passed during the 17th Congress, and 17 other laws in the 18th Congress. He served as the principal sponsor/author of the Science for Change (S4C) Program, Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines (VIP) Bill, the Philippine Atomic Regulatory Commission (PARC) Act and the National Measurement Infrastructure System (NMIS) Act.
The agency also mentioned that he consistently supported and defended the approval of the DOST Annual Budget at the Committee on Appropriations and Plenary from 2016 up to present. For his efforts as a senior legislator, Salceda has been given various awards and recognitions recently.
"As we face challenges in various sectors and industries; the critical contribution that STI plays cannot be overemphasized. At this time of the pandemic, we have to bring STI closer to productive sectors and the people at the grassroots level. And if we look at various innovation actors, our legislators and policy-makers complement the much-needed collaboration and value creation," DOST Sec. Fortunato de la Peña said in a Facebook post.
In Salceda's speech, he stated that the country's response to challenges must be informed both by science and technology and the "scientific ethos".
He added that as policymakers and workers in government, they must learn to work based on well-informed and evidence-based guesses, fail fast, learn fast, and try again.
"It is thus both an honor and an irony for me to be an economist being honored by scientists, for if anything, it is we economists who should be honoring scientists. Now that I am in your debt, however, allow me to repay you by using this platform to promote scientific and technological development in the country and to boost the programs and policies of the DOST," he said.