Aspiring president Vice President Leni Robredo has bared her intention to improve the country's funding on research and development, which she plans to use in addressing major issues in key sectors, if she wins the presidency.

During a townhall meeting with engineers on Tuesday, Jan. 11., Robredo shared her plan, which was modeled from more progressive members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), focusing on higher research and development (R&D) funding and integration of research and education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) into the curriculum of schools.

“Right now, kasi yung budget natin ay .1 percent lang... pero kung tingnan natin yung ASEAN average between .3 to .5 percent. So yun yung gusto natin na habulin na yung minimum na maging R&D budget natin, at .3 percent (our budget for R&D is only at .1 percent...but if you look at the ASEAN average is at between .3 to .5 percent. So, that's what we want to achieve, to increase our R&D budget to .3 percent), ” Robredo said.

“Yung pangalawa doon, yung sa education (Second, is on education), to implement a more integrated STEM curriculum. Again, modeled from progressive ASEAN countries from the high school to the tertiary level which is oriented to focused industries,” she added.

These industries are agriculture, medicine, community resilience, environment, and energy. These industries, the Vice President said, would be enriched by the creation of regional excellence centers which would improve the skill and competency of the workforce in their respective areas.

The aspiring President also expressed support for the passage of the Open Access to Data Act, which will strengthen the powers of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) “to prevent monopolies and mandate interconnection of data transmission amongst industry players.”

She further said the National ID system would have been helpful during the pandemic but because of its slow operationalization, agencies are unable to use its centralized database system.

During the meeting, she also covered topics such as the need to build back better through more resilient communities, especially as many areas affected by Typhoon Odette continue to suffer from the lack of basic necessities such as electricity and water; removing personnel salary caps for health workers at a time of pandemic; and planning the road map of the energy sector to meet its target of being carbon neutral by 2050.