Filipinos have been the receipient of development scholarships for over a hundred years. When the Americans imposed their sovereignty over the country, one of their first priorities was to send Filipinos to school in the US. They were called “pensionados” or government scholars. Among the most notable is Dr Honoria Acosta-Sison, first Pinay physician. Breaking with tradition that doctors should be men, Dr Acosta-Sison applied for a pensionado grant in 1903. She got her MD from the Women Medical College of Pennsylvania. She was then followed by Dr Olivia Salamanca, who tragically died of TB soon after returning home in 1913. She was just 24 years old.
Since then thousands of Filipinos have been awarded scholarships abroad. The United States was and still is the biggest provider. However European countries also provided scholarships even in the 1920s. My mother’s professor at UP, Prof. Gabriel Bernardo, got a postgraduate scholarship in Weimar era Berlin Germany just before Hitler’s rise to power. When Japan invaded the country in 1941 and set up the Japanese sponsored republic in 1943, they also had the own pensionado scheme. My uncle and father were receipients of the scholarships.
When the Philippine independence was recognized in 1946, the development scholarships continued. The US Fulbright program started in the Philippines in 1947. Australia and the UK began granting scholarships in 1950. My mother was one of the first receipients of the Australian grant for Adelaide. She later went on a Fulbright grant to Michigan. My Dad in the late 1950s went back to study in Japan as part of the reparations scheme. Today, the US, Australia, UK,Japan,Germany and the EU are main providers of scholarships. China and Taiwan are also significant providers, with Taiwan offering grants in science ( If you are willing to learn Mandarin first!). Korea also provides grants in the arts. Russia also offers grants but with few takers for its arts programs (Lisa Macuja is the most famous of the Russian scholars). Even Cuba is offering Filipinos scholarships especially in Medicine. One of my students whose lefty dad is a big Fidel fan, took the grant and is now in a Cuban medical school. While on a Christmas vacation furlough in Manila she told me that her Cuban experience was valuable since doctors there are trained to be more self-reliant.
Scholarships have become extremely competitive since many people think that this is a surefire way to immigrate. When I was on the reviewing board of a foreign funded scholarship scheme, we had to take a workshop on how to tease this motive out of applicants mouths during the interview. I think this is how they train visa consuls!
It is in this context that scholarship providers like Australia are now evaluating the impact of their 60 year old scholarship program in the Philippines. AusAid is the government agency that manages the grants and they recently called a meeting to reassess their programs. This is part of PM Kevin Rudd’s initiative to review Australia’s overseas engagements. The Australian officials told us that scholarships are an expensive but necessary investment and they want to see if these have made an impact. The Philippines is just one of 40 countries where they are doing an assessment. They also told us that in some countries,their scholarships have barely made a difference.
The Pinoy grantees came from many sectors. While many came from the government (especially the judiciary) and academe, not a few came from the business and private sectors. I think this delighted AusAid since it shows that their grantees are now in various spheres of influence. AusAid is planning to have an international network of scholars that will help in streamlining Australia’s development assistance.
I don’t see anything wrong with that except as I told the Aussies, the word “development” has a lot of political strings attached and we surely don’t want the scholars’ network to be a political mouthpiece. When talk of where the scholarship program should lead to or whether it should continue, there was a lively discussion.
The Philippines is now increasingly seen by donor countries as a “near developed” country. Thus the nature of assistance has vastly changed since 15 years ago. For instance, when I got my grant the focus was on natural resources development. Now it seems that the scholarships are focused on “securing the gains of development”. Thus priority is given on the efficient delivery of justice (that’s why a lot of recent grantees are from the DOJ), business streamlining, democratic institution strengthening, education development, and of course developing Mindanao.
A lot of grants are for Mindanao residents. The Australian focus closely parallels the American one when it comes to Mindanao. Thus it shouldn’t surprise anyone if they read in the blurbs that the American and Australian ambassadors are reported to have jointly inspected their projects in Mindanao.
Obviously, it is in the geopolitics of it all where the answer to the question ”How useful are the scholarships?” lies.
The Americans and the Australians have a huge stake in the Philippine security situation and this reflects on the grant foci. The Russians under the Medvedev-Putin duocracy, we still have to see. They still offer ballet scholarships! :D
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there should be no question that foreign grants/scholarship, in addition to educational/cultural exchanges, among others, are beneficial to the philippines. i believe actual exposure and experience in first world systems are superior to secondary knowledge-transfer or vicarious expertise.
that being said, i believe the problem mostly lies in the motivation and ultimate objective of the individual recipient. you have alluded to one of them as the thought that it is “a surefire way to immigrate”. but the core intention, i think, is the attainment of fame and fortune by way of powerful government or private positions and/or relatively lucrative salary as employee, that they hope to gain by being a “scholar”. scholarship for scholarship sake, or the passion and thirst for knowledge and truth, have to give way to the more personal and mundane opportunities for material gains.
perhaps these “scholars” would be more beneficial and useful to the country if they focus more on helping to create wealth for their community than on making themselves and their private employers wealthy. for instance, how many of these so-called scholars have started and engaged in employment-generating and revenue-creating businesses of their own – using the training and education that they have acquired abroad?
btw, why should there even be “scholars” from doj or the judiciary? is it because justice and fairness don’t come naturally to government lawyers and judges, or that philippine law schools are not doing their job? if that is the case, would foreign scholarship or being a “pensionado” make them any better?
Only a minority of the grantees are in the direct development field. One AusAid grantee who attended became a Protestant minister and now is involved in developing microfinance in Eastern Visayas.
For people in academe the benefits are apparent if they do return to their home institutions. But from what I gather, the impact is mixed. Some schools wholeheartedly accept their new skills while in some, their skills are never appreciated.
As for the DOJ and judiciary scholars, perhaps it is for changing the legal culture we have. Australian legal culture is definitely different from ours. From my experience, adjudication is first tried without lawyers as the parties are well aware of natural justice. When that fails,then the lawyers come in. The result of the grants in that area still need to be seen.
The Philippine government must be strict in ensuring that these Fulbright pensionados and other scholars fulfill the 3-year home country service requirements. No waiver for exchange students (I believe its F-1 and J-1 in the United States) must be accomodated, especially if they received the scholarships on the strength of government certification.
As you said, these scholarships are counted as part of development assistance. Besides the lost opportunity costs, it leaves a bad precedent for the next batch.
Kawawa na nga ang Pilipinas, ayaw pa nitong mga ‘scholars’ tumupad. Di lalong kaawa-awa.
i dont know if wat i message to u ryt know is correct, but i really need a scholarship to continue my studies…i hope somebody could help me!
thank you
They use it to segregate themselves from the Filipino people, who they deem are inferior. Classic colonial mentality.
Blackshama quite off topic, but related to what’s wrong with philippine science.
concerning our inventors,we do not support them so they go abroad.
back in 1969 there was daniel dingle with his water powered car; I know there were many inventors,who failed to get government support.
Now about those filipinos sent abroad, I could think about the military who graduated in west point and annapolis,air force academies. Sure one of them even became a president of RP,but witn the state of our military today, is it worth to send more???
three years service, is that enough? what about those air force pilots, should they wait for only three years to serve our nation and then bail out to greener pastures?
Pinoy business should take care of Pinoy inventors. DOST can only support R and D but the trade promotion and business incubation is the turf of DTI. DOST has just realized that it too has to do trade promotion.
UP and the private sector have realized that also. Thus you see the technoparks on campus
Blackshama,
yes, I agree that pinoy business must take care of pinoy inventors.Thanks.
Obviously, nothing is given for free. All foreign policy initiatives have to be taken in context of the donor country’s security.
It is a win-win situation for donors. A worthwhile and relatively cheap investment to foster good will. For some scholarships, the grant ties the recipient to his/her government office and must implement an approved program upon his/her return, ostensibly to implement transfer of knowledge. This will contribute to the ‘development’ and stability of recipient countries. Scholars will have experienced a different way of doing things, imbibed values of the donor society.
On the other hand, these scholarships can also be seen as a way to attract the best minds and talent developing countries can offer.
Let me be candid.
After having lived in Australia for only fifteen months, I still wonder if I would have returned to the Philippines if my contract did not require me to do so.
There are Filipinos doing their PhD for four years. Four years of relatively stress-free and quality living, never having to worry for anything. I think of my friend V., who is still in Australia until 2011. He is working on cultivating a certain kind of rice variety that would surely help our country.
I have scores of friends, former students and acquaintances in the US and Europe as well. I think of R., still in Madrid, who has been asking me whether he should return to Manila. He has completed his MA and is completely broke.
I tell him, “R, when or if you return, you will either go back to teaching (which he loves anyway) or work for a call center.”
Sir! What a surprise, you still have time to write articles?
This is a good reality check, both for the granting country and the grantee. Other countries, I believe, simply just give scholarships without “strings attached.” Should some use it to immigrate to other countries, at the very least, these Filipinos are emigrating as professionals whom we can hopefully lure back by programs such as DOST’s Balik Scientist.
Have you heard about Mr. Padolina’s recent suggestion that the Philippines import foreign scientists? He said he was serious. I hope he’s not.
hi ima a kid trin to look for some research for Dr.Honoria Acosta-Sison and im haveing trouble on my essay and i cant find what Honoria thought can you help
-Samantha ☺
hello po. I just want to ask about cuban medical scholarship program. How can i avail this kind of scholarship? Anu po bang procedures nito? Thanks po. God bless.