National Scientist of the Philippines

The Order of National Scientists of the Philippines (Tagalog: Orden ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Agham ng Pilipinas), abbreviated as ONS, is the highest award accorded to Filipino scientists by the Philippine government. Members of the order are known as National Scientists.

Order of National Scientists
Awarded by  Philippines
Type	Order
Awarded for	Having made significant contributions to the development of Philippine sciences
Status	Currently constituted
Sovereign	President of the Philippines
Statistics
First induction	1978
Last induction	2024
Precedence
Next (higher)	Order of Gabriela Silang
Next (lower)	Gawad Mabini
Equivalent	Order of National Artists, Order of National Social Scientists, Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan, Order of Lakandula - Special Class of Champion for Life
Ribbon bar of the order

The award was created on December 16, 1976 by President Ferdinand Marcos through Presidential Decree Nos. 1003 and 1003-A, which also created the National Academy of Science and Technology. For the purposes of the law, a scientist is defined as "an individual who has earned a doctoral degree in any field of the sciences" and "has demonstrated and earned distinction in independent research or significant innovative achievement in the basic and applied sciences, including agricultural, engineering, and medical sciences, in mathematics and in the social sciences as manifested by published works in recognized scientific and technical journals."^[1] It was elevated to the status of order in 2003.^[2]

Nomination and selection

It is the task of the National Academy of Science and Technology which is composed of Filipino scientists to recommend not more than 10 scientists annually to the President of the Philippines for conferment of the rank of National Scientist. It is the President of the Philippines who makes the ultimate selection, which is based on "distinguished individual or collaborative achievement in science and technology."^[3]

Benefits

Awardees are conferred the rank and title of National Scientist, with an accompanying medallion and citation. They are also given a financial gratuity with the amount determined by the National Academy.^[3] In addition, they are entitled to the same privileges enjoyed by National Artists of the Philippines, which include a monthly life pension, medical and hospitalization benefits, and a place of honor, in line with protocular precedence, at national state functions. They are likewise by law entitled upon death to a state funeral conducted by the National Academy and the Armed Forces of the Philippines,^[4] befitting their recognized status as heroes of the Philippines.^[5]

Roster of National Scientists

Since 1978, there have been 44 men and women have been designated as National Scientist in the roster where 11 of them are currently living. The most recent conferment was made to honor Romulo Davide. Honorees such as the Ramon Magsaysay Award recipient pediatrician Fe del Mundo, have garnered international recognition as well.

As of August 2024, the National Scientists of the Philippines are:

President	Year	Image	National Scientist	Division	Field
Ferdinand Marcos	1978		Juan Salcedo, Jr.	Health Sciences	Nutrition and Public Health
			Alfredo C. Santos	Mathematical and Physical Sciences	Physical Chemistry
			Gregorio Y. Zara	Engineering Sciences and Technology	Engineering and Inventions
	1980		Fe Del Mundo	Health	Pediatrics
			Eduardo Quisumbing	Biological Sciences	Plant Taxonomy, Systematics, and Morphology
	1982		Geminiano T. de Ocampo	Health Science	Ophthalmology
			Casimiro del Rosario	Mathematical and Physical Science	Physics, Astronomy, and Meteorology
			Gregorio Velasquez	Agricultural Sciences	Phycology
	1983		Francisco Fronda	Agricultural Science	Animal Husbandry
			Francisco Santos	Health Sciences	Human Nutrition and Agricultural Chemistry
			Carmen Velasquez	Agricultural Sciences	Parasitology
	1985		Teodoro Agoncillo[lower-alpha 1]	Social Sciences	Philippine History
			Encarnacion Alzona	Social Sciences	Philippine History
			Hilario Lara	Health Sciences	Public Health
Corazon Aquino	1986		Julian Banzon	Mathematical and Physical Sciences	Chemistry
			Dioscoro L. Umali	Agricultural Sciences	Agriculture and Rural Development
	1987		Jose Encarnacion, Jr.	Social Sciences	Economics
			Luz Oliveros-Belardo	Mathematical and Physical Sciences	Phytochemistry
	1988		Alfredo Lagmay	Social Sciences	Experimental Psychology
	1989		Paulo Campos	Health Sciences	Nuclear Medicine
Fidel V. Ramos	1994		Pedro Escuro	Agricultural Sciences	Genetics and Plant Breeding
			Clara Lim-Sylianco	Mathematical and Physical Sciences	Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry
	1998		Dolores Ramirez	Agricultural Sciences	Biochemical Genetics & Cytogenetics
			Jose R. Velasco	Agricultural Sciences	Plant Physiology
Joseph Estrada	1999		Gelia T. Castillo	Social Sciences	Rural Sociology
	2000		Bienvenido Juliano	Mathematical and Physical Sciences	Biochemistry
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo	2001		Clare Baltazar	Biological Sciences	Systematic Entomology
			Benito Vergara	Agricultural Sciences	Plant Physiology
	2004		Onofre Corpuz	Social Sciences	Political Economics and Government
	2005		Ricardo Lantican	Agricultural Sciences	Plant Breeding
	2006		Lourdes Cruz	Mathematical and Physical Science	Biochemistry
	2008		Teodulo Topacio, Jr.	Agricultural Sciences	Veterinary Medicine
	2010		Mercedes Concepcion	Social Sciences	Demography
			Ernesto Domingo	Health Sciences	Internal Medicine / Gastroenterology
			Perla D. Santos Ocampo[6]	Health Sciences	Pediatrics
Benigno Aquino III	2011		Raul V. Fabella[7]	Social Sciences	Economics
			Bienvenido Nebres, S.J.[8]	Mathematical and Physical Sciences	Mathematics
	2014[9]		Angel Alcala	Biological Sciences	Biological Sciences
			Ramon Barba	Agricultural Sciences	Horticulture
			Edgardo Gomez	Biological Sciences	Marine Biology
			Gavino Trono, Jr.	Biological Science	Marine Biology
Rodrigo Duterte	2019		Emil Q. Javier[10]	Biological Science	Plant Breeding
Bongbong Marcos	2023		Carmencita D. Padilla[11]	Health Sciences	Medical Genetics, Pediatrics
	2024		Romulo Davide[12]		Plant Pathology and Nematology

Notes

1. Posthumous award

See also

• National Scientist of the Republic of Korea

References

1. Section 2, Pres. Decree No. 1003-A
2. Executive Order No. 236, s. 2003 Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
3. Section 8, Pres. Decree No. 1003-A
4. Section 3, Executive Order No. 131 (26 October 1993)
5. First Whereas Clause, Executive Order No. 131 (26 October 1993)
6. PNoy confers National Scientist Award to Dr. Santos-Ocampo. Abs-cbnnews.com (2010-06-23). Retrieved on 2012-06-30.
7. Aquino names economist ‘national scientist’ | Inquirer News. Newsinfo.inquirer.net (2011-07-27). Retrieved on 2012-06-30.
8. Helen Flores (2011-06-30). Nebres, Fabella named 'national scientists'. Philstar.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-30.
9. "Former UP president Emil Javier named national scientist". www.inquirer.net. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
10. Duterte confers National Scientist title to ex-UP president. news.abs-cbn.com. Retrieved on 2019-08-08.
11. "Marcos confers national scientist title to world-renowned clinical geneticist". August 31, 2023.
12. "Doctor from Argao, Cebu is 44th National Scientist of PH". www.gmanetwork.com. Retrieved August 8, 2024.

Bibliography

• National Scientists of the Philippines (1978–1998). Pasig, Philippines: Anvil Publishing, Inc. 2000. ISBN 978-9712709326.

External links

• Government Briefer on the Order of National Scientist