Photo Release

November 5, 2020

On Virology Institute of the Philippines: Sen. Panfilo Lacson, author of Senate Bill No. 1543, which seeks to establish the Virology Institute of the Philippines (VIP), asks Science and Technology Sec. Fortunato dela Peña how the agency would utilize the proposed 2021 budget for the institute amounting to P284 million if the Senate would approve the measure within the year. Dela Peña told Lacson that the DOST is planning to buy initial equipment needed for researches which will be housed at the Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) pending the establishment of the VIP. “ITDI has already a plan on the research and development that we will be doing for 2021. Meantime, we are allocating money out of the Department of Science and Technology’s budget to start the researches with the laboratories that are already existing at the ITDI in partnership with institutions like the University of the Philippines (UP) Institute of Health and UP Los Baños, particularly in the research on animal and plant virus,” Dela Peña said during the virtual hearing of the Committee on Science and Technology looking into several measures on the Provincial Science and Technology Officers Act, Provincial Science and Technology Directors Act and the Virology Institute of the Philippines (VIP) Act Thursday, November 5, 2020. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)

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