HUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENT SHOULD BE A PRIORITY - ANGARA

Senator Edgardo J. Angara calls for a higher human capital investment as he emphasizes the vital role of education, research, science and technology in the global stage as we move into a new phase of economic competitiveness and in combating the prevailing poverty, hunger, increasing population, and lack of education in our country.

As the world's demography changes radically, populations in most developed countries are ageing. Moreover, because of their declining fertility rate, most of these countries face a shrinking labor force and consequently, lower economic productivity.

"The labor productivity in many developed economies decline with their aging population, capital - which knows no nationality-- will turn to younger, more productive labor force. With a little more vision and some measure of political orderliness, the Philippines can and will profit with this handsomely," said Angara who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance.

In the Philippines, our numbers can be used as its strength, especially when they are well educated, and equipped with the skills that the globalizing world demands.

He added, "That's why we need to take care of our people. There's a need to highlight the importance of infrastructure and human capital development: education, health and sanitation, environment, food production, and science and technology (S&T) as drivers of the nation's growth."

Further, Angara said that we've got to start investing in the future by upgrading the education we provide our children, and ensuring none of them is left behind. We've got to make sure that our workers - industrious and resourceful as they already are - are equipped with the right skills and training to participate in an increasingly competitive and technological world.

"To build up our human capital, we are putting resources to fund Science, Technology and Engineering Scholarships and Exchange Student Programs. This will allow more qualified Filipino scholars in the academe to pursue higher learning in the country's industrialized neighbors. The knowledge and training they will gain from advanced centers of education will help us create a pool of highly-trained scientists and engineers, a critical mass of talents necessary to create more employment that will increase productivity and eventually end hunger and poverty. This indeed is what we need for the new economy," said Angara who chairs the Senate Committee on Science and Technology.