MANILA – The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) announced Tuesday it is pushing for the annual observance of the National Space Week from August 8 to 14 starting next year.
This celebration, it said, would promote space awareness, espouse the benefits of space and its impact on the lives of Filipinos, and celebrate the Filipinos' contribution to the field of space.
PhilSA proposed the idea to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. during a meeting on December 19.
Among the topics discussed with the President were the space capabilities that contribute to "national imperatives in scientific advancement, national security, and socio-economic development.”
“Only when action is taken on these spaceborne, space-derived, space-enabled capabilities can socio-economic value and benefit be had. For PhilSA, this is a big challenge but working together and through this Council, we can overcome this through active engagement, design thinking, and agility,” PhilSA Director General Joel Marciano Jr. said.
He also noted that celebrating National Space Week would coincide with the enactment of the Philippine Space Act on Aug. 9, 2019.
Meanwhile, PhilSA said Marcos instructed them to ensure that data provided to other national government agencies are in readily available and usable form to allow for the “mapping” of the country’s “bio-assets” and enable the development of bio-diverse areas.
PhilSA added that Marcos was impressed with how the country’s current space technologies and capabilities contribute to the work of other government agencies in the environment, agriculture, and national security sectors.
Marcos acknowledged that the quality of data from the Philippine satellites and satellite subscriptions are extremely useful, it said. (PNA)
