New bill seeks to create Pinoy space agency
PHOTO SOURCE: https://cdns.abclocal.go.com/content/creativecontent/images/cms/1067930_1280x720.jpgLawmakers are backing a proposed law that would create the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA), which would be in charge of developing and promoting the national space program of the Philippines.
The House of Representatives has passed House Bill (HB) 8541 in its third and final reading with a vote of 207-0-0.
Under HB 8541, PhilSA would become the central government agency that oversees all national issues and activities related to the application of space science and technology, which the bill describes as scientific principles and their applications to space science, engineering and other allies fields.
SOURCE: Mara Cepeda @maracepeda (2018). House wants to create Philippine Space Agency. Published 7:25 PM, December 04, 2018 Updated 7:25 PM, December 04, 2018. https://www.rappler.com/nation/218194-house-3rd-reading-bill-philippine-space-agency
The space program of the Philippines is decentralized and is maintained by various agencies of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). There is no dedicated space agency to oversee the country's space program and is funded through the National SPACE Development Program by the DOST. Early Philippine initiatives in space technology has been led by private firms although in the recent years the government has played a more active role.
The Philippines has been involved in space technology since the 1960s, when the government built an Earth satellite receiving station by the administration of then-President Ferdinand Marcos. It was also during the latter part of this period that a Filipino private firm acquired the country's first satellite, Agila-1 which was launched as an Indonesian satellite. In the 1990s, Mabuhay had Agila 2 launched to space from China.
In the 2010s, the Philippine government partnered with the Tohoku and Hokkaido Universities of Japan to launch the first satellite designed by Filipinos, Diwata-1. Diwata-1 is a microsatellite. A centralized space agency has been proposed in the legislature to address funding and management issue faced by the country's space program.
SOURCE: Space program of the Philippines. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_program_of_the_Philippines
