Every year multitudes of Filipinos line up in front of airplanes to go and work abroad, most of them not to come back for years or even not come back at all. Most of them are domestic helpers, but a large portion of them are knowledge workers, doctors and engineers lured by greener pastures beyond the small archipelago nation. Numerous stories of doctors leaving to become nurses in the United States and Ph.D Engineers leaving to become construction works in the Middle East circulate our country. Our media portrays it as the great brain drain and that our nation would never prosper because the best are leaving us. But we should we ask, are they really leaving us ?

Ateneo Innovation Center Logo

I’m lucky to work in the Ateneo Innovation Center, and what surprises me is that Filipino Inventors, Engineers and Businessmen who left the country decades ago are emailing, calling or even dropping by to visit us, asking how they could help or offering help. It begs the question, you can remove a Filipino from the Philippines but can you remove the Filipio from them ?

Innovation in Design

Dr. Greg Tangonan studied in Ateneo de Manila and went off to California Institute of Technology to gain his Ph.D. specializing in fiber optics and spent 30 or so years of his life in the United States of America before returning to the Philippines. With him back he is now the Director of the Ateneo Innovation Center and the Executive Director of the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology & Engineering. With his training and experience he is helping build the Innovation Center and the Science, Technology and Engineering prowess of the Philippines.

During his recent plenary to Science 10 students (the science and technology course required to all students of the Ateneo) on two occasions he was what he thinks on engineers leaving the country and should we stop them from leaving the country. What he replied was that “It would be unfair and unwise to stop Filipinos from going abroad because sooner or later some of them will come back and when they do come back, they bring in more things than money”.

Around the world there are numerous engineers, scientists and technologists who are Filipino, some come back to the Philippines often and some haven’t returned home for decades but the simple fact remains, they are still Filipinos and this is still the Philippines. When they do return they return with knowledge and experience our country so desperately needs and they are more than willing to share it.

Top Global Taiwan Brands

Taiwan and China started with a brain drain, they sent all their best and brightest abroad to learn, some came back and other haven’t and look where they are now ? Korean companies such as Samsung actually have people in high tech and innovative companies like IDEO to learn.

So 10 years, 20 years down the line when these Filipino Engineers, Scientists and Technologists returns, what do we have ?

So truly are we experiencing a brain gain or a brain drain sending all these young and bright people aboard ? Should we send even more bright and young students to Japan, Australia, Singapore, Germany and other countries who are in need of more students ? I truly believe we should because once they come back, we may not need to send the next generation away.