House okays bill seeking PHL answer to NASA

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to create the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) and providing for the country's space program.

The bill aims to provide a framework for the country's primary strategic road map in order to become a space-capable and space-faring nation in the next ten years.

House Bill 8541, to be known as the Philippine Space Development Act once passed into law, gained 207 affirmative votes from the legislators. It received no objection and abstention.

HB 8541 proposes that the space policy focus on national security and development; hazard management and climate studies; space research and development; space industry capacity building; space education and awareness; and international cooperation.

The PhilSA will be attached to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) with offices at the Clark Special Economic Zone in Pampanga and Tarlac.

Two years ago, an expert said that investing in space science would provide sustainable, long-term benefits to the country.

“For every peso the Philippines would spend on a space program, the quantifiable return of investment would be about P2.50,” said Dr. Rogel Mari Sese, program leader of the National Space Development Program under the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development.

“So it’s not a money-losing venture—it’s a money-making venture, and that’s just based on infrastructure savings alone,” he added. —NB, GMA News