A month ago, September 22, the Samahan ng Nagtataguyod ng Agham at Teknolohiya Para sa Sambayanan chapter in Central Luzon (AGHAM CL) was finally launched at the FITS Center in Balanga City, Bataan.
 
The idea of putting up a chapter of AGHAM in Central Luzon was a result of a series of discussions involving various issues such as the rice crisis, the state of science and technology in the country and the general welfare of scientists and technologists in the region. It also coincided with the timely relocation of the founding chairperson of the AGHAM Laguna chapter to Bataan. Now at the Research and Development Office in the Bataan Peninsula State University (BPSU), Reynan Calderon has successfully introduced the advocacy of AGHAM to many professionals and intellectuals not only in Bataan but to the whole region as well. Reynan is now the Vice-Chairperson of AGHAM CL.
 
For the past months leading to the activity, Reynan and I met with the people from the Abucay Campus of BPSU. The BPSU Abucay Campus is one of the University’s satellite campuses known for its excellence in the field of agriculture. This agriculture campus is a fertile ground for AGHAM’s praxis: to reach to as wide a number of people who are marginalized and extend science and technology that its members would have expertise on. In Abucay, AGHAM CL found members that are focused in promoting the welfare of the farmers of Bataan. We also reached out to other provinces within the region and invited other professionals engaged in agriculture, engineering and the natural sciences.
 
On the morning of September 22, 2008, a group of people gathered at the Balangueño Hall, City of Balanga, Bataan to realize and witness the founding of AGHAM Central Luzon. Starting with 33 founding members from academia and government offices. Twenty (20) came from the Bataan Peninsula State University (BPSU), one (1) from Bulacan Agricultural State College (BASC), one (1) from Tarlac College of Agriculture (TCA), three (3) from Central Luzon State University/Phil-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology, one (1) from Don Honorio Ventura College of Arts and Trade (DHVCAT) in Pampanga, one (1) from the DOST Provincial Office, one (1) from the private sector, three (3) from local government unit (LGU) of Balanga City, Bataan, and one (1) from the LGU of Bagac, Bataan.
 
Being an organization of professionals that realizes that science and technology is part of the backbone of the society’s development, AGHAM believes that we need to do something to make the knowledge and technology to truly cater to the needs of our people. With its successful launch, AGHAM CL is open to involve other professionals coming from various fields like engineering, science and technology, business, agriculture and sociology. Although the concentration of founding members is in the province of Bataan, there are activities that are geared towards developing new members and affiliates in nearby provinces.
 
As a start, AGHAM Central Luzon will engage in the assessment of the needs of the community as well as the available technologies and expertise in the region. We believe that it is a high time for scientists and technologists in the region to come together to promote science and technology to the local community. This we can do by sharing with them our skills and knowledge, providing technical services and even joining them in their own advocacies-- this is one way of directly serving the people and taking part in extending science and technology to the community.
 
Our induction as officers have ended in mid-day of September 22, but the challenge to perform the tasks has just started . As officers and founding members of the organization.
we are now focused on finding avenues where we could share our knowledge and expertise to most people of the region. We will engage all development stakeholders at the local, provincial and regional levels with the people's interest in mind. Furthermore, we will dig deeper on issues that greatly affect the people such as the mining in Zambales, the re-opening of Bataan Nuclear Power Plan in Morong, Bataan and the status food production in the region.
 
We want to get involved because we know we are capable of doing something together with the people in the region. As the newly inducted Chairperson of AGHAM CL, it is my honor to end this article using the thoughts of a great scientist who serves as our source of inspiration: “Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only though devoting himself to society' -Albert Einstein, 1949”.