To Infinity And Beyond!

They say the sky’s the limit. But the Philippines is aiming higher.

- Penn De Vera

Last May, the Senate passed the Philippine Space Act that seeks to create the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA), which is tasked to plan, develop, and promote our very own national space program. A counterpart bill was passed by the House of Representatives in December 2018. Both measures will be merged and lawmakers aim to ratify the bill before Congress adjourns. After which, it will be submitted to the President for signing into law.

JUST THE FIRST STEP

The bill, known as the “Act Establishing the Philippine Space Development and Utilization Policy and Creating the Philippine Space Agency,” is merely the beginning for the country’s more streamlined approach toward crafting our own space policy.

Once officially a law, the PhilSA will be an attached agency to the Office of the President given its applications on different areas like agriculture, environment, defense, disaster risk assessment, and science. The Philippine Space Policy be the country’s primary roadmap for space development, aimed at making the Philippines a space-capable nation. Initial funding for the space program is pegged at P1 billion. PhilSA will also be allotted P10 billion after the effectivity of the act, with P2 billion to be disbursed to the agency over five years. According to the bill, the PhilSA office and its facilities will be set up in a 30-hectare land within the Clark Special Economic Zone, with additional areas for research and launch sites to be developed in the future.

DECADES IN THE MAKING