Expanding Pisay, Building a Nation
Richard Jonathan O. Taduran, Ph.D. | 16 October 2025
When President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed the Expanded Philippine Science High School (PSHS) System Act on October 3, 2025, it became one of the most significant education measures of this decade. Authored and championed by Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Sherwin Gatchalian, Alan Peter Cayetano, and Nancy Binay, together with their counterparts Representatives Carlito Marquez, Maria Vanessa Aumentado, Divina Grace Yu, Gabriel Bordado Jr., Faustino Dy V, and Jeyzel Victoria Yu—the law expands the PSHS System to at least two campuses per administrative region.
This landmark legislation ensures that more talented Filipino youth—those with exceptional aptitude in science and mathematics—can access quality STEM education closer to home. It is a decisive investment in the nation’s scientific capacity and a clear statement that science education is essential to nation-building. Every new Pisay campus is not just a school; it is a training ground for future researchers, innovators, and leaders who will define the country’s scientific destiny.
The Pisay Way
Pisay scholars have always been a class of their own—the crème de la crème of the Philippines’ young scientific minds. But what truly sets them apart is not only brilliance, but how that brilliance is shaped. The Philippine Science High School System is built upon three enduring core values: Service to the Nation, Excellence, and Integrity—principles that transform intellect into civic purpose.
Service to the Nation teaches that intelligence is not ownership but obligation. Pisay scholars learn that every equation solved and every experiment completed must, ultimately, serve the Filipino people. Science is meaningful only when it uplifts communities, advances justice, and strengthens national progress.
Excellence is cultivated as both mindset and discipline. Pisay students are trained to pursue the highest standards of knowledge and creativity, to explore the boundaries of what is known, and to push them further. It is the commitment to precision and depth, to questioning assumptions, and to refusing mediocrity when truth or discovery is at stake. In Pisay, being the best of the best is not about competition—it is about contribution.
Integrity completes the triad. It is the commitment to evidence, to truth, and to fairness. It means that in every academic and personal pursuit, one must remain loyal to facts and principles.
These values form the moral infrastructure of Pisay culture—a culture that molds not only brilliant scientists but responsible citizens. To study at Pisay is to live differently. It is to be surrounded by peers who push one another toward deeper inquiry and stronger conviction. It is an education that trains both the intellect and the conscience.
The Untarnished Truth
Science, at its core, is not just a subject—it is a way of life. It is a culture built on discipline, humility, and curiosity. It values evidence over opinion, reason over rumor, and truth over convenience. It is not static knowledge; it is a living ethic of never-ending questioning, verifying, and improving.
Pisay nurtures that culture early. Its students are given purpose at a young age—to think critically, to serve selflessly, and to seek truth relentlessly. This scientific mindset becomes not only a foundation for careers in research or technology but also a guide for making ethical and evidence-based decisions in every sphere of life.
As a Pisay alumnus, I have lived by that culture. My journey took me from the Philippines to the United Kingdom and Australia, where I completed advanced studies in forensic and biological anthropology—both under scholarships that did not require return service. Yet I chose to return home, because Pisay taught me a sense of purpose: that knowledge must serve the country that made it possible.
The scientific culture I learned as a student—its insistence on clarity, accountability, and truth—became my compass. It has shaped how I think, how I teach, and how I serve, and it continues to guide me as I help develop forensic science education and research in the Philippines today. Science is not simply what we do; it is who we become.
Cultural Reform
And yet, as a Pisay alumnus, I cannot help but be concerned. I grew up watching familiar national issues resurface again and again—corruption in public service, incompetence tolerated, and politics overshadowing merit. These patterns persist even today, visible in headlines and felt in everyday governance.
The Expanded PSHS System Act offers us a chance to help break that cycle. By doubling the number of Pisay students, we double the country’s potential for scientific leadership—for more experts, innovators, and public servants guided by evidence and accountability. But the deeper opportunity lies beyond education. It is an opening for cultural reform—a chance, even so tiny, to embed the virtues of science—discipline, meritocracy, and self-correction—into the nation’s character.
If we can raise a generation of leaders who think scientifically and act ethically—Pisay alumni in government, research, education, defense, and beyond—then this expansion will not just build schools. It will build a nation capable of facing its challenges with reason, honesty, and courage.
Because in the end, the future of science is not only in our laboratories but in our culture. The Expanded PSHS System Act ensures that more young Filipinos will have the chance to live the Pisay way—and, in doing so, to help the Philippines think, decide, and build its future through the untarnished truth.