Electronic circuitry. Photo: PNL collage/amazon/industryweek or those who follow this site, you know we are no fans of the present Philippine administration. Truth be told, we disagree with almost everything it does—everything, except President Rodrigo Duterte's railing against the Catholic Church. His bashing of the priests and bishops adds nuance to our generally negative view of Malacańang's current resident. The Catholic Church is the main reason why the Philippines is being left behind by most of its Southeast Asian neighbors. This country led the region during the fifties and sixties; today, it has all but been left behind. Our fall has been so precipitous that if it continues, the country might find it impossible to catch up. If we pass the point of no return, we relegate future generations of Filipinos to a life of poverty and hardship, working backbreaking menial jobs for foreign masters. It all started 500 years ago in 1521 when Spanish ships led by Ferdinand Magellan arrived on our shores. The Spaniards eventually figured out that spreading Christianity to the natives made them easier to control. Religion was a "Godsend" for the colonial masters, as they were vastly outnumbered. Colonized natives turned docile, God-fearing, and pliable Spanish subjects. What the Spanish clergy did, worked so well that to this day, more than a hundred years since they left, Filipinos continue to worship caucasian-looking religious statues, are fanatically devoted Catholics, remain timid and docile, and rarely assert themselves. They love their priests and bishops and cling to their every word. And whenever possible, Filipinos send their children to Catholic schools to receive the same religious inculcation they received. Catholic-run schools in the Philippines promote an antiquated version of Christianity, indoctrinating generations of students with religious dogma at the expense of natural science courses. Because of the Church's understandable aversion to science, it has been systematically de-emphasizing those subjects in its schools, colleges, and universities—Heaven forbid their students learn enough science to start questioning some of the Church's dogmatic teachings. Take, for instance, the University of Santo Tomas (UST). It is actually older than Harvard, America's oldest university. UST, however, only manages to rank near the bottom thirty percent of universities worldwide (QS World University Rankings® 2021). Governed by the Franciscan Order, UST is fine for a liberal arts degree, but no advanced science courses are offered there. Other elite Philippine universities such as De La Salle and Ateneo, both also run by Catholic clergy, fare no better. The fact is, the country has an embarrassingly large science deficit thanks to the Catholic Church. It is no wonder that even today, many Filipinos fall for miracle cures and believe in all manner of superstitious twaddle—a shortcoming that wily pastors, faith healers, and fast-talking con artists readily exploit. It is time Filipinos break from the past and replace mysticism with real science. By now, everyone is acutely aware that a country cannot hope to flourish—or perhaps even survive if the majority of its citizens are not technically literate. The more advanced degrees in science a country has, the more secure its future. Today, high technology is everywhere; in smartphones, intelligent machines, big data, and supercomputers, while powerful militaries use all manner of cutting-edge weaponry. And with ongoing research and development, things can only get a lot smarter in the future. Filipinos must not allow themselves to be left behind. Pinoys are as bright and as innovative as they come. However, they need the education, training, and environment that will allow them to thrive in this brave new world of high-tech wizardry. For hundreds of years, Filipinos' misplaced allegiance to a backward-looking, anachronistic religious dogma has kept them constrained. They must now break those bonds and join the race to the future. Most Asian countries are already way ahead, though it is still not too late. But the country has to move now before its neighbors get too far ahead for the Philippines to catch up. Published 4/27/2021