Tambuling Batangas Publication May 08-14, 2019 Issue | Page 5

OPINYON
May 8-14, 2019
PH-made HET is DOST’s proof that some
in this busy world where
dreams do come true
mobility is one of the critical
By: DOST-MIRDC
Calamba, Laguna – A typical
scene of the Pinoy’s everyday
life along the riles (railroad):
thriving marketplace very
near the railroad, families
living in makeshift houses,
tricycles ferrying commuters
around.
National issues
bombard Filipinos and cause
tremendous pressures on
people’s lives, especially
those of the low-income
families who struggle very
hard to make both ends meet.
Despite the challenges, we
Filipinos manage to adapt.
We make do of what we have,
and we carry on making the
most of the situation, no
matter how uncomfortable or
difficult.

For many years, mass
transportation has been a
very problematic issue for us,
not only for people living in
Metro Manila but for those
who live and work in the
suburban. The most reliable
mode of public transportation
is the train, and for most
Pinoys, the first train that
comes to mind are the classic
trains of the Philippine
National Railways (PNR).

The PNR trains have
their share of issues, too.
These, unfortunately, are felt
by thousands of Filipinos who
rely on the PNR’s services
to move from place to place
requirements for success.

Enter the Hybrid
Electric Train (HET).

The HET is a project
of the Department of Science
and Technology – Metals
Industry
Research
and
Development Center (DOST-
MIRDC)
in
partnership
with the PNR.
Apart
from providing long-term
technology-based solutions
to the worsening mass
transportation situation of the
country, the HET aims to raise
the efficiency of the PNR’s
operations through reduced
production and operational
costs.
The partnership
between the DOST-MIRDC
and the PNR is behind the
Pateros in ‘balut sa puti’ revival
AFTER a decline in its
balut industry following
years of urbanization,
Pateros is seeking to
revive its old title as the
Philippines’ “balut sa puti”
capital.

Balut, a fertilized
duck embryo boiled as a
delicacy, is one of the most
prominent exotic food the
Philippines is known for.

Pateros, being the
last municipality in the
National Capital Region
(NCR), was once host to
a multitude of duck farms
and balut houses that use
the traditional method of
incubating egg.

But what went
wrong? When did Pateros
lose its balut fame?

“There was a time
that the balut and salted
egg industry in Pateros
was flourishing because
the ducks were tended in
Pateros itself. They enjoy
raw materials because these
were all available in the
riverbanks (back then),”
Andy Concio, a balut house
owner in the past, now a
business consultant for the
municipal
government’s
commercial
balut
production, said during
the annual Balut sa Puti
Festival.

Ten years back,
Concio recalled, pollution
started to spread in the
Pateros River, making it
impossible to breed ducks.

The Pateros River
was about 15 to 20 meters
in width then. Now it’s
only 2 meters in width, plus
it’s full of dirt,” he said.
“Pateros gets its own raw
materials back then. Now,
we get our raw duck eggs
from nearby provinces.”

Another reason is
the balut makers’ initial
failure to adopt technology
that could maximize their
production of balut, Concio
pointed out.
“Walang
taga-
Pateros ang nag-embrace
ng bagong teknolohiya (No
one from Pateros embraced
the new technology). All of
them insisted on producing
balut the traditional way,”
he said.

Girlie Millendez,
owner of the few remaining
traditional balut houses
in Pateros, said that their
business
indeed
took
a downturn over time
when they lost to nearby
provinces that are also
producing balut.
“Ngayon,
pinag-
aaralan ko na kung paano
‘yung commercial way
na pag-incubate dahil
traditional pa kami. Natalo
kami nung modernong
produksyon
ng
balut
katulad ng sa ibang
lugar (I am studying
the commercial way of
incubating eggs because we
still follow the traditional
way. We were overtaken by
producers from other areas
that use the modern way of
production),” she told the
Philippine News Agency
(PNA).

In a bid to revive
their title, Pateros has
partnered
with
the
Department of Tourism
(DoT),
which
vowed
to help strengthen their
Photo from PIA
eventful journey of the HET.
After its launch in 2016, the
HET successfully conducted
various tests and just recently,
passed
the
reliability,
availability, maintainability,
and safety (RAMS) testing
in late 2018. In the pipeline
of activities for 2019 is the
PNR’s validation of the
RAMS testing which will
require 150 hours. After the
validation, the HET prototype
will finally be turned over to
the PNR for commercial use
plying the Alabang-Calamba
route.

The HET prototype
represents the technology
proudly
designed
and
developed by Filipinos.
A product of the DOST-
MIRDC’s
research
and
development
initiatives,
the HET technology is a
breakthrough in its own right.
This home-grown technology,
once given a chance, is going
to make the Filipinos’ public
transportation challenges a
thing of the past. Although
the
DOST-MIRDC
and
the PNR are still finalizing
the schedule of remaining
activities before the turnover
of the HET prototype, the
technology is good and ready. ‘We are turning over
the prototype to the PNR,
but the technology is now
ready for transfer to and
commercialization by the
private sector,’ says DOST-
MIRDC Executive Director,
Engr. Robert O. Dizon.

After the completion
of the validation tests, the
turnover of the HET prototype
is the next activity that will
follow.
We are looking
forward to this event as it
will mark the beginning of
better commuting experience
for every Juan de la Cruz.
The PNR’s train service, the
DOST-MIRDC’s engineering
and R&D capabilities, and
the eventual involvement
of the private sector for the
mass production and wide-
scale
commercialization
of the HET will create the
ecosystem we need to build
and sustain a Philippine
railway industry.
The
upcoming turnover event of
the HET prototype is indeed
going to be the fruition of
the past years’ hard work
and will set the scene for the
realization of every Filipino’s
dream of a safe, comfortable,
environment-friendly,
and
reliable public transportation.
promotion of balut as one
of the Philippines’ official
culinary tourism products.
Cathy Agustin, officer-in-
charge of DoT-National
Capital Region, said this
was the first time that the
DoT intervened to bolster
Pateros eggs’ promotion
locally and abroad.

“We want to push
the promotion of balut
as a community business
livelihood and a culinary
tourism product because
right now, one of the
priority tourism programs
of this administration is
culinary tourism,” she said.
Agustin said the agency
seeks to establish the lone
municipality of Metro
Manila as a center, where
foodies and tourists can
visit whenever they crave
for the Asian delicacy.
“We want the people to
experience food. We want them to see the culture and
we want them to experience
something authentic so this
is it — the balut of Pateros,”
she said. “This is a product
that we could say is one
of the country’s original
exotic food and it is unique
in the municipality.

During the Balut sa
Puti Festival last Saturday,
the municipality gave
spotlight to the exquisite
dishes that could be cooked
using duck eggs and its
meat, such as “pickled itik”
and “afritadang balut”.

Agustin said the
DOT would be giving
recommendations to the
local government of Pateros
on ways to further promote
these and the balut itself,
not only as a livelihood
but also as means to attract
tourists by including the
dishes in Pateros restos and
carinderias.