NAST PHL pushes for a National Measurement Institute to protect consumers and exports

TAGUIG CITY – The National Academy of Science and Technology Philippines (NAST PHL) has called on the government to make the establishment of a National Measurement Institute a national priority. The country’s weak measurement system results in Filipino consumers getting less than what they pay for, and exporters spending more to have their products tested.

Measurement tells us whether the rice we buy is the weight marked on the sack, whether the hazardous substances in a product and in the environment stay within safe limits, and whether a factory’s output meets the specifications a buyer paid for.

Metrology is the science of measurement. It is the framework of the country’s National Measurement System and a core part of the National Quality Infrastructure, which assures the quality, safety, and reliability of products and services. A measurement is only useful if other countries accept it, and acceptance depends on a national institution able to maintain measurement standards recognized worldwide.

Republic Act 9236, the National Metrology Act of 2003, committed the State to reliable and internationally traceable measurements. The law tasked the Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) of the Department of Science and Technology to serve as secretariat to the board it created, and maintained the National Metrology Laboratory (NML) as ITDI’s laboratory arm for technical, calibration, and laboratory functions. Since then, the NML has operated under ITDI’s policies, procedures, and budget. The arrangement limits what the laboratory can do and the activities it can take on.

A benchmarking study covering several ASEAN countries found the Philippine NML had the lowest number of measurement competencies recognized by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, the fewest personnel, and the smallest annual budget among those compared. The Philippines ranks 7th out of nine ASEAN member states in metrology in the 2024 Quality Infrastructure for Sustainable Development (QI4SD) Index, below the ASEAN average.

NAST PHL supports the following:

1. Enact the pending National Measurement Institute legislation in the 20th Congress, transforming the NML into a modernized National Measurement Institute of the Philippines (NMIPhil) with upgraded facilities. The NMIPhil Act is among the priority bills of the Philippine Development Plan 2023–2028.
2. Provide adequate budget support, including more plantilla positions and better salary rates, to build and keep the technical workforce the institute will need.
3. Promote metrology across government, the academe, industry and trade, and the public, to build demand for and confidence in national measurement services.