BAGUIO CITY — The Commission on Higher Education-Cordillera Administrative Region (CHED-CAR) acknowledged the importance of research in the region’s development and urged the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to vitalize their research culture during the National Innovation Day in Cordillera at the Paragon Hotel on April 10.
Dr. Ma. Geraldine Casipit, CHED CAR’s Chief Education Program Specialist underscored its significance in the improvement of the region.
“Research is a vehicle for our region to proceed to innovation…CHED-CAR has been intensifying our implementation of research as part of our core functions,” she shared.
The agency has been conducting “Kabadang Innovate” which is an initiative to mentor their partner HEIs, especially their faculty and staff, to focus on the different aspects of research.
“We encourage our higher education institutions to also strengthen or intensify their passion for research and to help out in the innovation that is actually making not only our region, but even the country and beyond, abreast with the latest trends,” Casipit said.
CHED-CAR also received 196 research entries for their call for proposals for the Research Innovation and Extension Grants-in-Aid (GIA) Program for 2025 Funding, indicating a growing participation among HEIs.
Among all the entries, only five were qualified for the program and most of them are leaning towards health-related subjects.
According to Casipit, they will coordinate with the Office for Planning, Research, and Knowledge Management (OPRKM) to determine the challenges faced so they could focus on them and improve the research for 2026.
She also said that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) can collaborate with HEIs with researches that could be related to them in order to align research efforts with practical and local needs.
“Rest assured that the Cordillera Administrative Region, under the leadership of Atty. Septom Dela Cruz, will continue to strengthen, not only the research culture here in Cordillera which we have already started way way back, but even to get into the innovation and to closely collaborate with the Department of Science and Technology in order to realize their vision for this year and the years to come,” she stated.
The various areas of research covered by CHED are food production and security; environment, disaster risk reduction management, climate change and energy; terrestrial and marine resources, economy, biodiversity, and conservation; smart analytics and engineering innovations; health systems; and education in STEM. By Blessah Joy Manuel
