"While succeeding is by no means easy or guaranteed, it is not also impossible; and the fruits of a hard-earned victory are much sweeter because these fruits are shared with people who are not merely our students or collaborators but more significantly, our blood brothers who share with us the same set of aspirations and dreams for our nation."
These are the inspiring words of a remarkable Filipino physicist named Caesar A. Saloma. His research work in photonics, signal processing and complex systems have been carried out primarily with students and colleagues in the University of the Philippines Diliman. He has been able to demonstrate that a scientist could succeed in the Philippines despite prevailing unfavorable conditions.