Honoring tech innovator Dado Banatao means building the ladder at home

In the wake of Diosdado “Dado” Banatao’s passing, tributes poured in for the humble son of Cagayan who conquered Silicon Valley. As an engineer and entrepreneur, he not only founded successful start-ups but also helped revolutionize the global electronics industry, laying the foundations of a production architecture that would later enable firms such as Nvidia to thrive.

Few individuals, let alone from this part of the world, have left such an indelible mark on the industry that defines our age. In every sense of the word, he was a Filipino par excellence.

Yet Dado’s life prompts deeper reflection. Like millions of overseas Filipinos, his success story found its footing far from home, taking root in an environment that could recognize and reward his genius.

His achievements prove that Filipinos can thrive at the highest levels, but it also raises the question: if the Philippines can produce top talents, why do many of our brightest minds leave and seek opportunities elsewhere?

At home, the ladder falls short

Success does not emerge in a vacuum. To understand why talents like Dado flourish abroad rather than at home, we must turn our attention to the structures that create the necessary conditions for it. 

The Philippines was not always a laggard. As early as the late 1960s, the country was already part of what would become today’s half-a-trillion-dollar industry. In the 1970s, giants like Intel and Texas Instruments set up shop, and by 1981, the industry had become the country’s top export earner.

Yet multinationals were not the era’s true standout: Filipino companies like Stanford Microsystems had grown into some of the largest in Asia, taking on competitors on the international stage. Their rise was significant enough to draw the attention of The New York Times, which described them as a “rare success” precisely because it stood in contrast to the broader economic malaise of the Marcos years.

However, this momentum proved difficult to sustain. Over time, the country’s role in the global semiconductor industry narrowed rather than deepened. Production became concentrated in assembly, testing, and packaging — segments that generate employment and export earnings but capture only a minuscule share of value-added. The leap into higher-value activities such as design and fabrication, where minds like Dado’s could have been put to fullest use, remained limited.

Today, while semiconductors remain our largest export, the industry struggles to develop past its current limitations. It is no accident, then, that our brightest talents must leave to realize their potential. With fewer options in the country, the ladder simply runs out of rungs.

How a global powerhouse builds its own ladder

The Philippines’ loss of momentum was a matter of focus, not inevitability. Through the years, our country failed to build the institutional scaffolding necessary for industrial upgrading. Meanwhile, up north, Taiwan initially faced similar constraints but charted a different course. Rather than settling for low-hanging fruit, Taiwan aggressively built a ladder, adopting a proactive strategy that deepened domestic capabilities through four key interventions:

First, Taiwan treated geography as a mechanism for upgrading. By clustering firms, universities, public R&D institutes, and government offices in the Hsinchu Science Park, they not only lowered logistics costs but also facilitated knowledge spillover critical to innovation. Contrastingly, Philippine ecozones were geared toward job creation and investment attraction, with less emphasis on building firm capabilities and transferring technologies.

Second, public institutions were empowered to take risks alongside the private sector. Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) did more than just support industry from the sidelines: it co-invested, nurtured spin-offs, and adapted as industry needs evolved. Particularly, ITRI played a significant role by providing the technological base and initial funding to TSMC, now the world’s largest foundry. These disciplined bets created space for innovators to translate ideas into concrete ventures.

Third, Taiwan convened experts to guide industrial strategy. Institutionalized bodies composed of policymakers, engineers, academics, and industry leaders, including members of the diaspora, influenced top political leadership. They steered key decisions, including the adoption of VLSI technology in the 1980s, helping counter bureaucratic inertia and ensuring resources flowed toward the most promising initiatives.

Finally, Taiwan aligned its ambition with a talent strategy. Overseas engineers and technicians returned not simply because of incentives, but because there was an industry ready to absorb them and willing to take their ideas seriously. This allowed figures such as Morris Chang to pilot new models of semiconductor manufacturing, shaping the industry’s long-term direction. Combined with strong technical education and workforce development, these elements form the rungs of a ladder that allows innovators to build at home.

Following Dado’s footsteps

If the country is to honor Dado’s legacy, it must confront the structural barriers that limit success at home. The ascent is steep, but now more than ever is the right time to engage. With semiconductors once again at the forefront of global politics and economy, and as supply chains reconfigure away from traditional hubs, the Philippines finds itself with a window of opportunity.

The country already possesses the requisites. First, as exemplified by Dado in his career, Filipino talent is world-class. Beyond scientists and engineers, a critical mass of overseas workers already contributes to high-skilled electronics manufacturing and design. The government can mobilize this base by easing reintegration, providing incentives, and reducing adjustment burdens, turning returnees into engines of technological upgrading.

Second, policymakers need not reinvent the wheel. The policy and institutional architecture — from the Tatak Pinoy Act and PEZA ecozones to BOI incentives and DOST R&D programs — are already in place, but they operate largely in silos that constrain decisive implementation. Aligning these scattered efforts through the newly formed Semiconductor and Electronics Industry Advisory Council (SEIAC), with sustained and meaningful engagement from industry leaders and experts, can ensure the accountability needed to turn ambition into execution.

Finally, the government must help secure the top rungs of the ladder by co-investing with the private sector in strategically important and capital-intensive segments, such as fabrication. Since these are areas where private investment is unlikely without state backing, public support should be conditional and disciplined, with the government retaining a stake in successful outcomes rather than merely subsidizing risk. The Maharlika Investment Fund offers one possible vehicle for such strategic co-investment, provided that it is governed by clear performance criteria that tie support to the industry’s long-term development.

Dado proved that a Filipino can change the world. The task now is to build the ladder at home. – Rappler.com

Lianne Angelico Depante is a Ph.D. candidate at Tokyo’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS). Formerly an assistant professor of Public Management at the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), his dissertation examines the history of the Philippine semiconductor and electronics industry. The authors can be reached at [e-mail].

Kirsten Lianne Mae Dedase is a senior lecturer at the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance, where she teaches politics and public administration, with a focus on industrial policy. Previously, she served as an associate at an international think tank in Taiwan, engaging with stakeholders on Asia-Pacific economic development and industrial policy initiatives.

Leo Mendel Rosario, Ph.D. is an assistant professor and program chair of the Diploma in and Master of Research and Development Management (D/MR&DM) of the Faculty of Management and Development Studies (FMDS) of UPOU. He is also the program coordinator of the Adaptive Research-Innovation Systems and Environment (ARISE) Research Group of the Policy Innovation and Learning Laboratory for Sustainability (PILLS).