Highlights in May, 2019
MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT WITH MONDE NISSIN CORP.
The University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with Monde Nissin Corporation recently for the research, development, and industrial use of Direct Lactic Acid Technology, which can contribute to sustainable production and consumption and other sustainable development goals. UP Mindanao Chancellor Larry Digal and Monde Nissin Executive Vice President Henry Soesanto signed the agreement. With Monde Nissin as an industry partner, UP Mindanao was able to secure funding from the Department of Science and Technology’s Collaborative Research And Development to Leverage the Economy (CRADLE) Program. In the agreement UP Mindanao will pursue further development of its DOST-funded CRADLE project titled, “Fermentation and Purification Research to Produce Food-Grade, Pharmaceutical-Grade and Polymer-Grade Lactic Acid.” Monde Nissin, for its part, will donate the required equipment for the UP Mindanao Fermentation and Purification Laboratory and provide other possible resources for the project to produce products or systems for renewable packaging technology, or other viable industrial applications. UP Mindanao’s collaboration with Monde Nissin is aligned with UP Mindanao’s plan to strengthen both its academe-industry linkage and its research and production process in order to convert the products of research into relevant public service. The collaboration, at the same time, contributes to the sustainable development goals for industry innovation, sustainable communities, responsible consumption and production, and for partnerships towards these goals.
S.T.O.P. Rabies music video
Asst. Prof. May Anne E. Mata (Department of Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science), a project leader of the Synoptic Study on Transmission and Optimum Control to Prevent Rabies (S.T.O.P. Rabies) research program, produced a music video to widen public awareness on rabies and its prevention. The video was uploaded to YouTube on 13 May for online dissemination. See the video here: http://bit.ly/2XGQwR4
Teachers from local high schools spent some of their vacation time for learning in the “Molecular Biology Camp for Teachers” at the University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao on 14-18 May 2019. The training was organized by the Philippine Genome Center-Mindanao Satellite Facility (PGC-MSF) Science Education and Training Division to capacitate teachers and to create interest among their students. The lectures introduced the uses of molecular biology to detect, diagnose, and monitor diseases in health, detect risks and food-borne pathogens in food, diagnose crop or livestock disease in agriculture, and other uses for sustainable development. The hands-on laboratory training included DNA extraction from fish tissue, primer design, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and other techniques. PGC-MSF project leader Prof. Lyre Anni Murao told the teachers, “Our mandate is to spread omics research (e.g. genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics) throughout Mindanao, starting with the teachers. Our next training batch will be with students. We hope you can influence your students to discover the exciting and interesting field of molecular biology and omics.” Speaking on behalf of his fellow trainees, Mr. Sherwin Fortugaliza of Davao City National High School said, “We’ll give our sincere effort to encourage our students to know more of molecular biology as a significant and promising field. With the challenges that the Department of Education family is facing on trainings in the sciences, we will look for ways to motivate our learners to go into the field of molecular sciences.” The other schools who were represented in the training through their teachers were Sirib National High School, Tacunan NHS, Mintal Comprehensive NHS, Catalunan Pequeño NHS, Crossing Bayabas NHS, Panabo NHS, Daniel R. Aguinaldo NHS, Tagakpan NHS, Doña Carmen Denia NHS, Philippine College of Technology, and Ateneo de Davao University.
WRITESHOP ON OMICS RESEARCH PROPOSALS
The Philippine Genome Center-Mindanao Satellite Facility (PGC-MSF) held the “Writeshop on Omics Research Proposals” for personnel of research institutions on 30 May 2019 at the University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao. The organizations who were represented at the write-shop were Tagum Development Corporation, Southern Philippines Medical Center, Bureau of Plant Industry, Philippine Eagle Foundation, Davao del Norte State College, Compostela Valley State College, Ateneo de Davao University, and UP Mindanao. Dr. Lyre Anni Murao and Dr. Annabelle Novero served as Resource Persons through their respective talks on “Principles and Applications from Molecular Biology to Omics” and “How to Write a Good Grant Proposal." Project Officer Ediflor Yanong and Project Assistant Marian Luayon spoke on “Guidelines on Submission of Proposals to DOST and DA.” University Researcher Wilson Aala gave the “Introduction to PGC Facilities.” Dr. Murao, Dr. Novero, Dr. Aleyla de Cadiz and Dr. Joel Hassan Tolentino served as Facilitators in the Breakout Sessions. Some of the participants formulated capsule proposals relating to assessments of diseases or contaminants in selected subjects.
MANDAYA GRAMMAR WRITING WORKSHOP
The Department of Social Sciences organized a Mandaya Grammar-writing Workshop for teachers from the Mandaya indigenous people. The workshop aims to help localize the language curriculum by developing appropriate materials for better Mother Tongue-Based Multi-Lingual Education for Kinder to Grade 3 learners, according to the grammar and culture of the indigenous communities. Resource person Dr. Ricardo Nolasco of the UP Department of Linguistics said, “This workshop is historic, for being the first grammar-writing workshop for the Mandaya language.” The participants were also taught the Bloom software application for assembling instructional materials. At the end of the workshop, the participants presented their instructional materials containing samples of Mandaya language spelling and grammar. The workshop was funded through the UP Academic Program Improvement (API) Fund, which is made available in order to strengthen the link and integration of education, research and creative work, and public service.
The University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao Geo-SAFER research program gave a series of training-seminars on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for academic and government personnel as a contribution to sustainable development in the region. The “Training and Mentoring for Partner Higher Education Institutions” was given on 27-29 May for Compostela Valley State College, Davao del Norte State College, Davao Oriental State College of Science and Technology, Southern Philippines Agri-Business and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology, and University of Southeastern Philippines. The “Basic GIS Training” was given to LGU officers of Davao del Norte Province on 21-23 May and for LGU officers from the provinces of Davao Oriental, Davao Occidental, Davao del Sur, and Compostela Valley on 29-31 May. The training covered map preparation, flood exposure assessment and map interpretation, use of maps for disaster preparation and mitigation, and other techniques. The participants said the training will help to improve their local Climate and Disaster Risk Assessments and Comprehensive Land Use Plans.
CHED RESEARCH ON PUBLIC HEALTH
Chancellor Larry N. Digal welcomed Dr. Vicente Y. Belizario of the UP Manila College of Public Health and his team to the UP Mindanao campus on 31 May 2019. Dr. Belizario is the Principal Investigator of the research program, “Development of Innovative Strategies for the Control and Prevention of Neglected Tropical Parasitic Diseases to Contribute to Universal Health Care.” Dr. Aleyla de Cadiz of UP Mindanao Dept. of Biological Science and Environmental Studies and Dr. Rohani Cena of UP Manila are the Research Co-investigators. The team was in the campus for the Veterinary Public Health Component Coordination Meeting that brought together the program partners: veterinarians from local agencies, medical technicians, and a municipal sanitary inspector. The research program is funded by the Commission on Higher Education's Discovery-Applied Research and Extension for Trans/Inter-disciplinary Opportunities (DARE TO); a funding program that encourages research partnership among higher education institutions.
KITE FESTIVAL
The Dept. of Human Kinetics and the NSTP classes organized a Kite Festival on 18 May in the DC-UP Sports Complex. The event is the first in the campus and it is hoped that this will be an annual event ion the future. The Festival theme was on "ASEAN unity," and featured designs from ASEAN member countries. The Festival observed standard rules and criteria. Prof. Armando Salazar, Prof. Maria Stella Salazar, and Instructor Jerzreel Abarca served as judges, while Instructor Albert Ramos served as overall coordinator.
UP SCIENTIST I
Assoc. Prof. Annabelle U. Novero, from the Department of Biological Science and Environmental Studies, received her renewal of appointment as UP Scientist 1 under the UP Scientific Productivity System on 28 May 2019 in UP Diliman. She is the third UP Scientist from UP Mindanao after Prof. Larry Digal and Prof. Emma Ruth Bayogan.
Asst. Prof. Teody Boylie Perez, from the Department of Humanities, will exhibit an oil painting in the 8th Beijing International Art Biennale in the People’s Republic of China. The painting entitled “Contrast of Life, 2018,” is done in the medium of oil on canvas, and is 4.5 feet high by 6.75 feet wide. The painting will on display at the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, from 26 August to 23 September 2019.
NOTABLE PARTICIPATION IN NATIONAL/ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
Kobayashi VB. 2019. Weighting strategies for the analysis of secondary outcomes in nested case-control metabolomics data. Paper presented at: Metabolomics 2019 Conference, The Hague, The Netherlands, May 2019.
Gamot RMT. 2019. Virus optimization algorithm for p-median problem. Poster presented at: Mathematical Society of the Philippines 2019 Conference, 27-29 May 2019, General Santos City. Winner: Best Poster.
Bengan JB. 2019. From the mother tongue, into the mother tongue: Translating from Cebuano to English, from English to Cebuano. Lecture given at: Pundok Katitikan 2019 Creative Writing Lecture Series, UP Cebu Creative Writing Program, 10 May 2019.
Resources and Welfare
SEMINARS ON EARTHQUAKES AND ILLEGAL DRUGS
Earthquake awareness and dangerous drugs were the subjects of seminars organized by the Office of Student Affairs on 6 May 2019 as part of character and leadership development of students, and the well-being of university constituents. The Earthquake Safety Orientation and Level 2 Drill were held in the morning with Mr. Primo Cruz, disaster risk reduction management consultant of Barangay Matina, as resource person. Mr. Cruz reported on the existence of earthquake fault lines in various locations in Davao City. He focused on a fault line in Barangay Mintal, namely the Dakudao Fault which he traced in relation to various local landmarks. The earthquake level 1 and 2 drills were undertaken to rehearse participants to think through emergency response actions during the drill and to review actions afterward. Level 1 drill was the duck-cover-hold practice beginning from the room, extending to movement through the corridor, to building evacuation, and outdoor assembly at the Oblation. Level 2 drill was the basic life safety drill. This included the head-count of evacuees, the search and rescue of missing persons, evaluation of patient condition, application of first aid using bandage, splint, and transporting without a stretcher. The participants were employees, of physical education and NSTP, and dormitory residents. The Lecture on Drugs was in the afternoon. Mr. Noli Nephi Dimaandal, chief of the Preventive Education and Involvement Section of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Region XI, served as resource person. Mr. Dimaandal spoke on the laws governing illegal drugs, the penalties, and their agency. He described the effects of illegal drugs on the body and warned against the possession, use, and selling of illegal drugs. He also brought sealed samples of the illegal substances for the viewing of the audience. The seminar audience also included employees, students, and the university security guards.
STUDENT ACTIVITIES
DEBATER IN TAIWAN
Frederick P. Omalza (BS Biology 2019) of the UP Mindanao Debate Society was awarded as 4th Best Judge in the Taiwan Debate Open 2019; held in National Chengchi University, Taipei City, Republic of China (Taiwan) on 24-27 May 2019. His participation marks UP Mindanao’s first appearance in an international debate competition. He was selected and invited as an Independent Adjudicator of the tournament, which gathered the best debaters and judges from all over the Asia Pacific Region and Australia. The 2019 TDO Open category champion was Capstone ProAm, a composite team of debaters from China and Australia.
ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS WIN DESIGN CONTEST
BS Architecture students swept the top prizes in the Projéto Design Competition―to create a 30-square-meter living space―held on 11 May 2019 in the Philippine Building and Construction Expo (PhilBex) Davao. The "Flexi Filipino" design by senior students (in photo) was the Grand Winner, and the 1st and 2nd runners-up awards were won by first-year student teams. The entries were developed as exercises in the architecture classes which helped them win in a field of 15 entries from schools and architectural firms.
SOM INVESTMENTS SYMPOSIUM
The School of Management organized the “UP Mindanao School of Management (SOM) Investment Symposium 2019” on 6 May 2019 from 1:00 to 5:00 pm at the Lorenzo Hall, Administration Building. Prof. Lemuel O. Calatrava and his ABE191i class, in partnership with the Society of Agribusiness Economists (SoABE), were the organizers with their objective being to provide a venue for UP Mindanao constituents to enhance their financial literacy. The event was divided into two segments. In Part 1: Investing in Financial Instruments, Mr. John Philip Billones (First Metro Securities Business Development Associate) and Mr. Roberto Marco N. Samson (First Metro Securities Business Development Mindanao Head) discussed the Fundamentals of the Stock Market, and Technical Analysis of Stocks, respectively. In Part 2: Investing in Agricultural Projects, Mr. Edwin O. Banquerigo (Asst. Regional Director of Dept. of Trade and Industry-Region 11) discussed DTI’s RAPID Growth Project. RAPID means Rural Agro-enterprise Partnership for Inclusive Development. A total of 54 UP Mindanao students and administrative personnel attended the event.
"SAKDAL" DANCE CONCERT
The UP Mindanao Dance Ensemble performed “Sakdal,” a full-length dance concert, on 10 May 2019 at the Mari Dance Studio, Davao City. Admission was open to the general public, free of charge. The show was introduced as a collection of contemporary and improvisational dances on current social issues. The Dance Ensemble is a university resident company that is open for membership to students from all courses. It is housed under the UP Mindanao Department Human Kinetics and is currently led by Coach Ira Sisa Aparra (BACA 2017). See the photos here.
BRONZE MEDAL FROM ARAFURA GAMES
Swimmer Juan Antonio A. Mendoza (BS Agribusiness Economics 2019) has returned to the campus after traveling with the Philippine contingent to compete in the Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia. He reported that the Philippines was in first place among a number of nations represented in the Games. Juan Antonio, himself, won a bronze medal in the 200 meters Individual Medley. He will present it to Chancellor Larry Digal soon. Juan Antonio was away for two weeks, from 23 April-7 May 2019. He described Darwin as a city of the outdoors with a broad coastline and a beach front. Now, he is looking forward to presenting and defending his thesis paper on Filipino production and consumption before his adviser Dr. Pedro Alviola IV. The photo was taken before he left for the Games.
"DUYAN," KORO KANTAHANAY CONCERT
Koro Kantahanay chorale, a UP Mindanao resident company, performed in "Duyan: A Concert for a Cause" on 11 May 2019 at the CAP Auditorium, Davao City. Koro alumni Joey Vargas, Yas Ocampo, Jessi Anne Aligato, and other alumni co-organized the concert for the benefit of House of Hope, a transient home for children undergoing cancer treatment in Davao City. The concert featured student members and alumni who performed their repertoire under student choirmaster Juven Nino Villacastin. The Koro Kantahanay has performed in local and international choral events since it was founded in 2001.
A mock-election was carried out by the student council on 8 May 2019, which results were posted on campus bulletin board and on social media. The PRO advertised the UP Dept. of Political Science website, "upsahalalan2019.up.edu.ph," that featured images of ballots in local areas with names of local and national candidates. The website also featured issues on political dynasties and the environment.