Father Saturnino Urios University

This study looked into how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the determinants of part-time employment in the Philippines. Amartya Sen has mentioned that one disparity in a person’s function capability is the occurrence of disasters such as the pandemic. Evidently, employment across the globe has been greatly affected by the pandemic as mentioned in the literature. The effect of the pandemic has been evident in the Philippines due to the policies implemented by the government such as lockdowns and other protocols to control the spread of the virus. As such due to the restrictions, a significant number of employees have lost their jobs and some engaged in part-time employment. By bridging the gap in the literature, the study looked into how the COVID-19 pandemic affects part-time employment in the Philippines by using multinomial logistic regression and making the COVID-19 pandemic an interaction time variable on the determinants. The results showed the determinants of part-time employment in the Philippines and the relationship of these determinants to part-time employment that changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recommendations on the part of the government and business sector have also been drawn from this result of the study.

Ancestral domain refers to the lands, territories, and resources possessed and administered collectively by indigenous peoples, such as the indigenous communities of the Philippines. Indigenous peoples who have inhabited and cared for these regions for generations attach great cultural, spiritual, and economic significance to them. Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997 acknowledged for the first time the idea of ancestral domain in the Philippines. However, the IPRA’s implementation and the preservation of ancestral properties in the Philippines have encountered obstacles. There have been instances of unlawful logging, mining, and land appropriation in ancestral domains, typically with the participation of local government officials and influential persons. This has resulted in the uprooting of indigenous populations and the devastation of their land and resources. This research aimed to analyze the data in relation to tree planting activities initiated by several advocates, especially the Father Saturnino Urios University Foundation. Which aims, helping to preserve and saving Ancestral Land. This research employs data mining activity and develops insights according to generated patterns. Descriptive analytics is the branch of data analysis that involves summarizing and describing data. It typically involves using statistics, data visualization, and other techniques to identify patterns and trends in data. Descriptive analytics can be used to understand the characteristics of data and to communicate those characteristics to others. Further, the results show that tree planting activities conducted by some advocates resulted in good results, since planted trees near the watershed have had a survival rate of 92.28 (%) percent and around 43,270 seedlings planted in 88.05 hectares. On the other hand, abaca have been planted in the area for the livelihood of IP situated in the area, have a survival rate of 96 (%) percent. This result is the output of an ongoing rehabilitation of the area and effort made by some organization resulted to a good output. However, it needs a long process to maintain and continue to preserve the ancestral land.

Field biology is an area of research that involves working directly with living organisms in situ through a practice known as “fieldwork.” Conducting fieldwork often requires complex logistical planning within multiregional or multinational teams, interacting with local communities at field sites, and collaborative research led by one or a few of the core team members. However, existing power imbalances stemming from geopolitical history, discrimination, and professional position, among other factors, perpetuate inequities when conducting these research endeavors. After reflecting on our own research programs, we propose four general principles to guide equitable, inclusive, ethical, and safe practices in field biology: be collaborative, be respectful, be legal, and be safe. Although many biologists already structure their field programs around these principles or similar values, executing equitable research practices can prove challenging and requires careful consideration, especially by those in positions with relatively greater privilege. Based on experiences and input from a diverse group of global collaborators, we provide suggestions for action-oriented approaches to make field biology more equitable, with particular attention to how those with greater privilege can contribute. While we acknowledge that not all suggestions will be applicable to every institution or program, we hope that they will generate discussions and provide a baseline for training in proactive, equitable fieldwork practices.

Tropical watershed ecosystems support heterogeneous habitats and diverse non-human species assemblages, together providing ecosystem services to humans. Amphibians and reptiles are recognized as sensitive indicators of ecosystem “health,” related to beneficial services (provisional, regulating, cultural, structural, functional) human societies receive from terrestrial watersheds. The Taguibo Watershed supplies fresh drinking water to Butuan City in the Caraga Region of northeast Mindanao Island. However, very little is known about the herpetofauna of the area. Here, we synthesize biodiversity data from historical (1971, 1979) and recent (2013, 2017) herpetological surveys from the region. We utilize specimen-associated occurrence records and natural history information to produce a species inventory, analyze their habitat utilization, and characterize diversity metrics to describe herpetological communities of the watershed – resulting in 44 species (27 new records). A number of historically-documented species persist, having partitioned riparian and terrestrial habitat types in dipterocarp and secondary-growth forests of Taguibo. Reptiles exhibit little overlap in the use of microhabitats – in contrast to amphibians, which exhibit either unique or frequently shared microhabitat substrates. In terrestrial microhabitats (not immediately associated with water), many newly-recorded reptiles and amphibians (particularly, of the genus Platymantis) partition space predictably – either occupying a single microhabitat or, in one species (a pit viper, Tropidolaemus subannulatus), two microhabitats. We anticipate that our initial characterization of Taguibo’s herpetofauna may serve as a baseline to promote further research and facilitate conservation initiatives. We emphasize the importance of primary sources – field-based surveys and re-surveys – and open-access biodiversity data served via online platforms that provide live, transparent access to original, unaltered data. Anthropogenic threats involving economic-driven activities present a need for field-based research in support of watershed management. Periodic, survey, and re-survey studies – continuously updating earlier work – are the most reliable, repeatable, and publicly-transparent use of biodiversity survey data in support of societal benefits and ecosystem services.

In a recent article, Chandramouli et al. (2020) re-assessed the systematic position of the hylaranine frog Indosylvirana nicobariensis and proposed a new monotypic genus, Bijurana, for this species. The authors re-examined the type series of specimens and attempted to justify the recognition of a new genus using morphological and phylogenetic data. They concluded that the taxon's unique phylogenetic position, high genetic divergence (uncorrected p-distance ≥ 13.64% of the 16S rRNA mitochondrial gene), and a unique combination of morphological characters warranted the erection of the new genus.

ABSTRACTThis paper highlights the political and ideological entanglements of language policy and English language teaching with neocolonialism, neoliberalism, and development aid. It does so by examining the explicit and implicit goals and practices of an educational development aid project in Mindanao, Philippines. The US-funded Job Enabling English Proficiency (or JEEP) project claimed to improve the standard of English in the region through the introduction of imported educational materials and classroom configurations. However, we show how English-only policy, “native-speakerism,” and the use of repetition as a dominant language learning practice in the classroom are all implicated in the politics of neocolonialism in Mindanao. The paper makes a case for language policy as a lens through which the intricacies of development aid in neocolonial conditions may be tracked, critiqued, and transformed.

Masao River Butuan City, Mindanao, Philippines is home to many organisms especially those associated with the freshwater communities.

This study described the advertisement calls of two ground-dwelling species of frogs of the genusPlatymantis from Mount Magdiwata, San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, Philippines. The two species shared a common micro-habitat preference being found on rocks or edges of slope ground, leaf litter, and on steep slopes of stream banks. The researchers analyzed the calls for their temporal and spectral characteristics. Audiospectrograms, oscillograms and power spectra presented the numerical parameters and graphical representations of the advertisement calls. The vocalization of both species revealed significant differences in terms of the dominant frequency, call duration, number of notes, note duration, and intercall at p < 0.01. Statistical analysis of Platymantis magdiwataspecies A showed a positive correlation between the body size length and note duration (R2 = 0.377, p<0.01). On the other hand, the body size length of Platymantis magdiwata species B showed a negative correlation with the dominant frequency (R2 = -0.248; p<0.01), and a positive correlation with the call duration and the number of notes (R2 = 0.698 and R2 = 0.699; p<0.01). Both species possess unique advertisement calls that distinguish them from each other. Key words: Bioacoustics, advertisement call, Platymantis, Philippines.