Visayas State University

Snakebite envenoming is a WHO-recognized neglected tropical disease with high mortality and morbidity in tropical regions, including the Philippines. Despite its severity, it remains marginal in national health priorities due to limited surveillance, scarce research, and systemic barriers to timely care. To present the need for urgent improvements in snakebite surveillance, access to effective treatment, and health system readiness in the Philippines. Globally, snakebite causes 81,000–138,000 deaths and leaves over 400,000 survivors with permanent disabilities annually. In ASEAN, an estimated 242,600 bites result in ~ 15,900 deaths, ~ 950 amputations, 392,000 DALYs lost, and > US $2.5 billion in annual economic costs. In the Philippines, the true burden is likely underestimated due to underreporting of cases in rural and island communities and reliance on traditional healers. The country’s diverse venomous snake fauna, particularly Naja philippinensis and Naja samarensis, complicates treatment, as the Philippine Cobra Antivenom (PCAV) is only partially effective against the latter. Geographic and infrastructural constraints further delay treatment, contributing to preventable deaths and long-term disabilities. Limited clinical studies highlight the need for broader research to inform evidence-based guidelines. Addressing this requires establishing a national surveillance and registry system, expanding venom research for species-appropriate antivenoms, improving supply chains and referral systems, training rural health workers, and developing culturally tailored education strategies. Snakebite envenoming in the Philippines is an underrecognized rural health crisis with significant health and economic impacts. A coordinated, data-driven national response is essential to reduce its burden and break the cycle of neglect.

This study employs a descriptive comparative research design to examine the motivational factors influencing exercise adherence among 60 MAPEH teachers in Area II-A, Leyte Division. Using the T-Test, the study determines significant differences in motivation across age, gender, marital status, field of specialization, and years of teaching experience. Findings indicate that the majority of respondents are within the 25-30 age range, predominantly male (58.3%), married (61.6%), and MAPEH majors (73.3%). Despite a strong commitment to physical fitness programs (66.6% of schools implement exercise initiatives), a substantial portion (71.6%) lacks relevant training. Motivational analysis reveals that identified regulation (Mean = 4.43) and intrinsic motivation (Mean = 4.11) strongly influence adherence, highlighting the importance of recognizing exercise benefits. Meanwhile, introjected regulation (Mean = 3.0) suggests an internalized pressure to maintain exercise habits. External regulation (Mean = 2.7) has a moderate role, whereas amotivation (Mean = 1.76) is minimal. Gender, marital status, and field of specialization are found to significantly affect motivational factors (p-values < 0.05), with males and married individuals demonstrating higher adherence. The findings underscore the need for enhanced training and tailored fitness programs to promote sustainable exercise habits among educators. Insights from this study inform health promotion initiatives to foster a more active and engaged teaching community.

Reforestation efforts carried out with local communities need to confront health, safety, security, and environment (HSSE) challenges different from those experienced in industrial forestry. Here we describe our collaborative and iterative approach to HSSE development and implementation in a community-based reforestation for carbon project in the Philippines. Community participants recognised many HSSE risks related to tree seedling production, planting, and plantation maintenance and monitoring, but previously lacked resources to mitigate them. Investments in HSSE (i.e., training, safety equipment, and staff health insurance) were substantial, amounting to 3.14 % of Project expenditures in the Philippines. Over a three-year period, 33 % of reported health-and-safety incidents were related to illness and 31 % to vehicular accidents or near-misses, most of which (92/95) were reported by staff members not community workers. Difficulties in changing cultural and behavioral norms substantially impeded development of a safety culture with shared understanding of HSSE responsibilities. Engagement of contractors with different HSSE policies to those of the Project also resulted in inconsistencies in practices. Fundamental lessons continued to be learned about safe reforestation, but further research is needed on how to improve safety culture in community-based reforestation. Recognising HSSE responsibilities should be explicitly acknowledged as part of carbon market requirements for issuance of carbon credits from community-based reforestation. • Community forestry requires unique safety protocols. • Safety protocols are best developed collaboratively and iteratively. • Incident reporting gaps are challenging to close. • Safety cultures can emerge over time with effort and shared learning. • Carbon markets should reward safety investments in community-based forestry.

Perimenopause is a natural process in a woman's life that occurs between the ages of 45 and 55 years. In the context of perimenopause, the quality of life of perimenopausal women is greatly influenced by their ability to understand and manage the biological changes that occur. Knowledge-based education has emerged as a strategic approach to improving the quality of life of perimenopausal women. The stages of implementing community service were the preparation stage, implementation stage and evaluation stage. The community service was done in collaboration between STIKes Patria Husada Blitar Indonesia dan Visayas State University Philippines as the implementation of MOU between schools and the application of the three pillars of higer education in Indonesia. There were 30 participants who entered perimenopause. The data analysis used paired sample t-test. The paired sample t-test showed a p-value of 0.000 < α0.05, indicated a difference before and after the educational intervention. The correlation value between the variables was 0.991, indicated a strong and positive correlation of the community service participants demonstrated a better understanding of general perimenopause knowledge, symptoms and impacts, treatment and prevention, and perimenopause quality of life. This increase in knowledge showed that education had an important role in helping women understand the physiological conditions they experienced. Education gives them the ability to take more adaptive and healthy actions, thus having a positive impact on their physical and psychological well-being.

ABSTRACT Anthracnose, caused by species of the genus Colletotrichum, is an important disease of fruits and vegetables. Without effective control strategies, anthracnose can result in yield loss, reduced harvest quality and subsequently, monetary loss. A common approach in anthracnose management in conventional production systems is the use of pesticides, primarily fungicides. Although pesticides can control anthracnose in the field, they pose several disadvantages, including high cost, environmental pollution, adverse effects on non-target organisms and health concerns. This paper outlines several interventions used in organic agriculture that have been shown to inhibit Colletotrichum species, reduce the incidence of anthracnose and enhance the growth and yield of the host plants. Employing crop rotation, applying animal manure and wastes, using organic-based fertilisers and practicing cover cropping, green manuring, and no-tillage are some methods that can reduce the incidence and severity of anthracnose in the host plant. In addition, biological control agents (bacteria, fungi, yeasts), plant extracts (and their phytochemicals and essential oils) and volatile organic compounds from microbes and plants have also been proven effective. These, alone or in combination with each other, can serve as control mechanisms against anthracnose. Evidence suggests that such applications can induce host resistance and enhance crop yield. Integrating these materials into agricultural practices highlights their multifaceted role in sustainable agriculture.

Learning action cell (LAC) sessions are structured professional development activities tailored for schools to enhance pedagogical skills, teaching methodologies, and assessment methods to improve student academic achievement. This study investigated the implementation of the LAC as an internal development training program for science teachers in remote regions of the Philippines. A total of 403 science educators participated in the study to collect implementation strategies seen in the LAC. The science teachers’ experiences in the LAC implementation were assessed using a survey questionnaire and a case study through focus group discussions (FGD). Based on the findings, LAC enhances educators’ perceptions of professional development training. As a professional development tool, the LAC helped science teachers develop students’ science holistic development, technology innovation, and cultural knowledge. The idea creates a community of scientific educators who collaborate to improve their facilitation, innovation, and research skills, promoting professional leadership and competency in the field. Consequently, the efficacy of LAC necessitates high-quality training aimed at specific objectives. Science educators acknowledged that LAC enhances instructional leadership and pedagogical proficiency.