Biognomics Vol 1 Issue 1

Page 1

FPE-USeP joins 14th

Philippine Eagle

Week Celebration ARZELO D. RIVAS

Last June 2-10, 2012, the

Friends of Philippine Eagle (FPE),

a socio-civic organization of the

B.S. Biology Program was invited

to join the 14th

Philippine Eagle

Week (PEW) initiated by the

Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF)

and Department of Environment

and Natural Resources XI

(DENR). The theme for this

year’s celebration is “Saving the

Eagle, Protecting the Environment,

and Securing the Future.” This

explains the foundation’s

campaign of not only safeguarding

the birds but also the protection of

the environment.

The PEW celebration

opened with an eco-friendly

parade dubbed as ‘Green Mob’ for

green mobilization. The parade

was participated by one hundred

sixteen (116) B.S. Biology

students from USeP led by Dr.

Hilario Wong Jr., the FPE adviser.

It was also participated by

different government offices,

private companies, and other non-

government organizations, which

set off from Rizal Park and ended

at the NCCC Mall. The PEW is

observed annually to create

awareness for, and instigate action

on the conservation of our

National Bird, the magnificent

Philippine Eagle.

According to the

organizers, Green Mob encourages

alternative and energy-efficient

modes of transportation or

mobilization like cycling, walking,

and running to bring attention to

the issue of climate change so that

people will support eco-friendly

lifestyles. The PEW is a week-long

celebration with a photo exhibit,

Eagle Fest, Raptor Up-close, Eco-

games and Sayagila Dance Contest

and all of which happened at the

NCCC Mall from June 2 to 10,

2012. (Contributors: Mary Lovely

Mae Nazareno, Niña Marie

Agusto, Jeza May Mamilic)

DENR-XI collaborates

with USeP NatSci for a

research study APPLE ROSE B. CALUD

The Natural and Physical

Sciences Department of the

College of Arts and Sciences has

once again proven its excellence in

the field of research after the

success of the study conducted by

the faculty and selected Biology

students in the DENR

experimental forest in Nabunturan,

Compostela Valley. The research

was conducted to assess the

selected flora and fauna in the

experimental forest with the

collaboration of the department

and DENR-XI. The study lasted

for 5 days which begun last

January 30 and ended on February

30, 2012. Different methods were

applied in the study to determine

the, ferns, dipterocarps and

invasive plant species present in

the experimental forest.

Macroinvertebrates were

also identified and results revealed

that the forest is biologically

diverse. In the research, it was

further recommended to have

future studies in the experimental

forest and to consider exploring

the other parts of the forest as it

has been expected that the forest

could reveal more than it has in the

present. A presentation on the

research details was conducted to

the fourth year students by Dr.

Hilario Wong, Jr. last July 31,

2012. “I believe that our

department should conduct more

studies on the experimental forest

since it will be an avenue for

exploration and exercising our

faculty’s expertice”, said Patrick

Handugan, a fourth year student,

after the presentation.

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Vol. 1 No. 1 August 2012

©Jhez Talictic

The Official Gazette of the B.S. Biology Program of the University of Southeastern Philippines

Page 2

ABS holds

BioDay 2012 METCHIE MAE R. CORPUZ

The Association of Biology

Students, the official academic

organization of the Biology

program held its annual

organization day dubbed as

BioDay with this year’s theme:

“Play fair and have fun:

Strengthen the bond!” The event

was held at Davao City National

High School last August 4, 2012

wherein 230 students actively

participated and contributed to the

success of the event.

The activities were

categorized as major sports, board

games, and non-sports. There were

also different booths positioned in

the campus field. Under the major

sports category were the sports

basketball men and women and

badminton mixed doubles. The

board games were scrabble, chess,

and word factory. Non-sports

category had the games pick-up

sticks, jackstone, pinoy henyo and

catch the dragon’s tail. The event

also hosted a search for the Mr.

and Ms. Biology 2012 wherein it

was once again proven that the

students exhibit not only

sportsmanship but also beauty

and wit.

The event ended with the

Biology seniors declared as the

grand champion for the BioDay

2012, followed by the freshmen as

first runner-up, the juniors as

second runner-up, and the

sophomores as the third runner-up.

Indeed, the administration, and the

Biology students yet again became

victorious in reaching the goal

towards unity through individual

capabilities and uniqueness.

Contributors: Gretchie Castanares,

Keen Mark Subtiniente,

and Leslie Jane Ang

NatSci Dept. led this

year’s disaster

preparedness ALEXAH JOY S. POLICHER

The College of Arts and

Sciences held a seminar on Fire

and Earthquake Disaster

Preparedness and Drill at the

University Social Hall last July 11,

2012. The event, which aimed to

inform the students and faculty

members of the college on what to

do when unexpected disasters

strike the campus, was primarily

participated by the Natural and

Physical

Sciences Department, with Dr.

Hilario L. Wong, Jr. and Prof.

Michel Mende (affiliated with the

Bureau of Fire Protection) as the

speakers for the seminar.

Furthermore, fourth year Biology

students were the principal

manpower of the event which

lasted for five hours. At the end of

the seminar, the audience was

provided with a simulation in

order for them to practice all the

things demonstrated during the

seminar.

Intellectual Property

Rights Seminar LESLIE JOY C. ABABON

“Research is not a one-shot

action… that it is tentative. Sooner

or later there will be more than

that, or better than that.” Romel

Gador stated to the third year B.S.

Biology students when they

attended the seminar entitled

“Intellectual Property Rights” at

University of Southeastern

Philippines, Virtual Library last

July 3, 2012. This seminar

discussed the functions of

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

and on how researches could be

patented. The speakers on the said

event provided adequate

information on how researchers

can patent their works and protect

their intellectual rights.

They also introduced a

user-friendly database and

websites that are accessible for

researchers. Some of these

websites contain full articles of

patented works that could be

helpful in the researches of

students. As one of the speakers

said, “Protection is territorial but

information is global.”

NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS

NEWS

NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS 2

©Vamae Tago-on

©Arzelo Rivas

Page 3

EDITORIAL

GM Crops:

Solutions or More

Problems?

CRISCIRE B. LEGARDA

Genetically modified crops

are plants used for agricultural

purposes and whose genes were

altered using a technology called

genetic engineering. These plants

were incorporated with one or several

genes that code for desirable traits

such as tolerance to pests, viruses,

bacteria, drought, cold, and other

abiotic stresses. Micronutrients, such

as vitamins and minerals, can also be

introduced to these crops to improve

the health of the consumers.

Asia is the home to many

developing countries struggling to

feed the growing population. Within

Asia, the Philippines has been on the

front line in embracing agro-

biotechnology as one method to

improve national food security. Our

population is growing rapidly at a rate

of 2.4% annually and currently we

already reached 103,775,002 (Social

Weather Station, 2011). This

population growth, in combination

with the diminishing area available for

farming, has led the government to

support agro-biotechnology as a

method to improve Philippine

agricultural productivity. Bt corn,

soybean, canola, potato, and cotton

have been approved for export into the

country. Philippines, being a

developing country, is clasped with

poverty. Farmers often experience

difficulties in increasing crop yields

due to some factors like pest-pressure

and other disease-causing organisms,

drought and other abiotic stresses, and

high input costs for herbicides and

insecticides. These factors lead to low

productivity and low profit. GM crops

could be really advantageous in the

current status of our country.

Another problem in our

country is food security. The Social

Weather Stations (2011) survey

reported an alarming 15.1% of

households experiencing hunger, or

not having anything to eat at least

once in the three months, with

Mindanao reporting the highest

incidence of 23%, followed by Metro

Manila with 15.7%. Based on the

same survey, about 27% of the current

population or more than 28 million

children under the age of five are

underweight and stunted. GM crops

are needed to feed an increasing

population. Widespread production

and consumption of biofortified staple

crops could reduce micronutrient

deficiencies, improve health

outcomes, and provide enough food.

Meeting future food needs for

increasing living standards and

growing populations will require

increases in current farm productivity,

as well as the ability to grow food on

marginal lands.

However, no matter how

advantageous these crops can be in

our country, we cannot deny the fact

that other people are against them

because of certain risks they impose.

Advocates against GM crops say that

they threaten plant diversity. Planting

GM crops is not a question of choice

because once they are planted

somewhere, other crops become

contaminated by them. In addition,

people are worried because the

herbicide and insecticide resistant-

genes might intermingle with the

genes of the wild-type relatives of the

GM crops and gradually create “super

weeds” and “super bugs” that are

resistant to herbicides and insecticides

respectively.

GM crops were also

produced, they say, for corporate

profit. Seeds, and chemicals that are

required to grow them, must be

bought from the multinational biotech

corporations. Since these corporates

have patency over these GM seeds,

farmers are prohibited from saving

and sharing seeds for the next

planting. Biotech corporations will

exercise a monopoly over what we eat

and what we plant.

The production and

commercialization of GM crops has

been the subject of many debates

world-wide. It has become one of the

most controversial issues in our

country nowadays. As citizens, we are

in the middle of the bridge right now,

confused on whether which way we

should choose. It is true that it is very

essential for us, in the developing

countries, to use the best science to

make wise choices. However, we

should also consider the possible

consequences of our choices. The

debate on GM crops might never end,

but as what Martin Luther King, Jr.

said “we have to keep moving

forward.”

To the Problem of

Plastics: City

Ordinance 0361

Series of 2010

Twenty-eighth day of June,

2012, was the start of the

implementation of the Ordinance 0361

in the City of Davao. This ordinance

concentrated on the “complete, total,

and absolute” ban on the use of non-

biodegradable plastics and polystyrene

materials as food and beverage

containers. This was in accordance

with the Davao City Ecological Solid

Waste Management Ordinance of

2009.

It is believed that the business

sector of the city will be highly

affected by the banning ordinance,

especially fast food chains, malls, and

companies (continued on page 4…)

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©Ivan Catiwalaan & Melai Espino

Page 4

(…continuation from page 3)

that produce plastic bags, cups, and

straws. Currently, ordinary users of

plastics have already felt the

consequences of not using plastic

materials for their food and beverages.

The keen-observing Biology students

of the University of Southeastern

Philippines even made the banning

issue as one of the topics for

discussions during their leisure times.

The thought of not using plastic seems

quite impossible, maybe because this

material has been a consistent insignia

of industrial progress and that the

material is already a very familiar

item in a person’s daily living.

However, some people would think

that this move is insignificant in the

chess game of defeating the problem

on environmental pollution.

This ordinance passed by the

local government is indeed very bold

since it changed the daily lives of

many people in the city. Many people

agreed to this bold move, but others

highly opposed this action. People

who are against this ordinance said

that the root of the problem is not in

the existence of plastics but proper

solid waste management. We often

think of plastics as living organisms

because when calamity strikes in our

community like floods, we solely

blame these materials because they

block the drainage systems. However,

the root of the problem lies primarily

in the improper and ignorant handling

of the plastic materials after we use

them. We cannot deny that plastics

have numerous benefits to our daily

living, and banning their use will be a

great discomfort to the entire

community. If we only practice the

proper waste segregation and disposal,

then the need to totally ban the use of

these materials will never surface.

However, let us all remember that

solid waste management has been

implemented for the past years, but

changes were too far to be achieved

because of our own actions. We

cannot solely blame the local

government for the implementation of

this ordinance because we are also at

fault here.

Contributors: Christine Rose Ansale,

Jonah Benson, Arvin Fojas and

Jay Mar Jumamoy

DO YOU KNOW THAT…

STUDENTS’ CORNER

1. An adult mayfly’s life is as short as a few minutes, but its body hatches for about a year?

2. Corneas are the only tissues that don’t require blood?

3. The fungus Cordyceps is able to “mind-control” other insects like ants to climb plants and attach there to become its food?

4. An ostrich egg is the largest existing single cell? 5. When the queen of a clownfish school dies, a

male clownfish changes its gender to become female and take her place?

6. The world’s smallest flowering plant is the Wolffia, and whose one full bouquet can fit on the head of a push pin?

7. The tongue of a blue whale is bigger than a taxi cab, and can weigh as much as an elephant?

8. There are more bacteria and microbes in our body than actual cells that make up the body growing?

9. Snakes are true carnivores because they eat nothing but other animals?

10. The human body has enough fat to produce seven bars of soap?

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BIOGNOMICS BIOGNOMICS BIOGNOMICS BIOGNOMICS

BIOGNOMICAS

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BIOGNOMICS The official student publication of the B.S. Biology

Program of University of Southeastern Philippines,

Davao City, Philippines.

Editor-in-Chief: CRISCIRE B. LEGARDA

News Editor: APPLE ROSE B. CALUD

Feature Editor: DALE S. PINILI

Lay-out Artists: ARZELO D. RIVAS

JOHN PAUL L. OÑEZ

Ways & Means Manger: ARVIN B. FOJAS Moderator: HILARIO WONG, JR.

Michael Dann Superio (B.S. Bio 3B)

“I support this city ordinance because for me, it is better to use

paper bags and bio-cellophanes. They are more environment-friendly.”

Rose Angeli Manglicmot (B.S. Bio 4A)

“I support this city ordinance because it is the ultimate key in

preventing flood in Davao City. As I observe the canals here in Davao

particularly in Barrio Obrero, most of the plastics clogged up the water

ways and when rain comes the canals overflow and cause flood.”

Irene Dimol (B.S. Bio 4B)

“It would be better not to ban these materials because they

would really affect the small-scale businessmen. Bio bags are more

expensive than the plastics that we often use.”

© Nikko Aranas

Contributor: Clarisse Maye B. Diocadiz