Profs assess food and nutrition in evacuation centers Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc
How about developing nutrient-dense food products as “disaster commodities”? This was one of the recommendations of Profs. Rowena Grace Rumbaoa and Lorena Tengco of the UP Diliman (UPD) College of Home Economics (CHE) Department of Food Science and Nutrition (DFSN) during their assessment of the food and nutrition situation in selected evacuation centers and a UP outreach from January 27 to 29, 2012 in flood-stricken Iligan City. Both said the college has a role to play in providing education “before, during and after a disaster. For instance, the members of the Disaster Management Team in disaster-prone areas may be oriented about Food Safety and Meal Preparation even before a disaster strikes.” The “Report on the Assessment of Food Safety and Nutrition Concerns in Selected Evacuation Centers in Iligan City” added that the Pilot Food Plant of the CHE “may explore the development of low-cost but nutrient-dense food products which can provide immediate relief to the victims of disasters. The technology may even be passed on to local producers so they can independently prepare their own ‘disaster commodities.’” CHE and the UP Manila Ugnayan ng Pahinungod engaged in a joint activity under Task Force Sendong of the UP System. Pahinungod had invited CHE to participate in the medical team specifically to assess the food safety and nutrition concerns in the evacuation sites. Food scientist Rumbaoa and nutritionist Tengco volunteered. Earlier, a team composed of experts from the UPM-Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and the National Institute of Geological Sciences, forensic pathologists
april 2012
3rd OVPAA research symposium features PHL biodiversity Arlyn VCD Palisoc Romualdo
Eight speakers presented various aspects of Philippine biodiversity and discovery during the third Office of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs (OVPAA) Research Symposium last March 5 at the Marine Science Institute (MSI), UP Diliman (UPD). They were Prof. Flora Katz of the Fogarty International Center, US National Institutes of Health; Prof. Margo Haygood of the Oregon Health and Science University; VPAA Gisela Concepcion; Prof. Gary Rosenberg of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia; Prof. Eric Schmidt of the University of Utah; and Joshua Torres and Marvin Altamia of UPD.
Hosting a dinner for the participants of the 1st National Conference on Indigenous Community Conserved Areas (ICCA) on March 29, President Pascual chats with representatives of the indigenous communities. Prior to the meal, the participants performed a ritual for good health and blessings for the president and his wife.
from UPM-PGH and DNA experts from UPD was organized by the UP System to respond to the disaster. The team was led by Vice-President for Public Affairs J. Prospero De Vera III. It flew to Iligan City from December 27 to 29 last year to provide medical relief and determine how UP can best help in the relief and rehabilitation efforts. On the second visit, the CHE faculty and Pahinungod team visited five evacuation
CIDS integrates another batch of environmental studies
Photo by Abraham Arboleda
Jo. Florendo B. Lontoc
President Pascual and CIDS Executive Director Nicolas confer with NEDA Secretary Paderanga on UP research of possible use to government’s development thrusts.
The UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (CIDS) held another round of presentations of the university’s studies on environment last January 30 at the National Institute of Physics, National Science Complex in UP Diliman (UPD). Aimed at presenting and integrating research for evaluation and identification of gaps in environmental research, the conference “Protect Life, Conserve Life: Changing MAPs, Bridging GAPs” also invited other public agencies to gather feedback and discuss possible collaborations and directions to resolve current issues on studies in Philippine environment.
Katz discussed International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (ICBGs). Studying biodiversity, she said, is important to its preservation and sustainability. Drug discovery is one of the factors pushing the study of biodiversity because of the need to fill the pipeline with new drugs. The rapid deterioration of biodiversity is another reason for its study. It is imperative, she explained, that biodiversity is examined thoroughly so appropriate actions may be taken to ensure its protection. The ICBGs promote the value of biodiversity to its locale and country as well as its relation to the rest of the world. She also emphasized that the ICBGs work under the principle that the countries of study areas must
Photo by Jun Madrid
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Attending the conference were National Economic and Development Authority Director-General and UP professor Cayetano Paderanga Jr., who gave the keynote message, and heads of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR), the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Science and TechnologyPhilippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD), the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC),
sites. The team administered vaccines and distributed medicine and relief goods. They observed that water distribution was still to be restored. Of the five evacuation sites, only one had a community kitchen which was still under construction. The same site received cooked vegetables weekly from the Department of Agriculture. Rumbaoa and Tengco observed that tent cities were on unpaved land and prone to dust and water accumulation. The facilities for warehousing food were also inadequate. Facilities for hand washing, dish washing and bathing were not separate. There was evidence of improper food waste disposal in some areas. Cooking of dry rations was common practice. They included rice, noodles, sardines, coffee and other canned goods. Relief food was “generally of poor quality, in terms of amount and variety.” Some evacuees, however, had begun to consume more nutritious food like vegetables. “ M o s t o f t h e ch i l d r e n l o o ke d underweight, stunted and/or wasted (thin),” the report said. The two further concluded that “more information is necessary to best address the needs of the affected families and individuals depending on the type of disaster and the phase of [d]isaster [m]anagement… and how this assistance will be delivered most efficiently.” the DOST-Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the Department of Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Education (DepEd). In his welcome remarks, UP President Alfredo Pascual once again referred to UP’s leadership role in generating knowledge to help government protect the environment and halt its degradation. CIDS Executive Director Marilou Nicolas reiterated UP’s consideration of environment as a priority area for research, as attested to by the amount of UP studies on the (Continued on page 5)
benefit from discoveries resulting from their biodiversity. Haygood then gave an overview of a specific ICBG, the Philippine Mollusk Symbiont (PMS). This project is the youngest of all ICBGs even though the country has been considered a “hotspot for marine biodiversity.” Apart from the country’s rich marine resources, studying Philippine biodiversity is essential because of the “burgeoning human population.” Central to the operations of the PMSICBG is the MSI, which coordinates with local government units, national government agencies, and international institutions. There are still challenges to be overcome, however. Haygood enumerated three: conser vation of biodiversity, commercialization of discoveries, and availability of career opportunities. Concepcion described other research endeavors focused on Philippine biodiversity. She described the work being done under the PharmaSeas project, which aims to discover new drugs through the study of cone snails and corals. The project is a collaborative effort between the MSI and the Department of Science and Technology. Another endeavor that will boost biodiversity research is the newlyestablished Philippine Genome Center at the University. The Philippines clearly warrants its hotspot status, declared Rosenberg, who also talked about the PMS-ICBG. His examination of existing literature when he estimated the number of marine mollusk species led him to conclude that the country has likely more than 10,000, including unknown species. This figure signifies that the Philippines has 20 percent of the world’s marine mollusk species. Because of the sheer number of marine mollusk species, there is a need to build taxonomic expertise in the country, Rosenberg stated. The scientific community has always been aware that the discovery of new drugs remains a big challenge, Schmidt said in his presentation about mollusk symbionts following Rosenberg’s. Novel chemistry from these symbionts must be produced, he explained. This is one of the PMS-ICBG’s tasks. Schmidt proposed possible solutions to the drug discovery problem: be innovative in improving the purification of extracted materials, establish new procedures for screening extracted materials, and target new habitats. Torres and Altamia, who are both doing research under the PMS-ICBG program, were the last presenters in the symposium. Torres said that his group’s study of symbiotic pyrones in Conus rolani led them to assume that these pyrones are used for chemical signals, predation, and protection. He added that more work needs to done for their research to be conclusive. Altamia, on the other hand, briefly discussed his group’s research on shipworms and their symbionts. They found that shipworms have different symbionts apart from the more known Teredinibacter turnerae. His group, has, in fact, discovered ten new cellulolytic isolates and one non-cellulolytic isolate—all of which are non-Teredinibacter turnerae. Their research thus far has led them to assume that a division of labor exists among symbionts in shipworms. The third OVPAA Research Symposium was organized in cooperation with the PMSICBG. The OVPAA Research Symposium is a series of fora that aims to disseminate information about the University’s research projects. According to Concepcion, it will be conducted in various constituent universities throughout the UP System.