Category: NEWS & EVENTS

Is wildlife a friend or a foe in the COVID-19 pandemic? This is what the Master of Environment and Natural Resources Management (MENRM) program discussed during the Let’s Talk it Over (LTiO) Lecture Series on 17 September 2020 and live-streamed via the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) Networks.

Dr. Consuelo Dl. Habito, Chair of the MENRM program, opened the webinar with the introduction of the three speakers. The first was Prof. Phillip Alviola, associate professor and bat ecologist at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and curator at the UPLB Museum of Natural History. Prof. Alviola discussed current knowledge about potential zoonotic viruses carried by Philippine bats, where he shared results of bat virus research conducted by UPLB and University of Tokyo from 2007 to 2020. Their published results on viruses from Philippine bats include coronavirus, hantavirus, reston ebolavirus, gammaherpesvirus, and pteropine orthoreovirus.

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The second session was led by Mr. Emerson Sy, herpetologist and consultant at TRAFFIC – a non-governmental organization on wildlife trade. Mr. Sy focused on pangolin consumption, where he narrated instances of pangolin trade and trafficking, and its link to COVID-19.

“Despite legal protection accorded to pangolins, poaching and trafficking occur on a huge scale globally [with] an estimated 895,000 pangolins trafficked globally in the last two decades,” shared Mr. Sy in his presentation.

He pointed out that animal abuse and mishandling have caused zoonotic diseases, such as SARS-COV-1 in 2002 and MERS-CoV in 2012. According to Mr. Sy, although studies have shown that Sunda pangolin is likely an intermediate or direct host of COVID-19, coronaviruses are known to have multiple intermediate hosts.

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The last lecture was delivered by Dr. Juan Carlos Gonzalez, professor at UPLB and 11th director of the UPLB Museum of Natural History. Dr. Gonzalez discussed pandemics and wildlife in the anthropocene, where he related the first two lectures to emphasize the role of humans in pandemics.

“It’s easy to blame a bat, but is our wanton destruction of nature and the traditional habitats of species responsible for the pandemic gripping the world right now? Experts concur that the loss of biodiversity, mainly because of humans, is directly connected to the spread of deadly diseases like COVID-19,” shared Dr. Gonzalez as he quoted John Vidal, journalist, author, and former environment editor of The Guardian newspaper.

Dr. Gonzalez also talked about anthropogenic transfer of zoonotic diseases and its impacts on an already restricted-range, small population of threatened endemic wildlife.

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An open forum moderated by Dr. Habito was held on the last part of the LTiO. Viewers’ questions were raised via UPOU Networks chat box, YouTube comment section, and Facebook comments section. A total of 2,883 views in the three platforms were recorded during the webinar.

UP Mindanao entered into another memorandum of agreement to establish a COVID-19 testing facility, this time with the Police Regional Office–Region XI (PRO-XI) and the Department of Science and Technology–Region XI (DOST-XI), on 16 September 2020 at Camp Sgt. Quintin M. Merecido, Davao City.

COVID-19 has disrupted the lives of people all over the world. UP Visayas experienced the same fate as the rest of the country is waging a battle of unparalleled proportion against a virus, never before experienced by the modern world. Despite this, UPV never wavered and met the challenges of the pandemic head-on. The UPV community stood up and fended for one another.

Six months have passed after the first lockdown was issued on March 17, 2020. Although announced nine days earlier, the entire nation was unprepared, caught unaware of its far-reaching ramifications.  

  Please be informed that there have been reports of phishing attempts through emails posing as someone from the UP Kaagapay Project. The email masquerades as coming from “[email protected]”. The email might contain the attached file “HUMINGI NG PARA SA ALOK 09-09-2020·pdf.zip.exe.” DO NOT click this file or any other files and links provided in […]

Air pollution significantly decreased in Metro Manila during the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

This was the conclusion made at the Forest Policy e-Talks webinar of the Forestry Development Center-College of Forestry and Natural Resources (FDC-CFNR) on Aug. 27 that was held via Zoom.

The said webinar, organized by the Department of Community and Environmental Resource Planning of the College of Human Ecology (CHE-DCERP) on July 30, featured the initiatives and innovations of Makati City, Zamboanga City, and Los Baños, Laguna LGUs.

Aside from telling about the staple delivery of relief goods, contact tracing, testing, providing health and quarantine facilities, disinfection, information drive, and passing of relevant local legislations that are common among LGUs, the invited local officials presented their unique circumstances and solutions at these times.

Tourism is one of the most badly-damaged sectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its recovery will take a significant amount of time.

This was the conclusion drawn by the panelists of the webinar entitled “What’s next for Philippine tourism: challenges and prospects beyond the COVID-19 pandemic” held on Aug. 27 via Zoom and Facebook.

The Department of Community and Environmental Resource Planning of the College of Human Ecology (CHE-DCERP) spearheaded the virtual knowledge sharing event.

The UP College of Arts and Letters Student Council (UP CAL-SC) recently launched a donation drive for UP Diliman (UPD) students in need of a stable internet access for remote learning.

“Kasama Ka Kaeskuwela” (KKK) was launched on Aug.31 to primarily aid CAL students who only rely on personal mobile data for remote learning when UP System classes begin on Sept. 10.

The Office of Student Affairs held the first-ever remote Orientation in the face of the new normal. Amidst the challenges brought by the pandemic, UPV still holds true to its virtue that “nobody should be left behind.” Despite the growing pains, this activity was conducted to ensure that the newest members of the UPV family, along with their parents, are given the necessary information about the university.

The UPLB Gender Center (UPLB-GC) invited women leaders who have made notable contributions to the country’s COVID-19 response in the third episode of its Facebook talk show ‘Gend-ER Live: Women Leaders in the Midst of Crisis’ on Aug. 27.

One of the guests was Hon. Leni Robredo, Vice President of the Philippines.

She talked about her office’s relief efforts for healthcare workers through the provision of shuttle and dormitory services and personal protective equipment (PPEs).