Twisted top disease, caused by members of the Fusarium fujikuroi species complex (FFSC) and F. incarnatum–equiseti species complex (FIESC), has emerged as a significant threat to the Philippine sugarcane industry due to its increasing incidence and severity across major production areas. This study characterized 56 Fusarium isolates from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao through multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) of two housekeeping genes (tef1 and tub2) and separate analysis of the 18S rRNA region. The concatenated phylogeny resolved the isolates into nine well-supported clades (> 75
The occurrence of the global health crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the education system around the world to consider remote learning.This mode of learning involves the use of advanced technology that entails an interactive learning experience in an online educational setup.This study aimed to determine the benefits gained and the challenges encountered by the teachers and students in remote learning.Findings showed that the respondents perceived several advantages ranging from personal benefits to improving overall performance while enjoying personal freedom to explore other things aside from academics.Although they had several challenges encountered, the opportunities it has brought to both students and teachers outweigh them all, which provide a prospect for a better student outcome having remote learning set up in the new normal.
The growing demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has intensified interest in the catalytic upgrading of renewable lipids into drop-in hydrocarbon fuels. However, limitations in feedstock availability continue to constrain large-scale SAF deployment, highlighting the need for diversification strategies such as the identification of alternative feedstocks and co-hydroprocessing approaches. This study investigates the one-step hydrotreatment of waste cooking oil (WCO) and its blends with coconut oil (CNO) over a sulfided NiMo/Al2O3 catalyst under fixed reaction conditions, with a focus on the influence of CNO on jet fuel-range hydrocarbon production. Feedstock characterization revealed significant differences in fatty acid composition, resulting in pronounced shifts in product yield and carbon chain distribution after hydrotreatment. Pure WCO predominantly yielded diesel-range fractions (>C-16) at 55.18%, with jet fuel-range hydrocarbons (C-8-C-16) limited to 41.85% selectivity. In contrast, pure CNO achieved substantially higher selectivity toward the C-8-C-16 range at 84.02%. Blending WCO with CNO resulted in a near-linear increase in jet fuel-range yields alongside a significant reduction in hydrogen consumption. Compared with previous studies employing individual feedstocks, the present work achieved notably higher conversion efficiencies and enhanced selectivity toward the jet fraction. Collectively, the results establish WCO-CNO co-hydrotreatment as a practical and flexible approach to tuning product distributions in response to feedstock availability, performance targets, and economic considerations. Moreover, the findings highlight the potential of CNO, either as a standalone feedstock or in blends, to alleviate feedstock constraints and support broader initiatives to scale up global SAF production.
The Sierra Madre Mountains, which happen to be the longest mountain range in the Philippines, is home to lush floral and faunal species as well as forest-based indigenous communities actively involved in preserving local biodiversity. With active reforestation efforts ongoing for decades, the locals are further encouraged to continue their long-standing practice of honey gathering as a form of cultural manifestation and as an important source of livelihood. To further inspire ongoing conservation efforts, we aim to show that the small molecule diversity in Sierra Madre forest honey reflects the local floral composition and is reflective of the positive impact of previous reforestation initiatives. In order to do this, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based metabolomics was used to profile and compare metabolite diversity in honey produced by Apis cerana, Apis breviligula Maa. and Tetragonula biroi (Friese) honey from Palaui Island and Laiban in Northern and Southern Sierra Madre, respectively. Surprisingly, the Philippine National Tree and unfortunately endangered Pterocarpus indicus Willd (loc. Narra) proved to be important, especially in Palaui Island where honey from A. cerana is close to being monofloral. Aside from P. indicus and its small molecule marker hypaphorine, caffeine was detected in Palaui honey beautifully reflecting the way of life of native Agtas who manage a small coffee plantation. The abundance of caffeine, however, is higher in stingless honey samples from Tanay, Rizal where Coffea trees have been extensively included in restoration activities over the past few decades. Our results imply the possibility of using honey as an ecological monitoring tool while generating baseline chemical information that reflects the state of Philippine forests. Furthermore, the identification of unique chemical components in forest honey can be further used in programs that assist indigenous communities in safeguarding the ownership and origin of forest honey sources.
The Philippines is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, with Central Luzon often experiencing extreme rainfall, floods, and droughts that are expected to worsen with ongoing warming. Using regional evidence from CORDEX–SEA (CMIP5) and CMIP6 multi-model ensembles, which show stronger rainfall extremes across Southeast Asia, this study produces basin-scale projections for the Pampanga River Basin and the Pasig-Marikina-Laguna-Lake Basin. High-resolution (5 km) climate projections were created with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, dynamically downscaled from MRI-AGCM 3.2H (60 km) and 3.2S (20 km), and bias-corrected using the quantile-mapping method. The study analyzed projected changes in seasonal rainfall, heavy-rainfall indices (≥50 mm/day; 95th–99th percentiles), drought indicators (CDD, CWD), and design rainfall (from annual maxima) under RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios. The results show a clear intensification of heavy rainfall in both basins, especially during the southwest monsoon and under RCP8.5, with annual-maximum rainfall distributions indicating a consistent rise in extreme values and higher design rainfall for all return periods. Spatial patterns vary by basin: Pampanga has the largest increases in the lower western catchment, while the Pasig-Marikina-Laguna-Lake Basin shows a more uniform increase across the basin. At the same time, more consecutive dry days (CDD) and fewer consecutive wet days (CWD) suggest increased hydroclimatic variability, with wetter wet seasons and drier dry periods. These basin-specific, bias-corrected projections offer physically consistent data for flood and drought hazard assessment, agricultural and economic modeling, and climate-resilient water infrastructure design.
