Hi there! It’s another week. It’s nice to be back. For the Nth time this year, my column will not have my usual acerbic comments about the world around me. I thought it proper to devote it to two new Calbayog achievers. And thus explains today’s title. So, my congratulations to . . .
. . . REYNALDO M. PRUDENCIADO, Jr. of Barangay Guin-on, Calbayog City. He landed in the 6th place in the 2010 CPA Board Exam. He belongs to the Christ the King College BSA Class 2008-2009.
. . . and to the other young Calbayognon who did his city proud. Jean Reni Briones De Guzman of San Policarpo, Calbayog City is back. His team won major awards in the world’s largest pre-college science competition, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), held in San Jose, California, USA last May 9 to 14. I thought I’d like to share with you part of the report by Kim Patria (for Yahoo! Southeast Asia):
Dealing with local environmental and health problems using materials found locally, four incoming college students from the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) bagged multiple awards at an international science fair in California, May 14.
Marc Mapalo, 16; Jean Reni De Guzman, 17; Maria Clara Isabel Sia, 15; and Marc Arthur Jordan Limpiado, 16, who recently graduated from the PSHS Eastern Visayas Campus in Leyte, arrived on Monday bearing prizes from the Intel International Science Fair (ISEF) where more than 1,600 pre-college students from 59 participating countries competed
The team of Mapalo, De Guzman, and Sia bagged fourth place in the team competition with their study on red tide while Limpiado’s research on the antibacterial properties of seaweed extracts also took home fourth place.
“We wanted to provide solutions to the problems in the country using locally available materials,” Mapalo said, explaining how they used natural materials like clay, shrimp peelings, and malunggay seeds to clot algae in water.
Algae are microscopic waterborne plants, an excess of which covers water surfaces, depriving fish and other marine life of oxygen.
“Red tide is a problem in the Philippines,” Sia said, citing the case of Sorsogon Bay in the Bicol region which is frequently declared a red tide area.
Meanwhile, Limpiado, who probed how seaweed extracts can potentially kill bacteria, said his findings suggest that the antibacterial properties of Philippine seaweeds are comparable with that of the generic antibiotic amoxicillin mixed with acid.
Limpiado stressed that he used crude extraction by simply soaking seaweeds in liquid solutions, saying that more advanced processes of extraction like liquid chromatography could produce better results.
“My study could also be further improved to include antiviral applications,” Limpiado added.
All four students are enrolling this June. Sia will take up computer science at the Ateneo de Manila University; Limpiado and Mapalo enrolling in UP Diliman under the chemical engineering and molecular biology and biotechnology programs respectively; and De Guzman taking up biology in UP Los Baños.
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Local event. The City Government of Calbayog recently observed Farmers' and Fisherfolks Week. It opened during the flag-raising Ceremony last Monday. The event was undertaken by the LGU through the City Agriculture Office, in coordination with the City Agriculture and Fisheries Council (CAFC), the City Agricultural Resources Management Council (CFARMC) and the Regional Fishermen's Training Center (RFTC).
The staff of the City Agriculture Office led by Mrs. Adela Ocenar was on hand together with the members of the CAFC and the CFARMC. Messages were delivered by CFARMC Chairperson Nick Balili and CAFC Vice Chairperson Mike Pedrozo. They both called on all concerned to do their share to combat climate change which is one great factor that will affect the human food chain.
The activities included the Opening Program, the regular tabo at the Cardinal Rosales Plaza, the motorcade, the cooking demo (courtesy of RFTC-Catbalogan), "Tagisan ng Lakas at Diskarte" at Pantai Pingkit (Manguino-o). The culminating activity last Friday featured a showing of a video on Climate Change and the demo on the composting facility at the SOS Children's Village.
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Sarah Geronimo in Live in Calbayog! Great Times Events and Tours owner and manager Salve Uyloan recently signed a contract with Mr. Vic Del Rosario of VIVA Records. This is for the concert of Sarah Geronimo slated on September 7, 2010 at the Calbayog City Sports Center.
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This is it for now. Have a nice week everyone! Ciao!
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