Coastal Urban Centers and Disaster Management in Iloilo, Philippines

Coastal areas play an important role in sustainable development. Subsistence and commercial fishing of marine resources have provided vital source of food, employment, and social stability in coastal communities. However, the fisheries sector is vulnerable to various development activities that dynamically interact with other sectors such as agriculture, forestry, and tourism. It is not yet clear if local governments in disaster risk-vulnerable countries incorporate environmental security components in their disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) plans and recognize vulnerable groups, such as fishermen and farmers. This paper presents the case of a coastal municipality in Iloilo, Philippines. We examine its DRRM plans using a coastal resource management framework. A combination of household survey and secondary information were used to identify the gaps and examine municipality spending to address disasters, estimated household flood damages, and legislation relating to disasters. Results showed that the local government was not using the required disaster spending (i.e., 5% of the internal revenue allotment) despite high and continued flood damages (estimated at PhP 1903 per household per year) in their municipality. General plans relating to environmental integrity were integrated but limited toward business expansion and solid waste management, with little emphasis on coastal sustainability. There are also evidences of well-structured and updated legislation relating to disaster, but they lack focus on marine environment and capacity building of fishing and farming households. Thus, the study recommends reassessing the DRRM plans of the municipality in order to improve the well-being of its residents

Social Media Usage Behavior: An Application of a Modified Technology Acceptance Model

Spending on social media marketing has become increasingly important in today’s competitive and dynamic business environment. The use of social media (SM) has enhanced brand visibility and facilitated social engagement opportunities for various industries, such as agriculture and education. In the Philippines, however, research on SM usage has been generally descriptive, wherein inter-relationship between determinants of SM use are under-examined. This study recognizes this important gap and applies a modified technology acceptance model (TAM) to investigate the effects of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, subjective norm, and perceived playfulness on users’ intention to use SM. Since these motivation variables are perceived to be endogenous in the literature and are significantly correlated based on initial statistical tests, we used principal component analysis (PCA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to control for endogeneity. Findings from a survey of 500 millennials reveal that all hypothesized determinants have significant influence on intention to use, with perceived ease of use as the strongest factor. These results provide significant insights to social media marketers and developers on how to maximize the potentials of SM as an effective marketing tool. A natural progression of this work is to analyze the usage of SM in agri-based industries. Possible areas of application include the use of SM platforms to establish a community of agri-entrepreneurs and other stakeholders from the agriculture industry, wherein they can share best practices, collaborate with (potential) farmer-entrepreneurs, and interact with diverse consumers

Kontento nga pangabuhi kag panimalay: Local Notions of Well-being for Natural Resource Management

Social and cultural dimensions in natural resource management have been overlooked in assessing the potential for economic development for agricultural and coastal resources. Following this, sustainable management of resources requires better information on how people value these resources and whether these values reflect in their ‘well-being.’ This paper examines key aspects of the concept of ‘well-being’ that were self-reported by residents working in either agriculture and/or fisheries as well as by those working in non-agriculture/fisheries sectors. We were interested in a sample of participants who represent the variety of residents in terms of occupation, level of exposure/experience with regards to the environment, and socio-demographic characteristics. Snowball sampling was used to recruit participants in six focus group discussions (FGDs). Results from FGDs show that key aspects of ‘well-being’ include five general categories. These are natural capital (e.g., land), financial capital (e.g., work/employment), manufactured capital (e.g., marketplace), social capital (e.g., security in the community), and others (e.g., education). Respondents also rated the importance of these aspects, and resource-dependent households value the environment and bequest values as the most important aspects of their well-being. As expected, these factors reflect and coincide with the various types of capitals listed in the initial review of literature. The results present empirical evidence based on the voices and experiences of both fisheries and agriculture workers and their non-fisheries and non-agriculture counterparts. From these self-reported understanding of ‘well-being,’ policy makers and other key stakeholders like nongovernmental organizations working with fishing and agricultural communities could potentially base their conservation and development priorities in the Metro Iloilo-Guimaras region

Marine Protected Areas: A Case Study in Northerneastern Iloilo, Philippines

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can be considered as one of powerful conservation tools of fishery resource management in the literature. However, due to continuing environmental awareness and mismanagement, the Philippine government has decentralized the power of legislation and management of its MPAs since the early 2000. This encouraged participation of various sectors such as the Local Government Units, Non-government Organizations, the academes, business enterprises, and multinational corporations though; it has very low success rate statistics. This paper presents an overview of MPA management in Northeastern Iloilo, Philippines and examines its several management strategies. It examines the interaction between the civil society and market forces of institutional arrangements in Northeastern Iloilo, Philippines. It further aims to determine the main conflict that causes trade off outcomes in terms of analyzing strategic interactions among economic agents of the different regimes. Several scenarios that resemble conflict between various national, local and international sectors are discussed. It also shows that conflict is one of the reasons why the country has very low success rate statistics - thus a proper evaluation current scenario is imminent

Surgery Poster - 2019

Surgery Poster - 2019https://scholarlycommons.libraryinfo.bhs.org/research_education/1016/thumbnail.jp

Assessing Accountability of Local Governance Practices in Environmental Protection in the Municipality of Concepcion, Iloilo, Central Philippines

This paper presents the results of a study that examined accountability in local governance operations in environmental protection in the municipality of Concepcion, Iloilo. As a marine protected area, Concepcion stands to benefit from the results as it provides empirical basis for potential reforms in environmental governance. Results also contribute to the literature on accountability in public administration and local environmental governance. The assessment covered clear responsibilities and mandate, transparency, political oversight, citizen control, and checks and balances. Data generated from key informant interviews and focused group discussions reveal the availability of national legislations and local ordinances that provide the appropriate policy mandates on environmental protection and spell out responsibilities of actors involved in local environmental protection; transparency mechanisms in the multisectoral consultations; the political oversight of the mayor through the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office; citizen control exercised through the active participation of civil society organizations in the management of local environmental programs; and the collaboration of multisectoral and multilevel organizations, including those from the island barangays acting as check and balance in environmental governance. However, problems and issues in accountability of environmental governance include the lack of adequate budget to sustain programs and projects, limited project monitoring mechanisms, and the under representation of the Coastal Resource Management Office in comprehensive land use planning and development, among others. The study recommends for a strategic approach in the local governance operations for environmental protection and greater exercise of political oversight in collaboration with civil society and private sector organizations

Two decades of antenatal and delivery care in Uganda: a cross-sectional study using Demographic and Health Surveys.

BACKGROUND: Uganda halved its maternal mortality to 343/100,000 live births between 1990 and 2015, but did not meet the Millennium Development Goal 5. Skilled, timely and good quality antenatal (ANC) and delivery care can prevent the majority of maternal/newborn deaths and stillbirths. We examine coverage, equity, sector of provision and content of ANC and delivery care between 1991 and 2011. METHODS: We conducted a repeated cross-sectional study using four Uganda Demographic and Health Surveys (1995, 2000, 2006 and 2011).Using the most recent live birth and adjusting for survey sampling, we estimated percentage and absolute number of births with ANC (any and 4+ visits), facility delivery, caesarean sections and complete maternal care. We assessed socio-economic differentials in these indicators by wealth, education, urban/rural residence, and geographic zone on the 1995 and 2011 surveys. We estimated the proportions of ANC and delivery care provided by the public and private (for-profit and not-for-profit) sectors, and compared content of ANC and delivery care between sectors. Statistical significance of differences were evaluated using chi-square tests. RESULTS: Coverage with any ANC remained high over the study period (> 90% since 2001) but was of insufficient frequency; < 50% of women who received any ANC reported 4+ visits. Facility-based delivery care increased slowly, reaching 58% in 2011. While significant inequalities in coverage by wealth, education, residence and geographic zone remained, coverage improved for all indicators among the lowest socio-economic groups of women over time. The private sector market share declined over time to 14% of ANC and 25% of delivery care in 2011. Only 10% of women with 4+ ANC visits and 13% of women delivering in facilities received all measured care components. CONCLUSIONS: The Ugandan health system had to cope with more than 30,000 additional births annually between 1991 and 2011. The majority of women in Uganda accessed ANC, but this contact did not result in care of sufficient frequency, content, and continuum of care (facility delivery). Providers in both sectors require quality improvements. Achieving universal health coverage and maternal/newborn SDGs in Uganda requires prioritising poor, less educated and rural women despite competing priorities for financial and human resources

Thinking What No One Else Has Thought: Investigating the Scientific Creativity of Primary School Students in a Science Class

For the advancement of humanity, scientific creativity is a crucial skill for coming up with innovations, addressing existing issues and interpreting particular scientific phenomena. The present study aimed to determine the scientific creativity level of 23 primary school students. In a single cross-sectional study, a descriptive survey questionnaire modelled on the Scientific Structure Creativity Model (SSCM) incorporated a seven-item scientific creativity test specifically designed to align with the backgrounds of primary school students. The results show that the students have a balance between a low or intermediate scientific creativity level. Of the 23 respondents, 8 have a low scientific creativity level, 8 have an intermediate scientific creativity level and 7 have a high scientific creativity level. The respondents are the most scientifically creative in creative science problem solving. The researchers recommend an intervention such as integrating the arts into the STEM curriculum to help develop students scientific creativity