Nation

Dr. Renato Reyes (fourth from left), the Vice President for Academic Affairs of Central Luzon State University, with members of the CLSU community after delivering a lecture on mykopharming. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO SCIENCE CITY OF MUÑOZ, Nueva Ecija (March 30, 2023)—A Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) professorial chair awardee has recently conducted a public lecture on wild edible mushrooms at the RET Amphitheatre of Central Luzon State University (CLSU). Known as the man of science in mushroom farming in the Philippines, Dr. Renato Reyes, CLSU vice president for Academic Affairs delivered his Professorial Chair Lecture on "Recent advances in the domestication and mykopharming of wild edible mushrooms in the P...

March 2023 Physician Licensure Examination topnotcher Dr. Aira Cassandra Castro CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO ILOCOS NORTE (March 30, 2023)—"I WANT to teach at the Mariano Marcos State University College of Medicine (MMSU-COM) to train the younger generation of Ilocano doctors." Dr. Aira Cassandra Castro, the March 2023 Physician Licensure Examination (PLE) topnotcher, said as she expressed her willingness to be part of the academic community. Castro made history as the first graduate of MMSU who ranked first in the medical board examination with a rating of 89 percent, bringing the university and Ilocos Norte province into the limelight. The 25-year-old medical doctor said her plan to teach at MMSU-COM is also her way of giving back to the university and the Prov...

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture will conduct a one-day learning activity for the all-female Balete Family Farm School at the conclusion of International Women's Month. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO LAGUNA (March 30, 20223)—The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) is emboldening the students of the Batangas province-based Balete Family Farm School Inc. (BFFS) in a learning event that will enable them to refine the business plans they developed as part of their family enterprise project and gain additional learning on agripreneurship. Dr. Glenn Gregorio, Searca director, said the BFFS has the distinction of being the only all-female family farm school in Asia. The BFFS te...

KIANGAN, Ifugao (March 26, 2023)—Some 120 children and youth from the different barangays (villages) of Tinoc town in this province attended a three-day Children and Youth Leadership Summit from March 24 to 26, 2023 at the Evacuation Center in the Sitio (sub-village) of Mugao, Impugong village here.   The summit was a collaborative effort of the 54th Infantry (Magilas) Battalion under the 5th Infantry Division, the local government unit here and various government and non-governmental agencies.  These agencies are the Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine National Police (14th Special Action Battalion, Tinoc Municipal Police Station and Ifugao Police Provincial Office), Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Write Your Legacy Book Writing., ...

Officials from the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency Cooperative Threat Reduction Program and the DILG symbolically lead the beginning of the construction of the National Virtual Training Center in Silang, Cavite. US EMABSSY CONTRIBUTED PHOTO MANILA (February 11, 2023)—To enhance the capability of Philippine law enforcement personnel to respond to chemical security threats, the United States government is supporting the construction of the P130 million ($2.4 million) National Virtual Training Center (NVTC) in Silang town, Cavite province. Undersecretary Serafin Barretto Jr. of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for Public Safety said the pandemic paved the way for them to recognize the importance of the NVTC facility. "This facility will provide an instit...

BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO LOS BAÑOS, Laguna (December 16)—The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture-Agri-Innovator Program (Searca-AIP), a short-term training program, is advocating for a human-centered approach combining "design thinking" as a mindset and "lean startup" as a methodology for developing agricultural innovations. According to Dr. Glenn Gregorio, Searca director, this program contributes to responding to an era of change when the vulnerabilities, uncertainties, complexities and ambiguities of a fast-evolving environment dictate the way agricultural challenges are appraised and addressed for agri-ventures and their innovations flourish in Agriculture 4.0. Gregorio noted that Searca-AIP, which will feature weekly sessions, was form...

OPS PHOTO MANILA (December 15)—President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. scored big in his meetings with various European companies, securing billions worth of investment pledges on Wednesday. The President, who is on the final day of his visit to Brussels for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-European Union (ASEAN-EU) commemorative summit, sat down with European companies Unilever, Ocea, Acciona, and SEMMARIS to discuss current investments and expansion plans in the Philippines. The chief executive has secured a P4.7 billion investment from multinational consumer goods company Unilever as the firm gears towards automating and digitalizing its operations in the Philippines. Unilever officials, led by its global business group president Matt Close, said the multibillion-peso i...

BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO LOS BAÑOS, Laguna (December 13)—The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently launched a pioneering program on Transformational Agricultural Innovation Systems for the New Future (Trains) to provide innovative solutions to the rising challenges in agriculture and the environment. According to Searca Director Glenn Gregorio, there are 30 participants from various Southeast Asian (SEA) higher education institutions, government ministries and agencies, non-government and farmers' organizations, and private and civil society organizations who are involved in research and extension activities. Trains is a nine-week online training w...

Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources member institutions include the Institut Pertanian Bogor, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Kasetsart University, UPLB, UB, and Searca as regular members. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO LAGUNA (December 8)—The Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) successfully offered the 6th UC Summer School at the Banyuwanggi Regency and Malang, Indonesia. According to the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) headquartered at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), the 6th UC Summer School from November 13 to 17, 2022 was the first activity of th...

Headquartered on the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños in Laguna province, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture is one of the oldest among 26 specialist institutions of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO LAGUNA (December 6)—The 14th SyenSaya annual science festival of the Los Baños Science Community (LBSC) kicked off on Monday, December 5, to be highlighted by the Research and Development Awards that recognize outstanding researchers in LBSC and Youth Science Awards. The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) will host the Awarding and Closing Ceremony of the 14th SyenSaya on Wednesday, December 7. A t...