Perceptions and readiness of foodservice establishments at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Metro Manila and region IV-A, Philippines

The study evaluated the perceptions and readiness of food business operators about COVID-19 through an online survey with respondents from Metro Manila and Region IV-A. Generally, they are knowledgeable about COVID-19 and its transmission, as reflected in their scores. The same is true about their attitude towards "new normal" practices. Years of operation, asset size, and continued operations and delivery services showed significant positive correlation with attitude scores. The resilience of some food business operators may be attributed to having more resources that enabled them to carry the added costs of what the new normal foodservice practices entailed. New normal practices include the implementation of health and safety protocols, shifting business models to online systems, food delivery services, dine-in by reservation, and menu innovations. Food business operators amenable to change and to innovate are more likely to keep afloat during a pandemic.

First description of the breeding biology of the North Philippine Hawk-Eagle (Nisaetus philippensis): a Journal of Ornithology

This study presents the first description of the breeding biology of the IUCN Endangered North Philippine Hawk-Eagle (Nisaetus philippensis). We describe a single pair's breeding phenology, nest characteristics, diet, chick development, and behavior through on-the-ground and remote observations from 1 February to 14 May 2020. Due to limited mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic, we improvised a video recording setup for remote monitoring and used machine learning to extract data from images. The nest was a low cup/fork type stick nest placed on a Malabulak tree (Bombax ceiba) in a heavily disturbed secondary forest. When it was first found, the incubation stage was underway and lasted for 1 month as the nestling emerged on 1 March 2020. Both adults provided parental care throughout the breeding period, with the male primarily providing food and the female attending to the nest, egg, and chick. They preyed on a wide range of vertebrates such as lizards, ground birds, bats, rodents, and domestic animals. With a single egg per clutch and a relatively long breeding cycle, the species has a slow reproductive output that may contribute to its current threatened status.

Arsenic in Groundwater Sources from Selected Communities Surrounding Taal Volcano, Philippines: An Exploratory Study

Arsenic (As) is a highly toxic, carcinogenic trace metal that can potentially contaminate groundwater sources in volcanic regions. This study provides the first comparative documentation of As concentrations in groundwater in a volcano-sedimentary region in the Philippines. Matched, repeated As measurements and physico-chemical analyses were performed in 26 individual wells from 11 municipalities and city in Batangas province from July 2020 to November 2021. Using the electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometric method, analysis of the wells revealed that in 2020, 23 out of 26 (88.46%) had As levels above the WHO limit of >10 ppb while 20 out of 26 wells (76.92%) had persistently high As levels a year later. Using a Wilcoxon signed-rank test, levels of As were found to be statistically elevated compared to the national safe limit of 10 pbb in the 26 matched sampling sites in both 2020 (p-value < 0.001) and 2021 (p-value = 0.013). Additionally, a two-paired Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed that As levels were statistically higher in 2020 than in 2021 (p-value = 0.003), suggesting that As levels may be higher in years when there is more volcanic activity;however, this remains to be further elucidated with suitable longitudinal data, as this study is still in its preliminary stages. The data was also analyzed using a bivariable regression, which showed no evidence of a significant relationship between As levels and distance from the danger zone (Taal volcano crater);however, results showed an inverse but statistically insignificant relationship between As levels and elevation. Due to the toxic profile and persistence of As in groundwater in Batangas Province, continuous groundwater As monitoring, timely public health risk communication, and the provision of alternative water sources to affected populations are recommended.

Places for Happiness: Community, Self, and Performance in the Philippines

To understand those dances from and in their autochthonous places, Peterson, an American performance studies scholar based in Australia, conducted years of research in the Philippines-the provenance of the dances that piqued his early scholarly interest in studying Filipino bodies in performance. Since 2001, along with the diasporic dances he first saw, which Philippine dance practitioners refer to as "folk" dances, he studied the sinakulo (a play about the life and Passion of Jesus Christ), the Aliwan festival, and political acts of theater activist Mae Paner whose stage name is "Juana Change" in Manila;the Moriones festival on the island of Marinduque;and the Ati-atihan festival in Kalibo, Aklan on Panay island. Chapter 4 is a critical explanation as to why folk dancing gained much traction in the Philippines' nationalism efforts in the middle of the twentieth century;it examines the pioneering contributions of Francisca Reyes-Aquino in the research, teaching, and dissemination of this dance form. [...]Peterson zeroes in on the crucial role "Juana Change" (Mae Paner's alter ego) played in the 2010 election in support of Benigno S. Aquino III's presidential candidacy and his eventual winning as the country's 15th President. Following Edward Casey, following Maurice Merleau-Ponty, bayan for Peterson does not simply refer to a location, but is also about embodying a place- a kind of embodiment corporeal experiences and memories instantiate. [...]while the dancers, musicians, penitents, and actors present in his book are performers imbued with the ability to bear communal identities and their own specificities, they are also "placelings" capable of bringing into their bodies the places where they have elected to perform outside the quotidian.