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More Cagayan Valley firms benefit from DOST’s ‘SETUP’ program

TUGUEGARAO CITY -- More firms from different municipalities in the Cagayan Valley region are taking advantage of a government program that aims to boost productivity and efficiency of their growing enterprises.

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) 2’s (Cagayan Valley) Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) is benefiting entrepreneurs from Batanes, Cagayan, Quirino, and for the first time, in Calayan.

DOST-2 regional director Sancho Mabborang, in an interview Thursday, noted DOST's financial and technical support for these firms through science and technology integration.

Mabborang also bared plans to upgrade SETUP, focusing not just on businesses, but also on growth of the industry as a whole.

“As the industry grows and develops, growth of firms also follows,” he said.

Mabborang further said the program targets to benefit more companies in all municipalities in the region in support of DOST's goal to promote inclusive growth and development. (PNA)

PAO: Garin warned of Dengvaxia harm

By ASHZEL HACHERO

FORMER Health Secretary Janette Garin was informed by scientists, academicians, and clinicians of possible risks from the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia even before the Aquino government implemented the mass vaccination program in April 2016, according to the Public Attorney’s Office headed by Persida Rueda Acosta.

PAO yesterday submitted to the Department of Justice what it said was a letter of the scientists to Garin dated March 27, 2016.

The DOJ is hearing criminal complaints filed by parents of children who were recipients of the vaccine.

Garin was not in the hearing.

Garin was ordered to attend the preliminary investigation on June 25, together with current Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, other health officials, officials of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, and executives of Sanofi Pasteur and Zuellig Pharma Corporation.

Acosta said the letter, copies of which were provided to media, proves that Garin is aware of the possible harm of Dengvaxia but still opted to pursue the mass vaccination program.

The letter said: “The possibility of harm is real because the vaccine does not have a consistent effect on all serotypes of the dengue virus. Because of this, there is a possibility of immunologic enhancement, resulting in more severe diseases from a different virus stereotype.”

Among signatories are academician Antonio Dans of the National Academy of Science and Technology; Minerva Calimag of the Philippine Medical Association, Benjamin Co of the University of Sto. Tomas, Leonila Dans from UP College of Medicine, Mercy Fabros and Ana Maria Nemenzo of WomenHealth, Mary Ann lansang of the UP College of Medicine, Maria Asuncion Silvestre of the Asia-Pacific Center for Evidence-Based Health Care, and former health undersecretary Madeleine de Rosas.

The letter also said the P3.5 billion allocated for the program was too high considering the lack of guaranteed efficiency, and that a new generation of anti-dengue vaccine, called TV003, could be more effective and is cheaper than Dengvaxia.

Also submitted by PAO to the DOJ panel is a document showing that as early as 2015, Sanofi Pasteur already knew of the risk of being inoculated with Dengvaxia.

The DOH suspended the mass vaccination program only in November last year. By them, at least 830,000 children from Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Cebu have been vaccinated.

PCAARRD mud crab project equips ASU, ASCMST, and Tagum LGU with mud crab hatchery and nursery technologies

PCAARRD mud crab project equips ASU, ASCMST, and Tagum LGU with mud crab hatchery and nursery technologies

By: Estrella Z. Gallardo

The country is the second top producer of mud crab in the world, since mud crab farming has long been established in the Philippines. However, as most mud crab farmers rely for crab seeds from the wild, reduced landings and mean capture size are being experienced by farmers due to overexploitation.

To address this, mud crab farmers raise crabs in hatcheries.

To further increase hatchery-reared mud crabs in the country the project, “Promotion of Mud Crab Hatchery and Nursery Technologies in Selected Sites,” is implemented by the Aquaculture Department, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC/AQD) and is part of the National Mud Crab Science and Technology Program.

This project to promote mud crab hatchery and nursery technologies in Aklan State University (ASU), Zamboanga State College of Marine Sciences and Technology (ZSCMST), and the Tagum local government unit (LGU) in Davao del Norte was funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD).

ASU, ZSCMST, and Tagum LGU have existing hatchery facilities, laboratories, or pond facilities. A memorandum of agreement (MOA) to adopt the mud crab hatchery operation was signed between SEAFDEC/AQD and the three entities mentioned.

Under the agreement, ASU, ZSCMST, and Tagum LGU underwent training courses on mud crab hatchery and nursery operations. The training courses tackled mud crab hatchery, nursery, and grow-out operations. The three collaborators also underwent practical sessions on natural food culture, broodstock management, larval rearing from zoea to megalopae, nursery rearing, and other activities involved in the hatchery, nursery, and grow-out operations.

To improve the hatchery facility of ASU and ZSCMST, a SEAFDEC/AQD technician was detailed for two hatchery and nursery trials. The trials recorded a survival rate at larval stage of 80-85 percent in the hatchery phase and 66-76 percent in the nursery phase.

The crab juveniles produced from the nursery phase were stocked in the nearby grow-out ponds for culture to market size. Some of the market size females produced were used as broodstock for the hatchery.

On the other hand, faculty, research staff, and students of Fisheries and Aquaculture course of ZSCMST, and crab traders and growers in the area were trained on natural food culture. Same with ASU, a SEAFDEC/AQD technician was detailed in the college’s hatchery.

Multi-species hatchery in Tagum

A new multi-species hatchery for mud crab culture was constructed in the Tagum LGU. Technical assistance for one run was provided by a SEAFDEC/AQD technician. Both S. serrata and S. olivacea are being used for seed production, wherein the crablets of the latter are intended to be used in the soft-shell crab farm. The soft-shell crab farm was also set up in Tagum.

SEAFDEC/AQD will continue to provide assistance to the three collaborators once the project is concluded.(PSciJourn MegaManila)