Crishelle Phoebe Yu ||

To provide a mechanism for students with a strong interest in the sciences, Kamnoetvidya Science Academy held the 4th KVIS Invitational Science Fair virtually in Thailand last February 6-20, 2021. With the theme “Scientific Endeavors in One Click”, the fair aimed to provide opportunities for students who have a strong passion for science and technology to be paired with mentors from different schools and exchange scientific knowledge by connecting with other young scientists through an online platform.

Philippine Science High School – Eastern Visayas Campus students from grade 12 brought home the bacon by winning the “Best Oral Presentation Award in Biology Research” with Mark Russell Caranzo, Kristen Clarisse Loreto, and Alinelle Mae Reoma as the presenters of their study “Spatiotemporal Analysis of Dengue Cases in Tacloban City, Leyte, Philippines” and “Best Social Inspiration Award in Chemistry Research” participated by Georginne Reese Perez, Darren Pearl Reynera and Queenie Anne Yanuario for their research “Qualitative Analysis and Preliminary Anticancer Activity Evaluation of Alkaloids in Chrysophyllum caimito leaves”.

“KVIS was really fun. At first, my groupmates and I were really nervous because we had researchers from all over the world there, but it was exciting getting to know them and listening to them present their research projects. We were able to learn a lot, and it was a wonderful experience seeing the directions that the people belonging to our generation, from all over the world, were leading scientific innovations in various fields,” Perez stated.

Over the fair, the students were a part of poster presentations, science activities, and making friends from across the globe with the vision of being a leading science high school promoting wisdom, research, and technology for the nation’s sustainable development.

“We were, at first, intimidated by the judges who would be on the Chemistry panel because some of them had previously won international awards in their respective fields, but their questions were very engaging, and they showed genuine interest and respect for all the presenters’ research topics, so the presentation day turned out to be a lot more fun than we were expecting,” Perez pointed out.

Crishelle Phoebe Yu ||

The municipalities of Eastern Visayas have allotted funds for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines for their residents.

Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez stated that the city has allocated a P350-million for the procurement of the vaccines and will include a purchase of 270,000 AstraZeneca vaccines to inoculate all residents aged 18 and above. 

In Maasin, Southern Leyte, Mayor Nacional Mercado said that the city is shelling out an initial amount of P15 million for the procurement of vaccines to guarantee that the target population of 90,086 will receive free COVID Vaccines this year.

“Rest assured that we will work together with the National Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) for the procurement of affordable, clinically tested, approved, and safe vaccines from qualified manufacturers,”  Mercado emphasized.

The province of Leyte has allotted P20 million to vaccinate between 20,000 to 30,000 people, while Tacloban City has reportedly set aside P30 million.

In Northern Samar, with a target of 70% of the province’s population, Governor Edwin Ongchuan stressed that residents aged 18 years old and below are not qualified for the vaccine. He also encouraged the LGUs to allocate counterpart funds for the vaccination program.

“With 70 percent or more of our constituents vaccinated against Covid-19, we can hope to have herd immunity in the province and I hope the national government will extend support to this noble objective,” Ongchuan mentioned.

Meanwhile, outside of Eastern Visayas, Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said the city has allocated PHP82.7 million for the procurement of the vaccines, which is included in the city’s PHP2.3 billion budget for 2021.  

Crishelle Phoebe Yu ||

Since June 2016, human rights violations in the Philippines have become a more prevalent issue following President Rodrigo Duterte’s election in the position. The problem intensified in 2018 as Duterte continued the “War on Drugs” campaign even in the face of mounting international criticism.

Malacañang made it certain that the Philippines has a properly functioning judicial system to guarantee that human rights are secured. Thus, the proposal of the newly launched international commission to investigate suspected human rights violations in the region was disregarded.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque mentioned that the Palace is uninterested in the Commission’s decision to send a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), stating that the Duterte administration strives to defend human rights.

“We are not worried about that because it is the obligation of a country, when it comes to human rights, to ensure that the victims have remedies in their institutions that work,” Roque stated. He emphasized that our legal system is functioning and that if the people have complaints, they may file cases before the National Bureau of Information or the police.

Aya Ecaldre ||

President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration is taking steps to mitigate the effects of climate change in the Philippines. In a press statement last January 27, 2021, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that the government is taking all necessary steps to strengthen our capacities to mitigate and address the effects of climate change.

This statement was in response to Germanwatch, an environmental policy study showing which nations were most affected by extreme weather in the last two decades. The Global Climate Risk Index 2020 Report ranked the Philippines 4th out of 180 countries most affected by extreme weather. There were 317 extreme weather cases reported in the Philippines, and the high score in the climate risk index indicates the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters and their effects. 

Roque stated that the country ranking fourth in the index did not come as a surprise since the country has already been known to be one of the countries most vulnerable to natural disasters such as typhoons, flooding, landslides, and droughts. He also added that this vulnerability prompted Duterte to sign the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, a global pact that aims to keep the temperature from rising above the pre-industrial level.

The administration formulated a Mitigation and Disaster Risk Reduction Roadmap for 2018 to 2022 to aid and prepare identified vulnerable provinces and major cities like Metro Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, and Davao from natural disasters and their possible effects. 

Roque stressed that climate change is a global challenge that has worsened existing inequalities and vulnerabilities from within and between nations. He hopes that the public would work together with the government. “Through our collective action, we can build adaptive and resilient communities across the archipelago. This would be our gift to the future generations of Filipinos,” he stated.

Crishelle Phoebe Yu ||

After the transfer of authority in the United States, the newly elected president, Joe Biden, is making rapid use of the unilateral powers he now possesses. Within hours after taking the oath of office at the Capitol, Biden signed the orders pivoting swiftly from his walled-down inauguration ceremony to the promulgation of his agenda. At the end of his first full week, he had provided 39 executive actions – orders, memoranda, and proclamations that could drastically shift the direction of American governance without any intervention by lawmakers in Congress.

Seeking to unify the global response to the coronavirus, Biden intends to regain the membership of the U.S. in the World Health Organization (WHO) immediately, which Trump formally withdrew in May 2020, claiming that China had put too much pressure on the agency. Biden included an order requiring everyone to wear a mask wherever they go.

“The World Health Organization plays a crucial role in the fight against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic as well as countless other threats to global health and health security,” Biden stated.

Biden also rejoined the Paris climate agreement, revoked the Keystone XL oil pipeline permit, and instructed the Environmental Protection Agency and the transportation department to reestablish fuel efficiency mandates as a part of overturning the environmental policies set by Trump.

To advance racial equality and eradicate systemic racism from federal programs and institutions, Biden released an executive order to help underserved populations. He stated that one of the priorities of his administration is to dismantle systemic racism.

           “The president-elect has promised to root out systemic racism from our institutions,” Domestic Policy Council director, Susan Rice, pointed out.

Aya Ecaldre ||

In line with the transition to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, PSHS-EVC implemented a project on improving the campus’s internet connection. The new network now features 500 Mbps speed and improved Wi-Fi area coverage. 

This project was spearheaded by the school director, Erick John Marmol, in collaboration with the Management Information System (MIS) Coordinator, Lalaine Llose, and the Information Systems Analyst (ISA), John Paul Soledad. The project had been set to be implemented in the first quarter of 2020. However, due to the strict health protocols brought forth by the pandemic, the project had been delayed, resulting in the improved network to be launched later in January 2021.

Wi-Fi networks located in each building are connected to the Campus Server Room through a fiber optic cable. Before, the Wi-Fi connection was only accessible from inside the employees’ buildings. Now, the Wi-Fi is open to everyone in the admin building, hallways, gym, dormitory, and canteen. Currently, the CReST and the Learning Resource buildings are not yet connected. However, they are set to be included in the cabling project for 2021. 

All students, faculty, and staff will have free access to the Wi-Fi network through their log-in accounts. Guests and visitors may also have access as per request. Although there are still weak spots such as the open field and park, the network is still supposedly strong enough to be used in school-related tasks. As of now, the bandwidth of the network has no limit. However, when face to face classes resume, a limit on the upload and download will be set to regulate the internet usage. 

Llose stressed the need for a stable internet connection in conducting online classes. She emphasized,

“One of the parameters to successfully conduct an online class is a reliable internet connection. With the Structured Network Cabling and Wi-Fi Network Project on the campus, this is made possible.”