The first session, “Food System Transformation Towards-Sustainable Healthy Diets”, was delivered by the esteemed Dr. Mildred O. Guirindola, a Supervising Science Research Specialist of the Department of Science and Technology- Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI). Guirindola, a renowned expert in her field, shared her invaluable insights on the importance of transforming food systems to address environmental and health concerns, covering everything from production to waste management. She presented innovative approaches and best practices for creating sustainable diets that benefit consumers and society. One of the key takeaways from her webinar is that there is a need to find ways to make the food system sustainable for feeding billions of people while keeping the planet alive.

The second session featured Mr. Jacus S. Nacis, a PhD candidate at Wageningen University, Netherlands who discussed “Omics Spice and Everything Nice: The Prospects of Nutrition Omics to Food Science.” Nacis explored the rapidly evolving field of omics technologies, focusing on genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics and how these disciplines reshape the food science landscape. The term omics refers to various disciplines in biology that end with the suffix -omics. In his talk, Nacis discussed the potential for personalized nutrition and enhanced food safety. It is worth noting in this webinar that addressing some challenges in omics technology can unlock the full potential of omics that can revolutionize the agri-food system.

The final session was presented by Mr. Carl Vincent Cabanilla, a Senior Science Research Specialist at DOST-FNRI, on the topic “Nutrition Tools and Standards.” Cabanilla highlighted the importance of standardized nutrition tools and the Nutrition Profile Model (NPM) in ensuring food quality and safety in the Philippines. He discussed the use and development of the Philippine Dietary Reference Intake (PDRI) and some challenges encountered. He also explained the latest trend in food labeling particularly the Front-of-Pack Labelling System (FOPL) which is relevant nowadays to make it easy for the consumer to understand the content of the food. His talk points out that it is important to have a holistic approach from various stakeholders to implement interventions by the regulatory bodies.

Led by its course facilitator Dr. Mario V. Capanzana, the webinar series was geared towards the continuing sharing of knowledge amongst practitioners in the field of food science and technology. The webinars were consistently attended by students and academic staff from different universities and food science professionals from the industry.

Topics in this webinar series relate to SDG 2, which aims to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture” by 2030. 

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The AGROTIS Navigation System, funded by the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD), can operate autonomously through GPS-guided navigation or be manually controlled via radio frequency. Developed in collaboration with the Philippine Rice Research Institute and the International Rice Research Institute, it is equipped with a robust safety system and offers versatile solutions for various tractor types. The technology is incubated at the UST TOMASInno Center, the University’s Technology-based Business Incubator (TBI) and aims to directly benefit local farmers by enhancing rice field land preparation.

During an interview held at the UST-Dr. Tony Tan Caktiong Innovation Center in UST’s research complex in Santa Rosa City, Bautista discussed the inspiration behind AGROTIS and its positive impact on farming operations. The Agricultural Machinery Testing and Evaluation Center (AMTEC) tested the system, which demonstrated significant improvements, reducing the field capacity of hand tractors from 31.25 hours per hectare to 20 hours per hectare, and increasing field efficiency from 60% to 80%. Additionally, a customer validation survey showed a 90% acceptability rate among local farmers.

Game-changing innovations like the AGROTIS Navigation System are among the thrusts of the recently opened UST-Dr. Tony Tan Caktiong Innovation Center— to develop technologies that address local challenges and enhance the nation’s technological landscape, ultimately bringing significant benefits to the Filipino people.

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The activity, a joint undertaking with the alumni of the Tomasinong SOCCSKSARGEN chapter, gathered close to 300 attendees comprised of 150 families, SOCCSKSARGEN chapter officials, UST Alumni Association, Inc. officials, and UST officials. The Thomasian community gave gifts and dined with the community of Batomelong, which is led by the Barangay Captain, Hon. Alikhan K. Bentaib.

In his message, Captain Bentaib thanked the SOCCSKSARGEN Chapter’s representatives, led by incoming President Antonio Villanueva, Jr. and Secretary-General fr. Louie R. Coronel, O.P. “Hindi po kayo nagkamali na pilian ang community ito. Kakatapos lang po ng aming Ramadan namin. Sino ba naman ang hindi matutuwa na mapili? Maraming salamat po!”

Meanwhile, UST Secretary-General fr. Louie R. Coronel, O.P. introduced the Thomasian community to the residents of Barangay “hindi lang po kami kaagapay. Mga Pilipino po tayo, at tayong lahat ay magkakapatid.”

Finally, UST Assistant to the Rector for General Santos Professor Emeritus Maribel G. Nonato, PhD expressed hope that the University’s efforts in academics and research will be of great help to the local communities of Mindanao.

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Twelve faculty members of the College of Nursing were accredited by TESDA after recognition of their prior learning and review of evidence of community engagement. They were certified as trainers for the caregiving program.

In an interview with College of Nursing Dean Rowena L. Escolar Chua, PhD, she underscored “people empowerment and resilence” as core values of the program. Escolar Chua said the program “program provided the opportunity to gain knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be competent care providers despite their financial and social status. The caregiving program fosters resilience in the face of health challenges. In addition, UST College of Nursing and Caregiving programs partake in the healing ministry of Jesus Christ, our great healer.”

The caregiving program is the latest to rolled out by UST and RMI-HFSEC which also had a Bookkeeping course training with the College of Commerce and Business Administration in 2021.

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De Roxas of 4HCE3 crafted the Thai Basil Chicken with Layered Squash Curry Puff appetizer, while Lati of 4HCE2 made the Chayote and Chicken in Herb Broth soup. In the Main Course, Mr. Daniel Dalipe of 3HCE presented his Cereal Chicken and Shrimp with Nasi Goreng and Sambal Vegetables.

Ms. Ramona Olga D. Ko served as the faculty coach. The team was also guided by Chef Reynald Andaya.

The theme of the competition, organized by the Commission on Higher Education – NCR, was “Highlighting the ASEAN Founding Countries (Freestyle Cooking)”.

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The “UST Family Literacy app” enables various stakeholders to upload and share relevant, timely digital content on sustainable agriculture initiatives in identified rural areas.
Information coming from this SOAP app may also be of practical use by varied stakeholders, with the app serving as a repository for videos, images, and files in easy-to-retrieve models and modules.
The Family Literacy app contains a chat assistant, a content management system, data sharing options, a messaging system, a separate notification system, and a research monitoring system.
This app was employed by the UST RCSSED’s Family Literacy team in Barangay Pinili, San Jose City in Nueva Ecija.
Family literacy specialists Drs. Gina Lontoc, Camilla Vizconde and Belinda de Castro collaborated with UST’s technology experts in rolling out the application. ������Ƶ of East Anglia (UEA), through a funding facility called the Global Research Translation Award, provided support to the Family Literacy app and to SOAP.
Family literacy is a concept that sees adults and children (not just the latter) conduct learning and literacy-related activities —on various topics— at home.
SOAP as the action research project started in 2019 and ended in December 2022.

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Organized by the Massachusetts-based Tufts University, Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, the forum gathered more than 1,000 participants from over 55 countries to share research on nutrition, agriculture, food systems, and health; discuss real-world challenges and controversies; and, explore the role of data analytics in their fields.

Johanna Marie C. dela Cruz appeared on behalf of her teammates Danielle Laetitia S. Maniego, Frances Earl V. Venturina, Jhanelle Jayveeh B. Ricohermoso, and Ralph Ingrid V. Amisola to discuss their paper “Development and Pretesting of a Nutrition in Emergency Mobile Application, eSNAP: Emergency Surveillance and Nutrition Assessment para sa mga Pilipino.“

Mr. Daniel G. Salunga, MS, who is a former officer of the Philippine Society of Nutritionist-Dietitians, Inc., served as their research adviser.

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Funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) in 2020, the RoboTractor named Agrotis, which is the Greek word for farmer, had successful tests in navigation using Real-Time Kinematic (RTK)-GPS base station and initial land tillage operation in 2021. With his team of students at UST, Bautista was also able to present an initial working model to farmers at the Philippine Rice Research Institute.

Bautista, who was previously known for his Gregorio Zara award-winning Logistic Indoor Service Assistant (LISA) robot that minimized the exposure of the hospital staff to COVID-19 through remote communication and medicine delivery features, explained that the current Agrotis model has three main features. It has the safety system or emergency stop function; the manual remote-control system that allows manual control of the robots using radio signals; and the autonomous navigation system that will take care of the movement across the farm while the robot performs land tilling or other farming operations.

With an increasing Filipino population heightening the demand for rice but less young people considering farming as a career, the Agrotis project will improve the working conditions and tools in farms.

“But robots can never replace our farmers. These technologies only aim to make their jobs easier through efficiency and safety, which can give them more time to be with their family,” emphasized Bautista, who himself belongs to a family of farmers.

Currently, Bautista is working with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to optimize the cost of the technology. They are also looking into the possibility of using small swarm robots for other farming operations, such as land mapping, leveling, crop spraying, and weeding.

“Agriculture 5.0 is fast approaching, and we really need to work harder together so that we can cope with the ever-advancing technology. The good thing is that these [machinery] are becoming more accessible and affordable. If this is the case, our next task is to prepare and aid our farmers in adapting these technological tools,” concluded Bautista.

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Arenas presented the research project during the Department of Science and Technology Collaborative Research and Development to Leverage Philippine Economy (DOST-CRADLE) symposium held on January 18, 2022.

Industrial food processing generates massive amounts of waste, and the unused byproducts, which are commonly disposed of and not maximized, lead to environmental problems and economic loss for businesses, particularly micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Banawe Soybean Curd Food Products Corporation (BSCFPC), which produces soy milk, taho, and bean curd sheet products, also generates 200kg to 300kg of okara as a byproduct. They linked with the UST team through the DOST’s Government-Academe-Industry or GAIN workshop held in August 2019, and the one-year research project to make use of okara officially commenced on June 6, 2021.

The world production of okara, mostly coming from Asian countries, is about 1.4 billion tonnes, according to the team’s presentation. This large quantity of food byproduct is discarded or used as animal feed. To reduce food waste, the okara will be made into a high-volume food product, such as sausages.

The project’s team leader Arenas shared in an interview that, “Currently, there is a strong market demand for sausages, but unfortunately, high consumption of processed meat products like sausages is associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases. Thus, we envision a healthy vegan sausage made from okara, which is free of artificial food coloring and chemical preservatives.”

Okara is a low-cost source of bioactive compounds that are good for human health. It is high in dietary fiber and contains an appreciable amount of protein, oil and phytochemicals, such as isoflavones, added Arenas.

At present, the product is still being finalized to determine the ideal formulation and the team plans to conduct chemical analyses to determine its nutrient composition.

The team is composed of Research Center for Natural and Applied Sciences (RCNAS) researchers, Assoc. Prof. Elizabeth H. Arenas, Ph.D., who teaches at the Food Technology Department, and Assoc. Prof. Franelyne P. Casuga, Ph.D., who is the Laboratory Supervisor of the Pharmacy Department. With them are research assistants Mr. Kevin Rae Ngo and Ms. Kerstin Mariae G. Ponsaran, who are UST BS Biochemistry graduates, and laboratory aide Chelsea Apple T. Torio.

The project is expected to end on June 5, 2022. Once completed, the product formulation and process will be adopted by BSCFPC.

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The “Tayo ang MagKamanlalakbay: Action Research Part I” was recently held via Zoom and Facebook Livestream.
Event partners were the Faculty of Arts and Letters Department of Sociology, Samahang Kamanlalakbay (SK), and the UST Sociological Society (USTSS). The event was part of the celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the Faculty of Arts and Letters.

Faculty of Arts and Letters Dean Prof. Marilu R. Madrunio, Ph.D., in her opening remarks, highlighted that at this time of pandemic, the academic discourse is centered on action research, an instrumental research method that encouraged to view perspectives of different stakeholders on certain issues and to refine critical and progressive thinking.

Providing a historical glimpse of Kamanlalakbay, UST SIMBAHAYAN Director Asst. Prof. Froilan A. Alipao, shared that it was conceptualized in 2002 as the general assembly of the UST partner communities and institutions. From 2002 to 2005, selected and committed community and institution leaders participated in various capacity-building training. During Kamanlalakbay 3 in 2005, programs and projects were evaluated through a participatory approach.

Meanwhile, Kamanlalakbay 4 in 2006 paved the way for the establishment of Samahang Kamanlalakbay (SK) which continued in 2007, when the SK members elected their officers and organized sectoral and geographical clusters.

In 2008, the National Service Training Program (NSTP) specifically the Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS) and Literacy Training Service (LTS) were brought under the management of the Office for Community Development (former name of UST SIMBAHAYAN). It opened the opportunity to bridge and interweave the NSTP (CWTS/LTS) to the community development and advocacy projects.
Apart from the Kamanlalakbay, a series of training were conducted to improve the skills of community and institution leaders. These include the training for Bamban Ayta Tribal Association (BATA), community health seminars, and basic ecclesial communities which was supplemented with regular community visits.
Due to the community engagement efforts, the SK was legally recognized on March 3, 2011, by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) as an association in the Philippines. Alipao emphasized that the journey of Kamanlalakbay for almost two decades has shown the praxis of see-judge-act-reflect in solidarity with the synod of the Church, nation, and environment.

Presented to the participants were the scope and limitation as well as the research method delivered by UST SIMBAHAYAN Program Development Officer Ms. Veronica Michelle Moreno. This was followed by the sharing of Kamanlalakbay 18 Pagsubaybay at Pagtatasa 2019-2020 at 2020-2021 by Ms. Christine Ladera of the Parent Advocates for Visually Impaired Children (PAVIC) and BA Sociology students Ms. Micah Estrologo and Ms. Angel Aranton. Afterward, the Kamanlalakbay 18 Pagpaplano 2021-2022 was discussed by Sister Shirley Milla, RMI of the Holy Family Social and Education Center-RMI, and BA Sociology students Mr. Gabriel Naboa, Mr. Sealtiel Dequiña, and Ms. Theara Ablola.

Kamanlalakbay 18 Community Participation Matrix 2019-2021 was presented by Mrs. Vicenta Sochaco of Brgy. Sibulan, Nagcarlan. Laguna with Naboa, Dequiña, and Ablola. Lastly, Kamanlalakbay 18 Pagtatasa at Rekomendasyon was given by Estrologo, Aranton, and Ablola.

Based on the presentations, USTSS Treasurer Ms. Ioni Kho, SK President Ms. Merlita B. De Guzman, and College of Architecture Community Development Coordinator Asst. Prof. Antonino IV N. Tobias, shared their insights.

Department of Sociology Coordinator Prof. Clarence M. Batan, Ph.D., in his closing message, expressed that the composed discourse portrayed in the event is a genuine concept of citizenship and should be embodied as well in the government. A consultative discussion for community development with no personal agenda, but rather the intersection of self with the social phenomenon, should prevail.

UST SIMBAHAYAN Asst. Director Asst. Prof. Evalyn B. Abiog, Ph.D., in her closing remarks highlighted the significance of analysis and evaluation as the basis of planning, implementation, and monitoring of community development and advocacy projects. Despite the challenges brought by the pandemic, the community engagements continue to thrive through open communication and strong partnership with different stakeholders, said Abiog.

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