Davao del Sur State College

The early years of a child’s life are crucial in shaping cognitive, social, and emotional development. However, in Sarangani, Davao Occidental, Philippines, some parents hesitate to enroll their children in pre-kindergarten, leading to gaps in foundational skills. Addressing these challenges is essential to ensure that young learners are equipped for future academic success. This study assessed the profiles and learning abilities of kindergarten students to inform innovative teaching strategies. Using a descriptive-correlational research design, the study examined the demographics and competencies of 106 purposively selected respondents. Two research instruments were utilized: one for demographic data collection and another for Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) skills assessment. Findings indicated that most kindergarten students had prior preschool exposure and exhibited average competency levels. However, preschool attendees significantly outperformed non-attendees in gross motor, fine motor, receptive language, and cognitive skills, while no significant differences were found in self-help and expressive language skills. To bridge these gaps, strengthening preschool curricula, training teachers, and implementing transition programs for non-preschool attendees are essential. Promoting parental involvement and conducting individualized assessments for targeted interventions will further support children’s learning needs. To boost preschool enrollment, community-driven campaigns led by the Local Government Unit (LGU) advocating universal preschool access and securing funding for early childhood education initiatives are recommended. Strengthening these efforts will ensure that more children receive the necessary foundational skills for lifelong learning success.

The Philippines are projected to be a top contributor to oceanic plastic pollution by 2025, ranking first globally for riverine plastic emissions. However, comprehensive empirical data on litter leakage is lacking, impeding accurate estimates and mitigation efforts. We conducted the first thorough assessment of plastic within a 100 km radius of Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines using a stratified random sampling design. We detected 13,970 debris items across 309 transects from 33 coastal, 27 river, and 44 inland sites, and collected 1405 debris items from 27 sea surface trawls. Riverbanks showed the highest plastic pollution densities, averaging 3.6 items per m2. Food wrappers and labels, both whole and fragmented, were the most abundant items across all site types, highlighting the Filipino “tingi” culture of buying and trading in small quantities. We recommend focusing on river hotspots and commonly reported items, particularly food packaging and sachets, to manage plastic pollution effectively.

The cosmopolitan terrestrial slug, Deroceras laeve (O. F. Müller, 1774), is reported in the Philippines for the first time and characterized through morphology, morphometrics, and cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene analysis. Slug samples were recovered from two administrative regions in Mindanao, Philippines. In Region X, there were two sites: Misamis Oriental (Gingoog, 664 m a.s.l.; Claveria, 937 m a.s.l.) with farms planted with cabbage (Brassica oleracea), radish (Raphanus sativus), and eggplant (Solanum melongena); and Bukidnon (Talakag, 1410 m a.s.l.) planted with cabbage. In Region XI, specimens were collected from potted ornamentals in five nurseries along the Kapatagan road, Davao del Sur, 1000-1200 m a.s.l. The external morphology of the specimens matched the published descriptions, and their identity was further confirmed by their partial COI sequences. The obtained COI sequence of the specimen in Region X showed 99-100% similarity with the voucher specimens from Mexico (KX959495, KX959496, KX959497, KX959498, and KX495499); while that of the specimen from Region XI is 100% identical to specimens collected from Japan (MW507142), Canada (MT680918 and MT941436), UK (KF894311), and Vietnam (MT941435 and MT941436). Moreover, D. laeve from Region X and Region XI shared 98% similarity with each other. Preliminary surveys show that slug occurrence is prevalent mainly in highland regions of the southern Philippines where specialty crops/high value crops like vegetables and ornamentals are cultivated. Further surveys are essential to confirm any damage that they may cause, their distribution, associated parasites, and pest status in the Philippines.

Enhancing flood resilience, including the development of social capacity and early warning systems, in addition to structural measures, is one of the key solutions to mitigating flood damage, which will be more intensified in the future due to climate change. This study was conducted to develop a comprehensive methodology for enhancing flood resilience by improving society-wide disaster literacy under the governance formed through the active participation of all levels of stakeholders in Davao City, Philippines. Specifically, the development of the Online Synthesis System for Sustainability and Resilience, which integrates different disciplines, and the fostering of Facilitators, whose role is to interlink the science community and society, were implemented in a co-designing manner by the collective governance body. The development of basin- and barangay-scale hydrological models realized real-time flood forecasting and climate change impact assessment to identify intensified flood risk under the future climate. Co-designed e-learning workshops were held to foster about thirty Facilitators and help them produce twenty-one risk communication plans and workshop designs for fourteen barangays considering geographic, demographic, economic, and social features that they can utilize for public dissemination related to climate change adaptation to the target audiences in society. This paper presents a practical method to enhance flood resilience, demonstrating that the synthesis of science-based knowledge and human resource development can fill the gaps between the science community and society.