...the new frog species

New frog species found in S. Leyte

by Jon Carlos Rodriguez

ABS-CBNnews.com

04/17/2012


 

MANILA, Philippines – Two new species of frogs were recently discovered by a team of scientists who have been conducting a biodiversity resource assessment in the forests of Southern Leyte.

Authorities said the two forest-obligate species of frogs, which belong to the genus Platymantis, inhabit the mossy forests of the Nacolod Mountain Range in Southern Leyte.

The new species show different body sizes, coloration patterns, and advertisement calls compared to other known species of Philippine Platymantis frogs.

The two species are allied to two different species groups, the Platymantis guentheri group and Platymantis hazelae group.



The scientists said the discovery marks the first time that frogs from the hazelea group were found in Mindanao.

1. Aldrin Mallari, country director of Fauna and Flora International, stands next to a photo of a red frog, one of two new species of frogs found in the Philippines' Southern Leyte province (AFP)

The new species were unveiled at the Marble Hall of the Museum of the Filipino People on Tuesday.

Guests who attended the event include Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje; deputy head of Mission Federal Republic of Germany Embassy Ralph Timmermann; principal advisor of the International Climate Change projects in the Philippines of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Dr. Bernd-Markus Liss; and director of the National Museum of the Philippines Jeremy Barns.

Flora species

The moth-long biodiversity resource assessment conducted by the team of experts in the municipalities of Silago, Hinunangan, Sogod, Maasin, Tomas Oppus and Malitbog also yielded 229 flora species, 31 of which are unique to the country.

The team also recorded a total of 212 terrestrial vertebrates species, comprising 112 species of birds (41 species are unique to Philippines; 11 of which are threatened to extinction), 36 species of mammals (17 species are unique to the Philippines) and 64 species of amphibians and reptiles (more than half of which are found only in the Philippines)

The findings benefited the local government in its efforts to protect forest ecosystems and establish local forest and biodiversity areas.

It will also spur forest protection and rehabilitation efforts under the Philippine National REDD-Plus Strategy as part of the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAPP), and the National Greening Program.

The ground surveys were conducted by a team composed of members from Fauna & FIora International, the National Museum of the Philippines, the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and DENR Region 8 on behalf of two projects, namely the Climate relevant modernization of forest policy and Piloting of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) in the Philippines Project by DENR-Forest Management Bureau and the German Development Cooperation – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and the New Conservation Areas in the Philippines Project (NewCAPP) of the DENR-PAWB, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

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...the World Mayor prize nominee

Three PH Mayors vying for World Mayor Prize

By Shielo Mendoza

Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom

16 April 2012 

 



Three city mayors from the Philippines are vying for the 2012 World Mayor Prize, an award given to outstanding mayors worldwide.

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio were among the award's initial candidates, the City Mayors Foundation published last week.

 



Mayor Alfredo Lim, Manila



Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan, Angeles City



Mayor Sarah Duterte, Davao City

“The prize is awarded to a mayor who has made outstanding contributions to his/her community and has developed a vision for urban living and working that is relevant to towns and cities across the world,” the international foundation said in its website.

As of this month, 88 mayors from all over the world were nominated for the award – 16 from North America, 13 from Latin America, 30 from Europe, 19 from Asia, three from Australasia and seven from Africa.

Online nominations will be accepted until mid-May while a shortlist of 25 nominees will be published in early June. Winners and other results of the World Mayor Project will be announced in December.

“When contemplating the shortlist for the 2012 World Mayor Prize, the City Mayors Foundation will take into account the number of nominations a mayor has received from separate individuals and organizations and, more importantly, the persuasiveness of supporting statements,” it said.

Previous winners of the award were Marcelo Ebrard of Mexico City in 2010, Helen Zille of Cape Town in 2008, John So of Melbourne in 2006, Dora Bakoyannis of Athens in 2005, and Edi Rama of Tirana in 2004.

Meanwhile, three Philippine city mayors have made it to the top 10 since its establishment in 2004: then Marikina City mayor Marides Fernando ranked 7th in 2008; former Makati mayor now vice president Jejomar Binay placed 4th in 2006; and still incumbent mayor of San Fernando, Pampanga, Oscar Rodriguez, bagged the 4th spot in 2005.

The City Mayors Foundation, an international think tank on urban affairs, said it organized the World Mayor Prize to “honor mayors with the vision, passion and skills to make their cities incredible places to live in, work in and visit.”

The winner will receive the artistically acclaimed World Mayor trophy, while the runner-up will be given the World Mayor Commendation, it added.

...the extreme rare rodent specie

Feared extinct, large rat species 'rediscovered' on Dinagat Island

 

April 16, 2012

GMA News

 

 

A newlywed couple on a scientific expedition in the wilds of Dinagat Island chanced upon an extremely rare rat species that hadn't been seen alive by scientists since 1975. 


The only known museum specimen of C. australis or the Dinagat cloud rat, which was last seen alive by scientists in 1975. Photo courtesy of American Museum of Natural History

A Dinagat cloud rat was spotted in the forest tree tops on Dinagat Island in northern Mindanao last January by zoologist Milada Reháková-Petru and her new husband, Václav Řehák, who shot a video of the rat for the first time, according to information provided by the Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation (PBCF). Both Řeháková-Petru and Řehák are from the Czech Republic. 

William Oliver of the PBCF, co-author of a new paper reporting the "rediscovery" of the rodent species, said Reháková-Petru had called him from the island "jibbering with excitement and frustration" because while her husband had seen it, she had not. They then both saw the species together the next day. 

Only in Dinagat

The endemic Dinagat cloud rat (Crateromys australis) is found only on Dinagat Island, further proof of the Philippines' importance in global biodiversity. 

The country is also known as a "biodiversity hotspot" for the preponderance of threats to a wide range of species found only in the Philippines. Much of Dinagat Island is covered by mining claims, which if pursued could destroy the forest habitats of the cloud rat and many other species. 

According to a paper by the PBCF, the Dinagat Cloud Rat had not been seen by scientists since 1975, when the legendary Filipino zoologist Dr. Dioscoro Rabor brought back a specimen, which is now preserved in the American Museum of Natural History. Scientific surveys since 1975 had failed to find more specimens, leading some scientists to surmise that the species had become extinct. 

It is now considered "critically endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 

Rabor also discovered an endemic insectivore on the island related to hedgehogs, the endangered Dinagat moonrat (Podogymnura aureospinula). 

Czech zoologist Reháková-Petru was actually on Dinagat Island in search of Philippine tarsiers, her specialization. She did not see any, but was startled to hear the calls of what she speculated was the Dinagat cloud rat. Her husband Václav Řehák, a computer programmer who was accompanying her to learn more about her passion for rare Philippine mammals, was watching for tarsiers in another part of the forest when he spotted the Dinagat cloud rat. 

The couple returned to the same spot the next day and succeeded in photographing and videotaping the species, producing evidence for the scientific community that it was not extinct, and had simply been rare and elusive. - Howie Severino/KG, GMA News

...the importer becomes exporter

Phl may export rice by 2013 By Michael Punongbayan (The Philippine Star) April 16, 2012

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines may start exporting rice to other Asian countries in the first quarter of 2013 if no major calamities hit the country, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said yesterday.

Alcala made the statement after National Irrigation Administration (NIA) chief Antonio Nangel inspected irrigation systems under construction and agriculture rehabilitation projects in five provinces.

In a meeting with farmers in Masbate, Alcala said the country should no longer import rice from its Southeast Asian neighbors but instead depend solely on its palay production.

“Our rice importation era will end next year since our palay production will be enough for our consumption and reserves starting next year,” he said.

Alcala attributed the good news to new technologies imparted to farmers, better post-harvest facilities, and a progressive irrigation system.

Nangel, for his part, said the NIA is working round-the-clock to meet the deadline for the country’s rice sufficiency through bountiful palay harvest by 2013.

He said the construction of new irrigation systems in the countryside and the rehabilitation of dilapidated and old irrigation canals are the results of bounty harvests this year.

He said that before the Aquino administration, there were only 1.5 million hectares of irrigated land in the country.

“We need at least 1.8 million hectares of irrigated farms to be able to produce enough palay so that our country will be rice-sufficient,” Nagel said.

“By next year, we will surpass that 1.8 million hectares of irrigated lands. Thanks to President Aquino for prioritizing our agricultural sector and to Secretary Alcala for his rice sufficiency program,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said it will allocate some P50 million yearly for water irrigation in upland communities.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said the move is in support of the project being spearheaded by Earth Day Network Philippines Inc. (EDNPI).

“The undertaking, which will also be supported by the departments of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform under the convergence program, promotes upgrading of the capture of water in the upland. It is better to catch water in the upland as a resource because if you pay attention to it once it has flowed down, that is flooding already,” he said.

It is envisioned that some 22 million cubic meters of water per year or one cubic meter daily will be supplied to target communities.

EDNPI executive director Voltaire Perez said the project, which entails installation of 100 hydraulic ram pumps by 2013, targets to improve the irrigation capacity of communities. - With Rhodina Villanueva

 

...the Road

Pinoy horror-drama film 'The Road' featured in Brussels

 

April 16, 2012

GMA News

 

 

The Philippine subtle horror-drama film "The Road" was shown at the 30th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF) in Belgium.
 

 

Directed by William "Yam" Laranas, the film was screened on April 9, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a news release over the weekend.

The festival opened for public viewing on April 5 and will run until April 17 at Tour and Taxis in Avenue du Port in Brussels.

The BIFFF is a prestigious award-giving institution focusing on horror, cult, thriller, and fantasy films.
 
"Laranas received a warm round of applause and response from the audience after his brief remarks about his film prior to the start of its showing. This was followed by a brief Q & A session with the BIFFF Press Corps and a short signing session," the DFA said.
 
The DFA said Laranas submitted his film for an international premiere at the festival. The results of the competition will be announced during the closing ceremonies on April 17.
 
In 2006, he won BIFFF's 7th Orbit Award for his ghost movie "Sigaw," which helped get him to the United States to shoot a remake of his film "The Echo," for BIFFF 2009. - VVP, GMA News

...the World's best dive sites

2 Phl dive sites listed as among world's best By Aurea Calica The Philippine Star April 15, 2012

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang expressed gratefulness yesterday that the beauty of the Philippines was being cited in international travel websites, especially as the country is striving to attract more tourists.

Two diving destinations in the Philippines are among the best in the world, according to the travel news website CNNGo of Cable News Network (CNN).

The Tubbataha Reef, located southeast of Palawan, ranked eighth on CNNGo’s list of best dive sites in the world.

“Super-size your dive experience at Tubbataha, where everything comes in giant form. The main advantage to diving at Tubbataha is that the water is exceptionally clean, so the marine life lives much longer, making it grow to silly proportions,” the website said.

“Expect kaleidoscopic colors combined with guitar sharks, black tip reef sharks, nurse sharks, gliding blue-spotted lagoon rays, unicorns, boxfish, scorpion fish and more,” it added.

Tubbataha is located 181 kilometers southeast of Puerto Princesa City in Palawan. The reef is made up of two coral atolls divided by an eight-kilometer wide channel. Its diving area has a depth of five to 60 meters.

It is part of the Tubbataha National Marine Park, which was established on Aug. 11, 1988 and was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in December 1993.

Another dive site in the Philippines that made it to CNNGo’s list is The Canyons in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, which ranked 45th. “Schools of spotted and ribbon sweetlips, shiny trevallies and weird-looking batfish make up the scene at this first-rate dive site. There’s also an explosion of coral and plant life including beautiful delicate gorgonian sea fans and hollow barrel sponges; look inside for critters lurking within,” the website described The Canyons.

The Canyons is located northeast of Escarceo Point, some five minutes away by boat from Barangay Sabang in Puerto Galera.

With a depth of up to 30 meters or about 95 feet to a maximum of 200 feet, The Canyons was designated as a “Man and Biosphere Reserve” by UNESCO in 1973.

Earlier this year, CNNGo recognized Siargao, a teardrop-shaped island in Surigao del Norte, as the eighth best surfing spot in the world.

Manila, meanwhile, was hailed by the website as one of Asia’s greatest food cities.

Online voters, who visit the Skyscanner site to buy tickets or choose their holiday destination, also rated the Philippines as among the three countries with the least rude locals.

“We are hoping that (these recognitions) will boost our campaign that ‘It’s more fun in the Philippines,’” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.

Even reports of clean comfort rooms in airports and other facilities would be most welcome, she said.

“We encourage the public to report their experiences, either good or bad, so we can do something about them and also for them to hear the efforts being done by our agencies,” Valte said.

Valte said it was also good that the “hospitality” of Filipinos as well as their pleasantness and politeness were receiving worldwide attention, aside from the beautiful tourist spots.

In earlier reports, Dow Griffiths, location manager of the Hollywood film “The Bourne Legacy,” declared Filipino hospitality as the best thing about their month-long stay in the country.

In an interview with The New York Times published last March 22, Griffiths spoke of his and his crew’s stay in Manila for the movie shoot.

“The ‘Bourne’ movies are known as a more urban and gritty kind of product, and that was certainly true of Manila. It is congested, with the highest population density in the world. But the people are the best thing about it. Don’t be fooled by the signs everywhere that say ‘Check Your Firearms at the Door.’ Many citizens are packing, but you couldn’t meet more hospitable people,” he said.

In a TV interview last January, the film’s Philippine producer, Jun Juban, said the producers picked Manila over Jakarta in Indonesia and Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam for the shoot for the reason Griffiths cited.

According to his official website, Griffiths is a film industry veteran who has been working as a supervising motion picture location manager since the mid-1970s, specializing in “remote, foreign locations.”

His most recent projects were “Contagion,” “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” “Merchant of Shanghai,” “Indiana Jones 4: The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull,” and “The Bourne Supremacy.”

Griffiths also raved about the service given to them while billeted at a hotel in Makati City.

“Sometimes, when you are traveling, no matter how much you spend, you can’t buy good service,” he said. “We enjoyed personalized service at very affordable prices.”

Asked if he would go back to Manila for a vacation, Griffiths said, “For the casual traveler, it’s a good place to go to get somewhere else.”

“The real reason to go to the Philippines is to explore its more than 7,000 islands, from the heights of the rice terraces of Banaue to dives with the whale sharks in Donsol – and that’s just on one island, Luzon. El Nido, on Palawan Island, is paradise, and for a family trip, you are very well looked after at any of the resorts,” Griffiths was quoted as saying.

Griffiths, along with the cast and crew of “The Bourne Legacy,” were in the country from January to February this year.

Their filming locations included parts of Manila, Navotas, Marikina and Palawan. – With Juancho Mahusay

...the US Journalism Awardee

Fil-Am among winners of journalism awards in US

April 14, 2012

GMA News

 

 

When Connie Chung’s father, an intelligence officer under Chiang Kai Shek, fled his native China, his main source of news in the US was the Chinese language newspapers.

The TV journalist said her father spoke little English, but through the Chinese ethnic press, he kept himself informed about what was going on in China and the world.

“My father loved reading his Chinese newspapers,” she told an audience of community media publishers and journalists who gathered April 12 for the 2012 Ippies Journalism Awards, recognizing independent ethnic media.

Chung commended the ethnic media for its “fortitude” in reporting the news despite limited resources and bare-bones operations. She said immigrant journalists who write for the mainstream press could be “very effective in raising (immigrants) voices.” In some news reporting about Muslim and Asian immigrants, she said the mainstream media is “not doing its job.”

“You write with more details,” Chung said.

Chung also took potshots at the mainstream media for gender bias and too much “negativism.”  While there may be more women and minority journalists in the mainstream media, “they have not reached a level of parity” in executive positions.

She also said the “creeping negativism” in media “is just plain wrong.” She would like to see the return of  good old-fashioned reporting in the news and not too many opinions.

For this year’s Ippies, a record 46 publications, plus a few freelancers, submitted more than 240 entries for the 10 categories in which prizes are given. This is the 10th anniversary of the awards, and the first time the CUNY Journalism School has been their host.

Cristina DC Pastor, founding editor of The FilAm, won second place for an editorial she had written for Feet in 2 Worlds. The essay, “The Seductive Frenchman and a Feisty Hotel Maid,” examines whether the credibility of asylum seekers as court witnesses will always be in doubt following the dropping of sex assault charges against  Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

The rest of the winners are:

Best investigative/in-depth story: Investigates an issue overlooked by mainstream media or one that has great community impact

• 1st place: Meng Fang, Tu Yichen and Law Wai Ki for “Aftermath of September 11: New York’s Chinatown Ten Years On (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3),”  World Journal (Translations coming soon)
• 2nd place: Jacky Tik Wong for “Private Danny Chen Allegedly Subjected to Physical Abuse and Racial Taunting before Death,” Sing Tao Daily New York (Translation coming soon)
• 3rd place: Megan Finnegan (Our Town) and Stephon Johnson for “Elite Racism,” New York Amsterdam News

Best article on immigration or social justice: Critical look at economic, political or social issues that affect disenfranchised communities

• 1st place: Dan Coughlin and Kim Ives for “Washington Backed Famous Brand-Name Contractors in Fight Against Haiti’s Minimum Wage Increase,” Haïti Liberté
• 2nd place: Yuwei Zhang for “Talent hunters mean business,” China Daily USA  
• 3rd place: Neil deMause for “One Woman’s Plan to Beat Poverty,” City Limits

Best editorial/commentary: Presents a convincing and compelling perspective

• 1st place: Marco Salazar for “Scam U,” YCteen
• 2nd place: Cristina Pastor for “Looking Back at the Scandal of 2011: The Seductive Frenchman and a Feisty Hotel Maid,” Feet in 2 Worlds
• 3rd place: Kung Li­ for “A History of Georgia’s 1%: Why You Must Face Race to Occupy Atlanta,” Colorlines

Best overall design of print publication: Use of typography, art, images and layout in conveying a publication’s editorial message

• 1st place: Kurt Hoffman, The Forward
• 2nd place: Nick Sadowski, Nowy Dziennik
• 3rd place: Anthony Smyrski, City Limits

Best overall design of an online publication: Use of typography, art, images and layout in conveying a publication’s editorial message

• 1st place: Nick Sadowski, Nowy Dziennik
• 2nd place: Gabrielle Birkner, The Forward
• 3rd place: Phong Bui and Walter Chiu, The Brooklyn Rail

Best photo essay or online slideshow: Photographic series that best conveys a storyline or concept

• 1st place: A. Jesse Jiryu Davis for “The LD Presents ‘Strangers,’” The Lo-Down
• 2nd place: Peter Yan and Rick Ho for “911: The 10th Anniversary – At Ground Zero: Then and Now,” Sing Tao Daily
• 3rd place: Elizabeth Borda, Amelia Holowaty Krales, Ashley Marinaccio and Julie Turkewitz for “We Contain Multitudes,” The Indypendent

Best photograph: Goes beyond headshots or posed formal shots

• 1st place: Karsten Moran for his photo accompanying the story “Albany Votes to Approve Same-Sex Marriage,” The Riverdale Press
• 2nd place: Carl Glassman for his photo accompanying,  “Parting Shots: A Beloved Tribeca Ping Pong Club Shuts Down,” The Tribeca Trib
• 3rd place: Andrew Stern for his photo accompanying “Taking it to the Street,” The Indypendent

Best video: Best use of visual storytelling to highlight an issue of importance to a local community

• 1st place: Nate Lavey for “Living Apart in Crown Heights,” The Forward
• 2nd place: Nate Lavey for “Naming Mushky,” The Forward 
• 3rd place: Lan Trinh for “Immigrants and Native-Born Seek Chinese Language Instruction in NYC Public Schools,” Feet in 2 Worlds

Best audio: Best use of audio storytelling to highlight an issue of importance to a local community

• 1st place: Monica Miller for “Newark Roll Call,” WBGO 88.3FM
• 2nd place: Von Diaz for “LGBT Immigrant Youth Struggle in New York,” Feet in 2 Worlds
• 3rd place: Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, with help from Mohsin Zaheer, for “With an Eye on the Sky, Immigrants Revive Practice of Pigeon Tending in New York,” Feet in 2 Worlds

Best multimedia package: One that integrates multiple elements

• 1st place: DNAinfo.com staff for “Crime and Safety Analysis Delivers Surprises Across the Five Boroughs,”  DNAinfo.com
• 2nd place: Gal Beckerman for “Crown Heights 20 Years Later,” The Forward
• 3rd place: El Diario team for “Sept. 11 – the Latino experience,” El Diario/La Prensa

- The FilAm