A Grounded Theory on Marist Spirituality/Charism from the Perspective of the Lay Marists in the Philippines

To the author’s knowledge, despite the written documents about Marist spirituality/charism, nothing has been done concerning a clear theoretical framework that highlights Marist spirituality/charism from the perspective or lived experience of the lay Marists of St. Marcellin Champagnat. The participants of the study are the lay Marist - educators who are from Marist Schools in the Philippines. Since the study would like to find out the respondents’ own concepts and meanings about Marist spirituality/charism, qualitative methodology is considered the approach to be used in the study. In particular, the study will use the qualitative methods of Barney Glaser. The theory will be generated systematically from data collection, coding and analyzing through memoing, theoretical sampling, sorting and writing and using the constant comparative method. The data collection method that will be employed in this grounded theory research is the in-depth interview that is semi-structured and participant driven. Data collection will be done through snowball sampling that is purposive. The study is considering to come up with a theoretical framework that will help the lay Marists to deepen their understanding of the Marist spirituality/charism and their vocation as lay partners of the Marist Brothers of the Schools.

Slaughter and Carcass Characterization, and Sensory Qualities of Native, Pure, and Upgraded Breeds of Goat Raised in the Philippines

Goat production is one of the activities included in integrated farming in the Philippines. Goats are raised for its meat and regardless of breed the animal is slaughtered for this purpose. In order to document the carcass yield of different goats slaughtered, five (5) different breeds of goats to include Purebred Boer and Anglo-nubian, Crossbred Boer and Anglo-nubian and Philippine Native goat were used in the study. Data on slaughter parameters, carcass characteristics, and sensory evaluation were gathered and analyzed using Complete Random Design (CRD) at 5% level of significance and the results of carcass conformation were assessed descriptively. Results showed that slaughter data such as slaughter/live weight, hot and chilled carcass weights, dressing percentage and percentage drip loss were significantly different (P>0.05) among breeds. On carcass and meat characteristics, pure breed and upgraded Boer were found to be moderately muscular while Native goat was rated as thin muscular. The color of the carcass also revealed that Purebred and crossbred Boer were described dark red, while Native goat was noted to be slightly pale. On sensory evaluation, the results indicated that there was no significant difference (P>0.05) among breeds evaluated. It is therefore concluded that purebred goat has heavier carcass, while both purebred Boer and upgrade are rated slightly muscular. It is further confirms that regardless of breed, goat will have the same sensory characteristics. Thus, it is recommended to slaughter heavier goats to obtain more carcasses with better conformation and quality.

Capital Mobility in Savings and Investment across China and the ASEAN-5: Evidence from Recursive Cointegration

This paper applies recursive cointegration analysis to examine the dynamic changes in Feldstein-Horioka saving-investment (S-I) coefficients across China and the ASEAN-5 countries over time. To the extent that the S-I coefficients measure international capital mobility, the main empirical results are as follows. The recursive trace statistics show that the investment- savings nexus varies in these six countries. There is no cointegration between investment and savings in three countries (China, Malaysia, and Singapore), which means that the mobility of the capital markets in the three is high and that domestic investment in them will be financed by the global pool of capital. As to the other three countries (Indonesia, Thailand, and Philippines), there is cointegration between investment and savings for part of the sample period in the three, including before 2002 for Thailand, before 2001 for Indonesia, and before 2002 for Philippines. This shows these three countries achieved highly mobile and open capital markets later.

Development of a Wind Resource Assessment Framework Using Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, Python Scripting and Geographic Information Systems

Wind energy is rapidly emerging as the primary source of electricity in the Philippines, although developing an accurate wind resource model is difficult. In this study, Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, an open source mesoscale Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model, was used to produce a 1-year atmospheric simulation with 4 km resolution on the Ilocos Region of the Philippines. The WRF output (netCDF) extracts the annual mean wind speed data using a Python-based Graphical User Interface. Lastly, wind resource assessment was produced using a GIS software. Results of the study showed that it is more flexible to use Python scripts than using other post-processing tools in dealing with netCDF files. Using WRF Model, Python, and Geographic Information Systems, a reliable wind resource map is produced.

PhilSHORE: Development of a WebGIS-Based Marine Spatial Planning Tool for Tidal Current Energy Resource Assessment and Site Suitability Analysis

PhilSHORE is a multi-site, multi-device and multicriteria decision support tool designed to support the development of tidal current energy in the Philippines. Its platform is based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) which allows for the collection, storage, processing, analyses and display of geospatial data. Combining GIS tools with open source web development applications, PhilSHORE becomes a webGIS-based marine spatial planning tool. To date, PhilSHORE displays output maps and graphs of power and energy density, site suitability and site-device analysis. It enables stakeholders and the public easy access to the results of tidal current energy resource assessments and site suitability analyses. Results of the initial development show that PhilSHORE is a promising decision support tool for ORE project developments.

The Relationship between Human Resource Practices and Firm Performance Case Study: The Philippine Firms Empirical Assessment

This study on “The relationship between human resource practices and Firm Performance is a speculative investigation research. The purpose of this research are (1) to provide and to understand of HRM history and current HR practices in the Philippines (2) to examine the extent of HRM practice among its Philippine firms effectively; (3) to investigate the relationship between HRM practice and firm performance in the Philippines. The survey was done to 233 companies in the Philippines. The questionnaire is divided into three parts a) to gathers information on the profile of respondent, b) to measures the extent to which human resource practices are being practiced in their organization c) to measure the organizations performance as perceived by human resource managers and top executives as compared with their competitors in the same industry. As a result an interesting finding was that almost 50 percent of firm performance is affected by the extent of implementation of HR practices in the firm. These results show that HR practices that are in line with the organization’s strategic goals are important for future performance.

Sediment Fixation of Arsenic in the Ash Lagoon of a Coal-Fired Power Plant, Philippines

Arsenic in the sediments of the ash lagoons of the coal-fired power plant in Pagbilao, Quezon Province in the Philippines was sequentially extracted to determine its potential for leaching to the groundwater and the adjacent marine environment. Results show that 89% of the As is bound to the quasi-crystalline Fe/Mn oxides and hydroxide matrix in the sediments, whereas, the adsorbed and exchangeable As hosted by the clay minerals, representing those that are easiest to release from the sediment matrix, is below 10% of the acid leachable As. These As in these sediment matrices represent the possible maximum amount of As that can be released and supplied to the groundwater and the adjacent marine environment. Of the 89% reducible As, up to 4% is associated with the easily reducible variety, whereas, the rest is more strongly bonded by the moderately reducible variety. Based on the long-term As content of the lagoon water, the average desorption rate of As is calculated to be very low -- 0.3-0.5% on the average and 0.6% on the maximum. This indicates that As is well-fixed by its sediment matrices in the ash lagoon, attenuating the influx of As into the adjacent groundwater and marine environments.

The Application of Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on the Czech Financial Market

The impact assessment in its various forms has recently become a very important part of policy-making and legislation in many different countries. Regulatory impact assessment (RIA) is yet another set of analytical methods deployed in the legislation of the European Union, of many developed countries as well as in many developing ones such as Mexico, Malaysia and Philippines. The aim of this paper is to provide a theoretical background for economic models in regulatory impact assessment and an overview of their application especially on the financial market in the Czech Republic. We found out an inadequate application of these models, what makes room for further research in this field.

A Two-Species Model for a Fishing System with Marine Protected Areas

A model of a system concerning one species of demersal (inshore) fish and one of pelagic (offshore) fish undergoing fishing restricted by marine protected areas is proposed in this paper. This setup was based on the FISH-BE model applied to the Tabina fishery in Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines. The components of the model equations have been adapted from widely-accepted mechanisms in population dynamics. The model employs Gompertz-s law of growth and interaction on each type of protected and unprotected subpopulation. Exchange coefficients between protected and unprotected areas were assumed to be proportional to the relative area of the entry region. Fishing harvests were assumed to be proportional to both the number of fishers and the number of unprotected fish. An extra term was included for the pelagic population to allow for the exchange between the unprotected area and the outside environment. The systems were found to be bounded for all parameter values. The equations for the steady state were unsolvable analytically but the existence and uniqueness of non-zero steady states can be proven. Plots also show that an MPA size yielding the maximum steady state of the unprotected population can be found. All steady states were found to be globally asymptotically stable for the entire range of parameter values.