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Determinants of Oil Consumption in the Transport Sector of the Philippines
No full textThe Philippines ranks 36th out of 214 countries with the highest oil consumption. Of the five sectors, the transport sector holds approximately 65 percent of the total oil usage of the country. Given this background and context, the present study has as its general objective the identification of the factors affecting transport sector oil consumption in the Philippines. Specifically, the study assessed the trend in the consumption of oil and some relevant macroeconomic variables since the 1990s and then used the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method to identify the macroeconomic variables that significantly affect the transport sector oil consumption covering the period of 1990 to 2021. The main finding of the study is that oil price and population have significant and negative effect on oil consumption in the transport sector while real GDP has positive and significant effect on oil consumption in the transport sector. These findings suggest that government and private agencies that try to influence or anticipate oil consumption in the transport sector must pay particular attention to movement of oil price and the level of economic activity. Further studies that will verify the effect of population on oil consumption in the transport sector are needed
Factors Influencing the Willingness to Pay of Filipino Millenials for Traceable Apparel
No full textThe estimation of WTP for the integration of traceability technologies in the textile and apparel industry supply chain is an understudied but increasingly prevalent area in the literature. This research aims to determine whether Filipino millennials are willing to pay for traceable apparel and to identify the factors that influence their willingness to pay. A single-bounded dichotomous-choice Contingent Valuation Method was employed in the estimation of the respondent’s WTP. The results of the logistic regression found that bid price and monthly income were statistically significant factors of WTP. The bid price has a negative relationship with WTP while the monthly income of the respondents has a positive relationship with WTP. In addition, the study also looked into the Theory of Planned Behavior constructs and found that attitude and perceived behavioral control exert positive influence on WTP. Lastly, the study elicited the mean WTP of the respondents, which is equal to Php 271.00, using the Turnbull Estimator
A Comparison of Economic Indicators Before and After the Covid-19 Pandemic using Two Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) Surveys: The Case of the Municipality of Teresa, Rizal
No full textThis study took a closer look at the changes in the economic conditions in the Local Government of Teresa, Rizal with the use of economic indicators generated from two CBMS Surveys conducted before and after the pandemic. The study was able to generate the key CBMS economic indicators and interpret the changes in the key CBMS economic indicators with the aid of the data on the distribution of employment by sector, by occupation and by class of worker that were drawn from the CBMS dataset. These results show that even when the local government revenue is thriving, the economic conditions of individuals and households can be deteriorating, as indicated by the changes in the economic indicators of CBMS. The present study tried to make sense of the observed changes in the economic indicators of CBMS by looking at the changes in the distribution of employment by sector, by occupation and by class of worker. The local government revenue remained resilient as agriculture jobs shifted to service sector jobs which are more taxable. Labor indicators like unemployment and underemployment worsened as skilled agriculture, forestry and fishery workers were led to actively look for work in the services sector as service and sales workers. Poverty incidence, subsistence incidence and food shortage incidence rose after the pandemic as the share of service sector employment in total employment increased which could possibly have led to more part-time and low-pay employment
The Role of Financial Literacy in Shaping Financial Behavior: Evidence from the Selected Students of the University of the Philippines Open University
No full textRecognizing the role of financial literacy on financial behavior is a crucial step in shaping the financial well-being of the individuals, particularly the young adults. In view of that, this study examines the relationship between financial literacy and financial behavior of undergraduate students in the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU). Drawing on existing literature, the financial literacy is measured using the OECD Financial Literacy Toolkit. Based on the ordered logit regression, having a higher financial literacy scores can lead to better financial behavior in terms of spending,budgeting, and saving. Additionally, those young adults who have taken any financial- related courses have a better score both in budgeting and saving aspects as compared totheir counterparts. Thus, to better improve the financial behavior of young adults a more comprehensive financial education is necessary
Awareness, Attitude, and Purchase Intention Towards Genetically Modified (BT) Eggplant Among Consumers in Selected Municipalities of Laguna
No full textEggplant is one of the most important vegetable crops in the country. In fact, the Philippines is one of the top producers of eggplant in Asia in terms of land area and production volume (Statista, 2023). However, eggplant crops are commonly at high risk of pest infestation which result to yield and income losses among farmers. As an intervention, the University of the Philippines Los Baños developed the Bt eggplant to combat the damaging effects of eggplant fruit and shoot borers. (FSB)
However, the recent commercialization of BT eggplant encountered various protests and petitions from some organizations causing the Court of Appeals to cease and desist all the activities related to its commercialization. In response to the present legal dilemma being faced by Bt eggplant, this study was conducted to analyze the current state of awareness, attitude, and purchase intention towards Bt eggplant of consumers in selected barangays of Los Baños and Calamba.
The study was conducted among 97 consumer respondents from the selected barangays. These samples were chosen through systematic sampling and their responses were analyzed with the use of various statistical tools such as Chi-Squared Test of Independence, Cramer\u27s V Test and Spearman Rank Correlation Test.
Based on the result of the study, only 9.28% of the respondents were aware of Bt eggplant. This implies that almost all of the eggplant consumers in the selected barangays were unaware of this eggplant variety. Aware consumers commonly learn about Bt eggplant form online platforms. However, the study found that online platforms tend to impart negative information in consumers mind which explains why majority of the respondents had a neutral first impression of Bt eggplant.
The attitude of consumer respondents were evaluated based on various metrics which include perceived believability of the provided text, level of affinity, level of interest and extent of familial consent. Based on the results, the attitude and purchase intention of consumers in the selected barangays were found to lean towards reserved positivity. Drivers of positive attitude and high purchase among consumers include its superior market qualities, its advantages over the ordinary varieties and consumer curiosity about it\u27s attributes. On the other hand, negative attitude and low purchase intention from consumers were often driven by safety and health-related reservation, unfamiliarity of the product and GMO nature of Bt eggplant.
Among the various socio-demographic variables, gender was found to be significantly correlated with extent of familial consent and purchase intention, age with level of affinity and interest, and martial status with extent of familial consent.
Considering the result of the study, several courses of action were recommended to the developers of Bt eggplant. These include strengthening educational campaigns, encouraging endorsements from regulatory agencies, encouraging independent reviews and studies, social media campaigns, interactive exhibitions and fairs, cooking demonstrations and reversing the CA decision on GMO ban by encouraging various organizations to release a statement and building coalitions
Assessment of Variants of Organic-Based Rice Production Systems in Negros Occidental, Philippines
Get PDFA survey was conducted to determine information needs and assess variants of organic rice-based production among rice farmers in Negros Occidental, Philippines. Survey data were gathered from 199 out of 400 identified organic rice practitioners in the province, which accounts for a \u3e 95% confidence level and 5% of margin of error. Among the respondents, only 20.1% had organic certification from third-party representatives, and 42.2% can be classified under a low-input farming system. Some (21.1%) were in transition for certification or were farmers intending to go into organic certification with third-party representatives. The remaining (16.6%) used organic inputs but were not certified nor in transition for certification. Results also showed that farmers\u27 access to information and technologies was mainly from trainings and seminars facilitated by different organizations through their associations and cooperatives. Many of the farmers had practices based on cultural management, and their organic inputs were farm-produced. The average yield of organic farming systems of farmers in Negros Occidental ranged from 2.76 to 3.21 t/ha. The average net income of farmers was PhP 29 649.32. Well-informed farmers, active farmer associations, and available support from different organizations were among the identified elements of continued organic rice production of farmers in the province. Some of the constraints were low productivity and profit in organic rice farming and problems with market availability
The Filipino Youth’s Exploration of Sexuality through Media: Towards Proposing a Module Guide Integrating Comprehensive Sexuality Education
No full textNested PCR Detection of Hepatozoon spp. and Plasmodium spp. in Rattus spp. from Provinces in the Philippines
No full textThis study examined the occurrence of Hepatozoon spp. and Plasmodium spp. in field rats across three provinces in the Philippines: Cotabato, Northern Samar, and Camarines Sur. A total of 125 pre-extracted DNA samples of rat spleen were tested. The samples came from six species belonging to the Rattus genus distributed throughout the study areas. Using nested PCR targeting the 18S RNA gene, the study found that Hepatozoon spp. had a total positivity rate of 40.8%. Meanwhile, nested PCR targeting the cytb gene of Plasmodium spp. only detected one positive sample (positivity rate of 0.8%). DNA sequence analysis revealed that Hepatozoon spp. isolates were highly similar with those previously reported from other countries while the detected Plasmodium spp. showed greater similarity to avian strains, indicating possible cross-species transmission. This study provided valuable information on the distribution of two blood parasites in field rat populations in the Philippines. The variations observed across provinces and species suggest that different ecological factors may have effects on the transmission and distribution of these blood parasites. More research is needed to understand hemoparasites in rat populations and elucidate their possible role in the spread to other animals and/or humans. Specifically, host-specific factors, cross-species dynamics, and other epidemiological parameters related to these parasites should be investigated
Design and development of a sensor and actuator network prototype for monitoring and control of growth parameters for high value crops
Get PDFLosses due to inefficiencies in farm management and operations are some of the major problems encountered in farm production, especially for high value crops. To address these inefficiencies, farm management practices must lean towards a more data-driven decision making by employing smart and accurate technology interventions. The emergence of technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and big data management helped push precision agriculture further by giving it better data collection, management, and more efficient communication protocols. In the case of tomato production, losses due to farm management inefficiencies were one of the problems observed in a prior needs assessment and technology intervention studies conducted. Particularly, inefficiencies in irrigation and fertilizer application were observed to be major problems in tomato production. The study aimed to address these problems by developing a smart system that can monitor and control irrigation and fertilizer application in tomato production. The sensors were calibrated for actual field conditions. For the light dependent resistor data of the sensor pole against actual light intensity, a hyperbolic function with R2 value of 0.9973 was observed, while for photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) against light intensity, a linear function with R2 value of 0.9995 was observed. Meanwhile, the resistive soil moisture value from the sensor against the actual gravimetric soil moisture values had a 2nd order polynomial function with an R2 value of 0.974. Moreover, hydraulic performance evaluation experiments were conducted for the developed fertigation system where it was classified to have good to excellent performance based on coefficient of variation (CV), coefficient of uniformity (CU), and emission uniformity (EU)
UP Los Baños Journal, Volume 22 - DSS Special Issue
No full textThe Issue Editor Speaks
The UPLB University Publications Office is honored to introduce this Special Edition of the UP Los Baños Journal, curated by the Department of Social Sciences (DSS), College of Arts and Sciences in celebration of the department’s 50th Anniversary. This milestone stands as a testament to the department\u27s unwavering commitment to excellence in social science research, teaching, and intellectual discourse.
This special issue is not just a collection of articles but a rich tapestry of interdisciplinary perspectives and methodologies. It delves into the complexities of human society, exploring cultural dynamics, historical contexts, and geopolitical analyses. The research featured here reflects the depth and breadth of inquiry that the DSS has fostered over the last five decades.
The publication serves as a dual reflection: one of the Department’s scholarly legacy and one of its ongoing vision. It underscores the critical role social sciences play in addressing contemporary challenges and understanding the dynamic forces that shape our ever- evolving world.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the Department of Social Sciences, especially to the the authors, reviewers, and editorial team who have worked diligently to bring this edition to life. This publication is not just a milestone but a beacon for future scholars and a catalyst for meaningful conversations and actions.
To our readers, we invite you to engage with the ideas and insights in these pages with curiosity and openness. Let this special issue inspire new thoughts and dialogues, advancing knowledge and innovation in the field.
Let us all continue to uphold the mission of the UP Los Baños Journal: to foster knowledge, dialogue, and innovation across all fields of study.
Nancy E. Añez-Tandang, PhD
Editor-in-Chief, 2024 UP Los Baños Journa