19 New Whale Sharks Identified in Donsol Throughout 2020

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines has identified 19 new individual whale sharks in the waters of Ticao-Burias Pass Protected Seascape (TBPPS) since the start of 2020.

Nestled between the provinces of Masbate, Sorsogon and Albay, the TBPPS is a critical ecosystem that is home to numerous endangered marine species, including the whale shark. The area is rich in marine biodiversity – but development work in the surrounding provinces poses a threat to local ecosystems.

The conservation organization also reports 50 returning individuals, for a total of 69 unique whale sharks spotted since the start of the year. This makes for a total of 733 whale sharks documented in the region since monitoring began in 2007.

The whale sharks were identified as part of WWF-Philippines’ ongoing effort to protect the TBPPS ecosystem. WWF-Philippines has operated sustainable tourism activities in the region since 1998, in a tripartite partnership with the LGU of Donsol and the Department of Tourism Region 5. Whale shark populations have risen since then, and the municipality of Donsol has developed into a third-class municipality.

Tourism activity in the TBPPS remains on hold under ongoing lockdown measures. Despite this, however, WWF-Philippines maintains its daily whale shark monitoring operations.

“It’s important that we continue our whale shark monitoring efforts despite the lockdown. It’s our obligation as WWF-Philippines to continue monitoring activities, and to let the world know of the whale sharks of Donsol and their importance to their ecosystem,” said WWF-Philippines Donsol Project Manager Jun E. Narvadez. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, currently lists the whale shark as endangered.

“Our Butanding Interaction Officers, our spotters, they all help us monitor the whale sharks. This is a community effort that helps both the whale sharks and the people of Donsol. Hopefully by November, we’ll be able to restart our tourism activities again,” added Narvadez.

WWF-Philippines has continued to provide support to the community of Donsol throughout the current pandemic. With your help, we can continue to #ChangeTheEnding for our whale sharks.

Cover photo: A whale shark in Ticao-Burias Pass Protected Seascape, or TBPPS, off the coast of Donsol, Sorsogon. 19 new individuals were sighted in the area throughout 2020. Photograph © WWF-Philippines

19 new individuals and 50 returning whale sharks were identified in the Ticao-Burias Pass Protected Seascape, or TBPPS, throughout 2020. Photograph © WWF-Philippines

Whale shark individuals are identified by the pattern of their spots. Each whale shark possesses a pattern that is unique to them, making them easy to differentiate. Photograph © WWF-Philippines

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set to resign for health reasons

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest continuously serving prime minister, after taking office in 2012, is set to resign for health reasons.

Two hospital visits in one week sparked questions about whether Mr Abe's health was deteriorating.

He had been due to serve until September 2021. He has not revealed what the visits were for but one is reported to have lasted nearly eight hours.

He has suffered from the disease ulcerative colitis for many years but his condition is thought to have worsened recently.

In 2007 he resigned abruptly from an earlier term as prime minister because of his struggles with ulcerative colitis, a chronic condition affecting the large intestine, that he has lived with since he was a teenager.

Officials from his governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have previously dismissed speculation that he would step down, saying the prime minister's health is fine.

On Tuesday one of his aides told Reuters that he thought Mr Abe would fulfil his tenure.

Akira Amari, head of the LDP's tax panel, dismissed the suggestion that the prime minister would dissolve parliament's lower house for a snap general election soon.

"There won't be a snap election for the time being," he said.

Still, rumours have persisted about Mr Abe's growing fatigue as he fields growing scrutiny for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, at a time when approval ratings for his cabinet have dropped.

Under Japanese law, an acting prime minister would step in temporarily if Mr Abe were unable to perform his role, with no limits on how long they can stay in post.

Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, who is also finance minister, is first in line, followed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

An acting prime minister cannot call a snap election but they lead on other matters such as treaties and budgets until a new party leader and premier is chosen.

A resignation or an announced intention to resign would trigger a vote within Mr Abe's LDP to replace him as president.

This election would be followed by a parliamentary vote to elect a new prime minister.

The winner would hold the post until the end of Mr Abe's term in September 2021.

No surprises in 2020 NOI.PH Finals

Wazzup Pilipinas!

De La Salle University Senior High School’s Dan Alden Baterisna, who won a bronze medal at the 31st International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) in Baku, Azerbaijan last year, backed up his top-ranked status as he scored 609 points to place first in the recently-concluded National Olympiad in Informatics (NOI.PH), held online last August 8-9.

Coming in second was Steven Chua of British School Manila, who scored an impressive 574.54 points. Baterisna received a gold medal and Php 6,000 cash prize, while Chua secured silver and Php 3,000.

With the finish, they automatically clinched two of the four spots on the Philippine team in the IOI.

The NOI.PH Finals was participated in by the top 31 finishers out of 148 during the national eliminations held in January. The finalists each solved five challenging programming tasks in each day’s five-hour session. Contestants used their programming and analytical skills to create data structures and algorithms to solve each task using a program.

Also securing places in the top 10 were:

3rd place – Steven Reyes of Saint Jude Catholic School (565.74 points)

4th place – Dion Stephan Ong of the Ateneo de Manila Senior High School (503 points)

5th place – Frederick Ivan Michael Tan of Philippine Science High School – Main (493 points)

6th place – Rapahael Dylan Dalida of PSHS Main (468.08 points)

7th place – Ron Mikhael Surara of PSHS Bicol (449.68 points)

8th place – Enruco Rolando Martinez of PSHS Main (273.96 points)

9th place – Harvey Shawn Chua of PSHS Main (271.9 points)

10th place – Marc Joshua Ayalde of PSHS SOCCSKSARGEN (268.11 points)

The remaining two slots in the national team will be filled after a training session among the top finalists.

NOI.PH President Marte Soliza congratulated the winners and urged the finalists to do their best in the training session.

“The organizing committee would like to thank the Department of Science and Technology – Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) for their generous support for the event. We would also like to thank our volunteers from Ateneo de Manila University’s (ADMU) Computer Society of Ateneo (CompSAt) and the University of the Philippines’ Association for Computing Machinery (UP ACM), as well as our testers and illustrators for helping out. We hope for your continued support as we move to the selection of our delegation to the International Olympiad in Informatics 2020,” Soliza said.

Likewise, DOST-SEI’s Director, Dr. Josette Biyo, congratulated NOI.PH for a successful full-online national finals.

“Informatics as a field is something exciting for young Filipinos and we are very glad that the NOI.PH leads in developing the innate analytical and computing talents of our students. We congratulate the winners and look forward to their journeys, not just in the IOI, but in their other endeavors,” Biyo disclosed.

The IOI 2020, which was originally set in July in Singapore, is moved to September 21-22 and will be held online.