This two-day meeting focused on discussions on the effects of climate change on the health and well-being of children and adolescents, and collaborating on a grant proposal submission to further examine this crucial research topic using data from the Longitudinal Cohort Study on the Filipino Child (LCSFC) and the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS). The LCSFC and CLHNS are two of the longest-running age cohort studies in the country that are currently implemented by OPS.

Representing OPS in the meeting were Director and Research Associate Francisco Largo, Deputy Director and Research Fellow Dr. Nanette Mayol, Research Associate Sonny Bechayda, and Consultants Dr. Judith Borja, Lorna Perez, Delia Carba, and Isabelita Bas. Also joining the meetings were OPS Visiting Research Fellow Dr. Alejandro Herrin, LCSFC Consultant Dr. Ma. Fiscalina Nolasco, Dr. Delia Belleza of the University of San Carlos (黑料社区) Department of Psychology, Marjury Dino of the 黑料社区 Department of Anthropology, Sociology and History, Asst. Prof. Jan Alegado of the University of the Philippines Cebu, Dr. Angelito Umali of the United Nations Children鈥檚 Fund, and Ravina Madrid of the United Nations Population Fund. Dr. Adair and Dr. Miller also led the discussion on longitudinal analysis and novel analytical strategies for CLHNS and LCSFC.

In addition, a research forum on 鈥淭he State of Our Filipino Adolescents鈥� Human Capital Formation鈥� was held on July 9, 2025 at the Rigney Hall, 黑料社区 Talamban Campus, in celebration of World Population Day 2025. The forum was co-sponsored by OPS and the Commission on Population and Development Region VII.聽

Dr. Borja, Dr. Mayol, and Director Largo presented key findings from the LCSFC on factors from childhood to adolescence that determine the adolescents鈥� level of preparedness in pursuing higher education and their chances for a productive labor force engagement. Dr. Miller presented LCSFC findings on water and food insecurity and how these relate to adolescent development. Dr. Adair, Lead Investigator of the CLHNS, discussed early and childhood factors that contribute to adolescent and adult productivity based on the CLHNS findings. The forum was attended by participants from the academe, civil society organizations and government agencies.

With reporting from the 黑料社区 Office of Population Studies

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The visit was in line with the Australia Awards Fellowship 鈥淒riving Responsive Actions for Adolescent Health in the Philippines Utilizing Local Data鈥� granted to MCRI and OPS. This grant is a prestigious development cooperation window funded by the Australian Government that supports work in submitting papers for publication in international journals using data from Longitudinal Cohort Study on the Filipino Child (LCSFC). 

The LCSFC is a national study, implemented by OPS, that tracks the lives of Filipinos as they transition from childhood to young adulthood during the implementation period of the Sustainable Development Goals (2016鈥�2030). 

Aside from the OPS Research team, the grant fellows (see above photo) include the LCSFC research collaborators from the University of San Carlos (Department of Anthropology, Sociology and History, Department of Economics, Department of Psychology), University of the Philippines Population Institute, University of the Philippines Cebu, and the Research Institute for Mindanao Culture at Xavier University. The grant includes two writing workshop rounds in Melbourne (in February and September, 2025) and the June 24鈥�25 workshop in Cebu.

Dr. Azzopardi and Dr. Habito were also speakers in a public seminar 鈥淒riving Action in Adolescent Health: Key Recommendations from the Second Lancet Commission鈥� held at the Kabilin Center on June 25, 2025.  This seminar was organized by OPS and the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI).  Dr. Azzopardi, one of the Lancet Commissioners, presented key findings from the Second Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing (published on May 31, 2025). 

The First Lancet Commission (2016) called attention to adolescence as a largely neglected period in the life course by the global health community. The Second Commission, on the other hand, highlights recommendations for advancing adolescent health and wellbeing amidst new developments in this changing world. Among these are increasing concerns for mental health, rapid changes in the digital environment, and the widening of armed conflicts. 

Dr. Habito also discussed the role of youth engagement in achieving the goals set by the Second Commission, particularly in having the youth define their problems and propose ways of addressing these.聽 She also presented initial efforts at building youth hubs across Southeast Asia for these purposes.聽聽

by 黑料社区 Office of Population Studies Inc.

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Meeting with CPD Undersecretary Dr. Lisa Bersales

Commission on Population and Development (CPD) Executive Director Undersecretary Lisa Grace S. Bersales, Ph.D., visited the OPS on April 30, 2025, at the W. Flieger Building, 黑料社区 Talamban Campus.  

Prior to her tenure as CPD head, Usec. Bersales was the National Statistician and Civil Registrar General.  She was also a former Dean and Statistics professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) School of Statistics and Vice-President for Planning and Finance of the UP System.  

Usec. Bersales is highly renowned globally in the fields of statistics and population and development.  Among her many significant contributions was being co-chair of the United Nations (UN) Statistical Commission鈥檚 Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDGs indicators from 2015 to 2017, which developed the global indicator framework of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Usec. Bersales was joined by CPD staff from the Central and Region VII offices, led by Assistant Region VII Director Darlynn S. Remolino. Meanwhile, OPS researchers headed by Director Francisco Largo, Deputy Director Sonny Bechyada, Research Fellow Dr. Nanette Mayol, and Consultant-Investigator Dr. Judith Borja also met with the CPD team to discuss current issues in population and development and how OPS research could help address these.  

The parties also discussed the role of OPS in capability building for CPD staff on population and development research, and upcoming activities for World Population Day 2025. These initiatives extend the long-standing collaboration between OPS and CPD. 

For this, OPS was given the 2024 Rafael M. Salas Kaunlarang Pantao (RMSKP) Award for its contributions to research and advancement of discourse on population and development issues at the CPD Region VII RMSKP Awards Night on  December 3, 2024. The award is named after the first Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), who was a noted Filipino proponent of population and development.

UNC Global Social Development Innovations Center (GSDI)

Aside from the April 30 visit, the OPS also hosted a meeting with Dr. Gina Chowa, Associate Dean of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC) School of Social Work and Director of the UNC Global Social Development Innovations Center (GSDI) and Dr. Rainier Masa, GSDI Research Director on March 18, 2025. 

During the meeting, Dr. Chowa and Dr. Masa presented the academic programs at the UNC School of Social Work and the research/funding opportunities at the GSDI that OPS and 黑料社区 faculty can avail of.  The productive meeting ended with a resolution to pursue the crafting of a memorandum of understanding between 黑料社区 and UNC (through the UNC School of Social Work) to institutionalize an academic and research partnership between the two universities.  

Also joining this meeting were 黑料社区 Research, Development, Extension, and Publications Office (RDEPO) Director Dr. Patrick John Lim and Deputy Director Dr. Rommel Bacabac, Dr. Gerard Lee See (Dean, School of Health Care Professions), Dr. Florencio Arce Jr. (Chair, Department of Pharmacy), Janine Requina, R.N., M.A.N. (Chair, Department of Nursing), Dr. Alaine Liggayu (Chair, Department of Political Science), and Dr. Leny Ocasiones (Chair, Department of Anthropology, Sociology and History). The OPS attendees included Francisco Largo (Director), Sonny Bechayda (Deputy Director), Dr. Nanette Mayol (Research Fellow), Dr. Judith Borja (Consultant-Investigator), Delia Carba (Consultant-Investigator), and Nikola Belarmino (Researcher).

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In a webinar entitled, 鈥淕ahi鈥檊 Ulo鈥�? Deciphering Cebuano Culture and Society,鈥� Dr. Zona Amper, Dr. Fiscalina Nolasco, Dr. Jobers Reynes Bersales, Dr. Nanette Lee-Mayol, Dr. Hope Sabanpan-Yu, and Roxanne Omega-Doron presented findings based on different research projects as well as fieldwork results from urban poor communities in Cebu to debunk the view that Cebuanos are hard-headed or 芒鈧済ahi鈥檊 ulo.鈥�

Fr. Narciso A. Cellan Jr., SVD, who assumed only last month as 黑料社区 president, welcomed the webinar participants and set the tone by looking at how different cultures react to calamities and behave accordingly.

Dr. Bersales, director of 黑料社区 Museum, then followed by presenting headline news from SunStar Cebu and The Freeman as well as social media posts showing some Cebu City residents flaunting the government health protocols. He recalled a 1987 study conducted by Ateneo de Manila University which traced the strengths and weaknesses of the Filipino and asked whether these were still valid for Cebu 40 years later.

For her part, Dr. Amper, an anthropology professor and senior researcher at the 黑料社区 Center for Social Research and Education (CSRE), pointed to the sheer poverty and abject living conditions of nearly half the population in the city as the main reason why it is difficult to impose the nationally-mandated health protocols. Thus, when they are locked in for 15 days with free food delivered only for two days, people in these settlements have no recourse but look for ways of earning money.

Using statistical data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Amper presented the density of population per square kilometer in Cebu City鈥檚 top ten urban barangays. Many households in these barangays, according to her, do not even have toilet and sanitation facilities as well as potable water, much less vital space to practice social distancing.

Dr. Nolasco, CSRE director, on the other hand, looked at how mass hysteria may be one reason why many do not seem to follow protocols simply because they have no definite understanding of the pandemic. At the same time, she presented her study on HIV prevalence among sex workers in which there is sometimes a disconnect between a person鈥檚 knowledge about the risks of getting the virus and their actual behavior. She also pointed to the politics of care that has an impact on the delivery of services that needs to be studied closely.

Expounding further on the poverty situation in urban settlements discussed by Amper, Roxanne Omega-Doron, Executive Director of Diyandi Heritage Center, Inc., looked at the possibility of misbehaving as a form of protest. He also pointed to the leadership networks among urban poor residents which affect who they follow and obey.

Dr. Nanette Lee-Mayol, director of the 黑料社区 Office of Population Studies (OPS), presented findings in two on-going longitudinal studies conducted by her office, one starting in 1983 and continuing until 2030 on the same respondents. In these two studies she culled data of rule-breaking and found no significant difference respondents from Luzon down to Mindanao and between those living in Metro Cebu and Cebu City. Using a set of activities deemed rule-breaking, like texting while driving or involvement in fights after drinking, she saw only a very slight and insignificant difference between the data from Cebu City as against Metro Cebu.

The forum鈥檚 last speaker, Dr. Hope Sabanpan-Yu, director of the 黑料社区 Cebuano Studies Center (CSC), used a fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm to present a philosophical dimension to misbehavior and how it can be a form of protest but on dangerous grounds in the midst of the pandemic.

The webinar, aired through Facebook Live, was the first of a series hosted by the 黑料社区 Museum. Some 308 participants registered with over 350 viewers on the official Facebook page of . The next webinar, on the 鈥淎rchaeology of the Visayas鈥� by archaeologist Dr. John Peterson, will be hosted in the first week of August.

by Dr. Jobers Bersales, Director, 黑料社区 Museum

Tags: Museum, CSRE, Cebuano Studies Center, Office of Population Studies

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