Systematic Biologists convene in UST

This year, the annual symposium and meeting of the Association of Systematic Biologists of the Philippines (ASBP) was held for the second time at the University of Santo Tomas from May 19 to 20, 2016. This year’s event was held in cooperation with the UST Graduate School and had the theme “Philippine Systematics beyond Borders”. Dr. Grecebio Jonathan Alejandro, President of ASBP (2014-2016) served as Convention Chair, while Dr. Rey Donne Papa and Dr. Cecilia Banag served as co-chairs of the local organizing committee. The event saw more than 80 participants from different parts of the country as well as Japan joining the various activities such as the keynote and plenary lectures, parallel oral presentations, poster presentations, workshops, and the graduate and undergraduate Young Systematic Biologists Forum. Papers presented during the two-day event focused on various aspects of animal, plant and microbial systematics.

Among the highlights of this year’s symposium was the Keynote Lecture on the theme delivered by Prof. Dr. Ireneo L. Lit, Jr. of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, a well-known entomologist who previously served as the Director of the UPLB Natural History Museum. Plenary lectures were also delivered by renowned scientists such as Prof. Dr. Masahiro Ohara (Hokkaido University), Prof. Dr. Edwino Fernando (UPLB), Prof. Dr. Roberto Pagulayan (Angeles University Foundation) and Prof. Dr. Spencer Benson (University of Macau).

Conference speakers, organizers, and delegates

Thomasians dominated the best poster awards as well as the undergraduate and graduate categories of the Young Systematic Biologists Forum. The following awards were given during the Closing Ceremonies:

Poster Competition

3rd Place	An Inventory of Rubiaceae in Balangkayan, Eastern Samar Including a Phytochemical Screening and a Preliminary Report on the Cytotoxic Activity of Neonauclea formicaria (Elmer) Merr. Jaydan I. Aguilar, Joanna Domini T. Bernardino, Miguel Lawrence F. Sta. Maria, Jenica Nicole S.J. Yu and Cecilia I. Banag (University of Santo Tomas)
2nd Place	New Faunistic And Host Record Of Phauda Flammans Walker (Lepidoptera: Zygaenidae) From The Philippines Elliaj Kaye Capacete, Alice Geraldine Hernando, Richard Lagrimas, Jalizah Jaira Lim, Sharlaine Orense, Joan Rivera, Gerald Soliven, Michael Tabug and Aimee Lynn Dupo (University of Santo Tomas and University of the Philippines – Los Baños)
1st Place	Landmark-Based Geometric Morphometric Analysis on Nepenthes saranganiensis Kurata in Relation to the Plant’s Trapping Strategies John Vincent P. Anino II and Dave P. Buenavista (Central Mindanao University)

YSBF (Undergraduate Level)

3rd Place	Phylogenetic placement of selected Philippine Gardenieae using cpDNA molecular datasets Christian Emmanuel E. Braganza, Catherine Louise N. Chua, Hedder A. Lim, Bennett O. Tia, and Grecebio Jonathan D. Alejandro (University of Santo Tomas)
2nd Place	Phylogeny of selected Philippine Ophiorrhiza L. (Ophiorrhizeae—Rubiaceae) inferred from mul-tiple sequence data including accounts of two new species Yñigo Luis del Prado, Nadia Mariella Diestro, Frederick Ferdinand Gomez, Princess Bituin Tapire, and Grecebio Jonathan Alejandro (University of Santo Tomas)
1st Place	Genetic Diversity of Ixora macrophylla with a Preliminary Report on its Phytochemical Components Czarina Alexei S. Gaticales, Ellize Gail P. Gonzales, Juan Karlo L. Marquez, Gabriel Louis L. Montalbo, Grecebio Jonathan D. Alejandro, and Cecilia I. Banag (University of Santo Tomas)

YSBF (Graduate Level)

3rd Place	Evaluation of five DNA loci (rbcL, rps16, trnT-L, trnL-F, and ITS) for molecular authentication and phylogeny reconstruction of Philippine Argostemma species (Rubiaceae) including a new ac-count of species and variety Hao Wei Hsu and Grecebio Jonathan D. Alejandro (University of Santo Tomas)
2nd Place	Third species of Vanoverberghia Merr. (Alpinieae: Zingiberaceae) discovered in Aurora, Philippines Rudolph Valentino A. Docot and Cecilia I. Banag (University of Santo Tomas)
1st Place	Saving our slime molds (SOSm): a comparative diversity study on the slime molds of two lowland forests in Mindoro Island, Philippines and its implication to biodiversity conservation Melissa Pecundo,Nikki Heherson Dagamac, Martin Schnittler and Thomas Edison dela Cruz (University of Greifswald and University of Santo Tomas)

During the elections for the next set of ASBP officers, Dr. Rey Donne Papa of the UST College of Science, Graduate School and RCNAS was elected Vice-President together with fellow Thomasian alumnus, Dr. Axel Arriola (University of the East), who was elected Treasurer. They will serve as officers of the ASBP from 2016 to 2018 together with Dr. Lawrence Liao (President; Hiroshima University), Dr. Florfe Acma (Secretary; Central Mindanao University), Dr. Juan Carlos Gonzalez (Asst. Secretary; UPLB), Dr. Robert Guino-o (Business Manager; Silliman University), Dr. Hendrik Freitag (Auditor; ADMU) and Dr. Roberto Pagulayan (PRO; Angeles University Foundation).    

The ASBP is an organization of Filipino systematic biologists founded in 1982. Thomasians have long been involved in the association as well as its official publication – the Philippine Journal of Systematic Biology. Both the founding and immediate past president were alumni of the M.Sc. Biology program of the UST Graduate School. Dr. Domingo Madulid of the Philippine National Museum served as president of the ASBP in 1982 and spearheaded its revival in 2004 while the outgoing president, Dr. Grecebio Jonathan Alejandro, the Director of the Office for Graduate Research of the UST Graduate School just concluded his term as President from 2014 to 2016.

The word “Systematic” in Systematic Biologists is not an adjective, though it could very well describe how these scientists work. Systematic Biologists conduct research on the kinds and diversity of organisms and their interrelationships whilst applying taxonomic principles. They play a significant role in studying biodiversity – as they help to accurately analyze and examine plants, animals and microorganisms in order to assign proper scientific names and classify them into different taxa.