The University of the Philippines Mindanao (UPMin) 's Rabies Research team was an awardee in Pasidungog 2023: Garbo sa Dabaw, an 86th Araw ng Dabaw event. UPMin Chancellor and Professor of Virology Lyre Anni E. Murao received the award on behalf of the Team in ceremonies held on March 8, 2023, at Acacia Hotel in Davao City. "The City Government of Davao acknowledges your relentless support in the initiatives and programs of the local government in 2022, enabling the city to achieve economic sustainability," stated City Mayor Sebastian Z. Duterte in the award.

Dr. Cerelyn B. Pinili of the City Veterinarian's Office (CVO) nominated the UPMin Team for contributing to the CVO's efforts in 2022. The nomination cited the UPMin Team's "continuing rabies research, delivery of training for CVO personnel, the policy recommendations contributing to the city ordinance on responsible pet ownership, and the RabCast Rabies Dashboard that helped in the planning and implementing the CVO's rabies control interventions."

The UPMin rabies research started in 2018 with the Synoptic Study on Transmission and Optimal Control to Prevent (STOP) Rabies. This research program, led by Professor Murao, brought together experts from the fields of biomathematics, economics, human health science, and veterinary medicine to do research for a rabies-free Philippines, with Davao City as a case study. It was funded by the Commission on Higher Education's Discovery Applied Research and Extension for Trans/Interdisciplinary Opportunities (CHED DARE TO). In addition, UPMin collaborated with the CVO, Davao Medical School Foundation, Inc., Davao City Health Office, and participating NGOs. The STOP Rabies program produced policy recommendations to support the LGU's actions in preventing rabies spread and minimizing human rabies incidence and information, education, and communication (IEC) materials for the CVO campaigns.

The discussion was led (in the above photo, left-right) by Prof. Cleto L. Nañola Jr. of the University of the Philippines Mindanao, Prof. Kent E. Carpenter of the Old Dominion University, with Dr. Mudjekeewis Santos of the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, and Prof. Richard Muallil (not in photo) of the Mindanao State University Tawi-Tawi. Dr. Santos, in his talk, discussed the importance of having more research about fish biodiversity in establishing better protocols.

The discussion was followed by the soft launch of “Data Collection and Analyses for Reef Fish Biology,” a book edited by Dr. Cleto L. Nanola Jr. and Maybelle Fortaleza, which hopes to guide independent researchers in their own academic ventures. 

Later in the event was the ceremonial signing of the Memorandum of Agreement for Educational and Scientific Cooperation between UP Mindanao and Davao del Norte State College. The partnered institutions, through the MOA, aim to implement the Applied Biodiversity Research for Holistic Advancements in Mindanao (ABRAHAM). The said program aims to develop an information and database system for Fish Morphology and DNA information about the Marine Fisheries in the Davao Region. This program also aims to create an open-access information system that will house and feature marine life information of studied organisms by local experts through the Marine Biodiversity Database (MaBiDa) Project.

By James Edward Pangan