The Integrated Chemists of the Philippines-Southern Mindanao Chapter (ICP-SoMin) successfully held their 15th General Assembly last 27 June 2019 at the World Palace Business Center in Juna Subdivision, Matina, Davao City. It was participated by about 160 chemists, chemical technicians and guests.

ICP President Dr. Fabian Dayrit and ICP Vice-President for External Affairs Ms. Edna Mijares graced the chapter’s annual event. It came as a surprise for them that they were each awarded with the Chapter’s Flask of Recognition as a Lifetime Achievement Award for their valuable contribution to the growth and success of the chapter.

The election for the three available seats for the Board of ICP-SoMin were voted upon by the body. Ms. Christine Marie Tupaz (Philippine-Japan Active Carbon Corporation) was re-elected for another term for the Industry sector, Mr. Kim Ryan Won (FDA XI Satellite Office XI) was elected for the Government Sector and Mr. Roland Mindo (Ateneo de Davao University) was elected for the Academe Sector.

It was not all serious business during the event as raffle prizes were given away to majority of the participants. Mr. Kris Tan of Davao del Sur State College came out as the grand winner of PHP 5,000 cash prize sponsored by Shimadzu Philippines.

A seminar on Good Laboratory Practice was likewise held, which served as an offshoot of the topics from the 2nd National Conference of Chemical Laboratories. The seminar was undertaken for one and a half day (27-28 June 2019). One-hundred twenty participants mostly coming from the academe, industry, and government sectors in Mindanao attended the event.

The speakers on the first day of the Good Laboratory Practice Seminar were the following; Ms Edna Mijares for GLP-Resources and GLP-Characterization; Mr. Alvin Basco (Ostrea Mineral Laboratories, Inc.) for GLP-Rules and GLP-Results; Ms. Joy Beleno (Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc) for GLP-Quality Assurance Meanwhile, the speakers for the second day were: Ms. Luzviminda Ranay (San Pedro College) for GLP in the Academic Setting; Ms. June Ann Bonilla (Davao Analytical Laboratories, Inc.) for Equipment Management with UV-VIS maintenance and Mr. Aries Ordoña (NML-ITDI) for Good Weighing Practice. DKSH Philippines, serving as a major sponsor, also gave their product presentation and touched on some GLP information as given by Mr. Evan Han.

The event of ICP-SoMin Chapter was supported by DKSH, Shimadzu, XPRT Ventures, Yana Chemodities, Inc., WVN Research Supplies, Guill-bern Corp., Krypton International Resources, Sigmatech, RDL Pharmaceuticals, Coca-Cola Bottlers Phils., Inc., PJAC Corp., Malagos Ventures, Inc., DALINC.

The Integrated Chemists of the Philippines (ICP) warmly welcomes two new groupings into the accredited professional organization of registered chemists and registered chemical technicians in the country: the ICP Bicol Chapter and the ICP Unilab Cluster.

The ICP Bicol Chapter was formally introduced during this year’s annual chapters’ meeting in Cebu City. The newly formed chapter is headed by its chapter president Mr Michael Montealegre, a chemistry professor at Bicol University. As discussed during the chapters’ meeting, Mr Montealegre has laid out plans to improve the presence of the chemistry profession in his area of jurisdiction such as the chemistry profession awareness campaign in different high schools and making chemical laboratories fully comply with the Chemistry Profession Act of 2015.

Meanwhile, the ICP Unilab Cluster was formally launched last June 10 at the Unilab Laboratories complex in Mandaluyong City. ICP President Dr Fabian Dayrit, ICP Treasurer Dr Lilibeth Coo, and ICP Board Member Dr Rosalinda Torres were present in welcoming the newly established cluster, which is composed of over a hundred chemists and chemical technicians, and headed by its inaugural cluster president Mr Arjay Cubos.

Once again, welcome to the ICP! Let us all work together to further enhance the state of the chemistry profession and to uplift the welfare of chemists and chemical technicians in the country!

The Integrated Chemists of the Philippines (ICP), the accredited professional organization of registered chemists and registered chemical technicians in the country, has the honor of announcing that the Outstanding Chemist of 2019, bestowed by the Professional Regulation Commission, is awarded to Ms Roselyn Usero.

Ms Usero holds a BS-Chemistry degree from the Colegio San Agustin and a master’s degree in environmental engineering from the University of St. La Salle, both in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental. She specializes in analytical chemistry, environmental engineering, industrial microbiology, aquaculture, and shrimp culture. She initially worked as a chemical analyst for numerous Bacolod-based companies and has also rendered service to her alma mater Colegio San Agustin as a part-time chemistry faculty. At present, Ms Usero is the laboratory head and manager of the Negros Prawn Producers Cooperative Analytical and Diagnostic Laboratory (NPPCADL) and teaches courses in the MS-Fisheries program at the Northern Negros State College of Science and Technology in Sagay City, Negros Occidental. In addition, she is a sought-after technical speaker in some notable gatherings in the country such as the Philippine Shrimp Congress and the Caraga Shrimp Forum and has also participated in various local and international conferences.

Ms Usero’s expertise in analytical chemistry and shrimp culture has tremendously helped the community in the Visayas region. She has written manuals on the successful shrimp culture techniques in Negros Island (2000) and the integration of the freshwater fish tilapia to the prawn culture system (2001). From 2004 to 2014, she received accolades in her numerous studies to mitigate the lethal white spot syndrome virus affecting the shrimp population in Negros island. In 2009, she was part of a team that assessed the water quality at Mambukal Mountain Resort, a popular tourist destination in the city of Murcia, southeast of Bacolod. In 2012, she helped conduct a study on the use of indigenous microorganisms as an alternative material in analyzing the biological oxygen demand in bodies of water. In 2017, Ms Usero developed a fry quality assessment criteria for the country’s shrimp culture.

Ms Usero also made significant contributions to the corporate growth and social footprint of NPPCADL. As its manager, NPPCADL became the first and only private laboratory in the Western Visayas region duly recognized by the Department of Natural Resources’s Environmental Management Bureau; received a Laboratory of Excellence certificate from the Environment Resource Associates in Colorado, USA for achieving 100% acceptable data for environmental parameters for water and wastewater; became a licensed soils laboratory by the Bureau of Soils and Water Management; and became the first laboratory in Negros island to be given an ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation. To cater to the needs of the community, Ms Usero utilized NPPCADL to provide high-quality analytical services to individuals or groups conducting research projects and to serve as an on-the-job training site for senior high school students from Bacolod and nearby localities.

Since 2013, Ms Usero has been the president of the ICP Bacolod Chapter. Through her utmost dedication, ICP Bacolod has prospered, manifested by a steady increase in the said chapter’s membership and the active attendance of its members during seminars and workshops that the chapter regularly organizes. She and her fellow officers have been actively promoting the chemistry profession in secondary schools, enticing the students to pursue a career in chemistry. In 2017, in partnership with the Technological University of the Philippines Visayas Campus, ICP Bacolod spearheaded a review session for examinees of the inaugural chemical technician licensure examination with the aim of professionalizing the employees of chemical laboratories in Negros island in response to the Chemistry Profession Act of 2015. Aside from being the lead organizer of this review session, Ms Usero also taught the analytical chemistry portion to the examinees. This review session was proven to be instrumental as it produced four of the Top 10 passers (two second-placers, one seventh-placer, one eighth-placer), and garnered an impressive 95% passing rate among those who have participated. The review session was conducted yet again in 2018, which resulted to even more licensed chemical technicians in the area.

This year’s Outstanding Chemist continues to use chemistry as a tool to build and enrich the lives of the community and the society at large. From your ICP family, congratulations Ms Roselyn Usero!

The Integrated Chemists of the Philippines (ICP) organized its eighth annual Chapters’ Meeting on 27 May 2019 at the Talamban campus of the University of San Carlos in Cebu, hosted by the ICP Cebu Chapter headed by its chapter president Dr. Patrick Lim. Board representatives of the different ICP chapters nationwide attended the event, where pressing concerns were addressed.

Dr. Fabian Dayrit, president of the ICP, started off the meeting with the overall update regarding the organization in his President’s Report. ICP vice president for internal affairs Dr. Glenn Alea gave an update on the latest membership profile of the organization. Concerns regarding membership were likewise taken up, such as how to improve the membership drive of the chapters.

Bulk of the concerns mentioned during the meeting was on CPD-earning events and requirements for the members of the chapters. One initiative mentioned was a collaboration between the ICP and vendor-partners to better expand the ICP’s reach. Ludivinia Avendaño, auditor of the ICP, gave insightful comments and suggestions regarding it.

After a hearty lunch, the chapters took turns in presenting each of their annual report. Events such as promotion of the chemistry profession to high school students through career talks and the holding of seminars on specific chemistry topics were organized by most of the chapters. One notable event that the Southern Mindanao and Bacolod chapters were able to organize was the review session for examinees intending to take the chemical technician licensure examination. Challenges such as low remuneration packages given to chemists and chemical technicians by their respective employers, non-compliance of certain personnel to the Chemistry Profession Act of 2015, and the absence of chemists and chemical technicians in certain areas were also stated.