City employee completes Koica scholarship program
BALON DAGUPAN NEWS
MARJORIE A. Villanueva, an agricultural technologist at the Dagupan City Agriculture Office, earned her degree in Master of Fisheries Science at the Graduate School of Global Fisheries at Pukyong National University in Busan, South Korea.
Villanueva, a scholar of the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), was the only Filipino granted the scholarship by KOICA after passing the selection process conducted by the Korean Embassy, the KOICA office and the Pukyong National University. She joined 19 other scholars from different target countries in Asia, Africa, Oceania, Latin America and the Caribbean.
She successfully defended her thesis entitled “Isolation and Characterization of Bacteria Associated with a Marine Dinoflagellate and Studies on the Interaction with Microalgae” after conducting a series of laboratory works and studies at the Virus Laboratory, Microbiology Department of Pukyong National University (PKNU).
“My aim actually was to find a friendly virus that will neutralize the pathogenic bacteria that causes the massive death of many marine species in our rivers but I ended up isolating the bacteria associated with a marine dinoflagellate and luckily my work was successful and I was able to integrate it with microalgae which can be useful in our aquaculture industry,” said Villanueva.
Villanueva addressed the Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries during the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement for the establishment of Food and Agriculture Organization for developing countries; attended the World Fisheries Congress, the 9th World Ocean Forum 2015 and the Busan International Seafood and Fishing Exposition in Busan, South Korea and the KOICA – PKNU International Workshop at Pukyong National University which was part of her scholarship program.
“I was surprised to learn that one of the participants who hails from Pampanga, brought in bangus products grown in Sual, Pangasinan and their presentation was good,” said Villanueva.
Villanueva hopes to help boost the city’s fishery industry particularly in maintaining a clean and highly sanitized deboning center by adopting the Koreans’ good practices in operating and maintaining a standard a facility.
“We could also adopt a system in maintaining the cleanliness of our rivers with some restrictions on the number of allowable fishing farm and pinpointing a certain area for growing oyster, seaweeds, among others,” said Villanueva.
She said South Korea has maintained a no-structure policy in their rivers while dredging these regularly. She cited alternative livelihood program for fisherfolk when they reach the maximum sustainable yield by buying back their fishing gears or vessels so that their rivers will be able to breath for a while until the next fishing season.
Villanueva thanked Mayor Belen T. Fernandez for allowing her and encouraging her to study in Korea for 14 months. She likewise expressed her gratitude to City Administrator Farah G. Decano, lawyer Jocelyn Ibaan and PESO head Joy Siapno for their moral support. (Joseph C. Bacani/CIO)
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
