Publications

The backfitting algorithm commonly used in estimating additive models is used to decompose the component shares explained by a set of predictors on a dependent variable in the presence of linear dependencies (multicollinearity) among the predictors. Simulated and actual data show that the backfitting methods are superior in terms of predictive ability as the degree of multicollinearity worsens. Furthermore, the additive smoothing splines are especially superior when the linear model yield inadequate fit to the data and the predictors exhibit extreme multicollinearity.

Pag-oorganisa ng Pamayanan tungo sa Kaunlaran na Mula Tao Para sa Tao: Ang aklat na ito ay puno ng kuwento ng buhay na naging patunay na ang “kasaysayan ng sambayanang Pilipino ay kasaysayan ng pag-oorganisa at sama-samang pagkilos ng masa para sa kalayaan at kagalingan ng lipunan.” Ang kuwento sa aklat na ito ay hinabi hindi lamang sa pagtuturo ng pamamaraan ng pag-oorganisa at pagkilos kundi higit sa lahat nagbibigay ng liwanag at lakas ng loob—inspirasyon. Pinatunayan ng awtor na ang kuwento ay mabisang sandata sa paglinang ng daan tungo sa kalayaan at kagalingang panlipunan. Ang layunin ng aklat na ito upang ipagmalaki na ang pag-oorganisa ay bunga ng mga karanasan ng mga mamamayang Pilipino, lalo na ang mga mahihirap sa kanilang pakikipagtunggali sa mga lokal at dayuhang mapagsamantala. Akma ang mga prinsipyo at pamamaraan ng pag-oorganisa na nilahad sa aklat na ito sa panahon ng “Globalisasyon” kung saan mas higit ang kalituhan at ligalig, higit na kailangan ang katulad na aklat na walang sawang pinaaalahanan tayong bumalik sa “basics” “mula sa masa tungo sa masa.”

Global research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) health has shown that sexual and gender minorities have significantly higher rates of smoking than heterosexuals, using population-based surveys (Tang et al., 2004; Gruskin & Gordon, 2006; Gruskin et al., 2007) and meta-analysis (Ryan et al., 2001; Marshal et al., 2008; Lee, Griffith, & Melvin, 2009). This paper is the first to explore the prevalence of tobacco use among Filipino lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth using nationally representative data. Findings from the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey (YAFS3) show that young lesbian and bisexual Filipina women had higher rates of ever-trying tobacco, had higher prevalence of current smoking, and smoked more cigarette sticks per day, compared to heterosexual women. While sexual orientation did not appear to be associated with smoking among men across three measures of tobacco use, Filipino gay and bisexual youth had the highest cigarette smoking prevalence of all four subgroups. The value of a gender x sexual orientation intersectional analysis of health risk behaviors such as cigarette smoking, as well as possible implications for tobacco use intervention, is discussed.

Public schools are spaces for producing self-disciplined “pedagogized” bodies. But they are also a niche for students to create various subcultures that are different from the official school culture. When Muslim students enroll in public schools they are positioned within these heterogeneous spaces, yet as the present study shows, following the Foucauldian approach that ties culture to power and resistance, Muslim students are also able to create their own “techniques” of self-making that allow them to avoid the panoptic surveillance of the school while also blending, though not completely, with the mainstream culture of the students. This study, by focusing on senior Muslim students, maps out the various subcultural styles within the Makabayan school by relying exclusively on the emic categories of the students.

Intense terahertz (THz) electromagnetic wave emission was observed in undoped GaAs thin films deposited on (100) n-GaSb substrates via molecular beam epitaxy. GaAs/n-GaSb heterostructures were found to be viable THz sources having signal amplitude 75% that of bulk p-InAs. The GaAs films were grown by interruption method during the growth initiation and using various metamorphic buffer layers. Reciprocal space maps revealed that the GaAs epilayers are tensile relaxed. Defects at the i-GaAs/n-GaSb interface were confirmed by scanning electron microscope images. Band calculations were performed to infer the depletion region and electric field at the i-GaAs/n-GaSb and the air-GaAs interfaces. However, the resulting band calculations were found to be insufficient to explain the THz emission. The enhanced THz emission is currently attributed to a piezoelectric field induced by incoherent strain and defects.

Developing countries like the Philippines have embarked on efforts to ensure energy supply security through renewable energy (RE) development. Developing RE requires policy responses to a multitude of issues such as infrastructure financing, support for research and development (R&D), and administrative procedures, to name a few. The government plays a vital role in addressing these issues. Needless to say, it is imperative for the Philippine government to formulate rules and policies, as well as establish institutions that will govern and resolve the multi-dimensional issues related to the development of renewable energy in the Philippines. This study examines the response of the Philippine government to develop renewable energy in the Philippines by particularly looking at the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Republic Act 9513). How does this law define the role of government in initiating and mobilizing efforts for renewable energy development? What issues have emerged afterwards? The study describes the features of the law. It also analyzes the raison d’ etre of the legislation by examining its purpose, functions, and what it intends to address. The law is analyzed in the context of the current Philippine energy situation; its institutional and procedural arrangements. The concluding section of the study focuses on specific issues such as research and development (R&D), and the bureaucratic processes that have emerged in light of the enactment of this legislation.

[Excerpt]

Dahil sa ang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas ang siyang pambansang pang-estadong pamantasan ng bansa, ito ang pangunahing naninindigan sa paggamit ng pambansang wikang Filipino sa diskurso sa loob ng nasabing akademikong pamayanan. Tulad ng nabanggit sa itaas, malalim ang pakikilahok ng Departamento ng Linggwistiks sapagkat ito ang kaniyang pundamental na raison d'être. Dahil sa ang UP Diliman ay nasa Lunsod ng Quezon, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon, ginagamit ng Unibersidad, at ng Departamento, ang Filipino variety ng Kalakhang Maynila.

[...] Ang siyentipikong pag-aaral sa wika ay ipinakilala sa bansa sa pamamagitan ng pagtatatag ng Departamento ng Linggwistiks sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas noong 1922. Gayunman, hindi ibig sabihing ang mga naunang pag-aaral sa (gramatika ng) mga wika sa Pilipinas tulad ng pagsusuring panggramatika ni Rizal (1962) ay hindi linggwistiks. Bago sa panlasa ng academic community ang brand ng Linggwistiks na ipinakilala noong 1922 dahil sa mga bagong metodolohiya at lapit sa wika na in-introduce sa bansa. Ang puntong yaon ang naghudyat sa pagyabong ng kaalaman at pagti-theorise tungo sa makabagong pananaliksik hinggil sa mga wika ng Pilipinas.

SALINDAW: Varayti at Baryasyon: Ang salitang salindaw ay nagmula sa wikang Maguindanao at Maranao na ang ibig sabihin ay maningning, marikit, sikat, sinag, o nagbibigay liwanag. Tulad ng wika, ang varayti at baryasyon nito ay tila mga sinag ng araw na nagmumula sa isang malaking liwanag na nakabubuo ng iba’t ibang sinag na espesipikong nagbibigay ng mga diwa sa bawat bahagi ng lipunan. Napili ito upang maipakita ang yaman ng mga salitang Filipino mula sa iba’t ibang wika ng Pilipinas. Nilalayon ng aklat na ito na mabigyan ng linaw ang mga konsepto at teorya, mailahad, masuri at mabigyan linaw ang mga pag-aaral ng varayti at baryasyon sa wikang Filipino sa usaping panglingguwistiks, pangheograpiya, pangkultura, panlipunan, pang-okupasyon at pang-akademya at ang kahalagahan at papel ng mga varayting ito sa konteksto ng pagpaplano sa wikang pambansa.

The sampling design for the 2011 Survey of Enterprises in the Philippines is used to illustrate sampling from a skewed population that is characterized by large population variance. The modifi ed Lavallee-Hidiroglu stratifi cation algorithm is used to simultaneously determine the stratum boundaries and the optimum sample size that will minimize the coeffi cient of variation. The principles behind “threshold” sampling is then used in excluding segment of the population containing “minimal” information while the segment containing the “most” information is considered as certainty ratum. An estimation procedure is also presented.

The book contains essays on various topics like journalism, media, communication, politics, economics, culture, technology, blogging and web authoring. While most of the essays are written in the Philippines, the book also includes those written during the author’s stay in Indonesia and South Korea.

With the observation that a potential for accidents is invented simultaneously with the coming to being of any new technology, it may be considered that scandals are an integral risk of ICT and of the sudden shift in speed and scale of communication and use of information introduced by these technologies. This chapter focuses on how Filipinos more than any other people in the world seem to be particularly interested in 'scandal' and at the forefront of exploring the potential of this facet of cybertechnologies. This is a phenomenon that is readily apparent when one looks up the statistics on GoogleTrends over the last five years or so for the single search term 'scandal'. The term 'scandal' in fact has come to have a new meaning for Pinoys, who are astute to its value and potential 'social life' both as a digital object and as a picture or story that is animated by resonance with other images and social narratives. This chapter explores ethnographically the apparent social fascination of Pinoys with 'scandal' as a creative product, and a digital object/commodity, gendered dimensions of 'scandal'making, and 'scandal'mongering as an emergent process of shaping values and opinions and of acting through cybertechnologies. The material discusses the production of 'scandal' as an inherent potential of the interactive new media, and how (paired with 'piracy' in a Third World setting), the movement of digitized 'scandals' from the participation, both playful and serious, in Filipino pop-cyberculture may impact on society.