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The Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) recently took in as a member Ms. Elvira Z. Sombrito, Head of PNRI's Chemistry Research Unit, and has invited her to participate in the 36th Session of the Joint Experts Group which will be convened in Geneva, Switzerland from 27 April to 1 May 2009.

The GESAMP is an advisory body to the United Nations system on the scientific aspects of marine environmental protection, drawing experts from a wide range of relevant disciplines to help conduct and support marine environmental assessments, undertake in-depth studies and reviews of specific topics, and identify emerging issues regarding the state of the marine environment.

Ms. Sombrito, who has extensively collaborated with the International Atomic Energy Agency – another UN body – for marine-related radioactivity studies, and under whose stewardship the Institute gained distinction as a Collaborating Center of the IAEA, exemplifies the level of expertise gained by the country in this particular endeavor.

The GESAMP was formed in 1969, with the recognition of the fact that sound decisions in the area of marine protection and conservation depend on the availability of high-quality and reliable scientific information emanating from experts from around the world. Since then, it has reported on the “Health of the Oceans” and played a significant role in the assessment of global marine pollution and in the establishment of pertinent protocols on the subject.

With her appointment, Ms. Sombrito joins an elite group that is expected to provide guidance on questions relating to the marine environment and on particular problem areas that would require special attention from the international environmental bodies.

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The Biomedical Research Laboratory of the PNRI was one of the honorees recently feted by the University of the Philippines Los Baños Bee Program for fostering research collaboration on the control of bee diseases and for efforts in harnessing the pharmaceutical potential of honey and other bee products.

The recognition, which was given on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the UPLB Bee Program was accorded by Dr. Luis Rey Velasco, UPLB Chancellor, and Dr. Enrico Supangco, UPLB Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension, to Ms. Zenaida B. de Guzman, representing the Biomedical Research Unit of the Institute which she heads. A certificate attesting to the efforts of the group in promoting the growth of bee science and technology in the country was presented during the awarding rites held on 27 February.

The Biomedical Research Unit is actively involved, through a DOST Grants-in-Aid project, in studying the efficacy of gamma radiation for the sterilization of American Foul Brood-infected materials and in a separate study on the clinical applications of Philippine honey.

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The Awards Committee is extending the search period for the Nuclear S&T Award to May 15, 2009 to allow more time for receiving and screening nominations. The first batch of nominees shall still be retained and considered as official nominations. The granting of the awards will coincide with the conferment of the Gen. Medina Award on the anniversary celebration of PNRI in July, 2009.

The form is available at the PNRI website (http://www.pnri.dost.gov.ph) Download Forms section and can be provided upon request addressed to Awards Committee, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Nominations can be submitted to the same email address (electronic submission is encouraged). If mailed, it must be postmarked by November 18, 2008, and received at PNRI no later than November 22, 2008. Kindly mark all accompanying documents with the name of the nominee.

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The closing of the 36th Atomic Energy Week provided the backdrop to another year-end highlight to the activities of the Institute: the awarding of the Quality Management system ISO 9001:2000 certification to the Nuclear Regulations, Licensing and Safeguards Division and four other administrative support units of the Institute.

The award was presented by Certification International Phils., Inc., through its Managing Director, Mr. Renato Navarrete, during ceremonies held on December 12, 2008. The official handing over of the certificate was witnessed by DOST Secretary Estrella F. Alabastro.

The event caps efforts that began in 2004, with the creation of a Committee on Quality Management System for NRLSD activities, and which snowballed in subsequent years with the conduct of seminars and workshops, led in particular by the Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC) on aspects such as documenting a Quality management System, Measurement of Customer Satisfaction, Productivity Improvement through 5S and Internal Quality Audit. The expert guidance of Dr. Danilo Pilar and Ms. Evelyn Gallardo, both of the MIRDC, also led to the development of the Quality Manual for the Institute’s regulatory division.

With the support of a DOST Grant-in-Aid project on “Establishment and Implementation of Quality Management System in Accordance with ISO 9001:2000” and after the successful hurdling of both internal and external audits conducted on the third and fourth quarters of 2008, the much-coveted certification was finally issued.

The privileged status attesting to the awardee’s compliance with the stringent quality and reliability requirements of the International Standards Organization is now enjoyed by PNRI’s regulatory division and the Finance and Administrative Division’s Accounting, Personnel, Property, and Motorpool Units. The accomplishment proudly gives flesh to the Executive Order issued by the President, on “Institutionalization of the Structure, Mechanisms and Standards to Implement the Government Quality management Program” and to the program on Integrated Management System being promoted by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Efforts are underway to have the other divisions of the Institute follow suit.