27-28 August 2025
The University Annual Agency In-House Review (AAIHR) 2025, with the theme “Pantabtavalan: Cultivating Excellence in Transformative and Innovative RDE for Cultural and Environmental Stewardship,” showcased 103 research papers by BSU constituents.
The AAIHR aimed to evaluate the progress of ongoing and completed research and extension programs in various fields within the University. The studies were presented under these categories: Science and Technology Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources (S&T-AANR); S&T Food, Industry, Engineering, and Emerging Technologies (FIEET); Social Non AANR; Social AANR; Development, Extension, Education.
VP for Research and Extension Roscinto Ian C. Lumbres welcomed university officials, researchers, extension workers, evaluators, partners, and community members who participated in the review. He emphasized the importance of the annual in-house review as a platform for evaluation, learning, and collaboration to ensure research outputs are relevant, useful, and can lead to partnerships and development of the community. Lumbres officially opened the in-house review event with a call for excellence and innovation in research and development.
University President Kenneth A. Laruan, represented by Executive Assistant of the Office of the President Maridel P. Langbis, highlighted that the review is more than just reports and presentations, it is a celebration of the hard work, breakthroughs, and challenges experienced by researchers, extension workers, innovators, and staff. She recognized the dedication required for research and extension noting their essential role in creating a long-term impact in the community. Langbis acknowledged the evaluators for their unwavering support to the university.
Former Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) Balik Scientist and AAIHR evaluator Zenaida N. Ganga served as the keynote speaker. She reflected on the improvement of practices in research, highlighting the transition from manual processes to advanced technologies and the use of social media in global partnerships. Her talk focused on a four-point agenda aimed to inspire researchers in meaningfully contributing to sustainable development.
Her first point emphasized quality over quantity, advocating for prioritizing the quality of research over the number of studies, emphasizing that few impactful researches will be remembered more than numerous mediocre ones.
“Quality is more important than quantity. You will be remembered for the quality of work you have done, not the number of researches you completed,” she stated. On her second point, she stressed integration, teamwork, and partnership. She encouraged multi-disciplinary collaboration and mentoring of junior researchers, as well as building partnerships with private sectors and local government units.
“Don’t work alone, work as a team. Two hands are better than one, and mentorship leaves a legacy that lasts,” she added.
The third point highlighted relevance and impact, urging the researchers to prioritize studies that address critical needs due to limited resources. She also mentioned how integrating research efforts can be a strategy to help when the budget is limited. Ganga’s final point focused on technology promotion and commercialization. She underscored the need to ensure that research results reach and benefit end-users such as farmers, through activities like information sharing and demonstrations. She ended her talk with a challenge for researchers to aim for excellence beyond mediocrity and to ensure their work makes an impact to their fields and communities.
The evaluators for the S&T-AANR were Reynante L. Ordonio, Career Scientist I, Department of Agriculture (DA) – Philippine Rice Research Institute; Ganga, former Balik-Scientist of DOST-PCAARRD, and Potato Scientist, Cavendish Farms, Canada; and Romeo M. Dizon, Professor of Department of Biology, College of Sciences, University of the Philippines (UP) Baguio.
For the Social AANR, Development, and Extension the evaluators were Darlyn D. Tagarino, retired BSU Professor and former VP for Planning and Business Affairs and VP for Finance; Percyveranda A. Lubrica, retired BSU Professor and current Dean of Arts and Sciences, Benguet Vocational School Colleges; and Cristine B. Esnara, Senior Agriculturist and High Value Crops Development Program Focal, DA, Agricultural Training Institute – Regional Training Center – Cordillera Administrative Region.
The S&T FIEET evaluators included Buchard B. Cutin, Assistant Professor IV and Department Chairperson, Department of Food Science and Technology, College of Agriculture, Food and Sustainable Development, Mariano Marcos State University; Deign Frolley C. Soriano, Assistant Professor and Department Chairperson, Department of Biology, College of Science, UP Baguio; and Thelma D. Palaoag, Professor, College of Information Technology and Computer Science, and Director of Innovation and Technology Transfer Office, University of the Cordilleras.
For the Social Non AANR, the evaluators were Erlinda C. Palaganas, retired Professor and University Scientist III, UP Baguio, and current Regional Director at the Cordillera Regional Health Research and Development Consortium; Ruth M. Tindaan, Associate Professor, Department of Language, Literature, and the Arts, College of Arts and Communication, UP Baguio, and Lloyd V. Orduña, retired Professor, University of Baguio (UB), Panpacific University (PU), College of Asian Scholars, and Shandong Yingcai University, and former Vice President for Admin at UB and PU.
The Education evaluators were Jupeth T. Pentang, Associate Professor, Department of Science Education, College of Education, Central Luzon State University; Alvin D. Tenorio, Assistant Professor, Educational Research and Evaluation Area, College of Education, UP Diliman; Norbert C. Lartec, Filipino Education Program Supervisor, Department of Education, Schools of Division Benguet.
At the closing program, the presenters shared insights they gained from the review and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to showcase their work.
Jason D. Komicho, one of the presenters, expressed his gratitude for being part of the university’s annual in-house review, calling it a valuable learning experience.
“I, as a science research assistant, valued the opportunity to listen to other researchers, experts, and gain new perspectives and ideas that I can apply in improving our studies or our paper. To our esteemed evaluators, maraming salamat po sa walang sawang pagtulong upang mas mapabuti pa po ang mga research paper,” he said.
The evaluators also shared their insights and commendations on the relevance of the activity and provided recommendations for further improvement of the research projects. They highlighted that the event serves as a valuable learning opportunity, not only for the participants but also for themselves as evaluators.
“It’s not just a learning opportunity for them, it was more of a learning opportunity for us evaluators because we’ve learned a lot from their papers and we appreciate the genuine intention to serve the community,” Tenorio stated.
During the closing program, President Laruan expressed his gratitude to the presenters, researchers, and evaluators of the agency in-house review. He encouraged the participants to take the evaluators’ recommendations positively and use them as a benchmark for the development of their research and future reviews. He also commended the organizing team for the successful event.
Laruan emphasized that the papers presented are not simply presentations but materials that can be utilized in contributing to an impact on society and the environment. He stated that beyond publication, fulfillment in research also comes from public recognition, citations by other authors, and the production of products available to consumers.
He expressed his hopes to see published research, policies influenced by BSU studies, and commercially available products arising from the University’s research efforts.
In her message, VP for Academic Affairs Janet B. Pablo expressed her appreciation to the evaluators for their efforts and insights. She introduced the acronym PRIME based on the insights and comments from the presenters and evaluators.
The letter P stands for Pitching, which refers to the stage of assessing whether a research project is worth pursuing, stating that researchers have to understand their proposals, not just for the sake of record, publication, and promotion. R and I represent Research and Innovation, emphasizing that research should lead to meaningful development and should not stop at having a developed or terminated research. The letter M symbolizes Mentoring, which involves multi- and trans-disciplinary support not only for technical research but also for funding, stakeholder partnership, promoting collaboration between senior and junior researchers, and openness to learning. Finally, E represents Engagement, highlighting the importance of connecting research to extension activities through training, technology demonstration, farmer engagement, and volunteerism. Pablo emphasized that embracing PRIME leads to the highest quality and value in research, aligning with the university’s goals to produce impactful outputs.
The winning papers in each category were recognized and will represent the University at the upcoming Regional Symposium scheduled for October 2024.//PJG