Behind The Science Podcast

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Renerio Gentallan Jr. about his study on the taxonomic identity of "lagundi", a group of medicinal shrubs long confused with one another due to decades of conflicting nomenclatural revisions. Despite lagundi-based products generating hundreds of millions of pesos in sales in the Philippines, the exact species being used and studied has remained ambiguous, with some specimens historically misidentified even in national pharmacopeia records. Using complete chloroplast genome sequencing alongside morphological and statistical analyses of over 2,000 herbarium specimens, the study clarified the species boundaries within this complex. The findings support reinstating Vitex elmeri as a distinct species and describe a new species, Vitex arvensis. The new species is a hybrid between V. bicolor Willd. and V. elmeri Moldenke, and also proposed as a new endemic species to the Philippines.

📚Reference: Gentallan RP Jr, Sengun S, Bartolome MCB, Quiñones KJO, Coronado NB, Borromeo TH, Timog EBS. 2024. The Vitex trifolia complex (Lamiaceae) in the Philippines. PhytoKeys. 248:1–40.

In this episode, we talk with Mr. Ramil Ramos about his study on flood and landslide susceptibility mapping in the City of Mati, Davao Oriental. Using a GIS-based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis integrated with the Analytical Hierarchy Process (MCDA-AHP), the study generated hazard susceptibility maps and examined how urban expansion from 2017 to 2024 has increasingly encroached into high-risk zones.

📚Reference: Ramos, R. L., & Cabrera, J. S. (2026). GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA-AHP) for flood and landslide susceptibility mapping and urban sprawl assessment in the Mati City, Davao Oriental, Philippines. Davao Research Journal, 17(2), 56–67.

We talk with Dr. John Jefferson Besa and Dr. Ella Mae Masamayor about their study on prolonged hospital stays among internal medicine patients admitted at the Philippine General Hospital. By reviewing the medical records of 386 patients admitted in 2019, prolonged length of stay was found in almost a fifth of emergency admissions and a quarter of elective admissions. They also discussed the factors associated with prolonged length of stay.📚Reference: Besa, J. J. V., Masamayor, E. M. I., Tamondong-Lachica, D. R., & Palileo-Villanueva, L. M. (2023). Prevalence and predictors of prolonged length of stay among patients admitted under general internal medicine in a tertiary government hospital in Manila, Philippines: a retrospective cross-sectional study. BMC Health Services Research, 23, 50.

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Nicko Caluya about his study on whether the size of the overlay field of view (OFOV) in head-mounted displays affects a person's ability to memorize spatial locations. OFOV refers to the small window through which virtual objects are visible in optical see-through AR headsets, and narrower OFOVs are often criticized as a limitation of the technology. Using a simulated head-mounted display with three different OFOV sizes, the study tested 18 participants on their ability to memorize and recall the locations of virtual object pairs.📚Reference: Caluya, N. R., Plopski, A., Sandor, C., Fujimoto, Y., Kanbara, M., & Kato, H. (2022). Does overlay field of view in head-mounted displays affect spatial memorization? Computers & Graphics, 102, 554–565.

In this episode, we talk with Victor Anastacio, stand-up comedian and host of the podcast Intellectwalwal, about whether there's a formula for making people laugh. A former banker who left the corporate world to pursue comedy full-time with Comedy Manila, Victor shares his perspective on what makes comedy work, drawing from his years on stage and behind the mic.

In this episode, we talk with Nicko R. Caluya about his study on the design of Igpaw: Intramuros, a smartphone- and tablet-based augmented reality game that teaches Philippine history through an adventure game format set in the walled city of Intramuros, Manila.

📚Reference: Rodrigo, M. M. T., Caluya, N. R., Diy, W. D. A., & Vidal, E. C. E., Jr. (2015). Igpaw: Intramuros — Design of an augmented reality game for Philippine history. In H. Ogata et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Computers in Education (pp. 1–10). Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education.

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Janine Patricia G. Robredo about her thesis on stunting among children under five in nutrition aid-recipient communities in the Philippines.

In this episode, we talk with Diether C. Montejo about his study on predicting how university entrants perform in the State University Aptitude and Scholarship Test (SUAST) — the college admission exam of Davao Oriental State University. Despite a 54% passing rate over a five-year period, non-passers continued to be accepted due to policy changes, raising questions about what factors actually determine exam performance. Using both Multiple Linear Regression and Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network approaches, the study found that family income, library access, senior high school grades, intrinsic motivation, and openness and intellect were significant predictors. The neural network model also slightly outperformed traditional regression in predicting exam scores.

📚Reference: Singh, N. A., & Montejo, D. C. (2023). Bridging the gap: A comparative analysis of traditional and neural network regression methods for predicting university entrant performance in SUAST examination. Davao Research Journal, 14(2), 116–137. 🤝This episode is co-presented by the Davao Research Journal. Submit here.

In this episode, we talk with Mr. John Fungo about his journey in science, PhD research in Taiwan, and life outside the laboratory.

PS. Hindi pala nag save ang video recording kaya audio episode muna tayo.

In this episode, we talk with Mary Rose P. Gabuyo about her study on using low-cost fish finders — the kind used for recreational sport fishing — to detect and map submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in coastal waters. SGD refers to all direct discharge of subsurface fluids across the seafloor, including fresh groundwater, recirculated seawater, and gases like CO₂ and methane. Despite its ecological significance, mapping SGD remains a challenge because conventional methods are costly, tedious, and require specialized equipment. This study tested whether recreational-grade echosounders could do the job — and they did.

📚Reference: Gabuyo MRP, Siringan FP. 2022. Utility of low-cost recreational-grade echosounders in imaging and characterizing bubbly coastal submarine groundwater discharge. Journal of Hydrology X. 14:100118.