Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 14) — Two new species of water scavenger beetles, one of them named after former Vice President Leni Robredo’s “Angat Buhay” program, were discovered by an undergraduate student of Ateneo de Manila University and his thesis advisers, the university announced Thursday.
The beetles were discovered by BS Biology student Enrico Gerard Sanchez, his thesis adviser Dr. Emmanuel Delocado, and co-adviser Prof. Dr Hendrik Freitag from the Ateneo Biodiversity Research Laboratory.
Discovered in Ifugao, Anacaena angatbuhay was named “to honor the program’s outstanding and unparalleled service, especially during the pandemic.”
“Moreover, as the species has been thriving unnoticed in a humble mountain creek in Ifugao for at least the last few centuries, dedicating a species name to the Angat Buhay program is a nod to the countless Filipinos silently and persistently working alongside far-flung communities despite the lack of due recognition,” said Delocado in a Facebook post.
Robredo’s office was known for its flagship anti-poverty initiative “Angat Buhay.” Despite her failed presidential bid, Robredo decided to continue public service by turning the program into a non-government organization.
The Angat Buhay organization was launched last July 1.
Meanwhile, the second species was named Anacaena auxilium, in honor of Mary Help of Christian High School Seminary, which Sanchez attended during his junior high school. Auxilium means “help” in Latin.
“The study used A. auxilium samples from Mountain Province in 1997 loaned by entomologist Dr Wolfram Mey (Museum für Naturkunde Berlin) and from the pre-pandemic Ilocos Sur expedition of the Biodiversity Lab. In the scope of Sanchez’s thesis, it was determined that the specimens collected 22 years apart were the same,” the Ateneo said in a statement.
The thesis was conducted in the middle of the pandemic using a laboratory-at-home set-up. According to the school, Sanchez performed sorting and dissection at home. When restrictions were eased, specimen observation and photo documentation using more suitable equipment were performed inside the campus.
Sanchez’ study can be accessed in ZooKeys: https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/85752/
