by Michelle Jeanne Caracut, OC/OPI

Prof. Pamela F. Resurreccion, Assoc. Prof. Khandy Lorraine G. Apsay, Asst. Prof. Norjannah B. Bao, Asst. Prof. Marwah M. Camama won Best Paper during the recently concluded 3rd International Conference on Sustainable Innovation (ICOSI 2019) held at the Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Pamela F. Resurreccion, Marketing professor at the College of Business Administration and Accountancy, bagged the Silver Award for Best Paper in the focal conference International Conference on Islamic Economics and Financial Inclusion.

Resurreccion’s paper tackled on “identifying specific logistics performance indicators at the country level perspective that has significant contributions to economic growth.”

Entitled Logistics Performance of Countries and Its Relationship to Economic Growth: A Panel Data Analysis, her paper highlighted the important role of logistics in improving economic conditions of countries, using the indicators of the Logistics Performance Index by World Bank.

“While all these factors facilitate trade which positively helps in increasing a country’s economic activity, the results of my study showed that only quality of trade and transport infrastructure is a significant driver of economic growth. Policy recommendations include a deliberate expansion of infrastructure since it facilitates trade and to develop human capital to acquire the needed competencies to manage the complexities of logistics and trade,” Resurreccion explained. 

Resurreccion also won Best Presenter in parallel session 5 where she bested four other paper presenters.

“I was happy to learn that I got Best Paper. Although for me, it was just like “icing on the cake” because what is more important is that I can contribute something to the practice,” beamed Resurreccion.

Khandy Lorraine G. Apsay, faculty member of the College of Nursing (CON), also won Best Paper (Bronze Award) in the focal conference International Conference on Nursing.

Apsay’s paper, Effectiveness of Anion Sanitary Pads in the Alleviation of Menstrual Discomforts: Implication to the Health of Women, compared the level of severity of menstrual discomforts between the use of conventional pads (regular pads like modess, wings, etc.) and anion sanitary pads.

“Until now, I still can’t believe it because I was having premature contractions at that time, maybe due to the stress, anxiety or nervousness I experienced when I had my oral presentation just a few hours before the awarding,” said the 24-week pregnant professor.

Asst. Prof. Norjannah B. Bao and Asst. Prof. Marwah M. Camama also won Best Paper (Silver Award) in the focal conference The 1st International Symposium on Social Sciences, Humanities, Education, and Religious Studies.

Bao and Camama are faculty members of the Department of History at the College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS), who are on study leave, taking their PhD in Philippine Studies at MSU-Marawi City. Their paper, Nashrul-haqq: Healing Practices in Binidayan, Lanao del Sur, is co-authored by Ms. Shahid Manalundong.

Resurreccion, Apsay, Bao, and Camama were joined by other faculty members, five from CASS and seven from CON who also presented papers.

The ICOSI 2019 is an umbrella conference with 9 focal conferences on: 

  1.       Social Sciences, Humanities, Education, and Religious Studies
  2.       Engineering, Technology, and Health Sciences
  3.       Sustainable Agriculture
  4.       English Language Teaching, Literature, and Linguistics
  5.       Islamic Economics and Financial Inclusion
  6.       Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering
  7.       Nursing
  8.       Comparative Laws
  9.       Islamic Studies in the Digital Era

The conference brought together participants coming from 15 countries, and it received more than 1,400 abstract submissions and 900 full paper submissions.

The conference featured keynote speakers Prof. Hideharu Nakashima of Kyushu University, Japan; Prof. Alberto Gomes from La Trobe University, Australia; and Dr. Reza Alingkusumo of Bank Indonesia Institute, Indonesia.

The ICOSI 2019 is a realization of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Institute and UMY. As co-host of the conference, two of the Institute’s faculty members are members of the Scientific Committee of the focal conference on Social Sciences, Humanities, Education, and Religious Studies: Prof. Marie Joy D. Banawa and Prof. Nelia G. Balgoa.

Photos by: PResurreccion, KLApsay, MJCC