Policy Framing and Comparative Discourse Analysis

Quezon City and the City of Baguio enacted anti-discrimination ordinances to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT+) persons. The 2014 Quezon City Gender-Fair Ordinance (QCGFO) and the 2017 Anti-Discrimination Ordinance of the City of Baguio (ADOCB) criminalized discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or expression. With similar societal contexts, these two cities legislated two different anti-discrimination ordinances. Using comparative discourse analysis, this case study compares their formulation and framing. Data were gathered and evaluated through library research, documents analysis, and key informant interviews. With contextualization and process-tracing, this article also describes discursive policy frames that were utilized in formulating these ordinances. The QCGFO protects the local LGBT+ community, while the ADOCB considers multiple social sectors. These policies may provide potential opportunities to integrate intersectionality in anti-discrimination policy-making. In all, this study offers exploratory insights on policy framing strategies for anti-discriminatory policies in two contextually similar Philippine localities.

SCHOOL RE-OPENING SIMULATIONS WITH COVID-19 AGENT-BASED MODEL FOR QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted schools to close in 2020, and with its negative impact on the quality of learning, the conversation shifts to the re-opening scenarios. In this study, we coupled a COVID-19 agent-based model (ABM) with social contact probabilities from pre-pandemic estimates. We then simulated school re-opening and vaccination scenarios in Quezon City, Philippines using our ABM. Our toy simulations suggest that the city could already re-open schools with 50% vaccination coverage. However, we suggest that students shall be vaccinated first, mask-wearing and physical distance shall be strictly observed, and schools shall only be re-opened by 25% as a precaution. Policymakers may take insights from the study.

COVID-19 AGENT-BASED MODEL: AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SIMULATOR APPLIED IN VACCINATION SCENARIOS FOR QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES

COVID-19 vaccines are rolling out in the Philippines but the supply remains limited; there is a need to optimize the distribution. In this study, we developed a COVID-19 agent-based model for Quezon City, a COVID-19 hotspot in the country. This model, in conjunction with a multi-objective linear programming model for equitable vaccine distribution, was then used to simulate four vaccination scenarios. Experiments were conducted with the front-line workers always added to the groups: mobile workers, elderly and low-income. Main results are: prioritizing the mobile workers minimizes infections the most (by 4.34%), while prioritizing the low-income groups minimizes deaths the most (by 1.93%). These results demonstrate that protecting the population with the most interactions (mobile workers) effectively reduces future infections. On the other hand, protecting the most vulnerable population (low income and elderly) decreases the likelihood of death. These results may guide the policy-makers in Quezon City.

VEHICLE DENSITY ESTIMATION IN QUEZON CITY USING OBJECT-BASED FEATURE EXTRACTION ON SATELLITE IMAGES

Manual vehicle counting is often tedious, expensive, and time-consuming. While automatic counting from CCTV allows for annual average daily traffic estimation, CCTV files in the Philippines are not available to the public and do not fully cover all road extents. In this study, Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques are employed to use readily available satellite images to obtain vehicle count in selected road segments in the Central Business Districts of Quezon City before and after the COVID-19 lockdown. Using the existing Google Earth Images, a segmentation algorithm using ENVI Feature Classification was developed to allow remote counting of vehicles from the earliest image in 2018. The devised algorithm was able to delineate, identify, and classify according to the types of vehicles that are visible on the image. An average error rate of 12.24% was found by comparison of automated counts and manual counts on the images, while a regression analysis yielded a value of R2 = 0.9227 that denoted a strong relationship between automated and manual counts. Vehicle density was calculated, and percent differences were obtained to determine the relative differences of the vehicle counts from the vehicle count of the earliest image taken in 2018. It was found that the vehicle density declined by at least 81% by March 25, 2020. The methodological framework presented in this study provides estimates of vehicle counts and vehicle density. It can be further improved if vehicle counts, on the same location and period, from field validation surveys are available.

WITH REGARD TO THE QUESTION ABOUT THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL BARRIERS IN AREAS WITH MAN-MADE INFLUENCE

One of the ways to improve the environmental situation in various regions of the world has become the improvement of technologies for protection against hazardous pollution in soil, atmosphere, groundwater. The article is devoted to the analysis of the conceptual proposal within the framework of participation in the competition “Students reinventing cities. The promising methods of elimination and localization of environmental pollution using geochemical barriers are outlined. Examples of natural and artificial geochemical barriers are considered. Attention is drawn to the possibility of using anti-filtration screens as artificial barriers in areas with passive technogenic impact. The potential of using artificial barriers for the safe cultivation of plant crops at the former Payatas controlled waste disposal facility in Quezon City, Philippines is being identified. The importance of creating green spaces in the territory with limited opportunities for economic use is justified.