The growth of tourism in the Philippines can be largely attributed to nature-based destinations but communities in these areas largely depend on farming and fishing to sustain their day-today needs. The need to capacitate the community's social and human capital in addressing climate change impacts to their livelihood, properties and natural environment is deemed necessary to lessen their vulnerability issues in the management of agriecotourism destinations. The study aimed to 1.) characterize and rank hazards that are likely to affect the nature-based tourism communities, 2.) describe the nature-based tourism communities' current sensitivity and exposure to climate stresses; and 3.) estimate future vulnerability and risks of nature-based tourism communities. Three agri-ecotourism communities were selected using five criteria such as attraction uniqueness, hazard type, risk level, tourism dependency and market potential. The areas were subjected to tourism vulnerability case assessment focusing on services and energy; human health; food, security, water and agriculture; business and continuity; and biodiversity and culture. Calaguas Island's top hazards are typhoon, drought and strong wind. Pecuaria Farm's main hazards are drought, rat infestation and grass fire while Bulusan Lake's major hazards are heavy rains and ash falls brought by volcanic eruption. Generally, vulnerability is high in the human health, services and energy sectors of tourism. The vulnerability of the three agri-ecotourism sites was intensified by factors that merely characterize the kind of community they have: a) high marketing dependency, b) poor political will, c) low level of awareness and preparedness, d) poor farming practices and e) lack of tourism-related livelihood options. Destinations with functioning agricultural areas are the most affected sites due to an estimated increase in the temperature and increase in rainfall precipitations. Poverty remains to be the major factor why vulnerability is high.

The Philippine business economy is largely fuelled by micro, small and medium enterprises. In order to cope with the competition with large firms in the industry, the government has poured investments in form of technology upgrading in the last 15 years. The research aimed to assess the impact on productivity and profitability of state assistance to agri-based micro, small enterprises. Partial Budget Analysis was used in assessing the profitability of the proponent after the intervention. The study showed an average increase in enterprises' production volume, sales level, and generated employment by 157.9%, 51.65%, and 191.82%, respectively. Further, the assistance generated a positive increase in income. However, the defective equipment, failure to meet the repayment schedule, and non-compliance to documentary requirements were among the major problems encountered by the proponent during program implementation. Nonetheless, the state assistance was able to spur innovations among the enterprises. Market potential, market knowledge, financial capability to repay the loan as well as the entrepreneur's resiliency were some of the observed success factors of MSMEs. With its positive firm-level impact, the state assistance program has generally been able to improve its proponent's competitiveness and thus worthy for continuous implementation.

Trends in health and well-being are taking the lead in the beverage consumption movement. The waning attractiveness of carbonated beverage may be attributed to the negative impression of the sugar content linking it to health problems. Studies show that coconut water is found to be as effective as a sports drink for rehydration. However, while coconut water may be an old commodity which is usually consumed as fresh, pasteurized coconut water (PCW) becomes a new entrant in the Philippine beverage industry. As a new player, penetrating the market of the giant beverage manufacturers seem to be risky and challenging. The study aimed to determine the market potential of bottled pasteurized coconut water and to identify product positioning opportunity in the beverage market. The study employed random consumption survey and product test. Van Westerndorp price sensitivity meter was used in determining the ideal price for PCW. The properties of PCW against the respondents' top beverage were used as bases for product positioning. The study revealed that PCW is widely accepted by the general consumers and the target market using common beverage attributes. PCW is positioned as a functional health drink that could serve as a substitute beverage to bottled water and sports drink. The natural and functional appeal of PCW may serve as its product differentiation tool in penetrating the beverage market and attracting consumers with active and healthy lifestyle. With high market acceptability, there is a huge potential for PCW to infiltrate the Philippine beverage industry.

The informal sector consists of business enterprises that operate outside legal business frameworks. With the huge contribution of the informal sector in economic development, local authorities regard the sector as partners in local development initiatives. Among the industries in the informal sector, the role of the informal food sector in the food value chain is vital in addressing food security issues in the urban community. However, the absence of social protection in the informal sector makes their livelihood more vulnerable to economic losses. The Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) approach is a practical tool for assessing how vulnerable the sector is and which livelihood component contributes to its vulnerability. Inopportunely, studies on LVI are only centered to farming communities. This paper explores the development of livelihood vulnerability indicators that can be utilized to off-farm enterprises predominantly to the informal food microenterprises. The indicators were sourced from LVI and entrepreneurship studies using the major vulnerability factors such as adaptive capacity, sensitivity, and exposure. The developed livelihood vulnerability indicators quantify the seven livelihood components of the informal food microenterprises such as the demographic profile, social network, livelihood strategies, health security, food security, access to utilities and disaster experience. Keywords: remodeling, livelihood vulnerability index, microentrepreneurs.

Street vendors belong to the informal business sector operating outside the legal frameworks. With little or no access to social protection, they are perceived to be vulnerable to the adverse effects of a crisis or shocks like typhoons. This study assessed the livelihood vulnerability of street food vendors in an urban city in the Philippines by modifying Hahn's livelihood vulnerability model and the IPCC formula to construct a composite index for exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Using the data obtained from the randomized survey of 100 street food vendors, principal component analysis revealed 10 latent variables related to livelihood vulnerability. These variables are business networks, business experience, human capital, financial capital, livelihood utilities, physical well-being, business risk management, physical damages, business losses, and shelter type. The index scores for each variable show that shelter type, business losses, business risk management, and financial capital are the leading factors of livelihood vulnerability among street food vendors; business network is the least. The overall vulnerability of the sector was found to be at a moderate level. One of the sector's major strengths is having social ties manifested through daily interactions and direct connections with their clients. The study offers a framework for measuring the vulnerability of the informal business sector to climate hazards that is context-specific and multifaceted, encompassing adaptive capacity, sensitivity, and exposure – distinctly integrating an entrepreneurial context indicative of business continuity as a livelihood vulnerability-reducing strategy.