S M City General Santos, which will officially open its doors to the public on August 10, 2012 at 10am, is SM Prime Hold- ings’ 45th Supermall and will serve shoppers in General Santos City, neighboring cities and municipali- ties. Bringing Manila to GenSan City, SM City General Santos will surely give you great enthusiasm and will definitely take shopping, E LEMENTS of the San Pedro Police Station seized fake dol- lar and peso bills supposedly “worth” more than P21-million in an entrapment operation Wednes- day afternoon at Rizal Park, San Pe- dro Street here. Chief Insp. Angel B. Sumagaysay, deputy chief for operations of San Pedro Police Station, said the fake money was recovered from one Lupe Sabatin, a resident of Macat, Barobo, Surigao del Sur at 4:30 p.m. Sumagaysay said the coun- terfeit bills in two bundles were in a bag containing 47 one hun- dred dollar bills, five hundred Page A1 Indulge P 15.00 • 20 PAGES www.edgedavao.net VOL.5 No. 114 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 10 - 11, 2012 FSM, 13 FP21-M, 13 EDGE Follow Us On Sports The Economy Page 4 Page 15 n n More malls to be opened in Mindanao SM Lanang to open late September n Police say the modus operandi is the handiwork of a big-time syndicate. Saping walay bili! The Economy Page 5 P21-M bogus money seized By Anthony S. Allada SM upbeat on Mindanao’s economy Serving a seamless society DAVAO By Carlo P. Mallo GRAND OPENING. SM Prime Holdings officials led by Hans Sy, president of SMPH (left), together with Congressman Pedro Acharon Jr. of the lone district of General Santos City (3rd from left), General Santos City Mayor Darlene Antonino Custodio (5th from left) and Vice Mayor Shirley Banas cut the ribbon to officially open SM City General Santos on Thursday. [LEAN DAVAL JR.]
Transcript
SM City General Santos, which will officially open its doors to the public on August 10,
2012 at 10am, is SM Prime Hold-ings’ 45th Supermall and will serve shoppers in General Santos City,
neighboring cities and municipali-ties. Bringing Manila to GenSan City, SM City General Santos will surely give you great enthusiasm and will definitely take shopping,
ELEMENTS of the San Pedro Police Station seized fake dol-lar and peso bills supposedly
“worth” more than P21-million in an entrapment operation Wednes-day afternoon at Rizal Park, San Pe-dro Street here.
Chief Insp. Angel B. Sumagaysay, deputy chief for operations of San Pedro Police Station, said the fake money was recovered from one Lupe Sabatin, a resident of Macat, Barobo, Surigao del Sur at 4:30
p.m. Sumagaysay said the coun-
terfeit bills in two bundles were
in a bag containing 47 one hun-dred dollar bills, five hundred
More malls to be opened in Mindanao SM Lanang to open late September
n Police say the modus operandi is the handiwork of a big-time syndicate.
Saping walay bili!
The Economy Page 5
P21-M bogus money seizedBy Anthony S. Allada
SM upbeat on Mindanao’s economy
Serving a seamless societyDAVAO
By Carlo P. Mallo
GRAND OPENING. SM Prime Holdings officials led by Hans Sy, president of SMPH (left), together with Congressman Pedro Acharon Jr. of the lone district of General Santos City (3rd from left), General Santos City Mayor Darlene Antonino Custodio (5th from left) and Vice Mayor Shirley Banas cut the ribbon to officially open SM City General Santos on Thursday. [LEAN DAVAL JR.]
MINDANAO’S coconut industry will soon get a big boost when
the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) forms an inter-agency group that will ensure the growth of the is-land’s coco coir industry.
“No less than our Presi-dent encouraged us to look into further developing this industry, as he recognizes the significant contributions of the coconut industry to our economy,” said MinDA Chairperson Luwalhati Antonino during the inter-agency meeting held here recently.
President Benigno Aqui-no said in his State of the Na-tion Address that the nation-al government has allotted P1.75B for the development of the coconut industry.
Antonino also said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) would be able to allocate initial funds for the proposal devel-
oped by the concerned agen-cies.
MinDA, with Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA), Depart-ment of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and the private sector committed during the meeting to iden-tify all the requirements and technology necessary to make coco coir production and processing more acces-sible for farmers.
The Philippines has the highest nut production vol-ume among all the top coco-nut producing countries like Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, with an esti-mated output of 12.46 bil-lion tons per year. However, only 0.05% of these are be-ing utilized for fiber produc-tion or 8,000 tons of fiber an-nually, while 30% is used for fuel utilization.
India, on the other hand,
which has an estimated out-put of 12.16 billion tons of coconuts was able to pro-duce at least 500,000 tons of fiber every year. Vietnam also utilizes its entire coco-nut output for fiber produc-tion.
Coco coir is among the many byproducts of coconut trees and is seen to be an additional source of income for farmers once the needed technology and resources for coco coir production and processing are avail-able. Once processed, it can be converted into several products such as ropes, coco peat, coco pots, doormats, and carpets.
“It is good that we have MinDA to compel other con-cerned agencies to really focus on the needs of this in-dustry. Coco coir will surely provide more market for our coconut farmers who have long been dependent on co-
THE BIG NEWS2 EDGEDAVAO
FMINDA, 13
FWATER, 13
A total of 66 exporters from all over Mind-anao have confirmed
their participation in the Mindanao Trade Expo (MTE) to be staged at the Abreeza Mall on August 13 to 16.
Now on its 17th year, MTE Foundation, Incorpo-rated (MTEFI) board mem-ber Yvette Marie Celi said this year’s expo banners the theme “MTE 2012 Goes Retail” aimed at connecting with local buyers and con-sumers.
Celi said that as an ex-porter herself, she wants lo-cal buyers to enjoy her prod-ucts at the domestic front and at affordable prices.
“The public will really find quality products there,” she said, adding that the four-day exposition, with a participation fee of P6,000
for non-MTEFI members and P4,000 for members, entitles each participant to a booth.
She said the amount is very minimal considering the huge opportunity that each participant will get to enjoy.
“It will be very easy for them to get back their in-vestment for the participa-tion fee they pay, I can as-sure that,” she said.
The MTE 2012 is sup-ported by the Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport)-Davao Chap-ter, USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Abreeza Ayala Mall. [PNA]
Mindanao Trade Expo ‘12at Abreeza, Aug. 13 to 16
ON August 10 to 11, many parts of the city will experience wa-
ter service interruption to allow the Davao City Water District crews to do systems improvements.
First set is from 1:00 PM until 5:00 PM of August 10 due to tapping of the newly installed 2-inch di-ameter Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) pipeline to the exist-ing 2-inch diameter PVC pipeline for the mainline im-provement at Green Meadow Subd. in Ma-a. Said water cut will affect these areas in Ma-a: Green Meadow Subd., road going to Gap Farm and Maha-rlika Village. Upon comple-tion of the project, additional new service connections can be accommodated.
Second water cut is from
8:00 PM of August 10 until 6:00 AM of August 11. The Operations and Maintenance Department will repair the 450mm diameter Centrifu-gally Cast Iron transmission line along the Davao-Cotaba-to Road near Coca-Cola Plant in Ulas. Affected areas with no water are: from Gulf View Executive Homes in Bago Aplaya and its immediate en-virons towards and includ-ing Talomo, Bangkal, Matina Crossing and Aplaya, some areas in Matina Pangi spe-cifically 3k Compound, NSDS Village. Also to be affected are entire Ecoland and some areas in Ma-a specifically from junction Mc Arthur Hi-way and Ma-a road up to Metroville Subd. including Ma-a portion of Las Terrazas
Water interruptionon August 10-11
A rookie policeman was the latest casualty as a fresh violence erupted
anew in a mining area in Ba-rangay Kimlawis, Kiblawan town in Davao del Sur.
PO1 Rommel Paccial sustained a gunshot wound on his chest and was pro-nounced dead on arrival at the Davao del Sur Provin-cial Hospital in the nearby Digos City when the police patrol car he was riding was sprayed with bullets by al-leged B’laan bandits led by a certain Daguil Capion at 6:45 a.m. yesterday.
It was the third ambush staged against those secur-ing the mining activities of the Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI), a local partner of Aus-tralian mining firm, Xtrata, that included Kiblawan as part of their copper-gold ex-ploration for open-pit min-ing operations. Tampakan in South Cotabato is the loca-tion of SMI’s main project.
On June 17, a security guard under SMI’s security service provider Catena was slain when an unidentified suspect shot him while he was on duty at that time.
Three days later, retired police colonel Villamindo Hectin, SMI security con-sultant, and PO2 Rey Tonzo were also killed when the police patrol car they were riding was ambushed by un-identified suspects. Two oth-ers, SPO1 Wenefredo Sengo-nigue and PO1 Glen Beltran, were also wounded in the attack.
Paccial, assigned with the Davao del Sur Provin-cial Public Safety Company (DSPPSC) in Kimlawis village, was with senior police com-panion from a security patrol
in sitio Bongmal and were on their way back to the village proper when fired upon by the suspects.
“Five gunmen waited by the roadside and raked with gunfire the police vehicle. Po-lice Officer Rommel Paccial was hit on his chest and died upon arrival at the Davao del Sur provincial hospital,” said police regional spokesperson Marcial Magistrado.
Magistrado said pursuit operations were now being launched against the assail-ants who fled to unknown direction after the incident.
Rookie cop killed in Kiblawan ambushBy Anthony S. Allada
MinDA pushes for development of Mindanao’s coco coir industry
MEMBER-agencies of the Davao City In-ter-Agency Council
Against Trafficking (DCIA-CAT) wll meet on August 31 this year for a strategic plan-ning designed to strengthen programs and policies in the fight against human traffick-ing.
DCIACAT vice-chair Councilor Leah Librado-Yap said the Council is expected to identify major programs, projects and activities, in-cluding budgetary alloca-tions covering calendar year 2012-2013.
Alongside this is the identification of other logis-tical requirements and ad-ministrative support servic-es in order to effectively and efficiently implement the mandates and roles of the Council, Librado-Yap said.
This includes the coor-dination flow of the govern-
ment agencies with non-government organizations which cater direct services to children and victims of trafficking in persons (TIP).
Librado-Yap said the strategic planning also aims to mainstream the Philip-pine Ports Authority’s cur-rent programs and activities already instituted in the pre-vention of TIP cases.
The Council would also recommend policies for for-mulation and adoption by the local legislative body, she added.
The office of Vice-Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has allocat-ed a budget to fund the stra-tegic planning activity that will be attended by some 35 DCIACAT members from lo-cal and national government agencies and NGOs.
Meanwhile, Assistant Re-gional Prosecutor Barbara Mae Flores suggested in a re-
cently-held DCIACAT meeting to consider in the strategic planning the creation of an anti-human trafficking task force and desk at the Davao City Overland Transport Ter-minal (DCOTT) to be initiated by DCIACAT.
The Regional Inter-Agen-cy Council against Traffick-ing-Integrated Action Net-work (RIACTION) opened last July 20 an anti-TIP desk at the Davao International Airport, being primary entry and exit points of the region.
The desk is manned by the Airport Security Group, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the Re-gional Public Safety Battalion.
RIACTION 11 is a net-work organized by differ-ent government agencies and private organizations in Davao Region for the purpose of combating TIP. [PIA 11/Ca-rina L. Cayon]
Strategic planning set vs human trafficking
YMCA DAVAO DELEGATION joins a three-day National Lay-Leaders Orienta-tion & Strategic Planning Conference and YMCA Manila 105th Anniversary Ball held at the Bayleaf Hotel, Intramuros, Manila. Shown seated (from left) are YMCA Phils pres. Rafael Refuerzo, Asia & Pacific Alliance of YMCAs rep-resentatives, Canadian Ron Coulombe, volunteer consultant on resource
mobilization, and Asia Pacific secretary general Kohei Yamada, and national general secretary Pablito Tabucol. Standing (L-R) are EVP Anthony Vidal, YMCA Manila, Davao director Nonoy Villa-Abrille, Davao past president and VP Joe Custodio and national director and Davao president Only Partoza, Jr. [PHOTO BY SYLVIA PIEDAD]
A U.S environmental group tracking the debris from last year’s
Japan tsunami said the float-ing garbage only highlights the increasing severity of ocean pollution.
Members of a Califor-nia-based Ocean Voyages Institute said they spotted a large quantity of debris off the coasts of Oregon and Washington State while sail-ing up from San Francisco in their research vessel Kaisai, which dropped anchor in the Vancouver suburb city of Richmond Wednesday.
Institute founder Mary Crowley told media the ves-sel’s crew documented small pieces of a dock and many debris, which are believed to have come from Japan tsu-nami on March 11, 2011.
The Japanese debris, in-cluding four big piers and myriad containers afloat in the Pacific, could take a toll on shipping safety.
Over the years, the Kai-sai crew has documented in regular expeditions the “Great Pacific Garbage Patchin,” where millions of bits of plastic were brought together by winds and cur-rents, forging a roughly 34-million- square-km swirling vortex between Ha-waii and California, known as a “gyre.”
“Everyday, all over the Pacific basin, debris is going into the ocean,” she said.
“We do feel with any kind
of emergencies that there should be debris cleanup.”
“I don’t know if it’s possi-ble to clean up all of it... how tragic is it to be destroying our ocean eco-system before we even understand it.”
Crowley said the insti-tute is working with U.S. coastguards to study the debris and improve safety measures by informing them of the whereabouts of large debris pieces.
Crowley suggests the governments pay fishermen to collect plastic and build a factory ship in the ocean to recycle the plastic into fuel and energy.
She also said the United Nations should put together an emergency task force of ships “so that there could be ships available that could do cleanup when the debris is right offshore” in case of future disasters, which may put debris in the ocean.
Janine Oros Amon, Kai-sai’s medical officer, said it’s “completely shocking” to see what’s floating in the ocean-- buckets, plastic containers and crates, lawn furniture and even car bum-pers.
“We are right on the cusp of a world where se-rious funds are going to be needed to be spent to clean up the ocean,” she said.
“We are dependent on it (the ocean). If it becomes polluted it’s a dire result for the human race.” [PNA/XINHUA]
Tsunami debris aggravates ocean pollution
JULY 3rd was the highest point in the battle over the Dumoy water re-
source. The councilors were given the chance to finally decide what to do with the two cemetery items.
A major factor in deter-mining their votes was how the last resource speaker for the proponent would fare on the floor. The fate of Item No. 1448 (Eternal Gardens, Lu-bogan) and Item No. 1260, CDC Resolution No. 17, Se-ries of 2011 (Fairfields Me-morial, Baliok) depends on responses from the speaker.
She was Abigail Dune Agus, a geologist from the Mines and Geosciences Bu-reau (MGB) in Region XI. Knowledgeable in her field of expertise, Agus justified the MGB recommendation for the council to approve the application of new me-morial parks. She said based on her assessment of the areas where the new burial sites are to be put up, in-asmuch as there has been no record of contamination from the present cemeteries like the Lubogan public cem-etery and the Toril Memorial Park to the nearby DCWD production wells, threats to the underground water were “highly improbable.”
Agus said however the only major hazard that will affect the areas is flooding. “However, the same can be
mitigated by way of install-ing appropriate drainage system.”
On fears from the opposi-tion that introduction of new projects in the area might contaminate the source of water, Agus admitted that there were a few studies conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding contamination impact of cemeteries, dated 1998. The study concluded that “pollution potentials of cemeteries is present but in a well-managed cemetery with suitable soil conditions and drainage arrangement, the risk is probably slight compared to areas located in sandy soil where there is an increase risk for contamina-tion.”
The Acting Vice Mayor and presiding officer Coun-cilor Karlo Bello was listen-ing attentively to the ge-ologist. He had a copy of the WHO study before him. He cautioned the speaker not to be selective in her litany of quotations lest it gave the council a semblance of legal-ity. Instead, Bello requested that copies of the WHO re-port be furnished the Body to enable the councilors to follow while Ms Agus read through the conditions to the used in designing well-managed cemeteries.
Up to that point, Agus’ testimony seemed to hold.
Until the most dramatic part of the question-and-answer portion with Ms Agus came -- the encounter with Coun-cilor Quitain.
Quitain posed the jaw-dropping question: “Is the geologist familiar with the Water Code, or Ordinance No. 117-01, specifically its Section 20 which states that no cemetery or memorial park shall be located within water resource areas?”
The geologist replied in the negative.
Continuing with his line of questioning, he cited the penalty for violating the or-dinance: Article 31 imposes an imprisonment of not less than one year or a fine not exceeding P5,000.00 or both at the discretion of the court.
Then Quitain inquired from the guest if she will still recommend for the ap-proval of the project, know-ing that the two proposed cemeteries sit on top of an aquifer. He asked:“Are you, Madame, willing to go to jail with us councilors if we followed your recommenda-tion ?”
Agus replied saying that if it is contrary to law, then she will not recommend the projects.
Shortly thereafter, the voting was taken. Acting Vice Mayor Bello and Coun-cilor Arnolfo Cabling moved to divide the house after Al-
ag asked for the acceptance and adoption of his commit-tee report on Item No. 1448 (Eternal Gardens, Lubogan).
The result: Yes – Coun-cilors Al-ag, Victoriano Advincula, Jr., Dr. Lopez, and Myrna Dalodo-Ortiz. (4)
No: Councilors Quitain, Paolo Z. Duterte, Dante L. Apostol, Sr, April Marie C. Dayap, Tomas J. Monteverde IV, Jose Louie P. Villafuerte, Berino Mambo-o, Sr, Edgar I. Ibuyan, Leah Librado-Yap, Nilo Abellera, Jr., Louie John Bonguyan, Salvador-Abella, Joanne M. Bonguyan and Al Ryan S. Alejandre; (13)
Abstention: Cabling, Conrado C. Baluran, Jackson V. Reyes. (3)
Next to happen, Al-ag moved, seconded by Advin-cula, for the approval of the committee report on Item No. 1260 (Fairfields, Baliok)
Abstention: Louie John Bonguyan and Advincula. (2)
After the two items were declared “lost” by the chair, a flurry of proposals were aired on the floor:
Science vs law
Battle over the Dumoy water resourceBy Ricardo Jr. A. Jimenez[Part 4]
ENVIRONMENTALISTS on Thursday appealed to the public to salvage
whatever useful discards they can as citizens switch to the cleanup mode follow-ing the widespread floods in Metro Manila and adjacent provinces due to days of heavy monsoon rains.
“We urge everyone to be mindful of what they dispose of as the massive cleanup in affected communities is set to begin anytime now that the monsoon floods have started to subside,” said Edwin Alejo, Coordinator, EcoWaste Coali-tion.
“It’s very tempting to just throw anything into the piles outside our homes and wait for the dump truck to come. Out of sight, out of mind,” he added.
“Please make efforts to recover, reuse and recycle discards that can be put to good use and keep them from ending up in dumpsites and incinerators or, worst, in wa-terways and into the oceans, which can exacerbate flood-ing and marine pollution,” he pleaded.
The EcoWaste Coalition, an environmental network championing zero waste, emphasized that society’s discards should not end up in the streets, dumpsites, incinerators and the oceans where they could pose seri-
ous health and environmen-tal hazards.
Reckless garbage dis-posal, the group pointed out, pollutes the rivers, seas and oceans with all types of waste, especially from single-use, non-biodegradable dis-posable products and pack-aging materials.
“Let’s not forget the trashing of Roxas Boulevard in the wake of the monsoon surge last week. What we ar-bitrarily dispose of will haunt us and even the next genera-tion,” Alejo said.
The EcoWaste Coalition, Miss Earth Foundation and Mother Earth Foundation have come up with some sug-gestions to minimize the flow of garbage from homes to garbage disposal sites and to the oceans.
“Reduce your consump-tion of non-biodegradable items such as plastics and styros. Cut the waste you pro-duce each day by segregating your discards at home and enticing relatives and neigh-bors to do the same and re-cycle together,” advised Alejo.
“Go for reusable bags and products instead of dis-posable ones. Buy in bulk to minimize packaging waste. Recycle and use your own junk to augment your in-come,” recommended Cathy Untalan, Executive Director, Miss Earth Foundation. [PNA]
Green groups ask the public to recover, reuse and recycle
VOL.5 No. 114 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 10 - 11, 2012 5EDGEDAVAO THE ECONOMY
SELLING. An electronic cigarette stall supervisor checks out the products she is selling at the Annex of SM City Davao on Friday. Electronic cigarette or e-cigarette is ad-
vertised as a better alternative to the real one because it is less deadly. [LEAN DAVAL JR.]
THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Davao Re-
gion has encouraged mo-torcycle owners to strictly follow the schedule for ap-plication of stickers for hel-mets and visors to ensure smooth implementation.
DTI-Davao Regional Director Marizon S. Lo-reto said the agency really needs the cooperation of all motorcycle owners in order for the application for Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) stickers for helmets and visors to be organized.
“We really have ad-opted this system so that we can avoid long queues which will somehow give the applicants some dis-comfort especially that rainy season has already started,” she said.
The issuance of stick-ers is pursuant to Republic Act 10054 or the Motorcy-cle Helmet Act of 2009.
Effective last August 6, DTI accepts application for helmet/visor stickers based on the last digit of motorcycle plates. The motorcycle riders/own-
Helmet sticker application soughters are requested to fol-low the following sched-ule: 1 and 2 – Monday; 3 and 4 – Tuesday; 5 and 6 – Wednesday; 7 and 8 – Thursday; and 9 and 0 – Friday.
As requirements for application, the follow-ing have to be submitted: two copies of filled up
request form; photocopy of government-issued identification card such as driver’s license, postal ID, and voter’s ID; photocopy of the motorcycle’s Certifi-cate of Registration; and the motorcycle helmets.
Those who have re-cently purchased helmets with ICC stickers in it, as
provided by the store/establishment where they have bought the said item must submit the Official Receipt to the office.
Loreto said the mo-torcycle riders must take advantage of the opportu-nity that application is still for free until December 31 this year. [DTI 11/JENMENDOZA]
VOL.5 No. 114 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 10 - 11, 20126 THE ECONOMY EDGEDAVAO
From : Astech Pengson Dist, Inc.
CONGRATULATIONSCyberzone, 3rd levelSM City Gensan
FIGURES OF THE WEEK
A & A Securities, Inc.JIFFYCAR Bldg., Ecowest Drive
(Beside SM City Davao), Davao CityTel. Nos.: 299-0199, 297-7233,
303-0555, 297-8090, 0917-7000911, 0922-8831358
Important: The information contained herein is based on sources which we believe are reliable but is not guaranteed by EDGEDAVAO and A & A SECURITIES, INC. This report is provided for information purposes only and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the security mentioned herein.
STOCK MARKET PERFORMANCE
PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX
US DOLLAR = PHILIPPINE PESO
As of August 9, 2012
As of August 9, 2012
HIGH BREED. Cute puppies wait for their new owners as they are being sold by a dog breeder along Gen. Luna street on Friday. [LEAN DAVAL JR.]
ASIDE from building high-end residen-tial projects, real estate developers should also invest in low-cost housing
projects to prevent a real estate bubble, an economist said.
Winston Conrad Padojinog, senior econ-omist and dean of the School of Manage-ment at the University of Asia & the Pacific (UA&P), warned a real estate bubble may happen if developers will continue building high-end residential projects without serv-ing the huge demand for socialized and low-cost housing.
”There is no glut yet but people are buy-ing units not out of need but because of other purposes, like investment. It is impor-tant for developers to look into underserved markets so they’ll be assured of sustained demand,” said Padojinog.
He said buying more properties for oth-er purposes is prone to speculation, which pushes property prices up.
Padojinog said there is already an over-supply in certain property segments, specifi-cally in the middle to high-end markets.
He said that in order to “avoid a bubble or asset inflation,” the industry needs to ad-dress an “undeserved market.”
”The country still has a huge housing backlog that needs to be addressed,” said Padojinog.
Padojinog also urged banks to extend loans to mainstream market or to consum-ers who can afford to borrow up to P3 mil-lion in residential loans.
The BSP earlier reported that the expo-sure of the banking industry to the real es-
Economist urges developers to invest in low-cost housing
tate sector reached its highest level at the end of the first quarter due mainly to record-high loans extended by banks to support purchases of residential and commercial real properties.
Outstanding real estate loans extended by thrift and universal and commercial banks amounted to P524 billion.
This was 21 percent up from P433.05 bil-lion as of the same period last year. [PNA]
EDGEDAVAOProviding solutions to a seamless global village.
ANTONIO M. AJEROEditor in Chief
OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager
LORIE ANN A. CASCARO • JADE C. ZALDIVAR • MOSES C. BILLACURAStaff Writers
Columnists: MA. TERESA L. UNGSON • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • AURELIO A. PEÑA • ZHAUN ORTEGA • BERNADETTE “ADDIE” B. BORBON • MARY ANN “ADI” C. QUISIDO • LEANDRO B. DAVAL SR., • NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN • NICASIO ANGELO AGUSTIN • EMILY ZEN CHUA • CARLOS MUNDA Economic Analyst: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG
LEANDRO S. DAVAL JR., • JOSEPH LAWRENCE P. GARCIAPhotography
ARLENE D. PASAJECartoons
KENNETH IRVING K. ONGCreative Solutions
NEILWIN L. BRAVOSports and Motoring
Printed by Zion Accuprint Publishing Inc. Door 14 ALCREJ Building,
Quirino Avenue, 8000, Davao City, PhilippinesTel: (082) 301-6235
CAGAYAN DE ORO MARKETING OFFICELEIZEL A. DELOSO | Marketing ManagerUnit 6, Southbank Plaza Velez-Yacapin Sts.Cagayan de Oro CityTel: (088) 852-4894
MANILA MARKETING OFFICEANGELICA R. GARCIA | Marketing ManagerBlk. 1, Lot 10, La Mar Townhomes, Apitong St.,Marikina Heights, Marikina City Tel: (02) 942-1503
CARLO P. MALLOFeatures and Lifestyle
ALBERTO DALILANManaging
GREGORIO G. DELIGEROAssociate
RAMON M. MAXEYConsultant
JOCELYN S. PANESDirector of Sales
RICHARD C. EBONAIMELDA P. LEE
Advertising SpecialistsAGUSTIN V. MIAGAN JR
Circulation
SOLANI D. MARATASFinance
EDGEDAVAO
Foresight and competence
ANOTHER blessing people of Mindanao enjoy is the al-most zero-existence of huge
dams like those in Luzon.The major dams have been part-
ly blamed for the flooding in large areas of central and northern Lu-zon. This is because the dams have to keep their gates open to release water generated by continuous heavy rain.
Otherwise, it will be a much big-ger and a lot more disastrous del-uge that the Luzonians would suf-fer.
Big dams can also submerge provinces and entire towns and drown countless human beings and domestic animals in case they are massively breached or worse, collapse totally.
Nevertheless, the current situ-ation in Luzon should make Min-
danaoans think hard and long before we are forced by circum-stance to build our own dams for whatever purpose they will serve. Take note that there are now proj-ects involving the construction of dams for irrigation, power gen-eration and for potable water pro-duction.
Builders of dams should see to it that their designs and construc-tion can withstand the vagaries of earthquakes, torrential rains, flooding and other natural phe-nomena. This can be achieved by involving all the stakeholders in considering the choice of location, design and make of the structures.
Meanwhile, we commiserate with the fate of our brethren in Lu-zon and storm the heavens with our prayers that they continue to be safe.
WHILE Met-ro Manila and the
neighboring prov-inces in Central Luzon and South-ern Tagalog are probably starting to get through the aftermath of the Hanging Habagat, many of us could simply watch in awe, disbelief and pity. See-ing fellow Filipinos suffer the wrath of nature brings us to wonder what else that nature has stored for us in the future – near or oth-erwise. It takes along paranoia on our deci-sions to locate social and economic activities – both personal and communal.
Some bright minds said “we’ve never learned”; they simply mean that we missed to act upon those possible interventions that could have otherwise saved lives, properties and economic opportunities. “We” means all of us – those in position of authority to make better things happen; those ordinary, aver-age Filipinos who work hard each day do-ing their share to make this country a better place; and those marginalized by social cir-cumstances and who are the most vulnerable to the ill-effects of indecision and ineptitude of the whole system of public governance.
We blamepeople. We blame others. We blame our own level of discipline. We blame our leaders. And we blame abstract concepts and mental models of disastrous events. Much more, we interpret these events as signs and manifestations of divine intrusion and intercession on our passive, careless and haughty stance on some moral issues we all face today.
Whatever we believe, what matter most is that we are all headed to the right direc-tion. It’s not all about the straight and righ-teous path; rather, it is knowing where we ought to go – literally and figuratively – in times of disaster.
We cannot for sure prevent natural phe-nomena from happening and how much they could affect us, but we can certainly mitigate - if not totally eliminate - damage and loss.
More than and before anything else, ef-fective planning is the key. Planning is not just a technical and mechanical endeavor where development vision, goals, objectives, targets, strategies and policies are enumer-ated, documented and packaged, but it is a powerful tool in governing and managing the affairs of local systems.
I have personally seen and read a lot of development plans – from the national, to the regional and to the local levels. I have only one thing to say - they are comprehen-sive that they cover almost everything but they lack coherence on the many things these planning units intend to do. They contain clear plans or directions for each sector or subsector, say health and nutrition, but there is no connection of one sector or subsector to the rests. There is no meaningful integration such that even if substantive interventions are put in place in one area of concern, the envisioned impacts do not necessarily come about. Exacerbating this is the parochial and disjointed orientation of government depart-ments and entities in the implementation of their respective programs and projects.
While I said that planning is the key that could give sense to all efforts in preparing communities to respond more carefully and wisely to disasters, the function of planning especially at the local level has yet to be perfected. Even professing planning profes-sionals and practitioners have yet a lot of re-learning and unlearning to do. Old practices and traditional methods need to be adjusted taking into account the unique and distinct requirements of the present time.
Climate change and global warming are new concerns that we have to deal with. Whether we believe in these concepts or not - since some consider these as simply part of the evolutionary stages of the whole uni-verse, their manifestations are here to stay regardless of how we call them. Disaster risk reduction and management has thus be-come a buzzword.
Having said all these, I end with a piece of advice for the planning practitioners: give justice to the planning profession! You can make a lot of difference if you practice your profession with high degree of competence.
VOL.5 No. 114 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 10 - 11, 2012 9VANTAGE POINTSEDGEDAVAOTame the persistent elites
BY STEVEN BRILLCOMMENTARY
BY EDWARD HADASOPINION
SM’s successful corporate life
Ford Foundation as a benefactor
INTRODUCING MODERN SHOPPING – By going regional, the SM Holdings Group wants to succeed. The country’s largest
shopping and retailing company is making a name for Filipino enterprises. The SM Group is a retailing giant employing several thou-sand with annual revenue of not less than US$2 billion in rough estimate.
Every businessman has its ups and downs, but company owner Henry Sy, Sr. is considered a perennial winner in the com-plex retail and mall business. Like so many of Asia’s successful entrepreneurs, the grand old man of the retail empire started almost from scratch. He was a proprietor of a tiny store in Manila peddling cheap American shoes in the 1950s.
In the late 50s, Sy, Sr. branched out into department stores and supermarkets in the 1970s. But the biggest opportunity came in 1985 when the company opened its first su-permall in Quezon City that was then practi-cally underdeveloped. Since that time there’s no stopping the SM Group from expanding its business – purchasing vast track of lands to make way for shopping malls, call centers and IT parks.
The company wants to target niche sec-tors especially the middle-class and at the same time cultivating the grassroots. SM Group’s long-term plan is to establish full-service commercial venues that offer shop-ping, entertainment and food under one roof. The company’s air-conditioned business
venues eventually introduced modern shop-ping in the Philippines and changed the life-styles of the people.
In span of ten years, the business em-pire continues to grow in size and sophisti-cation. SM Group now operates 46 modern shopping malls in the country, the latest of which is SM City Gen.Santos and will be open to the public today, August 10, 2012. Also scheduled to open next month is SM Lanang Premier located in a sprawling area along J.P.Laurel Avenue, Lanang, Davao City. The company expects to open two or three more malls probably by next year.
It may be a big business somewhere else so the company entered the booming China market few years back with the establish-ment of malls in Xiamen and more malls in the mainland. SM also wants a piece of the real estate action and down the road has diversified into commercial real estate and high-end tourist resorts. It hardly matters to the SM Group, business, after all, is busi-ness.
What’s really the secret for SM’s long and successful corporate life? As much as the Sy’s value family tradition, their com-pany has survived by being flexible. The Sy siblings envision a different role for each of them in running the family’s business em-pire while providing oversight to profes-sional managers handling the day-to-day op-erations. The Sy children had started to veer away from the tight-knit family business
tradition after real-izing that this all-in-the-family man-agement style is becoming outdated.
Unlike in the past where family has been very hands-on in running the busi-ness and has to delegate more work, more responsibility of the department stores, malls and supermarkets, the day-to-day management over the past years has been handed off to recruits, and professionals right now even assist in financial decisions.
The patriarch of the SM Group is not get-ting any younger and his role will diminish soon, but the family repertoire will continue and expand even more. His case is especially sensitive because of his reputation as a bril-liant and self-assured entrepreneur whose instinct may be impossible to duplicate. Well, SM Group has become too large for just a family to manage and right now the Sy siblings rely upon a modern management style approach.
Property consultants and economists have noted that the shopping mall boom led by the SM Group raises not only consumer spending, but most importantly generates employment and revenue for the govern-ment. Perhaps, it may not be too much to say that what the SM Group is doing is not only to make money, but to create something ex-ceptional that contributes to society.
IT was widely reported last week that the Ford Foundation has given The Washington Post a $500,000 grant to hire four extra reporters
for a year “to work on special projects related to money, politics and government,” according to a staff memo issued by the Post’s top editors. This followed a May announcement that the founda-tion had given a million dollars to the Los Ange-les Times to expand coverage in areas ranging from local immigrant communities to the state prison system.
These reporting initiatives are worthy en-deavors aimed at fortifying great newspapers whose profits have been savaged by the rise of the Internet. However, The Washington Post Co (though not the newspaper) is still quite profit-able. The company reported operating income of $77.8 million in the first half of this year. In fact, the Post Co division that owns a group of local television stations is enjoying boom-time revenue this year because of the flood of 2012 political advertising; operating income in that unit increased 43 percent in the first half of this year over last year.
The Post Co also owns the Kaplan education business, and although Kaplan’s for-profit uni-versities are suffering because of a government crackdown on abuses related to marketing and student loan commitments, its test preparation division has shown improved results.
So why didn’t the grant givers at Ford tell the Post to get its parent company to boost its SAT or LSAT coaching fees by 50 cents or a dollar if it needed that $500,000 so badly? Or chop the bonuses of senior executives a bit? Or siphon off ad revenue from those booming television outlets (whose shows include The Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills), or dip into the profits its cable-television systems get from people buying adult movies?
The Tribune Co, which owns the Los Angeles Times, has been in bankruptcy, but that’s only
because the current financial-investor owners took on a crushing debt burden to overpay the prior owners of the company’s media proper-ties. The Los Angeles Times itself is still profit-able, as are its other divisions, including, for example, the broadcast division that owns local television stations such as WPIX in New York, which features the Jerry Springer Show at 11 a.m. every weekday.
If the paper needed that million dollars so badly, why couldn’t the company ask Springer to cut his syndication fee a bit? Or why not di-vert some profits from its broadcast of Gossip Girl? Even more easily, the grant givers at Ford could have suggested that Tribune grab some of the dollars gushing in from political ads be-ing bought on its television stations in Denver or Miami, both of which are in hotly contested swing states?
Of course, in the context of big business re-alities, these are naïve questions. Even the big-gest or richest conglomerate – and the Post Co and Tribune are neither – has to insist on each business unit being self-sustaining. The com-pany’s shareholders ultimately won’t tolerate treating one division in the family like a charity. But why should a third party, the Ford Founda-tion, step in and become the benefactor? Be-sides, the Los Angeles Times makes money.
When Henry Ford set up his Foundation, did he really intend to help bail out over-lev-eraged financial investors in a media conglom-erate? And is the New York Times not getting these Ford grants because it is doing so well by charging readers for online access that, at least on a relative basis, it doesn’t need the money? Or is the Times about to get some of the Ford money, too? Has the Times sought a grant?
What about other newspapers?A thoughtful reporter ought to find out
how the newspapers involved and the people at Ford have approached these issues. Why do they think it makes sense to donate to profit-making companies that have resources of their own but seem not to value the work being funded as much as Ford does?
There are all kinds of other questions re-lated to the grants, including how conflicts are going to be handled and disclosed when the news organizations cover Ford or its hundreds of other grantees around the world.
And how will Ford judge the results when the one-year term of the grants is up? Sure, im-proved coverage of the areas where the funded reporters are working is likely, but what will that prove? With that in mind, does Ford view this as an experiment that could lead to a non-profit news organization, fully funded by Ford and maybe some partner foundations, covering areas it believes need to be covered? What are the long-term implications – including issues related to conflicts – of that kind of funding model?
The John S. and James L. Knight Founda-tion – whose primary purpose, unlike the multidimensional Ford Foundation, is to sup-port journalism – thus far (to my knowledge) hasn’t given grants to conventional for-profit news organizations, preferring instead to fund research and experiments intended to develop alternative, self-sustaining models for good journalism. What do officials there think of the Ford grants?
David Halberstam’s landmark 1979 book The Powers That Be was an awestruck look at the clout of the Los Ange-les Times and The Washington Post (along with Time and CBS). That these two once-mighty newspapers have now accepted charity is a big deal.
IT is circa 1900. A young girl from a simple fishing village has been sold as a ’practice wife’ to the Bendoro, or local lord. When
the Bendoro tires of her and expels her from his house, the girl retires from his presence the way peasants are supposed to: back-wards, and on her knees.
The scene is from the novel “The Girl from the Coast”, and is based on the life of the grandmother of the Indonesian author, Pramoedya Ananta Toer. The girl suffered be-cause the absolute authority of a petty local ruler and the accompanying indignities were considered normal. And this in a land which, by the standards of the age, was relatively refined. The Bendoro’s rules did not hold in the Netherlands, which ruled the land, but many Europeans would have shared his be-lief that sharp social stratification was part of the natural order of things. The Victorian author of All Things Bright and Beautiful, the childrens-favourite hymn, expressed the same sentiment a few decades earlier: “The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate, God made them, high or lowly, and or-dered their estate.”
Times have changed. Pramoedya’s story comes from a vanished world, one in which the privileged elites were considered superi-or beings to the masses of ’ordinary people’. To the modern reader, the Javanese peasant bride’s humility looks demeaning and dis-gusting, not pre-ordained. The Bendoro’s worldview has been superseded by that of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which takes it as self-evident that, “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. And the verse about “the rich man in his castle” is usually excluded from editions of modern hymnals.
Still, elitism is far from dead. Almost ev-erywhere, a handful of people, or families, hold significant influence over politics, eco-nomics, and society. The yearning for equal-ity that has brought about so much social and political change has put an end to the sort of bowing and scraping that Pramoedya de-scribed, but it has not prevented the rise of new ruling classes – albeit ones defined by class and profession rather than bloodlines.
Indeed, today’s elites are unlikely to have inherited a title such as Bendoro, king or prince. In Indonesia, the royal families have vestigial prestige but little political and economic influence. In their stead, a few cur-rent and former military leaders and a small group of business families – the latter almost all of Chinese origin (nine of the 10 richest, according to Forbes) – are in control. The wealth of this ruling caste is enhanced by the sort of state-granted monopolies and trib-ute payments that were once considered the normal privilege of aristocrats but are now often deemed corrupt.
For those who think that the desire for equality is inscribed in human nature, the new elite of China must be particularly depressing. Mao Zedong’s promise that his Chinese Com-munist Party would “abolish classes and enter a world of Great Harmony” is unfulfilled. The CCP has become the centre of privilege and a generator of self-enrichment. Worse, at least from an egalitarian perspective, is the exalted position of the so-called princelings, the de-scendents of revolutionary heroes, who hold postions of significant influence across the Middle Kingdom.
Even in the United States, the first country to be founded on egalitarian principles (slaves, women and Native Americans excluded, of course), there has always been an economic and cultural elite. Over the last few decades, it has become more powerful and grown more distant. Corruption is rare, but the law, the financial system and the accepted practices of corporate pay are all tilted in favour of the fortunate few. As in China, privilege is increas-ingly passed on from parents to children.
To a greater of lesser extent, elites con-tinue to thrive. Is this persistence bad? The simple answer to that question is “yes”, since the fortunate few of the elite almost inevita-bly enjoy unjustly excessive privileges – more power, wealth and respect than their contri-butions merit. The Bendoro and other holders of inherited titles could once claim some sort of birthright, but such assertions now seem ludicrous.
Still, the elites’ persistence inspires cau-tion. It clearly takes more than universal ed-ucation in egalitarian ideology to keep them away. Excessive anti-elitism can be counter-productive. Indonesia’s post-independence regimes are far from the only examples of en-forcers of rigorous egalitarianism which soon turned into new elites.
Perhaps the best hope is to tame the elites. Law and custom can be used to limit their power. Also, they can be expected to use their privileges for the benefit of all, through phi-lanthropy, patronage of the arts and voluntary service. It might even be fair to ask the elite to find something like a common touch.
Best for kids ages 1 to 12 years oldHigh in CGF, Taurine, L-LysineContains Fortified with DHA
Available at all Drugstore near you
Available at all Drugstore near you
Multivitamins for Teens & young adultsages 13 to22 years old
Health and WellnessRealty
Review Center
Clinic
Available at all Drugstore near you
• Improve Blood Circulation • Provide Extra Strength & Sexual Stamina • Increase Libido & Sexdrive
Take 2mg Ener-plus Capsule one hour before your intimate encounter
FOR SALE: 1) 1-hectare commercial lot at P10,000/sq m, along National Highway, facing east, beside NCCC Panacan, Davao City. 2) 17,940sq m commercial lot at P2,500/sq m, along Matina Diversion Road. 3) 3,831 sq m lot along Matina Diversion Road. 4) 41,408 sq m commercial/industrial lot at P800/sq m along the National Highway, Bunawan. 5) 7,056 sq m at P1,200/sq m commercial/residential lot along Indangan Road, Buhangin District. 6) 27,411 sq m commercial/industrial lot along the National Highway in Bincungan, Tagum City. 7) 116.15 to 245.92 sq meters , at P5.5M to P12.3M commercial/office condo units in Bajada, Davao City. 8) 699 to 1,117 sq m at P4,100/sq m commercial lots at Josefina Town Center, along the National Highway, Dumoy, Toril. 9) Ready-for-Occupancy Residential Properties: 4BR/3T&B in a 240 sq m lot with 177.31sqm floor area (2-storey) at P4.8M in an exclusive beachfront community in Dumoy, Toril.; 3BR 2-storey in a 71.25 sq m 2-storey in a 143sq m lot in an exclusive flower village in Maa, Davao City; 180 sq m lots with 71.25sqm to 126.42 sq m floor areas, priced at P3.751M to P5.773M in an exclusive mountain resort community along Matina, Diversion Road. 10) 1BR/2BR residential condo units located in Bolton, Maa, Obrero, Davao City. 11) FOR ASSUME (RUSH): 1BR res’l condo unit in Palmetto, Maa. P600K negotiable. Note: Items 1-9 can be paid in cash, in-house or bank financing. If interested, please call Jay (PRC REB Lic. 8237) at 0922-851-5337 (Sun), 0908-883-8832 (Smart) or send email to [email protected].
Deadline for submission of materials is 12:00 NN. Deadline for Friday and Sat-urday issues is 5:00 PM. Deadline for Sunday and Monday issues is Saturday 12:00 NN. For more information, please call our Advertising Office 221-3601; 301-6235 and ask for Jane or Chay.
South Osmeña, General Santos City Cell No. 09999923588Tel. No. (083) 552-3297
We offer Pasta, Pizza and all Filipino foods
EDGEDavao Gensan Partners
Tel No. (083)- 553-2211
RATES FORLINE ADS
P150.00 per column inch; P55.00 first three lines; P10.00 on succeeding lines
3 + 2 bonusFULL COLOR ADS + 35% color surcharge
RATES FOR BOX ADSBLACK AND WHITE
SIZE
Full PageHalf Page1/4 Page1/8 Page1/16 Pageper col. cm.
10,000.005,000.002,500.001,250.00
650.0055.00
Classified Page
DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES1. DOCTOR’S CLINIC2. MOBILE ON-SITE SERVICES3. DENTAL SERVICES4. VACCINATION5. LABORATORY SERVICES6. IMAGING SERVICES (Ultrasound, 2D-Echo,ECG, X-RAY) 7. HEALTH PACKAGES8. DRUG TESTING
CLINIC HOURS: 6:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Address: Door 3 & 4 Ground floor CVA & Sons Bldg. along Quirino & JP Laurel Ave., Davao CityTelephone No.: (082) 284-1978, 295-6894Email Add: [email protected]: www.meddiagnosticslab.com
PRIME PROPERTYFOR SALE
ROBINSONS HIGH LANDS, 173 sq. meters,1.5 M, Direct Buyers onlyContact: 0926-305-1555 0942-966-2444
APARTMENT FOR SALE
3 Door Apartment, lot 320 sq. m. Located at Bo. Obrero near Victoria Plaza 10 M, Direct Buyers onlyContact: 0932-532-7304
PROPERTYFOR SALE
IDEAL FOR INDUSTRIAL / MANUFACTURING PLANT, 3 hectares, Santa Cruz along the National Highway, Direct Buyers onlyContact: 0927-706-2510
LOT FOR SALE
180 sq. meter, Farland Subd., Dumoy, Toril, P 350,000 only
Contact: 0927-706-2510
NOTICE OF LOSSNotice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS CONSOLIDATED INC. that CERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT No(s). 59958 under LOYOLA PLAN Contract No(s) NNN 710309045 issued to TEO-DORA F. CALAPINI was lost. Any transaction entered into shall be null and void.
RICE farmers in Baran-gay Sampaguita, Veru-ela, Agusan del Sur
turned to egg production to have regular income.
“Rice farmers here only know two words: short or failure,” said Samuel Viñan, member of the Sampaguita Irrigators’ Association (SIA) referring to their usual yield in rice farming.
Viñan who owns a hect-are of rice farm and a care-taker of five-hectare rice farm said rice farming is not enough to meet the daily needs of his family.
“We usually just have break-even and sometimes have very low yield due to pests and diseases incidence which could not even supply for our food consumption” he said.
The same situation holds true with other irrigators associations in the town. So with this they decided to look for alternative income to address low productivity in rice farming.
Their plan to have alter-native livelihood was real-ized when the municipal agriculture office endorsed their proposal to the Min-danao Rural Development Program (MRDP).
MRDP is a special proj-ect under the DA and jointly funded by the World Bank, the national and local gov-ernment units.
The program provides livelihood assistance to small farmers, rural wom-en, and indigenous tribe through its Community Fund for Agricultural Develop-ment (CFAD).
He said there were sev-eral suggestions on what
projects to implement but the egg-laying production prevailed considering that there is a high demand for fresh eggs in local market.
The P250, 000 funds they have availed them-selves of from MRDP-CFAD was used to purchase layer stocks, feeds, and biologics including construction of poultry cages.
“Local egg traders used to sourced out their stocks outside Veruela without as-surance of its quality and safety. With this, the organi-zation thought of supplying the local market not only to earn more but also to as-sure consumers of fresh and better quality of egg prod-ucts,” said agriculture tech-nician Paterno Dayaday.
Since the success of egg-production business depends on effective man-agement of layer farm, the municipal agriculture office conducted a hands-on train-ing to better equip the as-sociation in handling their livelihood.
“We brought the SAI member to a poultry farm in the adjacent town of Sta. Josefa where they were ex-posed to poultry manage-ment from feeding, disease prevention and control, har-vesting and storing including record keeping and market-ing,” he added.
Viñan learned that his role as the caretaker of the poultry farm is crucial in en-suring healthy and produc-tive stocks. He also learned that right from the start, layer stocks must be of good quality.
“We feed our layers three times a day and provide
Egg production provides crack for better incomeBy Noel T. Provido
them vitamins and neces-sary antibiotics through the assistance of the municipal and provincial agriculture technicians,” he said.
Layers must be kept healthy to be prolific and provide best quality eggs. Vi-ñan said he is restricting the number of persons entering the layer farm to avoid dis-ease contamination.
“My son acts as my re-liever in case I have fever or colds so we can keep our lay-ers healthy,” he said.
Their efforts eventually paid off as their layer farm now yields at least 263 – 270 eggs per day.
“We are selling the large sized eggs at P140 per tray
[or 30 pieces] and P130 for medium sized eggs,” he said.
As caretaker of the proj-ect Viñan gets 10 percent of their association’s income which gives him at least P3,000 – P4,000 monthly income which is a big help for him to meet his family’s needs.
“Before I can hardly pay the tuition fee of my children even if the school is about to end. Now, they are fully paid as early as enrollment time,” he beams with pride.
He said other members are also reaping benefits from the projects such as meeting their daily con-sumption while some has even improved their houses
and boughtappliances like television
set as well as motorcycle.“We are glad that
through the assistance of MRDP, DA regional office, and the provincial and lo-cal governments gave us the chance to improve their in-come,” he said.
Francisco Joseph, one of the board of trustees of the association said they are planning to make use of the poultry waste through vermi-composting so that they can also produce organic fertil-izer for their rice farms.
“We are also exploring ways to formulate organic feeds to minimize operating expenses. Once the associa-
tion can pay back the amount they have accessed from MRDP-CFAD we will extend the same financial assistance to other irrigators’ associa-tion in the town,” he said.
MRDP program director Lealyn Ramos said the initia-tive of SIA has proven that farmers can have good eco-nomic returns if they would try to diversify farm produc-tion.
“Farmers should not be dependent on one commod-ity to overcome low produc-tivity. The case of rice farm-ers in Veruela had proven that they can also handle egg-production and scale-up their meager income,” she said.
“INCLUDE all of Mind-anao.”
This was the plea of Mindanao officials to the Department of Agri-culture (DA) as it proposes the $627-million Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP).
PRDP is said to be the “upscale” of five-year Min-danao Rural Development Program (MRDP), govern-ment’s antipoverty program implemented by DA and funded by a $83.75-million World Bank (WB) loan, and about $40-million worth of
counterpart from the Philip-pine government and local government units (LGUs).
MinDA Chairperson Sec. Luwalhati Antonino said that if there is a region that needs and deserves most of the help it is Mindanao as it has experienced decades of neglect.
“Mindanao contributes significantly to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) thus it deserves to receive all the possible help it can get from the national govern-ment,” Antonino added.
Antonio who is also the
co-chair of MRDP’s Program Advisory Board (PAB) said that majority of the poor are living in the rural areas of Mindanao and they are the core target of MRDP and PRDP.
At present MRDP is oper-ating in 225 of the 420 towns in all of Mindanao’s 26 prov-inces. The PRDP proposes to maintain the coverage area in Mindanao.
Meanwhile, Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo Del Rosario further pushed the proposal of Antonino when he presented during the 8th
World Bank Implementation Support mission kick-off in Quezon City the resolution of the PAB reiterating the body’s position to include all LGUs in Mindanao.
Del Rosario said the ba-sic design of MRDP as part of the Adaptable Program Loan facility of the WB is supposed to cover all of Min-danao in its phase-3.
Del Rosario, also a PAB member representing the league of governors quoted the resolution that PRDP has substantial fund to cover all the LGUs of Mindanao which
has already expressed there intent to be part of MRDP and have already prepared their project proposals.
To date, MRDP has al-ready received from at least 50 LGUs expressing intent to be part of the MRDP and has already prepared pro-posals over P6 billion worth of agricultural infrastruc-ture.
Agriculture secretary Proceso J. Alcala said al-though the plans of PRDP have been drafted, he would take into consideration the proposal of the PAB.
“We shall see how this will work but in essence all of Mindanao will be covered in PRDP since it will cover all 26 provinces,” Alcala said.
The PAB resolution was unanimously approved by the other PAB members including its chairman DA undersecretary Joel Rudi-nas, Aleosan Mayor Loreto Cabaya representing the Leagues of Mayors in Mind-anao, RAFC 12 chair Mabini Manalo and representatives from DENR and NCIP. [SHER-WIN B. MANUAL/DAMRDP]
Inclusion of all Mindanao LGUs in rural dev’t program pushed
“With this big amount of fake money, we can say that this modus ope-randi is the handiwork of a big-time syndicate,” Sumagaysay was quoted in the vernacular in a television interview.
He said this was confirmed by a repre-sentative of the Central Bank who conducted an inspection of the seized fake money at the police
station, saying that the reproduction of the same requires expensive ma-chines.
“Maybe, these were reproduced in Surigao since the suspect is a res-ident there,” he said.
The suspect denied owning the counterfeit bills, claiming that they were left in his custody by a friend who made him believe that they were real money.
FFROM 1
FFROM 2
FFROM 2
FFROM 1P21-M...
Water...
Minda...
SM...dining and entertainment to the next level.
This mall internally connects a wide variety of both local and international shops. It also brings large choices of restaurants at its two-storey Al Fresco strip on the other side of the mall. The row of dining establish-ments promises a refreshing and a more relaxing ambi-ance. The open plaza, with a large dancing fountain at the center, will become the City’s newest & ultimate entertainment destination highlighting various shows that will undoubtedly enliv-en GenSan’s night life. Aside from SM Supermall’s major anchors SM Department Store and SM Supermarket, the mall will also include SM mainstays like SM Cinema, SM Foodcourt, SM Appliance
Center, SM Business Center, BDO, Toy kingdom, Global Pinoy Center, ACE Hardware, Cyberzone, Surplus and Wat-sons.
Everything is already at SM City General Santos. Get the latest fashion trend from apparel to shoes to bags and accessories for ladies, men, teens, kids and infants at SM Department Store who has grown to be a dynamic group of stores who lead the pack in the retail industry. As the Philippines’ largest su-permarket chain, SM Super-market offers a world-class supermarket shopping ex-perience with lower-priced items - boasting a wide range of fresh produce, sourced di-rectly from the growers, pro-cessors, and integrators.
Look good, feel great and have fun at Watsons, your
personal store that delivers only the best health, well-ness and beauty solutions that every customers need to live beautifully inside and out. The ultimate technology and lifestyle center of SM Supermalls, Cyberzone, is also here at SM City General Santos.
SM City General Santos will also house 4 digital cin-emas. So, with SM Cinema’s digital theater technology, color fading, jumping, film scratching, miscued dialogs and sound lapses become obsolete concepts. It also has the turnstile access sys-tem, the first to introduce in General Santos City, which allows one person to pass at a time, similar to the system used in MRT and LRT, and each cinema can accommo-date almost over 500 movie
goers.This mall will also serve
as a Community mall by bringing in events from vari-ous institutions, both pub-lic and private, and from civic groups in the City. It will bring in not just local but also world-class events. These events will showcase both national and interna-tional artists from solo art-ists to enchanting orches-tras. SM City General Santos assures lots of excitement to the people of General San-tos City and its neighboring area.
So what are you waiting for? Be the first to witness the Grand Opening of SM City General Santos on Au-gust 10, 2012 at 10am and be part of the history of a new city where shopping is brought to the next level.
and Sitio Mohon in Langub. Entire Bo. Obrero and Agdao, Paciano Bangoy specifically RGA Village and Cory Aqua-marine Village, and R. Castil-lo including Lanang Execu-tive Homes, and Lulu Subd. Almost all downtown areas will also experience water service interruption except for the following areas: Li-zanto Homes, Diho III Subd., Napaka Village, Madapo Hills Don Isidro Village, Everly Subd., Bankerohan Public Market, Fatima Village, Palm Village, Ledesma Subd., Gar-den Park Village, Sto. Niño Hillside Subd., EMP Village, Marfori Heights, Mineral Village, San Rafael Village, Monfort Village,
Areas that will experi-ence low pressure to no water are entire Anglion-gto, Pampanga and Sasa and some areas in Panacan, specifically ICSAMA Sapaha, Panacan Relocation, San
Juan Village, Landmark I, DPWH Depot, and Philippine Naval Forces connections tapped to Dumoy Water Sup-ply System
The DCWD management appeals for the understand-ing and cooperation of af-fected customers and like-wise advises them to store enough water prior to the scheduled water interrup-tion. Water supply may be restored earlier if work goes smoothly or later if unfore-seen problems arise.
The general public may call the DCWD trunk line at 221-9400 and press “1” on their phone dial to lis-ten to the latest daily water updates, or contact its call center through the 24-hour hotline 221-9412 or 0927-7988966 for updates, com-plaints, queries and other matters pertaining to DCWD services. [SYLVIA MAY L. VO-SOTROS]
pra products,” said Rex Buac of PCA IX.
Coconut oil remains as the major coconut export of the Philippines with a total production of 2.3 million tons in 2011.
DTI assured that the de-mand for the coco coir com-modity is also promising both locally and internation-ally. China and Europe are the top importers of geo-tex-tiles made of coco coir.
“While there’s no doubt on the worldwide demand for coco coir, it should also be noted that from the do-mestic demands alone, our coco coir supplies are al-ready insufficient,” reported
Reynaldo Go, Vice President of Philippine Coco Coir Ex-port Producers Association, Inc. (Philcoir).
Demand for coco coir in the country is also seen to increase once the DPWH implements the use coco-net coir fiber in sloppy and flood-prone areas of Mind-anao as part of its flood miti-gation program.
Similarly, coco-net fi-bers are also being widely produced in Caraga Region, providing employment to hundreds of farming fami-lies in the region. It supplies mainly to Taganito Mining firm which uses coco-net products to prevent soil ero-
sion in their mining areas.“If it can be done in Cara-
ga, it can be done in other re-gions as well,” said Antonino.
She urged the agencies to have a coordinated mech-anism in order to move for-ward the coco coir industry all throughout Mindanao. “It helps if one agency knows what the other agencies are doing, so we also know how we can complement each other’s efforts,” she added.
Any firmed up step is also seen to provide sustain-able livelihood opportunities for the families in conflict af-fected areas of Mindanao.
Besides economic ben-efits, the coco coir industry
could be one of the answers to the existing poverty and security problems in Mind-anao, according to MinDA.
“When people have live-lihood that provides them enough money for a suf-ficient meal three times a day, I believe that peace and order would be more attain-able in our Mindanao com-munities,” said Antonino.
An inter-agency pro-posal is already being pre-pared under the oversight of MinDA. Once approved, resource distribution and training are expected to be rolled-out in targeted areas of Mindanao within the year. [MinDA]
THE municipality of Kapalong posted the highest pover-
ty reduction rate among local government units in the Davao region .
Based on the 2009 Small Area Estimates released just this year, Kapalong reduced its poverty incidence by 29.7% from the last SAE conducted in 2003. Kapalong’s 2003 pov-erty incidence rate was 51.2% with 2009 figures down to just 21.5%.
Guesting at the Club 888 media forum at The Marco Polo Davao last August 8, National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) regional chief Estalla Turingan said a number of fac-tors contributed to the decline of poverty inci-dence in Kapalong com-pared to the other LGUs.
She said further studies could be con-ducted to determine the factors in the decline of the number of poor peo-ple in the municipality.
Turingan hopes that local governments could have a better apprecia-tion of what is presented in the statistics particu-larly in the formulation of governance policies.
Poverty Incidence as defined by NSCB re-fers to the proportion of population or families with per capita income less than the per capita poverty threshold to the total number of popula-tion or families.
Per capita poverty threshold in Region 11 is estimated at P47 a day or P17, 155 a year, which includes mini-mum income require-ment for food and non-food needs.
In contrast to Ka-palong, the town of Ca-teel posted the highest increase in poverty in-cidence in the region at 14.17%. Cateel’s pover-ty incidence was 39.3 in 2003 and 53.5 in 2009.
Davao City ranks the least poorest local gov-ernment unit in Region
11 and also in Mindanao with a poverty incidence of 13.2 or down by 1.7% from 2003’s figure of 14.9.
Jose Abad Santos in Davao del Sur is the poorest local govern-ment unit in Region-11 and third poorest in the whole of Mindanao with a poverty incidence of 72.3 in 2009. However the municipality re-duced its poverty inci-dence by 12.3% from the 2003 figure of 84.6 and is cited as among the top ten most improved local governments in terms of poverty incidence re-duction in the region.
The poorest lo-cal government unit in Mindanao and also in the country is the mu-nicipality of Siayan in Zamboanga del Norte with 79.9% poverty in-cidence. However the municipality was able to reduce its poverty inci-dence compared to 2003 figures of 97.46. [PIA 11/RG ALAMA]
Kapalong ranks highest in poverty reduction
A whopping P340,000 cash bonanza await the best composer-
musicians in the first ever Tunog Mindanaw World Mu-sic Festival.
The big winner of the competition will receive P100,000, second placer re-ceives P50,000, third placer gets P30,000. All 10 Final-ists will also be assured of P10,000 each while conso-lation prizes worth P3,000 each will go to the 20 other semifinalists who fail to ad-vance to the finals.
Thirty entries have thus far made it to the semis cast of the competition of indig-enous pop music unique to Mindanao.
The top 30 qualifiers were recently announced y the organizing SAMADhI, a group of home-grown music artists.
Tunog Mindanaw, one of the accredited events of this year’s Kadayawan Festival, is open to all Mindanao-born musicians and composers and features a unique col-laboration of contemporary and indigenous tunes.
The music entry may or may not have lyrics provided that it expresses the celebra-tion of life, human inter-con-nectedness, and unity with the universe—tributes that reflect the rich living heri-
tage of Mindanao.The Top 30 semifinalists
with their compositions are (not in order): “Kinaiyahan, Kinabuhi” by Neil Cerban-tes/Kuntaw; “Sinag” by Maan Chua; “Buhay at Pag-asa” by Gauss Oenza; “Tingog Bata Mindanaw” by Jazzistas de Davao; “Awiting Pilipino” by Family Affair; “Magahat” by Mulin-ulin; “Kalingaw sa Min-danaw” by Franco Yu; “aag Zambo Sur” by Michael Guhi/Frontline; “Mindanaw” by Ed-win Eway Priete; “Awhag” by Samuel Madarang, Jr./Com-radz; “Lupang Mayaman” by Jullius Nasser Ramos/Gecko; “Ikaw Mindanaw” Soleil Ar-riola; “Sulo” by Jose Rene Far-rofo/Bandang Timog; “Silan-gan” by Reuben Rhyll Garbi-lao/Crowns Down; “Luntiang Banay-banay” by Pablito Va-lenzona/Le Jubal Band; “Ang Kwento ni Apo” by Dennis Abellana/Calliope; “Bintana” by Angel Gacayan/Don Juan Baktas; “Likas na Yaman” by MAE (Morning After Eve-ning); “Panahon na Mind-anao” by Charles Fournier; “Dabaw” by Elmer Mole/Exegesis Band; “Halina” by Neptali Tomaro; “Taga Davao ko” by Maricel dela Cruz/Davao Bagobo Tribe; “Agos ng Buhay” by Hamir Ibrahim Achacoso/The Softy Teller; “Wanadnim” by Pio Labra Pataganao/Datu Alimuwan;
“Bangka ng Tagummpay” by Jedideah Linogon/Lawig Mindanao; “Halina sa Davao” by Michael Pinili/Last Song Syndrome; “Panaghiusa” by Ayos Sapatos; “Bayanihan sa Bayan ni Juan” by Doro-teo Alum, Jr.; “Musikang Lu-madnon” by Marlon Aquino; and “Kadayawan” by Jayson Labra/Jayson in Town.
Catch the performances of the 30 semifinalists live on August 10, 6:00 p.m. at the Taboan of Matina Town Square where only the Top 10 will make it to the Finals. The top 10 finalists will be per-forming for the coveted prize in the Tunog Mindanaw Fi-nals on August 11, 6:00 p.m. also in the same venue.
The ten finalists’entries automatically form part of an exclusive album to be produced for Kadayawan, ac-cording to Duaw Davao Festi-val Foundation, the chief or-ganizer of the 27th edition of the Kadayawan Festival.
Tunog Mindanaw is one of the major highlights of the Kadayawan Festival which formally opened last Friday.
For inquiries on the Tu-nog Mindanaw as well as other accredited Kadayawan events, please contact Duaw Davao Festival Foundation at 286-4183 and 305-7970 or email at [email protected].
Cash bonanza await winners of Tunog Mindanaw Festival
There are many things life that needs to be appreciated raw, a succulent sashimi for example or a nice crisp salad. I sometimes squirm at the thought of hav-ing basic raw perfec-tion ruined by over processing and over thinking. This is the same philosophy be-hind the makers of G-Star. G-Star is luxury street wear made by denim spe-cialists with a preference for raw materials, deep passion for denim and ar-chitectural perspective on tailoring. From its conception in 1989, G-Star has been known for its innovative and cutting edge style in the world of denim. Push-ing the boundaries of the denim material, continu-ous experimentation and
product development have led to a strong following worldwide. Just recently, G-Star, through it’s exclusive Phil-ippine distributor, the Primer Group of Compa-nies, opened the G-Star rAW Store Manila at the Bonifacio high Street with much fanfare and sheer raw attitude. The event also served as the venue to presents G-Star rAW’s five Filipino ambassadors who exem-plify what the brand is all about, most especially, what puts it a notch higher
compared with other den-im brands out there. Made up of a crew of some of Manila’s most rec-ognizable faces in the mod-eling, fashion, film, and music scene, G-Star raw’s Philippine brand ambassa-dors include Sanya Smith, Pauline Prieto, Sid Mad-erazo, Mike Concepcion, and Gian romano, who, with their unique sense of style, have captured the eye of G-Star raw. raw, pure and function-al, both the collection and the G-Star Stores perfectly reflect these values which also seem to be rubbing off on a vastly increasing base of denim addicts world-wide, me included. And I am so glad that G-Star rAW will also be avail-able in Davao City soon at the Bauhaus Store at the second floor of Abreeza Mall. I like my demin raw with G-Star, how about you?
Follow me on twitter @kennethkingong for more travel scenes, foodie finds, and happenings in and around Durianburg.
EDGEDAVAOEVENTS
Celebrating the arrival of G-Star RAW
Brand ambassador DJ Sanya Smith spins for the launch party.
G-Star RAW Store Manila
Models wearing G-Star Raw denim art pieces.
(L-R) John Ng- General Manager, Sidefame Ltd., Thomas Lim – Chairman & Executive Director, Primer Group of Companies, His Excellency Dutch Ambassador Robert Brinks, Jimmy Thai – President & CEO, Primer Group of Companies, Anthony Keung – CEO, Fenix Group Holdings Ltd., Camiel Slaats – Commercial Director, G-Star Raw
(L-R) Camiel Slaats – Commercial Director, G-Star Raw, His Excellency Dutch Ambassador Robert Brinks , Anthony Keung – CEO, Fenix Group Holdings Ltd.
Brand ambassador Mike Concepcion
Brand ambassador Gian Romano
Brand ambassador Pauline Prieto
Models handing out copies of G-Star’s RAW Magazine along Bonifacio High Street. Primer Group’s Mae Sanchez, Mike Dakudao, Primer Group’s Clarissa Reyes, and Edgar Canovas.
All roADS led to SM City Davao as the 6th Davao Cy-ber expo opened its gates to a 3-day IT event last July 27. The Davao Cyber expo is the biggest annual gathering of the gaming community and PC enthusiasts in the region. Throngs of partici-pants flocked The Annex on it first day for the most an-ticipated event of the com-munity. The event was formally opened by Councilor Pilar Braga (representing Mayor Sara Duterte), e2’s ll Avila along with Blinque’s Tojo elmore and SM City Davao mall manager lynette lopez. on the second day, over a thousand cyber geeks made their way to DCe 2012 to witness the DoTA and heroes of Newerth Tournament. Mall-goers were also treated to a showcase of top of the line PC rigs.More than 500 cosplay-ers marched around the mall for the grand Cosplay Meet. At the end of the event, Mineski Infinity Powercolor dominated the DoTA tournament while Smack-down conquered the hoN arena.The very exciting lAN Party Xtreme best in looks award (custom) went to layan Uy and the small form fac-tor was bested by Jesse Tiongson. Best in mid tower category went to
esmael Misa and the full tower best in looks was Karl Sobiaco’s unit. For the Performance category, best for multi core was Joshua Colanggo’s rig while Peter lo bagged the top prize for the dual core. It was indeed the biggest Davao Cyber expo the region has seen. It is but fitting that the event was held at SM Davao’s The Annex which houses Mindanao’s biggest Cyber-zone at its second floor. All hip, all here! Catch more ex-citing activities only at the city’s hippest hub, SM City Davao! like SM City Davao on Facebook, follow @smcitydavao on Twitter or visit www.smcitydavao.blogspot.com for event and promo updates.
ENTERTAINMENTUP AND ABOUT
A2 INdulge! EDGEDAVAO
ThIS yEAR, give your Ka-dayawan experience a more flavorful dimension at Café Marco at the Marco Polo Davao from August 8 to 25, 2012.Feast on the favorite of every Filipino household, the succulent Lechon. Go deep into a Tuna Tail stuffed with Rich Seafood Paella. Be dazzled by the melding of flavors of the Native Chicken Roll lay-ered with Malagos Goat Cheese and Dried Fruits. Round out the experi-ence with Executive Chef
Ed Tuazon’s justly famous fruity creations. The tangy Pomelo Crème Brulee and the subtle yet heady Durian Charlotte are “bites that shall transport you to worlds of sweetness and light,” according to Ian
Mendoza, the hotel’s Food and Beverage Manager.“The lovely Jackfruit and Pandan Iced Glacé Man-gosteen Parfait, both melt on your tongue ever so gently,” Mendoza added.“Savor that certain mys-tique that surrounds Davao with the special dinner buffet at only Php 990 net per person,” Men-doza said. Opt for a feast of the sens-es à la Davao. For reserva-tions and inquiries please call (82) 221-0888 local 7222 or 7223.
It’s safe to say Nivea’s new head honcho Stefan heidenreich isn’t a huge Rihanna fan, at least when it comes to his com-pany. heidenreich publicly expressed disapproval with the skin care line’s decision to have the sexy star as the face of the brand’s 100th anniversary, by saying “Rihanna is a no-go,” according to The Daily Mail. “I do not understand
how to bring the core brand of Nivea in conjunc-tion with Rihanna. Nivea is a company which stands for trust, family and reli-ability,” and added that the singer’s ads shot last year should have never aired. Don’t worry, Ri-Ri had a little something to say about all this, too—well, kinda. She posted a headshot of heidenreich on her Twitter with the caption, “No caption necessary.” And that’s all, folks.
This Pretty Little Liars star has a not-so-pretty past. Actress Lucy hale con-fessed during an interview featured in the September issue of Cosmopolitan that she has dealt with body image issues and struggled with an eating disorder. “I’ve never really talked about this, but I would go days without eating,” hale admitted. “Or maybe I’d have some fruit and then go to the gym for three hours. I knew I had a prob-lem…It was a gradual process but I changed my-self.” The 23-year-old—who recently became a Bongo model for this year’s spring
campaign—has been dating American horror Story’s latest addtion Chris Zylka, and gushed to Cos-mo about their first meet-ing, “I was like, ‘holy crap you’re gorgeous!’ It was like no one else was there. We couldn’t stop talk-ing.”
AND we wonder why more celebrities don’t have drivers. Jennifer Lopez has sued her former chauffeur for extortion and defamation, claiming hakob Manoukian threatened to blab “disruptive and potentially dam-aging” information about her unless she paid him $2.8 million, according to court documents obtained by E! News. Perhaps Lopez is confusing the chauffeur with American Idol, but...she’s seeking at least $20 million in damages. The former Idol judge alleges that an attorney representing Manoukian—who sued Lopez, her manager Benny Medina and Marc Anthony for breach of con-tract in April—demanded a $2.8 million payout, or else he would “disclose sensitive and personal information that he had alleg-edly overheard” while working for her. First off, Lopez’s suite states, Manoukian signed a confiden-tiality agreement prohibiting him from disclosing anything he heard regarding Lopez’s busi-ness or her family. Technically a countersuit to Manoukian’s original complaint, Lopez’s suit also denies his allegations that she didn’t pay him the full salary they agreed upon or that Medina treated him poorly. Lopez says that Ma-noukian and Medina, had a falling out last summer over the security team Medina planned to hire (it wasn’t the one recom-mended by the chauf-feur), after which the de-fendant became “hostile and angry” toward Medi-na and “plotted to retali-ate” against them. “In the furtherance of this plot, he abruptly ter-minated his employment with Ms. Lopez and be-gan to threaten her,” her suit states. For the “irreparable in-jury” caused her, Lopez is seeking $20 million in ac-
tual damages, as well as unspeci-fied exemplary and punitive dam-ages, injunctive relief preventing Manoukian from further harass-
ing her and court costs. A rep for Lopez has not yet re-turned a request for additional comment.
A UNIqUe civil wed-ding of Davao’s real estate guru Andrew Bautista and busi-nesswoman Veronica Paradero-Bautista in Polo Bistro, Marco Polo hotel Davao last July 23. The wedding venue was donned with red flowers and elegant decor. As the bride walked down the aisle, dashing lights lit up. It was a festive moment for the couple, who were joined by their family and friends, as they exchanged vows of loyalty, under-
FLYING BIKER. Daniel Caluag takes off on his BMX bike during the seeding run i the BMX event in the London Olympics. The Fil-Am rider finished 31st out of 32 entries.
DANIEL CALUAG of the Philippines, the last man standing in
the country’s Olympic stint, doesn’t look like he’s headed to a podium finish.
The Fil-Am BMX rider clocked 40.9 seconds, winding up just a notch above bottom spot in the seeding run of the London Olympics BMX com-petition on Wednesday.
Caluag submitted the slowest time and placed 31st, just above Latvia’s Edzus Trei-manis, who failed to finish the course and submit a valid time.
Raymon van den Biezen of the Netherlands topped the seeding race in 37.779 while Joris Daudet of France, silver medalist in the world championships in Birming-ham in May, was second-best at 38.221.
BMX time trial world champion Caroline Buchanan of Australia posted the best times of the women’s seeding run.
The competition at Lon-don Velopark got under way with two spectacular crashes on the challenging course. In a section made up of small jumps, American rider Brooke Crain clipped her rear wheel on a ramp and flew over the front of her handle bars. She slammed her chest into the next ramp and remained on the ground for about a minute.
Crain managed to get
back on her bike to cross the finish line and was listed as DNF on the result sheet. If she’s able to continue, she would be given the 16th and final seed in the women’s competition.
Crain was a late replace-ment on the US team for Arielle Martin, who was hos-pitalized after a crash during a final training run July 30 in California.
Treimanis then fell on the track at the same place. He went over his handlebars and landed face first. He knelt on the ground with blood run-ning from his helmet, then took it off to reveal a cut to his forehead and he limped off.
Despite the crashes, Brit-ish rider Liam Phillips was delighted by the course.
“It’s fantastic, absolutely fantastic,” he said. “It’s truly Olympic standard.”
A contender for the gold medal, Buchanan got off to a strong start in the tourna-ment, clocking 38.434 sec-onds to edge former world champion Sarah Walker of New Zealand by 0.210 sec-onds. Mariana Pajon of Co-lombia was third in 38.787.
Both the men’s and women’s events start with a seeding phase to ensure that the fastest riders don’t meet before the final. The women advance straight to the semi-finals while the men’s tourna-ment features quarterfinals.
Caluag in tailend after seeding run
MANILA put a fitting end to its amaz-ing run to the Big
League Softball World Se-ries title by trouncing Cali-fornia, 14-2, in five innings on Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time) in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Frustrated in three pre-vious appearances in the final and faced with the prospect of not competing in the tournament at all this year due to lack of funds, the Manila softbelles finally be-came world champions with an emphatic victory over the West Region represen-tatives.
Manila was determined not to repeat its losses in the title game in 2008, 2010 and 2011, completing its run to the title with a seven straight victory after begin-ning the tournament with two consecutive losses in-cluding a defeat to Califor-nia in their second game.
It was the first Philip-pine team to win a World Series crown since Bacolod won the junior league soft-ball crown in 2003.
The Manila softbelles got the needed spark from Rizza Bernardino, who slammed her fourth home run of the tournament in the
Manila wins Softball World Seriesfour-run second inning that saw Manila open a 7-0 lead.
Bernardino, last sea-son’s UAAP Athlete of the Year from Adamson, also pitched a complete game allowing only two runs and five hits to stop the Califor-nia-based West team, the top seed of the tournament who finished with a 7-1 win-loss card.
Despite being the Asia-Pacific champions, Manila nearly didn’t make it to Ka-lamazoo due to lack of spon-sors and even if they did, there was a possibility that only 11 players will be able to make the trip.
Eventually, enough sponsors came in to enable the team to send a complete squad.
The team, coached by Ana Santiago and Sandy Barredo, is made up of colle-giate players from different universities in Manila. Ber-nardino, Michelle Lentija, Glesyl Opjer, Baby Jane Raro, Queeny Sabobo, Mary Jane Faballar and Andrea Gonza-les are from Adamson, while Gene Joy Parilla is from Uni-versity of the East. (SPIN.PH)
Members of the Manila softball team celebrate. The Manila softbelles won the Big League Softball World Series.
THE Phoenix Cyclo-max Motor Cross will be held on Au-
gust 18 and 19 at Moto-X Davao Racetrack at Croco-dile Park, Ma-a, Davao City.
Topnotch riders from all over the country are expected to converge in Davao for the premier moto-cross racing event sponsored by Phoenix Pe-troleum Philippines.
Catch the two-day ac-tion organized by Moto-X Davao and serving as one of the sporting highlights of the Kadayawan Festival, now on its 27th year.
Major sponsors of the Phoenix Kadayawan rac-ing as well as the Kaday-awan Phoenix Run and the Trip Ko Phoenix Fuels Basketball Tournament are Seadove, Kangqi Inter-national, Custom Grafix, EEI, Mechatrends, Purple Bean (Starpump), Trans-
overseas (Gilbarco), and Banco De Oro. Gold spon-sors are Nissan, Brenton Engineering, Jordan Fish-ing & Bacolod Top Gear, and Chinatrust. Silver sponsors are Compos-tela Governor Arturo Uy, Marra Builders, Servityre/Aeolous, YL Fishing, Land Bank of the Philippines, and the Development Bank of the Philippines. Bronze sponsors are F2 Logistics, PTT, Maligaya Taxi, Unifield Enterprises, TF Botones, Isuzu Davao, Loc-seal, ESBE Builders, Yangking Engineering, Hatteras, Marra Builders, and P&A, Measurement & Controls. Benefactors are PhilCharter, Fluidynamics, and RB Apilado. Patrons are BDO Leasing, MDH Customs Brokerage, UCPB Gen, and Meridian. Donors are Davao Cathay and Mel-rose Builders.
Kadayawan Phoenix Cyclomax Moto-X set
LONDON – Just min-utes after winning her third-straight
Olympic Games gold medal with partner Kerri Walsh Jennings, beach volleyball star Misty May-Treanor revealed she is quitting the sport to start a family with her husband, baseball player Matt Treanor.
The American duo of May-Walsh once again dominated the sand to round out their career together with a perfect Games record of 21-0, having lost just a single set (earlier in this year’s Games) along the way.
But while Walsh Jen-nings will carry on to-ward Rio in 2016, May-
Treanor is done, prefer-ring to leave the sport on top, and plans to dedicate herself to family life with as much effort as she pur-sued athletic glory.
“Now it is time for me to be a wife,” said May-Treanor, after she and Walsh Jennings defeated fellow Americans Jenni-fer Kessy and April Ross in the final, 21-16; 21-18. “I want to be a mom. Our families sacrifice more than people realize and this is about getting back to that. My mind says it’s time, my body says it’s time. It’s the right time.”
The pair competed together for 11 years and celebrated with hugs and smiles and tears at the
culmination of a remark-able journey. On form this year, they were not expected to complete the three-peat, but survived a series of obstacles to get the job done.
Along the way in these Games, the duo overcame dropping a set for the first time (to Austria’s Schwaiger sis-ters), a bout of pinkeye for Walsh Jennings and even the aftermath of some ongoing disputes that had caused them to seek “relationship coun-seling.” In the end, their experience and cham-pion spirit came through against opponents who at times looked a little nervous, and allowed
their legendary compa-triots to pull away.
“Our competitive journey is done and that crushes me,” Walsh Jen-nings said. “We will be able to be girlfriends but we won’t be playing to-gether. It makes it really hard, really bittersweet, but I’m really proud that we went out the way we did.”
Ross and Kessy fought hard in the early part of each set as they sought to continue their outstand-ing run through the draw. But the reigning cham-pions responded to the challenge, and from 14-13 in the opener pulled away to establish a one-set advantage.
After winning gold, beach volley star quits
Lebron James of the USA in action during the match against Australia in the quarterfinals. USA advanced to the semis against Argentina.
