By Jade C. Zaldivar A LMOST a year after punch- ing a court sheriff dur- ing a demolition of squat- ters’ houses, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio yesterday apolo- gized to him and his familyfor what she did. The mayor admitted that her action had shed a negative light on the city as well as incurred hurt on the part of Re- gional Trial Court (RTC) 11 Court Sheriff Abe Andres and his family. “I want to address this to Sheriff Andres, and to his family since I know they were also hurt by the incident, I am apologizing to them,” Duterte-Carpio said in a media briefing at the city hall. “I am also apologizing to the rest of Davao City because at the time the city was placed in a defensive mode. It will not happen again,” she added. Also on June 28 last year, the five villages of Matina Pangi, Matina F OR the first time in the Philippines, Davao City passengers can pay taxi fare by swip- ing their ATM (automated teller machine) cards. The unique project will be launched by China Bank in Davao City this weekend. Joselito “Yankee” Crisostomo, head of the China Bank, Bajada branch, said the project will be piloted with the Mabuhay taxi company, particularly its recently-launched black taxis. Crisostomo said the first-ever system is ad- vantageous and convenient to taxi passengers who do not want to bring along cash with them. The project involves the installation of China Bank project EDGE P 15.00 • 20 PAGES www.edgedavao.net VOL.5 ISSUE 84 • JUNE 29 - 30, 2012 Sports Page 14 Sara apologizes to RTC sheriff Science/Environment Page 4 Serving a seamless society FSARA, 13 FCHINA, 13 Follow Us On DAVAO Indulge Page A2 FINISHING TOUCHES. Construction workers put on the finishing touches on the signage of the newly-opened McDonald’s along Sta. Ana Avenue, Davao City. [KARLOS MANLUPIG] Davao Punch Pay taxi fare by swiping ATM card
Transcript
By Jade C. Zaldivar
Almost a year after punch-ing a court sheriff dur-ing a demolition of squat-
ters’ houses, Davao City mayor sara Duterte-Carpio yesterday apolo-gized to him and his familyfor what she
did. the mayor admitted that her action
had shed a negative light on the city as well as incurred hurt on the part of Re-gional trial Court (RtC) 11 Court sheriff Abe Andres and his family.
“I want to address this to sheriff Andres, and to his family since I know they were also hurt by the incident, I
am apologizing to them,” Duterte-Carpio said in a media briefing at the city hall.
“I am also apologizing to the rest of Davao City because at the time the city was placed in a defensive mode. It will not happen again,” she added.
Also on June 28 last year, the five villages of matina Pangi, matina
FoR the first time in the Philippines, Davao City passengers can pay taxi fare by swip-ing their Atm (automated teller machine)
cards.the unique project will be launched by
China Bank in Davao City this weekend.Joselito “Yankee” Crisostomo, head of the
China Bank, Bajada branch, said the project will be piloted with the mabuhay taxi company, particularly its recently-launched black taxis.
Crisostomo said the first-ever system is ad-vantageous and convenient to taxi passengers who do not want to bring along cash with them.
the project involves the installation of
China Bank project
EDGEP 15.00 • 20 PAGES
www.edgedavao.netVOL.5 ISSUE 84 • JUNE 29 - 30, 2012
SportsPage 14
Sara apologizes to RTC sheriff
Science/EnvironmentPage 4
Serving a seamless society
FSARA, 13
FCHINA, 13
Follow Us On
DAVAOIndulgePage A2
FINISHING TOUCHES. Construction workers put on the finishing touches on the signage of the newly-opened McDonald’s along Sta. Ana Avenue, Davao City. [KARLOS MANLUPIG]
Davao Punch
Pay taxi fare by swiping ATM card
VOL.5 ISSUE 84 • JUNE 29 - 30, 2012THE BIG NEWS2 EDGEDAVAO
FFINAL, 13
By Lorie A. Cascaro
DePARtment of Health (DoH) re-gional director
Abdullah Dumama says corporatization of public hospitals will make ser-vices patient-centered.
“the government will have supervision while tapping many right minds,” he told reporters.
Asked for his reaction to the opposition of wom-en groups in Davao City to House Bill 6069 authored by Bacolod Representa-tive Anthony Golez, Jr., Dumama said it is part of the private-public part-nership thrust of the ad-ministration.
He added that with the benefits from the Phil-ippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), poor people can still avail of health care services de-spite corporatization.
earlier, different wom-en groups here converged to plan the conduct of their participation in a nationwide protest led by Gabriela against HB 6069, or converting 26 public hospitals to government corporations.
Included in the list of the public hospitals are the southern Philippines medical Center and Davao Regional Hospital.
senator Franklin Drilon authored a similar bill, sen-ate Bill 3130 which he will file after the opening of the 16th Congress on July 31.
meanwhile, Councilor Leah Librado will file a resolution in the sang-guniang Panlungsod any-time soon opposing the hospital corporatization bills.
Her draft resolution pointed out that corpora-tization will result in the increase of maternal and in-fant mortality and morbidity
rate.on the contrary, Du-
mama told reporters that with the “no balance billing” health program of the gov-ernment, there should be a decrease in mortality rate among birthing mothers and infants.
He cited that the univer-sal health care program is a step toward health sector re-forms for all Filipinos with-out leaving anyone behind.
While people’s access to health facilities and hos-pitals is increasing, he said cases of dengue, malaria and other diseases decrease with the program.
He said some 5.3 mil-lion families who belong to the poorest of the poor are already registered in the na-tional Health targeting sys-tem (nHts).
In the Davao region, he said 90% of the 272,933 families under the nHts had been given PhilHealth cards.
Hospital corporatization okay--Dumama
DAVAO PUNCH. Davao Mayor Sara Duterte reaches for a glass of juice after expressing her apologies to Re-gional trial Court 11 Court Sheriff Abe Andres whom she punched in the face almost a year ago when the latter
ordered the demolition at Barangay Soliman, Agdao. It was the same period when Talomo District suffered from a flash flood which killed more than 30 people, most of which were children. [jAde c. zALdIvAR]
tHe Department of labor and em-ployment (Dole)
11 yesterday said most workers are not aware of employment compensa-tion (EC) benefits.
EC benefits are in ad-dition to employees’ sick-ness and death benefits from the social security system (sss) or Govern-ment service Insurance system (GsIs).
Joffey suyao, region-al director of Dole 11, said his office is grateful that Dole’s employment Compensation Commis-sion (eCC) sponsored an-other awareness seminar for employees in the re-gion after the last one in 2008.
the eCC conducted the seminar yesterday at the marco Polo Davao, its third stop this year after doing the same in regions 3 and 5.
Jonathan t. Villasoto, officer in charge, deputy executive director and concurrent chief of the appeals division of eCC, also at the seminar, said the commission has pro-cessed employment com-pensation benefits in the
region.However, he admitted
that in the last five years, more claimants were de-nied than served, out of some 250 appeal claims both with GsIs and sss in the entire country.
He cited that most de-nied cases include sick-ness that is found not work-related based on medical evaluations.
He said in cases like this, the insurance com-pany will determine whether the sickness is due to claimant’s working condition or lifestyle.
Regardless of one’s nature of work, as long as there is an employer-employee relationship, and the accident, sick-ness, disability or death is work-related, an em-ployee can avail of the employment compensa-tion benefit on top of his or her SSS/GSIS benefits.
An employee can still avail of employment com-pensation regardless if his or her employee has not registered and contrib-uted to the sss, Villasoto said, adding that his or her employer’s liability will be settled by the sss later.
suyao mentioned that during its regular inspec-tions, the Dole helps in checking if an employer registered and contrib-uted to sss for his or her employee/s to employ-ment compensation, and refer the employer to the sss if he or she failed to do so.
He said the eCC will put up a desk in the re-gion’s DOLE office this year to advance its advo-cacy campaign and assis-tance to employees.
Recently, the eCC opened its desks in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Regions 7, 9, and 12 in line with the direc-tive of labor secretary Ro-salinda Dimapilis-Baldoz.
Its first regional ex-tension unit was opened in Cagayan de oro City in June 2011.
ECC desk offices con-duct an awareness drive on the eC program; assist claimants pertaining to the necessary documents in filing a claim; and, de-velop a database of and implement the Katulong at Gabay sa manggagawa-ng may Kapansanan. [LORIe A. cAScARO]
Most workers unaware of compensation benefits
AFteR giving a two-year grace period to both small and big
establishments around the city with regards to the use of non-biodegradable plas-tic check-out bags and poly-styrene foam for food and beverage packages, the City environment and natural Resources office (Cenro) officially implemented the plastic ban yesterday in ad-herence to Resolution no. 08-2012 of the City Govern-ment of Davao.
lawyer Joey Felizarta of CenRo said yesterday that they had already formed four teams which will in-spect some 29,000 estab-lishments with business permits. establishments for inspection are malls, mar-kets, plastic manufacturers, and small-time vendors. the
four teams will comprised 40 enforcers, 12 members from the IeC, six engineers, and five from Cenro.
establishments caught violating the ban will be given a citation ticket with a corresponding fee to be paid to the city treasurer and will also be subject to the same sanctions from the City’s solid Waste management Program.
A fine of 500 pesos and a mandatory seminar will be imposed for the first offense; 500 pesos and five days com-munity service for the sec-ond offense; 1,000 pesos and a 10-day community service for the third offense. Filing a case in court is also possible if an establishment fails to comply with the ban for the fourth offense. succeeding offenses will also result to
the revocation of the violat-ing establishment’s business permit. A case can also be filed in court if an establish-ment fails to pay the citation within seven days.
An information drive will also be conducted by the Cenro to educate the people on how to identify non-bio-degradable plastic bags from the biodegradable ones. A biodegradable bag can also be simply identified, accord-ing to Felizarta, if it turns brittle if exposed to heat. He also added that the plastic bag with the biodegradable label is also considered.
establishments with other concerns like the ex-emption of plastics and sty-rofoam as package for wet products will still be ad-dressed by the sanggunian Panglungsod (sP).
Cenro implements plastic banBy Maybelle Anne C. Yutiamco
eYes were peeled and expectations were high when Architect
Christopher ong unveiled the final design of the up-coming Ateneo Communi-ty Center and sports Cen-ter and Assembly Hall last June 27 at the Ateneo de Davao University’s Finster Auditorium.
the center will rise on
the corner of Roxas Avenue and Padre Zamora street while the sports Center and Assembly Hall will be located along Jacinto street.
the two structures will be built beside each other, with the ground floors of each sharing a space in the form of an infinity pool to be placed between the lob-bies of each building.
the sports center and assembly hall will house eight levels and include athletic facilities including three basketball courts and locker rooms, with a plan of expansion to include two more courts and a fitness area for dance classes and the like. A stage will also be present at the athletic area, allowing for the space to be used for school func-
tions when necessary. the building will also house the student offices and parking lots will be on two floors with the capacity to accom-modate a total of 300 cars. the lobby of the sports center and assembly hall will have space to accom-modate large volumes of students for activities and the side of the structure facing Jacinto street will
have commercial spaces for rent.
the community center will possess 12 levels and will be devoted mainly to the faculty and staff of the university. A student library that can accommo-date 350 students will be in the second floor of the structure but the 3rd floor up to the 6th will be allot-ted for the academic staff
of the university. the 3rd floor up to the 5th will be faculty areas for the teach-ing staff and department heads and the 6th floor will house the offices of the Academic Vice-President and the Deputy Academic Vice-President of the uni-versity as well as dining areas and faculty rest ar-eas. The 7th and 8th floors
Final design for Ateneo community center unveiledBy Edward C. Lactaoen
VOL.5 ISSUE 84 • JUNE 29 - 30, 2012 3EDGEDAVAO THE BIG NEWS
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TRAFFIC. Vehicles were ensnared in a traffic jam along Quirino Avenue in Davao City when the traffic lights suddenly switched off on Thursday morning. [KARLOS MANLUPIG]
By Lorie A. Cascaro
tHe new benefit package case type Z of the Philippine
Health Insurance Corpo-ration (PhilHealth) reduc-es cost of drugs by up to 82%, according to medi-cal specialist Benjamin V. Pague of the PhilHealth
11.speaking guesting at
the Club 888 media Fo-rum last Wednesday at the marco Polo Davao, he said PhilHealth has a partnership with drug manufacturers to lower cost of certain drugs.
He said drugs for che-motherapy of patients with acute lymphocytic
leukemia, which normally cost P40,000 per vial may be had for only P7,000.
Case type Z package covers four of the most prevalent types of cancer, particularly acute lym-phocytic leukemia (All); early stage breast cancer; low to intermediate risk prostate cancer; and end stage renal disease eligi-
ble for kidney transplant (low risk).
He said in due time there will be additional diseases covered by this benefit.
the package for All is worth P210,000 for the entire course of treat-ment.
tHe Banawe Rice terraces is officially off the list of world
heritage sites in danger, the United nations Infor-mation Center in manila said Wednesday.
Quoting the World Heritage Committee, UnIC said the Rice terrac-es—a picturesque stairs of rice paddies built by Ifugao ancestors some 2,000 years ago—has been removed from the “list of World Heritage in Danger.”
Apart from the Rice terraces, Pakistan’s Fort and shalamar Gardens had been taken off the danger list, added UnIC.
“the World Heritage Committee commended the Philippines and Paki-stan for the conservation measures that were suc-cessfully implemented in the respective sites,” the Un statement added.
“the preservation of the Rice terraces re-quired better manage-ment and development plus the country also needed increased nation-al and international sup-port. Both actions were successfully undertaken, leading to the conserva-tion of the remote high rice fields,” UnIC added.
In 1995, the Rice ter-races was included in the
World Heritage list “as an outstanding cultural land-scape” but was put on the Danger list in 2000, “following a request from the Philippine govern-ment.”
the Un educational, scientific, and Cultural or-ganization (UnesCo) had said Ifugao Rice terraces have become endangered because of earthworms and rats that burrow along the walls of the rice paddies. typhoons have also contributed to the destruction.
mining activities in the area also posed threats, senator loren le-garda said in march.
This file photo shows a general view of rice terraces in Bontoc, the Cordillera mountain region of the northern Philippines.
Rice terraces officially removed from heritage sites ‘danger list’
tHe world noted the passing of lone-some George, the
last Pinta Island tortoise, this week. Few know, however, that a species of turtle living in a small area in Palawan is fac-ing the same danger that lonesome George did.
the Philippine For-est turtle, locally known as “bakoko”, was thought extinct until the 2000s, when specimens were
found in pet markets in the Philippines. speci-mens were found in the wild in 2004 but re-searchers report they have become rare.
According to a 2009 report by the Philip-pine Freshwater turtle Conservation Project (PFtCP), the turtle’s “re-discovery triggered a high demand for the interna-tional pet market. Just months after the redis-covery was published, the species was available on the international pet mar-kets of europe, Japan and the UsA.”
earlier this month, 18 baby Philippine Forest turtles--a critically-en-dangered species and the most endangered turtle species in the Philippines--were released into the wild.
some of them had been earlier hidden in a bag and smuggled to Hong Kong with other rare amphibians in Feb-ruary but returned home in April and were handed over to the Katala Foun-dation Inc., a non-gov-ernment organization that the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau has authorized to head the PFtCP.
“the repatriation of these turtles is very meaningful. not only does it raise public awareness about the status of the species and illegal collec-
tion and trade, it is also a sterling example of im-proving law enforcement. Hopefully, the knowledge that they have such a spe-cial species, will instill pride among the people of Palawan,” Dr. sabine schoppe, KFI’s director for PFtCP said, when the turtles were returned.
Dwindling numbersWhat is clear is that
the Philippine Forest tur-tles were poached from somewhere in northern Palawan, and that poach-ing poses a danger to their continued existence. once common in Pala-wan, “the species is facing a combination of threats nowadays,” the PFtCP re-port said.
“In addition to local consumption, habitat de-struction and exploitation for the international pet trade are threatening the survival of the species,” it also said.
Wildlife trade moni-toring network traf-fic noted that had the tur-tles rescued in Hong Kong reached pet markets, they would have fetched more than the HK$8,000 (43,655 pesos) fine im-posed on the smuggler who hid them in his lug-gage. traffic also noted that although “poached largely for the exotic pet trade, this turtle is also threatened by demand for exotic meat and medi-cine.”The “Bakoko”. From Palawan Council for Sustainable Development
Forest turtle ‘Bakoko’ in danger of extinction
VOL.5 ISSUE 84 • JUNE 29 - 30, 2012 5EDGEDAVAO THE ECONOMYStat Watch
MONTHLY AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATE (January 2009 - December 2011)
While the power out-age experienced by more than half of the
300,000 customers of Davao light and Power Co. yesterday is due to a technical problem, the rest of mindanao is expe-riencing power outages due to the lack of power supply.
“our sub-transmission sub-station is down, affecting areas from Panacan to Puan. Based on our reports, there is a tech-nical problem at the national Grid Corporation’s Davao Area Control Center,” Ross luga, communications head of the Davao light and Power Co., said.
But for the rest of mind-anao, they just have to brace themselves for another round of power outages due to lack of power supply.
Just a few months after President Benigno Aquino III came to visit and speak with the stakeholders of the energy industry in mindanao, parts of mindanao fear to experience anew one to four hours of daily power interruption due to the curtailment implemented by the national Grid Corp. of the Philippines (nGCP).
As one electric cooperative general manager would put it, the mindanao power supply is
already in a very critical level.santiago tudio, south Co-
tabato electric Cooperative I (socoteco I) general manager, said the mindanao grid is now in a red alert status, meaning a severe deficiency in power supply.
“We have [again] a lack of power supply for the island,” he said, citing a grid advisory sent to cooperatives.
on tuesday, a one-hour power outage hit Koronadal city abruptly.
tudio blamed tuesday’s brownout to the breakdown of one of the coal-fired power plants of steAG state Power, Inc. in Villanueva, misamis ori-ental.
Jerome soldevilla, steAG public relations officer, con-firmed their coal mill unit 2 experienced a problem, forcing them to reduce capacity by 50 megawatts to 150 mW from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“We’re now back to 200 mW and operating on a normal
level,” he said in a phone inter-view.
“We need to rectify the prob-lem immediately to prevent fur-ther damage,” soldevilla added.
the steAG power plant, which started operating in no-vember 2006, has an installed capacity of 232 mW, according to its website.
tudio told mindanews that consumers besieged them with complaints because of the brownout, lamenting they were not advised beforehand.
“What we’re asking is for the nGCP to give as a lead time so we can inform our consum-ers if there’s a curtailment,” he noted.
socoteco I, which serves nine localities in south Cotaba-to and lutayan in sultan Kuda-rat, has a projected daily peak demand of 30 to 31 mW.
If the shortfall in the mind-anao grid is 260 mW, socoteco I gets 24 Wm from the grid, tu-dio explained, adding they have bought 4 mW from therma
marine, Inc. to help address the gap.
tudio said their cooperative now lacks 2 mW to meet the de-mand of its service area and the option is a rotating brownout to minimize its impact to busi-nesses and residential consum-ers.
For a 24-hour outage, he la-mented the cooperative is los-ing P333,000 or nearly P14,000 per hour.
milfrance Capulong, nGCP mindanao corporate commu-nications officer, pegged the curtailment level Wednesday at 260 mW, which was higher than what was posted on their website.
At the nGCP website, it said the mindanao grid has a short-fall of 210 mW, given the avail-able capacity of 1059 mW and a peak demand of 1269 mW.
Capulong told mindanews that the load curtailment in the island “has not stopped” since it was implemented several months ago, although consum-ers may not have felt it lately because the cooperatives have bought supply from private power producers.
the continuous load curtail-ment was due to generation de-ficiency, she said. (WALteR BALANe Of MINdANeWS WIth cARLO P. MALLO)
Mindanao power supply still ‘critical’n Power outage experienced in
Davao City was due to technical glitch
n Mindanao grid still short of 210 MW
ComPAnIes behind six proposed hydroelectric power projects in Bukid-
non have applied for a free and prior informed consent (FPIC) process with the pro-vincial office of the national Commission on Indigenous Peoples (nCIP).
ma. shirlene sario, Bukid-non provincial officer, said the list does not include the pro-posed 300-megawatt Pulangi V hydroelectric power com-plex in southern Bukidnon and north Cotabato because there has been no application yet from the group behind it.
sario told the Bukid-non sangguniang Panlala-wigan during her appearance Wednesday they are process-ing the applications for six proposed hydro plants in the province. the 132-megawatt Bulanog-Batang hydropower project in Cagayan River is so far the biggest proposed by the northern mindanao elec-tric Cooperatives Association (nomreca).
the nCIP has already is-sued the certification pre-con-dition (CP) to nomreca, one requirement for the firm to obtain permit for the project. With nCIP, this is the final is-
suance.According to the nCIP
guidelines for FPIC, to obtain CP, the applicant has to go through the field investigation first, which may result into an issuance of a Certificate of non-overlap. this needs no more FPIC process. But if there is overlap, the applicant then goes through the FPIC process proper.
the tribe may or may not give consent to the applicant in the FPIC process. If disap-proved, the tribe will issue a resolution of non consent. If they approve, they can pro-ceed to the signing of a memo-randum of agreement. After the moA signing, nCIP may then issue the CP.
First Gen mindanao Hy-dropower Corporation has applied for an FPIC process to tap water from the tagoloan River in Impasug-ong and the tumalaong River in sumilao and Baungon towns. the FPIC process is still at field-based investigation (FBI) stage, sa-rio said.
FBI refers to the ground investigation to determine whether or not the plan, pro-gram, project or activity over-laps with or affects an ances-
tral domain, the extent of the affected area, and the indig-enous cultural communities / indigenous peoples (ICCs/IPs) whose FPIC is to be obtained, according to the guidelines. sta. Clara Power Corporation is also seeking consent for the 9-megawatt manupali (River) mini Hydro Project in luru-gan, Valencia City.
the firm obtained a Cer-tificate of non-overlap (Cno) from nCIP. the Cno is issued by the nCIP regional direc-tor to certify that the pro-posed project does not affect or overlap with any ancestral domain.
But the issuance carries a condition that the appli-cant will go through an FPIC process if found later to have overlapped in part or whole.
nCIP Bukidnon already is-sued a Cno to another com-pany, Genphil Renewable energy, for the Panoon mini hydro project in Poblacion, Impasug-ong town.
Hedcor Bukidnon, Inc., a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power, has also applied for FPIC for the 28-megawatt sita-simod hydro power project in Kitao-tao, Bukidnon. sario said the status of the project is for
“moA signing” with the Fed-eration of matigsalug-mano-bo tribal Councils (Femmat-rics).
nCIP Bukidnon noted the completion of an FPIC pro-cess for First Gen mindanao Hydropower Corporation for another hydro project to tap water from Kulaman River in Imbatug and liboran in Baungon and Bubunawan River in Kiliog, libona town.
sario said the nCIP en banc already ordered the First Bukidnon electric Co-operative (Fibeco), Pulangi V’s proponent, to apply for an FPIC. nCIP commission-ers warned Fibeco officials in a dialogue earlier this month that the firm is risking a temporary restraining order (tRo) from the quasi-court body if they won’t apply for an FPIC process.
sario said they have re-ceived no information about the firm’s application for FPIC yet.
Fibeco officials said they are yet to obtain an endorse-ment from the Department of energy and the local govern-ment units before they could apply for an FPIC. (WALteR I. BAL-ANe / MINdANeWS)
Hydro power plants seek IP consent in Bukidnon
VOL.5 ISSUE 84 • JUNE 29 - 30, 20126 THE ECONOMY EDGEDAVAO
By Greg G. Deligero
DAVAo City scored a high rating in eco-nomic governance
according to the state of lo-cal Governance Report 2011 (slGR) set for presentation on July 11 before the depart-ment heads and chiefs of of-fices of city hall.
slGR is a comprehensive report of the local govern-ment highlighting the state of performance and devel-opment conditions in Davao City. It is prepared to provide organized and updated in-formation useful in decisions and actions, in legislation, planning, budgeting, project development and external fund sourcing, in communi-cating to the public and in building partnerships.
In formulating the re-port, baseline data and fig-ures were captured through the use of the local Govern-ment Performance manage-ment system (lGPms), a self-assessment and devel-opment support tool devel-oped for local Government Units (lGUs) by the Bureau of local Government super-vision of the Department of Interior and local Govern-ment (DIlG).
With 5 as the highest and excellent, Davao City posted a rating of 4.64 in economic governance which looks into three sub areas: support to agriculture sector, support to fishery services, and enter-prise, business and industry promotion.
In support to fishery ser-vices sub area, a Fisheries and Aquatic Resource man-agement Council (FARmC) has been organized and functions in accordance with section 75 of Republic Act 8550.
“Implementation of fish-ery laws is a factor to sup-port the fishery sector. the Council has assisted in the enforcement of fishery laws, rules and regulations on city waters. While it is true that there are fishing household-beneficiaries benefiting from fishery extension and on-site research and facilities, there is still a need for more alter-native and innovative assis-tance to fisher folks. this can come by way of improving credit facilitation services in terms of livelihood pro-grams,” the report said.
In support to agriculture sector sub area, the local government has provided agricultural extension ser-vices including the conduct of training, Farmers Field school (FFs), establishment of techno demo and infor-mation dissemination thru multi-media (print, broad-cast and the World Wide Web).
“Field exposures are also being used as effective exten-sion strategy to enable the farmers to see for themselves the benefits of various tech-nologies. Production support services such as planting materials, fertilizers, other soil ameliorants and labora-tory services are also made
available. In terms of on-site research and market devel-opment services, assistance to techno demo cooperators, and market linkages have been extended,” the report said.
“the local government has extended support to the agriculture sector. It is also important to note that interventions such as the establishment of infra-structure support are cur-rently done particularly in improving the irrigation system, farm-to-market roads and post-harvest facilities. this will bring about better quality pro-duce reaching the district markets,” it added.
In enterprise, busi-ness and industry promo-tion sub area, the local government hastened the process in securing build-ing and occupancy per-mits by assigning more teams to conduct inspec-tions when requests ac-cumulate to ensure the processing of permits will not go beyond the stan-dard period.
“In its drive to promote a business friendly environ-ment, the city government has also established a one-stop shop. It is where all the processing of business li-censes and other permits are located in one setting. this can save time on the part of the investors as well as make them feel comfortable in their transactions relative to securing the permits,” it said.
Davao City scores highin economic governance
AlWAYs at the fore-front of harnessing the power of tech-
nology to change the way banking is done, the Bank of Philippine Islands have made their cash manage-ment system a more con-venient and secure bank-ing feature through BPI expresslink.
the new banking sys-tem requires a two-factor authentication for finan-cial transactions, going beyond the usual user id and password.
BPI expresslink of-fers the widest range of cash management products to suit every
business need. some of their collection products allow clients to collect from customers, sub-scribers or distributors through an automatic debit arrangement. Viewing and download-ing of collection reports can also be done online to help them reconcile and accurately post pay-ments.
the account and li-quidity management products of BPI also al-low customers to moni-tor their deposit account balances, warehouse post dated checks and transfer funds to and from enrolled deposit accounts online, real-time. they can also view non-deposit transac-tions such as commer-cial loans, and trade and money market transac-tions. And they need not
wait for bank statements to be delivered since they can download their bank statements with just a few clicks of a but-ton.
to show that the bank actually value their cus-tomers’ time, the bank’s disbursement products, which allow them to pay their employees, util-ity providers and suppli-ers without leaving the comfort of their offices. BPI has also partnered with BIR, sss, Pag-IBIG, BoC and PhilHealth for electronic payments of regulatory dues. long lines and late payments will be a thing of the past with BPI expresslink’s government payments facility which allows clients to pay and even submit their payment files to the aforemen-tioned agencies online.
BPI launches more secure banking system
By Carlo P. Mallo
CHInA may have im-posed strict phytosani-tary requirements for
Philippine Cavendish banan-as, but the umbrella group of the Pilipino Banana Growers
and exporters Association is proposing some more re-quirements.
stephen Antig, executive director of PBGeA, said that he proposed to the Depart-ment of Agriculture that the quality inspectors of both
government and the respec-tive companies should be re-tooled.
“We need to increase their capacity and the equip-ment that they use,” Antig said.
the PBGeA executive di-
PBGEA propose more stringent measures for export check
rector also proposed that the quality inspectors who con-duct sampling of the bananas being exported should also be accredited. “Just like the accreditation that pesticide and chemical applicators go through with the Fertilizers and Pesticides Authority, so should the quality inspec-tors,” Antig said.
Antig added that the ac-creditation of the quality in-spectors would provide the industry another checking system that can strengthen the traceability of the prod-ucts.
“this will really ensure that we only export world-class bananas as the quality inspectors will be made ac-countable for any shipment that is not at par with inter-national standards,” Antig said.
PBGeA expressed inter-est in assisting the Depart-ment of Agriculture in the process of creating a more credible line of quality inspec-tors. the banana group has al-ready set a series of seminars and fieldwork that will boost the knowledge of quality in-spectors who work for banana companies in the country.
last march, the Chinese government banned the en-try of several shipments of Cavendish bananas from the Philippines due to the alleged presence of pests. the banana industry has lost several mil-lions of pesos.
mAnUFACtUReRs are encouraged to invest in packaging equipment
and to adopt best practices to re-duce the cost of their packaging, which could account for as much as 90 percent of a product’s total cost, and to avoid losses on their exports.
Packaging expert Dr. lejo Brana said at a press conference for the launch of “GlobalPack 2012”, an international packag-ing conference and exhibition to be held on July 25 to 27 at the Central Philippine University Packaging Center in Iloilo City, that exporters can save a lot by complying with international standards.
Brana stressed that exports of hazardous materials are no longer allowed if it does not follow the United nations stan-dards and without the Un mark-ings.
A Us Packaging Hall of Fam-er, Brana said the Homeland se-curity of the Us imposes a fine of $ 27,500 fine a day per case on any violation on the shipments of Dangerous materials.
“If your damaged exceeds one percent of your total prod-ucts, your business is in trouble. If an entire container is rejected, then it amounts to 100 percent
loss,” he said.thus, he said, producers
must invest in packaging and best industry practices.
Joseph Ross Jocson, presi-dent of the Packaging Institute of the Philippines (PIP), said the cost of packaging depends on the product.
“How much would it cost for a vegetable to keep it fresh, to lengthen its shelf life, what kind of transportation,” Jocson said. But, on the average, the packaging cost is estimated at 70 percent of a product’s total cost.
Roberto Bunag, president of systemat-PackeDGe, said the packaging perfumes would account for 90 percent of the entire cost of the product.
However, the use of quality equipment, processes and com-pliance to standards can result to substantial savings. others can reduce cost by 15 percent, Jocson said.
Jocson said that PIP, which is the umbrella organization of different packaging materials organization involved in plas-tic, paper, wood, glass, etc., said they are conducting a lifecycle analysis on plastics following a ban by local government units on the use of plastic. [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
KARLOS C. MANLUPIG • JOSEPH LAWRENCE P. GARCIALEANDRO S. DAVAL JR.,
PhotographyARLENE D. PASAJE
Cartoons
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
Training a generation of citizen-journalists
DAVAo CItY started yesterday enforcing the ban on non-bio-degradable plastic bags and
polystyrene foam food containers.Initial reports filtering to the news-
rooms the whole day yesterday indi-cated smooth implementation with nary an untoward incident due to de-fiant stakeholders. Credit this to the vigorous pre-implementation infor-mation campaign led no less than by mayor sara Duterte-Carpio, with her usual hands-on style.
truth is, the city government had started discussing the plastic ban since two years ago soon after the approval of the solid Waste and eco-logical management ordinance car-rying the prohibition as one of its sa-lient provisions.
this proves once more the primacy
of information, education and com-munication (IeC) as a component of any significant program that govern-ment or the private sector embarks on.
By coincidence, the enforcement of the ban came just hours before the city marked the first anniversary of the killer flashflood at matina-Pangi wherein 30 lives were wasted and millions of pesos worth of property were lost.
the horrifying deluge was blamed partly on the clogging of waterways caused by their siltation due to all forms of plastic materials. Who knows, the hype on the role of plas-tics in the clogging of drainage canals and other waterways might have helped enhance public acceptance of the ban.
By Naomi WolfCommentary
(Conclusion)
We live in a world in which gatekeep-ers and governments try to spin and control the flow of informa-
tion, and the Internet is thus under contin-ual attack. But democracy is strongest every-where when nothing can happen anywhere that an army of citizens can’t fully document to a global audience – and then organize around.
Add training for “ordinary” people around the world and here at home to write and source op-eds and news, and you get a powerful new mix. Already we have heard on DailyCloudt.com the kinds of voices you rare-ly hear in mainstream opinion pages: A stay-at-home mom, Celeste Hayes,rebutted Hilary Rosen’s comments about motherhood; a pro-life feminist challenged her own movement to support contraception – that is, if it really cared about lowering abortion rates; a music teacher, Joseph Ciolino, defended the second Amendment; a teacher and mother of a special-needs child revealed that the school testing mania is actually a gift to the lobby-ists of test administrator Pearson; and a real-tor, Christine mann, explained why obama’s much-ballyhooed Green Jobs initiative is re-ally a gift to the vinyl industry – with toxic results for us. Autumn smith of michigan did some eyewitness reporting and photograph-ing of state legislator lisa Brown and play-wright eve ensler’s peformance of The Vagina Monologues on Michigan’s statehouse steps after Brown made her famous comment about anti-abortion legislation. A citizen reporting that made it in turn into the Guard-ian this week. And smith helped unearth, in a Q&A with Representative Brown on that site, that legislation has been introduced in michigan’s statehouse to prevent conflicts of interest allowing legislators to profit person-ally – but that the bill has not been signed.
All in all, training citizens to shine this kind of light has already made for a better couple of weeks in the effort to strengthen democracy.
We’ve layered on top of all of this some software that kicks up remarkable results every day: Developer Greg Podunovich’s leg-islative search engine crawls the Internet 24/7, scraping data about upcoming bills and presenting them searchably by issue; I call it the “headline factory.” most laws are passed in darkness, since bills like the national De-fense Authorization Act weigh in at 1,600 pages, and, while lobbyists and their lawyers are looped in, most people are left out of the discussion. But the comment function on the search engine lets organizations and users explain what a bill means in real english – giving voters, organizations, legislators and journalists a way to actually comprehend what is being done on the Hill – before it is too late. other functions let people start their own political movements, draft and crowd-source their own legislation (24 states have referendums available for citizens to do so) and confront their own legislators’ district offices with their group of (registered, we hope) voters and their own proposed bills in hand. soon, we will offer grassroots fundrais-ing too.
Is DailyCloudt.com new, rough and a work in progress? Yes. Can it make a dent in the entrenched obstacles to real democracy? In raising new voices, we think we have al-ready begun. Can it potentially help explain bills whose true meaning is now coded in legalese, possibly help people stop bad laws and launch good ones, and help shift the le-vers of democracy back into the hands of the people? Yes, yes, and that is up to you.
VOL.5 ISSUE 84 • JUNE 29 - 30, 2012
tHe middle east’s two strongest eco-nomic and military powers, tur-key and Israel, are no closer to mend-
ing their deteriorating relationship than two years ago, when Israeli commandos in-tercepted an aid flotilla, killing nine turk-ish human rights activists aboard the mavi marmara.
But ties between the two need to be ur-gently reset – and can be – for the benefit of these former allies and for a region in tur-moil.
An urgency to reconcile has been miss-ing up until now, but outside events are conspiring to make the incentives for rap-prochement stronger. With Iran nuclear talks at a stalemate, syria on the brink of civil war and shooting down a turkish fighter jet, growing instability in lebanon, and linger-ing uncertainty following the Arab spring, there has never been a more important time for these two historically friendly countries to end their ‘cold war.’
A reconciliation between turkey and Israel would bring many benefits. turkey could return to its role as facilitator in Israeli-Arab peace talks and at the same time ease the distrust of Ankara in the Us Congress. the popularity of turkish Prime minister Recep tayyip erdogan and of his country in the Arab world could help cushion Israel against the uncertainties of the Arab spring.
Regionally, renewed ties would put more pressure on Iran to negotiate a peaceful resolution to its nuclear standoff. It would ease tensions related to disputed natural gas claims in the eastern mediterranean that are embroiling lebanon as well, and foster the possibility of an international consensus on syria.
A repaired relationship would also pro-mote American interests in the middle east by removing the constant clash of its two close allies. Rapprochment could act as a stabilizing pillar and allow for a resumption of trilateral intelligence sharing, military ex-ercises, and policy coordination.
Resetting the turkish-Israeli relation-ship has proven difficult, but it’s not impos-sible.
true, the refusal of Israel to apologize for the turkish citizens killed on the mavi mar-mara, combined with Ankara’s deliberate strategy of drawing closer to Arab states and Iran at the expense of ties with Israel, have created an atmosphere of mutual mistrust and anger. But this can be overcome. By fo-cusing on areas that mutually benefit both sides, the issues dividing the two countries can slowly be ratcheted down.
In order to achieve a true rapproche-ment, both sides will need to adjust their expectations and compromise on their posi-tions. Although Israel has already expressed regret, it is probably too late for it to go fur-ther and make any meaningful apology to turkey for the deaths on the mavi marmara.
But some arrangement of compensation would meet one of Ankara’s key demands and could ease some of the frustration over Israel’s lack of response. It is also an option Israel seems to have agreed to in the past; the two sides were reportedly hammering out language on an agreement last summer when coalition politics in Israel intervened.
there should be no return to an inquiry into the mavi marmara events; by now the discussion is too politicized to reconcile the competing versions of what took place. Instead, the two should agree to a joint Israeli-turkish commission, possibly with American participation, to explore the forms of compensation and what other, if any, measures might be taken. the commission should be staffed not by politicians but by legal scholars or practitioners who are free from the constraints of domestic political considerations.
trade ties should also be increased as an action separate from the political sphere (this has, in fact, been gradually happen-ing since the outbreak of tensions in 2010). more routinized trade missions should be established, in which select industries take turns traveling to each other’s countries to
meet with counterparts.new mutually beneficial commercial
opportunities should be seized, including investment in turkey, construction in Israel, and joint development projects. Given its growing private sector, turkey has a poten-tially large pool of skilled labor that can be tied to Israel’s biomedical and green-energy sectors.
Goodwill gestures and confidence-build-ing measures are also necessary. Given turk-ish sensitivities overCyprus, Israel should involve turkey in some of the economic de-cisionmaking when dealing with the devel-opment of offshore gas fields in the eastern mediterranean. this would ease turkish suspicions that Israel is out to encircle it. And cancelled defense contracts between the two countries should also be restored. that would provide turkey with the military technology it has been seeking elsewhere while sending the message that Israel does not view turkey as a military foe.
In return, Ankara should stop making public demands on Israel regarding mavi marmara and use less accusatory language when referencing Israeli behavior in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It should also re-sume its bid to be a neutral arbiter and offer to host Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in an effort to make a positive contribution to the peace process.
Washington can help this reconciliation process by finding areas of general agree-ment and encouraging Israelis and turks to coordinate on them. this will restore trust and an effective working relationship be-tween turkey and Israel. American interests are served by a stable middle east, and hav-ing the two strongest countries in the region mend their relationship can further that goal.
[Michael J. Koplow is a Ph.D. candidate in government at Georgetown University, where he writes on political development and Middle East politics. He blogs at Ottomans and Zionists. You can follow him on Twitter. Brent E. Sasley is assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he teaches and writes on Mid-dle East and Israeli politics. He blogs at Mideast Matrix.You can follow him on Twitter.]
some peo-ple say that there is no
more justice in our country.
W r o n g . There are fif-teen justices in the supreme Court, remem-ber? And there are nine jus-tices in the sandigan Bayan. And nine in the Court of Appeals. so, what are they griping about?
-o-the Philippine government has giv-
en to the International monetary Fund (ImF) $1 billion as a loan in response to its call for assistance to european na-tions experiencing economic crisis or meltdown, or huge debts.
so now malacañan Palace is boasting that we are now a “lending” country, no longer a “borrowing” nation.
should that be a reason to rejoice? not really, because our gesture of sup-port to the call of the ImF is pure win-dow dressing. It’s only for a show.
every Pinoy from Aparri to Jolo (ex-cept Aquino’s matuwid na daan boys) knows that our nation has been suffer-ing for so long from economic diarrhea.
mr. Aquino is perhaps the greatest show-off among all Philippine presi-dents.
He says we are on the right track to progress; that we have regained our faith in the future; that we now have rea-son to smile; that there is a ray of hope in the horizon for brighter day ahead; that we can see and walk on the right path.
Beautiful. P-noy is not an optimist; he is an illusionist; a great pretender.
-o-Raymond Palatino, a Kabataan party-
list representative filed a bill that would ban the display of the Cross and other religious images or symbols in govern-ment buildings and offices.
His rationale: to stress the principle of separation of Church and state as guaranteed in the Constitution.
the plan or idea immediately drew objection from the Catholic Church which considered the bill as anti-God.
of course, the bill is now anti-God. maybe, Palatino is a non-Catholic and doesn’t like religious images.
Anyway, he later withdrew his bill and apologized.
Palatino should have used his co-conut to help provide solutions to eco-nomic difficulties and well-being of his constituents and the nation in gen-
eral. there are more urgent and seri-ous problems that need attention than emphasizing an abstract concept as the separation of Church and state.
Can you not think of something bet-ter, something closer to the hearts of your fellow youth, Ramond? C’mon, please grow up!
-o-the Judicial Bar Council (JBC), has
been flooded with more than 60 nomi-nees for the position of Chief Justice of the supreme Court.
sen. Joker Arroyo has described such nomination frenzy as “ridiculous”. many names simply don’t deserve such honor.
the selection of the next Chief Jus-tice has been treated as a coveted trophy pretty much like the PBA championship title. How trivial can we get!
my take is that we should continue the practice or is it tradition (?) of choos-ing the Chief Justice from the rank of the incumbent Associate Justices. let’s not make the selection a ridiculous circus.
the JBC should dump the nominees from outside the supreme Court, and re-store sanity in naming the new CJ.
A Kim Henares (a nominee) pre-siding as Chief Justice of the supreme Court! Please, JBC.
9VANTAGE POINTS
Monkey Business
EDGEDAVAOQuo vadis rice
terraces?
Time to end the ‘cold war’ between Turkey and Israel
By lilyBeth G. iSoNSpeCial Feature
By michael J. KoploW aNd BreNt e. SaSley
analySiS
The Great Pretender
tHe people of Ifugao are glad that the world renowned Banaue Rice terraces had been removed from
the list of World Heritage in Danger. “We›re happy,» said Ifugao Rep. ted-
dy Baguilat in an exclusive interview with the Philippines news Agency on thursday. «this only shows that what we are doing to restore the grandeur of the rice terraces is right in the eyes of the international community.”
Baguilat, however, noted that more restoration work still needs to be done to restore the terraces to its grandeur.
«(Being removed from the list of World Heritage sites in danger) doesn›t change anything on the ground. still a lot of restoration work to do,» he said.
Citing improvements in its conser-vation efforts, the 36th session of the UnesCo’s World Heritage Committee on tuesday formally removed the rice terraces from the list of World Heritage sites in Danger.
the committee noted that the Philip-pines had successfully met the desired state of conservation through successful landscape restoration and conservation, protection and planning, and proper management.
the Banaue Rice terraces, which was described by UnesCo as an outstanding cultural landscape and the only heritage site not made by slave labor, was placed on the list of World Heritage in Danger in 2001 «because of threats which re-quired the development of better man-agement and planning.»
Deforestation, climate change, and the lack of young Ifugaos willing to keep the farming tradition had threatened to destroy the terraces built some 2,000 years ago.
the Department of Agriculture (DA) was tasked by President Benigno Aquino III to spearhead the rehabilitation and restoration of the rice terraces.
A P30-million fund was allocated by the DA for its rehabilitation and res-toration effort to regain its status as a «Globally-Important Agricultural Heri-tage systems» (GIAHs) as declared by the Un Food and Agriculture organiza-tion (FAo).
Agriculture secretary Proceso J. Al-cala said of the P30 million initial fund, some P10 million from the DA’s national Irrigation Administration (nIA) will be used to repair eroded and damaged por-tions, and reinforce the irrigation sys-tems of the rice terraces at Batad town.
the remaining P20 million from the DA’s national rice program will be spent to reinforce and upgrade similar rice ter-races in four other locations.
these include the picturesque Banaue rice terraces that can be seen at the Dianara Viewpoint, and three other rice terraces in mayoyao, Hapao and Ki-angan.
«Kailangan nating lutasin ang prob-lema ng rice terraces. Ito po ang utos ni Pangulong Aquino (I was tasked by President Aquino for the restoration of the rice terraces),» he said.
Alcala said the DA also allotted an additional P25 million to implement several agricultural projects via counter-parting arrangement with the 11 munic-ipalities and the provincial government of Ifugao.
Dante Delima, DA national rice pro-gram coordinator, alongside restoring the grandeur and legacy of the rice ter-races, the DA will also procure from Ifu-gao and other Cordillera farmers heir-loom or upland rice varieties that the DA will maintain, purify and propagate into starter seeds.
these will be used for succeeding planting seasons at the rice terraces and other upland areas in the country. (PNA)
VOL.5 ISSUE 84 • JUNE 29 - 30, 201210 COMMUNITY SENSE EDGEDAVAO
HeDCoR, the larg-est developer of run-of-river hy-
dropower plants in the country, and the Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. provided free school supplies for nearly 3,500 school chil-dren in 10 public schools of Davao del sur during the first week of classes.
“For years, we have been giving school sup-plies to the schools host-ing our hydropower plants, I am still moved to see jubilant smiles of these young children when they receive the pack of school materials”, Hedcor vice president Boy Jabonillo said.
High school and el-ementary students from Hedcor’s host communi-ties – tudaya, sibulan, Darong, tibolo, Pogpog and Astorga of sta. Cruz, Davao del sur, accepted packs of pens, notebooks, art materials, rulers, cases, scissors and enve-lopes from the Hedcor volunteers.
According to the
school principals, a high dropout rate was ob-served in the past. one reason parents cannot send their children to school, consequently in-creasing the number of school drop-outs is due to lack of basic school neces-sities. the company wish-es to see the increased graduation rate of its host schools, “Hedcor contin-ues to instill the young minds the importance of education”, Jabonillo added.
In fact, Hedcor is not only distributing educa-tional materials, the com-pany is giving financial as-sistance to those deserv-ing students in primary and secondary levels and scholarships grant in col-lege. the hydro firm also donates computer units and school buildings to its host schools when needed.
“We support the Unit-ed nation’s millennium Development Goals, par-ticularly goal number two which is to achieve
Hedcor distributes school supplies to over 3000 studes
BACK TO SCHOOL. Sibulan Grid Maintenance Manager Michael Quidayan and the rest of Hedcor volunteers hand over the set of school supplies to students in public schools of Davao del Sur – home of the 42.5-MW Sibulan Hydropower Plant.
universal primary educa-tion”, Jabonillo said.
Hedcor, an Aboitz-Power subsidiary, has 19
run-of-river hydropower plants with a total capac-ity of 155 megawatts in Benguet, Ilocos sur, and
Davao. the company’s budget allocation on edu-cation programs is equal-ly important to health
care, livelihood, refores-tation and infrastructure development to host com-munities.
The first Pasiglahin ang Estudyanteng Pinoy: a supplemental program in Davao City was launched on Friday at Magallanes Elementary School. The program aims to address hunger and health issues of public school children. It also aims to reduce the drop out rates and improve the children’s performance in school. It is imple-mented in modules or groups of thirty (30) of the most malnourished public school children in selected elementary school nationwide. They will be given nutrition-
ally balanced meals and a cup of milk five (5) days a week over a six (6) month period. Mead Johnson Nutrition Philippines through their president, Paul Andrew Richards promises to provide the daily milk ration for the six month implementa-tion of the program. Pasiglahin ang Estudyanteng Pinoy (PEP) is a joint program of Mead Johnson, Kabisig Kalahi, Department of Education (DepEd) and National Competitiveness Council.
VOL.5 ISSUE 84 • JUNE 29 - 30, 2012 11SUBURBIAEDGEDAVAO
tHe new studio of the Provincial In-formation office
of Davao del norte will merely serve as a channel of relevant and timely de-velopment information, and not be used for politi-cal purposes.
oIC-Provincial Infor-mation officer Romulo tagalo debunked cer-tain suspicions alleging the PIo studio is meant to boost the popularity of administration candi-dates in the upcoming 2013 elections.
“that is definitely un-true, as this is for the pro-grams of the government,” he said, specifically allud-ing to Governor Rodolfo P. del Rosario’s develop-ment agenda, P.e.o.P.l.e., which stands for people empowerment, educa-tion, optimum health and social services, public-private partnership, link to the world, and, em-ployment and livelihood opportunities.
He made it clear at the launch of the studio last June 26, 2012 that the
studio intends to boost the immediate release of relevant development in-formation to media out-lets for the benefit of the general public.
Politicians, according to him, will be accommo-dated for interviews at the studio, not for the sake of politics, but “because they as public officials have the obligation to inform the public of their respective advocacies.”
tagalo also revealed that journalists and the people can now access information on the devel-opment undertakings of the province by logging on to PIo’s Facebook account: Davnor Press Release, FB fan page: Dabaonon news Update, or through Davao del norte’s website www.davaonorte.gov.ph, as well as through text mes-sages.
He assured the PIo office is very much ac-cessible to the members of the press, adding Gov. del Rosario directed him to make Davao del norte
Capitol media-friendly. With the new stu-
dio, daily interviews with functionaries shall now be conducted at the provincial media center, where journalists will be invited to engage in in-depth discussions.
these shall be aired live, initially to one each Am and Fm radio stations in tagum City, as well as, via internet livestream at www.ustream.tv/idava-odelnorte. While other stations and the cable channels will air the pro-grams on delayed broad-cast.
A press conference was held as a highlight of the event, where Vice Governor Victorio suay-baguio, Jr. and oIC-Pro-vincial Administrator norma lumain sat as panel of guests to talk about the details of the 45th founding anniversa-ry of Davao del norte.
Board members shir-ley Belen Aala, Atty. Joey millan ang Vicente el-iot were also present to grace the occasion.
New DavNor PIO studio for devt info purposes only
Vice Gov. Victorio Suaybaguio, Jr. and OIC-Provincial Administrator respond to questions fielded by the media at a press conference held as highlight of the launch of the new studio of the Provincial Information Office of Davao del Norte
An acolyte administers the blessing ceremony of the new studio of the Provincial Information Office of Davao del Norte.
VOL.5 ISSUE 84 • JUNE 29 - 30, 201212 EDGEDAVAO
NATION BRIEFS WORLD TODAy
NATION/WORLD
Lift
tHe Philippines will lift on July 15 the fishing ban it
imposed last may at the Panatag (scarborough) shoal off the coast of Zambales, half a month earlier than the sched-uled lifting of a similar ban imposed by China.
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) national direc-tor Asis Perez yesterday said the fishing ban had nothing to do with the territorial dispute with China over Panatag.
Sobriety test
AFteR reports of boozing on the job, traffic police
in the Philippine capital will be required to un-dergo breathalyser tests, an official said thursday.
the new policy cov-ering the 1,400 metro manila traffic enforcers was imposed following complaints about some personnel, said Yves Gonzales, director of ma-nila’s traffic discipline office.
Left
senAtoR Aquilino Pimentel III will not run under the
United nationalist Al-liance in 2013, but will stay with PDP-laban, which is part of UnA. Pimentel told reporters thursday that he met with former President Joseph estrada, whose Pwersa ng masang Pili-pino forms the other half of UnA, to convey his de-cision. Pimentel has also sent word to Vice Presi-dent Jejomar Binay, PDP-laban chairman, he said.
Top smokers
DesPIte the exis-tence of laws that limit smoking,
male Filipino smokers are among the top smok-ers in the world occupy-ing the ninth spot fol-lowing India and China among others, data from the American Cancer society and World lung Foundation revealed.
the 2008 data was revealed by the Depart-ment of Health (DoH) as it sought to emphasize the urgency of the pas-sage of the sin tax bill.
Declined
senAtoR miriam Defensor santiago has declined her
nomination to become the next chief justice, saying she preferred to sit as judge of the Inter-national Criminal Court (ICC).
santiago issued the statement after she was nominated for chief jus-tice before the Judicial Bar and Council (JBC) by a private individual.
Low tariff
InDIA urged its vast pri-vate sector to invest in Afghanistan as a low tariff
destination, saying that could help stabilize the country as Western nations begin to pull back troops after nearly 11 years of support.
Foreign minister s.m. Krishna said on thursday he recognized Indian busi-nesses’ concerns about Af-ghanistan, especially in the run-up to 2014 when most foreign troops will leave, but if companies invested togeth-er there would be security in numbers.
Media target
DemonIZeD in eu-rope’s media as a red-eyed terminator
robot, a flabby centre-fold pinup and a fleshy Roman god eating Greeks, German Chancellor Angela merkel has become the subject of a new wave of vitriol for her tough stance on the euro zone crisis.
Already a figure of hate in Greece for insisting on austerity in exchange for aid, merkel has long endured montages of herself in a nazi uniform, but the run up to this week’s eU summit has unleashed particularly sav-age images and headlines.
Deployed
tURKeY is deploying troops along its border with syria after one
of its jets was shot down by syria over the mediterranean last week, a turkish official said on thursday.
“I can confirm there are troops being deployed along the border in Hatay province. turkey is taking precautions after its jet was shot down,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
Swearing-in
CHInese President Hu Jintao oversees the swearing-in of Hong
Kong’s embattled leader on sunday, stepping beyond his comfort zone of staid one-party rule in Beijing into a former British colony used to scandal and raucous protest.
Hong Kong is a liberal, global financial centre agi-tating for full democracy in 2017, making it both an asset and a potentially dan-gerous precedent for China where people are becoming increasingly intolerant of rights abuses and curtailed freedoms.
Destroyed
tens of thousands of Americans nervously awaited word thurs-
day of whether their homes had been destroyed when a wildfire tore into the out-skirts of this western Us city.
summer wildfires are common in the mountains of arid Colorado but rarely burst into residential areas, as the Waldo Canyon Fire did earlier this week, forcing some 36,000 people to flee.
tHe United states said it saw momen-tum in talks be-
tween China and south-east Asia on agreeing to a code of conduct to ease deep friction over com-peting claims in the south China sea.
the south China sea is likely to be high on the agenda when Us secre-tary of state Hillary Clin-ton heads next month to Cambodia for talks of the Association of southeast Asian nations and re-gional powers including China.
Kurt Campbell, the Us assistant secretary of state for east Asia, said he understood that a draft proposal on a code of con-duct was being discussed and that the United states expected to hear more de-tails while in Cambodia.
“What we have seen of late has been an in-crease in diplomacy be-tween AseAn and China about aspects associated with a potential code of conduct,” Campbell told a conference at the Center for strategic and Interna-tional studies.
“I will say that we are frankly impressed with the level of focus that par-ticularly AseAn has given to this,” Campbell said.
Campbell did not give
Chinese surveillance ships patrol in April 2012 near Scarborough Shoal, a reef claimed by the Philippines. The Philip-pines and Vietnam accuse China of aggressively asserting its claims in recent years, leading to minor clashes that diplomats and military commanders fear could quickly escalate into major conflicts.
US sees momentum on South China Sea code of conduct
more details on the po-tential code of conduct and acknowledged that disputes over the south China sea are “fraught with difficulty.”
“they spur national-ist sentiment across the region as a whole and it is extraordinarily important to deal with them with great delicacy,” he said.
AseAn and China agreed in 2002 to nego-tiate a code of conduct. But there has been little visible progress, with a rising China preferring to negotiate with each coun-try individually instead of dealing with a unified bloc.
AseAn foreign minis-ters, meeting in April in Phnom Penh, said they hoped to narrow differ-ences and sign a code of conduct with China by the end of the year.
the Philippines and Vietnam accuse China of aggressively asserting its claims in recent years, leading to minor clashes that diplomats and mili-tary commanders fear could quickly escalate into major conflicts.
the United states has recently expanded mili-tary relations with the Philippines and Vietnam, part of what President Barack obama’s adminis-
tration has cast as a grow-ing Us focus on relations with Asia.
the details of the code of conduct remained murky. Us Defense secre-tary leon Panetta, speak-ing to the annual shangri-la Dialogue in singapore on June 2, said the code should set a binding “rules-based framework” to prevent and manage disputes.
At the annual AseAn talks in 2010 in Vietnam, Clinton said the United states had a “national interest” in open access to the south China sea, through which half of the world’s trade flows.
AUstRAlIAn Prime minister Julia Gil-lard thursday urged
politicians to “look into their conscience” as a bill to al-low boatpeople to be sent offshore for processing was debated in the senate.
the bill passed the House of Representatives, or lower house, on Wednes-day after an angry and emo-tional debate sparked by another crowded asylum-seeker boat sinking off the remote Australian territory of Christmas Island.
some 130 people were rescued, one body was re-
covered and three people went down with the vessel. the incident came just days after another boat capsized, with 110 people saved but an estimated 90 killed.
“I am calling on each and every senator to look into their conscience, to think deeply about this,” Gillard said, adding that if the bill did not pass, there would be no effective message of deterrence to people-smug-glers.
“What it will mean is people will get on boats,” she said in a radio interview.
“What we know is if
people get on boats, unfor-tunately, tragically, awfully, some get into trouble and people lose their lives.”
But the bill is unlikely to succeed with the conser-vative opposition and the Australian Greens vowing to block it, sparking scathing criticism from the media.
“Paralysis in Parlia-ment,” the sydney morning Herald said in a front-page headline.
“the Australian parlia-ment is failing us. It is put-ting politicking ahead of hu-man life,” it said.
the Australian newspa-
Photo taken by the MV Bison after arriving at the asy-lum-seeker boat before it capsized. Rescuers plucked 130 people from the ocean after the boat sank en route to
Australia, barely a week after another vessel went down in the same area, killing up to 90.
Australia debates offshore asylum-seeker processingper said in an editorial that the expected senate failure would lead to more inac-tion.
“Around the nation there will be much stunned silence,” it said.
Gillard’s fragile labor coalition government sup-ports the private member’s bill from independent mP Rob oakeshott which is at-tempting to revive a deal clinched last year to send 800 boatpeople to malay-sia.
In exchange, Canberra would take 4,000 of that country’s refugees.
the government was unable to pass the required legislation through parlia-ment without the support of the opposition, amid concerns malaysia was not a signatory to Un refugee conventions.
the oakeshott bill, seen as a compromise, would allow an immigration minister to designate any nation as an “offshore as-sessment country” if it was party to the Bali Process -- a framework for dealing with asylum-seekers involving more than 40 countries.
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Aplaya, matina Cross-ing, talomo Proper, and maa were placed under a state of calamity follow-ing flash floods triggered by torrential rain which destroyed dozens of houses, killing at least 30 people, mostly children.
then on July 1, 2011, the houses of more than 200 illegal settlers in Barangay soliman, Agdao district, this city, were set for demolition by a court order issued by Judge emmanuel Carpio of RtC 11 Branch 16.
the mayor who was then attending to flood victims, requested sheriff Andres through via phone call for a two-hour re-prieve and to wait for her to witness the demolition as provided by law.
Andres, however, or-dered the demolition team to do its task ac-cording to the sched-ule given by Judge Carpio. that triggered a clash between resi-dents, policemen and the demolition team, several of whom were injured.
In the midst of the chaos, Duterte-Carpio ar-rived in Barangay soliman and immediately calmed down the residents and restrained the policemen and demolition team.
Fuming mad that Andres had not ac-ceded to her request
to stay the demolition, the mayor punched him several times on the head which was re-corded by media cam-eras, especially televi-sion, which were there to cover the demolition.
Footage of the punch-ing incident went viral and attracted instant na-tional and international attention to Davao City putting in on a defensive mode.
In reaction, many Dabawenyos wore green ribbons and at-tached these on vehicles and public places signify-ing their support of their mayor’s action.
However, in reply to a question from media, the mayor said she would not apologize to Judge Carpio who issued the demoli-tion order.
“Dili. Dili gyud (no, never!),” she said.
toughthe mayor told edge
Davao that she needs to be tough.
“my role in this world, starting from my family, is to be a trouble shooter, and I learned in this role there’s no time to cry, only to take charge when needed,” she said.
she expanded her earlier statement that the situation in her family taught her how to handle problems decisively.
“I come from a bro-ken family. Usually, when there are issues, I don’t know why but they (fam-ily members) come to me,” she said.
“I got used to tak-ing charge of things. I think that’s what influences me most as a mayor,” she added.
In memoriammeanwhile, the city
is also holding memo-rial services for the flood victims in matina Pangi.
Yesterday, Barangay matina Crossing captain Joel santes headed a tree planting ceremony while a mass is set today.
“since majority of the victims who died lived there, we will be holding a mass to pray for them,” the mayor said.
Duterte-Carpio added these barangays which suffered flooding are bet-ter equipped.
“It is regrettable that if there was only an early warning system, what happened would have been avoided. But after that, the barangay is better equipped. they’re already on alert at the slightest rain,” she said.
the barangays of matina Pangi, matina Aplaya, matina Crossing, talomo Proper, and maa are areas in the path of the Pangi River which overflowed at the time due to heavy rains.
gadgets similar to credit card swipe machines in participat-ing taxi units. Instead of credit cards, China Ban Atm card will be used. However, Atm cards of depositors of banks affiliated with Bancnet and megalink may also be used.
Crisostomo said in the fu-ture, it is possible that credit cards can also be used.
He said piloting the proj-ect in Davao City is ideal due to the good reputation of taxi drivers here of giving back the exact change to passengers, unlike in other urban centers wherein taxi drivers expect tips from passengers instead.
will be devoted to outreach and research, respectively. The 9th and 10th floors of the community center will be allotted for sleeping quarters of the university’s guests and the Jesuits, with the guests occupying the 9th floor and the Jesuits occupying the 10th. solar panels will be placed on the community center’s roof deck to power the lighting of the building and ceiling fans for the ventila-tion of the entire building. A communications tower will also be present on the building’s roof. Another feature of the community center will be the new Cha-pel of the university, as the old one is set to be demol-
ished to give way to the new structures.
the new buildings will be made mostly of steel and glass. ong explained the recyclability and reus-ability of steel as one of the factors in its usage in the building, and the heavy use of glass as a safety measure as they would help stop the spread of fire in the case of an emergency.
Demolition of the build-ings currently taking up the space of the proposed buildings will take place sometime next month. ong says that he estimates the construction of the two buildings to be completed within 18 to 24 months’ time.
cancer patient, the pack-age is P100,000 also for the entire course of treat-ment.
For low to interme-diate risk prostate can-cer, the package is worth P100,000 for the entire course of treatment. this is for male patient age up to 70 years old with local-ized prostate cancer and has no uncontrolled co-morbid conditions.
the package for end stage renal disease eligi-ble for kidney transplant (low risk) is P600,000 for the entire course of treat-ment. this is for patients more than 10 years old but less than 70 years old with single organ trans-plant.
Pague noted that PhilHealth contracted with reference hospitals,
which are carefully cho-sen according to the criti-cal mass of patients with these identified types of cancer, and based on the standard cost.
In the Davao region, the reference hospitals are the southern Philip-pines medical Center and Davao Regional Hospital only.
However, he men-tioned that private hos-pitals may facilitate ben-eficiaries of case type Z but they should follow the PhilHealth rules of “no balance billing”.
Also at the Club 888 forum, Johanna t. Blason, PhilHealth 11 social in-surance officer III, said high survival rate from these cases is one of the objectives of this benefit package, as well as to en-
sure total care from diag-nosis to treatment.
the universal health care program of Phil-Health, she said, aims to achieve member empow-erment that he or she should be well-informed about the benefits, treat-ment, health risks, sched-ules of visits, and medi-cines among others.
she added that as of December 2011, the re-gion had a total of 1.4 million members, and the rate of membership is at 100 new members per day.
Pague said PhilHealth began the preauthoriza-tion or validation of pa-tients who can avail of case type Z benefit pack-age last June 21, adding that the formal launching will be on July 18.
DAVAo light & Power Company apologizes for
the power outage yes-terday, which has af-fected the customers in most part of its Davao City franchise area.
the power interrup-tion which started at 10:53 Am resulted after a technical problem oc-curred at the national Grid Corporation of the Philippines’ (nGCP) substation in new loon, mintal according to the transmission operator.
the problem at nGCP’s substation sent the electric distribu-tion company’s sub-transmission lines to trip namely, eRA 1 & 2, Davao and tagum. this has resulted to a no power supply situation in the entire downtown area going to the north-ern areas up to Panacan and areas in the south going to Bago Aplaya and to Calinan.
Davao light imme-diately implemented its contingency measures, and within minutes power supply were re-
ceived from its embed-ded power sources, the standby Power Plant in Bajada and Hedcor’s sibulan Hydro power plant.
Also, to lessen the duration of the power interruption in the af-fected areas, loads were transferred to nearby lines.
Gradual restoration of power supply started at 11:22 Am in down-town and northern ar-eas and at 12:09 Pm in the southern areas. eventually, power in all areas was fully restored at 12:50 Pm.
However, a short power interruption was experienced, again by the affected customers to facilitate the nor-malization or return of loads back to its normal set-up after the repairs at nGCP substation were done.
Although the power outage was beyond, Davao light’s control, it expressed its deepest apology to its customers for the inconvenience that they experienced.
DaLight apologizes for power outage
PResIDent Benigno s. Aquino III has failed to fulfill his
promise to hold account-able the security forces responsible for serious abuses since taking office two years ago, Human Rights Watch said yester-day.
In a statement issued days before he enters his third year in office, Human Rights Watch said Aqui-no “has not successfully prosecuted a single case of extrajudicial killing or enforced disappearance, including those commit-ted during his presidency.”
Upon assuming the presidency, Aquino gave “marching orders” to the Justice department to “begin the process of pro-viding true and complete justice for all. Five months later, at an event to com-memorate human rights, he said that, ‘the culture of silence, injustice and im-punity that once reigned is now a thing of the past’,” the new York-based hu-man rights monitor said. It added that during his 2011 state of the nation
Under Pres. Aquino
Rights group says abuses go unpunishedAddress, Aquino reiterat-ed this commitment, say-ing, “We are aware that the attainment of true justice does not end in the filing of cases, but in the convic-tion of criminals.”
elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said “con-crete measures – rather than more promises – are needed now.”
“As President Aquino himself pointed out, the conviction of those impli-cated in abuses is the true test of his commitment to his promise,” Pearson said. “so the government needs to move beyond simply identifying suspects and obtaining warrants to ac-tually apprehending the suspects and putting them on trial.”
the group said it has also monitored progress on cases of killings and enforced disappearances under the previous ad-ministration of Gloria ma-capagal-Arroyo. However, it noted that if progress
has been made, “it is often because of the persever-ance and courage of family members, rather than ag-gressive action by police and prosecutors.”
Human Rights Watch cited the 2006 disappear-ance of two university stu-dents, Karen Cadapan and sherlyn empeno, where family action was crucial in bringing the two sol-diers to trial for their kid-napping and illegal deten-tion.
“the trial for the two soldiers started in may. However, the men are not in civilian custody but are being held in a military camp. two others impli-cated in the students’ dis-appearance, including re-tired maj. Gen. Jovito Pal-paran, the commander in the area at the time, have evaded arrest,” it said.
Philippine human rights groups have called Palparan “the Butcher” for his alleged role in sev-eral extrajudicial killings and “disappearances” of
left-wing activists. they are suspecting that the retired general is being coddled by his support-ers in the military.
“the number of kill-ings and disappearances implicating the military has gone down under the Aquino administration, but they continue,” Hu-man Rights Watch said.
last month, the coun-try’s human rights re-cord was scrutinized at the United nations Hu-man Rights Council in Geneva during its Uni-versal Periodic Review. several countries – in-cluding the United states, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, spain, the netherlands, and the Holy see – raised alarm over the continuing kill-ings, enforced disap-pearances, and torture. During the sessions, sev-eral countries urged the Aquino administration to end impunity for these abuses. [h. MARcOS c. MORdeNO
to squeeze in another Filipino boxer to the olym-pics did not materialize and the Philippines is left with just one solitary hope at the sport where the best chance of the elusive gold medal could come for this country.
Davao’s mark Anthony Barriga will have to do it alone after the International Boxing Association (AIBA) recently informed the Ama-teur Boxing Association of the Philippines that its re-quest for lightweight boxer Charly suarez to be accorded an invitation to the london olympics has been denied.
Both Barriga and suarez hail from Panabo City and are products of the famed Barangay Una boxing pro-gram of businessman-sports patron tonyboy Floirendo.
Reports have it that an email response was sent to ABAP president Ricky Var-
gas from AIBA executive di-rector Ho Kim
the email read: “after numerous discussions with IoC, the quota in the weight category which you request-ed was returned to AIBA since IoC could not find a suitable place in the tripar-tite selection. therefore, following the olympic Quali-fying Guidelines approved by the IoC executive Board, the next Best Boxer from the 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships is supposed to be selected.”
“Following the Competi-tion Protocol list, we regret-tably found out that your boxer does not meet the qualification to be the next Best Boxer in your conti-nent. We would like to truly express our regret to inform you on such matter”, Kim added.
the ABAP had earlier written a formal request to AIBA president Ching Kuo-
Wu to consider suarez based on his performance as a fi-nalist in the Asian Qualify-ing tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan (he lost an un-popular decision to China’s Qiang liu). He also turned in spectacular results as a boxer for the mumbai Fight-ers of India in the AIBA-organized World series of Boxing (WsB).
Filipino boxing legend manny Pacquiao chimed in his support for the request in a personal letter to Wu as did Philippine olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco Jr.
Barriga fights in the light Flyweight category (49 Kg.), the same weight class which won an olympic silver (mansueto Velasco Jr, Atlanta ‘96) and bronze (Roel Velasco, Barcelona, ‘92) for the Philippines.
Bronze medalist Velasco will act as Barriga’s coach in london. (WIth PNA RePORtS)
settInG aside the latest controversy that marred his
welterweight title fight, manny Pacquiao gets a chance to think things over as he left for europe on thursday with his en-tire family.
the Filipino boxing star was accompanied in the trip by wife Jin-kee and children Jimuel, emmanuel, Princess and Queenie in a european tour that will also mtake them to the Holy land to-gether for the first time.
Before their depar-ture, Pacquiao had a din-
ner meeting with pro-moter Bob Arum in los Angeles on tuesday, al-though nothing concrete came out of it except for an agreement for a re-turn to the ring in no-vember.
Arum expects Pac-quiao to come up with a name for a possible op-ponent after his long-de-layed vacation with the family.
Pacquiao is coming off a stunning 12-round split decision loss to timothy Bradley three weeks ago which left him without his World Boxing
organization (WBo) wel-terweight title.
In light of the WBo’s unofficial findings that Pacquiao was the clear winner of the 12-round fight, a rematch with the 28-year-old Bradley ap-pears to be the most vi-able option for the box-ing icon.
But Arum said Brad-ley is just one of the many possible opponents for the Pacman, putting the names of mexican Juan manuel marquez, Puerto Rican miguel Cotto, and rival Floyd mayweather Jr. in the mix.
Holy sabbatical for Manny and family before deciding on next foe
Mark Anthony Barriga will be the only boxing entry for the Philippines in London.
the lobby and the restau-rant, the function rooms also carry the wood and capiz details. I also loved the fact that they were also able to recycle parts of the old Calma house into the structure itself, from the accent beams in the cor-ridors to the steps of the stairway, the new structure pays tribute to the old fam-ily home. Although small in scale, Hotel Vicente carries all the marks and breeding of a proper boutique hotel. Whatever it may lack in size, it truly makes up for in character and a unique stay in Davao City. Hotel Vicente is locat-ed along F. Torres Street and can be contacted at (82)2957053, 2957389 or visit their website at www.hotelvicentedavao.com Follow me on twitter @kennethkingong for happen-ings around the city, foodie finds, and travel tips.
VOL.5 ISSUE 84 • JUNE 29 -30, 2012
EDGEDAVAOTRAVEL
Hotel Vicente’s rooms are well-appointed and well designed with beautiful Filipino accents.
One of the three function rooms on the 5th floor of Hotel Vicente.
The wood and capiz shell details.
Hotel Vicente’s lobby and reception desk.
Hotel Vicente’s cozy and welcoming lobby.
Cristobal, the restaurant of Hotel Vicente.
DAVAo City is on a construction boom with office, residential, and hotel towers sprout-ing everywhere with designs that are leaning more towards cutting edge and modern, so modern at times that sometimes the Filipino soul of the spaces get lost in translation.
Pride of identityHotel Vicente exudes Filipino pride
one day, while I was in transit along F. Torres Street, from what used to be the old Calma resi-dence, now stands a grand five-story hotel with amaz-ing attention to design and detail which got me ex-cited. Unfortunately, on the day of the hotel’s soft open-ing, I was not able to visit, but many thanks to Carlo and his mom, Sylvia C. Lorenzana, I was given a special guided tour of their beautiful boutique hotel. Named after her father, Vi-cente T. Calma. The hotel stands out like a beacon along Torres Street. Upon entering Hotel Vicente, I immediately felt right at home with its cozy lobby with exquisite wood and capiz shell details that are neither gaudy nor bor-ing. Added to the mix are original antique furniture that used to be part of the ancestral Calma house which add character and history to the spaces. To the side and behind the lobby is Cristobal, a Filipino restaurant that features recipes that were passed on by Virgina Cris-tobal Calma, the wife of Vi-cente T. Calma and mother of the Calma siblings. Cris-tobal also has a sidebar that also serves beautiful Argen-tinean wines by Lagarde. All 27 rooms of the hotel are beautifully ap-pointed and detailed. From the capiz shell headboards to the beautifully crafted vanity tables, every room of Hotel Vicente is unique and have an air of Filipino pride. I personally love the beautifully finished bath-rooms that are like those that can normally be found on bigger, more expensive hotels abroad. on the fifth level of the hotel are its function rooms which are named after three municipalities of Bulacan where the Calma family originated from. And like
INdulge!
ENTERTAINMENTSTYLE
A2 INdulge! VOL.5 ISSUE 84 • JUNE 29 -30, 2012EDGEDAVAO
IN the realm of per-sonal style, noth-ing is trickier for me than makeup. Even the thought of keeping up a rou-tine for daily wear exhausts me. Calvin Klein explained it best when he said, “The best thing is to look natural. But it takes makeup to look natural.” Paying heed to this paradox of exerting effort to look effortless might seem needless, but I would beg to differ as these days it is not only about how great your frame of mind is but also how well you frame your face. If just for that boost in confidence that a perfectly groomed brow or a tincture of well-applied blush can lend, I would gladly continue to demystify makeup. As my luck would have it, my fascina-tion for those who can wield makeup brushes masterfully and my leanings to-wards more natural-looking makeup were positively stoked
after interviewing on-the-rise Davao makeup artist, Mae Ann Cortez. Being former school-mates in high school, Mae Ann shared with me some milestones in her life that occurred since the time we last saw each other nearly fifteen years ago. She graduated in 2003 with a degree in Biology and Nursing in 2007 but did not really pursue any passions of the medical sort. Actively involving herself in her family’s busi-nesses in Davao and Cebu throughout those years, she decided to enroll in a six-week course in Beauty and High Fashion Photo-graphic Makeup in L.A.’s Cinema Makeup School in 2009 to make something of the unshakeable makeup habit she picked up during her college years. Accord-
ing to the school’s web-site, the Cinema Makeup School is a private insti-tution that is considered one of Hollywood’s top makeup schools specializ-ing in beauty makeup for film and television as well as fashion and editorial purposes. Here, Mae Ann picked up the right high-definition and in-depth education she needed. Upon returning to Davao, she immediately became entrenched in the world of
fashion photography and got right down to booking clients. Mae Ann largely credits her early exposure to her would-be clients in Davao through collaborations with local photographer Paul Borromeo and oth-ers in his group that made the rounds in networking sites like Facebook. Shortly after, she met fellow make-up artist Tiny Pinili with whom she would set up Luxelab Makeup Artistry
A brush with an artist
with. She admits that her stage of fully focusing on doing makeup for shoots of hobby photographers was a short one as she is more inclined towards the natural side of makeup. Whereas shoots can run high on the conceptual and demand a more the-atrical aesthetic, Mae Ann couldn’t deny that her pas-sions lied in creating time-less looks of a more classic strain. Mae Ann’s brand of do-ing makeup is one that many women can iden-tify with and it quickly felt like we were sharing makeup tips rather than talking shop. She points out that most of her clients are more conservative but that it suits her just fine. If truth be told, the colors in her makeup kit are mostly neutrals, pinks and browns. Upon further probing, I discover she takes pains-taking efforts to perfect the foundations of the face that she believes goes a long way in itself. Espe-cially obsessed with getting the eye makeup just right, she admits to having about four different products for prepping just the eyebrows alone. As she meets me sans lipstick and devoid of heavy makeup herself with just her eyes made up with a hint of mascara, I become convinced that she knows what she is talking about. onto the concept of beauty, which I believe, is the overriding principle that women abide by when they think of makeup, Mae Ann shares how it makes her happy that people’s idea of what makes them beau-tiful is slowly changing and how many have learned to embrace their natural complexion rather than demand to appear overly fair. Although her job as makeup artist is a sideline more than anything, her bookings have been steady
and it doesn’t seem like the demand for what she does is showing signs of waning. She is grateful when one trial makeup session leads to two more with the very same client and that she has accumulated her own roster of regulars such as a medical student of Indian descent who frequently calls on her services when she has parties to attend. Throughout our conver-sation, I can’t help but feel that she makes what she does sound maybe a little too simple when I know it is anything but. As she humbly tells me though, she likes to invite people to view her work and let her portfolio speak for itself. The territory that she has chosen to inhabit along with her makeup palette is highly challenging but other like-minded makeup gurus such as Chechel Jo-son continue to give her inspiration. There is some-thing beautifully discreet and uncomplicated about Mae Ann’s work and her makeup philosophy that allows her to put her cli-ents’ best face forward. To borrow the words of make-up mogul and style doy-enne Helena Rubenstein, “Whether you are sixteen or over sixty, remember, understatement is the rule of a fine makeup artist.” It seems that Mae Ann has just the right idea. Mae Ann Cortez for Luxelab Makeup Artistry can be contacted through mobile no. +63917-7003699 or through e-mail address [email protected]. Standard rates: Bridal – P4,000 (conventional makeup) / P6,000 (air-brush); P1,500/person add on for each member of the entourage. Trial make-up or regular makeup book-ing – P1,500. Pre-nuptial shoots – P2,500 (half day) / P4,000 (whole day).
Ana Celine Estrada Go as photographed by Bob Mata on her wedding day
Makeup Artist Mae Ann Cortez as photographed by Ayie Hernandez
Model Kate Bautista as photographed by Paul Borromeo
SAVAgES star Blake Lively may not have gotten, well, sav-age on the streets of New York City today. But she did seem to give a paparazzo a bit of a scolding nevertheless. After promoting her upcoming film on good Morning America on Wednesday, the 24-year-old actress reportedly left the studio in an SUV. However, upon noticing that she was being followed by a photog, Lively allegedly jumped out of the vehicle and in-sisted the pap stop tailing her. And while Lively may have been reprimanding him by waving her index finger, we certainly wouldn’t have blamed her if she had opted to use a different one instead.
FoR socialite Paris Hilton, her social-izing took a turn for the worse on Tuesday evening. While heading out of David Arquette’s new Hollywood nightclub Bootsy Bel-lows, a paparazzo apparently got a little too close for one of her friends’ liking. As a result, the pal proceeded to grab the camera out of the photog’s hands, according to the photo agency. And that’s when things got a bit ugly. A scuffle soon ensued and Hilton, wearing a skimpy blue minidress, subsequently found herself being knocked into a wall. Thankfully, the 31-year-old heiress was not injured. While police were not called to the scene, the pap claimed that a member of Hilton’s entourage stole not only his camera but his jacket as well. No word if he intends to contact authorities.
Blake Lively scolds paparazzo in NYCPaparazzi run-ins
Paris Hilton hits paparazzo in LA
MEET AND GREET THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN AT SM CITY DAVAO.The Amazing Spi-der-Man hits cin-emas in Davao City today. To complete the movie expe-rience, SM City Davao is not only bringing you the movie in 3D and 2D but is actually bringing Spider-Man to town to meet and greet his legion of fans. Kids and the kids-at-heart will definitely enjoy this amazing experience that only Spider-Man and SM City Davao can give you.
WE’RE happy to re-port that Angelina Jolie’s dad Jon Voi-ght is over the moon about her engage-ment to Brad Pitt. We caught up with the proud papa at the Savages premiere in L.A. where he gushed to us all about his daughter’s impending nup-tials. Cue the wedding bells! “I’m always excited for Angelina and Brad and my grandchildren,” Voight, 73, told us. “I’m always happy when my children are happy, as every father is,” he told re-porters. “I’ve seen the kids recently and everybody’s healthy. So it’s wonderful.”
“We truly have no [wed-ding] date,” Pitt recently told reporters at the Cannes Film Festival. “We actually, really, truly have no date. We’re still hoping we figure out mar-riage equality in the States before then,” adding that the couple’s engagement was “something that made sense.” Jolie, 37, and Pitt, 48, have been together for seven years but got engaged just over two months ago. So what kind of wedding gift do you get the couple that already has it all?! Voi-ght laughed, “They’re just folks.” Is he trying to tell us they’re registered at Bed Bath & Beyond?
oh, to be the martini ol-ives at that table. george Clooney, Brad Pitt and another male friend enjoyed dinner and drinks Tuesday night on the outskirts of London at Pazzia, a cozy Italian res-taurant with a reputation for fine food and appar-ently celeb-worthy ser-vice, a source exclusively tells E! News. So, what exactly did this
guys’ night out entail? A source tells us that Clooney chowed down on seafood pasta and sipped gin-and-tonics, and while we don’t know what Pitt ordered to kill those hunger pangs, he was drinking martinis. “They were so polite to the waitress and giggling away,” the insider said. “They were relaxed as if it was their local restaurant,
like normal people.” Tell that to the “normal people’s” fellow diners! The Berkshire restau-rant isn’t too far from the White House-reminiscent home that Pitt and An-gelina Jolie are leasing while she shoots Malefi-cent. Clooney popped into town fresh from time spent at his Lake Como home with girlfriend Sta-cy Keibler.
ENTERTAINMENTENTERTAINMENT
Brad Pitt and George Clooney hang out in London
Jon Voight gives his blessings for Brangelina wedding
INdulge! A3VOL.5 ISSUE 84 • JUNE 29 -30, 2012 EDGEDAVAO
WINNERS of gREE Air Conditioner’s “agREE sa Summer ni Mr. gREE” sales promo were in for the CooL-EST summer treat! In cooperation with EMCoR Inc., one of the leading appliance stores in the country, gREE Air conditioner recently awarded the winners of its sum-mer promo at EMCoR head office in Bajada, Davao City. The promo ran from March up to May of this year which aims to help establish gREE as the primary aide of every household when it comes to air conditioning and thank its loyal custom-ers for their continuous patronage through these years. We, Filipino’s, are very much acquainted with the summer heat. Living in a tropical country like the Philippines, we’d usually look for anything that will soothe us for this blistering season and gREE knows just how to serve us all right. The promo also introduc-es Mr. gREE as one of the brand ambassadors. Hav-ing Mr. gREE depicts gREE’s unwavering commitment to service and unrivaled air conditioning experience. Mr. gREE is designed to an-swer ANY of our air condi-tioning queries and hitches. So as long as Mr. gREE is around we are assured that we can always keep our cool. 10 winners from all over Mindanao were given dif-ferent air conditioning units from gREE. 5 of them won one gREE KC-15P each which boasts of its rapid and quiet cooling feature. Being the most basic unit in the whole of gREE AC line up with .6 HP, KC-15P is do-ing well in the market and is selling like pancakes. “I have been using gREE ever since and I’ve never been happier. My unit has been with me for years now and it’s still function-ing well so when I needed to set up another unit for our new room, gREE was a no-brainer choice. For me, joining and winning the promo was just a bonus. Thank you gREE!” said Jovita Jamero, one of the gREE KC-15P winners. gracing the awarding event was no other than EMCoR Inc.’s President, Mr. Celso Villegas and Mr. Boy
Arriba VP for Marketing to-gether with Ugong Trade & Holdings Inc.’s (UTHINC) front runner Mr. Juan Car-los M. Pineda and its Busi-ness Development Head Mr. glenn Beni Dy. UTHINC is the sole distributor of gREE Air Conditioner here in the Philippines importing directly from its principal, gREE Electric Appliances of Zuhai in China. “This promo couldn’t have been this successful without our valued cus-tomers who continuously support all our efforts to bring gREE closer to the people and of course our trade partners like EMCoR who serve as our medium,” Pineda said. “You can be as-sured that it all doesn’t end here and it’s definitely going to get better next year,” he added. Three of the 10 winners got to take home one gREE KC-19AP unit each with .8 HP. one of its winners, Raini-er Mariano from Davao City was literally jumping up and down when told about the good news. “I couldn’t be-lieve it at first. After a minute, that’s when it all came down on me. I am very thankful to gREE for the coolest sum-mer treat ever,” said Mariano when asked about how he felt when he was informed that he won the promo. Just like Mr. Tobias, Ms. Mary Cris Sevilla of Mintal Davao City was speechless when she was told about it, only twice as much because she won a gREE KW-23AP unit with 1HP which is best for her living room that can keep their family bonding cool and at ease. Aside from the gift of ef-ficient and formidable air conditioning experience, the winners were also
treated to a special gastro-nomical delight together with EMCoR and UTHINC’s officers because no cel-ebration can be complete without feasting. This has been truly a one-of-a-kind experience for the winners of “agREE sa Summer ni Mr. gREE”. “We would like to thank all of those who participat-
ed in the promo, who now turned out to be gREE’s raving fans, for allowing us to be their air conditioning partner. Let this be our way of giving back to you for sharing with us your com-plete trust and confidence,” said glenn Beni Dy, Busi-ness Development Head of UTHINC to everyone who joined the promo.
ENTERTAINMENTEVENTS
A4 INdulge! VOL.5 ISSUE 84 • JUNE 29 -30, 2012EDGEDAVAO
Pictured from Left: Melende Ferraren (Bajada Store Manager), Armando D. Enero (Senior Consultant) Celso Villegas (President and COO of EMCOR Incorporated), Sheila Dusaban from Kidapawan City (winner of KC-15P), Back row from Left: Glenn Beni-Dy (Business Development/Operations Manager of UTHINC), Carlo M. Pineda (Executive Vice President of UTHINC), Danilo M. Talaban (Senior Consultant), Archie Escuadro (Panabo Highway Manager), Oneil R. Santa Cruz (Regional Sales Manager of EMCOR) Front row from Left: Annalie S. Diao from Panabo City (winner of KC-15P), Mary Cris Sevilla and her mother from Mintal Davao City (winner of KW-23AP)
GREE air conditioner gives back through its “Agree sa Summer ni Mr. GREE” promo
AlRIGHt, Dwight How-ard is out. lamarcus Aldridge is out. And
possibly, Dwyane Wade will be out.
But heck, this team still got Kobe Bryant, newly-crowned nBA champ and mVP lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Rus-sel Westbrook.
Add Blake Griffin and college phenom Anthony Davis.
man, this is a team ev-erybody dreams about.
so what does coack mike Kryzweski still had to worry about?
With the 2012 summer olympics rapidly approach-ing and the UsA men’s bas-ketball training camp set to begin on July 5, Coach K will be spending the Fourth of July trying out a few big men to give the team additional size.
Krzyzewski is reported to be heading to las Vegas to take a look at Griffin, Dal-las mavericks lamar odom, and draft prospect Davis in an attempt to replace a couple of injured stars who will be unavailable for the olympics.
An additional roster spot became available when or-lando magic C Dwight How-ard underwent back surgery late in the 2012 nBA season.
Krzyzewski initially turned to Portland Blazers lamarcus Aldridge in antici-pation of a long recovery pe-riod. However, Aldridge too went down with an injury, this one to his knee, and will miss the olympics as well.
As a result, Coach K is down to three big men: mi-ami Heat’s Chris Bosh, n.Y. Knicks’ tyson Chandler, and minnesota timberwolves’ Kevin love. now, if you have only a Chandler as the only true center on the roster, you got to retool your team and find additional size to counter the opposition such as spain, which boasts brothers marc and Pau Ga-sol.
Griffin could be a good choice. He is an explosive 23-year-old forward and an excellent scorer and rebounder who has been improving his range since entering the league. He is a monster facing the rim with the ball in his hands,
as he has piled up numerous highlight-reel dunks.
Griffin’s defense is a sore spot though according to observers. He is also incon-sistent at the free throw line.
For his part, odom is a veteran forward with 2 nBA titles and played on the men’s team at the 2004 olympics and the 2010 FIBA World Championship. He’s a versatile scorer and ball-handler, who played center for the 2010 team. However, odom’s mental condition is suspect as he is coming off his worst season ever. From the lakers, he was sent to the mavericks where he was nary a shadow of his old self and was relegated at one point to the D-league.
For a player of odom’s caliber, that is an insult.
If there is something that could light up the talks here it is Davis, the reigning col-legiate player of the year. Davis is just 19 years old, yet possesses great basket-ball acumen. He’s a defen-sive genius, averaging over four blocks per game as a freshman at Kentucky. He also has winning pedigree, as he led the Wildcats to the nCAA title.
Davis handles the ball very well for a boy his size. His offensive game needs polishing though, although he can score from beyond the arc. Question is, will he mix it well with the veterans like Bryant? Davis took a shot at Bryant recently as he was destined to be tabbed no. 1 in the draft. that does not sit well for a rookie.
there’s also the question of whether he’s too young to make the team, although he is a lock to be selected no. 1 overall in the nBA Draft. He would be the first olympian without nBA experience since emeka okafor made the 2004 team.
the men’s olympic team continues to scramble for players as injuries have mounted. Already out of the team were Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose and the Clip-pers’ Chauncy Billups.
It’s a close call as the olympics draw near. But knowing the vast talent landscape the UsA Basket-ball has to choose from, the UsA team remains every-body’s dream of a team.
RoGeR Federer clob-bered Fabio Fognini, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2, in the sec-
ond round of the Wimbledon Championships while defend-
ing champion novak Djokovic kept abreast by defeating American Ryan Harrison, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 as both reached the third round
A little while later, Andy Roddick, a three-time Wim-bledon runner-up, finally completed his first-round match against British wild
card Jamie Baker, winning, 7-6 (1), 6-4, 7-5.
tamira Paszek upset for-mer world no. 1 Caroline
FFEDERER, 16
Lebron James will try to add the Olympic gold to his NBA title.
Roger Federer in action in the second round.
VOL.5 ISSUE 84 • JUNE 29 - 30, 2012SPORTS16 EDGEDAVAO
Spain stops Ronaldo, beats Portugal in penalties
Viva EspanaDonetsK - spain’s
‘tiki taka’ pass-ing was off-tempo
at the Donbass Arena but the holders, unable to hurt Portugal in 120 minutes of stalemate, broke their hearts in a penalty shootout to reach the final of euro 2012 on Wednesday.
substitute Cesc Fab-regas converted the win-ning spot-kick, off the inside of the post, to set off wild celebrations from the spanish players.
“When I stepped up to take the penalty I said to the ball that we had to
make history and that it shouldn’t let me down,” said an ecstatic Fabregas after spain’s 4-2 spot-kick victory following a 0-0 draw after extra time.
For Portugal, who had fought hard all night, questions will be asked why their top scorer Cris-tiano Ronaldo did not take a kick as they fell to their third semi-final de-feat in four appearances at the stage.
Portugal had won their previous two pen-alty shootouts in major tournament matches.
But coach Paulo Ben-
to was proud of the way his team went toe-to-toe with the world champi-ons, even outdoing them in terms of possession.
“If I had to choose a way of losing I wouldn’t choose this way... spain is a great team but we can leave with our heads high,” he said.
“We can be sure that we can compete with any team at any tournament.”
spain have now equaled West Germany’s european record from the early 1970s by reaching three consecutive major tournament finals and
victory in Kiev on sun-day would make them the first team to win three in a row.
But the watching Germans and Italians, who meet in Warsaw on thursday, will have taken heart from a below-par performance from the spaniards against a press-ing Portugal team.
the aura of invincibil-ity that once surrounded them has gradually faded in this tournament and while they still remain the team to beat, their ‘tiki taka’ passing did not hurt Portugal.
Wozniacki, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-4, while 2011 Us open champion samantha stosur and 2011 French open champion li na also bowed out.
72nd-ranked Arantxa Rus beat fifth seed sto-sur, 6-2, 0-6, 6-4, and world no. 52 sorana Cirstea won, 6-3, 6-4, over 11th seed li. World no. 31 Klara Zakopalova beat 13th seed Dominika Cibulkova, 6-4, 6-1.
Former no. 1 Ana Ivanovic defeated maria
Jose martinez sanchez 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 and Kim Cli-jsters, also a former top-ranked player, reached the third round with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Andrea Hlavackova.
several matches on the open courts were suspended, including the match featuring top-ranked maria sharapova, who was leading ts-vetana Pironkova, 7-6 (3), 3-1, when play was stopped because of dark-ness.
FFROM 15Federer...
Cesc Fabregas (left) of Spain celebrates after the Spaniards defeated Protugal on penalties.(Right) Portugal’s star Cristiano Ronaldo bows his head after the defeat.
