P 15.00 • 20 PAGES www.edgedavao.net VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014 EDGE Serving a seamless society DAVAO By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR. [email protected]FRODY, 10 RODY RETRACTS THE BIG NEWS Page2 SPORTS page 14 EXECS SWEEP ABC ANEW RAMON WANTS PHOTO WITH RODY INSIDE EDGE ‘I heard 4 went to Middle East to fight’ D AVAO City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duter- te retracted from an earlier statement no one from Davao went to fight for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) after he revealed that there are four young Muslim Filipinos who went to Middle East but he did not confirm if they will participate in the war. Duterte said last Tuesday night that according to his source the four might per- form a religious obligation. He said that if they are there to fight for a religious war, it could be a different thing. The mayor cited an ex- ample of Syrian dic- tator Bashar al-As- sad who was found to have abused his constituents. “If they are there to fulfill religious... baka malay mo nag Mecca (maybe they go to Mec- ca). But, itong apat na ito, sabi ng source ko na me- dyo may damdam (This four, according to my source, they have some feeling),” Duerte said. The mayor did not confirm if what he refers to is the feeling of being an extremist Muslim. “Dito rin siguro, sabi pupunta sila doon to fight (I heard that they went there to fight). But, I never said that they would be recruited by the IS (which refers to ISIS),” he said. The mayor said he is really scared that the four will be recruited because as soon as they return in the country they might use the terror technology acquired in Middle East. “Huwag lang sana mgabalik dito, kung yan ang makuha nila doon RODY WELCOMES RAMON. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte tells members of local media during a press briefing before he flew out to Manila at Francisco Ban- goy International Airport Tuesday evening that come- dian Ramon Bautista is still welcome in the city even if the City Council declared him “persona non-grata”. Lean Daval Jr.
Transcript
P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014
DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duter-te retracted from
an earlier statement no one from Davao went to fight for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) after he revealed that there are four young Muslim Filipinos who went to Middle East but he did not confirm if they will participate in the war.
Duterte said last Tuesday night that according to his source the four might per-form a religious obligation.
He said that if they are there to fight for a religious war, it could be a different thing. The mayor cited an ex-ample of Syrian dic-tator Bashar al-As-sad who was found to have abused his constituents.
“If they are there
to fulfill religious... baka malay mo nag Mecca (maybe they go to Mec-ca). But, itong apat na ito, sabi ng source ko na me-dyo may damdam (This four, according to my source, they have some feeling),” Duerte said.
The mayor did not confirm if what he refers to is the feeling of being an extremist Muslim.
“Dito rin siguro, sabi pupunta sila doon to fight (I heard that they went there to fight). But, I never said that they would be recruited by the IS (which refers to ISIS),” he said.
The mayor said he is really scared that the four will be recruited because as soon as they return in the country they might use the terror technology acquired in Middle East.
“Huwag lang sana mgabalik dito, kung yan ang makuha nila doon
RODY WELCOMES RAMON. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte tells members of local media during a press briefing before he flew out to Manila at Francisco Ban-goy International Airport Tuesday evening that come-dian Ramon Bautista is still welcome in the city even if the City Council declared him “persona non-grata”. Lean Daval Jr.
VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 20142
FFORGIVEN, 10
FRODY, 10
FPDEA, 10
EDGEDAVAO
THE BIG NEWS
MAYOR Rodrigo Duterte cleared the air with con-
troversial comedian Ra-mon Bautista after he talked to the latter on the phone Tuesday night in the presence of report-ers.
The conversation happened after a friend of Bautista identified as Gang Badoy approached Duterte for a conversa-tion before he went into his flight to Manila.
In their conversation, Duterte said that the apology of Bautista is al-ready enough for him.
“Alam mo sinabi ko
naman sa kanila na nag apologize kana, para sa akin tama na yun (You know, I told them that you already apologized and it is enough for me),” said Duterte.
“Mayor salamat po mayor ha… pasensya na sa abala (Thank you, mayor… sorry for the in-convenience )” replied Bautista to the words of the mayor.
Bautista also said that he would like to have a picture with Mayor if they happen to see each other.
Duterte said Bautista
MAYOR Rodrigo Duterte did not ac-cept the challenge
of Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila de Lima to take the “ice buck-et challenge,” saying he had recently contracted pneu-monia and wants to avoid a relapse.
“Na- pneumonia ako, baka mabalikan ako. Maa-wa naman siya (I had pneu-monia and it might recur. Be considerate of me),” Duterte told reporters on
Tuesday night at the Fran-cisco Bangoy International Airport.
He said he was confined in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) before due to pneu-monia.
He joked that he cannot even get wet with a glass of ice cold water.
“Liguan mo ako ng isang baso magpatayan na tayo (If you pour a glass of ice water on we will have a war),” he said.
THE amount of illegal drugs confiscated in Region 11 increased
by more than 50 percent in the first eight months of this year compared to the same period last year.
Speaking to reporters at the AFP-PNP Press Corp press conference at The Royal Mandaya Hotel yes-terday, Philippine Drug En-
forcement Agency (PDEA) 11 regional director Emer-son Rosales said the agen-cy was able to confiscate a total of 2.59 kilos of shabu with the street value of P23.32 million from Janu-ary to August this year.
Last year, only 1.5 kilos with a value of P13.88 mil-lion was confiscated.
Rosales attributed the
increase to the hard work of his personnel. “Our drug operation is higher this year compared to last year,” he said.
“Mas masipag ang mga tauhan natin ngayon at pat-uloy pa rin ang mga opera-tions (Our personnel are more hard-working and are continuing with their operations),” he added.
He said PDEA 11 is closely coordinating with the Criminal Investiga-tion and Detection Group (CIDG) 11, local police, and other law enforcers in its drug-related operation.
Rosales said that from January to August, PDEA 11, together with other law enforcing agencies, con-
RAMON MAGSAYSAY LAUREATE. Teacher Randy Halasan (third from right) of Davao City receives the recognition from the House of Representatives from Speaker Felicia-no Belmonte and Representatives Mylene Garcia (third from left), and Silvestre Bello III (second from left).
DANAO CONTROVERSY. Regional Director Pedro B. Cabatingan Jr. (right)of Police Regional Office (PRO) 11 Internal Affairs Service answers questions from members of local media regarding the case of Davao City Police Office (DCPO) director Vicente Danao Jr. during yesterday’s AFP-PNP press corps fo-
rum at The Royal Mandaya Hotel. With him is National Police Commission (Napolcom) provincial director for Davao del Sur Francis C. Brion. Lean Daval Jr.
FORGIVENRamon Bautista wants photo with DuterteBy FUNNY PEARL A. GAJUNERA Correspondent
Rody rejects de Lima’sice bucket challenge
VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014 3
FDANAO, 10
FCITY, 10
NEWSEDGEDAVAO
ALMOST 50 per-cent of the violence against women and
their children (VAWC) cas-es perpetrated by men in uniform were economic abuse.
This is according to lawyer Francis Brion, provincial director of the National Police Commis-sion (NAPOLCOM)- Davao del Sur who was a guest in yesterday’s AFP- PNP Press Corps press confer-ence at The Royal Man-daya Hotel.
According to Republic Act 9262 or the Anti-vio-lence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004, economic abuse refers to acts that make or attempt to make a woman finan-cially dependent.
These include 1) with-drawal of financial sup-port or preventing the victim from engaging in any legitimate profes-sion, occupation, busi-
ness or activity, except in cases wherein the other spouse/partner objects on valid, serious and moral grounds as defined in Arti-cle 73 of the Family Code; 2) deprivation or threat of deprivation of financial resources and the right to the use and enjoyment of the conjugal, communi-ty or property owned in common; 3) destroying household property; and 4) controlling the victims’ own money or properties or solely controlling the conjugal money or prop-erties.
Brion said NAPOLCOM recorded a total of 13 cas-es of grave misconduct as of July 30 this year.
“We hold only a few reported cases because there are other agencies that handle related cases like the Office of the Om-budsman, Regional Inter-nal Affairs Service (RIAS), People’s Law Enforcement
Board (PLEB), and the dif-ferent commanding offi-cers of Philippine National Police (PNP),” Brion said.
He said the com-plainant can choose what disciplinary agency will take his or her case based on their preference.
NAPOLCOM is the overall supervisory agen-cy of the Philippine Na-tional Police (PNP).
The same trend was also observed in the re-cord of RIAS 11, which is the agency that is handling the case of Davao City Po-lice Office (DCPO) director Senior Superintendent Vi-cente Danao Jr.
RIAS 11 regional direc-tor Superintendent Pedro B. Cabatingan said there is also an increasing num-ber of cases in the regional office. The data, however, were not available when he was interviewed by re-porters yesterday.
“The number of cases
are increasing because the public is slowly under-standing that we are here to assist them,” Cabatin-gan said.
He said RIAS is inde-pendent of the PNP.
Earlier, Integrated Gender Development Divi-sion in Davao City record-ed also a large number of VAWC cases in the city committed by men in uni-form.
IGDD chief Lorna Man-din told reporters in a re-cent press conference that of the 134 total VAWC cas-es recorded since 2004, almost 50 percent were committed by cops and military personnel.
Mandin said 71 per-cent of the 134 VAWC cas-es were economic abuse.
Cabatingan, mean-while, said police offi-cials proven to be guilty of grave misconduct may face demotion or dismiss-al from service. CRC
THE Regional Inter-nal Affairs Service (RIAS) 11 will sum-
mon Davao City Police Of-fice (DCPO) director Senior Superintendent Vicente Danao Jr. to submit his counter-affidavit as part of the preparation for the pre-trial of his administra-tive case.
RIAS 11 regional direc-tor Superintendent Pedro B. Cabatingan said Mrs. Danao will also be invited to shed more light on the complaint, which will be the ground of the admin-istrative case and the pos-sible filing of another case pertaining to alleged do-mestic violence.
“We are now prepar-ing the documents for him to answer the allegations,” Cabatingan said in the AFP-PNP Press Corps press conference at The Royal Mandaya Hotel yesterday.
RIAS is the office al-lowed to conduct summa-ry hearings of police offi-cials facing administrative cases.
Cabatingan said Da-nao, who flew to Manila this earlier this week for a meeting, is given five days to respond to the sum-mons.
After 10 days, the sum-mary trial officer of RIAS will schedule the first pre-trial of the administra-tive case against Danao.
Cabatingan said there was a delay because it was only last Thursday that they received the Presi-dential clearance allowing them to formally charge Danao.
“There’s a need for a clearance because Danao is a Presidential appointee,” he said.
However, he gave as-surance that Danao’s case will immediately prosper once the DCPO director submits his counter-affi-davit.
“We will ensure that there will be a speedy trial because this is a sensation-al case,” Cabatingan said.
OFFICIALS of the coastal town of Kiamba in Saran-
gani are set to declare the entire area under the state of calamity following the flash floods on Monday afternoon that affected around 560 families in six barangays.
Rommel Sinarimbo, planning officer of the Of-fice of Civil Defense (OCD) Region 12, yesterday said the local government is currently gathering the necessary data to facili-tate the calamity declara-tion, which would set the release of the necessary funds to address the im-pact of the floods.
He said the declara-
tion was initially endorsed during a meeting on Tues-day afternoon by officials of the affected barangays and the Municipal Disas-ter Risk Reduction and Management Council.
The Provincial Disas-ter Reduction and Man-agement Office (PDRRMO) and Sarangani Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon also supported the issu-ance of the calamity decla-ration, he said.
“The declaration will allow the municipal gov-ernment to utilize its ca-lamity funds to facilitate immediate interventions for the affected areas and residents,” Sinarimbo said in a radio interview. (PNA)
FORGIVEN. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte writes words of encour-agement for controversial comedian Ramon Bautista as requested by the controversial comedian’s friend at Francisco Bangoy International Airport
Tuesday evening. It can be remembered that Bautista was recently declared “persona non-grata” by the City Council after his “hipon” remarks during the celebration of the 29th Kadayawan sa Dabaw. Lean Daval Jr.
GOOD NEWS. Dr. Edwin Bien, medical consultant of DMI Philippines, an-nounces during a press briefing at Capernaum Care Facility inside the South-
ern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City Tuesday afternoon that MX3 products are now certified as traditional medicine in Malaysia. Lean Daval Jr.
AFTER the removal of five Davao City Treasurer’s Office
employees and currently investigating some err-ing city personnel, the City Government issued an order amending the Executive Order (EO) No. 37, series of 2013 or the creation of an Investigat-ing Committee to redefine some of its provisions.
Davao City Mayor Ro-drigo R. Duterte signed last August 22, the EO 37, series of 2014 or “An Or-der Amending Executive Order No. 37, and Rede-fining the Roles, Powers, Functions, Duties of Per-sonnel Responsible and Involved in the Conduct
of Administrative Investi-gation.”
The EO stated this is to ensure proper ob-servance of due process, and to avoid delay in the proper disposition or res-olution of cases brought before it.
“The Committee has recommended the need to amend and define further the powers, functions and duties of personnel responsible and involved in the conduct of admin-istrative investigations,” stated the EO.
It said that during the conduct of the appropri-ate administrative pro-ceedings by the Commit-
Danao told to present side on wife abuse case
City gov’t amends directiveon investigating committee
Almost half of VAWC cases are economic abuse: NAPOLCOM
Sarangani town to declarestate of calamity due to floods
VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 20144 EDGEDAVAO
SUBURBIA
CAMP SK PENDA-TUN, Maguindanao – Police officials in
the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) yesterday said more policemen will be issued firearms following the arrival of new hand guns for cops assigned in the provinces of Ma-guindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Ta-wi-Tawi.
PNP-ARMM regional director Chief Superin-tendent Noel Delos Reyes said a container van ar-rived Friday at Polloc Port, Parang, Maguind-anao loaded with 1,117 pieces of Glock 17 Gen 4 intended for the PNP-ARMM.
Delos Reyes said the firearms were part of the P1.2 billion handgun pro-curement by the PNP so that every member of the PNP can possess at least one gun.
“Definitely, we want all our policemen in the region to be equipped with firearms,” he said.
“The police officers must use their guns not only to protect them-selves but to safeguard the public,” Delos Reyes added.
The hand guns will be issued to qualified per-sonnel of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur police offices and the Regional Public Safety Battalion.
Superintendent War-ren de Leon, PNP-ARMM chief logistics officer, said the regional office is expecting another batch of firearms anytime soon which will be distributed to Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi Tawi police provincial of-fices.
Delos Reyes said the shipment also included 31,276 rounds of ammu-nition, 3,351 magazine assemblies, 153 patrol shoes, six rappelling ropes, and 16 of tactical belts.
Earlier this month, delos Reyes admitted the regional police office lacked firearms, with some policemen having one or more firearms while others having none.
An internal audit conducted on firearms in the ARMM region-al office showed some policemen were issued more than one firearm while many are yet to be issued firearms.
The audit showed that there were 228 po-
lice personnel assigned to the field who have more than one issued firearm, delos Reyes said.
Following the audit, delos Reyes ordered the recall of 737 issued fire-
arms and re-issued them to other police personnel assigned in various po-lice units in the region, according to threat level and crime situation.
The audit also dis-covered there were 335
firearms listed in its in-ventory but remained unaccounted for.
Because of this, de-los Reyes said his office is now implementing a policy to rationalize the issuance and distribu-
tion of mission-essential equipment to line units.
With the new fire-arms supply, delos Reyes said he hoped that the region will meet the 1:1 gun per police officer ra-tio. (PNA)
New police handguns arrive in ARMM
PESTLE WRESTLING. Two Lumad players test their strength in a traditional game called duso or pestle wrestling during the tribal sports competition in Malaybalay City on Tuesday, August 26, as part of the month-long Kaamulan
and centennial celebration of Bukidnon. MindaNews photo by H. Marcos C. Mordeno
THE Department of Transportation and Communica-
tions (DOTC) is seeking a P2.2-billion budget for the rehabilitation and expansion of the Makar Wharf and construction of a new airport terminal building here.
This was announced by Raymond Salangsang, vice president of the General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in a press conference yesterday for the upcoming 23rd Min-danao Business Confer-ence here.
Salangsang said the Makar Wharf rehabilita-tion and expansion will cost P1.3 billion while DOTC also submitted a P900-million budget for the proposed new air-port terminal building in General Santos.
He said the move are immediate responses of the Philippine govern-ment to the integration of the Philippines into the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.
“The city is an excel-lent transshipment point
of exports from China to the rest of the ASEAN re-gion,” he said.
City Mayor Ronnel Ri-vera said they have been pushing for the rehabil-itation of Makar Wharf, one of Mindanao’s big-gest port complexes.
“This is the result of the Makar Port Develop-ment Summit we held in July,” he said.
The proposed proj-ect will include addi-tional berthing areas, reinforcement of the wharf columns, and re-pairs of container yard rails.
Salangsang also an-nounced that DOTC has already committed to upgrade the port’s plug-in facilities for refriger-ated vans.
At present, the port has 204 plug-ins but 34 of them are still pow-ered by 220 volts.
“The international standard for refer van is 440 volts,” Salangsang said.
In addition, Sa-langsang said 144 new refer van plug-ins will be installed next year.
“This is in antici-pation to the increase volume of export ship-ments of bananas from the region when har-vests begin next year,” he said.
He said Del Monte and Lapanday have been aggressively expanding their banana planta-tions in Maguindanao, Sarangani, and South Cotabato.
In the same forum, Salangsang said con-struction of the new air-port terminal building could begin late next year or early in 2016.
He said the new ter-minal building, which will have at least four air bridges, could open in 2019.
The General Santos City airport began com-mercial operation in 1996.
When it opened, the airport was the big-gest airport facility in Mindanao, sitting on a 600-hectare property.
It was built largely on grants from the Unit-ed States through the United States Agency
for International Devel-opment.
Since then, however, its terminal building has undergone little change with some portions al-ready needing major re-pairs.
Mayor Rivera said the city will have to im-prove its infrastructures if it is to become Mind-anao’s agro-industrial center.
During the height of international fresh tuna trading, Philippine Air-lines was flying out 10 tons of chilled tuna from the city.
When it opened, there was only one daily flight servicing Gener-al Santos-Manila route. (PNA)
Today, as many as eight daily flights are flying out to destina-tions bound for Manila, Cebu and Iloilo.
In addition to PAL, Cebu Pacific is now ser-vicing General Santos.
A third airline, Ti-ger Airways, will also soon begin flying the Manila-General Santos route. (PNA)
DOTC seeks P2.2-B for GenSan airport, seaport
THE Department of Science and Tech-nology (DOST) has
extended until Friday (Au-gust 29) the deadline for submission of application for the 2015 DOST-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) Undergraduate Schol-arship Examination.
DOST Regional Di-rector Brenda Naza-reth-Manzano said inter-ested and qualified appli-cants have until Friday to submit their application for the scholarship ex-amination. The original deadline was August 22.
Manzano said the scholarship is open to high school students with high aptitude in science and technology. The na-tionwide qualifying ex-amination is scheduled on September 21.
She said the two types of scholarships being of-fered are the Republic Act 7687 otherwise known Science and Technology Scholarship Act of 1994 and the Merit scholarship programs.
Scholarships in BS degree programs will be awarded qualifiers plan-ning to pursue priority
fields in basic and applied sciences, engineering and science teaching.
Among the scholar-ship privileges include tuition and other school fees up to P10,000; book allowance of P10,000 per year; monthly living allowance up to P5,000; Physical Education uni-form allowance; round trip transportation allow-ance; group health and accident insurance; and post-graduation clothing allowance.
Manzano said appli-cation form and brochure on the scholarship pro-grams can be download-ed at www.science-schol-arships.ph.
She said that interest-ed and qualified students who wish to take the ex-amination may visit the DOST regional office at Pettit Barracks, this city, or contact them through telephone numbers (062) 991-10-24 and (062)992-11-14 and through email address [email protected].
She said they may also visit the DOST official website at region9.dost.gov.ph. (PNA)
DOST extends submissionof scholarship application
VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014 5EDGEDAVAO
THE ECONOMY
THE biggest travel exposition in the Mindanao region is
set to open its doors once again at the SMX Conven-tion Center Davao, SM Lanang Premier on Sep-tember 4 to 6.
Organized by Glob-al-Link MP Events In-ternational, Inc. and endorsed by the Depart-ment of Tourism (DOT) 11, the Davao Interna-tional Travel Expo (DITE) is expected to draw large crowds of travel enthusi-asts who want to find the best travel deals.
The DITE will be held at the same time and place as Philconstruct Mindanao, Manufactur-ing Technology Davao, and PrintPackPlas Davao.
DOT Assistant Sec-retary Art Boncato said DOT 11 recorded over
1.4 million foreign and domestic visitors to Davao last year, around 97 percent of whom were tourists and many of them are corporate travelers.
Tourism authori-ties also attributed the growth to DOT’s ag-gressive campaign to position Davao as an eco-tourism destination and a primary destina-tion for meetings, incen-tives, conventions, and events or exhibitions (MICE).
“We encourage more expos like DITE to take place here and capture the Mindanao’s best in both trade and travel,” Boncato said.
Global-Link MP CEO Patrick Lawrence Tan said by holding DITE coinciding with interre-lated tradeshows Phil-
construct Mindanao, Manufacturing Technol-ogy Davao, and Print-PackPlas Davao, “we are providing more opportu-nities and greater expo-sure for all industries.”
Philippine Airlines headlines the list of ex-hibitors as the major sponsor. Some of the participating companies include Avis Philippines, Cebu Parklane Interna-tional Hotel, Citibank, Crown Regency Hotels & Resorts, Cruising (Go-ing Places) Magazine, Department Of Tourism–Regional Offices, Global Estate Resorts Inc., Las Casas Filipinas, M (Life & Living In Mindanao) Magazine, Orchard Prop-erty Marketing Corpo-ration, RCTV Make My Trip Travel TV, Sunlight Hotel, and Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao.
Travel takes center stage at Davao Int’l Travel ExpoBy JON JOAQUIN
THIS once war-torn town has been named the top re-
cipient of the “Gawad Galing Pook Award” in a decision released by a 15-member evaluation committee.
The committee found the sustainable peace and development agenda of Kauswagan’s “From Arms to Farm” program an ex-emplary performance of good governance.
Town Mayor Rommel C. Arnado told Mindan-ews in an interview last week the program was intended for former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members who did not receive the assistance promised to them.
Arnado said the pro-gram did not require the rebels to surrender their firearms, just their will-
ingness to support the peace initiative and at the same time avail them-selves of livelihood op-portunities based on their needs and capacity.
He said the program succeeded because the MILF commanders ap-proached them.
The mayor said among the MILF commanders who availed themselves of the program were Ben-jie Lucsadato, Ysmael, Mutia and Limbona.
Mustaba Macapaar, an active MILF political officer based in barangay Delabayan, and Moro Na-tional Liberation Front (MNLF) commanders Dante and Batman also availed themselves of the program, he added.
Commanders Aguila and Kalayaan were set to receive assistance from
the program during the second phase of the pro-gram.
Arnado said the reb-el returnees underwent training in organic farm-ing and technical skills through the Dona Lau-reana Rosales School of Practical Agriculture with technical and finan-cial support from Assisi Development Founda-tion Inc. and government agencies.
Kauswagan now has 280 hectares planted with organic upland rice, to be increased to 500 hectares next year, he said.
The municipal govern-ment also facilitated the construction of a potable water system, farm-to-market road, fish cages, and a demonstration farm facility, he added. (Richel V. Umel/MindaNews)
Kauswagan: From war-torn townto Gawad Galing Pook awardee
THE Bureau of Cus-toms (BOC) and the Department of
Trade and Industry (DTI) have warned the public against the proliferation of ceramic tiles and ply-wood that may have been imported and released from Customs without the required clearances from the DTI’s Bureau of Philip-pine Standards (BPS).
In a statement, the BOC said more than half of ceramic tiles and plywood imported into the Phil-ippines last July were re-leased without clearance “in violation of Customs rules.”
“Further investigations are ongoing to establish the precise amounts, but there is sufficient evidence that the amounts already released are substantial,” the BOC said in its state-ment.
Both the BOC and the BPS warned the public to be vigilant when buying ceramic tiles and plywood.
“The consumer should look for the Philippine Standard (PS) Quality or Safety Certification Mark License/s; or Import Com-modity Clearance/s (ICC) issued to manufacturers or importers, respective-ly. They should also en-sure that the packaging or product has an authentic PS Mark or ICC sticker af-fixed on it,” the two agen-cies said.
The BOC said accord-ing to the initial investi-gation, of the 66,493 tons of ceramic tiles imported last month, 26,226 tons (39 percent of the to-tal) were released with-out BPS clearance while 14,704 tons (22 percent of the total) were cleared for release, and may have al-
ready been released, with-out BPS clearance.
The BPS is verifying whether or not the ap-propriate clearances were issued for another 22,818 tons (34 percent of the to-tal) which were released or cleared for release.
The initial investi-gation also showed that of the 31,077 tons of plywood imported last month, 7,566 tons (24 per-cent of the total) were re-leased without the neces-sary BPS clearance while 13,843 tons (45 percent of the total) were cleared for release, and may have already been released, without the necessary BPS clearance.
The BPS is verifying whether the appropriate clearances were issued for another 8,271 tons (27 percent of the total) which were released or cleared
for release.“To ensure the safe-
ty of Filipino consumers and prevent the repeat of such occurrences, mea-sures will be put in place to monitor compliance by importers as well as Cus-toms examiners and ap-praisers of all import per-mit and clearance require-ments more closely,” the BOC said in its statement.
It said the measures will include regular shar-ing of data on regulated imports with import-reg-ulating agencies such as BPS to verify whether they issued permits on Cus-toms-cleared shipments; investigations and, when appropriate, sanctions against Customs employ-ees who cleared imports of regulated products with-out import permits; legal action against importers who imported products
without required import permits; product recall and appropriate legal ac-tion by DTI against subject importers; and conduct of information and educa-tional campaign on PS and ICC Mark Schemes for all stakeholders
Most building and construction materials sold in the market are required to undergo the BPS Product Certification Scheme for product safe-ty and reliability. These include steel pipes and bars, cement, ceramic tiles, equal-leg angle bars, flat glass, Polybutylene (PB) pipes, Polyethylene (PE) pipes, Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride (uPVC) pipes and rigid electri-cal conduit, plywood, re-rolled steel bars, sanitary wares, steel sheets for roofing, and low-carbon steel wires.
“All manufacturers and importers of products covered under mandatory certification are required to apply for ICC or PS Li-cense, and to subject their products to tests based on the requirements of applicable Philippine Na-tional Standards (PNS) at the BPS Testing Cen-ter or any DTI-accredit-ed laboratory prior to its distribution and sale,” the statement said.
The BOC said the pub-lic and permit-issuing agencies can monitor the volumes of imports of all products, including reg-ulated goods, through the regular monthly data releases of the Bureau of Customs, which can be viewed and downloaded from the Bureau of Cus-toms website (customs.gov.ph/import-reports). Jon Joaquin
BOC, DTI warn vs proliferationof substandard tiles, plywoodBy JON JOAQUIN
FILINVEST Homes Tagum opened its doors not only to
Tagumeños but to neigh-boring visitors during its open house and the Club-house ribbon cutting cere-mony, dubbed “Let’s Fies-ta,” on May 17, 2014.
Attendees present were the Filinvest Land, Inc. administration, bro-kers, sellers, joint venture partners, and home own-ers with families in tow.
The blessing ceremo-nial with ribbon cutting was held in the morn-ing, officiated by Rev. Fr. Dioscoro Bucod, to formal-ly open its Clubhouse.
The “Let’s Fiesta” theme was a buyer’s day and open house where the Clubhouse was launched ready for events and func-
tions exclusive only for homeowners and friends.
Filinvest Homes Tagum not only boasts of a strategic location with-in the city but promises a safe and secure residential community (entrance gate and guard house). It is also backed up by first class amenities being construct-ed for the homeowners.
Apart from the Club-house, there is a swim-ming pool with deck and shower area, a basketball court and children’s play-ground, a spacious park-ing area, and an elevated water tank with pump and filtration system.
Most prominent in this exclusive village are the fully landscaped path-ways and open park spac-es.
Quiet and convenient-ly accessible to every-thing around town, it still retains its countryside feel and serenity without the traffic and bustling noises of a city.
Filinvest Land, Inc. (FLI) is one of the lead-ing real estate developers in the Philippines. The company spun off from the real estate business of the Gotianun family, Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC), which has more than 40 years of experience in real estate development. Its projects have now expanded all over the country and are vastly developing from Luzon to the Visayas-Min-danao Region.
Filinvest Tagum is one of the newly developed
properties introducing new concepts to the resi-dential real estate market. At the forefront of market changes, the company strives to anticipate and meet market demands by continually innovat-ing and introducing new project formats.
The recent inaugura-tion ofFilinvest Tagum’s Clubhouse proves that the company stays true to its commitment of building the Filipino dream with home choices that will suit your family’s needs. “We build the Filipino Dream” continues to adhere to the core values of quality and integrity, which has made Filinvest one of the lead-ing and well-recognized real estate developers in the country.
Filinvest Homes clubhouse blessing in Tagum
GLOBE Telecom’s customer base reached a fresh re-
cord high of close to 45 million at the end of the first half, a 19 percent jump from 37.9 million a year earlier courtesy of substantial subscriber uptake in its mobile and broadband businesses.
“Aggressive acquisi-tions in both the postpaid and prepaid business, complemented by robust demand for data connec-tivity, buoyed the com-pany’s overall customer uptake,” Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu said in a statement.
“The company’s grow-ing 3G and 4G coverage is expected to further sup-port subscriber growth moving forward,” he add-ed.
Cu said the company’s network modernization initiative, launched a few years ago, delivered the country’s most modern-ized telecommunications infrastructure and en-abled Globe to become the first mobile operator in the Philippines to achieve 100 percent 3G coverage for its entire network.
He said Globe further expects its network to be fully equipped with the more advanced 4G HSPA+ technology, which would further boost network ca-pacity and performance, by the end of the third quarter.
The company’s mo-bile customer base in the January to June period
totaled 42.7 million, sup-ported by the telecom-munication provider’s sustained leadership in the postpaid segment as well as substantial acqui-sitions in the prepaid seg-ment.
At the end of June this year, Globe had 2.1 mil-lion postpaid customers, up 10 percent from 1.9 million at the end of June last year.
The continued success of the fully customizable and best-in-class post-paid plans, together with the exclusive device of-fers and innovative deals, helped sustain gross ad-ditions to reach 389,695 for the first six months of the year, a 12 percent rise from 348,645 gross acquisitions in the same period last year.
Globe Prepaid, on the other hand, recorded gross acquisition of 7.9 million in the first half, a 27 percent improvement from 6.2 million a year earlier, bringing total Pre-paid subs to 19.3 million.
TM generated the highest gross acquisitions with 5.4 million, a 6 per-cent increase from 5.1 million a year earlier, re-sulting in total customer base of 21.3 million at the end of first half.
The company’s exten-sion of the Free Facebook promo boosted subscrib-er acquisitions coupled by TM’s continued ag-gressive acquisition ef-forts pushed total prepaid customers to 40.6 million.
Globe customer base reachesrecord high of close to 45M
VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014 7EDGEDAVAO
AGRITRENDS
IN Central and South America where it is native, it is known as
“pitahaya.” But in most parts of the world, it is called dragon fruit because it is covered by green-tipped over-lapping scales and has bright pink to red color. It is sweet, juicy, crispy, and tastes like pear, kiwi, and watermelon.
The fruit was prob-ably introduced by Eu-ropeans who brought it from the New World. In the case of Taiwan, the fruit was brought in by the Dutch. In the Philip-pines, the fruit was intro-duced in the Philippines in the 1900s through trading.
Dragon fruit is usual-ly eaten fresh. The fruits are peeled and the white or purple flesh, which has a mild sweet taste, is eaten. Dragon fruit can also be used to prepare juice or wine.
The typical nutrition-al values per 100 grams of fresh dragon fruit (of which 55 grams are edi-ble) are as follows: water 80-90 g; ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) 4–25 mg; ash 0.4-0.7 g; calcium 6–10 mg; calories: 35-50; car-bohydrates 9-14 g; caro-tene (Vitamin A) traces; fat 0.1-0.6 g; fiber 0.3-0.9 g; iron 0.3-0.7 mg; niacin (Vitamin B3) 0.2-0.45 mg; phosphorus 16 – 36 mg; protein 0.15-0.5 g; thiamine (Vitamin B1) traces; and riboflavin (Vi-tamin B2) traces.
According to the De-partment of Science and Technology, a typical dragon fruit is rich in fiber, vitamins, miner-als, and phytoalbumins (which act as antioxidant
which can prevent the formation of cancer).
Its other health ben-efits are as follows: en-hances the body metabo-lism (protein), improves digestion (fiber), reduces fat (fiber), and improves memory (carotene). It also maintains the health of the eyes (carotene), strengthens bones and teeth development (cal-cium), helps metabolize carbohydrates, and pro-duces energy (vitamin B1).
The website of Nat-ural Food Benefits cites the following health ben-efits of eating dragon fruits:
· Keeping a heart healthy low cholesterol diet? Don’t worry about your cholesterol. Dragon fruit is both low in cholesterol and has little to no unhealthy choles-terol-producing fats (cer-tain fats which are me-tabolized to cholesterol contribute to increased cholesterol levels more than even cholesterol itself in food sources of cholesterol).
· The amount of vitamin C in dragon fruit is high, and because the dragon fruit is a natural fruit providing you with a rich balance of nutrients coming along with the vitamin C, you absorb the Vitamin C in dragon fruit efficiently when you eat dragon fruit as part of your fruit healthy diet.
· Dragon fruit is a good natural source of anti-oxidants which help to prevent the dangers of free radicals which can cause cancer and other undesirable health detriments. The number, quantity, and
variety of antioxidants in real foods like dragon fruit is completely unmatched by any food supplement or pills - even those claiming to have “antioxidant” health benefits. Nothing compares to the rich array of nutrients and antioxidants in a real natural food like the dragon fruit.
· Dragon fruit does have a small amount of fats because there are so many seeds in the edible part of the fruit. There can be literally thousands of the small black seeds in any given dragon fruit, and like most seeds and nuts they have both fats and protein in them while the flesh of the fruit itself has virtually none.
· Dietary fiber is an important nutrition factor for everyone from young to old, and the best way to get dietary fiber is to eat fruits and vegetables, including fruits like the dragon fruit. As you might ex-pect, like many fruits, dragon fruit has lots of dietary fiber with almost 1 gram of fiber per 100 grams of the fresh drag-on fruit.
Besides being eat-en directly, dragon fruit has also been created as a raw material for mak-ing wine. In Malaysia, unripe dragon fruit can be cooked as a soup and mixed with meat and bones. Dragon fruit is also used as a raw mate-rial for salad.
The unopened buds, dried flowers, and fruit skin can also be pro-cessed into food. The un-opened buds can be made
into a delicious fresh sal-ad. The dried flowers, on the other hand, can be cooked into lumpiang shanghai. In addition, the dried flowers can also be used as an ingre-dient for bulalo broth or processed into delicious dragon balls (meatballs).
The fruit’s skin can be cooked with malunggay leaves and can also be processed into jam.
More than a decade ago, a Malaysian monk in Kuala Lumpur made a health drink out of drag-on fruit. He shared this home-made brew with other monks. S.Y. Sin, the monk’s disciple, was also treated to this nutritious drink whenever he visit-ed the temple.
Sin was so taken with the dragon fruit enzyme drink that he asked for the recipe. He improved on the recipe and made the enzyme for his friends. After much coaxing from friends to commercialize the prod-uct, he decided to give it a shot.
Five years ago, Sin started Nature Farm’s Marketing Sdn Bhd in Se-langor, which produces the dragon fruit enzyme for the local market. With its simple packaging in a dark bottle labeled Pita-cacti Delight, one could mistake it for red wine. Today, the drink is dis-tributed to most states in Malaysia.
As the red variety of dragon fruit is used, the drink itself is a deep rich maroon. Due to the fer-mentation process, the dragon fruit enzyme has 3.6 percent alcohol, and one would experience a warming sensation when
consuming the drink. As such, it is not given halal certification because the halal status is only given if the product has less than 0.5 percent alcohol.
However, the Islamic Food Research Centre in Kuala Lumpur has indi-cated in a statement dat-ed December 24, 2007 that Muslims can con-sume this drink because the enzyme does not come under the catego-ry of wine. The alcohol in the enzyme drink is a result of the natural fer-mentation process.
The health wonders of dragon fruit was brought into the forefront by an article written by Leila-nie Adriano which was published in Philippine Daily Inquirer on Sep-tember 5, 2009. It chron-icled the story of Editha A g u i n a l d o - D a c uyc uy, whose daughter is afflict-ed with cerebral palsy.
In 2005, Dacuycuy was searching for an al-ternative medicine that would cure her daugh-ter’s frequent constipa-tion, a common problem among cerebral palsy pa-tients. A friend gave her some dragon fruit from Macau which proved ef-fective in inducing regu-lar bowel movement.
Adriano reported: “Dacuycuy, a former manager of an insur-ance company and a psy-chology graduate of the University of the Phil-ippines, found herself browsing the Internet to learn more about this exotic fruit. The dragon fruit, she found out, was also known as a ‘cleans-ing fruit’ in South Amer-ica.
“She also learned that
according to physicians and nutrition experts, the dragon fruit is rich in fiber that helps in the elimination of wastes, and that it contains high levels of vitamin C, cal-cium, and phosphorous. Its other nutritional ben-efits include high levels of antioxidants that can help prevent cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, rheumatism, and urinary tract infection.”
From single cuttings she got from friends, Dacuycuy managed to propagate the plant un-til they bore fruit several months after. Encour-aged, she sent a daughter to Thailand to learn how to care for the plant, and later consulted the De-partment of Agriculture in her municipality on the proper management of her dragon fruit farm.
Today, her dragon fruit farm in barangay Paayas of Burgos, Ilocos Norte covers five hect-ares.
Adriano concluded her article with these words: “With the grow-ing demand for dragon fruit in the local market, and considering its nu-tritional benefits, Dacuy-cuy has decided to share her know-how on the cultivation of the plant. She envisions putting up a distillery plant in the near future, where she and other farmer-coop-erators can operate a dragon fruit winery. To make the distillery plant feasible, however, some 50 hectares of land must be planted with dragon fruit, she added. It re-mains a dream at this point, but hopefully not for long.”
ENTER THE DRAGON FRUITText and Photos by HENRYLITO D. TACIO
VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 20148
DebatesEDITORIAL
THE House of Representatives has started plenary debates on proposed econom-ic amendments to the Constitution. The
changes are proposed by no less than House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.
Dabawenyos should pay special attention to the debates not only because their comprovin-ciano, Rep. Mylene Garcia-Albano, chairperson of the House committee on constitutional amend-ments, is tasked to defend the proposals, but more importantly because they ought to know what these proposals are and whether in their judgment the changes deserved to be approved or rejected.
Of course, there will be a tendency of the de-bates to dwell on the suspicion that the changes would include the extension of the term of Pres-ident Aquino as he hinted at but later squelched.
To be sure, many Filipinos have been harp-ing on the need to change the basic law of the land which took effect in 1987. But other people would rather that the charter be left untouched for reasons of their own.
Usually, the Charter Change oppositors would argue that there are matters more important than tweaking the Constitution now.
This is really a debate between those who believe that they would benefit from changing certain provisions of the charter and those who think that doing so would only harm them.
Since ours is a democratic country wherein the decision of the majority is respected, let’s al-low the debates to go on and see what decision both houses of Congress can reach in the end. Is it a waste of time? In a democracy debates on issues is not a waste of time.
EDGEDAVAO
VANTAGE
OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager
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 • JONALLIER M. PEREZ
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VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014
“TEN thousand years have passed since the current pleasantly temperate period began, so an-
other sudden shift is overdue. The no-tion that greenhouse gases could trigger such a rapid change keeps serious sci-entists up at night… And since scientists today have little understanding of past climate flips, it’s impossible to say when the next one will start.”
That was what Gregg Easterbrook wrote in “A Skeptical Guide to Dooms-day,” a 2003 “Wired” article.
Climate change is, indeed, already here and everyone is affected. No one is spared from its wrath.
“Climate change isn’t something just for scientists, politicians, diplomats and academics,” wrote Richard Fuchs in his foreword for the book, “Hotspots! Map-ping Climate Change Vulnerability in Southeast Asia.” “It’s an issue that peo-ple in communities in Southeast Asia al-ready know about and sense is import-ant on an everyday basis in their lives.”
The Philippines ranks fourth in the Global Climate Risk Index. Fifteen of the 16 regions of the Philippines are vulner-able to sea level rise. The Asian Develop-ment Bank projected, in an earlier study titled “Addressing Climate Change and Migration in Asia and the Pacific,” said rising sea levels could uproot 13.6 mil-lion Filipinos by 2050.
That warning should not be taken lightly. “In the last several years, the country has suffered extreme weath-er events, including long dry spells, heavy rains as well as strong typhoons and floods like those caused by tropical storm Ondoy and typhoon Pepeng. These problems are aggravated by harmful practices that have led to the destruction of forests, mangroves, and corals, and the deterioration of the environment in
general,” point-ed out Secre-tary Mary Ann Lucille Sering, Vice Chairper-son of the Cli-mate Change C o m m i s s i o n (CCC) tasked to coordinate and monitor pro-grams relat-ing to climate change.
Mindanao, the country’s second larg-est island (after Luzon), has recently been battered by super typhoons. As Sering said, “Even some areas in Min-danao that we used to consider as ‘ty-phoon-free’ have recently been hit by very strong typhoons, floods, and mud-slides.”
Are journalists from Mindanao ready to write reports on climate change and related issues? What are the ways peo-ple bringing news to the masses can do to fully equip themselves when it comes to climate change reporting?
This is the reason the CCC, in part-nership with the Philippine Network of Environmental Journalists, Inc. (PNEJ), will conduct a media seminar-workshop for journalists involved in print, televi-sion, and radio on September 1 in Davao City.
Among the objectives of the sem-inar-workshop are: provide partici-pants with the tools, resources, and the motivation to tackle climate change by providing an overview of issues and in-formation; articulate major issues and concerns on climate change mitigation and adaptation and other related is-sues in Mindanao; and develop and fos-ter greater collaboration between and
among journalists and experts.“The seminar-workshop is also con-
ducted as part of the handbook on cli-mate change reporting which we are developing,” said Imelda V. Abano, the PNEJ president and a board director of Society of Environmental Journalists. “The handbook will help media practi-tioners to have standardized guidelines in reporting climate change-related news and articles.”
Abano is one of the resource persons during the workshop. A multi-awarded Filipino journalist, she won the United Nations Foundation Prize for human-itarian and development reporting for her feature, “Inside Haiti: Hatred and Hunger in an Unhealed Land.”
Among the invited guests who have confirmed their attendance are Dr. Rosa Perez, Dr. Teofredo Esguerra, Sandee Recabar, and Sec. Sering herself.
Dr. Perez was one of the leading sci-entists who contributed to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change, a UN body which became a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. She will talk on understanding climate change, its impacts, and the need for adapta-tion.
Dr. Esguerra, who grew up in Ban-salan, Davao del Sur, is currently the di-saster and crisis lead of the Energy De-velopment Corporation. He is trained on urban and wilderness rescue, avi-ation medicine, expedition medicine for tropical and alpine mountain op-erations, tactical medicine, and disas-ter management. His talk during the workshop: awareness, preparedness, response in climate change adaptation and to disasters.
Ms. Recabar is the senior science research specialist of the CCC. She will
discuss climate change mitigation. On the other hand, Sec. Sering – a lawyer and environmental education advocate who spent her high school days at the St. Paul University in Surigao City – will answer questions during the couch ses-sion.
It was Dr. James E. Hansen of the US National Aeronautics and Space Admin-istration (NASA) who first raised the problem of global warming. In 1988, he told an American Senate hearing that the greenhouse effect “is changing our climate now.”
In a “Reader’s Digest” article, au-thor Robert James Bidinotto explained the greenhouse effect in these words: “When sunlight warms the earth, cer-tain gases in the lower atmosphere, act-ing like the glass in a greenhouse, trap some of the heart as it radiates back into space. These greenhouse gases, primarily water vapor and including carbon dioxide, methane and man-made chlorofluorocarbons, warm our planet, making life possible.”
“The global warming is very simple,” said Dr. Robert Watson, IPCC chairman. “We are increasing emissions of green-house gases and thus their concentra-tions in the atmosphere are going up. As these concentrations increase, the temperature of the earth rises.”
“While human activities during the past century have damaged a long list of nature systems, most of these prob-lems are local or regional in scope and can be revered in years to decades if sufficient effort is exerted,” Christopher Flavin wrote in his book, “Slowing Glob-al Warming: A Worldwide Strategy.” “Changes to the earth’s atmosphere on the other hand are global and irrevers-ible not only in our lifetimes but in our children’s and grandchildren’s as well.”
ALARM is in the air. People are commenting about what seems to be a change in President B. S.
Aquino’s focus from reforms that ac-cord with Daang Matuwid to Cha Cha that accomodates term extension.
It’s a troubling development, alarm-ing in more ways than one. And it’s ill-advised, being unduly provocative and controversial as a case of self-inter-est versus public interest.
Already late into his 6-year term, P-Noy has no business tinkering with the Constitution to suit his personal convenience or ambition.
People ask if they’re seeing the on-set of a messianic complex. Does P-Noy believe he can do no wrong, that he’s the best, that he’s indispensable for this phase of our nation’s history?
Some speculate if it has to do with a fairly-established self-righteousness in attitude: condemnatory towards ex-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and others, dismissive of ex-chief jus-tice Renato Corona, angry with justices who stigmatize his disbursement accel-eration program, fixated on what seems to be a penchant for fiscal dictatorship.
*****Days ago, I got a text message from a
knowledgeable source. “It appears that P-Noy’s henchmen in congress are se-riously pursuing moves to prolong his presidency by amending the Constitu-
tion themselves as a constituent assem-bly.”
The message goes on: “This is clear abuse of power by self-interested trad-pols and a reason for the military to intervene as protectors of the Consti-tution and the people.” A cautionary warning against provoking rebellion or providing a rationale for a coup!
It’s also a sentiment gaining ground as anger and anxiety rises around the usual attempt to manipulate society and the Constitution to suit the conve-nience of a sitting president.
The text’s concluding question is troubling: “Are there idealistic army officers who see it this way?”—conjur-ing up what’s getting to be a reflexive thought when our society is thrown into a political thicket: the idea of mil-itary or armed intervention as the way out.
*****It’s a counterproductive reflex, to
say the least. It suggests to would-be Honasans and Trillaneses to substitute mutiny or rebellion for political ac-tion—using the very arms and imple-ments entrusted to them by the people!
It’s bad enough that two swaggering
mutineers managed to secure Senate seats for themselves; it’s terrible that they’re touted as role models in a dem-ocratic order.
Now the two are having the time of their lives as pedantic power players and grandstanding politicos, obsessed with self-importance as they work their way to heights of fame and fortune they could not have reached without the co-ercive force of armed mutiny. Trillanes even dreams of the presidency.
Too bad there are too many easy-to-fool Filipinos who readily support the antics of swashbuckling coup plot-ters and show-offs who think nothing of abusing deadly firepower placed in their care.
*****Too bad also that we have a bunch
of so-called political parties, mercenary and irresponsible, that recklessly spon-sor misplaced ambition or incompe-tence as long as it serves selfish agenda.
No less than the vice president leads the pack in bastardizing the concept of a political party — fielding his unre-markable children to city hall, house, and senate chambers, letting his par-tisans plague the political system with dynastic politics, and of late, nominat-ing Manny Pacquiao to the Senate — to let him trivialize it into a backdrop for showing off his boxing form?
Woe to our society that it should
suffer the burden of pretentious trapos who propagate “winnability” based on entertainment value or popularity as the criteria for state office. They are our society’s worst enemies; and can you believe that the Aquinos — sisters, uncles, cousins, cronies — seem indul-gent of them?
Fixated on personal ambition, un-scrupulous, mercenary, shameless, they are destroyers of our values and institutions, corruptors of public mo-rality, and saboteurs of our political system. Their obsession with power, lusting after its privileges, is a discred-it to us all. To give them charge of our society will keep our democracy im-mature and in perpetual juvenile de-linquency.
P-Noy had better be careful. If he lets his cohorts talk him into thinking that his interests and obsessions co-incide with the public’s best interests, he’ll be biting off more than he can chew.
Manny is former UNESCO regional director for Asia-Pacific; secretary-gen-eral, Southeast Asian Publishers Associ-ation; director, development academy of Philippines; member, Phil. Perma-nent Mission to the U.N.; vice chair, Local Government Academy; member, Cory Government’s Peace Panel, and PPI-UNICEF awardee for outstanding columnist. [email protected]
Henrylito D. Tacio
THINK ON THESE!
Climate change 101
P-Noy’s self-interest vs public interest
VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO
BY MANNY VALDEHUESA
THE WORM’S EYEVIEW
VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014
tee on the first batch of cases, the manifested the need for an amendment.
Last October 18, 2013, the Mayor issued the EO 37, series of 2013 which tasked the commit-tee conduct necessary ad-ministrative proceedings relative to complaints made against employee.
The committee will still be composed of City Legal Office head lawyer Osmundo P. Villanueva Jr. as chairman, lawyers Jhopee A. Agustin and
Tristan Dwight P. Domin-go as members.
Under the amended EO, the Committee should conduct formal investi-gations pursuant to the Revised Rules on Admin-istrative Cases in the Civil Service (RRACCS) and Re-public Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code and submit the findings and recommendations to the City Mayor upon the conclusion of the case.
The committee should conduct necessary pro-
ceedings, conferences, hearings propound on clarificatory and relevant questions, summon all parties concerned and/ or issue notices and oth-er lawful processes to ap-propriate individuals rel-ative to a complaint filed against City Government employee.
Report and coordi-nate with the City Ad-ministrator on the status or progress of all cases heard before the commit-tee.
The EO also assigned lawyers Enrique Junior A. Bonocan as Lead Spe-cial Prosecutor and Gil Norman D. Ciudadano as Alternate Special Prose-cutor.
The order also as-signed lawyer Marissa M. Marasigan-Torentera as the head secretariat and Wingstone R. Areblon as process server.
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NEWS EDGEDAVAO
NOTICE OF LOSSNotice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS CONSOLIDATED INC. that CERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT No.(s) 21105013 un-der Loyola Contract No(s). 10287555-8 issued to Mon-suller Melchor Pepito 21041300 under Loyola Con-tract No(s). 1836586/NNN130005940 issued to Fely A. Dacles 006226 under Loyola Contract No(s). 705081-8/294354-8 issued to Patrocinio G. Briones Under Loyola Contract No.(s) 6027280-3/NNN605856000 is-sued to Ellen Saban Fino
were lost. Any transaction entered into shall be null and void.
8/21/28/9/4
LEGAL NOTICE
Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late ALBERTO P. DELDA has been the subject of an EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT execut-ed among his heirs per Doc. No.147; Page No. 92; Book No. XXIIII; Series of 2014, of the NOTARY PUBLIC FREDERIC VOLTAIRE Y. TAN
8/21,28/9/4
LEGAL NOTICENotice is hereby given that the estate of the late SPS. EMETERIO A. DELDA and CANDIDA P. DELDA with Special Power of Attorney has been the subject of an EXTRA-JUDICIAL SET-TLEMENT executed among their heirs per Doc. No.650; Page No. 13; Book No. XLV; Se-ries of 2014, of the NOTARY PUBLIC MA.LOU-ISA M. VILORIA-YAP
8/21,28/9/4
(Hopefully, they will re-turn here if that is the only they can get there). With the declaration of BIFF (Bangsamoro Is-lamic Freedom Fighter) that they are pledging allegiance to IS, sabi ko (I said) it changes every-thing,” he said.
Duterte said that the issue has been already re-vealed in one of his com-mand conferences about two months ago. He said that they had discussed it with the some officials of
the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“I just passed on to them what was whis-pered to me. Na apat lang naman ang sabi ng source ko na pupunta doon sa (according my source only four who went to)Middle East,” Duterte said.
He said that he in-formed the military to keep track the four and not to alarm them.
“Sa kanilang trabaho yan, hindi akin (It is their
job, not mine) to keep track, to validate, to verify whether it is true or not,” he said.
Duterte clarified once again that he did not con-firmed in his weekly pro-gram “Gikan sa Masa Para sa Masa” the recruitment of ISIS in the city.
“What I said was that, I’m apprehensive na pag-dating doon, kung totoo man yan (if they reach there, if it is true) that they might be recruited by the ISIS,” he said.
ducted a total of 439 drug operations. Last year, there were only 389 during the same period.
Rosales also said Davao Region is one of the well-performing regions in terms of drug confisca-tion in Mindanao.
He said there is also an increase in the number of cases filed before the dif-ferent courts in the region.
“We have recorded an increase in the number of conviction and decrease in
the acquittal,” he added.Rosales, however, did
not have the data on the cases on hand when he was interviewed yester-day.
The latest operation of PDEA 11 led to the arrest of Ruel G. Reas in Panabo City earlier this month.
Confiscated from him was about P2 million worth of suspected shabu was placed inside a pack-age sent by a certain Mari-ama E. Antis from Bali-
wasan, Zamboanga City.“We are now investi-
gating the new modus of syndicates in transporting illegal drugs into the re-gion,” Rosales said, adding that it was the first time that syndicates used local couriers.
He said the manage-ment of the local courier cannot be held liable un-less there is a proof that there is an involvement in the transportation of the package containing shabu.
should ignore the nay-sayers because as chief executive of Davao, he has already forgiven him.
Last August 16, Bau-tista earned the ire of the city officials when he was caught in act saying “ang daming Hipon sa Davao (many shrimps in Davao),” at the Kaday-awan Invasion music fes-tival, even encouraging the crowd to chant hipon along with him.
However, the attend-ees of the event also in-clude siblings Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and for-mer Mayor Sara Duterte- Carpio.
In a video that circu-lated on social media, the vice mayor can be seen standing by the side of the stage as Bautista is-
sued his apology.“You have invited me
to your beautiful city and I am very sorry,” he said.
The vice mayor and Duterte- Carpio have since taken to social me-dia to air their displea-sure, and last August 19 city council passed a resolution declaring the comedian persona non grata, or an undesirable person to the city.
The vice mayor said he has already forgiven the comedian, but that the call to council was brought about by some women’s groups.
“We cannot ignore it,” he said.
Online angerWhile the govern-
ment has settled its issue with the comedian, ne-
tizens are still active on the matter, with a web-site called www.hiponci-ty.com surfacing, which leads directly to the offi-cial government website of Davao.
“We have traced the domain and it shows that the website was created in the US,” an official from the City Information Of-fice (CIO), who deigned to give provide identity due to the matter still in its investigation phase.
According to the CIO, they discovered the link only on Monday but they added it has been active since August 20.
“Whoever made this really made the effort be-cause it costs money to have your own domain name,” added the official.
The mayor said he would see how much he can donate for the research on amyotrophic lateral scle-rosis (ALS), a debilitating disease which is the focus of the ALS Ice Bucket Chal-lenge.
The challenge raises money for research on ALS, which still has no known cure. Under the rules, a per-son who accepts the chal-lenge must pour ice water on himself and/or donate to the ALS Association.
“Baka malaki ang hingi-in, wala naman tayong pera (They might be asking for a large amount, I don’t have money,” Duterte said.
De lima had taken the challenge the other day and challenged Duterte to do the same, along with Rehabilitation Secretary Panfilo Lacson and Iloilo Congressman Niel Tupas.
Last August 23, Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte joined the craze and challenged his sister, former Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, Sen-ator JV Ejercito, and Com-postela Valley Board Mem-ber Ramil Gentugaya to do their own and also donate to charities of their own choice.
The younger Duterte pledged to donate money to ALSA and to Boys Town in Maa.
Department of Health (DOH) consultant Dr. Wil-lie T. Ong, warned people, especially the elderly, preg-nant women, ailing, and those with medical condi-tions, that there are slight health risks involved in the challenge.
In his Facebook ac-count, Ong said the chal-lenge may cause head in-jury or fainting. “Having a
heavy bucket raised over your head could be dan-gerous. In an accident, you could hurt your head or break your neck,” he said.
Ong said it can lead to a heart attack and high blood pressure due to con-striction of the arteries.
“You may also get pneu-monia,” he added.
Ong said to avoid the risk, people should avoid the ice bucket challenge and just donate money to charity.
If people are bent on dumping ice water over themselves, Ong’s advice is to sit down on a sturdy chair and wear a helmet.
“After the challenge, dry yourself with a tow-el and take a few minutes to rest. Make sure you are not dizzy anymore before resuming your usual activi-ties,” he said.
He said the result of the summary trial and inves-tigation will be out after three months.
He said Mrs. Dan-ao, who is now in United States with their children, must attend the pre-trail, otherwise the case will be dismissed.
The wife is also invited for the possibility of filing another case regarding a short video clip uploaded on Youtube showing Dan-ao’s alleged abusive behav-ior toward his wife.
“The wife has already
filed a complaint of physi-cal injury before the Con-sul of the Philippines in California, last year but not on VAWC,” he said. The in-cident in the case reported-ly happened in 2002, while the VAWC law was enacted in 2004.
Cabatingan said the wife has to file another case on violence against women and their children (VAWC) for another case because they cannot just investigate the alleged domestic abuse involving Danao without any com-
plainant.“The wife or either
of their two children can file a complaint on VAWC against Danao,” he said.
Cabatingan said Danao will not be automatically relieved from his position because another hearing is needed for him to be suspended preventively.
However, if Danao is proven guilty, he will be either demoted or dis-missed from his current position as the highest po-lice official in Davao City, Cabatingan said. CRC
VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014 11EDGEDAVAO
BIGGER PICTURE
WIVES aren’t al-ways the vic-tims.
When Jonathan re-fused to buy their son’s very expensive toys, his wife punched him in the side of his head and said she would cut off his fin-gers in the night. The wife also used to smash down the bedroom door where he was hiding, and this happened mainly in front of their children.
Fernando is already in his ‘80s but it didn’t stop his 75-year-old wife from beating him several times with a bamboo stick. “It was so disgraceful that she has to beat me in public,” said the old man, who sought assistance from the authorities as he could no longer bear the spousal abuse. Pre-vious to that incident, his wife would throw stones at him. There was also a time when she strangled him.
Earl, a 46-year-old doctor in Cebu, is severe-ly beaten by his wife once or twice a year. He keeps cosmetics at home and in his clinic to cover up the bruises and face bites. At one time, his secretary saw a bruise in his left hand and asked him what happened. He told her that it was caused by an accident.
Some studies say there are several reasons battered husbands would not complain against their abusive wives. One is pride; men are sup-posed to be the superi-or sex while women, the weaker sex.
One observer com-ments, “Women are phys-ically weaker than men. It
is impossible for the wife to batter a husband in any way except in the darkest moment of the night in bed. Women can last till dawn but husbands will curl like egg against the might of the wife’s threat of dripping scissors.”
But a psychologist puts the issue in this per-spective: “A macho man does not cry, does not show his weakness, his vulnerability. Personally, if a man cries, he is a real man. He is not afraid to show his hurts, his emo-tions. If you allow the abuse to continue, you increase the tension and conflict in your personal life.”
Unlike the wives, there is no law that protects bat-tered husbands. To think that, according to one Filipino clinical psycholo-gist who interviewed vic-tims of abuse nationwide, for every two battered women, there is one bat-tered man. So, “if there is a law on women’s rights, there should be a law for men’s rights,” suggested Rene Estorpe, president of Men’s Responsibility on Gender and Develop-ment.
Here’s one observa-tion if Republic Act No. 9262 or more popularly known as Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children (VAWC) is not amended. “Husbands have nothing to gain when they are assaulted by their wives. But thanks to one-sided laws, wives can gain financially, sta-tus, win sympathy sup-port, keep their children, legally be vindictive, gain many government assis-tance. Considering the
l aws , it’s much better for the man to keep quiet.”
Grace Nuval, regional coordinator for the Ga-briela women’s party-list group, begs to disagree. Under the law, she said, “there is no such thing as male discrimination.” She explained that if men were being sued under the VAWC law, it could be that women wanted relief from the emotional, eco-nomic, mental, and phys-ical abuses they were be-ing subjected to.
Another reason bat-tered men would rather keep quiet: for family’s sake. Some battered hus-bands don’t want to have broken families, which is why they don’t want their cases to be solved by third parties. “Battered husbands want to keep their families intact for the sake of their children,”
s o m e -one said.
Should a battered hus-band suffer in silence? Or should he hit back at her? Here’s one opinion: “Like it or not, authorities are very, very biased against men – what do you think is going to happen if the police show up and a man says, ‘She hit me first. I was defending my-self’? She is going to say that you hit her first, and they are going to take her word for it and haul you off. So make darnn sure that hitting back is your absolute last resort.”
A battered wife re-plies, “If you are being hit, please leave. Trust me, it will only get worse. My husband kept promis-ing he would stop but he didn’t. It got worse to the point he threw a chair at our two-year-old daugh-ter. We had to flee for her safety in our sleeping gar-
ments. I suffered for eight years and it was eight years of my life wasted. I wish I had left after the first punch.”
Another one has this advice: “It’s totally wrong whether man or woman is abused. Don’t suffer in silence. Get out now. Re-gardless of whether she says she won’t do it again. Don’t be embar-rassed. Sadly, it’s a sad state of society today that men are also being abused. But don’t hit back – you are then lowering yourself to her level. You will be the bigger person if you leave without re-sorting to violence aimed at her.”
But why do these wives resort to physical violence? Could there be a reason for these reactions? Perhaps a retaliation for a perceived injustice on her part? Or maybe a sort of
v e n -geance?
“Yes, I hit my husband from time to time because he is lazy and doesn’t want to work,” said 35-year-old Susan, who has three chil-dren. “He just goes to his friends, drinks all day, and when he returns home, he would slap me.”
In the second exam-ple above, the 75-year-old woman who beat his 80-something husband said she had had enough of her husband “who does nothing but hold his cellular phone.” She fur-ther explained: “I was so mad because early in the morning he was out there again doing nothing.”
Too many people make a distinction between a battered wife and a bat-tered husband. It doesn’t matter whether you are male or female, physical violence hurts. Domestic abuse is inexcusable and wrong!
UNDER D’ SAYABy HENRYLITO D. TACIO
VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 201412 CLASSIFIED
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Phone Nos. Cell Nos.
EDGEDAVAO
INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014
EDGEDAVAOFOOD
PLACES that serve great tasting food are sometimes hard to find, both literally and figuratively. More often than not, these places are hidden away from the huge commercial centres and are instead found on the city’s side streets.
One place where de-licious comfort food is served is at Karlo’s Coffee and Gourmet located at Jack’s Ridge Resort. One may ask why do consider Karlo’s Coffee and Gour-met hidden when in fact it is located at one of Du-rianburg’s more famous landmarks. It is because the landmark and the adjoining Filipino restau-rant are so famous that Karlo’s Coffee and Gour-met is oftentimes left to the sidelines, hidden in plain view so to speak. Known to some for its many exotic fruit and cof-fee concoctions such as Mangosteen Coffee, Du-rian Coffee, and Guyaba-no Coffee among many
others. Karlo’s Coffee and Gourmet also serve com-fort food such as sand-wiches, pizzas, pasta, and their new sliders which I was able to sample weeks before they were launched thanks to an invitation from Karlo’s Coffee and Gourmet’s owner, Karlo Mercado.
For starters I had the Spanish Sardines Quese-dilla, a cheesy snack fu-sion with Spanish sardine filling paired with a sweet piquant mango salsa. A pair of new pasta dishes were also unveiled, Grilled Seafood Fra Dia-volo and Karlo’s own version of a puttanesca spaghetti with anchovies, black olive and capers. Both dishes will definitely appeal to individuals who want to cut down on their meat intake. Meat lovers also have their share of new menu items in the form of meaty sliders, a trio of bite-sized meaty burgers that are packed with interesting flavours. One can choose
Comfort food at the ridge
from either the Korean Beef Sliders, the Pork Slid-ers topped with a Quail Egg, or my clear favourite, the Pork Dumpling Slider which has a patty that has chopped shrimp inside and finished with bit of chilli for a kick. My meal ended with a trio of cakes made spe-cially for Karlo’s Gourmet and Coffee. There was a Bannoffee Pie which was literally stuffed with lay-ers upon layers of banana, a Ferrero Hazelnut Cake, and a Salted Caramel Cheesecake. I particularly loved the Bannoffee Pie as it brought good memories of relaxing and enjoying good company. Follow me on Instagram or on Twitter @kenneth-kingong for more travel tips, foodie finds, and hap-penings in, around, and beyond Durianburg.
The man behind Karlo’s Coffee and Gourmet, Karlo Mercado.
Various exotic fruit flavoured coffee.
Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao’s weekend deals
A2 INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT
ANY plans for this weekend? There is no better place to unwind after a gruelling workweek than spending your weekend at the Wa-terfront. Stay at our rooms starting at Php 2,400 nett and get a limited edition Waterfront Shirt as a souvenir. The rooms also include daily free breakfast at Cafe Uno Restau-rant, free WiFi and complimentary use of the pool. Waterfront Insu-lar Hotel Davao’s weekend deals are applicable for Fri-day, Saturday, and Sunday stays. For for information, inquiries and reservations, please call (082) 233 2881 or 300 8881.
Globe Business celebrates women empowermentfor top female biz execs
STUDENTS SHOW OFF THEIR BEST MOVES AT THE SMART JUMP IN DANCE-OFF SCHOOL TOUR. Students of St. Mark’s Institute in Las Piñas show off their dancing chops at the recent school tour of Smart Jump In Dance-Off 2, featuring lessons from the member of top dance group G-Force. The Grade school students of Aquinas School in San Juan City also had an opportunity to show off their best dance moves at the recent school tour of Smart Jump In Dance-Off 2, the biggest interschool dance competition in the country. For the complete mechanics of the competition, visit www.smartjumpin.com/danceoff2.
GLOBE BUSINESS re-cently celebrated the key role of female leaders in the corporate arena as a driving force in the work-place through an exclusive empowerment program filled with new insights on life, career, family, as well as the opportunity to be reinvigorated. The women empower-ment program, designed for lady executives in the field of information and communications tech-nology from various in-dustries, were filled with sessions of pampering designed for the working women, celebrating their achievements by provid-ing treats for the mind, body and soul as the par-ticipants were encouraged to spend some time off for self-reflection, rejuvena-tion and not to mention, indulge in gastronomic delights. “Our country contin-ues to hold much promise for women who are at the top of the local corporate setting as they hold senior management roles in en-terprises. Since a growing number of Filipinas are becoming leaders of or-ganizations, from small to large businesses, there is a growing sense of empow-erment within them as they strike a balance be-tween career and family life,” pointed out by Globe Business Head of Market-ing Charmaine Bautista-Pamintuan. Meanwhile, Globe Telecom Senior Vice President for Enterprise Group Nikko Acosta said that, “we want to insti-tutionalize this program as we look forward to a wonderful new culture to emerge, one that evokes compassion and balance in the workplace as we see more female executives dominate the corporate world.” He added that, “as a company which cham-pions individuals who make a difference, Globe Business commends our women leaders as they continue to trailblaze in their career and personal lives. We herald Filipinas as forces to be reckoned
with and recognized for their leadership, strength and willpower.” This nationwide pro-gram kicked-off in Crim-son Resorts in Mactan Island, Cebu, in time for the the Internation-al Women’s Month in March, gathering Globe Business’ enterprise part-ners from the Visayas. It was immediately followed by the MIndanao leg at Pearl Farm Resort, in the Island Garden of Samal, Davao del Norte for their clientele based in the southern part of the coun-try. The program recently culminated at the Crim-son Hotel in Paranaque
City, bringing together its clientele from the Greater Manila Area. Renowned author, TV host and wellness guru Cory Quirino graced the Cebu activity and gave an inspirational talk about the woman as a “power center.” Meanwhile, the women participants in Davao went through a life-design workshop by life coach Jackie Caniza. For the Manila gather-ing, Caniza reprised her role and was joined by celebrated motivational speaker and author Fran-cis Kong as well as famous TV host and entrepreneur Daphne Osena-Paez in in-
spiring the attendees. After the inspiring talks, attendees indulged in various pampering ses-sions such as full-body massage, foot spa with nail treatments, hair and make-up, as well as hydro yoga. This was followed by a sumptuous Filipino fies-ta-inspired dinner and a raffle of exciting prizes to cap the wonderful day off. For more information on how Globe Business can help empower your enterprise in creating a wonderful ICT landscape, visit www.business.globe.com.ph or get in touch with your Globe Business Account Manager.
Damosa Fairlane has officially started its series of weekend events which looks to create strong neighbourhood ties and pro-mote a sense of family amongst residents.
The homeowners stretched their muscles last August 23, 2014 at the first weekend event of Damosa Fairlane, which was dubbed as “Wellness Day” to promote health and fit-ness amongst residents.
The homeowners moved their bodies to the rhythm of the music during the zumba routine.
After sweating it out for an hour of aero-bics, the residents enjoyed their light break-fast al fresco with their family and friends. To cap the fun-filled morning, they refreshed themselves with a dip in the pool.
“We want to make our homeowners feel that they belong to a nurturing community. The first weekend activity fit perfectly with our goal of making Damosa Fairlane their “one big home.” A healthy lifestyle helps in promoting the overall well-being of the fam-ily,” said Cary F. Lagdameo, VP for Damosa Land, Inc.
The Wellness Day concluded with an an-ticipated mass, a regular Eucharistic celebra-tion that is held at 5:00 in the afternoon of every Saturday at Damosa Fairlane.
Damosa Fairlane hosts a Eucharistic mass every Saturday afternoon at its very own compound.
Anchoring its events on its four core val-ues, namely: family, community, spirituality and social concern, Damosa Fairlane has pre-pared a number of activities that homeown-ers will look forward to in the weeks to come.
“Since we have a good number of resi-dents actually living in Damosa Fairlane, and with more to come, we want to ensure that they feel at home. We will be highlighting all possible leisure and social activities a home-owner may benefit from being a resident of the community,” mentioned Alex G. Gocota-no, project head for Damosa Fairlane.
The development team takes pride in giv-ing utmost importance to the littlest things that the most discerning of homeowners will appreciate. And this is what differentiates the company from other real estate developers.
Damosa Land is the real estate and prop-erty development company of the Anflocor Group – the company that is responsible for developing business and lifestyle oriented commercial center, Damosa District and Da-mosa Fairlane.
The best & worst moments of the 2014 Emmy AwardsHOLLYWOOD’S first awards show of the new season is upon us! Yesterday’s Emmy Awards, brought all of TV’s biggest stars to-gether under one roof to honor some of the best performances of the past year, and along with that, there’s plenty of laughs, a few awkward moments and probably some tears. So let’s talk about some of the best and worst mo-ments of the show!
Best Opening: Host Seth Meyers gave viewers a strong opening, being his playful self and joking about the MTV VMAs, the Emmys schedule change and some of TV’s biggest shows—including How I Met Your Mother, Orange Is the New Black and Duck Dynasty—to start the night off.
Confusing Love: Jimmy Kimmel loves Matthew McConaughey, but it’s unlike your usual bro-mance. The presenter called out the actor for his weight gain and the fact that he’s a movie star at a TV event, but also called him a “beautiful son of a bitch,” which is endear-ing.
Sweet Moment: After giving McConaughey a hard time, Kimmel gave a nice shout-out to Tracy Morgan, who is still recov-ering from a car accident. “Shout out to Tracy Mor-gan, we’ll see you next year, Tracy,” Jimmy said.
Best Distraction: Mod-ern Family director Gail Mancuso was able to give her acceptance speech without crying by staring at McConaughey instead of her cast.
Your LOL Moment: Seth Meyers and Billy on the Street’s Billy Eichner took to the, um, street to am-bush people about the Emmys, and it was so fun-ny that the awards show could end right now, and we’d be OK with that. Oh, but the awards. Never mind.
Worthy Recognition: Julia Louis-Dreyfus had to take a moment to rec-
ognize her co-presenter Bryan Cranston (after call-ing him Clark Gable) for his work on Breaking Bad Seinfeld.
Smoochfest! Louis-Dre-fyus’ praise must have gotten to Cranston, be-cause when she went up to accept her third con-secutive win for Veep, he grabbed Julia and started making out with her! Yep, like full-in, open-mouth lip action. Unfortunately, Jimmy Fallon broke it up.
Emmys FAQ: Dear Jon Hamm, Melissa McCarthy, Andre Braugher and all other inquisitive stars—yes, the Emmys are airing live on TV, you will get towed if you park on the curb, and you may use the bathroom if you have the key.
Worst Letdown: So, Al-lison Janney and Octavia Spencer let us know there will not be a sequel to The Help. Sorry.
Shocker! Matt Bomer, Joe Mantello and Alfred Molina were all nominat-ed in the Best Support-ing Actor category for their work in The Normal Heart, yet the award went to Sherlock’s Martin Free-man.
Best Advice: This gem comes from Woody Har-relson, presented by McConaughey: “I said, ‘Woody, you always seem to keep it pretty cool, what do you do when you got a problem or
conflict come up in your life?’ Being my good friend, he thinks about it for a minute, he low-ers his head for about 15 or 20 seconds, he looks back up at me, looks right in my eyes...right into my soul and says, ‘I just forget about it.’”
What’s Happening? Weird Al Yankovic sur-prised the audience with a little musical perfor-mance by doing a mash-up of some of the nomi-nated TV shows’ theme songs. It was entertaining but also a little awkward, which is precisely what you would expect from Weird Al.
Rude (but Funny) Inter-ruption: Lena Headey couldn’t present an award without being bombard-ed by King Joffrey (played by Andy Samberg). It was actually pretty great.
Worst Sport: Ricky Ger-vais has lost 19 times, and he’s not so happy about it. It’s OK, Ricky. Your time will come.
Best Grammar Lesson: Chris Hardwick so kindly educated Internet trolls on the proper use of your and you’re. Thanks, Chris!
Woopsie: Oh, Gwen Stefani. It’s pronounced Cole-bear Report. Maybe next time. But Fallon used it as a way to act like he actually won and took the stage to accept Best Variety Series, so we’re sure he’s pretty grateful
for your slip-up.
Best Use of a Podium?: Sofía Vergara was put on a revolving podium so she could show off her curves at every angle.
Breaking Bad With-drawals: We all miss the show, but when Aaron Paul accepted his award for Best Supporting Ac-tor in a Drama Series, it all came back to us full throttle. “I miss him,” Paul said of his character Jesse Pinkman, and also gave a heartwarming shout-out to his co-star Bryan Cran-ston.
Where’s the Kleenex? Continuing in the emo-tional segment of the show, the In Memoriam portion tugged at our hearts. With the help of Sara Bareilles’ angelic vo-cals, the audience paid their respects to all of the fallen stars from the pre-vious year, including Paul Walker, Philip Seymour Hoffman and, of course, Robin Williams.
No, Seriously, We’re Crying: Billy Crystal took the stage to give a trib-ute to his close friend Williams. Reminding ev-eryone of the late star’s humor, and mentioning that he was also such a great friend, Crystal says, “As genius as he was on-stage, he was the great-est friend you could ever imagine—supportive, protective, loving,” Crys-tal said. “It’s very hard to talk about him in the past
because he’s so present in all of our lives. For al-most 40 years, he was the brightest star in the com-edy galaxy, but though some of the brightest stars are extinct now...
Awkward Alert: What the heck is Julia Roberts talking about? The ac-tress seemed to go off on a strange tangent when presenting the award for Best Actor in a Drama Series. Guess she just needed some time on the mike.
WHAT better way to end a month long of non-stop eating, cooking and more eating than a bottle (or two…or three) of healthy meals. Yes, a bottle – not a plate – but a bot-tle of healthy and delicious meals not only for detox purposes but for a holistic recharge much needed by the body.
They say it is just a ‘frenzy’, even a ‘fad’, but if you are one of those who defies the norm then this is for you. Well, this is nothing out of the or-dinary. This is normal -- very normal indeed. At some point in time, we sit down and think of how to be healthy. Yes, we all want, need and desire to be healthy. Maybe ‘buff healthy’ is not for most of us but being healthy now has been made quick, easy and readily available
juices of colors, flavors and health benefits have been feeding the people of Davao for some time now. From children to yup-pies to adults, everyone is enjoying repairing their stressed out body with a bottle on hand. Truly, we are always on the go and most often, forget to eat – eat healthily at that. Hence, with Soul-KitchenC° Urban SIPS and Urban EATS, we not only satisfy our hunger but also be healthy at the same time! Now, that is how life should be! Not only that, Soul-KitchenC° also has a number of other healthy and personally prepared meals in a jar that will truly satisfy even the meticulous eater! The @pinkmother herself, Ms. Mimi Vergara- Tupas, makes sure that every product produced is what the body needs. Personal favorite is their beets cold-pressed juice. A self-confessed beets lover, I enjoyed how their juice tickled my body internally thus mak-ing me feel relaxed and focused. Second on my list is their cold Almond-Mylk! I don’t even know where to start. It was smooth, rich and milky until the last drop. I love it a bit on the cold side and taken like water. This is perfect for some-one who does not have the luxury of time to whip up something. I love the Al-mondMylkSoy (bits and pieces of nutty goodness tickling your taste buds adds another degree of texture and flavor), Al-mondMylk with Spinach (perfect for mornings and even evenings before go-ing to sleep) and of course, the AlmondMylk (simply divine!). If milk is not for you then have a bite of their healthy Overnight Oats! Yes, I have been in an oats craving since I got back (and for my allergies too) and with this jar full of Oats, Chiaseeds, Greek
SoulKitchenCo for the soul
by bottles on the go! One perfect example and truly Davao is SoulKitchenC°. Bottled up cold-pressed
Yoghurt, AlmondMylk, Granola, Bananas, Al-monds and Peanut But-ter you will never have to look for anything else. My mom actually finished the jar – well, we shared – and she was raving of its deli-cious flavors, textures and
benefits for the body. For that healthy new you, follow and like Soul-KitchenC° on FACEBOOK (https://www.facebook.com/SOULKitchenCo) and on instagram @soul-kitchenco. They also deliv-er all around Davao. Call
them at +63917 7048060. Make #TheRoyal-Chef your Thursday habit! Email me at lee-b a y 4 5 7@ y a h o o . c o m (subject:RoyalChef) or tag me on instagram (her-royalheiress) for your deli-cious pics and food finds!
Call: 224-0733 • Tionko St., Davao City
VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014 13
TWO Rotary clubs in Davao City signed last August 21 sis-
terhood agreements with two counterpart clubs in Adelaide, the 178-year-old capital city of South Aus-tralia with a population of 1.3 million.
The agreement was signed by Peter R. J. Neal, president of the Rotary Club of Adelaide, Anton Banzali, president of the Rotary Club of East Davao, Carol E. Walsh, presi-dent of the Rotary Club of Prospect, and Jannette M. Valderosa, president of the Rotary Club of Wal-ing-waling Davao.
The Australian Rotar-ians, led by District Gov-ernor-elect Doug Layng, came to Davao City pur-posely to formalize the sister club. The other Australian Rotarians who came included Ian D’Arcy, who once worked in Min-danao and was a member of RC East Davao, Peter RJ Neal with spouse Kim, RC North Adelaide immediate past president (IPP) Frank O’Neil and RC Adelaide
IPP Simon O’Neil.In general, the sister-
hood agreement is con-sistent with the object of Rotary “to encourage and foster the advancement of international understand-ing, goodwill and peace through a world fellow-ship of business and pro-fessional persons united in the ideal of service.”
The four clubs entered into an agreement to mu-tually:
1. Promote friend-ship and understanding between the members of all four clubs;
2. Coordinate and cooperate with each oth-er regarding projects and activities of mutual inter-est in the RI Foundation’s six focus areas, and where feasible, to engage in joint implementation lf these activities and projects; and
3. Encourage visi-tation of both Davao City and Adelaide, either indi-vidually or in groups, for fellowship, cultural and vocational awareness.
In the past, particularly during Rotary Year 2008-
2009, RC Waling-waling and RC Prospect jointly implemented “Preserve Blood Save Life Phase II” for hemophilia and bleed-ing disorder. The project which benefited several persons in different plac-es in Mindanao received a matching grant from The Rotarian Foundation (TRF).
LOSING EFFORT. Mark Anthony Dyke led the Philippines with 26 points and 13 rebounds. (Photo from FIBAasia.net)
THE annual Davao Association of Catholic Schools
(DACS) Sportsfest for-mally kicked off yester-day with a colorful grand opening at the Holy Cross of Davao College Gymna-sium.
More than 3,000 stu-dents and faculty from the 64 member schools attended the four-hour program that ended up with the vocal solo, folk dance and dance sports competitions.
DACS Executive Direc-tor Jimmie-loe dela Vega presented the teams and gave the inspirational message.
“Let’s promote peace through sports,” said dela Vega.
This year’s theme is “Waging Peace, Forging Solidarity in Mindan-ao Through Culture and Sports”.
Sportsfest chairman and HCDC sports director
Rudy Salvador declared the opening of the games and hit the gong as a sig-nal of the week-long ac-tivity.
As of press time, five games in college basket-ball are scheduled at the HCDC gym.
The games will re-sume on Saturday mostly at the HCDC main cam-pus.
Aside from the host HCDC, the other DACS members are:
DAVAO CITY - Antho-ny and Mark Cavanis Ele-mentary School, Assump-tion College of Davao, Ateneo de Davao Univer-sity, Fr. Domenico Masi and Sisters of Mary Im-maculate Learning Cen-ter, Fr. Justin Rusoolillo School of Davao, Gabriel Taborin College of Davao Foundation, Holy Cross of Agdao, HC of Bunawan, HC of Mintal, HC College of Sasa, Jesus and Mary Thevenet School Foun-
dation, John Paul II Col-lege of Davao, Our Lady of Fatima Academy of Davao, Philippine Wom-en’s College of Davao, San Pedro College, St. Francis Xavier College Seminary, St. Joseph College, St. Paul Colege Pasig-Davao Campus, St. Peter’s Col-lege of Toril, Stella Maris Academy of Davao, Uni-versity of the Immaculate Conception, Assumption;
ISLAND GARDEN CITY OF SAMAL – As-sumption Academy of Penaplata, HC of Babak;
DIGOS CITY – Cor Je-sus College, HC Academy of Digos.
DAVAO DEL SUR - HC of Bansalan College, HC of Caburan, HC of Hagonoy, HC of Kiblawan, HC of Magsaysay, HC of Malalag, HC of Malita, HC of Matanao, HC of Sta. Maria, HC of Sulop, Roga-tionaist Academy-Davao, St. Mary’s Academy of Sta. Cruz, St. Michael’s
School of Padada.TAGUM CITY – As-
sumpta School of Tagum, Letran de Davao, Queen of Apostles College Semi-nary, St. Mary’s College of Tagum.
DAVAO DEL NORTE – Maryknoll High School (MHS) of Asuncion, MHS of Maniki, Maryknoll HS of New Corella, MHS of Panabo, MHS of Sto. To-mas.
COMPOSTELA VAL-LEY – Assumption Acad-emy (AA) of Compos-tela, AA of Monkayo, AA of Mawab, Asssumption College of Nabunturan, Cor Jesu HS of Mabini, Le-trand de Davao of Maco, Saint Vincent Academy of Maragusan.
MATI CITY – Immacu-late Heart of Mary Acad-emy, MHS of Lambajon, MHS of Lupon, MHS of Manay, MHS of Sigaboy, St. Mary’sAcademy of Caraga, St. Mary’s College of Baganga.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN. DACS sports chairman Rudy Salvador hits the gong after declaring the opening of the games during the grand cer-
emony of the Davao Association of Catholic Schools (DACS) Sportsfest 2014 held Aug. 27 at the Holy Cross of Davao College gym. (BOY LIM)
BATANG Gilas lost to a steadier Chinese Taipei squad 90-86
to bow out in the quarter-finals of the FIBA Asia Un-der-18 Championship in Doha, Qatar.
In a tightly contest-ed match, Chinese Tai-pei showed more poise as they nailed they free throws and took care of the ball well in the end game.
Paul Desiderio knot-ted the score at 86-all with 1:18 left in the game. However, Ming-Yi Lin nailed a huge triple on the next play to swing the mo-mentum back to their side. Batang Gilas turned the
ball over in the next pos-session, which gave the Taiwanese the chance to put the game away.
The Taiwanese missed on a dagger three attempt to give Batang Gilas a shot at sending the game into overtime with 17 seconds left in the clock.
The Filipinos went for a quick two but they missed on two attempts. A free throw from Chinese Taipei sealed the fate of Batang Gilas.
Ssu-Han Tu led Chi-nese Taipei with 23 points and six rebounds. He shot four of nine from the three-point range and also scored the game-sealing
free throw.As a team, the Taiwan-
ese made 13 triples com-pared to only four for the Philippines. Batang Gilas stayed close as they out-scored Chinese Taipei 54-32 inside the paint.
Mark Anthony Dyke led the Philippines with 26 points and 13 rebounds on 12 of 18 shooting from the field. Radge Tongco added 16 points and eight assists while Kobe Paras chipped in 15 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, three steals, and three blocks.
With the win, the Tai-wanese settled a semifi-nals showdown against China.
VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014
DACS OPENING. Members of the HCDC drum and lyre corps making the symbolic Olympic rings during their performance in the opening pro-gram of the Davao Association of Catholic Schools (DACS) Sportsfest 2014 held Aug. 27 at the Holy Cross of Davao College gym. (BOY LIM)
DACS Sportsfest kicks off
Chinese-Taipei ousts Batang Gilas
VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014 15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO
GIANT KILLER. While Victoria Aza-renka avoid to ignominy of the early upset, 15-year-old Cici Bellis came through with a stunning 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win over 2014 Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova. - Mike Law-rence/usopen.org
CITY Hall Executive Oldies affirmed their supremacy over As-
sociation of Barangay Cap-tains (ABC) with an 83 – 82 win in Game 4 to sweep the 4th Conference best of seven series 4 – 0 at the Davao City Recreation Center Almendras Gym on Tuesday night.
The Executive Oldies proved to be the better team in crunch time, play-ing with great resolve, as they pulled off a down the wire victory to close the series with style.
S h o o t i n g - b u d d i e s Christopher “Bong” Go and Glen Escandor de-livered the crucial blows down the stretch for the Executive Oldies who nev-er loss a series against the ABC.
Go, who finished the game with 34 points, made the go ahead basket at the foul line, hitting two crucial free throws that gave the Executive Oldies
an 83 – 82 lead with four seconds remaining.
Roger Galido, who ironically fouled Go that sent the series leading scorer at the foul line, had the chance to turn the for-tune of the village chiefs but his shot went off.
The Executive Oldies closed out the series in the same way they did in the first and second con-ference where they went 4 – 0. Third conference was nearly alike which ended 4 – 1 with the ABC winning Game 3.
Rolando Bantayan paced with 23 points for the ABC who gave all out but once again fell short in the end.
The village chiefs were in a good situation to ex-tend the series as Notnot Yap converted a lay up to put the ABC at the driver seat, 82 – 81, under 10 seconds to go.
But haplessly for them they fouled the penetrat-
ing Go that turned things around against their favor.
Escandor banked in 21 points, including a late three pointer that gave Executive Oldies their first lead since midway of the second period at 81 – 80.
The village chiefs were leading all throughout marked with a 66 – 58 ad-vantage entering the pay off period.
ABC came out with a bang, taking a 26 – 16 lead, at the end of the opening period before the Execu-tive Oldies rallied back to cut the deficit, 39 – 44, at the break. (Rico Biliran)
b e -t w e e n t h e m , S e r e n a Williams and Roger Federer were forced to share the spot-light with a 15-year-old at the U.S. Open on Tuesday as all three advanced to the second round.
American wild card Catherine Bellis, the youngest player in the draw, took her place alongside the five-times U.S. champions by stun-ning 12th seeded Aus-tralian Open finalist
Dominica Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-1 4-6
6-4.The second-seeded
Federer, looking to extend his record men’s haul of slam titles to 18, posted a 6-3 6-4 7-6 (4) demoli-tion of Australian Marinko Matosevic as the 33-year-old’s boyhood idol Michael Jordan of basketball fame looked on.
“He was just my hero of all sports,” said Feder-er, who has collaborated with Jordan on a sneakers design. “Besides (Stefan) Edberg and (Boris) Beck-er being my tennis idols, I had Jordan as my all-sports idol.”
Williams advanced 6-3 6-1 over unseeded fellow American Taylor Townsend as she followed Federer onto the Arthur Ashe Stadium court to cap the second day of the championships.
Should she go on to win the tournament, the two-times defending champi-
on would join Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova in fourth place on the all-time list of women’s grand slam singles champions with 18 titles apiece.
“Hopefully, I can just build on this,” said Wil-liams, who has had a dis-appointing slam season with her best result a fourth-round exit at the Australian Open back in January.
Margaret Court (24), Steffi Graf (22) and Helen Wills Moody (19) are the only three women to have won more grand slam ti-tles.
ENERGY JOLTOther leading contend-
ers were keen to display their skills on a sunny day in Flushing Meadows.
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and run-ner-up Eugenie Bouch-ard launched their Open campaigns with a bang, blasting by their respec-
tive first-round opponents with a minimum of fuss.
They were joined in the second round by eighth-seeded former world number one Ana Ivanovic, 11th-seeded Ital-ian Flavia Pennetta, 16th seed Victoria Azarenka and 2011 champion Sam Stosur, but the biggest jolt of energy was supplied by Bellis.
Playing on the second-ary Court Six, the teenager added her name to the re-cord books by becoming the youngest female to win a match at the U.S. Open since Anna Kournikova in 1996.
“I went into the match thinking it was going to be such a great experience,” said the pony-tailed Bel-lis, who received her wild card when she became the youngest player to win the girls’ 18s national cham-pionships since Lindsay Davenport in 1991.
GROUP A top quali-fier Jose Maria Col-lege Kings squares
off with Group B. No. 2 Rizal Memorial Colleges Bulldogs in the crossover Final Four encounter of the 29th Kadayawan sa Davao Men’s Inter-Colle-giate Basketball Tourna-ment today at the Davao City Recreation Center Al-mendras Gym at 2.30 pm.
Group B No. 1 Davao
College of Southern Phil-ippines Orange Mustangs battle it out with Group A No. 2 University of Mind-anao Wildcats before the Kings-Bulldogs duel.
The Kings and the Or-ange Mustangs are the h e a v y f a -
vorite entering the Final Four after finishing atop of their respective group at the end of the elimina-tion round.
Coached by Flordeli-to Cagampang, the Kings swept their classification phase assignments as the
Bambino Santand-er-mentored Mus-tangs won three
straight before losing their final outing.
Exec Oldies sweep ABC Chiefsanew as Go, Escandor burn hoops
HOTSHOT. Bong Go (18) of City Hall Executives fired 34 points to lead his team past ABC in another sweep of their series. Lean Daval Jr.
16 EDGEDAVAO
PROPERTY VOL. 7 ISSUE 118 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014
ROCK-SOLID. That’s what comes to mind when the pedigree
of proudly Dabawenyo developer Escandor Development Corporation (Esdevco) is the dish on the discussion table.
Imagine this. Davao Security and Investigation Agency (DASIA) and The Royal Mandaya Hotel—just two of a number of market leaders under one conglomerate—the Escandor Group of Companies (EGC).
It’s a simple thumb rule. Those who know Davao’s business landscape like the back of their hand should be no less than the homegrown taipans.
True to that, Esdevco emerges as the newest player in the real estate business in Davao. Despite entering the industry as a newbie, Esdevco prides itself of being founded on the solid reputation of a respected old hand in the
local business frontier. Backed up by its
tradition of excellence and reliability, Escandor Group of Companies’ new baby Esdevco comes to town offering Davao City’s first ever multi-family, mixed-use and exclusive contemporary living with its project called The Matina Enclaves.
That’s quite a splash for a new player creating a new innovation in the real estate business.
At the reigns of Esdevco is Glenn Yap Escandor, the man who inherited the EGC leadership from his father, the revered late Ret. Col. Emil Escandor—a visionary businessman who pioneered the security agency business in Davao City before diversifying into various businesses including one of Davao’s most prominent address The Royal Mandaya Hotel.
“I inherited my father’s business reputation and
our family is committed to keep that reputation in all of our business endeavors,” Escandor said.
According to the youthful Escandor, The Matina Enclaves is a product of long study from design to meeting the needs of clients of varied choices and requirements.
“It is never easy to come up with an idea and make it acceptable to the market. I assure that this project is a product of a lot of work and thinking. It’s not like coming up with something because it’s the trend or it’s the bandwagon. We had to understand the complexities of the market,” he said.
First, Escandor believed that they have the best available strip of real estate in the city.
“We have the best location to start with. Undeniably, you cannot find a better location than this at this point in Davao’s
growing metropolis,” Escandor said.
The Matina Enclaves is tucked along Quimpo Boulevard just across Davao City Golf Club and minutes- walk from SM City Davao. It is accessible to the city’s central commercial district, government offices and prominent schools.
The 5.3-hectare development is unique as it offers three residential options to choose from. Matina Enclaves has a 1-hectare open lot development through its pocket development called The Plains. It also offers house and lot units through another 1-hectare pocket development called The Courtyard. And to complement The Plains and The Courtyard, Matina Enclaves boasts of its Medium-rise Condominium Project called The Enclaves Residences. Its condo
project will consist of 6-proposed buildings.
Matina Enclaves will also have a neighborhood commercial development called Arqadia which occupies one hectare of the development. Arqadia will have a boutique hotel, shops, a wellness center, a member-only gym-spa and cafe.
The Matina Enclaves Project Director Gerald Kent M. Garces said that Escandor has aggressively developed the entire property for the past seven months, paving way for the construction of roads, drainage system, landscaping and an imposing main entrance gate that will also have water features on both sides.
“Mr. Escandor has his full commitment towards developing a landmark in Davao. And by any standard, his passion towards creating a quality project is going to be the
key towards establishing Esdevco as a premier local developer,” Garces said.
Escandor has emphasized that Esdevco is venturing into the real estate business to help families get the best value for their money. “It’s not just building your home or buying a house and lot, or owning a condo unit. It’s about investment. It’s about your hard-earned money. That’s what this project will offer its clients—value for their money,” Escandor said.
And with a solid reputation in business, investors and home-owning clients can be pretty much assured that at the end of the day, they made the right decision.
(For inquiries, visit the Sales Office and Showroom at Unit 11 Genesis Arcade, Ecowest Drive. You may also contact (082) 2857059, 0932-1200497 or 0922-8177305.)
THE MATINA ENCLAVES:A PROGENY OF SOLID BUSINESS
You can’t build a great building on a weak foundation. You must have a solid foundation if you’re going to have a strong superstructure. -Gordon B. Hinckley
