Edge Davao 7 Issue 16

P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 7 ISSUE 16 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, APRIL 6-7, 2014

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DAVAO

6-hour fire razes some 4,000 homes REELING FROM DEVASTATION

VOL. 7 ISSUE 16 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, APRIL 6-7, 2014

WITH the huge dev-astation from fire last Friday night

that razed thousands of houses and other valuable properties in Davao City’s three coastal barangays, affected residents are left seemingly hopeless and un-certain over their present condition and their future.

At the covered court in Barangay 23– C Mini-For-est, most of the evacuees housed in the facility ap-pear to have already re-signed to their fate, spend-ing their time as if waiting for someone or something.

As Edge Davao went around the area last Sat-urday afternoon, too con-spicuous is the presence of the victims’ relatives who volunteered to make the chores for the affected res-idents.

One resident, Samina

Hadjisalic approached Edge Davao to ask about the re-lief goods that they expect to arrive since Saturday morning.

After the fire incident, she said that what the vic-tims have received so far was a ration of porridge from the City Social Service and Development Office (CSSDO).

Hadjisalic said the food provided by CSSDO was in-sufficient and more “appro-priate for infants.”

She said that most of the victims are left helpless as almost all of their belong-ings were lost the fire.

Another victim, Sheryl Ondangan, expressed hope to receive financial and oth-er assistance from the city government especially now that her husband is forced not to work to take care of their three children whom

they tagged along in the evacuation center.

She is looking for as-sistance in rebuilding their homes saying they cannot stay longer in the evacua-

tion center as their young-est child is suffering from asthma.

Ondangan is feeling assured of the assistance after Davao City Mayor Ro-

drigo R. Duterte visited the victims and promised to extend help in rebuilding their houses.

For Amimbae Brahim, 46 and a resident in the area for the past 13 years said it will take seven years before they will be able to completely construct a new house.

“It will take us a long time before we can go back to our normal lives. I and my husband need to wait for our salary to arrive,” Brahim who is also a teach-er in Madrasah.

Even as she is not dis-counting the possibility of another fire incident in the future, Brahim said they are determined go back to Isla Verde and start rebuilding their homes.

Based on initial inves-tigation of Bureau of Fire (BFP), the fire started at the house of a certain Tisay Mo-hamad, emanating from an unattended candle.

Fire and police author-ities put the initial cost of damage at P14 million.

It is the largest fire in-cident recorded in the re-cent history of Davao City,

according to CSSDO district head Norman Baloro.

Most of the houses razed were made of light material like bamboo and ply wood.

BFP staff Nicomedes M. Basok and a strong wind during that time made the conflagration spread faster.

“Although a lot of fire stations responded, it is also hard to control the fire because the road leading to the area is small and nar-row,” he said.

Combined efforts from firefighters of Central 911 Urban Search and Rescue, and Central 911 Fire Fight-ers, Bangoy Fire Station, Talomo Fire Station, Talo-mo Fire Station, Buhangin Fire Station and Lanang Fire Station were able to control the blaze at 1: 25 a.m. on Saturday.

CSSDO district head Norman Baloro said that they are still consolidating the data on victims affected by the incident.

Other victims are now staying in nearby gymnasi-ums, parks, covered courts, health centers, and elemen-tary schools.

2

WEATHER FORECAST

EDGEDAVAO

ON THE COVER

REELING FROM DEVASTATION 6-hour fire razes some 4,000 homes

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR. and CHENEEN R. CAPONPhotos By LEAN DAVAL JR.


“IT is high time we provide the right in-centives to front line

workers who work hard for the formative development of our children.”Thus said Rep. Maria Car-men Zamora as she lent her signature as one of the co-authors of House Bill

No. 829 entitled, “An Act Providing Benefits and Incentives to Accredited Child Development Work-ers (Day Care Workers), Child Development Teach-ers, Teacher Aides, Baran-gay Health Workers and Nutrition Providers, Rural Health Midwives, and Other

Care Providers, Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 10410, Otherwise Known as ‘Early Years Act of 2013’.” The bill is princi-pally authored by Rep. Jon-athan de la Cruz of ABAKA-DA Party-list.

“While it is clear un-

SCHOLARSHIPS for poor and deserving students in college will

continue, despite the abo-

lition of the controversial Priority Development As-sistance Fund (PDAF). This was the assurance made by Davao City Rep. Isidro T. Ungab,

Ungab is the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations responsible for crafting the P3-trillion annual budget of the coun-try for 2014.

The lawmaker, who first made a name for handling

the passage of the con-troversial Sin Tax Law as chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means in the 16th Congress, said that after the Supreme Court ruled that PDAF was un-constitutional, the House removed P25-billion PDAF allocations from the 2014 General Appropriations Act.

However, he said, the money was given to five

government agencies such as the Department of Public Works and Highways (35 percent), Department of Social Welfare and Develop-ment (20 percent), Depart-ment of Health (DoH), De-partment of Labor (DOLE) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) with 15 percent each.

In removing PDAF, Con-gress saw to it that part of

ISLAND Garden City of Samal [IGaCoS] Water District General Man-

ager Antonio Gerardo C. Orlanes took oath of office officiated by City Mayor Aniano P. Antalan at Igacos Water District Main Office, Penaplata, Samal District, Island Garden City of Samal on April 1.

The board of directors and employees of IGaCoS Water District expressed relief that finally a new gen-eral manager was select-ed and took oath of office after more than two years

of waiting and existing un-der a temporary officer in charge manning them.

Antalan commended the new general manager Antonio Gerardo Orlanes for his accomplishments in convincing some baran-gays to turn-over their wa-ter project to Igacos water district in spite serving the organization as temporary officer in charged.

Antalan also praised the unified effort of his co-workers who stood be-hind him in his struggles

THE livelihood proj-ects coming from the Ugmad Komuni-

dad (UK) program of the Provincial Government of Davao del Norte have giv-en poor citizens, especially mothers, the opportunity to increase the income of their families.

Oliva Matro, Chair of the Kaugmaran sa Kababain-han sa Sta. Cruz (KAKASA) in Sta. Cruz, Talicud Island, Island Garden City of Samal, said beneficiaries were all praises to the UK program for turning their life around.

She said that members, who are mainly composed

of mothers, now make use of their idle time to pro-duce spicy dilis (anchovy), which they now peddle to residents and visitors of the resort island.

She disclosed a number of livelihood projects in the past have flopped and failed to improve their lot because of lack of sense of owner-ship, capacity building and management expertise, among other factors.

She said that with the UK program, the recipients were encouraged to get involve and identify their own viable projects.

3

FDAVNOR’S, 10

FIGACOS, 10

FSCHOLARSHIPS, 10

FZAMORA, 10

FBILL, 10

NEWS

DEMANDS. Charles R. Avila (right), national president of the Philippine Association of Small Coconut Farmers Organization (PACFO) and executive director of the Confederation of Coconut Farmers organizations of the Phils. (CCFO), declares in behalf of coconut farmers and moral leaders during the Bishops-Ula-ma-Priests-Pastors-Farmers-Lumad Conference (BUPPFALUC) Consultative Assembly on United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) yesterday at Villa Margarita in Davao City that coconut farmers will not be contented with anything less than a creation of a special farmers’ bank for their timely financial needs and a new law which will be a mechanism for the beneficial utilization of the coco levy funds now held in escrow at the Bureau of Treasury. BUPPFALUC) is under the leadership of Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla (left). Lean Daval Jr.

PREPARATION. A student takes advantage of the two-month school break to earn some extra cash in preparation for the upcoming school opening. Lean Daval Jr.

AN measure seek-ing to double the monthly income of

senior citizens from P500 to P1,000 gained sup-port from members of the House of Representatives.

Although there is a big drop in percentage of senior citizen lawmakers which is now dominated by young and debonair so-lons, they too support the

measure.Among those who

pledge support in passing the bill were young neo-phytes who personally approach the author ask-ing him to be co-sponsors. They claimed that they have high respect to senior citizens as they admitted that they too wanted to reach the bonus life.

In his House Bill 3731,

Davao del Norte Rep. An-thony del Rosario seeks to lower the age of coverage from the present 77 years old to 70 years old.

Del Rosario said the present age requirement is no longer reasonable con-sidering today’s average lifespan of senior citizens that is shorter compared to the past decades.

Bill raising monthly income of senior citizens gains support

Zamora co-authors bill providing incentives to child care providers

Scholarships to go onsans PDAF - Sid Ungab

IGaCoS Water District has new GM

DavNor’s Ugmad Komunidad empowers lowly barrio folks

EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS

VOL. 7 ISSUE 16 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, APRIL 6-7, 20144 EDGEDAVAO

BIGGER PICTURE

ANYONE who is bat-tling the Big C, more often than not, is re-

duced to a hopelessly sick individual with a defeatist mindset.

Cancer, in its various forms and stages, is a for-midable foe only a few men gifted with the resources in life could wage battle with reasonable chances of sur-vival.

According to the Phil-ippine Cancer Control Pro-gram, cancer is the third leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Phil-ippines. The leading can-cer sites/types are lung, breast, cervix, liver, co-lon and rectum, prostate, stomach, oral cavity, ovary and leukemia.

The PCCP reported that “there is at present a low cancer prevention consciousness and most cancer patients seek con-sultation only at advanced stages. Cancer survival rates are relatively low.”

The Philippine Cancer Control Program, which begun in 1988, is an inte-grated approach utilizing primary, secondary and tertiary prevention in dif-ferent regions of the coun-try at both hospital and community levels. Six lead cancers (lung, breast, liver, cervix, oral cavity, colon and rectum) are discussed. Features peculiar to the Philippines are described; and their causation and prevention are discussed. A recent assessment re-vealed shortcomings in the Cancer Control Program and urgent recommenda-tions were made to reverse the anticipated ‘cancer ep-idemic’.

But while the cancer survival rates are relatively low, that does not mean the Philippine cancer situation is hopeless.

DAVAO CANCER FORUM:

BETTER MEDICAL ACCESS FOR FILIPINOS

IN MINDANAOCancer has always been

seen as a death sentence to the patient, especially to people in the province who has not much access to medical treatments.

Dra. Irene Penamante, seeing her fellow citizens in the Southern Philippines suffering and dying from various cancer diseases, decided to take the step for a change. She coordinat-ed with Davao City Health Officer and Modern Can-cer Hospital Guangzhou to conduct an informative Cancer Forum for both medical practitioners and patients in the south.

On March 27, 2014 in Grand Menseng Hotel, Can-cer Forum was conducted

with special guest speaker from the well known inter-national cancer hospital in Guangzhou China, Dr. Xia-ochi Peng, the Director of Oncology Department of Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou.

Dr. Peng, the prominent Chief Oncologist of Modern Cancer Hospital Guang-zhou, talked on “New Choices for Cancer Treat-ment: Minimally Invasive Approach.”

Dr. Peng was warmly received by the forum par-ticipants who were treat-ed to a glimpse of the new cancer treatment choices. If at all, the talk given by Dr. Peng opened the eyes of many in attendance to the bright prospect head for cancer treatment.

“There’s still hope. It’s encouraging,” said one at-tendee.

Dr. Peng, chief of the Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou, assured that the facility has built a rep-utation for being a compre-hensive modern hospital specializing in oncother-apy and operating under the auspices of the Chinese government and Ministry of Health. The rapid de-velopment of China has attracted attention from all over the world.

Chinese medical treat-ment has been one of the beneficiaries of this devel-opment, with Modern Can-cer Hospital Guangzhou as a model 21st century health care facility.

Dr. Peng was joined in the forum by Mr. Bennett Ho, general manager of MCHG in the Philippines.

In the forum, Dr. Peng informed the audience that many cancer cases are now curable. With many new approaches in treating can-cer, a multitude of cancer patients had already won the fight against cancer.

The most efficient ap-proach in the international trend is the Minimally In-vasive Approach consisting of TACE, Cryoablation, RFA, Radioactive Seed Implant, Bio-immunotherapy, and Traditional Chinese Medi-cine. These modalities can lessen the side effects of conventional treatment and increased the treat-ment efficiency to more than 8 times due to its tar-geted approach in tackling the tumor.

Moreover, comple-mented with TCM, patients suffer less pain from the treatment and quickly regain their strength. Ac-cording to Dr. Peng, to cer-tain extent, some of the modalities can serve as a substitute to surgical op-eration for elderly patients or those of weak condi-

tions that can no longer withstand the trauma of surgery.

In the past few years, MCHG has already handled hundreds of Filipino pa-tients and more than 90% of them have earned amaz-ing treatment results.

The new approach is definitely a breakthrough in the medical field of can-cer treatment. These new options bring new light to cancer patients and their families.

Davao City Health Of-ficer, Dr. Josephine Villa-fuerte commended the organizers for bringing the cancer forum to Davao City.

She was really im-pressed by the advance-ment of medical approach-es in China and was happy that the good news can be spread to Davao and oth-er areas in the south. As the city health officer, she mentioned that medical care has always been hard to access for the people

in Mindanao area, espe-cially the provinces. Now that this new information and access is introduced to them, she believed that the health of the citizens can be well improved.

“It is good to know that medical advancement is no longer limited to Ma-nila only. Now that MCHG has reached Davao City and will be traveling to other areas in the South to disseminate the new med-ical breakthroughs, Filipi-no patients from Mindan-ao area will now be given a chance to pursue better medical care despite being far from Manila. This shall be the first step of realiz-ing the dream of “Medical Care beyond Boundaries,” Dr. Villafuerte said.

The forum was attend-ed by some 100 medical practitioners, cancer pa-tients and their families, as well as government health officials led by Villafuerte.

Dr. Villafuerte said that in the Philippines, more

people are suffering from cancer. Most of the can-cer patients end up dying because of abject poverty and depression, eventu-ally succumbing to the fi-nancially-draining cancer. With the escalating cost of cancer treatment proce-dures, cancer patients face the grim prospect of losing the battle to the Big C.

GOING ALTERNATIVEAlternative cancer

treatments are alternative or complementary treat-ments for cancer that have not been approved by the government agencies re-sponsible for the regula-tion of therapeutic goods.

They include diet and exercise, chemicals, herbs, devices, and manual pro-cedures.

The treatments may be untested or unsupported by evidence, either be-cause no proper testing has been conducted, or because testing did not demonstrate statistically significant efficacy. Con-cerns have been raised

about the safety of some of them. Some treatments that have been proposed in the past have been found in clinical trials to be useless or unsafe. Some of these obsolete or dis-proven treatments contin-ue to be promoted, sold, and used.

Studies revealed that alternative cancer treat-ments are typically con-trasted with experimental cancer treatments – which are treatments for which experimental testing is currently underway – and with complemen-tary treatments, which are non-invasive practic-es used alongside other treatment.

Dr. Peng assured that traditional Chinese cancer treatment has very min-imal side effects as com-pared to other alternative cancer treatment choices.

For more details on MCHG and these alter-native cancer treatment choices, visit www.asian-cancer.com.

New hope for cancer [email protected]

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou presenting souvenirs to Davao City Health Office as a sign of friendship and acknowledgement of their efforts in promot-ing health of the citizens (from left to right: Mr. Bennett Ho, general manager of Philippine Branch Office of MCHG, Dr. Xiaochi Peng, the Director of Oncology Department, Dra. Villafuerte, Davao City Health Officer, Dr. Ashley Lopez,

Dr. Xiaochi Peng, the Director of Oncology Department of Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou, sharing new insights about Minimal Invasive Cancer Management

Davao City Health Officer, Dra. Villafuerte giving her acknowledgement speech

VOL. 7 ISSUE 16 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, APRIL 6-7, 2014 5EDGEDAVAO


MAKING all ag-riculture-relat-ed inputs and

services exempt from the value-added tax will make local agricultur-al products competitive in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) which starts next year, the Bukidnon Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (BKCCII) said.

In a report given to members last week, BK-CCII president Roderico Bioco said the chamber continues to push for preferential tax policy which he considered im-portant for local compet-itiveness.

“In most AEC mem-bers, unlike the Philip-pines, all inputs and ser-vices for agricultural pro-duction are VAT exempt, including fuel, transpor-tation, and toll services (toll milling, toll breeding, etc.),” Bioco’s report said.

He added the move would make their (oth-er AEC members) agri-cultural products highly competitive when sold in the Philippines.

Bioco said that while the proposed tax amend-ment would be difficult to implement, it is “a test of resolve for our govern-ment to truly help our industries compete in a

new economic environ-ment.”

He cited that the chamber is working with Senators Juan Edgardo Angara and Paolo Benig-no “Bam” Aquino IV on the proposal.

He said the chamber has conducted an aware-

ness drive on the Asean Free Trade Agreement and is now leading pro-grams to mitigate the “ill effects of AEC”.

He said there are cre-ative government financ-ing programs that should be offered in Bukidnon such as the Department

of Trade and Industry’s Shared Service Facilities, the Department of Ag-riculture’s Agricultural Guarantee Fund Pool as well as other programs of the Departments of Agrarian Reform and Sci-ence and Technology.

He noted that while

these programs “ironical-ly have very low utiliza-tion in most parts of the country”, Bukidnon was able to harness the funds through close working relationship between the chamber and govern-ment agencies. [Walter I. Balane/MindaNews]

Cebu Pacific Daily 5J961 / 5J962 5:45 Manila-Davao-Manila 6:15Zest Air Daily Z2390 / Z2390 5:45 Manila-Davao-Manila 6:25Cebu Pacific Daily 5J593 / 5J348 6:00 Cebu-Davao-Iloilo 6:30Philippine Airlines Daily PR809 / PR810 6:10 Manila-Davao-Manila 7:00Philippine Airlines Daily PR819 / PR820 7:50 Manila-Davao-Manila 8:50Cebu Pacific Daily 5J394 / 5J393 7:50 Zamboanga-Davao-Zamboanga 8:10Cebu Pacific Daily 5J599 / 5J594 8:00 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 8:30Cebu Pacific Daily 5J347 / 5J596 9:10 Iloilo-Davao-Cebu 9:40Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri/Sun 5J963 / 5J964 9:40 Manila-Davao-Manila 10:10Philippine Airlines Daily PR811 / PR812 11:30 Manila-Davao-Manila 12:20Cebu Pacific Daily 5J595 / 5J966 12:00 Cebu-Davao-Manila 12:30Cebu Pacific Thu 5J965 / 5J968 12:55 Manila-Davao-Manila 13:25

Cebu Pacific Tue/Wed//Sat 5J965 / 5J968 13:35 Manila-Davao-Manila 14:05Silk Air Mon/Sat MI588 / MI588 13:35 Davao-Singapore 18:55 Silk Air Wed/Sun MI566 / MI566 15:20 Davao-Singapore 18:55Silk Air Thurs MI551 / MI551 12:05 Davao-Singapore 15:45Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Wed/Fri 5J507 / 5J598 15:00 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 15:30Philippine Airlines August 15:55 Mani2Mani 16:50Zest Air Daily Z2524 / Z2525 16:05 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 16:45

as of May 2013

Stat Watch

MONTHLY AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATE (January 2011-September 2013)

Month 2013 2012 2011

Average 42.23 43.31December 41.01 43.64November 41.12 43.27October 41.45 43.45

September 43.83 41.75 43.02August 43.86 42.04 42.42

July 43.35 41.91 42.81June 42.91 42.78 43.37May 41.30 42.85 43.13April 41.14 42.70 43.24

March 40.71 42.86 43.52February 40.67 42.66 43.70January 40.73 43.62 44.17

7.1 1st Qtr 2013

7.8 1st Qtr 2013

USD 3,741 million

Feb 2013USD 4,708

million Feb 2013USD -967

million Feb 2013USD -640

millionDec 2012

P 4,964,560 million

Feb 2013

2.4 % Mar 2013P113,609

million Mar 2013

P 5,281 billion

Mar 2013

P 41.14 Apr 2013

6,847.5 Mar 2013

132.8 Apr 2013

2.6 Apr 2013

3.1 Apr 2013

418,108 Feb 2013

20.9% Jan 2013

7.1% Jan 2013

1. Gross National IncomeGrowth Rate(At Constant 2000 Prices)

2. Gross Domestic ProductGrowth Rate(At Constant 2000 Prices)

3. Exports 1/

4. Imports 1/

5. Trade Balance

6. Balance of Payments 2/

7. Broad Money Liabilities

8. Interest Rates 4/

9. National Government Revenues

10. National government outstanding debt

11. Peso per US $ 5/

12. Stocks Composite Index 6/

13. Consumer Price Index 2006=100

14. Headline Inflation Rate 2006=100

15. Core Inflation Rate 2006=100

16. Visitor Arrivals

17. Underemployment Rate 7/

18. Unemployment Rate 7/

Indicator Latest

1. Gross National Income Growth Rate (At Constant 2000 Prices)

6.8 2nd Qtr 2013

2. Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate (At Constant 2000 Prices)

7.5 2nd Qtr 2013

3. Exports USD 5,045 million

Sep 2013

4. Imports USD 5,711 million

Sep 2013

5. Trade BalanceUSD -665

million Sep 2013

6. Balance of Payments USD 692

million Jun 2013

7. Broad Money LiabilitiesP 5,980,938 million

Aug 2013

8. Interest Rate 2.0 % Sep 2013

9. National Government Revenues

P 127,336 million

Sep 2013

10. National government outstanding debt

P 5,609 billion

Sep 2013

11. Peso per US $

P 43.83 Sep 2013

12. Stocks Composite Index

6,191.8 Sep 2013

13. Consumer Price Index 2006=100

135.2 Oct 2013

14. Headline Inflation Rate 2006=100

2.9 Oct 2013

15. Core Inflation Rate 2006=100

2.5 Oct 2013

16. Visitor Arrivals 382,022 Aug 2013

17. Underemploymen Rate

19.2% Jul 2013

18. Unemployment Rate 7.3% Jul 2013

6 THE ECONOMY

ELEKTRISYAN NG BAYAN. The Top 5 winners of Davao Light and Power Company’s Elektrisyan ng Bayan Award for 2013 pose for photo ops after the awarding ceremony held at Grand Men Seng Hotel last February 28. From left: 2nd Runner Up Rogelio Pitogo, 1st Runner Up Jeffrey Solatorio, Grand Winner Severino Bandilao, 3rd Runner Up Alex Montilla and 4thRunner Up Wennie Santander. The winners served as inspirations to the other private electrical practitioners as they embody professionalism and excellent customer care with their records of no complaints, violations and non-compliance. The award, a project of Davao Light in cooperation with the Aboitiz Group’s social development arm, Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., is spearheaded by the company’s Customer Retail Services Group and Community Relations Department.

HEADLINE infla-tion slowed down in March despite

a general increase in food prices due to slower growth in alcohol, tobacco, electricity and LPG prices, according to the National Economic and Develop-ment Authority (NEDA).

This statement came after the Philippine Sta-tistics Authority (PSA) re-ported that last month’s headline inflation eased to 3.9 percent, lower than the 4.1 percent in February.

“The slower growth in the price indices of al-coholic beverages and to-bacco in March 2014 may be attributed to the dis-sipated impact of the sin tax reform law. During the

period, prices of tobacco and alcoholic beverages dropped significantly. If not for an uptick in the price index of the heavily weight-ed food and non-alcoholic beverages, inflation could have been lower during the period,” said Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan.

Data from the PSA re-vealed decreased inflation in alcoholic beverages and tobacco (4.9% in March 2014 from 7.1% in Febru-ary 2014) and housing, wa-ter, electricity, gas and oth-er fuels (2.7% from 3.6%).

However, the March inflation was higher than the 3.2 percent in the same period a year ago.

Inflation in the food

and non-alcoholic beverag-es increased further to 6.0 percent from 5.9 percent in the previous month as majority of food items re-corded faster year-on-year growth.

Due to tight domestic supply, rice prices contin-ued to increase (11.8% from 10.7%). According to the PSA report, the to-tal rice stock inventory in commercial warehouses and NFA depositories as of 01 February 2014 was low-er relative to the January 2014 and February 2013 levels.

Prices of meat, fruits, and milk were also on the uptrend in March 2014. Conversely, price inflation of vegetables decelerated

to 8.7 percent from 12.0 percent while the growth in the price index for fish remained relatively stable at 3.9 percent.

Inflation among non-food items eased to 2.5 percent in March 2014 from 2.7 percent in Feb-ruary 2014 mainly due to slower inflation in the price indices of electricity, gas and other fuels price (4.4% from 6.8%). The genera-tion charge of MERALCO declined by 1.9 percent or by PhP0.45/kWh year-on-year in March 2014 from a 5.6 percent year-on-year increase in February 2014 due to lower generation costs from suppliers.

In the National Capital Region, headline inflation

was up a tad to 2.9 percent from 2.8 percent in Febru-ary 2014, and 1.9 percent a year ago. In areas outside Metro Manila, headline in-flation moderated to 4.2 percent in March 2014, slower than the 4.5 per-cent in February 2014, but higher compared to 3.5 percent a year ago.

Meanwhile, inflation among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-5 countries were on mixed adjustments in March 2014. Inflation rates of the Philippines and Indonesia decelerat-ed while that of Thailand inched up. In February 2014, inflation rate eased in Singapore but inched up in Malaysia.

‘Amending VAT law will make local agri products competitive in AEC’

Inflation slows down in March 2014


ENVIRONMENT

A UN climate impact report, released last 31 March, gives the

clearest and most compre-hensive evidence yet that the earth we call home is in deep trouble. It reinforc-es the sobering view that climate change is real, it’s happening now and it’s affecting the lives and the livelihoods of people as well as the sensitive ecosystems that sustain life.

This is the second in a series of four reports being prepared by the world’s leading climate authorities in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It assesses the im-pacts, adaptation and vul-nerability of human and natural systems, the ob-served impacts and future risks of climate change, and the potential for and limits to adaptation.

Samantha Smith, leader of the WWF Global Climate & Energy Initiative says the report highlights, for the first time, the dramatic dif-ference of impacts between a world where we act now to cut emissions, which now come mostly from us-ing fossil fuels; and a world where we fail to act quickly and at scale.

“This report tells us that we have two clear choices: cut emissions now and invest in adaption - and have a world that has

challenging and just barely manageable risks; or do nothing and face a world of devastating and unmanage-able risks and impacts.”

”The report makes it clear that we still have time to act. We can limit climate instability and adapt to some of the changes we see now. But without immedi-ate and specific action, we are in danger of going far beyond the limits of adapta-tion. With this risk posed so clearly, we have to hope that the next IPCC report which is being released in Ber-lin in April, will provide us with strong statements on the solutions that we know exist,” she says.

Despite the warnings given by the IPCC in its re-ports over the past 20 years - reinforced by the release of the report today - the gap between the science and what governments are doing remains huge, says Sandeep Chamling Rai, head of the WWF delega-tion to the meeting.

“The science is clear and the debate is over. Cli-mate change is happening and humans are the major cause of emissions, driven mainly by our dependence on fossil fuels. This is driv-ing global warming. This report sets out the impacts we already see, the risks we face in the future, and the opportunities to act. It has

been accepted by the mem-ber governments of the IPCC. Now it is up to people to hold their governments to account, to get them to act purposefully and imme-diately,” he says.

The risks of collective inaction are greatest for developing countries, says Chamling Rai. “All countries

are vulnerable but develop-ing countries have a greater sensitivity, with more peo-ple living in poverty and fewer resources to respond to climate disasters. We need to put in place those measures that will slow down warming and put us on a fair and just transition to a sustainable world. The

report shows that ambi-tious emissions cuts now can reduce the risk of cli-mate change in the second half of this century.”

And the regional as-sessments – given in depth in this report – show with a great degree of certainty what the impacts will be in the key regions of the

world. “”We now have a bet-

ter understanding of how climate impacts will affect people and nature in differ-ent regions. International adaptation efforts need to be intensified to adequate-ly respond to such varied impacts,” says Chamling Rai.

WWF: Earth is in deep trouble

REPRESENTATIVES from the research community, civil

society, farmers organi-sations and private sec-tor gathered in London on Thursday, to identify actions the world must take to deliver agriculture growth, jobs and food se-curity in the face of climate change.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, released earlier this week, conclud-ed that climate change is already damaging food production and increasing food prices, and will have further impacts in the fu-ture.

Responding to this, Cli-mate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Bank, global risk adviser Willis, the International Sustain-ability Unit, and the British Department for Interna-tional Development (DFID) organized this high-level discussion.

“The IPCC assessment shows that the threat to food security is not just a problem for the future, but something that is happen-ing right now and demands

immediate attention,” said Pramod Aggarwal, who leads adaption work in South Asia for CCAFS and is also a reviewer of the IPCC report.

“The challenges are significant,” he added. “But options to adapt abound and innovation has always been a constant feature of agriculture.”

The IPCC report in-dicates that overall crop yields in Africa and South Asia could decline by 8 percent by 2050 and yields from tropical fisheries could decline by as much as 40 percent. Yet during this same period, demand for food is expected to surge as diets change and populations rise in the de-veloping world.

“In the developing world, where 500 million smallholder farms are re-sponsible for up to 80 per-cent of food production, it is critical that we act now by investing in practical solutions that strengthen the resilience of smallhold-er farmers and improve the sustainability of their livelihoods,” said Michel Mordasini, vice-president of IFAD, a specialized UN agency investing in rural people. [PNA/Xinhua]

Global institutions call for building resilience to climate change impact

THREE groups and an expert raised urgen-cy for further gov-

ernment action on climate change’s projected wors-ening impacts nationwide, noting much still to be done to protect life, limb and property.

Such action include op-erationalizing the People’s Survival Fund (PSF), incor-porating disaster risk re-duction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) into disaster-stricken ar-eas’ rehabilitation plans as well as integrating climate change mitigation and ad-aptation measures.

“One thing is certain: climate change is here and a morecoordinated approach to this matter is needed to ensure communities’ resil-ience,” advocacy network Aksyon Klima Pilipinas’ National Coordinator Vol-taire Alferez said Friday (April 4) in Metro Manila

during a briefing on the In-tergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th assessment report covering impacts on, vulnerability andadaptation to climate change.

IPCC is the internation-al body for assessing the science related to climate change.

Alferez said assess-ment of government’s ac-tion so far show need for improving climate financ-ing, boosting technology development and transfer, mainstreaming the Nation-al Climate Change Action Plan, integrating CCA mea-sures into national and lo-cal plans as well asNational Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s coordination on CCA and DRR.

Government must pri-oritize renewable energy development and formulate its strategy to reduce emis-

sion of climate change-driv-ing greenhouse gasses, he continued.

Aksyon Klima, envi-ronment watchdog Green-peace Southest Asia and development organization Oxfam International urged action, noting the IPCC re-port released this month cites a “grim” climate fore-cast for Southeast Asian nations that include the Philippines.

According to Dr. Lourdes Tibig, one of the report’s lead authors, among key findings of the assessment is decades-long changes in climate caused impacts on natural and hu-man systems across all con-tinents and oceans.

“The evidence for such impacts is strongest and most comprehensive in natural systems,” she said at the briefing.

She also said the report confirms human influence

in climate change at pres-ent.

Key risks listed in the report include those for death, injury, ill health and disrupted livelihood in coastal areas due to storm surges, flooding and sea level rise, Tibig noted.

The risks likewise cover food insecurity from weath-er extremes and flooding, mortality and morbidity due to extreme heat as well as biodiversity loss, she said.

Experts earlier cited sea level rise, temperature increase and onslaught of weather extremes as among repercussions of cli-mate change.

RA 10174 established PSF in 2012 and provides PhP1 billion as this fund’s opening balance under the General Appropriations Act to finance adaptation pro-grams and projects nation-wide. [PNA]

Groups urge more, urgent action on climate change

VOL. 7 ISSUE 16 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, APRIL 6-7, 20148 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

The Internet challenge

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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RAMON M. MAXEYConsultant

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SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

AQUILES Z. ZONIOCorrespondent

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PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTEthe national association of newspapers

EDITORIAL

UNBEKNOWNST to many Filipinos, close to one million of their compatriots earn a living from the Internet not by working in contact

or call centers or in the business outsourcing in-dustries but through so-called virtual jobs mostly from their homes.

This was reveled by an official of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) during a recent celebration marking the 20th anniversary of estab-lishment of the Internet in the Philippines.

Virtual work is full-time or part-time online job, usually done from the homes with Internet connec-tivity, like virtual assistant, website designer and developer, writer or editor, an official of the DOST Information and Communications Technology Of-fice (ICTO) was quoted as saying. The ICTO official called it an emerging industry, and rightly so, be-

cause thousands of call center agents who are hav-ing difficult time in adjusting to the irregular work hours of BPOs have opted to quit preferring home-based on-line jobs.

Sadly though, there is a great challenge in this kind of livelihood from the home that could poten-tially give jobs to millions of Filipinos. This is the utter lack of Internet connectivity in our country as more than half of the 92 million Filipinos still don’t have access to the Internet.

Government and the private sector should ad-dress the problem, pronto, if only to fully exploit the potentials of this livelihood opportunity that could benefit millions of Filipino workers, thereby drastically reducing joblessness in our country.

Of course, this is not to count the million and one other advantages of Internet connectivity.


SO what can be good about that? For one thing, it can lead to a greater integration of the euro

zone, and maybe the EU. The Europe-an Commission — the business end of the EU — is trying to pull a rabbit of triumph from a hat of tragedy by arguing for “a deep and genuine eco-nomic and monetary union,” which should be accompanied by parallel steps toward a “political union with reinforced democratic legitimacy and accountability.”

The logic underlying the crisis is the construction of a new state. A United States of Europe — the vision of the EU’s founders. It’s happening slowly, but it may, in the end, be a re-ality.

The third piece of bad news is an impending tragedy. Crimea, part of Ukraine, has been taken into Russia, from which it is unlikely to emerge. NATO is pointing to “very sizable” Russian forces massing on the bor-der between Russia and Ukraine. Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign min-ister, is pushing a plan that includes a veto on any Ukrainian application to join NATO and a decentralization of powers in the Ukrainian regions, thus allowing the eastern regions to institute a “soft secession” to Russia.

Ukraine’s former President Victor Yanukovich had toyed with the idea of an association agreement with the EU for months when, a few weeks before its signing, he abruptly can-celled it and opened talks with Rus-sia on joining the Eurasian Union. He was soon driven from office by pro-testers.

It’s right to blame the EU for not thinking through what the offer to Ukraine would mean for Russia, and how, if taken, it would destroy Ukraine’s balancing act between Eu-rope and Russia. I’ve placed blame myself.

But, careless or not, the fervor with which many Ukrainians em-braced the EU and aspired to democ-racy, clean government and the rule of law, is moving. It jerked us out of our solipsistic brooding on our own problems and reminded us that we’re lucky and we should continue to spread that luck around. Some-times you need to have your belief in the advantages of law, freedom and democracy confirmed by the power of those who yearn for them.

All three of these hammer blows, each one serious and difficult, could be turned around — but only with a revival of the passion and idealism that lays behind the founding of the EU after World War Two. It was a move designed to put an end to fu-ture wars. The setbacks could force Europe to rediscover its values and its energy and to understand that through struggle against adversity can come a stronger union — one that can shape its future for the good of the world.

For Europeans, the challenge is there to be met. If its leaders can rise to it then the union has a future. For the moment, in its introspective and fearful state, hoping its troubles will lift, it does not.

THE biggest surprise is foreign policy. During his first term, for-eign policy was Obama’s stron-

gest issue. He eliminated Osama bin Laden and Muammar Qaddafi from power. He ended the war in Iraq. He won the Nobel Peace Prize. Now his foreign policy ratings have taken a tumble — even though Obama has been careful to do what the American public wants him to do.

The public opposed a military strike in Syria. So Obama held back. The public opposes a military confron-tation with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Obama has complied. None-theless, the human devastation in Syria continues unabated. And Russia has annexed the sovereign territory of another country. In both cases, the U.S. doesn’t seem to be able to do anything. We are ineffectual.

Commentators have been wres-tling with the puzzle of Obama’s low foreign policy ratings. Robert Kagan of the Brookings Institution writes that the American people “may want what Obama so far has been giving them,

but they’re not proud of it, and they’re not grateful to him for giving them what they want.” Kagan describes this as “a narrowly self-interested Ameri-can policy.”

Really? Daniel Larison argues in The American Conservative, “No one can seriously believe that Obama would have benefited politically from waging an unnecessary war [in Syria] over the strenuous objections of both the public and Congress.”

Ross Douthat comes closest to the answer when he writes for The New York Times that what matters isn’t the policy, but the results. If a president does what the people want and it turns out disastrously, the president will still be blamed.

On foreign policy, just like on the economy and so far on Obamacare,

people haven’t seen many good re-sults. That means there is likely to be a big market in 2016 for a candidate who can deliver what Obama hasn’t — effectiveness. Right now, the can-didate who fits that description is not a Republican, but another Democrat: Hillary Clinton.

The March CNN poll gauges the public’s perception of both Obama and Clinton on 12 different qualities. Obama’s lowest rating: “Can manage the government effectively” (43 per-cent). Clinton’s rating on effectiveness is 16 points higher (59 percent). That’s the biggest difference between the two Democrats.

The second biggest difference? “Strong and decisive leader” (Clinton 64, Obama 50).

Third biggest difference? “Tough enough to handle a crisis” (Clinton 64, Obama 53).

It will defy every gender stereotype if voters decide they want a stronger, tougher, more effective leader than Obama in 2016 and they turn to a woman.

(Conclusion)

BY JOHN LLOYD

ANALYSIS

BY BILL SCHNEIDER

COMMENTARY

AQUILES Z. ZONIOCorrespondent

VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

Lingering unemployment problem

Obama: Ineffectually Challenged

(Conclusion)

It is time to save the EUDESPAIRING JOB APPLICANTS

CAN ONLY IMAGINE WHAT MIGHT BE – Has the govern-

ment gone far in the crusade against massive unemployment? With the jobless queues in job fairs sponsored both by the government and the pri-vate sector, concerned agencies no-tably the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) should pause at that question.

Unemployment, quipped some social experts, makes it possible for people from all walks of life to live in a conducive neighborhood without a fix income. Job creation therefore is an important indicator to how a country’s economy is doing.

There are enough pressures on government to keep the appalling unemployment problem in check. To the extent that it dampens the job-seekers enthusiasm and expectation of more job openings, a well-mean-ing and long-term job generation program can work. But here’s the catch: matching words with action means doing something concrete about the nation’s unemployment drawback.

Now, in a recent report, several thousands of fresh graduates will add to the country’s already bur-geoning jobless population. Con-cerned officials should have to take a second look at the unemployment data while poor jobseekers raised this concern: that the government may need to execute effective, reso-lute action.

With employment opportunities insufficient, job applicants can only imagine what might be. It is useless to crow about and say that we have

a c h i e v e d e c o n o m -ic progress and sus-tained de-velopment , streamlined the govern-ment and on track with regard to priority pro-grams while the job generation agen-da is being left in the backburner.

Thousands of new graduates are the ones who are in trouble. Despite the government’s much-hyped job fairs, only a relatively small num-ber of applicants have been hired by prospective employers. Looking for a job actually is time consuming aside from the expenses incurred during the job hunting spree. As all this is taking place, higher authorities must find appropriate ways posthaste to cushion the impact of the unemploy-ment glitch.

With so many applicants scram-bling for a spot in the scarce job mar-ket, especially the decent and suit-able vacancies, leap-frogging is not only unavoidable but virtually guar-anteed. After several months of job hunting, the experienced and knowl-edgeable applicants have learned the truth.

Many jobseekers shared their sentiment prodding them to raise this concern: despite their skill, in-telligence and effort, they lacked the one thing that would enable them to realize their aspiration to find a modest but stable job. They do not have godfathers – a padrino, a term

coined for connections, patrons. Without a well-placed padrino

or influential backer to speed their way into landing a job especially in government, they understood that their objective to be able to acquire a permanent and nice-paying job could never be a reality. Many job applicants have long given up their job hunting binge while others are searching for another future prefer-ably a chance to work abroad.

Such concerns are dishearten-ing, especially in a society where the natural instincts of jobseekers have been blunted by decades of life under different administrations that have not fully address the job generation policy. Worse, desperate jobseekers stay at home, thinking intently and waiting. For what? No one really has the answer. Without a means of de-cent livelihood, they cannot define their future. They cannot plan, only react.

As long as the unemployment problem remained in status quo, the country’s standing social, econom-ic and political stalemate between the multitudes of jobless people and their leaders may never be settled. Admittedly, looking for a job is no laughing matter and making mon-ey is not easy. The truth is, despite being bragged about as robust and vibrant, the economy can only offer menial jobs.

Thus the best and brightest, skilled and competent can be found outside the country – in the US, Can-ada, Europe, Middle East, England or Japan. It’s a simple case of a brain drain, but detrimental to the country and government.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 16 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, APRIL 6-7, 201410 EDGEDAVAONEWSBill...

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Republic of the PhilippinesREGIONAL TRIAL COURT

11th Judicial Region Branch 11, Davao City

IN THE MATTER OF THE SETTLEMENT OF THE ESTATE OF THE DECEASED ROBERT KILMAR,

ADELAIDA KILMAR & RENARD ROY KILMAR, SPEC. PROC. NO. 11,791-12Petitioners

x-------------------------------------------------------x

AMENDED ORDER

BY THIS verified SECOND AMENDED PETITION and for the reasons therein stated, the above-named petitioners, as-sisted by counsel,seek for an Order of this Court to appor-tion, divide and award the estate, specially the bank accounts (0806 3073-342 for Bank of Montreal; and 293-1-500239-9 for Standard Chartered Bank), RRIF with Bank of Montreal Financial Group with Account No. 013336286 and Transfer Certificate of Title No. T179317 of the Register of Deeds of Davao City to the petitioners who are the legal heirs of the deceased Robert Kilmar.

Finding the petition to be sufficient in form and sub-stance, the same is hereby SET for continuation of the hear-ing before this Court, sitting in the Hall of Justice, Candelaria St., Ecoland, Matina, Davao City , on May 21, 2013 at 8:30 in the morning, at which place, date and time, any interested person may appear and show cause, if any, why the same should not be granted.

Let this Order be published at the expense of the peti-tioners once a week for three (3) successive weeks in a news-paper published in the City of Davao and of general circula-tion in he said city and the provinces of Davao as determined by raffle in accordance with law.

Furnish each with a copy of the petition and of this Order the Register of Deeds of Davao City and the City Legal Office of Davao City as counsel for the City of Davao.

SO ORDERED

March 4, 2013, Davao City , Philippines.

(Sgd) VIRGINIA HOFILEÑA EUROPA

Presiding Judge

4/7,14,21

OUST PNOY. Jerry dela Cerna, secretary general of Barog Katawhan sa Gov. Generoso Multi-Purpose Cooperative (BKGMPC), demands the ouster of President Benigno S. Aquino III for allegedly failing to address the problems of the farmers in the country during the Bishops-Ulama-Priests-Pastors-Farmers-Lumad Conference (BUPPFALUC) Consultative Assembly on United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) yesterday at Villa Margarita in Davao City. Lean Daval Jr.

“The coverage should be lowered so that our el-derly will be able to avail of the benefits longer into their twilight years,” Del Rosario said in his explan-atory note.

The measure amends Republic Act 7432, as amended, otherwise known as the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.

“The time is ripe to re-visit the provisions em-bodied in the existing law and uphold the time-hon-ored principle that those who have less in life should have more in law,” Del Ro-sario stressed.

“It cannot be denied that over the years the prices of commodities have increased and by increas-ing the senior citizens’

purchasing power, this bill hopes to alleviate the situa-tions of our indigent elder-ly,” Del Rosario said.

The Mindanao law-maker also cited Article XV, Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution, which states that the family has the duty to care for its elder-ly members but the State may also do so through just programs of social se-curity.

“The principles en-shrined in the Constitu-tion do not only serve to protect the less privileged and the most vulnerable sectors in our society such as the elderly but also af-firm their important role in the community as part-ners in nation-building,” Del Rosario explained.

der RA 10410 that the above-identified workers are mandated to provide services to promote the rights and welfare of chil-dren from age zero (0) to eight (8) years, there is unfortunately no clear and definitive provision rela-tive to the promotion and improvement of the social and economic well-being of these public service provid-ers. We need to support our

child-care workers, hence, the urgent need for this legislative measure” Rep. Zamora said.

HB 829 puts in place a defined system of compen-sation and benefits to day care workers, child devel-opment teachers, teach-er aides, barangay health workers, nutrition provid-ers, rural health midwives, and other care providers, to make them more respon-

sive and better equipped to accomplish their mandated services.

The funds needed for the implementation of the uniform career and de-velopment plan for these workers shall be charged against the current year’s appropriations of the DepEd, DSWD, DOH, NNC, DILG and the local govern-ment units (LGUs) presently employing them. Additional

funds from the PAGCOR and the ECCD shall augment the budgetary allocation, along with such sums as may be necessary to be included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

“Without a doubt, the institutionalization of ben-efits and incentives for our child development workers will redound to the well-be-ing of our children,” Rep. Zamora also said.

the money going to CHED would be used to continue college scholarships earlier funded by the pork barrel of congressmen.

However, under the new setup, he said it is CHED which is tasked to select the truly deserving scholars and the lawmak-

ers have nothing to do with the selection. There are 400,000 scholarships, equivalent to 10 percent of all college students. The

total number of college scholarship under the new setup are divided among all more than 200 mem-bers of Congress. [AMA]

in attaining the position that gave him an edge over other applicants to the po-sition.

“I am happy that finally the long wait is over, and the price is worth waiting for” Orlanes said.

In a delivered speech, Orlanes expressed his grat-itude and appreciation to the people who trusted and believed in his capac-ity and competence. He

willingly accepted the chal-lenge to better the services of the institution with the support of his co-employ-ees and the city govern-ment.

On the same occasion, new IGaCoS Water District Board of Director Chair-man Noel Torres Uy and BOD Secretary Madeline Ortiz took oath of office administered by City Vice Mayor Al David Uy. [PR]

The program guided the beneficiaries through the intensive community processing, from problem identification, to skills train-ing, product development, business management and marketing.

“Gitabangan mi dili lang sa pag-ugmad sa produkto, apan usab sa pag-ugmad sa among creativity, talen-to ug apil na ang maayong pamatasan (aside from the products, the program also nurtured our creativity, tal-ent and character),” Matro said.

Over 2,000 individuals have already benefited from the UK initiative, which was launched by Governor Ro-dolfo del Rosario two years ago to help constituents generate more revenues through livelihood and

sports tourism activities. KAKASA is among the

12 UK communities spread around the province that were organized and trained to produce their own local products and handicrafts utilizing available resources abundant in their respec-tive areas.

In his recent State of the Province Address (SOPA), the governor cited the achievement of another UK recipient, the Linosutan Association of Communi-ty Achievers Development (LACAD), also from Talicud, which is now engaged in successful jewelry-making business.

The association got the attention of Samsung Cor-poration, which awarded them a parcel of land for their souvenir shop.

Local products and handicrafts being produced and marketed by the other UK communities include fruit juice and concentrate, romblon handicraft, bam-boo handicrafts, chocolate bars and durian candies, coco-coir twines, fish la-mayo, banana paper, souve-nir T-shirts and banana key holders, as well as, kuroba-ta and amek (Muslim deli-cacies).

The UK products are now prominently dis-played at the DavNor Pasalubong Shop at the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex, to-gether with the One-Town, One-Product (OTOP) prod-ucts from the different lo-cal government units.

Aside from the UK communities, the province

is also helping develop, produce, and market the products and handicrafts of the beneficiaries of the Alternative Learning Sys-tem for Indigenous People (ALS-IP) program.

The province re-cently conducted a busi-ness-matching-cum-proj-ect proposal-making fo-rum for the UK and ALS-IP programs beneficiaries to improve the quality and marketability of their home-made merchandises.

Assistant Provincial Administrator Romulo Tagalo revealed the local products are being primed so the province can offer a wide variety of local prod-ucts to the ever increasing number of tourists visit-ing the province each year.[Noel Baguio/DavNor PIO ]


BIGGER PICTURE

IT took a while for the Philippine nation to name him “national art-

ist,” and understandably so because Filipino that he is, his nation is first of all the Bangsa Moro, that smaller older nation with-in our nation of nations. If truth be told, and credit be given where it is due, then we all must reach out to Imao today because he first reached out to us through the years. Who is Imao? Did he ink a peace pact, as Ramos and Misuari did, or Sultan Qudarat and many others before PNoy and Murad?

No, Abdulmari Asia Imao did not ink an agree-ment but multi-coloured, sculpted, photographed, researched, articulated, carved and etched the truth and the beauty of our land and peoples. Creating large-scale sculptures and mon-uments of Muslim and re-gional heroes and leaders in selected sites from Batanes to Tawi-tawi, he developed among cultural groups the trust and confidence neces-sary for peace making and the building of a more just society.

Through his works, the indigenous ukkil, sarima-nok and naga motifs were popularized and instilled in the consciousness of the Filipino nation and other

peoples as original Filipino creations.

One could probably say that Imao was not always this way – marked by the Sarimanok or the fish, or a combination of both and adorned with elaborate okir patterns and designs. He first went the route of the University of the Philip-pines and studied under the masters Guillermo Tolen-tino and Napoleon Abue-va who honed his skills in sculpture, metal casting, photography and painting, Then he

(more)moved on to the Uni-

versity of Kansas for his masteral degree in sculp-ture and travelled through the Americas and Europe for a few more years before returning to his country de-termined to master Moro culture and arts.

Patiently and deliber-ately, Imao observed and learned from the Maranaos and T’Bolis while teaching them modern bronze cast-ing techniques. Then he became so skilled in fusing Islamic art, design and cul-ture with the techniques of the West to make unmistak-able Eastern Islamic works. The overall result of his journey is unique – a unity of the best in the Moro na-tion and the Westernized (Christian) Filipino.

Today we are often told that “peace is the key to de-velopment.” Imao’s life and work tell us that throbbing indigenous art is one secret of peace. The instruments of war are stilled with the creation of art and the con-sequent discovery of the human soul. In this way, it can be said that Imao be-longs to a league of artists who integrate art in daily life. They are peaceable though brave and become natural peace-makers.

He recalled in one of his writings, “Once I caught a fish I was so fascinated about—its shape, scales, pigment and its glossy snout. I brought it home but as soon as the aroma of cooking drifting from the kitchen skewered my nostrils, fat tears ran down my cheek. I couldn’t bring myself to eat it, and Mother had to comfort me all night long.”

See Imao in a different light in “Harimao the Sa-rimanok Flight” in Davao City at the end of the month Multimedia artist/ curator Claro Ramirez, Jr. lends his expertise in this ground-breaking event fresh from his stint at the Singapore Biennale.

Meet Imao. Go with him and be still. The experience can be an encounter with your own soul.

Imao: Artist for PeaceBy CHARLES R. AVILA

WIRELESS ser-vices leader Smart Commu-

nications, Inc. (Smart) has taken to the Internet the promotion of social good, harnessing digital technol-ogies in pushing advoca-cies like mobile education, mobile health, disaster preparedness, environ-ment protection, and com-munity building.

In the area of mEduca-tion, which integrates mo-bile technology with learn-ing, Smart has utilized the Internet to democratize access of students to in-formation and quality ed-ucation. Smart, under the Internet for All campaign, launched in 2004 the Smart Schools Program to promote information and communications technol-ogy (ICT) in education in select public schools na-tionwide. Through the program, Smart provided Internet connectivity and trained teachers and stu-dents in computer and In-ternet literacy.

Smart has since come out with other initiatives in the mEducation space. These include digitizing content of the Department of Education’s Alternative Learning System, and mak-ing available to students in remote areas learning re-source from expert teach-ers in science, technology, engineering and mathe-matics (STEM) discipline.

The University of the Philippines Open Universi-ty has launched the coun-try’s first Massive Open Online Course last year on Android Mobile Ap-plications Development, which was co-developed with Smart. Anybody, any-where in the world can access this new course via online. It virtually expands the number of Android apps developers, which is among the in-demand pro-fessions today.

“We have found In-ternet to be a useful and valuable resource in en-abling learning. It expands the whole information

ecosystem. At the same time, it allows any learner anywhere in the world to access quality education from top-notch universi-ties for as long as they have Internet connection,” said Ramon R. Isberto, head of Smart Public Affairs.

“The Internet also rev-olutionized the delivery of healthcare services via our various initiatives. Our InfoBoard, a web-based SMS information tool, has helped saved lives in a number of disasters. Using the web, we have helped our community partners sell their sculptures and designer tarp bags. The Internet was more than just a platform for our CSR initiatives, it was also one of the key drivers for these projects to take off,” added Isberto.

Smart was a pioneer of mHealth in the country and two of these award-win-ning innovations have been showcased as best practices during the 2nd World Health Organization

Conference in Geneva last year.

These are the pa-tient-screening appli-cation called Amputee Screening through Cell-phone Networking (AS-CENT) launched by Smart and Ateneo Java Wireless Competency Center in 2009, and SHINE (Se-cured Health Information Network and Exchange), which is a web and mobile electronic medical record (EMR) and referral system piloted by Smart in Iloilo in 2010.

The ASCENT App, which was developed in consultation with the Phy-sicians for Peace (PFP), allows health workers to type in patient data, take photos of the amputation, and send these data via In-ternet to an online central database for PFP to assess.

Meanwhile, SHINE en-ables health facilities and professionals to create an electronic medical record, send electronic referrals to other health facilities,

generate reports, and send SMS reminders to patients.

The Smart InfoBoard, a web-based solution that utilizes SMS to broadcast alerts and other informa-tion to registered users, has proven an effective tool in saving lives during disasters. Used as an early warning communications tool by high-risk cities and barangays during di-sasters, it facilitates more efficient coordination among the leaders and the constituents on crucial information like when to evacuate especially during floods.

Using the Internet, Smart has maximized so-cial media in pushing our advocacy for environment protection and helping mitigate the effects of global climate change. Green and energy saving tips were propagated via digital media to subscrib-ers encouraging them to do their Smart Acts for the environment.

Using social networks,

Smart helped the GK Sooc community and the Ban-glos sculptors sell their creations virtually to anybody. The Sooc com-munity in Iloilo upcycles tarpaulins discarded by Smart into bags under the tutelage of designer PJ Arañador, meanwhile, the Banglos sculptors create art pieces from driftwood washed ashore during ty-phoons.

“These are just some of the noteworthy initia-tives where Smart made use of the Internet for so-cial good. As we celebrate the 20th year of Internet in the Philippines, we want to highlight the pos-itive change the Internet has brought to countless of Filipinos via our CSR initiatives,” said Isberto.

Integrating its advoca-cy to the business, Smart offers data services bun-dled with devices at af-fordable price points so that these can be acces-sible socio-income seg-ments.

Internet-based solutions at the heart of Smart’s CSR initiatives

VOL. 7 ISSUE 16 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, APRIL 6-7, 201412CLASSIFIED

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AS they say, start ‘em young. The Philippines, now on the radar of beauty pag-eants the world over after a glorious run in 2013, sets up the 2014 season with a bevy of pageants. Only recently, Davao’s very own MJ Lastimosa was crowned Bb. Pilipi-nas-Universe. So, will the youngsters be far behind? Certainly not. And cer-tainly, not in Davao. Davao’s awesome beau-

ties and talents took to the runway in varying outfits and wowed everyone with their wits and talents dur-ing the recent regional

INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 16 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, APRIL 6-7, 2014

EDGEDAVAOEVENT

Teens take over!Davao teens vie for Miss Teen Philippines 2014 Regional FinalsPhotos by Nikon Knights Davao

finals for the Miss Teen Philippines 2014. When the smoke cleared, five lovely ladies went on to qualify as the region’s bets for the MTP 2014 Search on March 30, 2014 in Ma-nila. Actually, 20 candidates vied for the Top 5 as they flaunt their cocktail dress-es and speak out who they are in a well-attended fi-nale at the SM City Annex Event Area. Trixie Marie Cabiles, a junior student of Ateneo de Davao University-High School, clad in white bal-lerina cocktail dress, ran away with the title. She was also given a special award from local sponsors as Ms. RDL White Skin and Ms. Mendez Gluta Skin. Also making it are Nina Grace Sartagoda of the University of Mindanao, Princess Dana Acaulco of F. Bangoy National High School, Jan Junibelle Kura of F. Bustamante National High School, and Ivory Claire Dequilla of M’lang National High School. Sartagoda, a Mass Communication student of University of Mindan-ao, who also wore a white

Left to right, Trixie marie Ca-bales, Nina Grace Sartagoda, Ivory Claire Dequilla, Jan Juni-belle Lura and Princess Dana Acapulco

EDGEDavao Davao Partners

Athena Jillian Bravo

CHILL JILL

FTEENS, A4

SUMMER’S most anticipated fashion event Fashion Edge 2014 comes to life on April 12 at SM City Davao Open Park-ing. SM Davao has got the low-down on the key pieces you should be lusting after for the summer. Indulge your sun-loving, pastel-sporting side now that the sun is up and summer is on full swing! This year’s fashion forecast is about colors, music and a whole lot of fun. The first-ever outdoor Fashion Edge is expected to showcase the season’s hottest looks fresh from the racks. Summer will definitely be more fun with funky colors and playful silhouettes. Enjoy the sun with Plains & Prints, Sa-bella, Surplus, Mags, Artwork, Get Laud, Nike Athletic Club, Levi’s, Sanuk, South Shores, Espada and The SM Store. It is going to be no ordinary Fashion Edge on Saturday. Get ready for the last leg of the BIG DAVAO FUN SALE Week-end Party after the show. Show starts at 6PM. Fashion Edge is also made possible by Davao’s pride Emi Englis, Philip-pine Women’s College Fashion Design students, Yellow Cab and BonChon. For inquiries, call 297.6998. Like SM City Davao on Facebook or follow @smcitydavao on Twitter and @SMDavao on Insta-gram for event and promo updates.

ASUS salutes the new graduates this year with three recom-mended mobile devices that are fit for the new mobile era. As 2-in-1 devices are becoming the next big thing, ASUS has three devices that will fir the graduate’s needs in their future career.

ASUS Trans-former Book Trio TX201LAThe Transformer Book Trio is the only Dual OS device in the Philippines. Functioning as an Android or Windows Laptop, Android Tablet and Windows Desktop. With the ability to switch between Windows 8 and Android at the press of a button, Transformer Book Trio offers unmatched three-in-one flexibility for users who want the best of all mobile worlds. Powered by an Intel Atom Processor in the Android Tablet and either a Core i5 or Core i7 processor in the Windows Dock. Perfect for grad-uates who seek adventure and productivity in one device.

The New Transformer Pad TF701TPerfect for graduates who seek to upgrade their tablet for an entertainment centered device. A whole new tablet experience awaits with the new Transformer Pad TF701T. With an industry leading 10.1 inch 2560x1600 IPS display resolution, experience videos and photos with vibrant clar-ity and colors. Powered by the powerful NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor, users can elevate their tablet experience with enthusiast level games, blue ray quality movies. The new Transformer Pad also features the famous keyboard dock with additional battery for up to 17 hours of battery life and

USB Ultra-Fast 3.0 connectivity on a tablet. All these on an aluminum built tablet, with the famous spun circular finish from the ASUS.

Google Nexus 7 2013Hailed as the best 7” tablet of 2013, the Google Nexus 7 still remains unde-feated in delivering the best tablet ex-perience in one portable and power-

ful device, now upgraded by the latest Android KitKat 4.4 to let users experience the best of android. The Google Nexus 7 is perfect for graduates who seek the perfect 7” tablet. Powerful, portable and ready for their next carrier, the tab-let is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and displaying outstanding visuals with a 1920 x 1200 IPS display panel on a compact, lighter and Corn-ing Fit Gorilla Glass Protection. Also provided is a free travel cover for extra protection worth Php895.

A2 INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 16 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, APRIL 6-7, 2014EDGEDAVAO

Music and colors at SM City Davao’s Fashion Edge 2014

ASUS Grand Graduation Salute

EVENTUP AND ABOUT

Dabawenyos observe Earth Hour at SM DavaoHUNDREDS of Da-bawenyos flocked SM City Davao for the observation of the Earth Hour at the mall’s Open Parking last Saturday. The celebration was kicked off with a parade around the mall which was participated in by the mall tenants, and both private and government agencies—Department of Energy, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Education and Bureau of Fire Protection. The lo-cal government of Davao was also in full support of the movement as mem-bers and staff of the City Mayor’s Office, Museo Da-bawenyo, Central 911, City Treasurer’s Office, City Assessor’s Office, City So-cial Service and Develop-ment Office, City ENRO, City Administrator’s Of-fice, City Agriculture’s Office and other organiza-tions joined the event. “This evening, all 48 SM Supermalls across the nation and our 6 malls in China, will simultaneous-ly turn off their lights for the Earth Hour – reinforc-ing the statement that the time to take action against global warming is now,” mall manager Lynette Lo-pez shares in her welcome address. SM City Davao has been supporting WWF’s Earth Hour since 2008. The mall’s commitment to supporting the cause has helped raise environ-mental awareness not only among SM’s shoppers and

business partners but the community as well. In 2012, SM Davao was the official Earth Hour Switch Off site for Mindanao. At 8:30 PM, 100% of our malls’ building lighted logos and 50% of our mall interior and perimeter lights were switched off. “Earth Hour does not end when the lights are switched back on. It is a yearlong commitment to reduce our use of energy, water and other resources. It is also about climate ad-

aptation. The Philippines is the third nation most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. We sit on Ground Zero of storms birthed from the Pacific. It can no longer be busi-ness us usual. Let tonight’s Earth Hour remind us of our shared duty and com-mitment to build a cli-mate-resilient Philippines. WWF thanks SM Davao for leading the ceremony to unite all of us behind a common purpose,” shares Junrey Tubongbanua in

behalf of WWF. Amid the rain, the program proceeded with entertainment numbers from the fire dancers, the drum beaters and the cute kids of Matthew 19:14 band. Other organizations who expressed support were Philippine Eagle Foundation, Philippine Red Cross, Boy Scouts of the Philippines, Girl Scouts of the Philippines, Little Pearls of Heaven and MTC Academy.

The Matthew 19:14 Band

SM City Davao staff at the Earth Hour celebration.

Glowing face paint was applied on the participants during the pro-gram.

WWF’s Junrey Tubongbanua(3rd from the lest) joins SM Davao executives (L-R) mall manager Lynette Lopez, and assistant mall managers Engr. Warren Bautista and Engr. Nick Santos in the count down.

RUFFA GUTIERREZ is now prepar-ing for an upcoming movie and a new TV reality show, but despite never really leaving the public eye, she makes sure that she gets to spend enough of this summer break with her two daughters, Lo-rin and Venice. In the latest issue of Working Mom, Ruffa talks about what it’s like to be a single mom raising two children, and how her mom Ana-belle’s tough love is something that she wants to eventually pass on to her daughters. “I don’t have a father figure to help me raise my children, so I have to be the one that’s nice to them, and the one that disciplines them,” she says. Ruffa also reveals her next career move and a side of her that’s never been seen before. Working Mom’s latest issue also gives readers ways to make the most out of summer with 150+ ideas--from boredom-busting ac-tivities, a “hot” reading list, fash-ion and beauty essentials, and yummy, artisanal ice creams. Aside from these, get tips on staying safe under the sun and making home into a place that’s even more cool and comfy, especially during these hotter months. Also in the Work-ing Mom’s latest issue, meet the magazine’s roster of cool mamas--a tattoo artist, club DJs, a pole dance instructor, and a cartoon voice actor. ABS-CBN Publishing also makes summer extra fun for the kids with the April issue of Barbie magazine. In its summer issue, the magazine gives kids the keys to having fun under the sun.Let the kids enjoy the summer

break with advice from Barbie--dress up for the season, look hip and cool, play by the pool, and build sand castles by the beach. Barbie also makes sure the kids don’t forget anything with a beach checklist, including Barbie swim-wear, a beach robe, sunglasses, sun block, a bottle of water, and flip flops or sandals. Plus, join Barbie on a beach bike ride and have fun doing “A Mer-maid Tale” activities! This summer,

get some reading done, too. “An Egg-celent Easter Story” is the per-fect place to start, apart from the comics section of the first webi-sode of “Barbie Life in the Dream-house, The Closet Princess”. Grab a copy of Working Mom and Barbie at favorite bookstores and magazine stands nationwide. For comments and contributions for Barbie Magazine Philippines, email the team at [email protected].

CAP the city-wide sale with today’s most immersive movie ex-perience at the IMAX Theare at SM Lanang Premier a very afford-able price of P150. Featuring Under the Sea 3D, new IMAX 3D adven-ture, transports moviegoers to some of the most exotic and isolated under the sea locations on Earth, including Southern Australia, New Guin-ea, and others in the Indo-Pacific Region, allowing them to experience face-to-face encounters with some of the mysterious and stunning crea-tures of the sea. It offers a uniquely inspirational and entertain-ing way to explore the beauty and natural wonder of the oceans, as well as the impact of global climate change. In IMAX 3D, the images will leap off the screen and float around the theater, put-ting the audience in the movie. Promo runs from April 7 until April 16, 2014. One screening only per day @ 10:55AM. Hurry! Buy your tickets now. Just visit IMAX @ SM Lanang Premier or call (082) 285-2356.

WITH its top caliber cast, realistic plot, beautifully written script, and fierce-ly passionate scenes, ABS-CBN’s most followed ‘TV affair’ “The Legal Wife,” topbilled by Angel Locsin, Maja Salvador, JC De Vera and Jericho Ro-sales, continues to stir up strong reactions of sup-port from primetime TV viewers, including some celebrities who follow the show since day one. “People love to watch something which they think can resolve their questions about life. That’s what ‘The Legal Wife’ offers! It has a sim-ple story but we’re sure that it’s really happening and anyone can easily identify with the charac-ters of Angel, Maja or Echo,” shared actress-TV host Janice de Belen. Like Janice, actress Dimples Romana ad-

mires the honesty of pri-metime series that has turned into a nightly af-fair that viewers look for-ward to. She said, “When I’m watching ‘The Legal Wife,’ I’m seeing reality. The audience, particu-larly couples, can really learn a lot from the show, especially when it comes to protecting the mar-riage.” For Senator Sonny Angara and wife Tootsie, married couples can pick up lessons from the

challenges faced now by Monica (Angel) and Adri-an (Jericho). They also believe that the show can serve as an eye-opener not only to husbands and wives but also to people caught in an illicit affair. “For those women in-volved with married men, they should realize that they are not only causing pain to the wives but also to the whole family of the couple,” said Tootsie. Will Adrian and Nicole (Maja) completely fall

into the trap of infidelity? How will Monica fight for her marriage and protect their family? Don’t miss the nation’s most followed ‘TV affair,’ “The Legal Wife” after “Ikaw Lamang” on ABS-CBN Primetime Bida. For more updates about the show, simply visit its of-ficial social networking sites at Facebook.com/thelegalwife2013, Insta-gram.com/iam_thelegal-wife, and Twitter.com/IAmTheLegalWife.

INdulge! A3VOL. 7 ISSUE 16 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, APRIL 6-7, 2014EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

Ruffa Gutierrez makes it a heart-warming Summer with family

Get an affordable IMAX experience at the

Big Davao Fun Sale

‘The Legal Wife’ stirs up strong reactions among loyal celebrity viewers

PG 13

PG 13

PG 13

PG 1312:40 | 3:00 | 5:20 | 7:40 | 10:00 LFS

R-16CAPTAIN AMERICA:

THE WINTER SOLDIER 2D

11:20 | 2:00 | 4:40 | 7:20 | 10:00 LFS

DIARY NG PANGET 2D

11:40 | 2:15 | 4:50 | 7:25 | 10:00 LFS

DIVERGENT 2D

Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson

12:00 | 2:30 | 5:00 | 7:30 | 10:00 LFS

SON OF GOD 2D

Diogo Morgado, Roma Downey

James Reid, Nadine Lustre

Shailene Woodley, Theo James

A4 INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 16 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, APRIL 6-7, 2014EDGEDAVAOEVENT

elegant cocktail dress. She was also given the Ms. Mendez Medical Group award because of her bril-liant communication skills and beauty that got the nod of Dr. Joel Mendez. Acapulco, a student of F. Bangoy National High School wore a Barbie pink dress and was also award-ed as Ms. RDL Baby Face. Lura, wore a long silky dress and was also award-ed as Ms. Congeniality. She received a gift certifi-cate from Holcim. Dequilla, the only final-

ist from outside of Davao City, paraded on a summer inspired cocktail dress. These five ladies will vie

for Miss Teen Philippines 2014 at the Philippine In-ternational Convention Center in Manila on May 22, 2014. The People’s Choice Award online with a cash prize of ten thousand pe-sos went to Caryl Ligan from Cagayan de Oro City, who is also a student from San Pedro College, with more than 600 votes in the social media polls. Two from the 20 candi-dates also received special awards from RDL and Mendez Medical Group. They are Fatima Bisan from Sarangani, who was awarded as Ms. RDL Baby

Skin, and Jovilyn Gavan of Holy Cross Davao College, who was awarded as Ms. Mendez of the Night. The finalists will contin-ue to espouse their advo-cacies on education under the theme “ Global Aware-ness through Education”. This event was spon-sored and supported by the Department of Edu-cation, Punongbayan and Araullo, PICC, NYC, Yakult, SMART, SM Su-permalls, Gerry’s Grill, Manna Korean Restau-rant and officially photo-graphed and documented by the Nikon Knights Davao.

People’s choice award winner, Caryl Ligan of San Pedro College.

Ms. Mendez Medical Group Jovilyn Gavan of Holy Cross Davao College.

Ms. RDL Baby skin, Fatima Bisan fron Sarangani Province.

Teens...FFROM A1

VOL. 7 ISSUE 16 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, APRIL 6-7, 2014 13

INTERIOR DESIGNER / ARCHITECT STORE MANAGER / ADMIN OFFICER

SALES / MARKETINGSend your CV / Resume to [email protected] and become part of our team.

3rd Floor Abreeza Mall, J.P. Laurel Avenue, Davao City

WE’RE HIRING!

Edge Davao hiring 3 reporters

EDGE DAVAO is a need of three staffwriters/reporters for its expansion program.

The reporters will be assigned to the business, science/en-vironment and political beats.

Applicant must be a graduate of a four- year college course. Experience is not needed although preferable.

Interested parties may send their application letter to Mr. Antonio M. Ajero, Edge Davao editor, thru email address [email protected]. For inquiries, please call Mr. Ajero thru mobile phone 09052422686 or landline 221-3601.

EDGEDAVAO

COMMUNITY SENSE

THE St. Augustine Gold and Copper Ltd. (SAGCL) is keeping on with its

social corporate responsibilty (CSR) projects in the mining town of Pantukan in Com-postela Valley as their hopes remain high that its $2 billion project would meet its timeta-ble to start commercial opera-tions by 2017.

The Environmental Man-agement Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources recent-ly reviewed the environmental impact study submitted by SAGCL for its King-King Cop-per and Gold Project (KCGP).

Clyde Gillespie, SAGCL country manager, said the reg-ulatory body has returned the study with notes on issues the company needs to address. Gillespie said their company’s recent exploration drillings will address issues raised by the EMB. Approval of such environmental study is neces-sary before an environmental

compliance certificate is is-sued for the company to start operation.

He said their company is confident it can secure all necessary permits soon. Gilles-pie said they hope to get the declaration of mining project feasibility of the project before the end of this year, and the en-vironmental compliance certif-icate by June or July this year.

The local government of Pantukan meanwhile ex-pressed support on the proj-ect. Pantukan Mayor Roberto Yugo said that even before the start of their commercial oper-ation, KCGP had already pro-vided jobs for locals.

He said that once the op-eration starts, they expect more jobs to be generated. Early this week, more than 2,000 families availed of the Community Livelihood Initia-tive Projects (CLIP) conducted by KCGP.

One of the projects is the Vegetable Garden and Fish-

pond in Purok Sta. Teresa, which is in partnership with the Girl Scouts of the Philip-pines(GSP) and the commu-nity.

Aside from this, other pro-grams of the mining compa-ny focused on the livelihood of Mansaka tribe. These in-clude the provision of sewing machine and dress-making training to the tribal women’s group.

The projects also includ-ed establishment of water system, distribution of farm implements and development of other important infrastruc-ture.

Jonathan Bañez, the company’s community de-velopment officer, said St. Augustine has continued to spend on community projects with an annual allocation of about P25 million for projects which is bigger that the 10% requirement for corporate social responsibility projects. [BOT]

Mining company continues to pour in millions for CSR projects in Pantukan

WORKERS’ INCENTIVES. Labor and Employment Regional Director and Wage Board Chair Joffrey M. Suyao gestures as he explained to members of the Banana Industry and media the benefits of the Two-Tiered Wage System during the Launching of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board’s (RTWPB) Advisory No. RB XI-01 “Implementation of Productivity-Based Incentive Schemes for the Banana Industry. Also in photo is National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) 11 Regional Director and Wage Board Vice-Chair Maria Lourdes T. Lim. [Sherwin B. Manual/DOLE 11]

VOL. 7 ISSUE 16 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, APRIL 6-7, 201414 SPORTS EDGEDAVAO

Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Transporta-tion and CommunicationsLAND TRANSPORTATION

FRANCHISING AND REGULA-TORY BOARD

Regional Office No. XIDavao city

Petition for Renewal of a Certificate of Public Convenience to op-erate a PUJ DUAL Ordinary Regu-lar Service

JOEL R. PIEZAS,Petitioner Case No.2002-XI-01221

x- - - - - - - - -- - - -----x

NOTICE OF HEARING

Petitioner is a grantee of a Certificate of Public Con-venience issued in this case authorizing the operation of a PUJ-DUAL Ordinary Regu-lar Service on the route: SIR-AWAN ROUTE and for car-goes as dual service from said route to any point in Region XI with the use of ONE(1) unit, which Certificate will ex-pire on June 20, 2014. In the petition filed on March 27, 2014, petitioner request au-thority to extend the validity of said certificate to operate along the same route with the use of the same unit previ-ously authorized.

NOTICE, is hereby giv-

en that this petition will be heard by this Board on APRIL 28, 2014 at 9:10 a.m. at this office at the above address.

At least, TEN (10) days prior to the above date peti-tioner shall publish this No-tice once in a one (1) daily newspaper of general circula-tion in Mindanao

Parties opposed to the granting of the petition must file their written opposition supported by documentary evidence on or before the above date furnishing a copy of the same to the petitioner, and may if they so, desire ap-pear on said date and time.

This petition will be acted upon by this Board on the ba-sis of its records and the doc-umentary evidence submit-ted by the parties, unless the Board deems it necessary to receive additional documen-tary and/or oral evidence.

WITNESS the Honorable BENJAMIN A. GO, CESO V, Re-gional Director, this 27th day of March 2014 at Davao City.

TERESITA DELA PEÑA-YÑIGUEZ

Chief Transportation Development Officer

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant reaches for a rebound against Houston Rockets forward Terrence Jones. (AP Photo/Richard Carson)

HOUSTON (AFP) - Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant

notched his 40th straight NBA game with 25 points or more on Friday, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the Houston Rockets.

Houston’s James Harden scored 39 points, grabbed nine rebounds and handed out seven as-sists to lead the Rockets to a 111-107 victory that secured their post-season berth.

Durant scored 28 points for the play-off-bound Thunder, matching Michael Jordan’s streak of 40 straight games of 25 points or more in the 1986-87 season.

Durant also pulled down 12 rebounds and passed out six assists, but he missed a potential game-tying three-pointer in the final minute.

The Thunder forward, who will certainly figure in Most Valuable Player

voting, can surpass Jor-dan’s streak on Sunday, when the Thunder face Phoenix.

Durant last failed to score at least 25 points on January 5 against Boston, when he settled for 21 points.

His rare run has in-cluded a 54-point game against the Golden State Warriors on January 17, and over the course of the steak has averaged 36.3 points per game.

Durant equals MJ’s record

TORONTO (AP) -- Late in the third quarter Friday

night, some jostling be-tween John Salmons and Paul George turned into a shoving match.

The dust-up brought the cheering crowd at the Air Canada Centre to its feet and earned both play-ers matching technical fouls.

But even more, said Salmons, it showed that the Toronto Raptors won’t be pushed around.

Terrence Ross led the way with 24 points as the short-handed Raptors de-feated the Indiana Pacers 102-94.

‘’We’re not going to back down from anybody, we’re not going to quit, we’re going to be there, we’re going to fight,’’ Sal-mons said.

‘’Our leader (Kyle Lowry) hasn’t been play-ing the last two games, but we’re still fighting. ... We’re definitely not going to back down, we’re going to continue to fight.’’

Jonas Valanciunas added 22 points and nine rebounds, while DeMar DeRozan scored 20 points and added nine assists for the Raptors, who earned

their fifth win in six starts despite missing starters Lowry and Amir Johnson.

‘’We feel like we can beat anybody when we step out there on the court,’’ DeRozan said. ‘’They’re a top team in the east, and that’s a team that we’re fighting to be in their position. Tonight was a big game at this time of the season.’’

Greivis Vasquez and Nando De Colo each had 10 points, while Patrick Patterson, who started in place of Johnson in only his third game since miss-ing 11 with an elbow in-jury, had seven rebounds.

Paul George had 26 points to lead the Pacers and David West added 21.

‘’This is a playoff team,’’ George said of To-ronto. ‘’Down the stretch they just got a lot of bounces that created sec-ond shots for them. If you give a playoff team anoth-er look or an opportunity they are going to knock you down.’’

There was a postsea-son vibe to the Eastern Conference matchup between two teams that could potentially meet in the second round of the playoffs.

Raptors beat slumping Pacers

Toronto Raptors guard Terrence Ross (right) soars past Indiana Pacers for-wards David West, left, and Paul George during the first half of an NBA basketball game on Friday in Toronto. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

MIAMI (AP) -- Mak-ing one free throw at the end of regu-

lation wasn’t enough for the Miami Heat, nor was mak-ing just one again at the end of the first overtime.

In the second extra ses-sion, one made all the dif-ference for Minnesota.

Corey Brewer hit one of two free throws with 1.8 seconds left after getting a call on an awkward-looking play, and that was enough to help the Timberwolves escape a three-hour thriller with a 122-121 victory over the Heat on Friday night.

‘’Great call,’’ Brewer

said. ‘’He pushed my back.’’Kevin Love scored 28

points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Minnesota, which got 24 from Chase Budinger, 15 from Gorgui Dieng and 13 apiece from JJ Barea and Ricky Rubio, who also added 14 assists. Refer-ee Ken Mauer called the last foul on Miami’s Norris Cole, who was guarding Brewer near the basket as a pass was coming his way.

‘’You just want to see the players decide it at the end,’’ Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said calmly after the game. ‘’I didn’t get a good look at the replay. ... Still, we had

many more opportunities to close that game out.’’

Ray Allen missed a wild jumper as time expired for Miami, which blew a chance to move two games clear of Indiana in the loss column atop the Eastern Confer-ence standings.

‘’We gutted one out,’’ Love said. ‘’This was a fun win.’’

LeBron James scored 34 points for the Heat, who got a season-high 24 from Ma-rio Chalmers and 24 more from Chris Bosh, including a tying 3-pointer with 10.8 seconds left in the second overtime.

Wolves outlast Heat in double-OT

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute goes to the basket as Miami Heat forward Chris Andersen defends. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

VOL. 7 ISSUE 16 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, APRIL 6-7, 2014 15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO SPORTS

SLAM DUNK CHAMPS. Justin Melton and Rey Guevarra put on a show before splitting the PBA slam dunk trophy in Friday’s All-Star festivities. PBA IMAGES/NUKI SABIO

THE City Adminis-trator’s Office de-molished General

Services Office, 119-95 in Game 2 yesterday (April 4) to bag the Category B division title in the Davao City Hall Employees As-sociation (Dachea) 77th Araw ng Dabaw basketball tournament at the Almen-dras gym.

The City Admin ex-ploded with a 33-21 bomb in the first quarter and never looked back to

sweep its best-of-three championship series. City Admin won Game 1 via a 96-82 victory last Thurs-day.

City Administrator Melchor Quitain also watched the game to give his moral support to his team.

Meanwhile, the Vice Mayor’s Office of Vice Mayor Pulong Duterte forced a deciding Game 3 after stopping City Plann-ning, 75-70 also yesterday

in the Category C.City Plannning ear-

lier won Game 1 by 20 points, 78-58 last April 3. VMO, however, came back strong in Game 2 via a come-from-behind vic-tory.

VMO had a slow start, trailing by three points, 16-19 but grabbed the lead, 31-30 at the end of the first half. VMO again struggled by four, 51-55 before finally stepping on the gas with a 24-15 run in

the final canto.The winner-take-all

match will be played on April 7 at 11 a.m. following Game 1 in the Category A championship between the City Mayor’s Office and City Civil Registrar’s Office (CCRO) at 9:30 a.m.

The tournament is supported by the City Sports Development Di-vision under OIC William “Butch” Ramirez as still part of the Duterte Game Plan. [CSDD-CMO/LDR]

DACHEA HOOPSCity Admin bags Category B title

MICHAEL Schum-acher suffered a ski accident 14 weeks

ago and is in the waking up process after being placed in a medically-induced coma, with Sabine Kehm offering an encouraging update regarding his con-dition.

“Michael is making progress on his way,” said Kehm in a statement. “He shows moments of con-sciousness and awakening. We are on his side during his long and difficult fight, together with the team of the hospital in Grenoble, and we keep remaining confident.

“We would like to thank you all for the continuous sympathies. At the same

time we again ask for un-derstanding that we do not intend to disclose details.

“This is necessary to protect the privacy of Mi-chael and his family, and to enable the medical team to work in full calmness.”

Schumacher remains unable to breathe on his own and is on a ventilator. Doctors began the process of gradually awakening him more than nine weeks ago.

Wife Corinna, 45 - with whom he has two children Gina Marie, 16, and Mick, 14 - has remained at his bedside.

Meanwhile, a family friend has insisted that the legendary driver will be moved to a rehabilitation facility, but not one at his

home, as has been previ-ously claimed.

The friend rubbished reports that his wife Corin-na is spending £10 mil-lion to build a medical-ly-equipped suite at their home in Switzerland be-cause doctors have warned her that his chances of a full recovery are negligible.

“Michael will be moved to a rehabilitation clinic at some stage, however not at this stage,” the friend said. “We are confident Michael will wake up. Therefore why would we need to build facilities for a vegeta-tive man at his home?

“This would imply that his case is hopeless.”

The seven-times world champion remains in in-

tensive care in Grenoble Hospital in France, but his family remains “confident” he will wake from his coma, according to Sabine Kehm, Schumacher’s manager and agent.

She added that there was no truth in reports that Schumacher’s family were building the medical facility at their home, or indeed his father’s new apartment.

“Rumours saying that Corinna is rebuilding her house in order to take the allegedly hopeless case Michael back home are ab-solutely untenable,” Kehm said.

“This counts too for Rolf’s house which is being built at the Schumacher’s site.”

Schumi showing signs of consciousness

Michael Schumacher

REDWOOD CITY, Cal-ifornia – Three Fili-pinos, including the

Philippine Ice Prince Mi-chael Christian Martinez, have taken the ice at the Triglav trophy in Slovenia.

After a six-week break to nurse his injuries, Mar-tinez is in first place.

Martinez competed in the senior men’s short program earlier. His score of 63.29 has put him in first place out of seven competitors.

He will compete in

the free skate program today.

As for the women, Ha-waii born Philippine Rep-resentative Samantha Cabiles came in sixth in the junior women’s short program with a score of 36.96.

Representing Nor-way, Norweigan-Pinay Camila Gjersem, the twin sister of Olympian Anne Line Gjersem, had a short program score of 41.04. She is in tenth place among seniors.

Martinez tops short program in Slovenia

THE media came to see Timothy Brad-ley as he trained at

the brick-walled Fortune Gym along the famous Sunset Boulevard.

The undefeated American was a gra-cious host, fielding every question thrown at him. Later on, he got up the ring, took off his shirt and flaunted his great phy-sique.

Then he worked out with his trainer, Joel Diaz.

Bradley also vowed to knock Manny Pacquiao out and here’s how he in-tends to do it.

“I’m going to knock him out with the left hook,” he said.

“Not the right (hand) but the left hook. That’s what I’m going to knock him out with,” added the native of Indio, California with a ring record of 31 wins and 12 knockouts.

Bradley won a hot-ly-contested decision over Pacquiao in June 2012 and while he be-lieves he deserved the win he feels he needs to prove it here.

The current holder of the WBO welterweight title said he trained hard for the fight that takes place on April 12 at the MGM Grand.

To him, it’s the only fight that matters.

“This is everything to me. Everything I’ve worked hard for in box-ing. This is everything to me,” he said.

Bradley is on the eighth and last week of his training, and during his media day workout he declared himself fit and ready to face the heavy-handed Filipino.

Bradley said he can go 12 rounds “easy” in the coming fight because in training he did more than what’s needed to get him in top shape.

“I did 10-minute rounds with three dif-ferent guys straight,” he said of his unusual train-ing regimen that calls for just a 15-second break before a new sparring partner comes in.

“I get 15 seconds to drink water and boom right back on it and 15 seconds rest and boom another fresh guy comes in. It was so intense -- extremely new,” he told mediamen inside the dressing room.

Someone asked if it was possible that he over-trained for the fight,

“No,” was the quick reply.

Left hook will stop Pacquiao - Bradley

VOL. 7 ISSUE 16 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, APRIL 6-7, 2014EDGEDAVAOSports16

DAVAO del Norte – The country’s best collegiate athletes

will slug it out in the week-long 2014 Private Schools Athletic Association (PRI-SAA) National Games that will be held mainly at the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex (DNSTC) in Tagum City.

Philippine Sports Com-mission Chair Ricardo Gar-cia will keynote the kick-off ceremonies at 4 p.m. on Sunday (April 6), which will be capped by a spec-tacular fireworks display.

Some 5,000 athletes and officials from 17 re-gions are expected to join the country’s biggest sports conclave for college students that will run from April 6-12, 2014.

The eighteen sporting events that will be disput-ed in the championship games include athletics, baseball, basketball, bad-minton, boxing, beach vol-leyball, chess, dance sport, football, Judo, karate-do, lawn tennis, sepak takraw, softball, table tennis, tae-kwondo, volleyball, and swimming.

The competition will be jazzed up by the Search for Mutya ng PRISAA, to-gether with academic con-

tests in debate, declama-tion and oration and cul-tural competitions in vocal solo and duet.

Reigning champ PRI-SAA 7, top billed by the best athletes from the provinces of Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Siquijor in Central Visayas, is expected to defend its title to snatch a 4-peat victory, in spite of the calamities that hit the region late last year.

The provincial govern-ment of Davao del Norte has left no stones unturned in ensuring that there will be no glitches in its first hosting of a national cham-pionship event.

Governor Rodolfo del Rosario, in his recent State of the Province Address (SOPA), specially men-tioned the PRISAA cham-pionship, which is dubbed as a final dry run for Davao del Norte’s bid to host the Palarong Pambansa next year.

The event will also mark many first in the 60-year old national competi-tions.

PRISAA-Davao Execu-tive Director Boy Sarabia recently said this will be the first time that a city in Davao Region will host the event.

He added PRISAA 2014 will also feature for the first time some events to be played in the evening, like swimming, track and soccer events.

PRISAA President Lita Montalban likewise said in a TV interview that

this is the first time that PRISAA did not cash out in holding the games.

She thanked the gener-osity of Governor Rodolfo del Rosario for hosting the event, including Mayor Allan Rellon for being the co-host.

Founded in February 17, 1953, PRISAA is the country’s largest national athletic association com-posed of private schools, Christian schools, and home schools,

with more than 500 member colleges and uni-

versities in the country. It aims to carry out

the mandate of promoting physical fitness and sports development among the youth with the help of var-ious government depart-ments and agencies and private entities.

Nat’l PRISAA Games opens Sunday in DavNorBy NOEL BAGUIO


The Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex (DNSTC) in Tagum City.

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