P 15.00 • 20 PAGES www.edgedavao.net VOL. 7 ISSUE 199 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19 - 20, 2014 EDGE Serving a seamless society DAVAO P UBLIC Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) head Francisco Villaroman yester- day warned bus companies that they will face charges if a bomb explodes inside one of their units within Davao City. Villaroman made the statement even as he said passengers will no longer be allowed to board buses outside of the Davao City Overland Transport Terminal (DCOTT) to ensure that no bombs are smuggled in. He said this is for the safety of passengers in the af- termath of several bus bomb- ings in Mindanao, including one that killed 10 people in Maramag, Bukidnon last De- cember 9. Villaroman met yester- day morning with the man- agement of bus companies in Davao City to talk about the matter. Based on the atten- dance sheet, the bus compa- nies present during the meet- ing were Holiday Davao Bus, Grand Courier, Cyrus AC JMC, Yellow Bus Line, Land Car Inc., Surigao Xpress, Nor Beu Jun Transit, Bachelor Express Inc. Del Norte Fighter’s Bus, WeenaExpress, and Rural Transit Mindanao, Inc. In an interview with Edge Davao after the meeting at the PSSCC office, Villaroman said the companies agreed that their bus units should not pick up passengers out- side DCOTT. He said the operators should tell their drivers not to pick up or solicit passen- gers outside the DCOTT or in the highways to avoid any untoward incident. “We warned them (bus operators) if this thing hap- pens, we will file charges against them, their drivers, and their conductors,” he said. “Hindi kami nagbibiro, pag may sumabog dito (We are not joking. If an explo- sion happens here) during the Christmas season or even after that we will go against you,” he added. Villaroman said the order is part of the 2011 memo- randum of agreement (MOA) FBUS, 10 BUS FIRMS WARNED INSIDE EDGE PEACE. Television personality Sam Pinto flashes a double peace sign while being photographed with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte during Wednesday afternoon’s Christmas party for barangay officials at the Davao City Recreation Center. Pinto, who was one of the special guests, performed to the delight of barangay officials present during the event. Lean Daval Jr. By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR. [email protected]FLOYD: FANS LOVE ME MORE SPORTS page 15
Transcript
P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 7 ISSUE 199 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19 - 20, 2014
EDGE Serving a seamless society
DAVAO
PUBLIC Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) head
Francisco Villaroman yester-day warned bus companies that they will face charges if a bomb explodes inside one of their units within Davao City.
Villaroman made the statement even as he said passengers will no longer be allowed to board buses outside of the Davao City Overland Transport Terminal (DCOTT) to ensure that no bombs are smuggled in.
He said this is for the
safety of passengers in the af-termath of several bus bomb-ings in Mindanao, including one that killed 10 people in Maramag, Bukidnon last De-cember 9.
Villaroman met yester-day morning with the man-agement of bus companies in Davao City to talk about the matter. Based on the atten-dance sheet, the bus compa-nies present during the meet-ing were Holiday Davao Bus, Grand Courier, Cyrus AC JMC, Yellow Bus Line, Land Car Inc., Surigao Xpress, Nor Beu
Jun Transit, Bachelor Express Inc. Del Norte Fighter’s Bus, WeenaExpress, and Rural Transit Mindanao, Inc.
In an interview with Edge Davao after the meeting at the PSSCC office, Villaroman said the companies agreed that their bus units should not pick up passengers out-side DCOTT.
He said the operators should tell their drivers not to pick up or solicit passen-gers outside the DCOTT or in the highways to avoid any untoward incident.
“We warned them (bus operators) if this thing hap-pens, we will file charges against them, their drivers, and their conductors,” he said.
“Hindi kami nagbibiro, pag may sumabog dito (We are not joking. If an explo-sion happens here) during the Christmas season or even after that we will go against you,” he added.
Villaroman said the order is part of the 2011 memo-randum of agreement (MOA)
FBUS, 10
BUS FIRMS WARNEDINSIDE EDGE
PEACE. Television personality Sam Pinto flashes a double peace sign while being photographed with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte during Wednesday afternoon’s Christmas party for barangay officials at the Davao City Recreation Center. Pinto, who was one of the special guests, performed to the delight of barangay officials present during the event. Lean Daval Jr.
ment on his daughter, for-mer mayor Sara Z. Dute-rte-Carpio, defending the application of the Peking Duck Processing Plant be-fore the City Council.
In an interview last Wednesday night during the Barangay Official as-sembly at the Davao City Recreation Center, Duterte told reporters that he can-not question his daugh-ter’s defending the appli-cation of Vicente L. Lao, president of the Maharlika Agro-Marine Ventures Corporation.
“We cannot question that. She is just doing her
job as a lawyer,” he said.In last Tuesday’s regu-
lar session, Duterte-Carpio appeared in the plenary for the pending request of Lao for favorable endorse-ment of the City Council of Davao relative to the es-tablishment of the Peking Duck dressing plant in Ba-rangay Tamugan, Marilog.
Committee on agri-culture and food chair councilor Marissa Salva-dor-Abella invited the for-mer mayor to shed light on the issues raised during the previous sessions.
The discussion on the request took less than 20 minutes and ended with the City Council approv-
FORMER Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza
lauded the Moro Islamic Lib-eration Front (MILF)’s sub-mission of application for accreditation of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) to the Commission of Election (Comelec) for the 2016 election.
“This is a positive step as MILF brings to the next level its clear intentions of peace-fully participating in the country’s electoral process,”
Dureza told Edge Davao yes-terday.
Dureza, however, said it is uncertain if the members of the party-list will win in the upcoming election de-spite the MILF’s effort to attain lasting peace in some parts of Mindanao.
“That will depend on the political building process of MILF and the public support they can generate,” he said.
Dureza, a Mindanao peace advocate, said the public should remember
that the electorate voting is not predominantly MILF.
“They (MILF) have to win their votes and MILF has to win over entrenched incumbent, non-MILF polit-ical leaders who have mas-tered their ‘craft’ of staying in power,” he said.
Dureza said he recom-mended a longer period of transition precisely so that MILF first comes of age be-fore being involved in an election.
“They are newcomers
and upstarts. Allow them op-portunity to first show that they are a different, com-petent breed of leaders,” he said.
Dureza said holding elec-tions in 2016 will be danger-ous. “MILF may not be ready yet to win elections and do good governance,” he said.
Political analyst and Ate-neo de Davao University fac-ulty member Ramon Beleno said the MILF’s submission of application for accredi-
AN American who escaped from the Bureau of Immigra-
tion (BI) holding facility in Davao has been recaptured in Tibangan, Iligan City after a six- day manhunt by BI Davao Intelligence Agents.
Douglas Brent Jackson was apprehended in a ho-tel in Andres Bonifacio Av-enue, Tibanga, Iligan City, Lanao, at 8 p.m., using the alias Ted Miller.
“The arrest was effect-ed by joint elements of BI and Philippine National Po-lice (PNP) operatives,” said BI spokesperson Elaine Tan in a statement.
Jackson escaped the bureau’s holding facility last December 7 by sawing off the grills of the window where he was detained.
The foreigner is now detained at the BI-Bicutan Detention facility pending
FORMER Agusan del Sur Rep. Maria Rachel Arenas called for careful study
of the proposal to change the country’s form of government to a federal system.
In an interview last Tues-day night at Park Inn by Radis-son Davao, Arenas told report-ers that the national govern-ment should study the effects of the proposed paradigm shift on its form and system.
“Kailangan makita natin yung positive na mangyayari if mag federalism tayo at yung negative din (We must see both the positive and negative
effects of federalism),” Arenas said.
She said the call for Char-ter change in order to effect a change to federalism will take a long time, and a lot of dis-cussion must be done in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Arenas said the call for federalism is now widely dis-cussed in Mindanao and also in the Visayas, which shows that this should be discussed in the two plenaries.
She said that the strong call to change the present sys-tem of government is due to
corruption issues such as the Priority Development Assis-tance Fund (PDAF) and Dis-bursement Acceleration Pro-gram (DAP).
“It has something to do with funds and they (federal-ism advocates) have pointed out that the fund will go to Im-perial Manila,” she said.
Arenas said with the pres-ent system, the central govern-ment really does not notice that other cities and provinces have the potential to be an in-vestment hub.
Arenas, however, said with little more than a year
before the Presidential elec-tion, federalism will likely not be discussed in 2015 unless President Aquino makes it a priority.
For his part, National Movement of Young Legis-lators president Kirk A. Asis said federalism will be advan-tageous to Mindanao since power will be distributed to the regions.
“Most of the time, the pres-ent system only focus in Impe-rial Manila,” Asis said.
He said if federalism ma-terializes, it will help places in Mindanao to be developed.
SAFETY FIRST. Public Safety Command Center (PSCC) chief Francisco Villaroman (sixth from right) presides over a meeting at the PSCC office yesterday between government agencies and bus operators to talk about the safety of passengers traveling to and from Davao City. The meeting stemmed from the recent bombing in Maramag, Bukidnon that killed 10 passengers. Lean Daval Jr.
IF healthcare and attention given to animals are indi-cators of the progress of
society, then Davao City is well on its way to holistic develop-ment. Last Sunday, December 14, 2014, 50 domestic short-haired cats were spayed and neutered in a campaign to curb
irresponsible breeding and an-imal abandonment.
Dr. Bayani Vandenbroeck of Doc Bayani’s Animal Well-ness Clinic led a team of veter-inarians that tirelessly worked to do all 50 surgeries in one day. Together with Dr. Vanden-broeck were Dr. Joanna Mer-
cader of Pets First Veterinary Clinic, Dr. Hyacinth May Pugoy of The Paws Palace Veterinary Clinic, Dr. Harold Burnos of Doc Bayani’s Animal Wellness Clinic, and Dr. Bobbie Celera.
Puspins (pusang pinoy) of all shapes and sizes from all over Davao City were brought
THE Police Regional Of-fice (PRO) 11 record-ed a higher number
of administrative cases filed against police officials from January to December this year compared with last year.
For 2014, PRO 11 re-corded 114 administrative cases against police officers, of which 79 are considered
resolved while 29 are still pending.
Last year, PRO 11 record-ed only 77 administrative cas-es, of which 73 were resolved while four are still pending.
PRO 11 spokesperson Chief Inspector Antonio Ri-vera said most of the cases for this year are negligence of duty, Violence Against Wom-
en and their Children (VAWC), and grave misconduct.
“Negligence of duty had the highest number because many failed to take the phys-ical test. That’s what pushed up the number of cases,” Rive-ra said.
Rivera said the resolved cases last year were either exonerated or penalized while
the four remaining pending cases are in relation to drug cases.
Rivera also clarified that the recorded cases exclude the case of Davao City Police Office (DCPO) director Senior Superintendent Vicente Da-nao Jr. because the case was filed in another office and not with PRO 11.
THE Police Region-al Office (PRO) 11 recorded a higher
number of administrative cases filed against police officials from January to December this year com-pared with last year.
For 2014, PRO 11 re-corded 114 administrative cases against police offi-cers, of which 79 are con-sidered resolved while 29 are still pending.
Last year, PRO 11 re-corded only 77 adminis-trative cases, of which 73
were resolved while four are still pending.
PRO 11 spokesperson Chief Inspector Antonio Rivera said most of the cases for this year are neg-ligence of duty, Violence Against Women and their Children (VAWC), and grave misconduct.
“Negligence of duty had the highest number because many failed to take the physical test. That’s what pushed up the number of cases,” Rivera
THE provincial govern-ment of South Cotabato is targeting to begin ear-
ly next year the upgrading of its provincial hospital following the approval of a P70-million grant from the Department of Health (DOH).
Dr. Rogelio Aturdido Jr., South Cotabato Integrated Pro-vincial Health Office chief, said Thursday they have already submitted to the DOH central office the detailed plan for the project, which will involve the rehabilitation and expansion of the hospital’s main building, wards and other vital facilities.
He said the hospital’s upgrading, which is among the top priorities of the local government, initially received a funding of P20 million ear-
ly this year from the DOH’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP).
But the agency approved an additional P50-million grant for the project following a visit and inspection of the facility last July by Health Sec-retary Enrique Ona and Senate President Franklin Drilon.
“They personally saw the hospital’s situation and the need for its immediate rehabil-itation and upgrading so they pushed for the release of the additional funding,” Aturdido said.
Aside from the P70-mil-lion grant, the official said South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes is currently working for another “bigger
84 Davao cats given healthcare
Water interruptionon Dec. 20 and 21
SoCot prov’l hospitalupgraded next year
HAPPY MEOWLIDAYS
By VIDA MIA VALVERDE
The team behind Happy Meowlidays, headed by Doc Bayani (leftmost)Edge Davao columnist Vida Valverde with her cats to be spayed and neutered.
to the compound of Doc Bayani’s clinic in Maa.
This event, aptly titled Happy Meaowlidays, was ini-tiated by Katrina Carriedo of The Kat Closet, which started as a personal hobby of sell-ing cat-themed shirts to help finance care for rescued cats. Her passion for cats, persever-ance, and collaboration with Doc Bayani laid the foundation from which an animal health-care endeavor of this kind came to fruition.
The owners of the puspins were asked to give a minimal fee of P500 for each cat spayed or neutered. Normally, a vet would charge P4000 for spay-ing and P1500 for neutering.
Spaying is done on female cats and is more complex as it involves abdominal surgery to remove the uterus and ovaries. On the other hand, neutering is done on the male cats and in-volves removal of testicles.
The surgical team gener-ously extended their time and expertise for free as the lineup of cats never seemed to end. At
CONTEST PIECE. Employees of the city government of Davao put the finishing touches on their Christmas tree, which is their entry to the “Pasko ng Empleyado” Christmas tree contest at Rizal Park yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.
THE Land Transporta-tion Franchising and Regulatory Board (LT-
FRB) has set the hearing on the petition for reduction of fare in buses, taxis, and util-ity vehicles for January 9, 2015.
In a statement, LTFRB chair Winston Ginez said it is about time that a hearing be set since commuters have long been expecting it.
“We understand that due to successive decrease in the prices of diesel in the glob-al market, the commuting public should also feel the movement of the price of oil,” Ginez said.
“That is why the Board is holding a public hearing to meet with lawmakers to address our petition and con-sumer groups,” he added.
The hearing will be held starting 9 a.m. at the LTFRB main office in Quezon City.
LTFRB said a Notice of Hearing was already trans-mitted by the Board to peti-tioner Negros Oriental Rep-resentative Manuel Iway.
In his petition filed on December 17, Iway asked the Board to reduce the flag
down fare for taxis from the present P40 to P30; and from the current P3.50 to P2.50 for every succeeding three hun-dred (300) meters, for taxi services nationwide.
Iway, a former LTFRB board member, also request-ed for a P2 cut in bus fare or from P10 to P8 for the first five kilometers; and from P1.85 to P1.50 for every suc-ceeding kilometer.
He also asked for a reduc-tion of airport taxi’s flagdown rate to P70 for the first 500 meters and to P4 for every succeeding 300 meters.
Based on the notice of hearing, the petitioner has 15 days prior to the date of the hearing to publish the Notice of Hearing in a newspaper of general circulation. The pe-titioners should also submit proof of compliance with the jurisdictional requirements.
Meanwhile, the Board said that it will also allow op-posing parties of the approv-al of the proposed fare reduc-tion to file their position pri-or to the hearing date. Both parties should also appear to submit their position papers on the same date. (PNA)
LTFRB to hold hearing onfare reduction next month
NO TO COAL. Iliganons attending a march to commemorate the third anniversary of Typhoon Sendong on Wednesday express their opposition to the proposed coal-fired power plant to be built inside the compound of cement manufacturer La Farge Iligan. MindaNews photo by Roberto Klemente Timonera
THE Department of Transportation and C o m m u n i c a t i o n
(DOTC) called private firms on Monday to bid for the bundled development, op-eration, and maintenance of six key regional gateways, including the Davao Inter-national Airport (DIA or the Francisco Bangoy Interna-tional Airport).
In an invitation to pre-qualify and bid, DOTC and the Civil Aviation Au-thority of the Philippines (CAAP) invited prospective bidders to submit applica-tions to pre-qualify and bid to finance, design, construct, operate, and maintain the project for a period of 30 years.
Based on the project de-scription, the private sector proponent shall take over the operations and maintenance of the airport, undertake im-mediate expansion of passen-ger terminal buildings, apron, other airsides and landsides facilities, and any capacity
augmentation of the airport that may be required to cater future demand throughout the contractual term.
One of the bundled proj-ects for public-private part-nership (PPP) is the develop-ment of the DIA with an esti-mated cost of P40.57 billion.
The other five are the Ba-colod-Silay International Air-port (P20.26 billion), Iloilo International Airport (P30.4 billion), Laguindingan Air-port (14.62 billion), Puerto Princesa Airport (P5.81 bil-lion), and New Bohol Airport (P4.57 billion).
The project for DIA is expected to be implemented by phase. For the first phase, the indicative development requirements include the expansions of the passen-ger terminal building with an additional of 19,000 to 32,000 square meters; of the cargo terminal building with an additional 8,000 to 12,000 square meters; and expansion of other key fa-cilities such as card parking
admin building and other in-frastructures like passenger boarding, bridges fuel farms and curbs, among others.
DOTC believes it is cru-cial to develop these airports because of the anticipated influx of the growing number of domestic and internation-al passengers in the years to come.
DIA is the third busiest airport in the Philippines after Ninoy Aquino Interna-tional Airport in Manila and Mactan Cebu International Airport in Cebu. It has either exceeded its current design capacities or is nearing the design capacity level.
From 2008 to 2012, DIA recorded a growth rate of 6.9 percent in the number of for-eign arrivals and 13.77 per-cent for domestic. In 2012, DIA received a total of 34,905 foreign passengers and 2.76 million locals.
For cargo, it has grown to about 7.01 percent from 2008 to 2012. In 2012, DIA recorded 43,862 metric tons
(MT).Officials of the airport
projected that the interna-tional and domestic passen-gers short term growth rate (1-5 years) for 10 percent to 20 percent and seven percent to 13 percent, respective-ly. Cargo, meanwhile, has a growth rate of seven percent to 12 percent.
The PPP projects will be implemented under an oper-ate-add-transfer (OAT) con-tract, where DOTC and CAAP will enter into concession agreements to expand, oper-ate and maintain the existing airports with private opera-tors.
Concessionaires will op-erate the facility on behalf of the implementing agencies (DOTC and CAAP) in line with specified performance standards and specifications.
The project information memorandum will be avail-able to interested parties by December 23 and the in-structions to prospective bid-ders in February next year.
OIL prices advanced from a five- year low Wednesday as trad-
ers speculated that excessive supplies will decline amid the low prices.
Crude prices jumped about 5 percent, then pared earlier gains after the U.S. Energy Information Admin-istration (EIA) reported a supply increase at the U.S. storage hub at Cushing, Okla-homa.
The EIA said Wednesday
for the week ending Dec. 12, U.S. crude stockpiles fell 0.8 million barrels to 379.9 million, while inventories at Cushing, the delivery point for contracts, increased 2.9 million barrels to 27.8 mil-lion barrels.
Russia Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Tues-day crude output from Rus-sia, one of the world’s largest crude producers, will main-tain its crude output of 10.6 million barrels a day in 2015.
“The price will stabilize itself. Some investment proj-ects by oil companies may be reconsidered, but so far they have not adjusted anything,” Novak told reporters at a meeting in Doha, Qatar.
The oil prices fell to the five-year low Tuesday as there was no sign that pro-ducers would cut production in response to the slump.
Suhail Al-Mazrouei, en-ergy minister of the United Arab Emirates, said Sunday
that the Organization of Pe-troleum Exporting Countries will refrain from cutting out-put even if prices fall as low as 40 dollars.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery moved up 54 cents to settle at 56.47 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Ex-change, while Brent crude for February delivery gained 1.17 dollars to close at 61.18 dollars a barrel. (PNA/Xin-hua)
THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)
has approved the alloca-tion of P16.9 million to widen the bridge in Baran-gay Balangasan, Pagadian City.
Engineer Reynerio Al-cachupas, DPWH’s first engineering district head, said Thursday the works to widen the bridge in Balan-gasan have already started and is expected to be com-pleted by May 2015.
Alcachupas said the widening of the bridge is in preparation for the widen-ing of the Zamboanga-Pa-gadian highway.
He said the Balangasan bridge will be widened by 15 meters.
The DPWH official ap-pealed for the indulgence of the public for the incon-venience, which is tempo-rary in nature, as the wid-ening works is expected to affect the flow of traffic. (PNA)
THE Department of Sci-ence and Technology (DOST) in Region 12
has released around P36.65 million worth of “innovation support” this year to vari-ous micro, small and medi-um enterprises (MSMEs) in the region.
Dr. Zenaida Hadji Raof-Laidan, DOST Region 12 director, said Thursday the assistance comprise the re-gion’s allocation this year under its flagship Small Enterprise Technology Up-grading Program (SETUP).
She said a total of 27 MSMEs in the region have benefited from the program, which included the provi-sion of technical support and other related services.
The agency released P11.69 million worth of as-sistance to 11 beneficiaries during the first half of the year while the remaining P27.55 million was distrib-uted to 16 others in the sec-ond half, she said.
Also known as Soccsk-sargen, Region 12 compris-es the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotaba-to and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacu-rong, Kidapawan and Cota-bato.
“The assistance allowed the beneficiaries to acquire and adopt new technologies and innovations to address their technical problems as well as improve their pro-ductivity and product qual-ity,” Laidan said in a state-ment.
A report released by DOST-12 showed that four MSMEs based in this city received financial and tech-nical assistance under the program.
These are the JPRG Trade and Services, KM Food Prod-ucts, Greenlands Agri-Tech Ventures and CLG Food Products.
The agency provided a package of technical as-sistance to Angel Resort, Aquaculture and Agricul-ture Farmlands, Inc. based in Kiamba town in Sarangani Province.
In South Cotabato, the
recipients were the Matutum Agri-Lime Marketing, Durian Garden and Monte Farms in Polomolok town; Villa Edna Farm and Niños Food Prod-ucts in Tupi; Sunrice Solivio Rice Mill in Surallah; and, Pascual Bakery Equipment and Services, Balaoing En-terprises and Mang Gorio Bahay Kainan in Koronadal City.
In North Cotabato, the firms that received sup-port from the program were Joyce & Jong Machine Shop and Motor Parts, NCV Workshop and Tecuala Mini Sawmill and Woodworks in Kidapawan City; FC Martinez Industrial Machine Shop in Midsayap; and, King JEM Co-conut Products Philippines, Inc. in Makilala.
The agency also assisted Salinas Breadtop, Danwel Furniture & General Mer-chandize, 3DCs Light and Heavy Equipment Repair Shop and Engineering Ser-vices and Gabato Machine Shop in Tacurong City; To-reña Aqua Farm in Lebak; Sultan Kudarat Coffee Ven-tures in Senator Ninoy Aqui-no; Isulan Glass and General Merchandize in Isulan; Erese Sugar Mill in President Quiri-no; and, Municipal Aggies Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Esperanza.
Laidan said the technical assistance that they extend-ed focused on boosting the productivity and competive-ness of the beneficiary-MS-MEs.
She said the support includes human resources development, cost minimi-zation, waste management, product standardization, operation-related activities and identification of neces-sary or appropriate machin-eries and equipment.
The MSMEs that were covered by the program were engaged in food pro-cessing; manufacture of fur-niture and home furnishings, gifts, holiday decors and fashion accessories; marine and aquatic resources; horti-culture; metal and engineer-ing; information and com-munication technology; and, Halal food production. (PNA)
GIFT-GIVING SEASON. A woman chooses from a wide array of Christmas gift bags being sold outside a shopping center along San Pedro Street in Davao City. Lean Daval Jr.
NOT too many Filipinos know it, but abaca is one of the country’s
most important products. In fact, you can find these prod-ucts everywhere, anywhere, and anytime.
If you happen to attend a wedding, you will definitely see one of the principal spon-sors wearing an ornate abaca fabric barong outfit. Try going to a shipyard and you will see strong abaca fibers used by mooring aids for docking sea vessels.
Now do this. Pick out one of the peso bills from your wal-let and stare at them. Do you know that 30 percent of the paper materials for Philippine currency are now made from abaca fibers?
In a study conducted by Dr. Leslie Lantice-Diaz, it was found that abaca fibers can attain a tensile strength of up to 970 Mpa (megapascal). A 2.5-centimeter diameter abaca rope is capable of withstand-ing over four tons full before yielding.
“The very durable nature of abaca is not the only qual-ity of this natural fiber that makes it in demand in the market,” said a report. “Its en-vironment-friendly and biode-gradable nature makes man-ufacturers, especially those in Europe, to use abaca over syn-thetic fibers.
“Coffee cups and tea bags are among the products that make use of abaca. These food containers highlight abaca fi-ber’s sanitary nature,” the re-port added. “Many European institutions had already ad-opted a policy of turning away from non-biodegradables like plastics.”
Aside from those men-tioned earlier, abaca has many other uses. For one, the fiber is used for many things including handicraft, high quality bags. “Our sinamay is used as blade for wind mills,” said Dr. Editha O. Lomerio, project leader of Abakayamanan, a project that combines farming of abaca with other crops like coconut. Sinamay is a natural fabric
made from abaca.Roots may be converted
into fertilizer and feeds. The roots of abaca are of prima-ry shallow root compared to hardwood trees which have deep roots. These may be up-rooted more easily and may be chopped down to be made into fertilizer and feed.
Other products are elec-trolytic condenser paper, high grade decorative paper, Bible paper, coffee filter, meat and sausage casings, special art paper, cable insulation paper, adhesive tape paper, lens tis-sue, mimeograph stencil base tissue, carbonizing tissue, cur-rency paper, checks, cigarette paper, vacuum cleaner bag, abrasive base paper, weather-proof bristol, map, chart, diplo-ma paper, nonwovens, and oil blotting paper.
Abaca has also food values. Abaca leaves, for instance, can be used as growing material for mushroom. Coconut ex-tract may be used as soap as it can heal psoriasis. The flower of abaca may be used as ham-burger material. “We want to promote it as a zero waste crop,” said Dr. Lomerio.
Known worldwide as Ma-nila hemp, abaca is obtained from a tree-like banana plant, scientifically called Mussa textiles. It is indigenous to the Philippines. The Fiber Indus-try Development Authority (FIDA) shares this informa-tion: “Abaca has been grown in the Philippines for centu-ries, long before the Spanish occupation. When Magellan and his companions arrived in Cebu in 1521, they noticed that the natives were wearing clothes made from the fiber of abaca plant, noting further that the weaving of the fiber was already widespread in the island.”
However, it was not until 1685 that abaca was known in the Western world. Then, in 1820, John White, an Ameri-can naval officer, brought few abaca fibers for testing to the United States. It proved to have superior tensile strength over any other known cordage, es-
Text and Photos By HENRYLITO D. TACIO
EDGEDAVAO
AGRITRENDS
pecially under sea water.“The Japanese also took
keen interest in abaca for na-val use,” wrote Ernee Lawagan in an article which appeared in the defunct Mod. “They improved the method of pro-duction introduced by the Americans and put the abaca industry in the Philippines to a higher level of efficiency.”
It was in the 1920s when the Philippines monopolized the world production of aba-ca fibers. “During those times, wars were won by countries with superior navies and con-sidering that cordage was vital to naval operation, the Philippine monopoly in abaca production alarmed the Amer-icans,” reported Lawagan.
“In 1921, the U.S. Depart-ment of Agriculture decided to cultivate abaca in Central America, particularly in Pana-ma, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras, using the most out-standing Philippine abaca vari-eties. Much of these resulted in failure,” Lawagan wrote.
After World War II, Furu-kawa Yoshizo, one of the pre-war abaca plantation owners
in Davao, started field-testing and successfully cultivating abaca in Ecuador. “Today, Ec-uador is the only other country commercially producing abaca in the world,” Lawagan noted. “Costa Rica, on the other hand, is now developing modern harvest facilities as studies in-dicated that its land could ac-commodate high yields of the crop.”
In later years, on the on-rush of modern technology, ab-aca was relegated to the back-ground. Lawagan reported: “The advent of oil-based syn-thetic fibers in the mid-1950s, which rapidly replaced the traditional usage of natural fi-bers, displaced abaca as prime cordage material and precipi-tated its almost total collapse. The Philippine abaca industry suffered a slump as prices hit rock-bottom that several farm-ers eventually phased out their plantations.”
But thanks to the glob-al shortage of many natural resources and the pollution being wrought by synthetic products on the environment, abaca stages a comeback. FIDA
reports: “Significant break-throughs in technology and processes took place in the ‘60s that brought about devel-opment of new uses for abaca, particularly in the use of pulp for the production of specialty paper products.”
As demand for abaca for pulp use increased, Filipino investors became interested in domestically producing abaca pulp. Other investors followed suit with most of them tied-up with foreign companies, which, due to strict anti-pol-lution laws in their respective countries, transferred their pulp operations in the Philip-pines.
At the time when demand for abaca was declining, the government encouraged the development of the fibercraft industry. Fibercraft products like abaca rugs, doormats, hats, coasters, hot pads, linen and handbags became very much in demand abroad. By mid-70s, the fibercraft indus-try became the second biggest foreign exchange earner for the abaca industry, next to raw fiber exports.
The Philippines remain the world’s largest producer of abaca. As of 2010, the Phil-ippines supplies about 85.0 percent of the total world aba-ca requirement and the rest, by Ecuador. From 2001 to 2010, the abaca industry generated some US$82.1million per year from the exports of raw fiber and manufactures.
Because of its economic importance, the government is pushing for abaca’s further de-velopment. “We have to push all commercial uses of abaca. Once fully developed, this in-dustry can be a huge driver of economic and jobs growth,” said Senator Loren Legarda, who chairs the Senate commit-tee on economic affairs.
Eastern Visayas is the country’s biggest producer of abaca fiber. The other top provinces are Catanduanes, Lanao del Sur, Davao del Sur, Leyte, Sulu, Davao Oriental, Camarines Sur, and Surigao del Sur. In 2011, the total area devoted to abaca was 172,528 hectares at a total product of 73,274 metric tons of abaca fiber.
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As a tradition, Lumads from the highlands of Davao City come down during the Christmas season for their tradi-tional pamasko.
It’s saddening to note that three of them have died according to report due to an assortment of illnesses while staying here in the city’s urban center.
But there’s more to dying of illnesses that’s more saddening about the Lumads coming down for their ‘pamasko.’ The sad-dest part is being ignored and worse, shooed away by some of us.
They come knocking on cars at intersections, poke everyone passing by on sidewalks and beat their drums while singing odd tunes in subdivisions and offices. They may be annoying at times but that’s simply because we are not used to these.
Come to think of it, they, too, are not used to doing these things. They were invited to come and do their pamasko. And just because it’s Christmas and they are told we are happy giv-ers and we are gracious hosts to carolers, they have decided to accept the invitation.
So the least that we can do to our Lumad brothers and sisters is to share our love and there are many ways of doing that – more than just giving money. It’s as simple as returning a smile, a touch, or talking to them instead of shooing them away.
As the biblical passage goes, what we do to the least of our brothers, we also do to God. It’s the season of giving and loving, so let’s show them some love. It’s the most genuine expression of celebrating Christmas, more than the glittery costumes and the festive banquets at parties.
UP to 35 percent of the losses in an-nual crop production worldwide are due to pests, according to the Rome-
based UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Of the estimated one million insects in the world, some 180 species frequently cause serious damage to crops.
Any material used to kill pests is called a pesticide, and usually any organism that competes with humans for food, fiber, or liv-ing space is called a pest. The use of chemicals to kill pests is not a new idea. For centuries, farmers have used minerals such as arsenic, lead, and mercury or natural plant substanc-es to kill insects and other pests.
For a long time, no one seemed to ques-tion the safety of pesticides. Not until 1962, when marine biologists and writer Rachel Carson wrote the now classic Silent Spring. In her book, she described how pesticides cause long-term hazards to birds, fish, other wild-life, and humans, but provides only short-term gains to controlling the pests.
“Pesticides are like bombs being dropped in the food web creating enormous destruc-tion,” said Dr. K. L. Heong, an entomologist who once worked with the Laguna-based In-ternational Rice Research Institute.
Pesticides also pose health risks to people who are exposed to them. “There is direct evi-dence from clinical and epidemiological stud-ies of humans who are occupationally or ac-cidentally exposed to pesticides that normal immune system structure and functions are altered,” reports the Washington-D.C.-based World Resources Institute.
It is for this reason that scientists are con-stantly looking for alternative ways of dealing with plant pests. And this where Bt comes in. Bt stands for Bacillus thuringiensis, a com-mon soil bacterium so-called because it was
first isolated in the Thuringia region of Ger-many.
“Bt pro-duces a pro-tein that paralyzes the larvae of some harmful in-sects, includ-ing the cotton bollworm and the Asian and European corn borers, all of which are com-mon plant pests whose infestations produce devastating effects on important crops,” notes a briefing paper circulated by the In-ternational Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA).
How does Bt act? “When ingested by the larva of the target insect, the Bt protein is activated in the gut’s alkaline condition and punctures the mid-gut leaving the insect un-able to eat,” the briefing paper explains. “The insect dies within a few days.”
Bt’s ability to produce the insecticidal protein has paved the way for several studies to exploit the organism’s agronomic value. So far, more than 200 types of Bt proteins have been identified with varying degrees of toxic-ity to some insects.
In the past, Bt was cultured by fermen-tation. It has been used as an insecticide by farmers around the world for over 40 years now. In fact, organic farming has benefited from Bt insecticides as it is one of the very few pesticides permitted by organic standards.
As an insecticide, Bt is applied either as a spray or as ground applications. It comes in both granules and liquefied form. “The
efficiency of both applications is quite limit-ed, as target organisms often do not come in contact with the insecticide as they are found on the underside of the leaves or have already penetrated into the plant,” the briefing paper states.
Scientists are working to overcome this problem through the use of modern biotech-nology. What they do is take the Bt gene from the bacterium and incorporate it into the genome of plants. “Thus, these plants have a built-in mechanism of protection against targeted pests,” the briefing paper says. “The protein produced by the plants does not get washed away, nor is it destroyed by sunlight. The plant is thus protected from the boll-worm or the corn borer round the clock re-gardless of the situation.”
Among the crops where Bt was incorpo-rated include cotton, corn, poplar, potato, rice, soybean, and tomato. Recently, Bt has been introduced in eggplants, one of the most often-used fruit vegetables in the Philippines.
However, it is often attacked by eggplant fruit and shoot borer (EFSB), which is con-sidered as the most destructive insect pest. “The EFSB can cause as much as 50-75 per-cent loss of fruits,” said former Science Sec-retary Emil Q. Javier, who is the president of the National Academy of Science and Tech-nology. “The worm of the insect bore tunnels in the fruit, rendering them unfit for con-sumption.”
Unfortunately, there is no known genet-ic resistance to EFSB in cultivated and wild eggplants. “The insects are concealed in the shoots and fruits and are difficult to reach,” Dr. Javier explained. “Thus in order to pro-tect their crops, farmers spray their plants almost every other day with insecticides.”
The current methods used by some egg-
plant growers in controlling the fruit and shoot borer are unacceptable, said Dr. Emil-iana Bernardo, an entomologist and retired professor of the University of the Philippines. Many eggplant farmers spray chemical in-secticides every other day, or up to 80 times per growing season to control fruit and shoot borer infestation in their farms, she pointed out.
The practice is unacceptable and un-healthy to consumers, farmers and the envi-ronment. According to Dr. Bernardo, studies conducted in major eggplant producing prov-inces found that almost all farmers use chemi-cal insecticides and that some even dip the un-harvested eggplant fruits in a mix of chemicals just to ensure that harvests are marketable.
“The very basic question is, which is safer, the present practice or the alternative, the Bt eggplant which is rigorously evaluated by ex-perts?” she asked. “Is bathing the unharvested eggplant fruits in chemicals, which would end up in dinner tables of people, safe?”
But despite this, there are those who are oppose with Bt eggplant. “We are not an-ti-GMO. We are not anti-development or anti-technology,” Daniel Ocampo, sustain-able agriculture campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, was quoted as saying. Testing of GMOs (genetically-modified organisms), he added, “should be confined in the laboratory, not in the fields.”
Neal H. Cruz, in his Inquirer column, won-dered: “Why is Greenpeace doing this when biotechnology can improve the lives not only of Filipinos but also of the peoples of other na-tions? Some people suspect that Greenpeace is secretly working for the big manufacturers of chemical pesticides who will lose their lucra-tive markets if pest-resistant crops are propa-gated through biotechnology.”
POLICE have filed charges against one Macmod Manibpil as a suspect in the December 9, 2014 bombing of a bus in
Maramag, Bukidnon which killed 10 people and injured 42 others. Manibpil, who report-edly bolted the Kidapawan City Jail, is also a suspect in the 2006 bombing in Kabacan, North Cotabato.
Inspector Jiselle Longakit, spokesperson of the Bukidnon provincial police office, said Manibpil belongs to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Let’s try weaving together the facts pre-sented by the police. If Manibpil really belongs to the BIFF, it is implied that he was with the MILF at the time he allegedly carried out the Kabacan bombing. The BIFF only came about as fallout of the 2008 Memorandum of Agree-ment on Ancestral Domain fiasco. Before the BIFF, authorities were quick to point an accus-ing finger at the MILF (almost) every time a bombing occurred in parts of Mindanao even
if a ceasefire between the government and the rebel group was al-ready in place.
P o l i c e claimed a sketch based on the descrip-tion made by two witnesses matched the photo of Manibpil photo in the rogues gallery. Nonetheless, they added that aside from “fur-therance of their (BIFF) cause”, they are also looking at extortion and business rivalry as the other possible motives. That’s another way of saying they’re not 100-percent sure as yet of BIFF involvement for reasons other than the BIFF’s denial they had a hand in the incident.
Meawhile, Maj. Christian Uy of the 4th In-fantry Division said that an official from Rural
Transit Mindanao Inc. told the Regional Peace and Order Council that the company received text messages demanding P50,000 monthly or one of their buses would be bombed. Such story tends to give credence to the extortion angle except that the amount being demand-ed seems too small compared to the degree of brutality of the act.
Why the supposed extortionists only de-manded P50,000 a month – just a drop in the bucket of RTMI’s daily revenues – raises more questions than there are answers. If it was indeed extortion, why settle for a pittance? Why not P500,000 or even a million pesos a month? Would a real extortionist take the risk of carrying out a bombing for a measly sum? The pieces simply don’t fit.
Then a day after the Dec. 9 bombing, an alarmist text message warning that MILF forc-es would block some highways, harass or kill Christians, and attack government facilities because the peace agreement was no longer in effect, went around. Of course, such text mes-
sage was baseless and meant to mislead peo-ple who are not following the progress of the Bangsamoro process.
Yet, while that text message sounded stu-pid, we can only hope that it was not related to the Dec. 9 and Nov. 9 bombings in Bukid-non and the previous bombings that occurred in other parts of Mindanao. If it was related to the recent acts of violence against innocent ci-vilians, then it’s clear that some sectors would want to see the Bangsamoro aborted.
War creates widows and orphans. But peace also has its own “casualties”, aside from those who died in the bombings. The absence of war means slow promotion of military of-ficials and reduced arms sales, among others. The stakes are so high the death of a dozen or more civilians would mean nothing to the sab-oteurs. Corporate and institutional greed has been known to commit far worse atrocities.
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. H. Marcos C. Mordeno can be reached at [email protected].)
between the operators and DCOTT which stipulates that the all bus units are prohib-ited from picking up passen-gers outside the terminal.
“Kaya may DCOTT tayo kasi diyan dadaan lahat ng pasahero. For security rea-sons, doon i-check yung mga baggage nila, or kung may mga baril sila, or may contraband (That is why we have DCOTT in the first place because passengers should pass through there. For secu-rity reasons, their bags will be checked to see if they are carrying firearms or contra-band),” he said.
Villaroman said the MOA stipulates that buses can pick up passengers outside the DCOTT provided they will conduct a baggage check-up. He said, however, that he doubts if the conductors can do the check on passengers.
Earlier, Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte ordered Villaroman-to come up with a protocol for buses that continuously pick up passengers outside DCOTT.
LAUGH OUT LOUD. Barangay captain Juanito Flores (center) of Barangay Sasa laughs his heart out while watching the humorous performance of Manila-based comedian Pooh during Wednesday afternoon’s Christmas party for barangay officials at the Davao City Recreation Center. Lean Daval Jr.
ing the endorsement of the processing plant.
During the delibera-tion, Duterte-Carpio told the councilors that her client complied with all the requirements when he applied for a business per-mit only to be told by the Business Bureau that the dressing plant is “akin to a slaughterhouse.”
“All the requirements for a business permit were already complied with ex-cept that we are in issue with the Business Bureau with regards to a dress-ing plant and a slaughter-house,” Duterte-Carpio said.
She said they told the Business Bureau that the dressing plant is not in the same category as a slaughterhouse “but the Business Bureau insisted that it is. So we went up to the City Council because we need permission from the City Council to operate a slaughterhouse.”
In an interview with reporters, Duterte-Carpio said her client really need-
ed a resolution from the City Council so he can at-tached it to his applica-tion.
“The City Council ap-proved it. We might ask for a provisional tempo-rary permit to operate since we cannot get the business permit immedi-ately,” she said.
She said their request for the temporary permit will still depend on wheth-er or not the Business Bu-reau will allow.
Duterte-Carpio clar-ified that the dressing plant is still closed as of this moment since her client received a cease and desist order from the Business Bureau.
The application for en-dorsement was deferred several times because of issues raised by some councilors during the pre-vious sessions, particular-ly that the area where the plant is located us part of the watershed protect-ed area declared by the Watershed Management Council. [ABF]
tation was “actually a nice move.”
“That means that they are serious in participating in our democratic processes. That instead of using armed struggle to have their voices heard, they would be using the legal and peaceful way, by officially joining the dem-ocratic institutions,” he said.
Beleno said the MILF has a decent chance within the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) jurisdiction.
“But nationally, it will be a difficult challenge. They should resist being used by these traditional political parties. Otherwise, they will lose their identity
and credibility,” he said.For his part, Mindanao
Business Council (MinBC) chair Vicenta Lao said the MILF’s move is “a good development… because now they will already be involved with mainstream politics.”
MILF vice chair for po-litical affairs GhadzaliJaa-
far said in an earlier report that UBJP members will be coming from Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Sulu, Basilan and Ta-wi-Tawi, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, Davao City, Compostela Val-ley, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Butuan, and Bukidnon. CRC
the implementation of his deportation order.
Jackson was issued a summary deportation or-der on August 29, 2014 for being a fugitive in the USA for theft.
The manhunt operation was led by Atty. Jose Carli-
tos Licas, Chief of the Intel-ligence Division together with BI-Davao Alien Con-trol Officer Eddie De Lima, Intelligence Officer Abdul-lah Madale, Special Agent Melody Gonzales and Con-fidential Agent Mark An-drew Asistido. (PNA)
project” for the provincial hos-pital.
The DOH earlier agreed to send a team of experts to the area to study and evaluate the operations of the provincial hospital.
The team will help the local government identify problems and recommend the necessary reforms to help improve the management and operations of the hospital.
As of end-November, the facility already generated
around P160 million in reve-nues that was up by nearly P30 million compared to last year.
The provincial hospital posted a total income of P133 million in 2013 and P89 mil-lion in 2012.
Aturdido said they had been pushing for the hospital’s upgrading to mainly cope with its growing occupancy rate and demand for various hospi-tal-related services.
Although listed by the DOH as a 200-bed tertiary fa-
cility, the provincial hospital’s daily occupancy rate reaches as high as 170 percent, which is equivalent to a total of 340 patients.
Aside from being over-crowded, he said the hospital has a total work force of only 479, which is 130 less than the ideal manpower set by the DOH for a 200-bed facility.
In 2013, the DOH invested a total of P26.5-million for the initial improvements at the provincial hospital through
the HFEP.Around P20 million was
spent for the rehabilitation and construction of hospital facilities while the P6.5 mil-lion was utilized for the acqui-sition of various equipment.
For this year, the DOH allotted an additional P48.7 million under HFEP to fund various projects in the province, specifically the improvement of the area’s three district and municipal hospitals.
said.Rivera said the re-
solved cases last year were either exonerated or pe-nalized while the four re-maining pending cases are in relation to drug cases.
Rivera also clarified
that the recorded cases exclude the case of Davao City Police Office (DCPO) director Senior Superin-tendent Vicente Danao Jr. because the case was filed in another office and not with PRO 11.
the end of a long day, 50 cats were spayed and neutered as well as given anti-rabies and deworming shots, plus another 34 cats were also given anti-rabies and de-worming shots.
All in all, Happy Meowl-idays helped 84 cats live
longer and healthier lives, which in turn frees the own-ers and communities from unnecessary expense, anx-iety, and opportunity for cruelty when they choose to abandon unwanted animals.
Indeed, a city that takes into consideration the
well-being of its marginal-ized creatures shows that it is well on its way towards holistic growth and devel-opment. It is hoped that the next event of this kind will garner more support from the various stakeholders of the city. Congratulations
and more power to the team behind Happy Meowl-idays.
The team behind Hap-py Meowlidays, headed by Doc Bayani (leftmost).
Edge Davao columnist Vida Valverde with her cats to be spayed and neutered.
izo-Quimpo, delivering a mes-sage by Governor Florencio T. Miraflores said: “My heartfelt gratitude to Globe for involv-ing Aklan in the continued rehabilitation program. Even if it was over a year already, we cannot deny that many Aklanons are still struggling to regain what they have lost in the catastrophic typhoon. Thank you for Noah’s Ark, the newest crucial project for Ak-lanons. Surely, this will serve many purposes not only for the pupils but for the whole community. Thank you for establishing corporate social responsibility advocacies to complement network de-velopment. Thank you for
considering our province as primary development area. Be assured that the provin-cial government of Aklan will always be willing to partner with you to better serve our investors, our tourists, and our fellow Aklanons.”
On top of the seven No-ah’s Arks, Globe also commit-ted to build 33 regular “built back better” classrooms in the identified municipalities to be funded by proceeds of Project 1 Phone, the company’s elec-tronic waste recycling cam-paign, and its parent-compa-ny Ayala Corporation.
“As development partner for Aklan, it is our role to move things faster for the recovery
and the rehabilitation of the province with the assistance of OPARR,” said Yoly Crisanto, SVP of Globe Corporate Com-munications.
“Aside from bonding us internally, Typhoon Haiyan also bonded as closer to our customers in terms of be-ing able to look after them, providing relief in times of disaster, and keeping an eye on their needs, among others. Also, corporate social respon-sibility is no longer just for our CSR team. For instance, Globe Platinum is funding Noah’s Ark, Globe Prepaid is bringing livelihood activities to Aklanons while Globe Tat-too is building homes,” Cri-
santo added.Globe has started build-
ing 40 homes in New Wash-ington in partnership with Gawad Kalinga and UT Glob-al Foundation. Twenty-eight houses are also set to be con-structed in Libacao.
Globe is also providing livelihood opportunities through Custom Made Crafts Center, a non-government organization involved in dye and abaca production and the Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme aside from the distribution of Au-toloadMax retailer kits to 100 beneficiaries of the DSWD’s Pantawid Pampamilyang Pil-ipino Program in Malay.
AFTER finishing the B a c l a r a n - L e y t e route on Tuesday,
Redemptorist priest Fr. Amado Picardal began the Mindanao leg of his bike tour for the climate Wednesday from the Lipa-ta Port in Surigao City.
The 60-year-old priest started pedaling around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, shortly after arriving here from Liloan, Southern Leyte via a roll-on-roll off vessel.
“I embarked on this bike-tour in memory of the victims of super ty-phoon ‘Yolanda’ (2013), ’Pablo” (2012) and Sen-dong (2011),” he told Min-daNews.
Picardal left Baclaran in Manila last Wednes-day for a bike journey that he hopes would raise awareness about climate change.
MindaNews joined Picardal from Surigao City up to the junction of Bad-as, Placer town in Surigao del Norte, a distance of 30 kilometers, along with Jayjay Baldonado, a triath-lete from this city.
“We should do some-thing to respond to di-sasters because this is a serious threat to human-ity,” Picardal said, adding the typhoons that hit the country claimed thou-sands of lives.
Picardal’s bike tour stretches a total of 1,800
kilometers. His final des-tination is Iligan City, on Dec. 23.
“My bike from Luzon to Visayas was colorful. I was impressed by the beauty of nature in those places, I really appreciate it well. I saw poverty here, there and everywhere,” he said.
Down twicePicardal said his advo-
cacy is what keeps him go-ing because “this keeps me energized”.
But he said he had fallen from his bike twice already – the first after hit-ting an uneven road some-where in Plaridel in Luzon, and the second was on a descent along the Quirino Highway also in Luzon.
“In the second accident I did not notice that the road had loose gravel. I got minor bruises and my knee is still swollen after those accidents,” he said.
Picardal said he could not go beyond 20-27 kilo-meters per hour because he has to maintain a heart rate of below 140 beats per minute.
He added that on his first 50-kilometer run he suffered leg cramps that forced him to reduce his speed. “I have to relax be-cause my muscle in the legs had tightened.”
With no support vehi-cle, as he finds it awkward for his campaign, he said he just uses mental tough-
ness to reach his goal.Picardal also got flat
tires twice which delayed his arrival in some places. Nonetheless, he managed to make it to Tacloban City from Baclaran in five days, which was shorter than his previous trip along the same route.
In 2000, Picardal did a ‘bike for peace’ advoca-cy with a total distance of 2,080 kilometers from Davao to Pagudpud in Ilo-cos Norte, after deposed president Joseph Estrada waged all-out-war against the Moro Islamic Libera-tion Front.
In 2006, he did a bike around Mindanao for the Life and Peace campaign, covering a total distance of 2,100 kilometers, to pro-test extra-judicial killings, human right violations, mining and logging.
He endured a 5,160-ki-lometer bike tour in 2008 from Davao to Aparri in Cagayan Valley and back to Davao.
Picardal also hiked from Davao to Appari via the Cordilleras.
Calling himself an ul-tra-marathoner, the priest said that in Spain, he ran 800 kilometers barefoot.
“In all of these, it’s not about bike and run per se, but once I’m in the church I always ask if I could preach on my advocacy,” he said.
Aside from the church,
he said he shares his ad-vocacy everywhere, on the road, in a store or in a wait-ing shed while taking rest.
Prior to this tour, his doctor warned him not to proceed citing the risk. “I was diagnosed with ath-erosclerosis and myocar-dial ischemia. It’s a mild heart ailment,” he ex-plained.
But Picardal went on despite the risk and even if he had tooth extraction prior to the tour. “I can’t bear the pain. I was ad-vised by my dentist not to proceed.”
Misa de GalloLast Sunday, Picardal
held a mass at the Redemp-torist church in Tacloban where he told the church-goers about what he’s do-ing. “People were shocked by what they heard. They were awed by what I did and what I’m doing right now,”
“It’s not about disasters but it’s about the cause of it,” he told the churchgoers.
He said he just wanted to remind people that cli-mate change is a serious threat to humanity. “We need to act, we need to tell the government to do something about this and the people must respond to this by doing simple things like riding a bike in going to office or school in-stead of riding a car.”
Picardal stopped
Wednesday by Prosper-idad in Agusan del Sur where he officiated the traditional Misa de Gallo Thursday. On Friday, he will do the same in New Bataan, Compostela.
He said that since the start of the nine-day Misa de Gallo on Dec. 16, he would request to preach at a church in the place where he would sleep for the night.
‘One day, one eat’Picardal’s food intake
follows a Spartan regi-men. He said he doesn’t take breakfast, only a cup of coffee before getting on the bike.
By lunch time, he just takes water and a few min-utes of rest. He said he had tried surviving a few days with just water. “I rest, I do catnaps. That makes me recover when I get tired.”
At evening, it’s refuel-ing time for the priest. “I eat heavy meal at dinner for me to fully recover.”
He said he sleeps only five to six hours a day. But on his trip to Surigao from Liloan, he slept for only one hour.
“Feel groggy, would just find a waiting shed and take some rest for a while,” he said with a smile.
TrainingFr. Picardal said he
trained on his own for at least three months before the tour. “I do bike 3-4 days
in a week. That’s when I go to the office and back to where I stayed.”
He said he did long rides on weekends. “I bike from Baclaran to Tagaytay, Pico de Loro, Nasugbu, Lipa, among others.”
TriathlonA certified marathoner
cum cyclist, there is one thing he wants to do next — become a triathlete.
“I want to compete in a triathlon race. But right now I have to finish this mission,” he said.
But he admitted that becoming a triathlete is quite difficult because he needs more time to train. “I have to go on out of town trips in a month. I need to undergo a total immersion in swimming.”
Baldonado said he was amazed by the priest’s feats and advocacy.
Baldonado, a shop mechanic assistant and now considered one of the strongest and fastest triathletes in Caraga Re-gion said he wanted to join Picardal in trips around Mindanao but his work won’t allow him to do so.
“It’s my first time in my life to meet a person who has made a remarkable personal record and with a passion for advocacies. I salute him for that. He is awesome, he is the man,” Baldonado said. (Roel N. Catoto/MindaNews)
Priest starts Mindanaoleg of ‘Climate Ride’
EDGEDAVAO
BIGGER PICTURE
Fr. Amado “Picx” Picardal (right), who is on a 14-day journey covering 1,800 kilometers from Baclaran to Iligan City for his “Climate Ride,” is joined by MindaNews reporter Roel Catoto (left) and Surigao City triathlete Jayjay Baldonado as he passes by the junction at Bad-as in the municipality of Placer in Surigao del Norte early morning Wednesday (December 17). He was expected to arrive in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, 182 kms away from Surigao City, later in the day. MindaNews photo
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THE PEARL FARM Beach Resort recently held the annual lighting of its parola last De-cember 16.
By Kenneth Irving Ong
Pearl Farm’s Christmaslighting
Leading the lighting ceremony was the resort’s general manager Josu Mikel Villaverde, who was joined by representatives from the local government of the Island Garden City of Samal, the Anflo Group of Companies, local tour operators, and media.“Every Christmas Sea-son, the Pearl Farm lights up the parola to welcome guests and to signal the joy of the season,” says Mikel. “The lighthouse is an icon in Davao designed by Fili-
pino architect Mañosa and together with the archi-tect, we are in the process of renovating the resort as well as expanding it.”Dinner immediately fol-lowed at the resort’s newly renovated Maranao res-taurant with dishes that highlighted the best of Davao region’s produce. Entertainment for the evening was courtesy of the UP Mindanao Koro Kantahanay who present-ed familiar Western and Filipino Christmas songs.
Pearl Farm Beach Resort’s general manager Josu Mikel Villaverde (left) together with Anflocorp’s Ms. Susan Matus at the lighting ceremony.
UP Mindanao’s Koro Kantahanay.
THE estero running through Block 5 in Daang Tubo (a community inside the UP Campus) is on its way to being clean – pav-ing the way for a safer, cleaner environment for its residents. This, as GMA Network and its partners, the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Associ-ation (PMSEA), the Philip-pine Biochar Association (PBiA), and the Sagip Ilog Pilipinas, collaborated on the Clean River Zone Bio-char Community (CRZ) initiative. The Kapuso Network and its partners inked a Memo-randum of Agreement in early 2014 to clean up the said estero using bokashi balls (bokashi balls are made from dried mud and other organic materials, includ-ing biochar, and are used to clean bodies of water that have high concentrations of sludge and slime). CRZ is among GMA’s corporate responsibility ini-tiatives under its Kapuso ng Kalikasan platform. PBiA covered the technology transfer component, teach-ing the Block 5 residents how to make the bokashi balls that were submerged into the estero. Sagip Ilog organized the residents into commit-tees that will continuously liaise with the barangay long after CRZ is finished. Sagip also gave workshops and trainings on leadership and other necessary skills to help the residents govern themselves more efficiently and effectively. PMSEA, the industry association focused on espousing safety in the mining industry and the
environment, funded the community engagement ac-tivities of both Sagip Ilog and PBiA as part of its larger ef-fort to bring the importance of safety to the public at large. The Kapuso Network’s corps of employee volun-teers, the GMA GIVES, in-teracted with the community through various volunteers activities. GMA GIVES
worked side by side with the Block 5 residents during several clean up activities; Kapuso star Solenn Heussaff taught around 30 kids the ba-sics of painting; Bea Binene, a Kapuso teen darling, spent an afternoon learning how to make bokashi balls, together with the Block 5 residents and GMA GIVES. A distinct component of the CRZ is the water qual-ity testing – while bokashi balls were periodically sub-merged, water testing was also done on a regular basis to track and quantify the improvements in the estero. The results of the first water sampling in January 2014 were very bad with the water quality failing in all aspects of DENR’s standards. After five water tests and around 2000 bokashi balls sub-merged over a nine-month period (February to Octo-ber 2014), the estero’s water quality is showing signs of improvement - the foul odor is practically gone and the Ph
levels have, at least, reached the minimum to be con-sidered neither alkaline nor acidic. As this formal collabora-tion among GMA, PMSEA, Sagip Ilog and PBiA wraps up this December, inter-est from other like-minded organizations to replicate this in other areas has been noted. The community of-ficers of Daang Tubo and the barangay officers are all very enthusiastic, too, about sustaining the gains of the CRZ. Ms Isabelita Gravidez, the barangay captain, says she is a Kapuso through and through, and has profusely thanked the partners for pi-loting the CRZ in her com-munity. Meanwhile, no less than GMA Network Chairman and CEO, Atty Felipe L Gozon, expressed his ap-preciation for the warm wel-come the Block 5 residents extended to the CRZ players. Gozon lauded the residents for their willingness to take specific actions to keep their environment clean. As a way to sustain CRZ’s handiwork, the residents have committed to keep the peripheral areas of their homes clean and clutter-free. Their rallying cry? “Tapat ko, linis ko.”
ABS-CBN Publishing’s Vault Magazine recently won the “Best Photo Documentary” and “Best Feature on Wine Appreciation” in the annual Asian Publishing Awards. Vault Magazine was the only recipient of the Ex-cellence Award in the “Best Feature on Wine Appre-ciation” category, while Vault Magazine’s photo doc-umentary titled “Vault: Feature on Horses” was the excellence award winner from the Philippines togeth-er with Sin-gapore’s Ink Publishing’s “Welcome to the Punch.” Since 2012, Vault Maga-zine has been c o n s i s t e n t in bagging various ac-colades in the Asian P u b l i s h -ing Awards. Among those awards are “Best New M a g a z i n e (2012),” “Best Use of De-sign, Layout, and Presentation (2012),” “Best Feature on Cars (2013),” and “Best Feature on Wine Tasting (2013).” Meanwhile, Vault Magazine’s latest issue gets play-ful as it glorifies men’s fondness for toys in its first ever Toy Issue. The issue is packed with rare collections of automata, toy cars, functioning model trains, and oth-er mechanical marvels, as are KLM Delft Blue houses and wines with quirky names. Vault’s Toy Issue also showcases places that fuse fun and playfulness: from Germany’s Christmas markets where men recreate their boyhood every year with traditional yuletide toys and treats, to the Facebook headquarters in Silicon Valley where the best and brightest choose to work for firms where they can have the most fun at. Just in time for the holiday season, Vault Magazine also dishes out a do-it-yourself guide on roasting pre-mium meats as well as a holiday gift guide of thought-ful presents that are suitable in small Christmas boxes. Don’t forget to grab a copy of Vault Magazine’s first ever Toy Issue out on your favorite newsstands today! Published once every two months by ABS-CBN Publishing, each issue of Vault has sections dedicated to automobiles, aviation, new establishments, equip-ment, travel, timepieces, art, style, grooming, prop-erty, and fine dining. Vault is sold at all major book-stores in Metro Manila and is available for download on Zinio. To download ABS-CBN’s magazines, users on Android devices must download the Zinio app from the Android Market. The app is also available through the iPad App Store. PC and Mac users can access Zinio at zinio.com.
A2 INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 199 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19 - 20, 2014EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT
Vault Magazine reaps accolades in 2014 Asian Publishing Awards
GMA, corporate partners wrap up estero clean-up project in UP community
EVENT
GAMING GEEKS AND TECH FREAKS, Abreeza Mall’s got something awesome in store for you from December 22 to 27! Join the Games And Gadgets Expo 2014 and take part in a Dota 2 tournament, a rig show, PC/console games, gadget exhibits, and more! See you there!
Kapuso actress Solenn Heussaff taught around 30 Block 5 youngsters the basics of painting – needless to say, the young ones were thrilled!
Cleaning the muck and mud from the estero was a challenge that the GMA GIVES and the residents of Block 5 tried to overcome together. PMSEA, PBiA and Sagip Ilog were also present during the clean up activities.
In January 2014, GMA Network, PMSEA, PBiA and Sagip Ilog Pilipinas signed a MOA to formalize their Clean River Zone Biochar Community project. In photo, signing for their respective organizations, are (l to r), Louie Sarmiento (president of PMSEA), Teresa Pacis (AVP for Corporate Affairs of GMA), Philip Camara (CEO of PBiA) and Severino Galindo (president of Sagip Ilog). Behind them are Gia Veloso (PMSEA), Unis Loleng (GMA’s Corporate Relations manager), Chris Cenal and Meth Jimenez (executive director of Sagip Ilog).
REAL-LIFE COUPLE Gerald Anderson and Maja Salvador will team up for the first time in the newest sto-ry of ABS-CBN’s Christ-mas TV special “Give Love on Christmas.” The second Kapamilya Christmas series titled “The Gift of Life” will start on Monday. In the story, Gerald will give life to the character of Tristan, a young man who needs a kidney transplant because of an accident he had when he was still a kid. As he tries to find a pos-sible donor, Tristan meets a young woman named Melissa (portrayed by Maja) who lost her faith in God after the death of her par-ents. As their paths cross, Me-lissa and Tristan come up with a special agreement that she will help him fulfill his bucket list, which in-
cludes all the things he was not able to do because of
his ailment. How will Tristan and
Melissa be able to change each other’s lives as they help one another regain the things they have lost—his chance to have a normal life and her faith in God? Will Melissa sacrifice herself just to give Tristan a new hope to live? “Give Love on Christ-mas Presents The Gift of Life” also features Marlann Flores, Melissa Mendez, Ri-cardo Cepeda, Nico Anto-nio, Shey Bustamante, and Angel Sy. It is directed by Malu Sevilla. “Give Love on Christ-mas” is composed of three stories that revolve around family, relationships, and love. These include Gerald and Maja’s “The Gift of Life,” Paulo Avelino and KC Con-cepcion’s “Exchange Gift,” and “The Gift Giver,” star-ring Eddie Garcia, Aiko Me-lendez, Dimples Romana, Carlo Aquino, and Louise Abuel, which will air its last
“Give Love On Christmas Presents The Gift Giver” gives viewers the ‘best christmas ever’ this Friday
Patrick Rosas to sign books this Sunday with Gretchen Barretto
ABS-CBN’s Christmas TV special “Give Love on Christmas” teaches TV viewers the importance of forgiveness and a family’s love as its first story “The Gift Giver” airs its last epi-sode on Friday. Despite his desire to have a complete and hap-py family, Ernest (Eddie Garcia) chooses to move away and be alone be-cause of the disrespect that his children have shown towards him. What will Ju-lie (Dimples Romana), Eric (Carlo Aquino), and Rose (Aiko Melendez) do when their father Ernest gives up on them? Will they finally learn to value the love and sacrifices that he has done for them? In the end, will
Ernest still be able to get the ‘best Christmas ever’ he wishes to have with his
children? “Give Love on Christmas” is a Christmas TV special produced by
Dreamscape Entertain-ment Television, the group that created top-rating TV masterpieces such as “Walang Hanggan,” “Ina Kapatid Anak,” “Juan dela Cruz,” and “Ikaw Lamang.” Don’t miss the last week of “The Gift Giver” on “Give Love on Christ-mas” weekdays, before “It’s Showtime” in ABS-CBN Prime-Tanghali. For more information about “Give Love on Christmas,” visit the show’s official social networking sites Twittter. com/DreamscapePH and Instagram.com/Dream-scapePH. Viewers may also catch up on full epi-sodes and past episodes of “Give Love On Christmas” through ABS-CBNmobile.
MAKE-UP ARTIST to coun-try’s most beautiful Patrick Rosas will be holding a book signing event for his much talked about book, “Rituals” this Sunday at Na-tional Book Store Glorietta. Tagged as the trusted makeup artist of Manila’s loveliest women, Patrick Rosas’ coffee table book, “Rituals” highlights various transformations of over 100 of Manila’s most beautiful – from the sophisticated to
the avant garde down to fresh natural looks. Patrick’s dear friend and muse Gretchen Bar-retto who is also featured in “Rituals” will be gracing the event on Sunday. Among the personalities featured in “Rituals” are Angel Aqui-no, Miss Universe 1973 Mar-gie Moran-Floirendo, Tessa Prieto-Valdes, Miss Interna-tional 2013 Bea Rose Santi-ago, Rissa Mananquil-Trillo, Vanessa Matsunaga, “Asia’s
Next Top Model Season 1” Runners-up Jodilly Pendre and Katarina Rodriguez, designers Rajo Laurel, Jojie Lloren, and Michael Cinco, Ruffa Gutierrez, Joseph Marco, and Richard Gomez. “Rituals” was launched last December 3 in Whitespace, Makati which was attended by some of Manila’s prominent figures and highlighted by a n ex-citing visual feast of photo-graphs captured by some
of the top photographers in the Philippines Mark Nicd-ao, Neal Oshima, Filbert Kung, Glenn Gordon, Pat-rick Uy, and Jo Ann Bitagcol. The “Rituals” book sign-ing event will happen on Sunday (December 21), from 2:00PM to 5:00PM at National Book Store Glo-rietta. “Rituals” by Patrick Rosas is available at Nation-al Book Store and Power-books and brought to you by ABS-CBN Publishing Inc.
episode this Friday (Decem-ber 19). It is a Christmas special produced by Dreamscape Entertainment Television, the group that created top-rating TV masterpieces such as “Walang Hanggan,” “Ina Kapatid Anak,” “Juan dela Cruz,” and “Ikaw Lamang.” Don’t miss the beginning
of “Give Love on Christmas Presents The Gift of Life” this Monday, before “It’s Showtime” in ABS-CBN Prime-Tanghali. For more information about “Give Love on Christmas,” visit the show’s official social net-working sites Twittter.com/DreamscapePH and Insta-gram.com/DreamscapePH.
Gerald and Maja star in the newest “Give Love on Christmas” special
R 13
PG13
PG 131:00 | 4:00 | 7:00 | 10:00 LFS
R-16
THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIESIan Mckellen, Martin Freeman,
Richard Armitage
PG 13
THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE
OF THE FIVE ARMIES 3DIan Mckellen, Martin Freeman,
Richard Armitage
12:25 | 2:20 | 4:15 | 6:10 | 8:05 | 10:00 LFS
Ashley Hinshaw, Denis O'Hare
12:30 | 3:30 | 6:30 | 09:30 LFS
THE PYRAMID
EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS
Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton
1:00 | 4:00 | 7:00 | 10:00 LFS
A4 INdulge!EVENT
CHRISTMAS is the one time of the year when families come together to catch up, and just like one big family, the associates of Mar-co Polo Davao came together last December 15 to have their annual associates Christmas party.
The event was attend-ed by the officers of the Halifax Davao Hotel Inc., representatives from the Marco Polo Hotels man-agement group, as well as many of the hotel’s clients and friends. In his welcome speech, Marco Polo Hotels VP for Operations Philippe Caretti shared that the hotel industry is all about the people. “This event showcases the talent, pas-sion, and the potential our people here at the Marco Polo have,” Caretti said. This year, the party used the popular broad-way musical “Grease” as its theme. The lively tunes and carefree and energetic dances of the musical were interpreted by the ho-tel’s associates from their housekeeping, finance,
Marco Polo’s ‘Greasy’ Christmas party
human resources, front office, food and beverage service, food and beverage kitchen, sales and market-ing, executive office, tech-nical, as well as security departments. In the end, it was the group composing of the finance and house-keeping departments who took home the grand prize.
Five-year, 10-year, and 15-year awards were also given to associates who rendered their dedicated
service to the Marco Polo Davao. Not wanting to be out-done, the Marco Polo Davao management team also prepared a special pre-sentation bringing cheers and laughs to everyone in
the room. “Although competition has sprouted up thanks to the rapid growth of Davao, we have remained the hotel of choice for trav-ellers,” beamed Halifax
Davao Hotel Inc. Chair-man and President Carlos G. Dominguez. “This in part is because of you (the associates) who make ev-ery stay at the Marco Polo Davao live up to the Marco
Polo standard.” Follow me on Instagram or on Twitter @kenneth-kingong for more travel sto-ries, foodie finds, and hap-penings in, around, and beyond Durianburg.
Atty. Lindy Carillo, Mr. Timothy Lownose, Mr. David Evans and Ms. Elsa Echevarria.
The Melodies of Marco Polo Davao serenaded the guests with their special song number.
Halifax Davao Hotel Chairman and President Carlos G. Dominguez, his wife Cynthia, Halifax Davao Hotel Inc., Director Ms. Rosie Dominguez and Mr. Paul Dominguez
The winning dance performance by the housekeeping and finance departments.
HDHI’s Senior Vice President Francis Ledesma, Mrs. Jocy Ledesma and Bea Ledesma with Nader Ibrahim Hassan’s General Manager Jeroen D’ Haas and MC D’ Haas.
Marco Polo Hotels’ Vice President for Operations Mr. Philippe Caretti and Halifax Davao Hotel Inc. and Marco Polo Davao’s General Manager Anthony Tan.
DELIGHTING custom-ers is not just providing the best customer ser-
vice, but also reaching out to them in an extraordinary way.
Davao Light and Power Company’s Customer Retail Services Department (CRSD) successfully performed a CSR project dubbed as Salumay Hugas Kamay last November 27 at the Tribal Village in Datu Salumay, Marilog District.
The Tribal Village is com-posed of Matigsalug, Ata Ma-nobo, and Manobo people. This is located in the uphill mountains in the Southern part of Davao, which is not yet reached by electric service.
The purpose of the project is to educate the community about the importance of prac-ticing proper daily hygiene beginning with hand washing so as to avoid common sick-ness such as colds, influenza (flu), cough, stomach ache, and diarrhea. Grace Migue, CRSD Specialist and also a licensed nurse, led the project and demonstrated the proper way of hand washing.
CRSD Manager Engr.
Mervin Dalian, Supervisors Engr. Jing Enriquez, Ruby Barnes, Engr. Rodel Bariquit and Staffs - Engr. JJ Madolora, Enjie De Guzman, Engr. Charlo Deniega and other members of CRSD distributed health kits to more than 120 members of the community and served lugaw.
“It is our first time to con-duct a community work in this area and it is just very heart warming that the com-munity welcomed us warmly. They even rendered us a tribal dance to express their heart-felt gratitude to us.” said Engr. Dalian.
The funding for the said project came from the prize money of CRSD from Davao Light’s Sinag Awards, an award given to the company’s depart-ments or teams that have im-plemented innovative projects.
The team plans to go back to the said community next year to provide more health and educational assistance.
A rural electrification proj-ect will also be implemented in 2015 as answer to the elec-tricity service needs of the ba-rangay.
GLOBE Telecom togeth-er with Habitat for Hu-manity recently held a
groundbreaking ceremony for a special “Noah’s Ark” class-room in Balete Elementary School, Aklan, one of several projects being undertaken by Globe as a development part-ner for Aklan under the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recov-ery (OPARR).
The Noah’s Ark classroom was designed by Habitat for Humanity to double as an evacuation site during calam-ities. It can house a big num-ber of people and is equipped with two toilet and bath facili-ties and a kitchen to provide a safe and convenient place for people in the community.
Globe Platinum, the pre-mium Postpaid brand, to-gether with Globe Rewards, are funding the construction of Noah’s Ark classrooms in seven municipalities in Ak-lan hardest hit by Typhoon Yolanda late last year. These
include Libacao, Madalag, Banga, Batan, Altavas, Balete, and New Washington. Globe Platinum and Globe Rewards are making this contribution in lieu of giving gifts this hol-iday season.
“We always hold the ut-most regard for service not just in providing the best of-fers, exclusive privileges and world-class customer experi-ence to our valued clients but also in extending our support to nation-building,” said Kai-sie del Carmen, Director for Globe Platinum.
“We understand that most of our customers look for meaningful advocacies to support and involve them-selves in. Through the Noah’s Ark project, our customers will be able to give the gift of hope and inspiration to many more Filipinos this Christmas and help give them a better fu-ture,” del Carmen added.
In response, Aklan Vice Governor Gabrielle Cal-
DLPC launches Hugas Kamay project in tribal village
THIS IS THE WAY…Grace Migue, Customer Retails Services Department Specialist and a licensed nurse, lectures on the proper way of hand washing to the members of the Tribal Village.
Globe, Habitat break ground for‘Noah’s Ark’ classroom in Aklan
THE tandem of Romeo Silvano and Jordan Le-gaspi twice came from
behind to catch up with their Taiwanese opponents before clinching the doubles title in the US$100,000 2nd Manny Pacquiao 10-Ball Interna-tional Tournament held at SM City here.
With the game on the line, Taiwanese Hsu Kai Lun scratched the cue ball on the 21st rack of the race-to-11 fi-nals which the Filipinos took advantage for a thrilling 11-
10 win.It was the only time the
Filipinos led but it was for the US$ 40,000 champions’ purse.
A dejected Cheng Yu Hsuan, who also scratched the cue ball during his break in the 19th rack, said he was depressed and blamed him-self for the miscue. They were then ahead 10-8 and would have clinched the crown if they won in their break.
Hsu blankly stared on the table thinking of the op-
portunity that slipped their hands after Silvano closed out the match.
The Taiwanese pair raced to a 4-0 and 6-2 leads before the Filipinos knotted the match at 6-6.
They were one rack of winning the title, 10-7, but Silvano holed a difficult bank shot of the 2-ball to clean-up and won the 18th rack.
The Filipinos proceeded to win the next four racks to disappoint the pair of 26-year old Taiwanese.
Philboxing’s Dong Secuya said the turning point of the match was the magical shot of Silvano of the 2-ball in the 18th rack that nullified the safety shot of the Taiwan-ese.
It was a fitting triumph for Silvano and Legaspi who ousted the defending dou-bles titlists Jeffrey de Luna and Jeffrey Ignacio in the quarterfinals.
Legaspi was teary eyed when interviewed by report-
CHAMPS. Jordan Legaspi (right) and Romeo Silvano (foreground) are the doubles champion in the 2nd MP 10-Ball International Tourna-ment. Edwin Espejo
LINING UP. Romeo Silvano lines up his shot as the two Taiwanese player watch from their seats. Edwin Espejo
PINOYS RULEFilipino duo captures 2nd Pacquiao Int’l billiard crown
basted Manny Pacquiao’s boxing skill and even claimed that fans love him more than the Filipino pugilist.
“It’s not called slugging; it’s called boxing. I mean, that’s what happened in the [Juan Manuel] Marquez fight. You was [sic] trying to play tough guy and we see what happened. It’s about working smarter, not hard-er,” Mayweather said.
“When he was fighting Brandon Rios, he wasn’t slug-ging. He was boxing. It’s ob-vious he must know that he’s not going to win. He feels that in his heart. Like every other fighter trying to bait me into slugging, that’s not going to happen. Even though I know
I’m bigger and I’m stronger than him, and I’m smarter than him, we don’t believe in taking no punishment.”
The undefeated Ameri-can added that he sees him-self as an artist in the ring.
“The cool thing about Floyd Mayweather’s career is I was able to dish out punish-ment, not take punishment, make a lot of money, and have all my faculties. That’s the cool thing about my ca-reer,” he added. “What’s so crazy is they’re always talking about Floyd Mayweather fights are boring. I mean, it’s an art and last time I checked, I’m an artist and I paint a beautiful picture. A bloody mouth, a bloody nose, cut lip, broken ribs; that’s not beauti-ful on me.”
Pacquiao has often said
that he wants to fight May-weather for the fans. The eight-division world cham-pion even added that he’d fight Mayweather for charity if need be.
“Listen, I’m truly, truly blessed to be where I’m at and I’m very thankful for the fans. He’s talking about the fans this and the fans that. It’s ob-vious the fans must love me more because the pay-per-view numbers are showing who’s getting the most love,” Mayweather countered.
“I mean, of course I’m only human, so every day I come out of my house, I don’t always want to take pictures, but I do appreciate the fans because without the fans, we wouldn’t be where we’re at today. I don’t like when peo-ple say stuff like, “I’m doing it
just for the fans.” No, you’re doing it for yourself. If you’re doing it just for the fans, then you can give the money back to the fans if that was the case. You want to please the fans, but you’re not just doing it for the fans. You’re doing it for yourself also.”
After Pacquiao issued a challenge to Mayweather after beating Chris Algieri, Mayweather responded that he wants the mega-fight to happen on May 2 but added that he wants a bigger piece of the pot.
“I mean, if he wanna [sic] fight for free, he can. I’m not fighting for free,” Mayweath-er closed. “Once again, I’m a prize fighter. I fight for a prize, and I’m the A side so I’m always going to get the biggest prize.”
KYLE Lowry scored 20 points and handed out 12 assists Wednesday
to lead Toronto to a 105-89 NBA victory over Brooklyn that made the Raptors the first Eastern Conference team to 20 wins this season.
Patrick Patterson and Lou Williams contributed eight points apiece in the fourth quarter and Lowry scored six as the Raptors out-scored the Nets 29-16 in the final frame to pull away for their fourth straight win.
Toronto improved to 20-6 and have enjoyed three winning streaks of at least four games this season.
Mason Plumlee had 23 points to lead Brooklyn, Joe Johnson scored 17 and Mirza Teletovic added 14 in the first meeting between the Atlantic Division rivals since the Nets’ seven-game win in the first round of last season’s play-offs.
While the Raptors’ star remained on the rise, the Cleveland Cavaliers and su-
perstar LeBron James en-dured an embarrassing 127-98 pounding at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks.
The Cavs, expected to be instant contenders in the East thanks to the return of James after four seasons in Miami, were out-scored 30-15 in the third quarter on their home floor as the Hawks avenged a lopsided loss to Cleveland earlier in the season.
Shelvin Mack came off the bench to hit six
three-pointers and score 24 points for Atlanta who im-proved to 18-7, their best start since the 2009-10 season.
James had 21 points, Dion Waiters added 21 points off the bench and Kevin Love provided 13 points, 10 re-bounds and six assists for the Cavaliers, who have dropped three of their last four games.
“I really don’t have too much to say,” Cavaliers coach David Blatt said. “That was embarrassing how we played.”
IT’S looking like Amer-ican mentor Tab Bald-win could have the in-
side track on the Philippine national men’s basketball team’s head coaching job after Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president Manuel V. Pangilinan con-firmed that he was a “prime candidate” for the position on Wednesday.
Pangilinan, the chief backer of the Gilas Pilipinas national squad, said that the decision has not been final-ized, though Baldwin ap-pears to be among the favor-ites for the post at this stage.
“I’m waiting for Pato (Gregorio) and executive di-rector Sonny Barrios to re-turn from Geneva so we can
formalize the appointment of the new Gilas coach,” wrote Pangilinan in a text message to InterAksyon.com.
He added that the top SBP officials, including Ricky Vargas and Al Panlilio, are set to meet in the near future to make the final decision.
“This is the final step of a formal process which I want to observe and respect. We should meet as early as Sunday with Ricky and Al, amongst others. That said, yes, Tab Baldwin appears to be a prime candidate.”
The SBP is awaiting the return of Gregorio and Bar-rios from Geneva, where they attended a briefing for potential hosts of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
ANOTHER DIG. Floyd Mayweather dissed Manny Paquiao again for his boxing style. The recent hit on Pacquiao came after the American sent word to the Filipino camp for a May 2, 2015 fight.
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ers after their riveting finals victory.
Efren ‘Bata’ Reyes, who watched the finals from the sidelines, said the tourna-ment hosted and sponsored by Rep. Manny Pacquiao yielded many young Filipino talents in the game he made popular in the country.
“Lalo na sa Mindanao, ang daming magagaling,” Reyes said.(Specially in Min-danao, there are plenty of good billiard players)
Reyes and his partner Francisco ‘Django’ Busta-
mante lost in the Round of 32.
But Reyes earlier crowned himself the singles champion with breathtaking 11-10 triumph over Demos-thenes Pulpul in the champi-onship match.
Rep. Pacquiao and his doubles partner Ronie Alca-no reached the round of 16 but lost to Oliver Medenilla and Raymond Faraon 9-4.
Medenilla and Fara-on however fell to Hsu and Cheng in the quarterfinals, 6-9.
