P 15.00 • 20 PAGES www.edgedavao.net VOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 T HREE generations of families of sisters Cartiquia Cartin and Saria Namawog are among 125,302 residents who fled their villages in Maguindanao following the “all-out offen- sive” waged by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against the Bangsam- oro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) nearly a month ago. Cartiquia, who claims to be 90, and her sister Saria who estimates she is 80, sit on a mound of gravel by the gate of the Dapiawan Cen- tral Elementary School — a “Zone of Peace” according to the tarpaulin hanging nearby — hoping their ordeal would end soon and they can return home. The sisters are no strang- ers to evacuations. “Mada- kel” (Many), they said. In fact, they have evacuated so many times in their lifetime that they can no longer remember how many times they had to flee their villages because of armed clashes. “Panahon pa sa Hapon” (Japanese time), Cartiquia, a resident of Barangay Elian, said. Unlike her contempo- raries elsewhere in the coun- try whose knowledge of war is “Panahon sa Hapon” in the 1940s, it has been a nev- er-ending series of evacua- tions for her and her siblings, later sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaugh- ters, due to armed conflict. A number of their children and grandchildren are within the same school compound. Cartiquia, who has 13 children from four marriages, complains she is too old to evacuate. Saria, who married once and has 12 children, echoes her sister’s statement. Speaking in Maguindan- ao but translated to Filipino by their fellow evacuees, the sisters said they are praying peace would come soon so they and their grandchildren can go home. For them, peace means “wala nang bakwit” (no more evacuations). As of 6 p.m. of March 19, the ARMM-HEART (Autono- mous Region in Muslim Mind- anao-Humanitarian Emergen- cy Action and Response Team) recorded a total of 25,067 fam- ilies or 125,302 persons from 14 towns have been displaced by the “all-out offensive” an- nounced by Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio EDGE Serving a seamless society DAVAO 125,302 ‘BAKWITS’ INSIDE EDGE By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS F125,302, 14 NEVER-ENDING. Sisters Saria Namawog (left) and Cartiquia Cartin (right) of Barangay Elian, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, have lived a life of never-ending evacuations. The sisters hope peace would come so they can return home. MindaNews photo by Carolyn O. Arguillas THE ISLAND BUENAVISTA SAMAL’S ULTIMATE ISLAND GETAWAY Indulge A1
Transcript
P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015
THREE generations of families of sisters Cartiquia Cartin and
Saria Namawog are among 125,302 residents who fled their villages in Maguindanao following the “all-out offen-sive” waged by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against the Bangsam-oro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) nearly a month ago.
Cartiquia, who claims to be 90, and her sister Saria who estimates she is 80, sit on a mound of gravel by the gate of the Dapiawan Cen-tral Elementary School — a “Zone of Peace” according to
the tarpaulin hanging nearby — hoping their ordeal would end soon and they can return home.
The sisters are no strang-ers to evacuations. “Mada-kel” (Many), they said. In fact, they have evacuated so many times in their lifetime that they can no longer remember how many times they had to flee their villages because of armed clashes.
“Panahon pa sa Hapon” (Japanese time), Cartiquia, a resident of Barangay Elian, said. Unlike her contempo-raries elsewhere in the coun-try whose knowledge of war
is “Panahon sa Hapon” in the 1940s, it has been a nev-er-ending series of evacua-tions for her and her siblings, later sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaugh-ters, due to armed conflict.
A number of their children and grandchildren are within the same school compound.
Cartiquia, who has 13 children from four marriages, complains she is too old to evacuate. Saria, who married once and has 12 children, echoes her sister’s statement.
Speaking in Maguindan-ao but translated to Filipino by their fellow evacuees, the
sisters said they are praying peace would come soon so they and their grandchildren can go home.
For them, peace means “wala nang bakwit” (no more evacuations).
As of 6 p.m. of March 19, the ARMM-HEART (Autono-mous Region in Muslim Mind-anao-Humanitarian Emergen-cy Action and Response Team) recorded a total of 25,067 fam-ilies or 125,302 persons from 14 towns have been displaced by the “all-out offensive” an-nounced by Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio
EDGE Serving a seamless society
DAVAO
125,302 ‘BAKWITS’INSIDE EDGE
By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS
F125,302, 14
NEVER-ENDING. Sisters Saria Namawog (left) and Cartiquia Cartin (right) of Barangay Elian, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, have lived a life of never-ending evacuations. The sisters hope peace would come so they can return home. MindaNews photo by Carolyn O. Arguillas
THE ISLAND BUENAVISTASAMAL’S ULTIMATE ISLAND GETAWAY
Indulge A1
VOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 20152 EDGEDAVAO
THE BIG NEWS
Pulong: Make mining banconform with Mining Act
DAVAO City would have been a rabies-free city if it had enough an-
ti-rabies vaccines to cover the 155,000 estimated population of cats and dogs that need an-ti-rabies shots every year.
The city government has allocated only P1.1 million for the acquisition of anti-rabies vaccines for the entire dog and cat population, assistant city veterinarian Dr. Esther Cherry Rayos said during the Kapehan
sa Dabaw at SM City Annex yes-terday.
“The office has allocated only P1.1 million good for ac-quisition of 3,700 vials of vac-cines for this year,” Rayos said. “This could cover 37,000 dogs and cats.”
She said last year, only 50 percent or a total of 78,168 were vaccinated.
“We are short of 20 per-cent to hit the target of at least 70 percent or above of the to-
tal dog and cat population that needs to be vaccinated,” she said.
Rayos attributed the failure to hit the target to the lack of enough anti-rabies vaccine and the huge area of Davao City.
“The ideal timetable to cover the whole population is only three months but because Davao City is big we have to ex-tend it,” she said.
Areas with positive cases like districts of Talomo, Bu-
hangin, Calinan, Tugbok, and Toril are the priority areas in the city for the vaccination.
“As early as January, our team has reached Toril district but we also had a caravan at Bago Oshiro, Tugbok District recently,” Rayos said.
She also said it would be easier to hit the target of 70 percent if the veterinarian of-fice has enough supply of vac-cines.
A SUSPECT in the 2009 Ampatuan massacre who was
released on bail early this month is now back in Ma-guindanao and Cotabato City, an official said.
Sajid Islam Uy Ampat-uan, the youngest son of Andal Ampatuan, Sr. and one of his co-accused in the 2009 massacre in Am-patuan, Maguindanao of 58 persons, 32 of them from the media, posted a bail of P11.6 million for his tem-porary liberty.
“Sajid was back here in Cotabato and Maguin-danao. That’s how strong influence works but that is only temporary liberty,” Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Toto Mangudadatu said.
Mangudadatu said that while he was dismayed with the court’s decision allowing Sajid to post bail, he respects the decision of Judge Jocelyn Reyes and has high regard for her honesty, sincerity and in-
DAVAO City Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte direct-ed the committee on
rules and privileges, law and ordinances headed by coun-cilor Bernard Al-ag to look for ways for the proposed total mining ban ordinance to con-form with the national law on mining.
Duterte made the directive after Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) legal officer lawyer Erwin Enad said in last week’s regular ses-
sion that the proposal will be difficult to implement due to the existence of the Mining Act of 1995 which allows mining companies to explore and ex-tract minerals in the country.
The vice mayor said the City Council wants to pass the total mining ban in the city since Mayor Rodrigo R. Dute-rte is firm in his opposition to mining.
The vice mayor, however, said if the ordinance is de-clared null and void, the ban
on mining can still be imple-mented by simply not issuing business permits to mining companies.
“Unsaon man na nimo ng national law na mo sulod ang mining kung dili mi mo hatag og business permit (What is the use of the national law al-lowing the mining industry to enter if we will not issue a busi-ness permit)?” Paolo said.
He said if the companies insist on their exploration and extraction projects, the city
is willing to face charges just to prevent the city from envi-ronment exploitation due to mining.
The City Council will con-tinue the discussion on the proposed total mining ban in the city in its regular session today.
City council committee on environment and natu-ral resources chair councilor Leonardo Avila III invited City Mining Regulatory Board chair Joel N. Catulong, Mines and
Geosciences Bureau (MGB) 11 regional director Edilberto L.Arreza, and Strauss M. Fer-nandez of Alternate Forum for Research in Mindanao (AF-RIM) Inc. to share their views on the mining ban.
Avila also invited City Plan-ning and Development Office officer-in-charge Marcelino Escalada and Zoning Enforce-ment Division acting head engineer Mary Anne G. Orilla to present the identified crit-ical protected areas declared
under the watershed manage-ment ordinance.
Also invited is the De-partment of Tourism “to help us understand the National Tourism Development Plans in which there are certain ar-eas considered as off-limits to mining. We would like to find out with the DOT,” Avila said.
Enad explained in last week’s plenary discussion that the proposal might be declared null and void because no local law supersedes national law.
Released Ampatuan massacresuspect back in Maguindanao
FDAVAO, 14FRELEASED, 14
TAKE A BREATH. Land Transportation Office (LTO) 11 assistant director Macario “Bong” Gonzaga demonstrates before members of local media how to use the agency’s newly acquired Professional Law Enforcement Alcohol Breath Analyzer device worth P68,000 at the LTO regional office in Davao City yesterday. The device will help the agency to fully implement the Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act which will start before the end of the month. Lean Daval Jr.
VOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015
MORE than a thou-sand prosecutors are expected to join
the National Convention of the Prosecutors League of the Philippines which will be held in Davao City on April 7 to 10.
This will be the second time that Davao City will host the event following its hosting in 1993.
Regional State Prosecutor Antonio Arellano said more prosecutors have listed their names to attend the conven-tion to witness for themselves the development of the city.
Arellano said they had only targeted 800 prosecutors to at-tend the event but the number exceeded 1,000 following the announcement that Davao City will host the convention.
“Initially we targeted a to-
tal number of 800 prosecutors from Regions 1 to 15 but as of last week we have already over a thousand prosecutors who will be attending the conven-tion. It appears that they are interested in visiting Davao City,” he said.
The Prosecutors League of the Philippines is an orga-nization of the prosecutors belonging to the National Pros-ecutions Service of the Depart-ment of Justice.
Arellano said the reports about the changes and de-velopment in the city have reached the prosecutors’ ears, resulted in their eagerness to visit.
He also said the prosecu-tors have been talking about the ordinances that promote
3NEWSEDGEDAVAO
By FUNNY PEARL A. GAJUNERA
THE eco-tourism council overseeing the manage-ment and protection of
the Mt. Apo Natural Park and Protected Area is planning to triple the trekking fee from P1,000 to P3,000 by May this year.
Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of the Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Annex yesterday, Department of En-vironment and Natural Re-sources (DENR) park opera-tion superintendent Edward Ragaya said a public hearing on the fee increase will be scheduled before its imple-mentation.
“The public hearing will be a venue for stakeholders to lobby their concerns and opinion on the plan,” he said.
The fee increase is part of a trekking policy drafted by the council and different city tourism officers from differ-ent local government units surrounding Mt. Apo, the country’s highest peak.
According to the pro-posed policy, trekkers have to pay P1,500 upon entry and another P1,500 upon reach-ing the end of the trail.
Ragaya said tourism offi-cers from the surrounding lo-cal government units (LGUs), namely Barangay Kapatagan, Digos City; Barangay New Is-rael, Makilala; Barangay Balu-takay, Bansalan; Agco, Kidap-awan; Barangay Bongolanon, Magpet; and Barangay Barur-ing, Sta Cruz will assist in the implementation of the policy
once it is approved.The trails located in Ta-
mayong, Davao City and Ba-rangay Balabag and Perez in Kidapawan City were closed to the public starting this month because of environ-mental conservation reasons.
“It is for the common good,” Ragaya said. “It’s one of the mechanisms to control the number of mountain climbers and preserve the park.”
Ragaya said more than two tons of garbage were col-lected in June last year during the unified clean-up activity for Mt. Apo, a capability as-sistance program of the De-partment of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
“We’re expecting that after the trekking season by
June, the amount of garbage that will be collected will lessen because of the rate in-crease,” he said.
Porters and guides of climbers in Mt. Apo are also trained on environment con-servation and environment law enforcement.
“We need to train our por-ters and guides so that they will be able to orient trekkers and mountain climbers of Mt. Apo,” Ragaya said.
Digos City tourism officer Edgardo C. Elera said more than 400 individuals trek Mt. Apo during the peak season, which starts during Holy Week.
“Last year we recorded more than 900 mountain climbers last year,” Elera said.
IT is once again the season of graduations and last school days. It is that time
of the year when seniors will be marching down and young ones will be moving up. But alas, it is also the month which reminds us that aside from the excited graduates’ hearts, homes can also catch fire.
This fire prevention month, Aboitiz-owned Davao Light and Power Company Inc. would like to rekindle our awareness in fire and electri-cal safety protocols.
Follow directions. Instruc-tions on how to operate your appliances and electronic de-vices are not mere pieces of paper. These rules can keep your home and your family safe from possible danger caused by improper usage. Orienting the household about how to use and how not to abuse your appliances is a must.
Install safety equipment. Invest in fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and sprin-klers especially if you often leave your home unattended. Or, simply keep flammable
materials away from heat or fire generating devices at home. A sample of this rule is not to have piles of papers near stoves and ovens.
Remember to unplug. A big number of home fires result from failing to turn off and unplug running devices. Simply turn off and detach your appliances once done using each. If you are attempt-ing to multitask cooking with another chore, either stay in one room to keep your eyes open or simply put out your cooking flame before leaving the room.
Extend within limits. Ex-tension cords are not for per-manent usage. If the need for a power supply in a certain part of your house is frequent and deemed necessary, have a registered electrician install a direct wiring for safety. Ex-tension wires also have vari-ous capacities. Plugging in too many devices will only leave you with either a burnt exten-sion wire or your entire house in ashes and smoke.
THE REAL SCORE. GABRIELA Women’s Party Representative Luz Ilagan explains to the crowd what really happened in the bloody clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao which resulted in the deaths of 44 members of
the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) during a public hearing in Barangay 23-C Mini-Forest, Boulevard, Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.
Mt. Apo trek fee to triple in May
MRS. Lerma D. Se-villa, wife of law-yer Jose “Joe” C.
Sevilla, businessman-civic leader who was once pres-ident of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc., passed away Saturday, March 21st, at Davao Regional Hospital. She was 85 years old.
Mrs. Sevilla is survived by husband Joe, five sons
and one daughter, who are all professionals.
Her remains lie in state at the Cosmopolitan Fu-neral Homes near Camus Street, Davao City.
Interment will be at 3 p.m. tomorrow, Wednes-day, March 25th at Davao Memorial Park, Matina.
The family sincerely requests the pious ren-der to say a prayer for the eternal repose of her soul.
DaLight baresfire safety tips
Lerma D. Sevillapasses away at 85
Phl prosecutors to gatherin Davao for nat’l confab
GOV’T PROSECUTORS CONVENTION. Regional prosecutor Antonio Arellano discusses with media details of the National Convention of the Prosecutors League of the Philippines at the SMX Convention Center, SM Lanang Premier, Davao City
on April 7-10. Arellano appeared during the Kapehan sa Dabaw media forum at SM City Annex yesterday with Panabo City prosecutor Janet Grace Fabrero and Tagum City prosecutor Noel Palma (not in photo). Cheneen R. Capon
VOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 20154 EDGEDAVAO
SUBURBIA
Convergence fast-trackscore shelters construction
NEW SHELTERS. Julian F. Pregon of Lambajon, Baganga town in Davao Oriental shows off his Certificate of Occupancy while Davao Oriental Governor Corazon Malanyaon leads the distribution of Certificates of Occupancy to 1,255 beneficiaries.
A TOTAL of1,255 cer-tificates of occupan-cy were awarded to
typhoon Pablo survivors in the three hard-hit towns of Boston, Cateel, and Baganga during the recent round of turn-over ceremonies held last March 17.
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 11 regional director Priscilla N. Razon said that although building shelters in such a massive scale is no easy job, the strong support of the provincial government made its implementation a lot
easier. Razon lauded the initia-
tive of Governor Corazon N. Malanyaon who took the lead in the quick construction of these core shelters, noting Davao Oriental as one of the “fastest” local government unit among all areas affected by disasters in terms of im-plementation of this housing project.
Funded under the Mod-ified Shelter Assistance Pro-gram (MSAP) of the DSWD, the implementation of this massive housing project is spearheaded by the pro-
vincial government, which shoulders the procurement of resettlement sites.
Housing beneficiaries in this latest batch of turned over housing units include 650 in Baganga town, 510 in Cateel town, and 95 in Boston town.
To date, a total of 15,265 disaster-resilient houses have been turned over as symbol of security, progress, opportuni-ties, and new beginnings for typhoon Pablo survivors.
Among the houses turned over were 34 units construct-ed by 534th Engineering
Company Battalion under 52nd Engineering Brigade of the Philippine Army.
Commanding Officer LTC Francis Marlon S. Wong, who was assisted by LTC Michael A. Banua, 67th Infantry Bat-talion Commander, handed over the ceremonial key to Governor Malanyaon as a testament of the Philippine Army’s genuine endeavor to help people restore their lives through “Bayanihan.”
Lieutenant Colonel Mi-chael A. Banua, 67th Infantry Battalion Commander en-couraged residents to help
preserve the peace and order in their own communities. He also urged them to do their respective functions and roles in keeping Davao Oriental peaceful and become active in the government’s develop-ment efforts.
For Melden Manaop-anao, a recipient of a newly built shelter in Cogon, Ba-rangay Alegria, Cateel, these houses were the symbol of government’s care for its people. Married to a 34-year old farmer and a mother of four, Manaopanao family’s is also a beneficiary of DSWD’s
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program where they enjoy a monthly subsidy from the government to support their children’s education.
During the ceremonial turn over, Governor Malanya-on reminded the beneficia-ries to also offer their coun-terpart by not only keeping their communities clean and orderly, but also to help themselves improve their lives by seizing the abounding livelihood opportunities that would help them break away from the clutches of poverty. By Van Jorain O. Rufin
GENERAL Santos City of-ficials on Monday hon-ored a former police
officer from the city who was part of an international group that won the prestigious No-bel Peace Prize two years ago.
In a resolution, the GenSan city council gave a belated commendation to Michael Conche, one of the 10 Filipino members of the Geneva-based non-govern-ment group Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which was awarded with the Nobel Prize in 2013.
City Councilor Rosalita Nunez, author of the resolu-tion, said Conche’s achieve-ment was a big honor to the city and an inspiration to lo-cal residents.
She said Conche is a good example for other Filipino workers abroad to emulate, especially in terms of show-ing spirit and culture in their work places.
“He is a role model and has earned the respect and admiration of the people of
General Santos City,” she said.Conche, who personally
received a copy of the reso-lution in a simple ceremony held at the city council ses-sion hall, hails from the city and is an alumnus of the Min-danao State University-Gen-eral Santos campus.
After graduating from college in 1991, he joined the Philippine National Police and later became a part of the country’s peacekeeping mission under the United Na-tions International Criminal Tribunal in Yugoslavia.
In 2010, he resigned from police service to become an associate of the OPCW, which mainly promotes the erad-ication of stockpiles of the “world’s most terrible weap-onized toxins.”
Nunez said OPCW was tasked by various states in the world “to monitor and stand guard over the global prohibition against chemical weapons.”
She said the group’s achievements in pursuing its mission and mandates led to
Council honors Nobel Prize winner from General Santosits recognition by the Nobel Prize in 2013.
The Nobel Peace Prize is considered as the most pres-tigious international prize that is awarded annually by
the Norwegian Nobel Com-mittee.
The award received by OPCW stands on Nobel’s con-tinuing advocacy “towards the building of fraternity
between nations, the aboli-tion or reduction of standing armies, and the holding and promotion of peace congress-es.
Vice Mayor Shirlyn
Bañas-Nograles said the OPCW is worthy of the Nobel Prize “for its extensive efforts to eliminate and in outlawing chemical weapons all over the globe.” (PNA)
Michael Conche (photo from the General Santos City Sangguniang Panlungsod website)
VOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 5EDGEDAVAO
ECONOMY
THE operation of Aboitiz-Power subsidiary Ther-ma South Inc. (TSI) coal-
fired power plant will augment the power supply in Mindanao, the Department of Energy (DOE)–Mindanao field office said.
DOE Mindanao science re-search specialist II Engr. Glenn Jay Reston said the plant will address power supply demand in Mindanao especially during the summer when power sup-ply is insufficient.
“It can supply the Mindan-ao grid to add power supply in order to avoid brownouts during the summer season,” Reston said in the vernacular.
He said that presently, Mindanao is still coping with power supply insufficiency due to lack of base load power plants.
TSI had announced that the power plant is expected to start its reliability run in the first half of April. During the tests, the power plant can de-liver power to the grid, which can be availed of by its custom-ers.
TSI president and Chief
Operating Officer Benjamin A. Cariaso Jr., said customers should be able to start receiv-ing power from the plant by April on a scaled basis.
“The timing could not have been better as the coming summer months are expect-ed to affect the power output of Mindanao’s hydro power plants. Therma South will be able to assist our customers to cope with the demand for power,” Cariaso said.
TSI said the plant is sched-uled to synchronize with the Mindanao grid by Holy Week, taking one step closer to full commercial operations.
Full commercial opera-tions of the first unit will start after the reliability test is suc-cessfully completed. The sec-ond 150-MW is also on track to meet its scheduled commer-cial operations timeline.
The planned synchroniza-tion is currently being coordi-nated with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
TSI said that there are more than 20 distribution util-
Coal-fired plant to augment power supply in MindanaoBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.
FCOAL-FIRED, 14PHONES GALORE. Representatives of the different cellular phone companies flash their mobile phones during yesterday’s press briefing to announce their promotions in support for the 15th anniversary of mobile phones and gadgets distributor Wiltelcom held at Shakey’s Gaisano Mall branch. Lean Daval Jr.
THE additional 445 MW combined capacity from two solar pants and one
coal-fired power facility in Davao del Sur will improve the investment climate in Digos City, an official announced on Monday.
“With a lot of energy sup-ply, investors come in,” Digos City Investment Promotion Officer Edgardo C. Elera said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Annex yesterday.
Elera was referring to the 10 megawatt (MW) Digos So-
lar Photovoltaic Power Project of Chinese corporation Enfini-ty Philippines Renewable Re-sources, Inc. in Digos City that is expected to start its com-mercial operation soon.
However, he did not men-tion the exact timeline.
On Department of Ener-gy’s presentationon 2014-2020 Power Outlook for Mind-anao, the commissioning of the 10 MW solar plant is supposed to be in October, last year.
Another solar project in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur is the
35 MW Darong Solar Photovol-taic Power Project of PhilNew Energy Inc. , which will be op-erational by September 2015.
Aside from this, another project on the pipeline is the initial 300 MW San Miguel Cor-poration (SMC) Davao Power Plant project of San Miguel Consolidated Power Corpo-ration (SMCPC) at Barangay Culaman, Malita, Davao del Sur.
The first 150 MW of the 300MW coal-fired power plant is expected to be online by this October, while the second will
be on March 2016.SMCPC is also planning
to expand the capacity of the plant by an additional of 600 MW, of which the first 300 MW will be on December 2019 and the second 300MW will be on 2019. The third phase of ex-pansion of another 300 MW is expected to be online by De-cember 2020.
The city government of Digos is also looking forward on the additional capacity that will be supplied by the geothermal power project of
Aboitiz Power Corporation (AP) that is on its exploration stage.
“The increase in the num-ber of investors in the city has a domino effect. It will create jobs as well as increase our tourism industry,” Elera said.
Tourism-related estab-lishments like hotels, inns, and recreational center will spur as part of a domino-effect brought by the increasing and improv-ing power supply of Davao del Sur, according to him.
Elera said abundant power
supply in the grid will continue to entice more Japanese inves-tors on their Davao Industrial Economic Zone where tile firm Nakayama Technology Corp is located.
“Our industrial zone is al-ready accredited by the Philip-pine Economic Zone Author-ity. We are just waiting for the president to sign necessary document,” he said.
Among the rising indus-tries in Digos are housing, ag-riculture, industrial, and manu-facturing, among others.
THE regional project board of the Philippine Rural Development
Project (PRDP) has recently approved a total of P298.8 -million farm-to-market road (FMR) projects for the prov-ince of Davao del Norte.
PRDP is a special project of the Department of Agricul-ture, which aims to promote an inclusive, value-chain oriented agriculture and fisheries de-velopment. The PRDP region-al project advisory board that evaluates and approves project proposals for PRDP funding in the region is chair by the DA re-gional director with members from the DPWH, DAR, DENR,
DILG and DTI.Davao del Norte planning
chief Josie Jean Rabanos said the approved projects cov-er the rehabilitation of three FMRs in the towns of Sto. To-mas, Kapalong, and San Isidro, which had been, identified as major cacao-producing areas. Under PRDP, cacao was identi-fied as a priority commodity of which better road network will help strengthen it value-chain.
The province of Davao del Norte has an existing area of 6, 307 hectares planted to cacao with 23, 665 hectares of poten-tial areas for development and expansion, Rabanos said.
Of the P298.8-million
proposed approved projects, P114.8-million will cover re-habilitation of 13 kilometer FMR from Esperanza to Pobla-cion in the town of Sto. Tomas; P102.2-million for 11-kilo-meter FMR from Capungan to San Miguel, in Kapalong; and P81.8-million for 9-kilometer FMR from San Miguel - Sawa-ta-Igangon in San Isidro.
DA assistant regional di-rector Febe Orbe in her mes-sage during the regional proj-ect board meeting said PRPD regional team is targeting at least P1.4-billion projects while the Mindanao cluster is working to meet its targeted P4-billion projects.
PRDP is a demand-driven projects where project funds are not allocated per region but based on the submission of project proposals. If we are not prompt on submitting and evaluating proposals, chances are funds will be accessed by regions form other parts of the country,” Orbe said.
We urged our partners from the local government units to work on their project proposals and enabling doc-uments such as social and en-vironment clearance, resolu-tions and other requirements fro the region to meet if not exceed its targets,” she add-ed. (Noel T. Provido-DA XI)
ABOITIZ Power subsidi-ary Hedcor Sibulan, Inc. and Aboitiz Foundation
recently delivered its regular medical and dental mission to the Bagobo-Tagabawa com-munities in Sitio Tudaya, Sitio Pogpog, and Barangay Sibulan in Davao del Sur.
In partnership with the Province of Davao del Sur, Sta. Cruz Municipal Health Office and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, the out-reach program serviced over a thousand Indigenous People (IP).
“We are committed with what we have promised to our partners. We see it as our corporate obligation. This free medical and dental mission is one way of giving what is due to our host communities,” said Hedcor’s vice president Rolan-do Pacquiao.
“We believe that we can do well by making good,” Pac-
quiao added.The services included
medical and dental consulta-tion, hemoglobin tests, vacci-nation, and sputum microsco-py.
The IP beneficiaries were given free medicine and vita-mins. Common illness such as fever, flu, cough, back pains and dental related ailments were given appropriate action by the specialists.
Hedcor regularly conducts outreach programs to serve the people of the communi-ties that host their plants. This activity is one of the many ele-ments of their Corporate Social Responsibility Program, which focus on health, education, livelihood, and the environ-ment.
Other contributions that the company provides to host communities are farm-to-
THE highly-anticipated AirAsia Piso Fare* is back again, with more
than 3 million seats up for grabs to over 20 countries across AirAsia Group’s wide route network, including AirA-sia X.
With base fare starting from P1.00 and the abolish-ment of the fuel surcharge, guests only need to pay for airport taxes and fees when booking for this promotion to great domestic and interna-tional destinations in the Phil-ippines such as Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Macau, Incheon (Seoul), Manila, Puerto Princ-esa (Palawan), Kalibo (Bora-cay), Tagbilaran (Bohol), Ta-cloban, Cebu and Davao. From Cebu, promo fares are also
available for flights to Incheon (Seoul), Kota Kinabalu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro.
Flights from Kuala Lum-pur to Langkawi, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Bangkok, Bali, Hong Kong, Kalibo (Boracay), Mel-bourne, Seoul, Sapporo (tran-sit via Bangkok), Taiwan and many others are also on pro-motional sale.
Book promotional seats from as low as P201.12, all-in and for one way, via online at airasia.com from today un-til 29 March 2015, and travel from 1 September 2015 until 31 May 2016. Promo seats can also be booked via AirAsia’s mobile app on iPhone and An-droid devices, as well as the mobile sitemobile.airasia.com.
Power facilities to improveinvestment climate in Digos
AirAsia Piso Fare is backPRDP okays P298M for DavNor roadsBENEFICIARY. A cacao farmer in Brgy. Sawata in San Isidro, Davao del Norte harvests cacao pods which he sells in the town market. With the rehabilitation of the 9-km PRDP farm-to-market road in their area, this farmer can expect more buyers of his produce. File Photo by: Sherwin Manual.
FHEDCOR’S, 14
FAIRASIA, 14
VOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 7EDGEDAVAO
ENVIRONMENTNOT A DROP TO DRINK
Text and Photos by HENRYLITO D. TACIO
“Water isn’t just a commodity. It is a source of life.” – Sandra Postel, director of the Massachusetts-based Global Water Policy Project
WITHIN the next 50 years, water will become more pre-
cious than oil, according to some studies done by the United Nations.
“The inequality of its dis-tribution in the planet, the desertification, its progres-sive disappearance as a con-sequence of global warming and also because of human activity, its wasting or at least its poor rational use and its importance for the growth of every economy will certainly end up by leading to that pre-vision,” wrote Ana Gloria Lu-cas in an article entitled, Wa-ter: A Matter of Life or Death.
Dr. Sevillo D. David, Jr., executive director of Nation-al Water Resources Board, agrees. “Population growth, increased economic activity and improved standard of living are placing tremendous pressure both on the reserve supply and service delivery systems,” he said during the recent trade fair and busi-ness leaders’ conference of BIMP-EAGA Summit held in Davao City.
In his presentation, Dr. Da-vid said the Philippines has 12 water resources region, 421 principal river basins, 18 ma-jor river basins, and 72 lakes. The country’s annual average rainfall is 2,400 millimeters.
The dependable surface water supply of the country is estimated at 125,790 mil-lion cubic meters per year. The groundwater potential is around 20,200 million cubic meters per year.
But due to surging popula-tion, the current water supply may not be enough. Currently, 100 million Filipinos live in the country’s 300,000 square kilometers. Experts claim that with an annual population rate of 2% to 2.3%, the Philip-
pines would be facing a water shortage by 2025. That’s only 10 years from now.
In Davao City, however, water crisis may even come earlier. As of 2011, the city is home to 1,530,365 people, making it the country’s largest city outside Metro Manila. The city serves as the regional cen-ter for the Davao Region.
According to demogra-phers, the spike in the city’s population was mainly due to the influx of people from other parts of the country. As the National Statistics Of-fice explains, “The increase in population was the result of migration, among others, of people from other regions because Davao City offers many opportunities as a hub of government, business, and industries.”
As the economy booms and population swell, wa-ter becomes one of the city’s problems. “Right now, over 99 percent of the water con-sumed by the city comes from groundwater extracted from the Talomo-Lipadas Water-shed,” wrote journalist Jeffrey Tupas in an article some years back. “With a daily extraction of 212,000 cubic meters from 50 production wells, sustain-ability is in danger.”
This daily extraction of groundwater has a corre-sponding consequence. Dr. Kelvin S. Rodolfo, Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago, inter-viewed by GMA News Online, singled out Davao City, five other cities, and Metro Manila as those that will experience land subsidence – or the sink-ing of land.
“Today, we withdraw wa-ter far faster than it can be recharged – unsustainably mining what was once a re-newable resource,” deplores
Janet Abramovitz, a research-er/writer of the Washing-ton-based Worldwatch Insti-tute.
Water covers over 70 per-cent of the earth’s surface and is a major force in controlling the climate by storing vast quantities of heat. About 97.5 percent of all water is found in the ocean and only the re-maining 2.5 percent is consid-ered fresh water. Unfortunate-ly, 99.7 percent of that fresh water is unavailable, trapped in glaciers, ice sheets, and mountainous areas.
Water is drawn in two fundamental ways: from wells, tapping underground sources of water called aqui-fers; or from surface flows - that is, from lakes, rivers, and man-made reservoirs. Water is drawn in two fundamental ways: from wells, tapping un-derground sources of water called aquifers; or from sur-face flows - that is, from lakes, rivers, and man-made reser-voirs.
Water was acknowledged as a fundamental hu-man right in November 2002 by the UN Com-mittee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In its General Comment N. 15 about the Right to Water, the commission stresses that “water is insepa-rably linked to the right to good health, housing, food, as well as to the right to life and human dignity.”
The World Health Organization reports that about 1.1 billion people do not have ac-cess to clean water. Ful-ly 2.4 to 3 billion people lack access to sanita-tion. Every day, around 3,000 children die of di-
arrhea caused by unsanitary conditions, the UN Children’s Fund said.
Experts have outlined a basic daily requirement (BWR) -- 50 liters per capita per day for the purpose of drinking, sanitation, bathing, cooking, and kitchen needs -- and urged its recognition as the standard against which to measure the right to safe water.
But water is not for do-mestic uses only. Even in in-dustry, water is very much needed. For instance, to produce one smartphone re-quires 910 liters -- or 240 gal-lons -- of water.
“Cellphones and smart-phones use water through-out their production process, from creating the microchips to mining the metals used in the batteries to polishing the silica glass used in their touch screens,” writes Stephen Lea-hy, author of Your Water Foot-print. “In total, each phone requires 910 liters of water to manufacture.”
B y 2030, in a
b u s i n e s s as usual scenario, it has been predict-ed that human consumption of water could outstrip sup-ply by as much as 40%. This would place water, energy and food security at risk, increase public health costs, constrain economic development, lead to social and geopolitical ten-sions and cause lasting envi-ronmental damage, according to Karin Lexen of the Stock-holm International Water In-stitute.
“Therefore, the founda-
tion for a resource efficient green economy must be built upon water, energy and food security and these issues
must be addressed in an integrated, holistic man-
ner,” Lexen pointed out.Sandra Postel, di-
rector of the Massa-chusetts-based Global Water Policy Project,
believes water problems will trail climate change
as a threat to the human future. “Although the two are
related, water has no substi-tutes,” she explains. “We can transition away from coal and oil to solar, wind and other re-newable energy sources. But there is no transitioning away from water to something else.”
“Of all the social and nat-ural crises we humans face, the water crisis is the one that lies at the heart of our survival and that of our planet Earth,” surmised Koichiro Matsuura, former director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Orga-nization.
Drilling water
Water crisis Water scarcity
VOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 20158 EDGEDAVAO
VANTAGE
Protecting Mt. ApoEDITORIAL
MT. Apo, the country’s tallest peak, stands proud not just for its towering height but for what it symbolizes. It is fortu-itous that it is located in Mindanao, a land full of promise
and hope, but which has been subjected to harsh realities for de-cades on end. Wars and rumors of wars, conflict, violence – these have punctuated Mindanao’s history and served to stunt the growth that is due it. Mt. Apo stands as a strong symbol for strength and resilience for the island region’s people. As long as the mountain is there, we believe that better things are ahead for us.
Sadly, even the mighty mountain is being subjected to assault from those who would disrespect it. Each year climbers presume to conquer its peak, proudly standing at the highest point and tak-ing “selfies” of their achievement. In their wake often lie evidence of abuse and misuse: defaced terrain, vandalism, and garbage – tons of it. How people could be even think of leaving waste and destroying what lies on their path is unthinkable, and yet it happens every year.
The trekking season is starting soon, and we fear more of the same will happen once again as climbers treat the journey as one huge party.
To curb this misplaced enthusiasm, the Department of Environ-ment and Natural Resources (DENR) is poised to increase the trek-king fee from P1,000 to P3,000, quite a hefty sum for the average climber. This is an apparent attempt to dissuade all but the most se-rious trekkers to make their way up the peak. In so doing those who are apt to disregard the environment would be weeded out. This is a positive step, but it also needs to be fully implemented for it to have any real effect. It is one thing to increase the fees, after all, and quite another to collect the money.
Ultimately, the goal is to protect Mt. Apo from ignorant souls who think that it is their right to leave behind a trail of destruction as they make their climb. Increasing the trekking fee is just one step; more needs to be done to make a lasting difference.
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
OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager
Printed by Zion Accuprint Publishing Inc. Door 14 ALCREJ Building,
Quirino Avenue, 8000, Davao City, PhilippinesTel: (082) 301-6235
THE Department of the Interior and Local Gov-ernment (DILG) is urging everyone through-out the nation to attend their respective Ba-
rangay Assembly on Saturday, March 28.It is in compliance with PNoy’s presidential
proclamation requiring all barangays to convene their Assembly twice a year (last Saturday of March and second Sunday of October), with an agenda provided through a memorandum circular for the purpose.
However we may feel about such directive, par-ticularly as to how it manipulates the exercise of sov-ereignty and our citizens’ right to assemble as often as we please, we might as well go along and view it as an opportunity to awaken our community to its role in the larger context—as the basic unit of the Philippine Republic and a microcosm of Philippine society.
It is very important that we be conscious at all times that We, Sovereign Citizens, are the source of the government’s legitimacy and of its officials’ au-thority.
Assertive SovereigntySuch community assemblies serve an essential
purpose in fostering a sense of belonging and soli-darity among the neighborhoods while heightening consciousness among the officials concerning their duties and obligations as public servants.
Provided people take part in its deliberations and not allow themselves to be dominated by offi-cials who monopolize proceedings, the Barangay Assembly can rescue the community from being blithely ruled and manipulated by presumptuous traditional politicos (trapos) with selfish agendas and dynastic pretensions.
Literally a constituent assembly, this Barangay Assembly affirms and embodies the paramount role of the popular will in the acts and decisions of gov-ernment.
Unless the people convene periodically, ex-change views, and build consensus on how to secure their interests and the common good, the grassroots will remain helpless captives of trapos, their cronies, and other predators. It is incumbent upon the peo-ple to be vigilant and practice an assertive brand of sovereignty.
Establishing Responsible GovernmentToo many people forget that they are responsi-
ble for good governance at every level. Starting with their own barangay, their votes establish govern-ments on all levels all the way to Malacañang and Congress.
And they also forget that responsible govern-ments are created by responsible citizens while irresponsible citizens create irresponsible govern-ments. Thus the people’s essential role in creating governments cannot be overemphasized.
Anyone unhappy with the conduct of govern-ment, especially their own barangay or municipal government, should look inward and consider if they themselves are to blame.
But simply acknowledging the blame won’t do any good. It won’t make government or the officials change their behavior.
Power of OneCitizens with a desire for good governance—
and who perform their role in its processes—can change the behavior of government. They can be-cause their sovereign power, aided by the law, pro-vides them the strength and the basis for imposing their will, bending wrongful conduct, and stopping graft and corruption.
Asserting the sovereign power of a citizen, using it to reform government or politics, is the important point in the deliberations of the Barangay Assembly. For this Assembly is People Power in a real, actual sense. It is power which starts with an individual participating in the governing process.
This “Power of One,” combined with those of other individuals, strengthens the community’s col-lective power—which establishes or disestablishes government. To be reminded of this power, to wield it along with the rest of the community, is to bring about the realization of communal wishes and ex-pectations and promote the common good.
As a great American thinker wrote more than a century ago, “Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that is the first step toward attaining it.” (Henry David Thoreau, 1849, America’s first and foremost practitioner of the Power of One.)
To enable every Filipino to make known what kind of government would command his respect, the Gising Barangay Movement offers an eight-point Agenda, which we shall detail in this column starting Part 2 onwards.
(Manny is former UNESCO regional director for Asia-Pacific; secretary-general, Southeast Asia Pub-lishers Association; director, Development Academy of Philippines; member, Philippine Mission to the UN; vice chair, Local Government Academy; member, Cory Government’s Peace Panel; awardee, PPI-UNICEF outstanding columnist. He is chairman/convenor, Gising Barangay Movement Inc. and author of books on governance. [email protected])
I AM not sure if you heard this joke before, but allow me to share it again. Mark visited his close friend John at his home and was total-
ly amazed at how well John treated his wife. He told her several times how attractive she was, complimented her on her culinary skills, and showered her with hugs and kisses.
Mark told his observation and inquired. This was John’s secret: “I started to appreciate her more about a year ago. It has revived our mar-riage, and we couldn’t be happier.”
Inspired by John’s story, Mark hurried home, hugged his wife, told her how much he loved her, and said he wanted to hear all about her day. He was totally caught by surprise when his wife, Sarah, burst into tears. “Sarah,” he asked, “what-ever’s the matter?”
Sarah replied, “This has been the worst day I’ve had for a long time. This morning our eldest son fell off his bike and hurt his ankle, then the while was watching my favorite show, the tele-vision quit working. Now, to top it off, you come home drunk!”
Of course, the anecdote was a joke, but it came into my mind as I read the article written by Jane Lindstrom, “How Will You Know Unless I Tell You?” It first appeared in ‘These Times’ but was condensed by ‘Reader’s Digest.’ The title was taken from a letter sent to the author from a casual acquaintance.
But that’s going ahead of the story. Jane was a teacher and one time, she had a surgery. In the beginning, friends sent her flowers, fruits, etc. But as days passed, those things stopped com-ing. In fact, there were no more friends visiting her. “I felt lonely, unimportant, forgotten by a world that apparently was doing very well with-out me,” she wrote in her article.
Then, all of a sudden, there was a letter coming from someone whom she passed each morning on her way to school. “Dear Jane,” said the letter. “My class is about to begin, but I must write these few words before my students arrive. I missed your smile and your wave this morning, just as I have every day since you’ve been ill.
“I pray you’ll be well soon,” the letter contin-ued. “You’re probably surprised at receiving this note, but the world for me is a less happy place without you. And how will you know unless I tell you?”
Notes like that will never be thrown away. Ask film actor Denzel Washington. At age 20, he was sitting in his mother’s hairdressing salon, when he saw one of her customers looking at him.
“Somebody give me a piece of paper!” she exclaimed. “I’m having a prophecy.” Then, look-
ing at Denzel, she told him, “You’re going to speak to millions of people. You’re going to do great things.”
At that time, Denzel was a student at New York’s Fordham University about to flunk. Today, he is one of the most successful film actors to come out from Hollywood and winning Academy Awards.
Denzel still has the paper the woman used to write down her prophecy. He still thinks of what she said.
“I’ve felt the hand of God on my life,” he told Dotson Rader, author of an article which appeared ‘Parade.’ “And I think I do speak to millions of people. A part of me says, ‘May-be, Denzel, you’re supposed to preach. Maybe you’re compromising.’ Well, right now, since I’ve been given this ability to act, this must be what she was talking about. I’ve had an opportunity to play great men and, through their words, to preach. I take what talent I’ve been given seri-ously, and I want to use it for good.”
See what good words and notes can do? In her article, Jane Lindstrom also wrote of the story of a co-teacher, who prepared a variety of experiences for her pupils, hoping to share with them her love of the fields and woods, at a school outdoor center.
“But the week was a complete disaster. It rained four of the five days, and the children were rowdy and uncooperative,” Jane noted. So, when the children were packing and ready to return home, the young teacher was broken hearted and crying. “I wasn’t sure before,” she told Jane, “but now I know. I can never work with children. I’m just not cut out for it.”
But Jane observed that she was would make an outstanding teacher. But who would tell her? Just as they were about to leave the center, too, a little girl came up and told her: “I want to thank you for this week and for the things you taught us. You know, I never listened to the wind in the trees before. I will never forget it. Here’s a poem I wrote for you. I almost didn’t give it to you.”
Jane reported: “After reading the few pen-ciled lines, the young teacher looked up with tears in her eyes, but now they were tears of happiness. I breathed a prayer of thanks to this
one child who had made the right choice. I knew that because of her gesture countless children would enjoy the affection and guidance of a fine teacher.”
Maybe someone out there is just waiting a note from you. Maybe this is the right moment to do so. Read the poem below sent to me by a friend. I really didn’t know who wrote it, but it goes this way: “If I knew it would be the last time that I’d see you fall asleep, I would tuck you in more tightly and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.
“If I knew it would be the last time that I see you walk out the door, I would give you a hug and kiss and call you back for one more. If I knew it would be the last time I’d hear your voice lifted up in praise, I would video tape each action and word, so I could play them back day after day.
“If I knew it would be the last time, I could spare an extra minute or two to stop and say ‘ love you,’ instead of assuming, you would know I do. If I knew it would be the last time I would be there to share your day, well I’m sure you’ll have so many more, so I can let just this one slip away.
“For surely there’s always tomorrow to make up for an oversight, and we always get a second chance to make everything right. There will always be another day to say our ‘I love you’s,’ and certainly there’s another chance to say our ‘Anything I can do’s?’
“But just in case I might be wrong, and to-day is all I get, I’d like to say how much I love you and I hope we never forget. Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, young or old alike. And to-day may be the last chance you get to hold your loved one tight. So if you’re waiting for tomor-row, why not do it today?
“For if tomorrow never comes, you’ll sure-ly regret the day, that you didn’t take that extra time for a smile, a hug, or a kiss and you were too busy to grant someone, what turned out to be their one last wish. So hold your loved ones close today, whisper in their ear. Tell them how much you love them and that you’ll always hold them dear. Take time to say ‘I’m sorry,’ ‘Please forgive me,’ ‘Thank you’ or ‘It’s okay.’ And if to-morrow never comes, you’ll have no regrets about today.”
“Finish every day and be done with it,” Ralph Waldo Emerson once said. “You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and se-renely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day is all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterdays.”
Financial ratings good but inclusive growth still slow (Part 1)
Empower your barangay (Part 1)
AS we have noted several columns ago, Fitch, S&P and other international rat-ings agencies have consistently upgraded
our financial ratings and have largely kept them at an investment grade of BBB or similar lev-els. These ratings set the benchmark for other moneylenders to also lower their interest rates when lending money to prospective businesses in the Philippines. This bodes well for the en-try of foreign direct investment, and improves our overall business climate to encourage even local businesses to expand since it generally becomes easier to borrow funds needed, and at cheaper rates. The growth is felt in the rise in private infrastructure spending in Metro Ma-nila, and major cities like Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao, where many empty lots are now teeming with construction activity, building new structures and renovating or refacing old buildings. Already, OFW remittances, while in-creasing, already contributes a lower share of national GDP than it used to. Manufacturing as a share is going up. This can mean that there are slightly more jobs generated at home than before.
This rise of other industries at home is a trend that must continue, as it enables us to
grow even more. OFW spending on housing, ap-pliances and other needs can only bring us to a certain point in our growth, af-ter which the development will plateau. Sustainable growth needs for us to make things from our country, and sell them at home and abroad. The higher the value of goods we make, the better for us. Korea is one example of a war torn, damaged country to an indus-trial power. Malaysia and Thailand are not far behind. These three countries are heavily en-couraging manufacturing investments as a core driver of their economic growth.
What is noted, however, is the low per capita income of the Philippines at $2,836 in 2014 compared with the compared to other
countries ‘BBB’ median of $10,654. While this should not be an immediate problem, the fur-ther increase of our financial ratings can only be sustained if the economy is more equitable, meaning, that the per capita income, which is the income of individuals and their families, goes up. Lower income means less capability to purchase needs and wants from the market. But when per capita income goes up, people buy products made by local suppliers, who em-ploy more workers and subcontractors, who in turn buy more from others, and so on. Over all, the pie of growth gets bigger, and everybody goes up with more earnings and a better qual-ity of life.
This is especially important in areas where agricultural activity is the main source of in-come. Farmers need more people to buy their produce, and this encourages them to plant more or increase productivity, which in turns moves more people to go into farming even in small plots to meet rising demand. This allows more farmers to earn more per hectare, while stabilizing pricing of commodities such as rice, vegetables and meat. Of course, pump priming agriculture to soften pricing shocks may be needed, but that’s the topic of another column.
VOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 201510 EDGEDAVAO
ICT HUB
GLOBE Telecom bagged a Bronze award in Best Crisis Management
at this year’s PR Awards for leading the industry shift to consumable data plans using an extensive communica-tions campaign which aimed to educate the public and its customers about responsible internet use.
As part of its customer experience roadmap, Globe embarked on a massive awareness campaign for its fair use policy as a standard
global practice to ensure quality of network experience among customers. The cam-paign also taught customers responsible data usage and monitoring and provided them access to a better mo-bile internet experience with the introduction of its Go-SURF data plans.
The successful introduc-tion of GoSURF provided customers with better and more relevant mobile data plans with more affordable pricing, access to exclusive
content and apps, and a more seamless and uninterrupted browsing experience. Globe spearheaded industry shift to consumable data plans following steady increase in smartphone penetration along with the demand for affordable and relevant data plans.
The success of the com-pany’s consumable data plans helped underpin a dou-ble-digit growth in the com-pany’s mobile data business in 2014. Mobile browsing and
other data revenues reached P14.3 billion, up 23% from P11.6 billion in the previous year, accounting for 18% of total mobile service revenues and posting higher revenue contributions to overall mo-bile business, with growth on the back of the continuous de-mand for data services, popu-larity of data-driven products and applications, and the con-tinuing shift among consum-ers to a digital lifestyle.
“We are thankful to the PR Awards for recognizing
our efforts to be open and transparent with our custom-ers as well as provide them with innovative services and experiences. This citation is a testament to our strength-ened visibility in the region-al telecom industry and our continued journey as a global digital brand,” said Yoly Cri-santo, Senior Vice President for Corporate Communica-tions at Globe.
Globe also received fi-nalist citations for its #Stop-SPAM campaign under the
Best Crisis Management cat-egory and Slipstream under the Best Sports PR campaign category at the PR Awards 2015.
The PR Awards is the pre-mier event celebrating excel-lence across the public rela-tions spectrum in Southeast Asia. From one-off stunts to long term programs, the PR Awards recognizes brands that have pushed themselves towards measurable success through sound and strategic communications.
via a server-side update to the Facebook app, which was probably fixed rather quickly.
According to Android Police, the new app is called Phone. The description was briefly found within Face-book’s app indicated that you could “install or update” Phone to try it out. Tapping on the option to install or update to Phone did noth-ing, since Phone (with a [FB-ONLY] tag appended to the name) is likely something that only Facebook employ-ees can access internally.
However, the descrip-tion of Phone seems to in-dicate that the app, which is likely just an app meant to replace your smartphone’s standard dialing function-ality, would allow users to receive information about who is calling them when-ever the call comes in. We can only surmise that this info would come from Face-book itself, and it’s unclear whether Facebook would only cough up information on your smartphone’s screen for your Facebook friends, or any Facebook user who has
let Facebook know his or her phone number.
Facebook’s Phone app would also “block calls from commonly blocked num-bers,” which is a bit vague. We don’t yet know whether that means Facebook’s di-aler would block calls from people that you’ve already elected to block on your spe-cific device—which would be a good thing—or people you’ve also blocked on Face-book itself. That, or perhaps Facebook is applying some kind of groupthink technique to dialer, and telemarketing calls that a number of people might tend to block would then be blocked for all.
A Facebook spokesper-son confirmed that Phone ex-ists to Venturebeat, but that’s the only detail said person would share.
“We are always testing things and have nothing to announce at this time,” the spokesperson said.
You can bet, however, that Facebook would only launch Phone—if it does—as an An-droid app. Apple, to little sur-prise, is very particular about letting other apps completely replace its smartphones’ core abilities.
BRONZE. Globe External Affairs Director Jocel de Guzman (right) and Globe Brand PR Head EJ Francisco (left) are all smiles as they receive a Bronze award in Best Crisis Man-agement for the telco’s awareness campaign on consumable data plans at the recent 2015 PR Awards held in Singapore.
VOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 11EDGEDAVAO
BIGGER PICTURE
Outlook remains rosy, but challenges loomPhl real estate market:
WITH the latest economic growth rate at 6.1%, second only to China, a growing service sec-
tor, and rising foreign investments, the Philippines remains one of the world’s bright spots.
Demand for tenants with-in malls continues to be at its peak, encouraging developers to pursue new projects. The retail market’s strong perfor-mance has led to developers adding approximately 600,000 square meters of new retail space until 2018.
Driven by their success in Metro Manila, the top three do-mestic players, Ayala Land , SM Prime, and Robinsons Land, and other large players in the community mall segment like Cosco Capital and DoubleDrag-on, are also looking into expan-sion strategies outside Metro Manila.
“The expansion of BPOs to new wave cities and the eco-nomic growth in major cities such as Cebu and Davao have spurred developers into pur-suing more projects outside of Metro Manila,” said Mc-Cullough. “One of the major re-tail developments outside Met-ro Manila is SM City Seaside, a 472,470 square meter mall in Cebu. Once this has been com-pleted, it is expected to break into the list of the world’s big-gest shopping malls.”
The retail sector also en-joys the advantage of having lower rates than Hong Kong , Singapore , Australia , Japan , Malaysia , Indonesia , and Vietnam . “At $49.1 per sq. m., the monthly prime mall rental rate in Manila remains as the lowest in the region, less than its counterparts Ho Chi Minh City , Hanoi , Jakarta , and Kua-la Lumpur . The Philippines should be taking advantage of that,” noted McCullough. “We hope that this boom in the re-tail market would persuade more local companies to seek out foreign retailers and pur-sue the unique opportunity that the country provides.”
In residential sector, de-mand shifts toward develop-ments for the middle-class
In the residential rental market, rates have continued to grow at a modest rate. While yield compression is ongoing for luxury and high-end prop-erties, demand for middle-in-come residential properties re-mains high, largely due to over-seas Filipino workers and BPO employees investing in con-dominiums. “Previously, the gains in the residential market were largely due to luxury and high-end properties, but now we’re starting to see at-tractive returns for lower-end products,” shared McCullough. “The growing demand and the shortage of residential units in this sector has led to a shift among developers, who are now focusing on providing more developments catering to the middle-income sector.”
Despite the strong de-mand, financing remains a challenge for prospective con-dominium owners. “The ma-jority of the growing middle class still doesn’t qualify for bank loans. We have seen de-velopers try to work around this by taking on the bank loans and offering more affordable payment schemes; however, the Central Bank’s tightening might scale back the lending. This will not be a problem for major developers, but second tier and mid-sized players may face a bumpy road ahead.”
Lack of solid infrastruc-ture continues to limit hotels
sectorAnother prospective
growth area in the real estate market is the hotels sector, which is also supported by the country’s favorable economic environment. The lack of sol-id infrastructure, however, is still a major roadblock to the sector’s growth. “The govern-ment’s target of 10 million arrivals by 2016 seems to be difficult to achieve as Philip-pine tourism last year only grew by 3.2%, currently at 5 million in foreign tourist ar-rivals,” said McCullough.”With-out expanded runways at the flagship airport NAIA and new alternative runways to accom-modate more flights, it would be difficult to create substantial growth in the number of annu-al passengers.”
However, McCullough added that despite the slow tourist arrivals growth, the ho-tels sector is still performing well. “The deluxe segment is enjoying relatively high occu-pancy rates, and the number of rooms in this category is likely to increase further. In fact, there are currently at least 2,000 rooms in the pipeline for this segment within the next two years from brands such as Shangri-La, Conrad, Novotel, Moevenpick, Westin, Grand Hyatt, Hilton, and Sheraton ,” shared McCullough. “This shows that global brands also recognize the strong potential of the Philippines’ hotel sector across all markets, particularly for the MICE market (meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhi-bitions).”
McCullough also noted that business travelers are increas-ing demand for more serviced apartments, which Ascott is now addressing by opening its 180-key site in Bonifacio Glob-al City. Ascott will also be open-ing another group of serviced apartments under its Citadines brand in Ortigas.
Amending ownership policies, increasing invest-ments in infrastructure needed to further strength-en the Philippine economy
For the Philippines to at-tract more investments and fully maximize its positive mo-mentum, McCullough believes that strengthening infrastruc-ture and relaxing foreign own-ership rules will be critical. “To encourage more people to visit and invest in the Philippines , we need to make improve-ments in land and air trans-portation, from upgrading the metro rail system to building new roads, highways, and air-ports. That has to be a priori-ty,” said McCullough. “We need to make it easier for potential investors to come in and see what we have to offer.”
“The government also needs to consider relaxing for-eign ownership rules to give potential investors more of an incentive to choose the Phil-ippines as an investment des-tination,” added McCullough. “If the Philippines invests in connectivity throughout Lu-zon, Visayas, and Mindanao and supports this with good governance, sound macroeco-nomic policies, and more lib-eral foreign ownership rules, then it stands a good chance of becoming an economic pow-erhouse in Southeast Asia.” PRNewswire
Given the country’s strong economic performance, real estate services agency KMC MAG Group believes that the local real estate market is in a position to sustain its growth across all sectors.
“We expect the proper-ty markets to remain active throughout the year,” shared KMC MAG Group Managing Director Michael McCullough. “There are a lot of reasons for this optimism, chief among
them low interest rates, quan-titative easing from the central bank, and positive feedback from investors. These factors have helped create a favorable climate for both local and for-eign businesses.”
2015: The year of the townships
McCullough noted that the rise of townships across vari-ous cities has created pockets of growth and development in Metro Manila. Major de-
velopers such as Megaworld, SM, and Ayala are focusing on township projects, with Mega-world turning its attention to McKinley West and Uptown Bonifacio, while SM is work-ing on reclaiming more land and expanding the Mall of Asia complex, and Ayala developing the Arca South (Taguig), Maka-ti Circuit (Makati), and Vertis North (Quezon City) town-ships. In addition to these, de-velopers like Federal Land and
Vista Land have also started to build townships, with the former building Metropolitan Park (Pasay) and Veritown Fort (Bonifacio Global City, Taguig), and the latter building Vista City (south of Manila).
The ongoing race to build townships has also led to local developers pouring in massive amounts of capital. Capital ex-penditure programs are now expected to breach the Php300 billion mark this year, covering land acquisitions, ongoing projects, and launches.
“The live-work-play life-style encapsulated in these townships has resulted into a lot of success for some of the major developers, so it’s no surprise that new players are working to capitalize on this and bring the concept to new areas,” noted McCullough.
“The township concept also provides a way for devel-opers to be part of the solution to the congestion in Metro Ma-nila,” said McCullough. “With developers taking the critical first step and building in other areas within and outside of the Metro, they’re creating new microdistricts and encour-aging more Filipinos to live, work, and play closer to home. We hope that this will help reduce congestion and make Metro Manila more liveable.”
BPOs still driving take-up for office sector
Strong demand from the outsourcing industry con-tinues to power the upswing for the office market, which has encouraged developers to launch new developments across Metro Manila. For this year alone, approximately 560,000 square meters of new office space is expected to be built across the major central business districts, with nearly half of the supply located in Bonifacio Global City.
Office supply is also set to increase in Alabang, Ortigas, and in the Bay Area, with the additions of the Alabang Town Center BPO Building, Vector Three, the BDO Corporate Center, and Five E-com. Mean-while, Quezon City will have to wait until 2016 for new office supply.
Meanwhile, the Makati CBD market has experienced a fall in take-up, owing to the lack of supply which is expect-ed to remain low for the next four years. However, there is a silver lining as this opens op-portunities for BGC to absorb the demand and rise as the choice of location for prime of-fices and headquarters.
Retail sector growth pro-viding new opportunities for the Philippines
With the recent decline in oil prices, consumers now have more spare cash and more rea-sons to consume, powering the boom in the retail sector.
GENERAL SANTOS CITY MARKETING OFFICEEDMUND P. RENDONMarketing SpecialistGeneral Santos CityMobile: (Sun) 0925-357-3460 (Smart) 0907-202-3844
DAVAO CITY MAIN OFFICEJOCELYN S. PANESDirector of SalesDoor 14 ALCREJ Bldg.,Quirino Ave., Davao CityTel: (082) 224-1413Telefax: (082) 221-3601
MANILA MARKETINGOFFICEANGELICA R. GARCIA Marketing Manager97-1 Bayanbayanan Ave.,Marikina Heights, Marikina City Tel: (02) 654-3509
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VOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015
EDGEDAVAOINdulge! TRAVEL
THE ISLAND BUENAVISTASamal’s ultimate island getaway
I had always wondered what I would do if I owned my own tropical island, and last Saturday I was given a chance to ex-perience a part of that dream thanks to
a call from Brenda Ocampo, the Marketing Manager of Eden Nature Park and The Is-land Buenavista. I was invited to be part of a media group for an exclusive look at The Island Buenavista.
From our meeting point, we took the ferry boat to Babak, Samal, and after a 30-minute ride, we arrived at The Island Buenavista’s sister resort Anamarina located at Ba-rangay Balet on Samal’s north eastern coast with a view of both Big and Small Ligid islands, Small Ligid island is the old name of The Island Buenavista. The outrigger ride to The Island Buenavista took 15 minutes. As the island drew clos-er, I had a growing sense of awe and excitement to finally set foot on another pearl of an island that are scattered around Samal Island in the Davao Gulf.
A warm welcome As the outrigger slow-ly slid onto the island’s beach, I was impressed by the beach’s size as well as how my foot sank into the natural powder-white sand as most white-sand beaches in Samal are nor-mally not as long nor as wide. A short walk along the white sand beach leads to the island’s Gazebo made of local and indigenous materials, area serves as the main assembly area of the resort. We were immediately greeted by the resort’s staff with a welcome drink of fresh young coconuts ready to quench our thirst from our journey. After a short walk around the island’s lush gardens, a lunch featur-ing Filipino favourites such as Native Chicken Tinola, Grilled Stuffed Squid, Shrimp Kare-Kare, Grilled Pork Belly, and Grilled Tuna Belly. “We bring over the chef and staff whenever we have guests on the island,” says Brenda, “our over-night package includes three buffet meals as well as two snacks while our day tour package includes buffet lunch and after-noon snacks. Guests may also opt to have their own chefs brought in upon re-quest.”
Luxurious to glamping Since you do have the island to yourself and your guests, it is basically up to you to choose where to stay in the islands var-
ied choices of accommo-dations. For families visiting The Island Buenavista, I would suggest a stay at the island’s Family Villa that has three air-conditioned bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room and a living room that opens directly to the beach giving guests a spectacular view of the sea. Brenda says that the villa is where the owners of the island would stay at whenever they visited. Beside the Family Villa is the smaller but still posh Executive Villa that is perfect for couples spend-ing their honeymoon. This villa features an air-conditioned living and dining area that can also open to the beach, a large air-conditioned bedroom with a king-sized bed and a luxurious bathroom equipped with a rainwater shower head. The open-ness of the design ensures one can actually turn off the air-conditioning and enjoy the cooling sea breeze that rolls into the area every afternoon in-stead. There are also the Island Suites which are smaller air-conditioned suites. For those who would want to forego air-con-ditioning and truly em-brace the island glamp-ing lifestyle, The Island Buenavista has six beau-tiful Beach Huts which are located directly on the beach. Cooling is pro-vided by nature with an overhead fan to aide it. Aside from a king-sized bed, each beach hut also comes equipped with its own mosquito net, bam-boo blinds, as well as its own luxurious bathroom.
Fun on land and sea Being on an island of your own does not mean one should get bored either as The Island Buenavista offers a host of
activities for guests. Aside from frolick-ing on the island’s wide stretch of natural white sand beach, one can also use the resort’s own sea kayaks to explore the wa-
ters around the island. As the waters around the is-land are relatively shallow, one can try snorkelling to explore the island’s hidden underwater garden. More experienced divers can
arrange to hire dive in-structors and diving gear to go even deeper into The Island Buenavista’s secret garden. For those who would rather just relax away from the waves The
Island Buenavista has its own lagoon type pool to keep water babies happy and satisfied. Aside from the beach
Urbanissimo A4
The Family Villa sits right on the beach.
Together with other Davao travel writers.
The Island Buenavista’s fabulous strech of white sand beach.
Drumbeaters welcomed us on our arrival.
Coconut water time.
Pinoy lunch buffet.
CELEBRITIES work hard making and promoting TV shows and movies. They spend most of the year shooting, but just like many, they too, need time to rest. But where do they fly to take a break from the glaring lights? With summer just around the corner, fans are surely more than curious to know what’s on their favorite artist’s travel itinerary. Here’s looking back at some of the Kapuso stars’ most memorable escapes inside and outside of the country.
KRIS BERNAL(Hiram na Alaala)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “Cebu—Because aside from being the home of the tastiest lechon, it is also the home of white beaches. Not to mention the night market, the night life, secret caves, virgin forests, and kayaking sites. There are just so many random things to do in Cebu.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“Europe—I spent a month in Eu-rope with my family. We travelled from one country to another. Ev-erything, every moment, was like being in a fairytale. We went to famous tourist spots that I had just seen in the movies.”
ALJUR ABRENICA(Sunday All Stars)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “Davao—I love their lifestyle, the way they eat, and the things they eat. I love durian. I am also a fan of durian coffee. I feel closest to na-ture when I’m there.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“Singapore and Malaysia—‘Yun ang pinuntahan namin ng entire family ko and we got to bond more and we got closer to each other in
that trip.”
SEF CADAYONA(Sabado-badoo)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “Vigan—The vintage scenery in Vigan is so relaxing and it makes you have a glimpse on what the country looks like before.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“Singapore—It’s all because of the food and a family vacation well spent.”
ENZO PINEDA(More Than Words)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines:“Baguio—I love cold the weather. Running is also so refreshing in Baguio because of the fresh air.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“San Francisco—It was memora-ble for me because I left my favorite pillow at the hotel we stayed in. We were about to fly to Philadelphia when I noticed it. So my Tita from San Francisco had to ship my pil-low to Philadelphia. I was 7 years old that time and I couldn’t sleep without it.”
GWEN ZAMORA(Bubble Gang)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines:“Coron, Palawan—Because of its beauty and all the activities you can do there, from island hopping, hiking, rock-climbing, kayaking, rafting, diving, spelunking, and safari trip. Plus the view, it’s simply breathtaking.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“Amsterdam—One of the most beautiful cities I’ve had the honor to visit. The food is simply divine and the shopping experience is insane. I had a blast going thrift-shopping in all their vintage stores. And the art galleries there are su-
per cool and chic. Pure love.”
KRISTOFFER MARTIN(Healing Hearts)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “Boracay—For the place answers my need for party and chill vibe.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“Sadly, I have never travelled out-side the country. But I look for-ward to it in the future.” KIM RODRIGUEZ(Strawberry Lane)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “Bicol—Kasi there are many places to visit in Bicol, pagbaba mo ng plane kita mo agad ‘yung Mayon volcano. Pwede rin mag-visit sa old churches doon and explore the caves. Kung gusto mo mag-beach, meron din sa Caramoan.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“Never been outside the Philip-pines.”
RURU MADRID(Let The Love Begin)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “Mt Pulag—I spent months in Pu-lag to shoot our film Above the Clouds. I love the feeling of being literally above the clouds.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“Japan—I love the weather and the people. I was there for the Japan Filmfest and I have experienced their hospitality, their culture and I love their food!”
ANDRE PARAS(The Half Sisters)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “I love going to The Fort because it’s very peaceful there and you can eat a lot there too.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:
“Most memorable will be in the US because I was able to train and play basketball there and also because of the weather.”
MIGUEL TANFELIX(Once Upon A Kiss)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “Palawan—There are many places to visit in Palawan and many ac-tivities to enjoy like snorkeling and cliff diving.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“Los Angeles—It was my first time to go out of the country and I had the chance to meet our Kapuso abroad.” ALBERT “BETONG” SUMAYA (Sabado-badoo)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “Boracay—Nothing beats Bora-cay’s pristine white sand. Marami ring pwedeng gawing activities aside sa pagpunta sa beach at iba ang feeling kapag nandoon ka, turistang-turista ka talaga.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“Los Angeles—Last year, naging part ako ng Kapusong Pinoy sa LA at ‘yun ang first time kong maka-punta roon. First time kong bumi-yahe ng 14 hours straight, humalik talaga ako sa lupa pagdating na-min sa airport. First time ko ring makakain sa “In & Out,” isang sikat na burger chain sa US. First time makarating ni Antonietta roon para makapag-perform. At ang pinaka-memorable ay nakita ko ang relatives ko sa LA na mata-gal ko nang hindi nakasama.” JUANCHO TRIVINO(InstaDad)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “I recently visited Coron, Palawan. Napaka-peaceful doon. Nagig-ing emotional ako sa Coron dahil napakaganda ng beach.”
MANY Filipinos consider a beach trip the ultimate getaway for having fun under the sun. Bora-cay, Palawan, and Cebu usually get most of the attention, but with over 7,000 islands to choose from, why not try something fresh and exciting? Allow us to suggest some alternative get-aways to enjoy with your family, barkada, or special someone. Whether you decide on some last-minute bookings this month or plan ahead for the upcoming long weekends, these properties are ready to book. Below, Agoda.com presents a list of some new and emerging properties in the Philippines that will be perfect for your escape to the beach.
Dona Choleng Camping Resort in Cagbalete Island, Mauban, QuezonMore and more people are talk-ing about the pristine beach of Cagbelete in Mauban Quezon. Drawn by the promise of soli-tude and peace, travelers love walking along its quiet beaches, which are known for their unique ripples left by undulating waves. Dona Cholenge Camping Resort is the perfect place to stay as you discover the island’s exceptional beauty. Perfect for big groups or couples, the property offers comfortable rooms, nice nipa cottages and even tents for the brave ones! For the Balinese Hut, rates start at P 3,200+++ good for 8 people.
Ticao Island Resort in Masbate Known as one of the most un-derrated beaches in the country, Masbate has a lot to offer. Ticlao Island Resorts offers a number of activities such as scuba diving, horseback riding, island tours, and even immersion in local vil-lage life. Their restaurant by the beach offers a superb menu for the most discerning palate. The rate for the Beachfront Cabana is only P 4,200+++ with full board meals every night!
Salamangka Beach and Dive Resorts in Siquijor IslandSalamangka means “magic” in the local dialect and it’s the perfect word to describe the
beautiful white sand island. Sala-mangka Beach and Dive Resort is where luxury and adventure meet. Their cottages and lofts are well-equipped, ensuring a good night’s rest after touring the is-land. There’s a long list of attrac-tions to visit as well – the Natu-ral Flowing Spring, Salagdoong Man-made Forest, Camabugahay Falls, and over 40 natural caves. On Agoda.com, their Bay view cottage loft is only P 4,800+++ for two while the ocean view loft starts at P8,000+++ for two. Punta Bulata White Beach Resort & Spa in Sipilay CityThis resort south of Bacolod City is one of Negros Island’s best-kept secrets due to its 1km
stretch of white sand beach and accessibility to Danjugan Island, known for its colorful marine life. The resort takes pride of the
ENTERTAINMENT
Agoda.com highlights the most exciting emerging beach resorts in the Philippines
Kapuso stars’ top travel destinations
UP AND ABOUTEnzo Pineda
Gwen Zamora
Ruru Madrid
“Most memorable will be in the US because I was able to train and play basketball there and also because of the weather.”
MIGUEL TANFELIX(Once Upon A Kiss)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “Palawan—There are many places to visit in Palawan and many ac-tivities to enjoy like snorkeling and cliff diving.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“Los Angeles—It was my first time to go out of the country and I had the chance to meet our Kapuso abroad.” ALBERT “BETONG” SUMAYA (Sabado-badoo)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “Boracay—Nothing beats Bora-cay’s pristine white sand. Marami ring pwedeng gawing activities aside sa pagpunta sa beach at iba ang feeling kapag nandoon ka, turistang-turista ka talaga.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“Los Angeles—Last year, naging part ako ng Kapusong Pinoy sa LA at ‘yun ang first time kong maka-punta roon. First time kong bumi-yahe ng 14 hours straight, humalik talaga ako sa lupa pagdating na-min sa airport. First time ko ring makakain sa “In & Out,” isang sikat na burger chain sa US. First time makarating ni Antonietta roon para makapag-perform. At ang pinaka-memorable ay nakita ko ang relatives ko sa LA na mata-gal ko nang hindi nakasama.” JUANCHO TRIVINO(InstaDad)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “I recently visited Coron, Palawan. Napaka-peaceful doon. Nagig-ing emotional ako sa Coron dahil napakaganda ng beach.”
Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“Tumira ako sa States before for one year. It was memorable kasi si-yempre, nakaapak na ako sa States. Malamig at medyo nahasa ako sa pagi-English doon.”
ASH ORTEGA(InstaDad)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “Bohol—First time kong pumunta doon three years ago noong nag-shoot ako for an indie film. Nalibot ko ‘yung lugar at sobrang ganda talaga. Sobrang na-amaze ako sa Chocolate Hills and the tarsiers. That’s why kahit magpabalik-balik ako doon, hindi ako magsasawa.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“When I represented the country for an ice skating competition in Malaysia, I won eight medals kaya ‘yun ang pinaka-memorable travel destination ko.”
JAMES WRIGHT(GMA Records)
Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “Baguio—First time I performed out of Manila and first time I was shivering while singing on stage.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“Hong Kong—It’s my home.” MATET DE LEON(InstaDad)Favorite travel destination in the Philippines: “Bukidnon—Na-in love ako sa lugar na ‘yun noong nagpunta ako last 2011. Talagang maganda sa Bukidnon, sobra! Nagustuhan ko rin ‘yung white water rafting sa Cagayan de Oro.”Most memorable travel destination outside the country:“Well, hindi pa ako ulit lumalabas ng bansa pero I’m happy nakapun-ta na ako sa Japan.” To get the latest updates about various Kapuso personalities and programs, visit the Network’s offi-cial website via www.gmanetwork.com.
stretch of white sand beach and accessibility to Danjugan Island, known for its colorful marine life. The resort takes pride of the
design of each room that mixes Filipino and modern touches. They have capiz-shell doors and garden bathrooms which take
full advantage of the fresh ocean breeze. Their deluxe king room with breakfast is only P 3,900 without taxes, but if you want a room with a view of the sea, it’s only P 4,300+++. Aside from div-ing, there are other leisure ac-tivities such as kayaking, trekking and bird watching to include in your itinerary.
Camiguin Volcan Beach Eco Retreat and Dive Resort in CamiguinCamiguin may be the second-smallest province in the coun-try, but makes up for its small size with its exquisite beauty. Camiguin Volcan Beach Eco Re-treat and Dive Resort has stan-dard rooms for only P 1,600++
for two while their beach cot-tage is P 2,100+++. What makes this establishment interesting is their commitment to the envi-ronment. Construction materials are made without harmful chem-icals, all rooms are built with en-ergy conservation in mind, and meat and eggs are sourced from organic farms. Guests can opt to go diving, lounge at the famous white sandbar, have a massage, and even practice Yoga.
All these beach resorts and more can be booked online at Agoda.com. Connect with Agoda.com and learn about special deals and promotions on hotels worldwide, like us on Facebook or follow us on Google+, Instagram, or Pinterest.
Agoda.com highlights the most exciting emerging beach resorts in the Philippines
Kapuso stars’ top travel destinations
Ash Ortega
Andrei Paras
Kris Bernal
James WrightAljur Abrenica
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March 19-24, 2015
A4 INdulge!
Urbanissimo A1TRAVEL
and the sea, I loved explor-ing The Island Buenavisa and its many nooks and crannies. Thanks to it be-ing roughly 4 hectares in area, it was small enough to explore on foot yet big enough to have gardens and secluded pathways to explore. The island’s gazebo was one of my fa-vourite spots to relax, grab a cold beer, and watch the fiery red sunset.
An island experience like no other My experience at The Island Buenavista was definitely a unique one as I virtually had the is-land paradise all to myself (Imagine living Robinson Crusoe but with more comfortable accommoda-tions.) Of course all this is not cheap as an over-night stay would cost you a whopping Php90,000
while a day trip would cost a more modest Php35,000. The rates include ac-commodation for you and nine of your friends for a total of ten persons. For ev-ery person over ten, there is a charge of Php4,000 per person for an overnight stay while the charge is Php1,500 per person in ex-cess for a day tour.
Yes the price may sound out of this world but for the ultimate island get-away and an experience of a lifetime, I believe it is worth it. Just make sure you save up for it and may-be bring along a couple of your best friends to share the moment. To learn more about The Island Buenavista, you may visit their book-
ing office at 3/F JFM Bldg. 848 Atis St. Juna Subd., Matina, Davao City or call ay +63.82.2992992 to 94. Check out their website at www.buenavistaislandre-sort.com. Follow me on Instagram or on Twitter at @kenneth-kingong for more travel sto-ries, foodie finds, and hap-penings in, around, and beyond Durianburg.
The Island Buenavista’s Pool
The Executive Suite.
Beach hut.
VOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015EDGEDAVAO
VOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 13EDGEDAVAO
AROUND 400 residents in this city and nearby Sarangani Province
are set to benefit from near-ly P5 million in scholarship
grants allotted for the area this year by the Technical Education and Skills Devel-opment Authority (TESDA).
Richard Amparo, act-
ing head of TESDA Saran-gani-General Santos pro-vincial office, said Monday the grants comprise the area’s allocation for 2015
under the agency’s flagship technical-vocational (tech-voc) training scholarship and student assistance pro-grams.
NEWS
400 residents of GenSan, Saranganito get scholarship grants from TESDA
He said the allocation will cover for scholarship slots under the Private Ed-ucation Student Financial Assistance (PESFA) and the Training for Work Scholar-ship (TWSP).
“Each scholarship grant is worth an average of P8,000 per capita,” he told MindaNews in an interview.
Under the PESFA com-ponent, Amparo said the grants may be availed by qualified and deserving col-lege freshmen who are tak-ing degree and non-degree courses.
The program was es-tablished through Section 8 of Republic Act 8545 or the Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Educa-tion Act. It aims to extend financial assistance to “poor but deserving students” in post-secondary courses, a TESDA briefer said.
It seeks to develop more competent and skilled workforce and assist private institutions in the area in their development efforts by assuring a steady supply of enrollees to their course offerings.
PESFA scholars are en-
titled to free training cost, student allowance, book allowance and assessment fee, it said.
Under the TWSP, Ampa-ro said, the prospective scholars may include out-of-school youths, students and employed individuals who want to upgrade their skills.
He said the program is directed towards “filling up the skills gaps and job requirements of priority industries and sectors with high employment demand.”
For this city and Saran-gani Province, he said they are focused on addressing the critical skills shortages in priority sectors such as agriculture, fishery, tourism, services and construction.
Amparo said they have forged partnerships with local tech-voc institutions, training centers and local companies or industry play-ers to jointly address the skills shortages.
“Our accredited tech-voc and trainings institutions agreed to offer courses and skills trainings that match with the needs of our indus-tries as well as our existing economic activities,” he add-ed. (MindaNews)
VOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 201514 NEWS EDGEDAVAOThe... FROM 1
Released... FROM 2
Hedcor’s... FROM 6
AirAsia... FROM 6
Davao... FROM 2
Phl... FROM 3
DaLight ... FROM 3
Coal-fired... FROM 5ities and electric cooperatives have signed up to receive ca-pacity from Therma South.
It said that the power plant capacity has been “sold out” since 2014. At its peak some 4,000 workers most-ly from Davao City and Sta. Cruz Davao del Sur worked to complete the project, which was seen as one of the most critical long term solutions to the Mindanao power crisis.
Its customers include the DavaoLight and Pow-er, Cagayan de Oro Electric Power Co. and Cotabato
Light franchise areas. It will also serve electric cooper-atives serving the cities of Gen. Santos, Butuan, Tagum, Kidapawan, Mati, Koronadal, Surigao and Digos, among others,
It will serve the Zambo-anga provinces, Misamis, the whole of Agusan and Surigao provinces, the Davao region, North and South Cotabato and parts of Bukidnon and Misamis.
The company has earlier announced the expansion of the power plant to 645-MW.
market roads and facilities on health and education.
Tribal leader Datu Gideon Tolentino said, “Our simple living became exciting when Hedcor came. We were able to access health care, education, livelihood assistance and more through Hedcor’s endeavor.”
Hedcor, is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of AboitizPower owning and operating 21 run-of-river hydropower plants in Benguet, Ilocos Sur, Davao City and Davao del Sur with a total capacity of 170 MWs.
Very soon, Hedcor will expand its portfolio in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon. (PR/Hed-cor)
“As the leading and larg-est low-cost carrier in Asia, we are proud to present another round of promo seats to all of our guests. We have intro-duced many new routes across the group, recently abolished the fuel surcharge and with this new round of promo seats, we are keeping up to our brand promise to fly even more guest around Asia and beyond at affordable low fares. We hope that this promotion further stimulates travel and tourism across the region.” AirAsia Group chief commercial officer Siegtraund Teh said.
Guest can also make use of the optional Fly-Thru ser-vice to connect to flights via AirAsia’s multiple transit hubs with their baggage checked-through to the final destina-tion without the hassle of
immigration clearance. With this optional service, guest can now travel seamlessly be-tween all Asian and Australian cities, such as from Manila to Sydney through Kuala Lum-pur, making the beautiful har-bour city from down under just a stop away.
AirAsiaGo, the holiday division of the world’s best low cost airline, will also be offering special deals for AirA-sia guests during this promo. AirAsiaGo is presenting great savings up to 75% when Pro-mo Seats are booked togeth-er with hotel accommoda-tion and also up to 50% for ho-tel accommodation only. For more information and to book, visit its website at AirAsiGo.com. The same promo book-ing period and travel period applies.
tegrity.The governor however
said he would like to know where Sajid took the mon-ey for the bail.
The assets of the Am-patuan family are covered with a freeze order.
But Mangudadatu ex-pressed confidence addi-tional evidence to be pre-sented by the prosecution will pin down the brains behind the worst political violence in recent history.
He also expressed con-fidence former Mayor Ak-mad Ampatuan, a close rel-ative of prime suspect Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., will
continue to testify as state witness in the massacre.
Akmad was arrested in Makati City on Wednesday for another case.
Mangudadatu said the case involving Akmad Am-patuan happened in 1998 and that the case has been shelved after the private complainant filed an affi-davit of desistance.
The governor said Ak-mad Ampatuan was al-ready under the Witness Protection Program of the Department of Justice at the time of his arrest. (Fer-dinandh Cabrera/MindaN-ews)
Catapang on February 25 and launched two days later with artillery and air strike support against the BIFF. The offensive came a month after the Janu-ary 25 law enforcement oper-ation undertaken solely by the Phil;;ine National Police-Spe-cial Action Force (PNP-SAF) to get Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin hir alias Marwan. Marwan was killed but sow ere 44 SAF members, 18 MILF guerrillas and five civilians.
15 of 36 towns affected Datu Saudi Ampatuan
hosts the most number of evacuees (“bakwits” or inter-nally displaced persons) at 3,459 families or 17,295 per-sons followed by Shariff Aguak town’s 2,576 families (13,870 persons); Shariiff Saydona Mustapha’s 2,670 (13,350 per-sons); Mamasapano’s 2,637 (13,185 persons); Datu Sali-bo’s 2,576 (12,880 persons); Talayan’s 2,358 (11,790 per-sons); Talitay’s 2,218 (11,090 persons); Datu Unsay’s 1,808 (9,040 persons); Datu Anggal Midtimbang’s 1,791 (8,955); Guindulungan’s 1,160 (5,800 persons); Rajah Buayan’s 555 (2,775); Datu Piang’s 553 (2,765); Datu Abdullah Sang-ki’s 319 (1,595 persons); Datu Odin Sinsuat (host) with 110 (550 persons); and Datu Hof-fer’s 79 (362 persons).
Maguindanao has 36 towns.
According to Issue 8 of the IDP Protection Assessment Report dated March 18, a total of 123,537 persons from 15 municipalities were displaced as a result of the military ac-tion against the BIFF. Of this number, 3,137 persons had returned home.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHRC) in the Philippines co-chairs the Pro-tection Cluster Philippines with the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The Protection Cluster Phil-ippines comes out with the IDP Protection Assessment Reports.
The recent report said this year’s mass evacuation is “the biggest displacement since the 2008 MOA-AD debacle.”
The government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) of 2008 was initialed and set for signing on August 5, 2008 but the Supreme Court issued afternoon of August 4 a temporary restraining order barring the government peace panel from signing the MOA-AD.
The MILF, which signed the Comprehensive Agree-ment on the Bangsamoro with the government on March 27 last year, temporarily moved back its armed members from the areas where the military was operating, as coordinated by their respective Coordinat-ing Committees on the Cessa-tion of Hostilities.
“According to reports, people are fleeing because of fear of being hit during AFP ground operations and air strikes. Some IDPs are hav-ing difficulty finding refuge in host barangays if they are per-ceived to have affilitation with the BIFF,” the IDP Protection Assessment Report noted.
It also said that three weeks into the offensives, “there is no clear and consis-tent information provided to IDPs as to what areas are safe to move to or return to collect belongings and food, includ-ing accessing their livelihood which is essential for their survival” particularly since the harvest season in Maguindan-ao is in March and April.
Suspension of military operations
Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu told reporters after the Provin-cial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) meeting in the Army’s 6th Infantry Division camp in Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat on Thursday that the municipal POCs would meet before the PPOC meeting next week to discuss the proposal to sus-pend military operations for at least three days to allow schools hosting evacuees to hold graduation rites.
At the Dapiawan elemen-tary school, the schedule for Kinder graduation is on March 26 while the Grade 6 gradua-tion is on March 28.
Saria’s 18-year old grand-daughter, Armia, is graduating from Grade 6. Her brothers Mohammedin 10, and Mo-haleddin, 12, are finishing Grades 1 and 2, respectively.
The children’s mother, Aisa Abdul, one of Saria’s daughters, explains her chil-dren took long in starting or finishing Elementary because of the frequent evacuations from armed conflict.
The IDP Protection As-sessment Report also pointed to the “growing concern over the duration and scope of the ongoing military offensives, causing anxiety, distress, exhaustion and confusion amongst the IDPs.”
It said the military is present in “communities, in
houses, madrasahs and other government structures such as schools, and barangay halls including in some distribution sites even after the fighting has transferred to other ar-eas.”
It added that there are now areas identified as “no go areas” for civilians.
“In Barangay Penditen, Datu Salibo, six men were held by military from morning until late afternoon. There are reports of strafing or indis-criminate firing in some areas where people try to return to their houses/farms and per-sons detained as suspected BIFF members, including a school teacher,” the report said.
Tambako arrestedThe BIFF, which broke
away from the MILF in the aftermath of the botched MOA-AD signing, was found-ed around March 2010, three months after Ustadz Amiril Umra Kato tendered his res-ignation as commander of the 105th Base Command of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF).
In a MindaNews interview in April 2011, Kato said he would not stand in the way of the peace negotiations. “I am for peace negotiations but not peace negotiations forever.”
“In Maguindanaon, he said, “We do not need negotia-tions. We need results. Even if we do not negotiate, if we see this is also what we hope for, okay, automatic, we will agree. We will agree).
Kato, however, suffered a stroke in November 2011 and has not been heard from since.
On Sunday, March 15, au-thorities arrested Ustadz Mo-hammad Ali Tambako, former BIFF vice chair, and four of his men, in General Santos City.
Tambako, who was tagged as the founder of a supposed BIFF splinter group, Justice for Islam Movement (JIM), and his four companions were nabbed aboard a tricycle along the national highway in Barangay Calumpang at past 9 p.m. Sunday following a tip-off from residents.
The four other suspects were identified as Mesharie Gayak, Datukan Sabiwang, Ali Ludisma and Abusama Guiamel.
On Monday, police op-eratives recovered several bomb-making materials in a raid on a house in Dona Sole-dad Subdivision in Barangay Labangal that was previously rented by Tambako
Col. Roland Villanueva, commander of the Army’s 1002nd Brigade, thanked res-idents of General Santos “for providing the law enforcers — the security officers – this vital information.”
Tambako and his com-panions, who yielded three handguns and three hand grenades, were immediately flown to Manila before noon on Monday, March 16.
At least 140 BIFF killed?Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay,
chief of the Public Affairs Of-fice of the Army’s 6th Infan-try Division in Camp Siongco, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguind-anao said that as of morning of March 22, “estimated num-ber of dead BIFF is 140 plus with only five body counts, and about 40 wounded” while on the side of soldiers, the number of killed remained at six but the number of wound-ed has risen from 23 on March 11 to 33.
“Tuloy pa din all out-of-fensive. (The all-out offensive continues). Until June pa ito,” Petinglay said.
“However, the all-out offensive has three phases: first phase is clearing – flush-ing out the BIFF from their encampments and lairs and making them incapable of fighting; second is hold and consolidate – troops will be left to man areas in previous BIFF encampments so the BIFF cannot return there; and third is development phase – developmental projects will come into the areas for the residents there. As of now, we are still entering the hold and consolidate phase. It is within this phase when residents can return to their homes,” she said.
On March 16, civil soci-ety groups under the “All-Out Peace” advocacy issued a pe-tition letter expressing their “urgent humanitarian appeal for the suspension of military operations” by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against the BIFF in Ma-guindanao.
“We categorically state that a ‘humanitarian crisis’ is already staring us in the face as an effect of the prolonged military action against lawless elements. We are urgently ap-pealing to all peace-loving citi-zens to join this ‘humanitarian call’ and participate in mobi-lizing relief goods and encour-aging solidarity with the IDPs by enabling their voices and stories to be heard,” the All-Out Peace” said. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
“We could tap more man-power if only we have enough supply of anti-rabies vaccines,” she said.
Rayos said the city is ex-pecting an augmentation from the Department of Health (DOH) after the health agency downloaded P69 million for the purchase of anti-rabies vac-cine for national consumption.
“We still don’t know how many we will receive but we have already submitted our re-quirements to DOH,” she said. However, she did not specify the exact timeline of the aug-mentation.
The Department of Ag-riculture (DA) will also give anti-rabies vaccines this year, she said. But it is still under the
procurement process.“We receive assistance
from DA every year,” she said.Rayos said while the city is
experiencing shortage of vac-cines, pet owners are encour-aged to be responsible.
“Pet owners have to take good care of their dogs and cats. Let their pets be vaccinat-ed and never allow their pets to stray on streets,” she said.
Rayos said the city record-ed six cases for the first quarter of the year. This is higher than the four cases recorded on the same period last year.
There were also three pos-itive cases recorded in other ar-eas of the region, namely Com-postella Valley, Tagum City, and Island Garden City of Samal.
health and safety in the city.The event will also serve
as a promotion for tourist destinations not only in Davao City but also the entire Davao Region.
“We have also partnered with the provinces of Davao del Norte, del Sur, Compostela Valley and Oriental. The prov-inces will be given a chance to showcase their respective provinces to the delegates,” he said.
Arellano said each prov-ince will put up a booth out-
side the convention hall to showcase their products, re-sorts, and investment policies.
The theme for the event is “Taga-usig magkapitbisig para sa kapayapaan at kalikasan.”
The Office of the Presi-dential Adviser for the Peace Process (OPAPP) will brief the prosecutors about the status of the peace process in Mind-anao.
Several keynote speakers will also attend the convention to talk about nature and peace in the country.
of technology, we may have come to believe that our de-vices are too smart to burn the house down. We should not, however, forget that we control these devices. Old or new, they can cause accidents.
And the best safety measure to avoid them is to simply turn off, and unplug. Be educated and graduate from being com-placent about fire hazards by simply keeping F.I.R.E. in mind.
VOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015
HIS official boxing mon-iker is “The Hitman.” At some point, he was
called “The Hammer.”In my book, Rey Loreto is
“The Tamayong Terminator.”The IBO light flyweight
champion Loreto was born and raised in Tamayong, in Mintal, Davao City at the foot-hills of Mt. Apo.
On Sunday, Davao’s very own world champion retained his title with a stunning 1st round knockout of former champion Nkosinathi Joyi in a rematch in East London, South Africa (see story on EDGE Davao Sports).
To those who know how it is to fight in South Africa,
winning a bout there, much less a title fight, is almost like remotely possible. It’s like jumping to a lion’s den or to a fishpond full of piranhas left unfed for 30 days.
According to our good friend Manny Pinol, former North Coabato governor, the rematch had been canceled twice before, with the first plug being pulled last December be-fore Loreto forced a postpone-ment from February 28 when he underwent surgery for a swollen appendix two months ago which drastically cut down his sparring and his training regimen as he was recovering from the operation.
Gov Manny told us it was
a fight nobody expected Lore-to to win but they hadn’t bar-gained with the Filipino south-paw’s courageous heart and a strong faith in God.
The noisy hometown crowd continuously chant-
ed a Zulu war song to buoy the fighting spirit of Joyi, for-mer Olympian and two-time world champion who was also knocked out by Loreto in their first meeting in Monte Carlo Feb. 12 last year in the third round.
Loreto is now 20-13 with 12 knockouts. The 24-year old Loreto came out smoking the moment South African referee Nyangiwe signaled the start of the fight.
Gov Manny narrated that at about one minute and 30 seconds into the fight, Loreto caught Joyi with a crunching right hook followed by a left uppercut which dropped the South Africa for a mandato-
ry count of 8. It was obvious though that Joyi was badly hurt and as Nyangiwe motioned the two fighters to resume the action, Loreto stepped for-ward, measured the distance between him and the South African fighter and unleashed a combination to the head and as Joyi slumped almost mo-tionless in the neutral corner, Nyangiwe did not even both-er to count and waved off the fight. “
It was a big win for Lo-reto who lost the title in the rematch to Joyi last year. He admitted praying fervently to give him strength and help him retain his title for the sake of his young son.
Loreto is building a house for his family and wanted to finish this badly, thus he never backed down from the fight despite undergoing a recent surgery.
With Loreto retaining his title, Davao now has a collec-tion of two world champions, the other being John Vincent Moralde who just came from a rousing win over Brayden Smith in Brisbane, Austra-lia—a fight that turned tragic after Smith collapsed and later passed away two days after the fight.
Postscripts: Listen to “Let’s Get It On with Neil Bravo” on 105.9 Balita FM every Saturday 8-10 a.m.
15
The Tamayong Terminator
Neil Bravo
LET’S GET IT ON
SPORTSEDGEDAVAO
A DUNK from LeBron James started a decisive run for the lethargic
Cleveland Cavaliers.From there, the Central
Division leaders overpowered the young Milwaukee Bucks.
James scored 28 points, J.R. Smith had 23 and Cleve-land began a three-game road trip with a 108-90 win on Sun-day in Milwaukee.
The Cavaliers trailed by nine at halftime and 11 in the third quarter. The Bucks seemed rejuvenated on their home floor while looking to end a long losing streak.
James had the final say.First, he called out his
teammates at halftime.‘’I was frustrated with
our play,’’ James said. ‘’I know when to press the button when need be and tonight was one of those nights when I needed to press the button.’’
Smith made three consec-
utive 3s to cap the 26-5 run that started with James’ dunk, helping Cleveland to a 93-78 lead with 6:19 left. The final 3 came off a bad pass by John Henson that led to one of the Bucks’ 23 turnovers.
‘’For any team, not just LeBron, when you give those guys free opportunities like that ... they’re going to make you pay for it and they did,’’ Bucks coach Jason Kidd said.
James’ dunk off a blocked shot pulled the Cavs within 73-69 with 1:19 left in the third quarter and started the big run. He stared down the Bucks after the bucket.
James outscored the Bucks on his own from that point, 19-17.
‘’I think our communica-tion ramped up. We were just flying around and helping one another,’’ said James, who was 10 of 17 from the field and grabbed 10 boards.
LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers handles the ball against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday at BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wis-consin. (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)
LeBron sparks Cavs past Bucks
CHRISTOPHER “Bong” Go piloted the City Mayors Office to unprecedented
winning streak – 17 games in a row.
Go scored 33 points with six baskets from behind the arc as the City Hall dribblers defeated Everball Acer, 83 – 75, for 17 straight times in their 2015 Basketball Friendly Series on Friday night at the Davao City Recreation Center Almendras Gym.
Michael Peloton and JR De Guzman contributed 14 and 10 respectively for CMO that won last time in front of a packed
PBA crowd at the USEP Gym before Purefoods pulled off a triple OT win over talk N’ Text.
The sweet-shooting trust-ed aid of Mayor Rodrigo Dute-rte finished off the Everball with timely baskets in the fi-nal stretch that kept the CMO pushing up the gap.
Earl Angsinco scored 19 and three others tallied dou-ble digits for Everball that re-mained winless in the series.
Filbon Maligro put up 18 as Mending and Lucero had 12 and 10 for Everball team which never tasted a win against CMO since second week of Decem-
ber last year.In total, Everball lost CMO
for 20 games in a row includ-ing the last three games of the 2014 friendly series.
The game was a bit tough-er than expected for the Ever-ball which fell short again in the end like many games in the past in this series.
Everball had a pretty chance to pull away with the elusive win in the last outing before a PBA crowd but mis-cued in the dying seconds, failing to deliver at the foul line and missing two potential game winning shots.
Go came through with 43 with barrage of three pointers that prompted PBA organizers to pit him against the colle-giate’s finest shooters in the Three Point Shootout contest that he eventually won. (Rico Biliran)
Box scores:CMO 83 -- GO 33, PELO-
TON 14, DE GUZMAN 10, AB-ERILLA 7, CLORIBEL 7, APOS-TOL 4, ROSAL 4, SUMAGANG 4
TIM Tebow, Heisman Trophy winner and two-time National
Champion, smiled and re-fused to take the bait when asked about his thoughts on the May 2 super-fight be-tween Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“I hope that both of them go out, and they fight well,” said Tebow, who played col-legiate football for Florida be-fore embarking on a tumultu-ous career in the NFL. “I think it will be a great fight, and I’m looking forward to watching it.”
Tebow made a much-pub-licized visit to the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles this week-end, where he watched the Filipino icon Pacquiao work out. He was welcomed by chief trainer Freddie Roach, and the three spent time chat-ting at ringside.
“Sino hindi pwedeng makakilala sa kanya?” Pac-quiao said of Tebow. “He’s popular… He’s my favorite.”
Pacquiao said he admires Tebow because he “helps peo-ple,” especially in the Philip-pines. “In the Mindanao area, he helps a lot,” he added.
Tebow, 27, was born in Makati and has returned to
the Philippines every year since he was 15. Last year, he opened a hospital in Davao City, and plans to go to Gener-al Santos City in a few weeks for another visit.
Yesterday, he spent time with GenSan’s most beloved son and could not help but express his admiration for the “Pacman” not just as an ath-lete but also as a person.
“I have seen his fights. I’ve seen a bunch of them, and they’re all impressive,” said Tebow. “I think what’s most impressive about watching him is his competitiveness and work ethic, and his focus on every little detail.”
“I think the most import-ant thing that Manny has done is he’s been an inspira-tion to millions of people all over the world,” he also said. “The amazing team about him is, so much of the time, we can make it about our-selves and become very self-ish.”
“He’s been able to inspire millions of people for so long, and that’s more important than winning any fight. The ability to inspire and encour-age and change so many peo-ple’s lives… I’m very proud of him for that.”
Tebow will pray for Pacman
CMO defeats Everball Acer for 17 games in a row
VOL. 7 ISSUE 262 • TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015
STILL THE CHAMPDavao’s Loreto retains IBO title with stunning 1st round win
16 EDGEDAVAOSports
IBO light flyweight cham-pion Rey “Hitman” Loreto of Davao City retained his
title with a stunning 1st round knockout of former champion Nkosinathi Joyi in a rematch in East London, South Africa.
The rematch had been canceled twice before, with the first plug being pulled last De-cember before Loreto forced a postponement from February 28 when he underwent sur-gery for a swollen appendix two months ago which drasti-cally cut down his sparring and his training regimen as he was recovering from the operation.
As broadcast journalist and former North Cotabato governor Manny Pinol report-ed it was a fight nobody ex-pected Loreto to win but they hadn’t bargained with the Fil-ipino southpaw’s courageous heart and a strong faith in God.
It was a brutal victory that silenced the noisy hometown crowd who chanted a Zulu
war song to buoy the fighting spirit of the former Olympian and two-time world champion who was also knocked out by Loreto in their first meeting in Monte Carlo Feb. 12 last year in the third round.
With the win Loreto im-proved to 20-13 with 12 knockouts while Joyi’s future appeared uncertain.
Pinol said the 24 year old Loreto came out smoking the moment South African referee Nyangiwe signaled the start of the fight.
In his report Pinol said “at about one minute and 30 seconds into the fight, Loreto caught Joyi with a crunching right hook followed by a left uppercut which dropped the South Africa for a mandato-ry count of 8. It was obvious though that Joyi was badly hurt and as Nyangiwe motioned the two fighters to resume the action, Loreto stepped for-ward, measured the distance
between him and the South African fighter and unleashed a combination to the head and as Joyi slumped almost mo-tionless in the neutral corner, Nyangiwe did not even both-er to count and waved off the fight. “
Loreto, who was later joined by his trainer Joven Jor-da, cried and shouted “Thank you Lord” after the fight was stopped.
Loreto later admitted that he actually cried even before he climbed the ring for the first defense of the title he won in a shock 3rd round knockout of Joyi last year. He said “I was sorry for myself because I did not have enough preparation for the fight but I prayed to God to give me strength and help me retain my title for the sake of my young son.”
Jorda said he and Loreto’s manager, Brico Santig, actually advised the champion against taking the fight even before
he could fully recover from the surgery but he refused be-cause he was building a small house in Davao City and want-ed to finish it.
Loreto thanked God for helping him and for feeling sorry for him. With his smash-ing victory in the rematch Lo-reto who improved to 20-13 with.
With his second victory against Joyi, Loreto proved that his first win in Monte Car-lo was not a fluke.
Boxing writer Mesuli Zifo earlier reported that “for one agonizing moment, Joyi’s re-match against Loreto appeared to have fallen off the radar again. But promoter Siphatho Handi pulled out all the stops to ensure that “Mabhere” gets his redemption fight which took place at the Mdantsane Indoor Centre on Sunday night Manila Time but there was to be no redemption.
The repeated cancellations
were evident at the premedical when Joyi appeared irritated even during the photo shoot.
Zifo said that wWhile the 31-year-old is always moody ahead of his fights, he was worse this week when he sulked and even tried to duck interviews.
“Mabhere does not like to talk before his fights and he is not very fond of training,” reasoned his trainer Boy Boy Mpulampula. But Joyi’s mood appeared to be caused by something more than training.
Having trained so hard twice before only for the fight to be canceled it obviously strained his patience.
The well-known South Af-rican boxing writer speculated on whether Joyi will take that attitude into the ring . He said it “remains to be seen but if he does not in turn become more positive he might see the re-peat of his shocking knockout defeat by Loreto.”
In contrast to Joyi, Loreto was “ in surprisingly high spir-its despite coming off a long flight from Manilla. He had no problem doing just about ev-erything that was asked of him with a little bow of respect – of-ten displayed by Asians.
Joyi’s traimner Mpulam-pula allayed fears that Joyi was not in the right frame of mind ahead of this make or break fight, stating “No, no, Nkos-inathi is just being Nkosinathi, nothing to it.”
Once a seemingly invin-cible boxer who was at the pound for pound summit in the mini-flyweight division, Joyi has suddenly found him-self not just fighting to remain a player on the world stage but to save his career.
Mpulampula still refuses to credit Loreto for the mon-strous left hook he pole-axed Joyi with, choosing to blame unfitness as the reason for the shock defeat.
AboitizPower First Vice President Manuel M. Orig and Sta. Cruz Municipal Mayor Joel Ray L. Lopez reaffirm their partnership for this year’s Mt. Apo Boulderface Challenge on April 25-26. Now on its 8th year, the 24-hour race to the Philippines’ highest peak, the Mt. Apo Boulderface Challenge is one of the biggest outdoor races in the country, drawing both local and foreign teams. With its subsidiaries Hedcor and Therma South located in Sta. Cruz, AboitizPower has been the event’s biggest sponsor for several years now.
THE visiting Cycleline Riders of Butuan dom-inated the Araw ng
Dabaw Mayor Rody and Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte Criteri-um Cycling Challenge last Sat-urday at the Davao Crocodile Park in Maa.
Tour ng Pilipinas veteran Cesar Lapaza Jr. led Cycleline by ruling the Open Elite cate-gory with a time of 33 minutes, 54.27 seconds.
He was followed by Davao’s Ronnie Urdaneta and Cycleline’s upcoming sensa-tion Gilbert Enarciso in second and third, respectively.
Enarciso, however, topped the Junior category for 18
years old and below at 23 min-utes and 29.99 seconds, beat-ing his own two teammates Warren Sagarino and Robin Ray Derro, who finished sec-ond and third.
Another Cycleline rider Jade Lopez clocked 23 min-utes. 54.92 to win the 23 under category. Davao’s Eric Dhave Apinar and Cycleline’s John Earl Sagarino finished second and third.
Former national champion Carlofer Salonga of the orgaiz-ing Davao Pobre Bikers Asso-ciation (Dapoba) shared top honors by ruling the Executive category at 23 minutes.
Triathlete Cristopher Eyao
finished second followed by Jay Ingente in third.
Philcycling deputy sec-retary general for Mindanao Salvador “Jun” Paholio Jr. and Dapoba president Charlie-magne Dumanon awarded the cash prizes and medals spon-sored by the City Sports Devel-opment Division represented by sports and games coordina-tor Lito delos Reyes.
Specially-designed mugs courtesy of Davao City Sports Consumer Cooperative (DCSCC) were also awarded to the winners of the event held as part of the 78th Araw ng Dabaw Sports Festival. SDD-CMO
In this October 11, 2014 file photo, IBO light flyweight champion Rey “Hitman” Loreto (right) punches Indonesian Heri Amol in the 8th round of a non-title fight at Almendras gym in Davao City. Loreto retained his title by knocking out former champion Nkosinathi Joyi in the first round of a rematch in East London, South Africa. Lean Daval Jr.
