P 15.00 • 30 PAGES www.edgedavao.net VOL. 8 ISSUE 81 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 24 - 25, 2015 T ENSION gripped the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Haran compound in Madapo Hills Thursday morning when police tried to go inside the premises in an attempt to rescue more than 1,000 indigenous peoples al- legedly being held by IP offi- cials and militant groups. Members of the Davao City Police Office–Civil Disturbance Management (DCPO-CDM), equipped with riot shields and sticks, tired to force their way inside but were stopped in their tracks by a human bar- ricade formed by the militant groups at the gate. There were a lot of push- ing and shoving during the in- cident as police tried to break through the barricade, with one law enforcer ending up bleeding from the nose after he was hit by a militant with stick. Police identified the in- jured cop as PO1 Robert Basan of the Investigation and Detec- tion Management Branch of the DCPO. He was immediately given a first aid by a medical team. The National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) had sought police assistance after the lumads were report- edly being prevented from leaving the premises by IP of- ficials and the militants. The lumads had left their homes in Talaingod, Davao del Norte and evacuated to the UCCP Haran after they were allegedly harassed by govern- ment soldiers in the area. There were no serious in- juries during the scuffle, but the incident caused anxieties to the women and children lumads who had encamped at the UCCC Haran since Febru- ary. The police failed to recue any of the lumads, but police officials were able to go inside to talk with the IP leaders and the militant groups for a dia- logue. Acting Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte also rushed to the scene to give order and of- ficials from the Department of Welfare and Development (DSWD) also negotiated to the militants for the release of the children, women and persons with illness. Prior to the incident, tribal leaders from Kapalong, Davao FTENSION, 10 TENSION IN HARAN 2 cops, 10 lumads injured in commotion at UCCP P2 P4 Catamco denies kidnapping yarn INC denies alleged abduction of ministers EDGE Serving a seamless society DAVAO Ella tied for 3rd in US EDGE DAVAO Sports Sports P14 By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR. [email protected]HURT. PO1 Robert Basan of Investigation and Detection Management Branch of Davao City Police Office is being treated by the police medical team. Armando B. Fenequito Jr. DIALOGUE. Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Duterter holds a dialogue with the tribal leaders of lumad evacu- ees from Talaingod, Davao del Norte and Bukidnon who are temporarily living at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Haran in Bankerohan yesterday. Duterte intervened after a commotion between the members of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) and the lumad evacuees and their support groups. Lean Daval Jr.
Transcript
P 15.00 • 30 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 8 ISSUE 81 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 24 - 25, 2015
TENSION gripped the United Church of Christ in the Philippines
(UCCP) Haran compound in Madapo Hills Thursday morning when police tried to go inside the premises in an attempt to rescue more than 1,000 indigenous peoples al-legedly being held by IP offi-cials and militant groups.
Members of the Davao City Police Office–Civil Disturbance Management (DCPO-CDM), equipped with riot shields and sticks, tired to force their way inside but were stopped in their tracks by a human bar-
ricade formed by the militant groups at the gate.
There were a lot of push-ing and shoving during the in-cident as police tried to break through the barricade, with one law enforcer ending up bleeding from the nose after he was hit by a militant with stick.
Police identified the in-jured cop as PO1 Robert Basan of the Investigation and Detec-tion Management Branch of the DCPO. He was immediately given a first aid by a medical team.
The National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP)
had sought police assistance after the lumads were report-edly being prevented from leaving the premises by IP of-ficials and the militants.
The lumads had left their homes in Talaingod, Davao del Norte and evacuated to the UCCP Haran after they were allegedly harassed by govern-ment soldiers in the area.
There were no serious in-juries during the scuffle, but the incident caused anxieties to the women and children lumads who had encamped at the UCCC Haran since Febru-ary.
The police failed to recue any of the lumads, but police officials were able to go inside to talk with the IP leaders and the militant groups for a dia-logue.
Acting Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte also rushed to the scene to give order and of-ficials from the Department of Welfare and Development (DSWD) also negotiated to the militants for the release of the children, women and persons with illness.
Prior to the incident, tribal leaders from Kapalong, Davao
HURT. PO1 Robert Basan of Investigation and Detection Management Branch of Davao City Police Office is being treated by the police medical team. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.
DIALOGUE. Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Duterter holds a dialogue with the tribal leaders of lumad evacu-ees from Talaingod, Davao del Norte and Bukidnon who are temporarily living at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Haran in Bankerohan yesterday. Duterte intervened after a commotion between the members of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) and the lumad evacuees and their support groups. Lean Daval Jr.
NORTH Cotabato Rep. Nancy Catamco denied reports a mother and
daughter were kidnapped from UCCP Haran Thursday noon.
Catamco said that Nora Kakay and her daughter named Juvy, 14, voluntarily went with them because they wanted to seek the assistance of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
It was also learned that Juvy was a rape victim.
On the other hand, Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte said Ka-kay wanted to return to her home in Kapalong as her four children are sick.
Duterte brought with him the husband of Kakay together with their three-year-old child to be reunited with his wife and daughter.
He said that the father and his 14 year old daughter will
remain at DSWD until such time that the social workers will decide that they are ready to go back to their place.
“And mag amahan og ka-tong anak nga babae mag pabi-lin to sa DSWD hantod mu-in-gon ang DSWD nga pwede na sila mubalik sa ilahang lugar, katong inahan og 3 anyos nga anak, gidala na sa center sa Women and Children’s Protec-tions Desk (WCPD),” Duterte said.
Duterte also told Catamco that as much as possible the family should not be separat-ed.
“Kung mahimo dili unta bulagon ang pamilya, kung mahimo lang kuyog silang tan-an dili kay mabilin ang bana o ang asawa,” Duterte said.
Around 1PM on Thurs-day, a commotion happened between the Lumads in UCCP Haran and alleged members
BAYAN Muna Partylist Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate strongly
condemned the “illegal, violent and forcible entry” by police operatives and paramilitary forces of a church compound in Davao City where 700 in-digenous peoples have sought sanctuary because of massive militarization in their commu-nities.
“This unprovoked action by the police and members of the paramilitary group Ala-mara is not only a disrespect of the privacy and sanctity of the United Church of Christ in Phil-
ippines (UCCP) grounds but is also highly illegal and criminal as it was done without any warrant or court order,” Rep. Zarate said.
“This forcibly entry is another blatant violation of the rights of the bakwits. The harassment, threats, killings, bombardments, and other human rights violations com-mitted by state forces are the reason why these people has sought refuge at the UCCP Ha-ran,” Rep. Zarate added.
Media reports showed that the police broke down the gates of UCCP Haran Cen-
ter despite the strong objec-tions raised by church officials and the bakwits. Video of the incident posted in different social media showed how the lumad evacuees were visibly agitated by the breach of their sanctuary and some were even wounded when the policemen force their way into the evacu-ation camps.
“To force these bakwits to return home without assur-ance that the military, as well as the paramilitary forces like the military-backed Alamara, will pull-out of their commu-nities proves how little regard
and respect, if at all, that the present government affords the lumad,” Rep. Zarate said.
“Bayan Muna condemns this act of brutality and disre-spect and we will support all legal moves by the lumads and church authorities to make those responsible for these dastardly acts accountable,” Rep. Zarate said.
The attempt to force the lumad to return to their com-munities happened after North Cotabato Representative Nan-cy Catamco, chair of the House committee on indigenous peo-
MINDANAO is expe-riencing rotational brownouts from an
average of 1-4 hours due to the lower water level of dams, according to the Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee (MPMC)
”Based on the latest mon-itoring of the MPMC, rotation brownouts for each Distri-bution Utilities and Electric Cooperatives in Mindanao are averaging at one to four hours per feeder,” MPMC said in a statement Wednesday.
The dams were report-ed to have lower water levels
than last week’s records.”The low water levels
of the dams, which provide around half of Mindanao’s power supply, has brought down the capacity of the hydropower plants of the Agus-Pulangi Hydropower Complexes. This resulted to lower power supply in areas in Mindanao,” the committee added.
Lake Lanao currently has a water level of 699.24 meters above sea level (masl), slightly lower than July 17’s 699.26 masl.
NORTH Cotabato con-gresswoman Nancy Catamco believes that
the operation to “rescue” the Lumads from the support groups was a success even if no evacuees agreed to go back to the hinterlands.
The 12 busses prepared to serve as their transport vehicle left empty after the Lumads declined to go back to their re-spective homes for fear of the alleged presence of para-mil-itary group “Alamara” and the reported militarization activi-ties in their villages.
Catamco said that she cannot call the rescue opera-tion as a failure with the city government of Davao entering the UCCP Haran and providing some assistance.
“It is not a failure for me, there is no such thing as a fail-ure. May naibigay naman na 91, nakita nila (Lumads) na ang government is not inutile at hindi manhid,” Catamco said.
She also promised that as chair of the Indigenous Peo-ple’s committee, she will con-duct an investigation on the alleged militarization in the vil-lages of the Lumads in Talain-god, Kapalong and Bukidnon.
However, Catamco said that she might not come back to Haran and will only hope that they will be sent back to their places in no time.
She said that she will no longer push her intention to bring back the Lumads home
REUNITED. Pirot Malibato (third from right) breaks down in tears after reuniting with his family who are among the lumad evacuees which are temporarily living at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Haran in Bankerohan yesterday. Malibato failed to convince his family to go back home in Talaingod, Davao del Norte. Lean Daval Jr.
Catamco denies kidnapping yarnBy FUNNY PEARL A. GAJUNERA
KEY government leaders and business players from Mindanao ex-
pressed full support to the approved amendments to the Cabotage Law, citing the move will result to healthy compe-tition, make rates more com-petitive, and eventually bring down shipping costs.
“The President’s approval of the amendments to the Cab-otage Law would be expected to hasten improvement of Mindanao’s cargo shipping industry and encourage effi-cient services that will result to more a competitive busi-ness climate,” said Secretary Luwalhati Antonino, chair of
the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA.)
She added the amend-ments to the law could usher increased services of foreign shipping players that will cre-ate a more productive and profitable import and export mechanism, which is consid-ered an advantage for Mindan-ao’s growing industry.
President Benigno Aquino III signed into law on Tuesday the Foreign Ships Co-load-ing Act, which amends the decades-old Cabotage law. The law allows foreign ships carrying imported goods and cargoes for export out of the country to dock in multiple
ports.Under the law, foreign ves-
sels will be allowed to trans-port and co-load foreign car-goes for domestic trans-ship-ment. The law also seeks to lower the cost of shipping ex-port cargoes from Philippine ports to international ports and import cargoes coming from international ports.
In his speech, President Aquino said because of lack of competition, the current cost of transporting cargo con-tainer from Cagayan de Oro City to Hong Kong totals to P56,880, with P50,400 from that amount covering the cost for shipment from Cagayan de
Oro City to Manila. The other remaining P6,480 will cover for shipment cost from Ma-nila to Hong Kong. With the amended Cabotage Law, ship-pers can directly transport goods from Cagayan de Oro City to Hong Kong for a cost of P22,500, allowing them to save P34,380 or 60 percent from the current shipment costs.
MinDA, through its pri-ority policy agenda has been pushing for the amendment to the law seeing it as a move that will strengthen connectivity and help Mindanao maximize its economic potentials.
THE Department of Envi-ronment and Natural Re-sources (DENR) XI com-
pleted 65 percent of its target for the National Greening Program (NGP) this year.
In an interview Thursday, Forester Gloria Suboan, chief of the Production Management Section and Conservation and Development Division of DENR XI, said the agency’s target for this year is 18,810 hectares.
The agency is eyeing to plant at least 500 seedlings per hectare, or equivalent to around 9,405,000 trees for the entire Davao Region this year.
Of the total, Davao Oriental
has the biggest areas to be de-veloped at 5,855 has. Composte-la Valley came in second at 5,769 hectares, followed by Davao del Sur at 5,121 hectares, and Davao del Norte at 2,065 hectares.
DavOr and ComVal were among the most hit when Ty-phoon Pablo landed in the re-gion in December 2012. DENR XI replanted 700 hectares in DavOr and 1,000 hectares in ComVal after Pablo.
The areas that have been identified as flood prone based on the geo-hazard maps of the Mines and Geoscience Bureau (MGB) are no longer rehabili-
THE provincial govern-ment has set aside PHP2.5-million funds
for the construction of a mini-hospital in the remote Barangay Bacungan here late this year to provide the basic health needs of the residents.
This was according to Governor Claude Bautista during a consultative meeting with municipal and barangay officials Tuesday afternoon at E&P Kamonsilan Resort in Ba-rangay Barayong.
“I intend to construct this mini-hospital here since this is very strategic for five neigh-boring barangays to go to,” he said.
The governor said the mini-hospital will provide the basic health services, includ-
ing the safe delivery for preg-nant mothers.
“An ambulance will also be purchased complete with oxygen and equipment like those in hospitals,” Bautista added.
Also during the meet-ing, Gov. Bautista turned over PHP17-million worth of checks to Magsaysay Mayor Arthur Davin who represent-ed the local government unit.
Of the amount, the PHP10 million is the counterpart of the province for the ongoing construction of the PHP45 million new municipal hall while the remaining PHP7 million also its counterpart to the PHP70 million for the farm-to-market road in Bal-nate-Tagaytay. (PNA)
EDGE DAVAO CITED. Edge Davao editor in chief Antonio M. Ajero (center) receives the citation for the company from the So Kim Cheng Sports Foundation during its 21st awards night at the Royal Mandaya Hotel on Wednesday night. With him in the photo are (from left to right) Davao Sports Council president Dexter So, chief of staff of the
City Mayor’s Office Neil Dalumpines, Willy Torres, former Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) commissioner Leon Gonzalo Montemayor, So Kim Cheng Sports Foundation chairman So Peng Kee and Councilor Diosdado Mahipus. Lean Daval Jr.
With amended Cabotage Law, Minda leaders expect cuts in shipping costs
Greening program target for 2015 is 65% complete: DENR 11
Mini-hospital to rise in remote village in Davao Sur town
THE Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) has expelled Cris-tina “Tenny” Manalo,
the widow of INC’s former ex-ecutive minister Eraño “Erdy” Manalo, and their son, Felix Nathaniel “Angel,” an INC min-ister announced on Thursday.
In a press conference, INC General Evangelist Bienveni-do Santiago said the INC lead-ership decided to expel the two from the general mem-bership of the INC after they
appeared in a YouTube video claiming their lives are in dan-ger and that some ministers have allegedly been abducted.
According to Santiago, there is no truth to the claims of Tenny and Angel.
“Yung lumabas sa You-Tube kagabi na pahayag ni Angel Manalo at ng kanyang ina na nananawagan sa mga kaanib sa Iglesia para sila ay tulungan dahil diumano ay nanganganib ang kanilang bu-
hay at meron pang alegasyon na meron daw mga dinukot na mga ministro na wari’y ibig na palabasin na may kinala-man ang Iglesia, ay wala pong katotohanan. Hindi po totoo yun,” he said.
He alleged the two are just trying to gain sympathy from their members so they can in-terfere in the administration of INC affairs. He said the two violated the INC’s teachings and regulations.
“Ang basa namin doon sa ipinahayag nila kagabi sa YouTube ay ibig lamang nil-ang makakuha ng mga tao na magsisimpatya sa kanila para nang sa ganun ay makuha nila yung talagang gusto nila na mapakialaman ang pamama-hala sa Iglesia,” said Santiago.
Angel’s elder brother, Eduardo, is the present exec-utive minister of the power-ful INC, which has at least 2.2
THE validity of import-ers’ license will be extended up to three
years instead of one year only, Custom Sec. Albert D. Lina an-nounced.
“This will be a huge help to our importers since they will be able to save time and money from skipping the re-newal of their accreditation in a span three years,” Lina said at the opening Thursday of the Mindanao Exporter’s
Congress 2015 at the SMX Convention Center.
Lina, who was the event’s keynote speaker, said mem-bers endorsed by the Philip-pine Exporters Confederation (PhilExport) will be automat-ically accredited for three years.
The move aims to align the Bureau of Custom (BOC)’s importers registration to the regulation of the Bureau of In-ternal Revenue (BIR), which
issues the Importers Clear-ance Certificate (ICC) valid for three years.
In 2014, the Department of Finance issued a memo-randum order requiring im-porters to secure BIR-ICC as a pre-requisite for the issuance of the importers license and accreditation.
Lina said importers that will be endorsed by the Phil-export will be automatically registered and accredited by
the BOC.PhilExport-Davao chap-
ter president Ferdinand Ma-ranon said this will help bona fide member importing ex-porters.
Importers will be able to save time since there’s no need to renew their import-er’s license every year, ac-cording to him.
Maranon also said that some exporters resort to im-porting raw material because
it is cheaper than purchasing needed materials in the local market.
“Exporters importing raw materials from other coun-tries will be able to benefit from this announcement of the custom secretary,” Mara-non said.
Big importers of raw ma-terials for packaging such as multi-national banana ex-porters are those who will benefited the most from the
extension.Philippine Banana Grow-
ers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) executive director Stephen Antig said what Lina announced was a “welcome development.”
“It can help lessen vessel cost,” Antig said.
Antig said the PBGEA will look on the possibility of sit-ting down with BOC for the extension of the validity of the exporter’s license.
THE Philippines is fully committed in the ASE-AN Economic Commu-
nity (AEC) taking place on the last day of this year, the Department of Trade and In-dustry (DTI) chief said.
DTI Secretary Gregory
L. Domingo, during The Ma-nila Times 2nd Business Fo-rum on Wednesday, said the Philippines was pursuing an open, liberal and integrated market -- the core of ASEAN integration.
“As a founding member
of ASEAN it actively partici-pates in further steps to facil-itate the movement of goods across borders. These include measures enhancing or im-proving customs and cross border procedures, clarify-ing issues regarding rules of
origin, as well as developing transportation and logistics infrastructures across the ASEAN economies,” said Do-mingo.
Domingo said that the country was addressing con-
DAVAO del Sur got the highest rank as the most competitive province in
the country in this year’s Na-tional Competitiveness Coun-cil’s Cities and Municipalities Index (CMCI).
The result was based on a performance assessment of 1,120 local government units (LGUs) as to the programs they implemented to improve economic dynamism, govern-ment efficiency and infrastruc-ture competitiveness in their respective areas.
The provincial ranking is a new feature for this year’s CMCI and Davao del Sur is the first province to receive this award under the provincial category.
In his utmost desire to transform Davao del Sur as the best investment hub in the South, Governor Claude Bautista has undertaken bold steps to establish infrastruc-ture projects to back up the current investment activities in the area.
The infrastructure proj-ects include improvement of road networks in the rural ar-eas and enhancement of sup-
port to agricultural infrastruc-ture facilities to improve farm outputs.
Gov. Bautista’s remarkable support to rice enhancement program also led the province to receive an award as one of the best rice performing prov-ince in the country for 2014.
His initiatives to enhance public health care programs and efficiency on hospital ser-vices for the poor also gener-ated national awards for the province from the Department of Health.
The National Competitive-ness Council initiated this pro-gram, aligned with the goal to improve the country’s overall competitiveness, through col-laborative efforts between the national and local government agencies, and the public and private sectors.
For this year, the Province of Cebu got the third place, Province of Misamis Oriental got the second place, and the province of Davao Del Sur was awarded the most competitive province for 2015.
FREE TASTE. Pedestrians avail of the free taste test being offered by a beverage manufacturer along San Pedro Street in Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.
FOR years, Davao City’s taxi drivers have been known to be the country’s most disciplined and honest. Unlike most of their counterparts in Metro Manila,
Davao’s very own cabbies are generally a breed you can rely on. They give you your change, they use the taxi meter, they obey traffic rules and they yes, drive you safe.
While Manila cabbies are known to be snobs during peak hours and picky on passengers, Davao’s very own are a courteous lot who will be there to give you a ride with no questions asked.
That used to be the impression.Of late, one can start having doubts. Take for example the P10 reduced fee from flagdown rate
imposed by the Land Transportation Franchising Board (LT-FRB). Lately, there have been several incidents of passengers
complaining of drivers not imposing the reduced flagdown rate. Some of them just try to play unwary until the passen-ger demands for the reduced rate. There are some drivers too who reason out that the reduced rate is no longer in ef-fect.
The LTFRB in the city has specifically pointed out that the reduced flagdown rate is still in effect unless expressly re-voked. That gives no reason for cabbies not to give the exact change of passengers without having to wait for the latter demanding the same.
The good thing about it is that taxi companies said they regularly remind their cabbies that the reduced flagdown should be strictly complied with. As to whether or not their drivers follow this directive to the letter remains another question and leaves much to be desired.
Columnists: MA. TERESA L. UNGSON • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • AURELIO A. PEÑA • ZHAUN ORTEGA • BERNADETTE “ADDIE” B. BORBON • MARY ANN “ADI” C. QUISIDO • LEANDRO B. DAVAL SR., • NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN • NICASIO ANGELO AGUSTIN • EMILY ZEN CHUA • CARLOS MUNDA Economic Analyst: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG • JONALLIER M. PEREZ
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BUILDING sustainable communities and providing economic opportunities is what Santos Land Development Corporation (SLDC) is all about.
No doubt, behind such success, is a group of individuals which aims for noth-ing but the best in everything. Thus, SLDC recognizes and gives back to its many hard working men and women who have shown passion and dedication in helping the company provide the best value to their clients.
EDGEDAVAOEVENTINdulge!
SLDC A4
This time, it was an Euro-pean tour that created memories to everyone who made it to the list. To state, SLDC is the first to reward its top sales force with an opportunity to travel to Europe.
The developer also award-ed travels to Australia, Japan Beijing and Shanghai China. SLDC also was the first devel-oper to treat their sales force at Vikings-Davao (a total of 168
sales agents).“SLDC never stop giving
incentives to the Annual Sales Agents Awardees which in-cludes the international travel incentive,” SLDC’s sales and marketing manager Estela B. Aguilos said,
“We want to give them the best treat that the company vowed to offer because of their hardwork in promoting and
selling our (different) projects,” Aguilos added.
Sales people have happy feet, which to us mean “We enjoy life in travelling around the world.”
SLDC is a domestic, family owned corporation that engages in real estate development, road construction and agri-business ventures. The company subdi-vision projects include Ilumina Estates, La Vista Monte and Nova Tierra Village, to name a few.
Europe being a prime desti-nation, it was hard to pinpoint a particular special moment out of the entire trip. So, here are some of the highlights from their recent trip. Again, congratula-tions!
MIGUEL MANIMBOQ: What was the best moment of the entire trip?A: Being amazed of the breath-taking view of Switzerland – with the still emerald green lake and alpine mountains outside my hotel room window, it made every moment of my stay unfor-gettable.
A music school that has a unique, non-traditional approach to learning music for all ages will be conducting its first re-cital on Sunday, July 26, 5pm, at the Atrium of SM Lanang Premier. Musikgarten Manila, which is located at the 2nd Level of the metro’s premier shopping and lifestyle destination, will be having the ‘Music Is Life! The Launch - Season 1’ recital featuring its 15 students from various courses. “The recital is in line with our vision to pro-mote music as an es-sential part of life, an effective tool in creat-ing balance towards wholesome living and sharpened creativity,” says Antoinette Zabala, Manager of Musikgarten Manila-SM Lanang Pre-mier branch.
Students aged 5 to 13 years old who are taking up StarDev individual courses in voice, piano and violin will perform at the said recital. Tots aged 1.8 to 3 ½ years old who are enrolled in toddler classes will also perform some selected activities at the event. The public is invited to watch the Musikgarten
Manila recital on Sun-day. Tickets to the event are priced at P100 each and are available for pur-chase at the school or at the recital venue. Musikgarten Manila makes use of Musik-garten, the preferred comprehensive early childhood development program in over 20 coun-tries. It aims to make
music an anchor in child development and the bonding of the family. For inquiries, call 296-2842, email [email protected] or check out Musikgar-tenMlaDavaoCity on FB. You may also visit its sole branch in Davao City at the 2nd Level beside SM Bowling Center at SM La-nang Premier.
FIFTEEN of the hottest and brightest students who have the guts, the brains, and the looks will be revealed this Sat-urday (July 25) at the #ChalkLiveMore party for the kick-off of Chalk’s annual Bright Young Ma-nila: Campus Hotties Edi-tion search. This year, Chalk gath-ered 15 college students from top schools in the metro in celebration of its 15th anniversary to be part of Bright Young Ma-nila: Campus Hotties Edi-tion, the longest running annual search to become Chalk’s ambassadors to push the ideals and tal-ents of today’s Filipino youth. Witness the unveiling of the 15 #ChalkBYM-CampusHotties this Sat-urday at #ChalkLiveMore in Raven Manila and party the night away in a
bright young outfit with the hottest beats from DJ Nix Damn P. Since 2006, Chalk gathers college stu-dents who possess the caliber of conquering campus life and beyond for its Bright Young Ma-nila search. The Bright Young Manila badge has become a status sym-bol among the Filipino youth and Chalk’s annual search has produced the best and brightest young talents who have made a legacy in various industries. Chalk is a leading youth magazine in the country and is one of the titles published ev-ery month by ABS-CBN Publishing. For more in-formation about Chalk’s Bright Young Manila: Campus Hotties Edition, visit chalkmagazine.abs-cbn.com.
A2 INdulge! EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT
GRAND REGAL HOTEL joined the 3-day event being held from July 17-19,2015 at the Activity Center of Abreeza Mall. The year’s biggest wedding expo showcased various wedding supplies and products exhibited by wedding professionals like decorators, photographers, wedding planners, wed-ding dress designers, jewellers, beauticians, resorts and the only participating hotel, Grand Regal.
Grand Regal Hotel joins Kasalang Filipino 2015 Being a premier wed-ding reception venue in the metro, Grand Regal Hotel boasts of a grand ballroom that can accom-modate a banquet for 800 guests. The Grand Pili-pinas ballroom has been witness to hundreds of couples celebrate the mo-mentous occasion with family and well-meaning friends whose presence complete the one-time
memory that will forever be cherished. For a more intimate affair, a select guest of 100 may well enjoy the comfort of the Pilipinas Ballroom, whose classic interiors comple-ment a backdrop of real picture-perfect captures. Grand Regal Hotel’s wedding package includes free use of function room for families, friends & colleagues who wish the
couple well, overnight accommodation at the Bridal Suite with a fruit basket upon check-in, buffet breakfast for the couple the day after at The Brasserie. Other wedding reception items are also taken care of like birdcage and doves, wedding bells with coins, guestbook,
bottle of wine for the wine toasting, and the couple get to use the swimming pool, sauna and gym. This package is a minimum of 100 guests. A considerable number of inquiries and bookings were made during the 3-day event, some of them were intended for next
year. But for couples who wish to plan ahead, they may visit Grand Regal Hotel so details of the big event shall be thoroughly discussed with the ban-quet personnel. It is also advisable for couples to see the venue so they may already include in their plans how to transform
the venue into something they dreamed of on their wedding day. For further inquiries, couples may visit Grand Regal Hotel at JP Laurel Avenue or call 2350888 and 09328505162. Browse over it’s FB page: grandregalho-teldavao, follow them on Twitter: grandregalhotel.
Musikgarten Manila to hold 1st recital starring kids and toddlers
Chalk launches 15 finalists for Bright Young Manila search this Saturday
GMA Network is bringing Bobby Andrews and An-gelu de Leon back together via the family drama se-ries Buena Familia set to premiere on July 28. They were among the most popular love teams in the ‘90s with a hit teen series T.G.I.S. to their credit. Bobby expressed ex-citement over his new TV project with Angelu. “We’re excited. Actually, this is the first time we’re gonna be working again after a long time. And it’s so nice kasi we’re playing different charac-ters now. Hindi na kami pa-tweetums dito, seri-ous na kami,” he said in an interview. On being reunited with her T.G.I.S. part-ner after 20 years, Ange-lu remarked: “Natutuwa ako dahil talaga palang magkakatuluyan sila Peachy at Wacks. Parang ganun ‘yung nangyari, tinuloy lang namin [but] in a more serious role. Mommy at daddy na.” In Buena Familia, Bob-
by and Angelu portray the roles of Arthur and Bettina, respectively—a couple who is blessed with four loving kids namely Kylie Padilla (Ce-line), Julie Anne San Jose (Darling), Julian Trono (Edwin), and Mona Louise Rey (Faye). Co ns i d e r-ing that it’s their first time to work with these young actors, An-gelu ex-plained t h a t u n -
dergo-ing work-shops really helped build p o s i t i v e r e l a t i o n -ship among
them. “ W h a t ’ s nice about the kids is they’re very, very pro-fessional. I mean, sabi
ko nga, you
could have the talent, everything that’s
needed, pero kung medyo may attitude ka, ma-hirap. These kids are really nice,
nakakatuwa sila,” said Angelu.
“We got to know
t h e m w e l l .
W h e n w e started t a p i n g na, the
transition was pretty easy because during the workshop, we’ve stretched out our char-
ABS-CBN’s newest dra-ma series “Ningning” is all set to brighten and show the beauty of life to TV viewers as the up-coming show inspires everybody to hope, dream, believe and love starting on Monday (July 27). Kapamilya child ac-tress Jana Agoncillo will portray the character in the series, which is from the makers of the hit daytime series “Be Care-ful With My Heart” and “Oh My G.” From her remarkable portrayal in the charm-ing drama series “Dream Dad,” Jana will now give life to the character of Ningning a cheerful little girl who is full of hope, dreams, and love for her parents Lovely (Beauty Gonzales) and Dondon (Ketchup Euse-bio). How will Ningning’s colorful world change when fate tests her fam-
ily’s strength? Will they still be able to see the bright side amid all the problems they are fac-ing? According to the di-rector of the program Jeffrey Jeturian, he is amazed with the kind of talent and intelligence that Jana possesses. “Jana is a one of a kind star. The likes of her only come once in a blue moon. Because aside from being tal-
ented, she is very smart for her age. She knows what she’s doing and she always comes to the set prepared,” said Direk Jeffrey, who also direct-ed “Dream Dad” and “Be Careful With My Heart.” Meanwhile, aside from the feel-good sto-ry of Jana’s character, “Ningning” will also fea-ture the beautiful town of San Vicente, Pala-wan where some of the scenes of the series were
taken. The program will also present the beauti-ful and jaw-dropping view of the island, and the happy community residing in it. Also joining Beauty, Ketchup, and Jana in the series are some of the most talented artists in the industry such as Syl-via Sanchez, Vandolph Quizon, Nyoy Volante, Rommel Padilla, Mer-cedes Cabral, Pooh, and John Steven de Guz-man. Nonie Buencami-no and Franco Daza will also appear for their special participation. Don’t miss the begin-ning of the newest day-time drama series that will brighten the days of TV viewers, “Ningning” beginning on Monday before “It’s Showtime” on ABS-CBN. For more information about “Ningning,” just log on www.abs-cbn.com, or follow Twitter.com/ab-scbndotcom.
INdulge! A3EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT
Bobby Andrews and Angelu de Leon are reunited in new TV series
Jana Agoncillo stars in newest Prime-Tanghali teleserye
acters already and we got personal with each other,” shared Bobby. Playing the role of a mother is “not a hard ad-justment” according to Angelu. “Bilang parent kasi, it’s there already, so innate na minsan ‘yung actions, it’s just the dia-logues na minsan hindi mo naman normally sinasabi, ‘yun lang ang
pagkakaiba,” she said. Bobby couldn’t agree more and added that it’s not that difficult for them to get into charac-ter because “the script is so well written.” Do not miss the much-awaited premiere of Buena Familia on July 28, airing weekdays after The Half Sisters on GMA Afternoon Prime.
Q: What is your top travel tip?A: Pack light, enjoy foreign deli-cacies, explore the town at your free time, savor the moment first before taking lots of pictures, and jot down important facts and daily events in your mini notepad for your trip down the memory lane.
CAROLYN MEDELQ: What is the most interesting thing you have learnt?A: I learned a lot. I was able to visit the places I’ve read about from books. Most importantly, that life is too short so make the most out of it.Q: What was your favorite meal?A: The buffet breakfast in Flor-ence, the big pizzas of Sienna and croissant of Paris.
MARILYN LUYQ: What was the best moment of the entire trip?A: The whole travel. The amaz-ing places I visited. The people, culture and races.
Q: What was your favorite meal?A: Pizza and gelato in Paris and FlorenceQ: What has been the useful item you have brought from?A: Rosary from ROME
AIMEE MATURANQ: What was your favorite meal?A: I loved the Tuna Pizza in Florence.Q: What has been the most useful item you’ve brought?A: 2 Swiss Military watch as a souvenir from Switzerland be-cause it’s a dream place that my husband wants to bring me to.Q: What was the hardest or most frustating part of the trip?A: For me, there is no hardest or frustating part of the travel because I really enjoyed every moment and I always keep in mind that it is a great blessing given by God to have new ex-perience to see the other par-tof the world while learning & understanding their different cultures.
FERNAN MATURANQ: Do you prefer solo travel or with someone else?A: There are times when we do travel with my family only but we used to travel with our team in real estate also. But in gen-eral, travel will be a very lonely thing without my spouse. God is so good. I really wished to come back to Switzerland with my spouse since I’ve been there without her once...And to His goodness, during this tour, all of the itinerary were new to me ex-cept for Luzern Switzerland on which I really dreamed to visit back with my wife.Q: What has been weirdest thing you’ve seen?A: I was just amazed by how Venice built a city with huge and beautiful buildings in pure and deep waters (not to mention that those structures were all way back in history)Q: What has been the most interesting item of food you’ve tested?A: I was amazed how they made ice cream as an emergency food alternative (gelato)
MY TWO CENTS’AS the President prepares for his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) next week, President Aqui-
no has can brag about the high level of economic growth in the last five years of his administration. Truly, averaging be-tween 5-6% is impressive given that the rest of Asia is not growing as well as the Philippines. It is worrying, however, that we have been slumping in our ability to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs).
No less than the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, through its advisor John Forbes expressed concerns that while the country performed fairly well in gaining some $6 billion in foreign direct investments in 2014, concerns re-main about the fact that in the first four months of 2015, this figure has fallen by almost 50 percent. While these figures sound impressive, these must nonethe-less be juxtaposed with the performance of our ASEAN neighbors Thailand, Indo-nesia and Malaysia. In addition, the coun-try’s FDIs plunged 43 percent year-on-year in April to $382 million, as reported by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas earlier this month.
Why FDIs matter
Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs)
are general-ly defined as covering new investments in new com-panies and b u s i n e s s e s from for-eign coun-tries, and i n c r e a s e d capitalization or expansion of existing companies by their mother companies abroad. That said, FDIs are a fairly cred-ible barometer for the attractiveness or competitiveness of the Philippine econ-omy when compared with other coun-tries. Moreover, unlike OFW income from remittances, FDIs represent hard invest-ments in business that generate employ-ment and create considerable multiplier effects for more opportunity within the economy. FDIs also bring in technology to make important sectors like employment –intensive manufacturing efficient and profitable.
Philippines vs. ASEAN in FDI terms
It is worth noting that over the last
three years, a look at the comparative performance of the top 6 ASEAN econ-omies from 2012-2014 (www.asean.org), Singapore takes the FDI cake with an average of 50-60 billion dollars more or less annually, followed by Indonesia US$15-20B, Malaysia and Thailand from between US$9-11B. Vietnam, at fifth has beat us in the FDI game over the last three years, averaging 8-9 billion dollars yearly. In 2014, we beat our chests, proclaiming our highest FDI inflows ever at 6.01billion dollars , up from 3,859.8B in 2013 and 2,797.0B in 2012. Comparing ourselves to our neighbors, We, however, remain at a consistent 6th place, in the middle of ASEAN. Yet, we are the second most pop-ulous, with a third remaining poor and needing the opportunity to improve lots in life, to be included in the growth.
We need to be warned that as ASEAN economic integration is upon us, our abil-ity to attract investments from within and outside ASEAN will show us how strong and sustainable our economic growth will be over the medium term, and therefore, how many jobs can be created and re-tained within the country, and how much wealth will stay to further push inclusive growth. As our neighbors seem to be do-ing a better job in attracting investments,
we need to take a better look at the op-portunites to improve on these numbers, and make them relevant and beneficial for the people, whose welfare will depend on the economy.
Future SONAs need to situate the Phil-ippines as an ASEAN economy
After PNOY, all future State of the Na-tion addresses will no longer picture the Philippines as a stand alone country and an isolated economy, but as part of larger ASEAN market economy. Maybe he or she can look at our high cost of electricity and food compared with our ASEAN neigh-bors, and the relative ease with which transport and cargo can flow from and through them compared with the Phil-ippines. Likewise, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia spend better on infrastructure and have more efficient ports and airports. Perhaps he or she can further improve our improving ratings on corruption and prevent us from backslid-ing. These, among others, are major con-siderations that encourage foreign invest-ment to flow into the country, and keep our economy strong. The next president needs to look at the Philippines this way if we are truly to perform as well, or better than our neighbors.
The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) game
“OPTIMISM is the content of small men in high places.” This statement comes from the pen of Francis Scott
Key Fitzgerald, an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigmatic writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined. He is widely re-garded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century.
Fitzgerald’s statement came to mind as I pondered upon the life of Helen Keller. At the age of two she suffered an illness that left her blind and deaf. Her parents took her to Dr. Alexander Gra-ham Bell who recommended the Per-kins Institute for the Blind in Boston.
At age of 7, Helen was tutored by Anne Sullivan through the sense of touch. As a result, Helen eventually learned to read Braille and began at-tending Radcliffe College, where her tu-tor interpreted lectures.
Helen graduated with highest hon-ors. She learned to type on a Braille typewriter and wrote many books from 1903 to 1941. She also became con-cerned about all the blind, especially those blinded in war or by poor work-ing conditions. She received numerous international honors for her efforts.
“Four things to learn in life: To think clearly without hurry, to love everybody sincerely, to act in everything with the highest motives, and to trust God unhes-itatingly,” she wrote.
Such good lessons in life, indeed. Some people see failures as setbacks but others con-sider them as challeng-es. “The es-sence of opti-mism is that it takes no account of the present, but it is a source of inspiration, of vitality and hope where others have resigned; it enables a man to hold his head high, to claim the future for himself and not to abandon it to his enemy,” Dietrich Bon-hoeffer pointed out.
Literature and history are full of people who suffered from handicaps, had talents that were inferior to those around them, lived in the worst of cir-cumstances, or faced many defeats. And yet, they pursued their dreams.
So one wonders: What made them achieve? “Focus on your potential in-stead of your limitations,” Alan Loy Mc-Ginnis suggested.
So who never heard the name Thom-as Alva Edison? In his lifetime, he had in-vented about 1,093 things – making him as the person with more patents than
any other person in the world. While most people credit his ability to creative genius, he credited it to hard work.
“Genius,” Edison once said, “is 99% perspiration and one percent inspira-tion.” That’s true but there’s a third fac-tor: his positive attitude. At one time, he exclaimed to an assistant marvelling at the bewildering total of his failures – 50,000 experiments before he succeed-ed with a new storage battery: “Re-sults? Why man, I have gotten lots of results. I now know 50,000 things that won’t work.”
Edison was an optimist who saw the best in everything. “If we did all the things we were capable of doing,” he pointed out, “we would literally astound ourselves.”
More often than not, non-achievers blame their circumstances; winners rise above their circumstances. Some concentrate on the blank wall that box-es them in; winners always look for a way to get under it, over it, around it, or through it.
That’s the life philosophy of Nido Qubein, a businessman, motivational speaker, and President of High Point University since 2005. The youngest of 5 children to parents of Lebanese and Jordanian descent, he came to the Unit-ed States in 1966 with limited knowl-edge of English and only $50 in his pocket. But he learned that the power
to affect your future lies within your own hands, and in your attitude.
In his latest book, The Power of Pos-itive Influence, he suggested some ideas on what makes a person successful: “Surround yourself with positive in-fluences. When you are surrounded by negative thinkers, image, or materials, it is easy to get bogged down in hopeless-ness.
“Read inspiring books and maga-zines. Listen to motivational recordings and speakers. Attend positive-thinking seminars or programs. Make it a point to read or watch or listen to something positive and inspiring at least once ev-ery day.
“Associate with positive people. Look for friends who feel good about themselves, people who have the atti-tude of gratitude. People who need to tear down others are not happy with themselves and are not good for you or your attitude.”
But most important, never give up. “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up,” Thomas Alva Edison commented.
The words of American comedian Lucille Ball comes in handy: “One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.”
VOL. 8 ISSUE 81 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 24 - 25, 201510 NEWS EDGEDAVAO10 NEWSTENSION... FROM 1
Zarate... FROM 2
Up... FROM 2
Davao... FROM 5
DTI... FROM 5
Catamco denies... FROM 2
Catamco... FROM 2
INC... FROM 4 Greening... FROM 4
With... FROM 4
EDGEDAVAO
3rd Regional Competitiveness Summit held at PICC on July 16, 2015 with about 2,000 del-egates from Local Government
Units all over the country, na-tional agencies and private organizations. (PGO-Davao del Sur)
cerns on non-tariff barriers such as product standards, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and import licens-ing.
The DTI chief also noted that the newly signed Phil-ippine Competition Law and the amendments in Cabotage Law were proof of the gov-ernment’s sustained efforts to liberalize economy and insti-tutionalize economic reforms.
“The Philippine Fair Com-petition Act effectively levels the playing field as it criminal-izes and imposes heavy fines on business activities that promote monopolies and ob-struct equal access to market opportunities... The amended Cabotage Law will allow for-eign vessels to transport and co-load foreign cargoes for domestic transhipment,” Do-mingo explained.
“The AEC in full force will
enable enterprises in Mem-ber States to significantly minimize transaction costs and optimize trade gains. The cost of doing business would be reduced with lower tar-iffs, streamlined export and import procedures, easier ac-cess to suppliers, and better business licensing processes, among others,” he added.
Aside from the Compe-tition Law and the amended Cabotage Law, recent devel-opments made by the govern-ment include amendments in the banking law which elim-inates limits of foreign own-ership in banking sector; the Quadruple A Rating, a new license category for contrac-tors enabling foreign firms to secure construction permits and participate in local proj-ects; and the further amend-ments to the foreign invest-ment negative list. (PNA)
del Norte and the militants in-side the compoundhad talked for the release of the IP evac-uees.
No resolution was reached during the dialogue, forcing the DSWD people to join the negotiation, to no avail.
In an interview, DSWD 11 social welfare officerPedritaD-imakiling said their office want to rescue the lumadsbut the leaders of the group refused to turn them over.
“Istoryahoon pa dawn-ilaangmgabataogangmgaka-babaihan(They said they need to talk first to the children and the women),” Dimakiling said.
“We really need to pull them out, but we do not want them to be bothered. We have to respect the culture and we have to respect what the Ha-ran administration tells us,” she added.
Dimakiling said the DSWD had also sent a team to the area to check the children and the women but was barred from entering the vicinity.
At around 8:30 a.m. yester-day, DCPO-CDMtried to enter the area afterreceiving reports from the NCIP that the group inside prevented the IPs to re-turn home.
During the commotion, BagongAlyansangMakabayan (Bayan) spokesperson Sheena Duazoshouted at the police-men and asked for the pres-ence of chief of police.
The militant groups insist-ed that police personnel can-not enter the area as this was a private property.
The police even ask the Bureau of Fire Protection to assist them in their operation.
Relatives of the IPs and some leaders from Davao del Norte were also waiting out-side to fetch the lumads.
They even mounted a sound system outside the Ha-ran compound in calling their relatives to return homet.
Duterte had asked the IPs and militant groups inside to let the DSWD and Central 911 to enter the area to check on the health conditions of the children and women.
His request was grant-ed and some children were checked.
Duterte was also able to talk with other progressive
leaders Ariel Casilao and Joel Virador.
When the acting mayor asked the lumads if they want to go home, no one answered Instead, some IPs told Duter-tethey will just return home if the soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippine (AFP) will pullout from their commu-nities.
At 11:38 a.m., the gate at the compounds was opened and the militant groups and police went out of the area to give way to Duterte’s request.
After an hour, no lumad went out.
At 12:06 noon, North Co-tabatoRep. Nancy Catamco, chair of the committee on In-digenous People of the House of Representative, arrived at the area and asked Duterte to check the IPs.
Duterte requested the IPs in the area since they declared Catamco as persona non grata or an unwelcome entity.
The vice mayor insisted to allow Catamcoinside the premises so she can check on the evacuees.
At 12:18 noon, Catamco entered Haran with Duterte. Personnel from the Central 911 and DSWD also assisted the children.
In an interview, Catamco said she is thankful to the city government through Duterte-for the initiative, especially for the medical checkup given to the IPs.
She said she also request-ed to the vice mayor to help the DSWD and NCIP assist the IPs to deliver the services needed.
“I am grateful that they are now given the right service,” she said.
When Catamco was about to leave the area, a commotion happened when an IP moth-er and her daughter were al-legedly pulled out forcibly by the relative. But, the police said these people went out volun-tarily because they want to go home.
The mother identified as Nora Kakay and her daughter named Juvy, 14.
Reporters had the chance talk with the mother, who said she just wanted to go out of Haran to talk to her relatives and explain why they do not want to go home.
of the Military after Kakay and her daughter was forcibly pulled by the Military to get out in UCCP Haran.
Catamco then came to the area and brought the mother and daughter to WCPD station and later on transferred them to DSWD for assistance.
Meanwhile, Duterte gave food assistance to the lumads and provided them medical
assistance.Catamco, for her part,
also thanked Duterte’s effort for giving assistance to the lumads.
“The government should be visible to the Lumads,” she told Duterte.
Catamco said that she was grateful the lumads were given the right services they deserved.
ple, falsely and maliciously ac-cused activists, the Makabayan Bloc of partylist groups, and the UCCP of “kidnapping and detaining” the lumads against their will.
“If there was any truth that the lumads are being held hos-tage by the church people and their support organizations, they might have welcomed the police’s help. But the lumads are firm in their demand for the military pull-out in their respec-tive communities,” Rep. Zarate said.
“This is certainly not the way to convince the lumad to go home. We believe that this vio-lent incident happened because of the instigation of the military. Meanwhile, the police and Rep. Catamco are parroting the same lies and twisted justification
of the military. This gives us a glimpse of the violence, con-tempt, and disdain they experi-ence from the military and the state’s mercenaries back home,” Rep Zarate added.
“The vilification of the bakwit, as well as the support groups that service the lumad adds even further insult,” Rep. Zarate further said.
“The full force of state re-pression is seemingly now be-ing thrown against the hapless bakwits. Miles away from home, they are dogged by violations of their rights. The direness of the state of human rights in Min-danao and elsewhere in the country is in full view in this incident. This is the state of the nation certain to be absent from Pres. Aquino’s Sona,” Rep Zarate ended.
as soon as possible saying that “there is always next time.”
Catamco returned to UCCP Haran Thursday noon after Vice Mayor Paulo Duterte asked the Lumads to let her en-ter the place to see if they were given proper assistance.
On Wednesday, the Ata Manobo tribe along with PA-SAKA declared Catamco as a Persona Non Grata in UCCP Haran. Catamco though said
that the declaration do not matter to her.
“It does not matter to me, I am not one of their members, all I want is that the Lumads will get out from Haran,” Cata-mco said.
Tension rose when police-men tried to forcibly evict the lumads and onto buses, 2 po-licemen and around 10 lumads were hurt after the commo-tion. Funny Pearl A. Gajunera
Agus 4, on the other hand, has a water level of 358.31 masl, slowly nearing its min-imum operating level of 357 meters. It is also lower than the 358.88 masl monitored a couple of days ago.
Bukidnon-based Pulangi 4 has a water level of 280.40 masl, also slightly lower than the last recorded 281.02 masl. It has a minimum operating level of 282 masl, producing just 20 MW of its 250 MW ca-pacity.
Not only that, Mindan-ao’s power shortage was also worsened by the preventive maintenance shutdown (PMS) of the 105-MW Unit 2 of the 210 MW STEAG coal-fired power plant in Misamis Ori-ental. It is expected to return online on Aug. 16.
The grid operator, Nation-al Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), said that Mindanao had a power deficiency of 248 megawatts (MWs) at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday.
As a temporary solution, distribution utilities and elec-tric cooperatives had imple-mented either manual load dropping (MLD) or activated the Interruptible Load Pro-gram (ILP), which is the tap-ping of generator sets to lower the consumption demand.
Electric cooperatives (ECs) that had implemented MLD or rotational brownouts due to the shortage are Zam-boanga City Electric Coopera-tive (ZAMCELCO) losing pow-er for nine hours; Zamboanga del Sur Electric Cooperative 2 (ZAMSURECO 2) for five hours, Sultan Kudarat Electric Cooperative (SUKELCO) for five hours, Surigao del Norte (SURNECO) for 4.5 hours.
Other ECs, such as South Cotabato Electric Cooperative 2 (SOCOTECO 2) and Davao del Sur Electric Cooperative (DASURECO), had fared bet-ter with its modular generator sets temporarily providing power. (PNA)
million members. Eduardo took over as executive minis-ter after the death of his father Eraño in 2009.
INC NOT A CORPORA-TION
Santiago stressed Eduar-do’s succession to the INC hi-erarchy underwent due pro-cess. He also noted that the INC is not a corporation but a religion.
“Dapat malaman ng lahat na ang Iglesia ay hindi isang korporasyon na pangpamilya, ito ay isang relihiyon na ang sinusunod ay ang mga pata-karan at mga aral ng Diyos na nakasulat sa Bibliya,” he said.
“Hindi po makakapay-ag ang kapatid na Eduardo Manalo... na ang Iglesia ay gu-luhin ng sinumang tao. Kaya doon sa ginawa nila na yun kagabi na maliwanag naman ang layon ay makalikha ng mga pagkakakabaha-bah-agi, ay hindi maiiwasan na ipatupad sa kanila yung mga
tuntunin at patakaran ng Igle-sia na ipinatutupad sa lahat ng mga kaanib sa Iglesia.
“Kaya masakit man sa loob ng kapatid na Eduardo Manalo ay ipinasya nila na iti-walag yung mga lumilikha ng mga pagkakabaha-bahagi sa Iglesia,” he added.
Santiago said the expul-sion of the two will be an-nounced in INC’s worship ser-vices Thursday afternoon.
“Hindi maaaring bas-ta’t komo kamag-anak ka o kapatid ka ay ilalagay ka sa pwestong gusto mo. Siyempre kung sino yung nakatutugon ng kakayahan at katangian doon sa gampanin, yun ang ilalagay doon.
“Kaya ka nga nasa Iglesia dahil sa sinusunod mo yung mga aral, gusto mong sundin yung mga aral. Eh kung ayaw mo nang sumunod sa mga aral ano pang gagawin mo sa Iglesia?” he said. ABS-CBN NEWS
“With this law already in place, we can fully tap the potentials of the Mindanao Development Corridors and focus on building a more con-nected and globally-competi-tive Mindanao,” said Antonino.
She added the law will also will facilitate a more com-petitive Mindanao business environment in terms of trade with BIMP-EAGA and ASEAN, and other countries around the globe.
BIMP-EAGA stands for Brunei Darussalam Indonesia Malaysia the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area, a sub-re-gional grouping formed with the goals of promoting trade, investment, and tourism with-in the sub-region.
“We laud this develop-ment, as Mindanao products bound for export will become more competitive in the world market,” said Vicente Lao, chair of the Mindanao Busi-ness Council.
He added that imported raw materials that are needed for production in Mindanao will also become cheaper due to the anticipated cuts in ship-ping costs.
The Mindanao Business Conference (MinBizCon), an annual gathering of the re-gion’s key business leaders has been pushing for the approval of the amendments to the Cabotage Law. The Mindanao Exporters Congress (MEC), a regular assembly of Mindanao export industry stakeholders has also been urging the Aqui-no Government to approve the amendments to the law.
A discussion on the ap-proved amendments will be conducted today and Friday as the MEC reconvenes for a three-day congress here in this city at SM Lanang Premier’s SMX Convention Center.
“This is a good move of the Aquino administration, and we welcome this develop-ment as it will foster competi-tion among domestic shipping companies in the country,” said Ferdinand Marañon, president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport) – Davao in a news statement.
Marañon, a key convenor of the MEC added the new law will pave way for lower ship-ping costs since logistics costs are expected to drop.
tated.“If that’s already identified
as flood prone, we are not re-planting it,” Suboan said.
She said several people’s or-ganizations and companies have been tapped in the implemen-tation of NGP, most especially partnering with the communi-ties to ensure that the seedlings planted will survive.
Among the fruit trees that are recommended under the NGP are coffee, cacao, and rub-ber, which provide livelihood for the communities in the hin-terland.
Davao City Councilor Leon-ardo Avila III, who was the for-mer chief of the City Agriculture Office (CAO), recommended the planting of fruit trees under agro-reforestation program, saying that these will prevent the farmers in the hinterland to cut trees, as these will provide
them livable income in the long run.
“As of now, some POs who joined in the tree planting are now starting to earn. There are also buyers who get supply from them,” Suboan said.
Among the objectives of NGP include food security and poverty reduction. Others in-clude biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable de-velopment.
The five-year NGP seeks to plant 1.5 billion trees covering 1.5 million hectares nationwide. In the region, the agency eyes to develop 64,183 hectares with 32,348,512 seedlings.
The NGP was implement-ed after President Benigno S. Aquino III signed Executive Order (EO) No. 26 on February 24, 2011. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
AGRITRENDSUrban agriculture: Growing crops in the citiesBy HENRYLITO D. TACIO
HUNGER, poverty, and en-vironmental degradation – these are the problems
most urban areas in developing countries are facing. “The vast, increasing population of the ur-ban poor often go hungry because they cannot afford to purchase food,” deplores the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Low income urban dwellers spend between 40% and 60% of their income on food each year, ac-cording to UN Human Settlements Program. Around the world, 250 million hungry people in the world live in cities.
Today, 50% of the world’s population lives in cities. Current-ly, 26 cities in the world have a population of 10 million or more. To feed a city of this size at least 6,600 tons of food must be import-ed each day. The Social Weather Station once reported that 20% (or one in five) of Filipinos people are hungry-poor. This is especially acute in the urban areas.
The UN Food and Agricul-ture Organization (FAO) said that people in the cities rely almost en-tirely on purchased food, much of it commercially prepared. “They are more vulnerable to economic factors affecting commercial food markets, since they spend a high proportion of their budget on food and are dependent on wage labor,” FAO said.
The possible solution to the problem: urban agricul-ture. “Farming in urban areas is a single solution to many of the modern city’s problems, especial-ly persistent hunger and environ-mental degradation,” the UNDP pointed out. “Farming in the ur-ban areas is not only competitive but economic and sustainable.”
FAO defines urban agricul-ture as “an industry that produces, processes and markets food and fuel, largely in response to the dai-ly demand of consumers within a town, city, or metropolis, on land and water dispersed throughout the urban and peri-urban area, ap-plying intensive production meth-ods, using and reusing natural re-
sources and urban wastes to yield a diversity of crops and livestock.”
Urban agriculture, UNDP claimed, has the potential of pro-viding much higher nutritional improvement, hunger reduction, income generation, enterprise development, and environmental improvement to the city. This is possible only, UNDP said, “if the farming activity of enterprising agencies and the constraints fac-ing the farmers are removed.”
Among the constraints UNDP cited includes lack of support from policy-making, research, and ex-tension agencies. And there is lack of access to land, solid waste and waste water, credit, inputs, mar-kets and market information, and extension services.
To think of, urban agriculture can improve the environment of the cities and achieve more sus-tainable waste management. By putting its unused and unusable land and water bodies to farming use, the city provides space for farming enterprises to develop, while improving its air, water, and soil quality and improving the liv-ing environment of the city.
Urban agriculture likewise of-fers land and waste management potentials. “Farming in the city aids the land management and en-vironment of the city by increas-ing biodiversity and green spaces and improving degraded lands,” the UNDP said.
Beyond providing jobs and good nutrition, urban farming can have a whole range of health benefits. Research has connect-ed gardening to reducing risks of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and occupational injuries. For ur-ban folks especially, working with plants and being in the outdoors can both prevent illness and help with healing.
Wayne Roberts of the Toron-to Food Policy Council sees urban agriculture as the “new frontier in public health,” benefiting health twice: first, by supplying urban-ites with more foods and, second, by affording them the exercise in-volved in raising food.
For cities confronted with growing waste disposal, the stron-gest environmental argument for local farming is the opportunity to reuse urban organic waste that would otherwise end up in dis-tant, swollen landfills.
In the Philippines, a presi-dential decree obliged owners, or entitled others with owners’ per-mission, to cultivate unused pri-vate lands and some public lands adjoining streets or highways in Metro Manila. In Davao City, the agriculturist’s office is promoting the “Gulayan sa Barangay.” This program pushes for the growth and propagation of organical-ly-grown vegetables.
In a survey conducted for the United Nations, cities worldwide already produce about one third of the food consumed by their res-idents on average. This percent-age is “likely to grow in coming decades, given that the need for urban agriculture could be great-er now than ever before,” wrote Brian Halweil and Danielle Nie-renberg, authors of “Farming the Cities,” which appeared in “States of the World,” published by the Worldwatch Institute.
In 2011, Party-list Rep. Cata-lina Bagasina filed a bill seek-ing to promote agricultural and farming activities in highly ur-banized areas, particularly Metro Manila. She said urban farming should be encouraged by the gov-ernment like what other countries have been pursuing in their re-spective countries.
In House Bill 4750, known as the “Urban Agriculture Act of 2011,” Bagasina said Metro Manila has a huge area where food pro-duction through agriculture can be pursued. The bill seeks to pro-mote urban farming in cities to ad-dress food security concerns and regenerate ecosystems functions.
She pointed out, in her bill, that government lots and build-ings that are idle or abandoned by either national or local govern-ments or available land resources in state universities and colleges should be given prime consider-
ation for growing crops, raising livestock and producing food.
Perhaps one of the systems that urban people can adopt in their respective areas is the Food Always In The Home (FAITH) gar-dening developed by the Davao-based Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC).
“FAITH is a type of vegetable gardening that can provide the necessary protein, vitamins and mineral requirements needed by a family with six members,” explains MBRLC Director Roy C. Alimoane. “We designed it in such a way that it requires minimum labor.”
The recommended FAITH garden size is six by sixteen me-ters. “Establish the garden on a light slope to provide drainage, especially during rainy season,” Alimoane says. “If the area is flat, dig drainage channels or ditch-es around the planting site. The garden site must also receive sunshine throughout the day as growing plants need sunshine to manufacture food.”
The garden is divided equally into three sections, with one-half of each section held in reserve for later replanting. One section is planted with short-term vege-tables that will be ready for use in two to four months. The sec-ond section is given over to crops which can produce vegetables for six to nine months. Vegetables that will produce for 11 to 12 months are grown on the third section.
The central feature in FAITH gardening is basket composts, a series of raised garden beds into which bamboo baskets are set about one foot in diameter and depth. These are filled with little animal manure (particularly goat) and some decomposed organic garbage and packed with leaves of leguminous trees and shrubs. If basket composts are too laborious to do, you can also make trench composts.
The time to plant seeds or seedlings around the basket or trench composts depends on the
state of decomposition of mate-rials inside the composts. “If the materials at the bottom part are nearly decomposed, seeds and/or seedlings can be planted immedi-ately,” says Alimoane. “But if most of the materials are still fresh, planting may be done two to three weeks later.”
Another farming scheme that is suited for urban areas is the bio-intensive gardening (BIG), which was developed by Dr. Julian Gonsalves, who was a recipient of the United Nations Environment Program’s Global 500 Roll of Hon-or.
“The bio-intensive approach is a biological form of agriculture in which a small plot is intensive-ly cultivated, suing nature’s own ingredients to rebuild and then maintain the soil’s productivity,” Dr. Gonsalves explained.
At the heart of the approach is the effort to improve the capa-bility of the soil to nurture and sustain plant life. What the bio-in-tensive gardener does is replicate a natural forest: constant recycling of nutrients and maintenance of soil, moisture and microbial con-ditions.
The BIG approach puts strong emphasis on the use of indige-nous vegetable varieties. Ideally, a home garden should aim at 100 percent dependency on selected traditional seed varieties.
BIG also relies on alternative pest management to reduce if not
eliminate dependence on expen-sive, hazardous agrochemicals. It includes diversified cropping (growing of different crops to-gether), crop rotation (to prevent the build-up of pest population), mechanical measures (using nets to prevent birds and insects from attacking the vegetables), and use of botanical, microbial or biologi-cal pest control measures.
Tests conducted by Gonsalves himself showed that BIG scheme can yield the same quantity and quality of produce as conventional gardening technology. The garden produces an average of about 400 kilograms of vegetables a month.
Urban agriculture is noth-ing new. The hanging gardens in Babylon, for instance, were an example of urban agriculture, while residents of the first cities of ancient Iran, Syria, and Iraq produced vegetables in home gardens.
“In ancient times, the cost of transport was much greater,” ex-plains Jac Smit, head of the New York-based Urban Agriculture Network, “so the impetus for growing food in cities was great-er.”
Despite all that farming can do for the city landscape and the urban soul, politicians, business-es, and planners continue to re-gard food as a “rural issue” that does not demand the same atten-tion as housing, crime, or trans-portation.
NOTICE OF LOSSNotice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS
CONSOLIDATED INC. that CERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT No.(s)
1002534 under Loyola Contract No (s). 36018-5/UUU111735735 issued to MERCEDES J. DEGOLACION82777 under Loyola Contract No (s). 6027752-3 issued to JOSEFINA E. SANICO9015 under Loyola Contract No (s). 751717-0 issued to LUZVISMINDA S. VELOSwere lost. Any transaction entered into shall be
null and void.7/18,25
THE Hedcor Sibulan, Inc. and Aboitiz Foundation, Inc.
helped some 3,000 school children prepare to face their future with bright-
Hedcor promotes good oral health care to schools in DavSur towner smiles as they were reminded of good oral health care through a comprehensive informa-tion education campaign drive.
This month, Hedcor implemented its dental health program in its eight adopted public schools in the municipality of Sta. Cruz. The school recip-ients were Tudaya Ele-mentary School, Pogpog Elementary School, Ti-bolo Elementary School,
Idong Elementary School, Sibulan Elementary School, Don Amancio El-ementary School, Darong Elementary School and Almendras Elementary School.
The program is in partnership with the Den-tal Chapters of the Munic-ipality of Sta. Cruz, Pro-vincial Local Government of Davao del Sur, and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.
Dental experts lec-
tured on and demonstrat-ed proper tooth brushing, flossing, mouth rinsing and made the children aware of the existence of oral cancer and how proper dental care helps in reducing the risk from this dreaded disease.
Rolando Pacquiao, Hedcor vice president for Mindanao operations said, “We are helping our beneficiary-public-teach-ers promote good oral hygiene among students,
analyze and evaluate den-tal needs, and maintain dental records of students for future reference”.
At the end of the demonstration, each stu-dent was given a hygiene kit containing a face tow-el, soap, and two pairs of toothpaste and tooth-brushes.
Hedcor is a subsidiary of AboitizPower engaged in run-of-river hydro de-velopment and opera-tions.(PNA)
IN THE HUNTElla tied for third after 36 holes in Veritas
DAVAO City’s A l e s -
sandra Chris-tine “Ella” Nagayo sputtered on the way back to the clubhouse on Thurs-day (PH Time) and ended up tied for third after 36 holes of the 2015 Veri-
tas World Junior Golf Championships at
the Brookside course in Pasa-
dena, Califor-nia.
Compet-ing in the
Girls 11 division, N a g a y o fired the
day’s sec-ond best round of 9 - o v e r par 81 d e s p i t e running into trou-ble on hole no. 17 for a two-day total of
167. T h e
1 1 - ye a r old stand-
out from Brain-works Learning
Center, backed up by Apo Golf and Country Club, is bunched at 27 over par with American Madison Starke (77-90) of Walnut Creek, California.
Nagayo began the tournament with a fat 86 but she recovered in the second round after mak-ing the right adjustments to her game.
“Tied 3 ang rank ni Ella, kulba our hearts,” Nagayo’s mother, coun-cilor Rachel Zozobra-do-Nagayo, told this writ-er. “86 sya sa first day (rank 6), then sa second day 81 score nya (tied rank 3).”
Another Filipina, An-nyka Chanel Cayabyab, of San Juan, kept the lead with another huge round of three over par 75 to
go with an earlier 76 for a 36-hole total of 11 over par 151. Athena Nguyen of the United States is a far second at 166 (82-84), 15 strokes adrift.
“Sa second round she got the second best score. But her first day score pulled her down a little kaya tied 3rd ang rank nya sa total. May round 3 pa,” her mother said. “agsabog sya sa Hole number 17 sa second round. Grabe sig-uro ka kulba nya.”
Mexico’s Azul Amezc-ua Avila is at solo 5th with 173 (85-88), Am-gel Ignatius of the US is at 6th with 181 (89-92), followed by three more Americans--Priscilla Cor-ral (184-94-90), Xiaoyang Wang (187-86-101), and Sasha Garcha (203-108-95).
Nagayo will be com-peting in two major world junior golf tournaments after earning a ticket through the Qualifying School held in Manila. Her next stop is the US Kids World Championships on July 29.
ATHLETES OF THE YEAR. 2015 So Kim Cheng Sports Awards Athletes of the Year Darlene Ross Maramara and Julian Ambrose Ramirez receive their plaques and framed Edge Davao covers during the awards night on Wednesday at The Royal Mandaya Hotel. Also in photo are (l-r) Dexter So, president of the Davao City Sports Council, Atty. Neil Dalumpines of the City Mayor’s Office, Dr. Guillermo Torres Jr., Lifetime Achievement Awardee, former PSC Commissioner Binggoy Montemayor, Edge Davao editor Antonio Ajero, So Kim Cheng Sports Foundation chairman So Peng Kee and city councilor Diosdado Mahipus. Lean Daval Jr.
SECOND BEST SCORE FOR THE DAY. Ella Nagayo beams after scoring an 81 in the second round. FB Photo of Rachel Zozobrado-Nagayo
ACE gunner Christopher “Bong” Go uncorked 42 points but his tour-
nament-high output wasn’t good enough to carry the City Mayors Office to victory.
Department of Environ-ment and Natural Resourc-es came out hot early and weathered a CMO rally down the stretch to pull off a 104 – 90 win in the ongoing Apollo C. Quiboloy Cup Commercial B League at the Davao City Recreation Center Almendras Gym on Tuesday night.
DENR delivered a flurry of baskets early behind Ryan Abanes and Dado Ayson to
keep the City Hall dribblers trailing in the entire first half.
CMO clawed back in the third frame courtesy of a fi-ery run sparked by Go, the sweet-shooting executive assistant of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, to stay in contention.
Go, who rifled in ten tri-ples on his way to league-best scoring performance, even put his team at the driver seat with his ninth trey providing CMO the lead.
But the City Hall drib-blers, who plays almost every other day, “run out of gas” in the final frame.
DENR taking advantage of
the CMO foldup charged back to storm the pay off period and pull away with the win.
Abanes came through with 22 points while Ayson made 17 for the DENR that took the services of the play-ing policemen. Padua and Art Atablanco had 12 points apiece.
It was the fifth defeat in eight games for the City Hall dribblers who clearly beat the odds in this high level tourney.
Rodel Bantilan and Mi-chael Walingan scored 11 points each for the CMO which merely compose of City Hall employees.
THE favorites look to bounce back after suf-fering early upsets as
the Superliga Beach Volley-ball Challenge Cup 2015 en-ters its second day of com-petition on Saturday at the Sands By the Bay in SM Mall of Asia.
Pre-tournament favor-ites Michelle Laborte and Cha
RIGHT after Roy Hibbert, Lou Williams and Bran-don Bass received their
new gold jerseys Wednesday, they all spoke variations on the same theme.
The three veteran NBA players entered the summer looking for a fresh start, and they’re all eager to get it with the Los Angeles Lakers.
They’re also looking for-ward to playing with Kobe Bry-ant — after they get a chance to talk to him.
“I appreciate the Lakers getting me out here, and I’m go-ing to work extremely hard to make sure the Lakers get back
to where they should be,” Hib-bert said.
The Lakers were thrilled to swing a trade for Hibbert, the 7-foot-2 center who spent the past seven seasons with the In-diana Pacers. The two-time All-Star had already moved to Los Angeles before the deal hap-pened, and he is determined to return to dominant defensive form after a perceived down season precipitated his depar-ture from Indiana.
While the Pacers are try-ing to get smaller and faster, the Lakers could use a bulky stopper after struggling as one of the NBA’s worst defensive
teams last year.“Looking at the team here,
they have a lot of firepower,” Hibbert said. “My main pres-ence is going to be at the rim. Last year, the Lakers were (29th) in defensive efficiency, so my job is to make sure I clog up the paint, (provide) help-side defense, and whatever else I get on the offensive end is candy.”
Hibbert’s perceived de-cline last season wasn’t visible in most statistics. He started 76 games and averaged 10.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots per game — all numbers that look great to the Lakers.
SAN Miguel Corp. CEO Ramon S. Ang is hop-ing Star will remain
competitive despite the de-parture of Tim Cone.
With the PBA’s most successful coach now with Barangay Ginebra and tasked to resurrect the Gin Kings, questions have risen on whether the Hotshots will be in good hands with rookie tactician Jason Webb now calling the shots.
“Of course, we always hope na all our teams will do well,” Ang said on Tues-day night during San Miguel Beer’s victory party at the
SMC compound. “But hindi naman natin matitiyak ‘yun. We can only hope.”
The SMC boss said he just heeded Ginebra fans’ call for Cone to handle the league’s most popular team.
“I think we’ll just give in to the request of the fans na siya naman ang mag-coach.”
“Hindi ko pa alam kung anong gagawin ni Tim Cone na play,” he added. “So we’ll just hope na ma-jell niya ‘yung team at makabigay ng magandang resulta.”
But Ang is tempering fans’ expectations on Cone, the Gin Kings’ seventh coach
since 2008 who is expected to instill his proven triangle offense to the squad.
“In basketball, you can-not be sure of anything. Bi-log ang bola eh,” Ang said. “If you remember, na-eliminate nga ‘yung SMB last con-ference (Commissioner’s Cup).”
Asked to comment on the status of former Ginebra coach Frankie Lim, Ang gave an indirect answer.
“I think we’ll just hope kung anong pinaka-mabut-ing pwedeng mangyari sa mga team natin at sa mga players natin.”
Go’s 42 not enough to lift CMO
DUSTING OFF. Petron XCS teammates Gretchen Ho (right) and Cha Soriano dust off the sand in their bodies during a break in the PSL Beach Volley Challenge at the MOA Sands by the Bay. PSP photo
Cone transfer a response to fans’ clamor
SPORTS
Favorites look for vengeancein PSL beach volley
Hibbert looks to fresh start with Lakers
Cruz of Cignal HD Spikers A tumbled when they suffered a straight-set loss to the hun-grier, more aggressive tan-dem of Danica Gendrauli and Norie Diaz of Gilligan’s.
The duo of Alexa Micek and Fille Cayetano of Sprint 4T fell to a more prepared team of Bea Tan and Pau Soriano of Foton Hurricane, while crowd darlings Charo Soriano and Gretchen Ho of Petron XCS were beaten in straight sets by April Ross Hingpit and Wensh Tiu of Cignal HD Spikers. PSL pres-ident Ramon “Tats” Suzara said the opening-day results show the depth and competi-tiveness of the field.
“It goes to show how bal-anced and competitive this tournament is,” said Suzara.
“This is a kill-or-be killed tournament with only the toughest team set to survive. This is not designed to be a walk-in-the park for the heavyweight teams.”
A bronze medalist in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games in Manila, Laborte is heavily tipped to dominate the field after being partnered with another skilled spiker in Cruz. But things didn’t go ac-cording to plan as Gendrauli, a beach volleyball sensation for Southwestern University in the Cebu collegiate league,
and Diaz had a strong start and an even stronger finish.
The same thing hap-pened to Micek and Cayeta-no of reigning PSL All-Fili-pino Conference champion Petron. “Errors, erros and more errors, that’s the story of the game,” said Micek, a Filipino-American stunnner who drew the largest cheers from the large weekend crowd.
“But this is still far from over. We can still redeem ourselves. We will train hard and come back stronger next game.”
While Cignal HD Spikers B of Hingpit and Tiu are al-ready safely in the quarter-finals after demolishing Au-rora Tripoli and Rochet Dela Paz of Accel Quantum Plus B Perpetual Molino, Cignal HD Spikers A can still book a tick-et to the next round if they prevail over Petron Sprint 4T and Foton Hurricane.
Micek and Cayetano must beat Gilligan’s while Soriano and Ho must over-come Accel Quantum Plus B Perpetual Molino in a sepa-rate encounter to remain in the hunt for the title in the tournament backed by PLDT Home Ultera-Philippine, Smart, Accel, Sands By the Bay and Maynilad, and orga-nized by Sports Core.NEW LAKERS. Roy Hibbert, Lou Williams and Brandon Bass are introduced as new Lakers by GM Mitch Kupchak.
