P 15.00 • 36 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 2015

INSIDE EDGEEDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

IT’S KADAYAWAN!

Rody shrugs off demolition job Page 4

City gov’t workers to get bonus Monday Page 4

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 20152 EDGEDAVAO

COVER STORY

IT’S third week of August, and all roads lead to only

one destination: Davao City. Touted to be the country’s largest city (it is sev-en times bigger than Cebu and three times Metro Manila), Davao is celebrating its 30th Kadayawan sa Dabaw.

It’s the time of the year when streets are filled with royalty fruits -- particularly durian and mangosteen, the king and queen of tropical fruits, respectively -- and pome-lo (which are available all year round).

There are several events already lined up for the week’s celebration. But one of the highlights is the quest for 2015 Hi-yas ng Kadayawan. Un-like beauty contests, this is a search for the young woman who understands her culture and traditions, according to council Al Ryan Alejandre, chair of the festival’s executive committee.

All the 11 tribes of the city are well-represented. Each has its own pam-bato: Alamaida Casanguan

Agasor (Iranun), Haida Dawn J. Ainin (Sama), Michelle G. Ansal (Bago-bo-Klata), Wenalie Ivy A. Atan (Bagobo-Tagabawa), Haifa Rica B. Bansilan (Maguindanon), Myra D. Calihim (Kagan), Rechel B. Dumalag (Matigsalog), Fatma Jaheema Malatus (Maranao), Flormea D. Manyawron (Ata), Sitti Sara Sakkam (Tausug), and Aj Ruth H. Sumandang (Ovu Manubo).

The selection will be done on August 21 at Davao City Sports and Rec-reation Center (formerly known as the Almendras Gym). It will be held in the evening from 6 to 10 p.m.

On Saturday, August 22, the most anticipat-ed event will take center stage. Yes, it’s Indak-in-dak sa Kadalanan (street dancing). Contingents from various parts of Min-danao, although most of them will be from the city itself, will display their award-winning choreog-raphy -- with dancing fol-lowing the rhythm of their music and sounds, mov-ing together with precise manner, and flashing their colorful costumes and at-

tires. The street dancing

will start at Roxas Avenue and end up in San Pedro Street. According to the City Information Office, there are three showdown areas: in front of The Mar-co Polo, Davao in Claro M. Recto Street, near Apo View Hotel in Legaspi cor-ner Bonifacio Streets, and in front of Rizal Park in San Pedro Street.

“The Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan is wildly pop-ular because of the dis-tinctively Mindanaoan beat and costumes,” one visitor commented. “Tour-ists come to Davao to watch hundreds of people dancing with vigor in the streets, clad in their native attire and carrying extrav-agant props that would give Hollywood studios a serious run for their mon-ey.”

According to Lisette Marquez, the City Tourism Operations office head, this year’s street dancing competition has only one category: Open category. This means that Davao City contingents will have to compete with those from other areas beyond

the city. If the Kadayawan

starts with a big celebra-tion, it ends in an even more enthralling manner in the form of the Pamu-lak Kadayawan. It is sched-uled on August 23, Sunday. It is a sight to behold as it is patterned after the Pas-adena Parade of Roses in the United States —where flowers and fruits are set in colorful floats by busi-ness establishments, com-munity assemblies and peoples’ organizations as they promenade on the streets symbolizing all the bounty sustainably enjoyed by the city’s resi-dents.

Don’t be surprised if most of the floats car-ry motifs and structures that the city symboliz-es: Philippine eagle (the country’s bird icon), wal-ing-waling orchid (the second national flower after sampaguita), durian (the controversial fruit which “smells like hell but tastes like heaven”), and Mount Apo (the country’s highest peak).

Don’t miss to watch the 2015 Hiyas ng Kadayawan winners as they have a

float for themselves. And of course there are stars from Metro Manila who will grace the floral float parade to make it more ex-citing and anticipating.

Kadayawan is derived from the Mandaya word “madayaw,” which means “good, valuable, superior, or beautiful.” The festival is structured as “the cele-bration of life, a thanksgiv-ing for the gifts of nature, the wealth of culture, the bounties of harvest and serenity of living.”

As councilor Leo Avil-la III puts it: “I believe Kadayawan, as a festival of thanksgiving, allows us to be grateful for our blessings as a people in a bountiful land. It gave us an opportunity also to ap-preciate how nature can reward us if we take good care of it.”

Perhaps not many know that the festivity ac-tually started in the 1970s, when then Mayor Elias B. Lopez initiated tribal fes-tivals featuring the lumad (native) and the Muslim tribes of Davao City where they showcase their danc-es and rituals of thanks-giving. It was then called

“Apo Duwaling,” in honor of the three royalties for which Davao is famous for: Mount Apo, durian and waling-waling.

In 1988 Mayor Rodri-go Duterte renamed “Apo Duwaling” to “Kadayawan sa Dabaw.”

“This is indeed an im-portant milestone for the festival,” replied Marguez about the celebration this year. “Having reached three decades celebrating a festival like Kadayawan is no easy feat. It is a clear reflection of the ethos of a Dabawenyo... that amidst modern society and inno-vation, we do not forget our roots and we thank our Creator for the boun-ties that abound here in Davao.

“The unity and soli-darity of all cultural com-munities is displayed in our celebration, through activities, through dance and song, through dedica-tion and devotion of each participant, through each Hiyas candidate, through each Dabawenyo that may offer you durian, a smile and greet you, ‘Maday-aw!’”

Madayaw, indeed!

IT’S KADAYAWAN!By HENRYLITO D. TACIO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 2015 3EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 20154 EDGEDAVAO

NEWS

MAYOR Rodrigo Dute-rte shrugged off the alleged “demolition

job” against him in the form of a series of killings in Davao City last week, saying these will not ruin his reputation as a no-nonsense mayor.

This after Police Regional Office (PRO) 11 deputy re-gional director for operation Senior Superintendent Aaron Aquino was quoted saying in a press conference that he had heard that the killings were part of a “demolition job” against Duterte.

Duterte is widely believed to be eying the Presidency

although he has consistently denied it.

“Sige lang. Demolition job? Tan-awon ta lang kaba-lo ba sila muguba (Go ahead. Demolition job? Let’s see if they know how to demolish me),” Duterte said.

On August 10, a cab driver was found dead inside a com-pound in Sapphire Street, Ma-tina Aplaya, Davao City after allegedly being robbed before dawn.

Later the same morning, a former Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) who police said was allegedly involved in illegal drugs was shot dead

by an unidentified gunman in Hillside Subdivision, Bajada, Davao City,

On Thursday night, the alleged killer of the taxi driv-er was shot dead after he was allegedly involved in another taxi robbery incident in Ma-tina.

The day before the killing of the suspect, media quot-ed Duterte as saying the taxi driver case would be solved before sunrise the following day.

Duterte said the killings cannot shake his reputation. “Ana jud na, unsa may ide-molish nila nako? Bahala mo.

Idemolish ba gud ng ilahang ihawon tanan kriminal, e di ihawa (That’s the way it goes. What is there in me to demol-ish? Just go ahead. If killing criminals is a demolition job, then go ahead and kill them),” he said.

Earlier, Davao City Police Office (DCPO) spokesperson Senior Inspector Milgrace Driz said the police will inves-tigate the series of killings in the city.

Driz also assured the pub-lic the police will tighten their security during the Kaday-awan Festival to avoid untow-ard incidents.

THE Davao City gov-ernment will start the releasing of Productiv-

ity Enhancement Incentive (PEI) on Monday, August 17.

This after the City Coun-cil approved the P113.4 mil-lion Supplemental Budget No. 3 on third and final read-ing last Thursday.

In an interview, City Hu-man Resource Management Office (HRMO) head Erwin Alparaque said after the ap-

proval, City Council secre-tary Charito Santos immedi-ately issued the certification and the HRMO started to process the payrolls.

Alparaque said the dis-tribution of the P54.3 million PEI is timely with the cele-bration of 30th Kadayawan sa Dabaw Festival.

He said a total of 2,702 rank and file employees of the city, including the elected officials, will benefit from the

incentive.“This is a one-time grant

of one month basic salary,” he said.

Alparaque said the PEI of the government employees is in compliance with Execu-tive Order No. 181 issued by President Benigno Aquino for the Fiscal Year 2015.

He said the PEI is the re-ward to employees of each office who hit the operation-al and financial performance

targets.“This will also help mo-

tivate other employees for higher productivity,” he said.

Alparaque said employ-ees with unsatisfactory per-formance in previous years will not receive the PEI.

He said employees with pending administrative cas-es can still receive the incen-tive but must refund it if an adverse judgment is arrived at.

DEPARTMENT of Interior and Local Government (DILG)

Secretary Mar Roxas vis-ited Archbishop Romulo Valles on Friday afternoon at the Bishop’s Palace along Torres Street in Davao City.

Valles, however, insist-ed the visit had nothing to do with Roxas’ presidential candidacy, saying it was only a “friendly visit.”

“Si Mar Roxas usa sa mga karaan nako nga mga kaila, Obispo pa ko sa Kidapawan nagkita na mi (Mar Roxas was one of the first politicians I met. I was still a bishop in Kidapawan when we first met),” Valles

said.“I am very proud that

Mar Roxas has passed by. As a Bishop, I will pray for him that everything will be good for him in the coming days, In him we see hope. We see hope in Mar Roxas for our country,” Valles said.

Valles also clarified that he is not endorsing Roxas, adding that as a bishop, he says good things about each person he sees.

He also said Roxas did not come seeking his bless-ings for his candidacy.

The bishop said any presidential candidate can visit him any time. Funny Pearl A. Gajunera

DAVAO City Mayor Ro-drigo R. Duterte ap-pealed to the Tausug

community in Davao City to help him negotiate with the abductors of two personnel of Philippine Coast Guards (PCG) who are still in Sulu.

“I would like appeal to all Tausug in the city, if you can communicate with them (ab-ductors) since it is just a text away, to plea to them not to hurt the two,” Duterte said.

The PCG personnel, iden-tified as Gringo Villaruz, 28, of Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental and Rod Pagaling, were abducted on May 4 along with Rodolfo Baligao, baran-gay captain of Aliguay Island in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del

Norte.Baligao was found decap-

itated in Maimbong, Sulu on Tuesday night.

Duterte said he is hoping that the two Coast Guard men will follow Baligao’s fate in the hands of suspected Abu Sayyaf members.

“Gidungan unta sila. Naa to’y rason nganong gi una tong kapitan unya wala ning duha (There’s a reason the baran-gay captain was beheaded and these two were not),” he said.

The mayor said he had earlier asked the Moro Nation-al Liberation Front (MNLF) to help secure the release of the two PCG personnel and the ba-rangay captain after the aunt of

COOPERATION. Indian students from the different medical schools in Davao City participate in a symbolic clean up to show their cooperation with the city’s rules and laws in time for the celebration of the 69th Indian Independence Day at Rizal Park on Saturday. Lean Daval Jr.

Rody shrugs off‘demolition job’By FUNNY PEARL A. GAJUNERA

City gov’t workers to get bonus MondayBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

Duterte asks Tausugsto help free PCG men

Mar pays ‘friendly visit’to Davao Archbishop

FDUTERTE, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 2015 5EDGEDAVAO NEWS

Tagum Coop to venture in tourismTOURISM is another in-

dustry that has capti-vated Tagum Coopera-

tive. The cooperative leaders, known for their innovative approaches, have signified in-tention to venture into tourism taking advantage of the fact that the cooperative has lately become a major destination of coop visits from various parts of the country.

Ms Norma R. Pereyras, Tagum Cooperative chairper-son, attended the 1st Coop Tourism Cluster Congress in Vigan City on July 30 - August 01, where she announced the construction of the “Tagum Coop Budgetel.”

Joining her in the con-gress were the members of the board of directors (BOD) and key personnel, including Tagum City Tourism Council chairperson Marlene R. Alas-tra, Cooperative Development officer Antonio S. Alastra, and Tagum City Tourism Office OIC Ma. Theresa S. Gerona.

Last year, members of Tagum Coop BOD gave the go-signal to construct such mini-hotel to accommodate the growing number of coop guests and to take a share of the increasing number of visi-tors to Tagum City.

Pereyras believes that Tagum Cooperative to ably po-sition itself as a “tourist desti-nation” of benchmarking coop visits, considering the number of visitors that the coopera-tive has been accommodating these past few years as a result of the accolades that Tagum Cooperative has received.

To insure that the Tagum Coop Budgetel is always ful-ly booked, Ms Pereyras has asked the Tagum City Tourism Office to include the Budgetel

in the priority list of accommo-dations that the city govern-ment offers to its visitors.

She has considered such request as a partnership deal which is founded on the fact that Tagum Cooperative is al-ready a promotion medium of the city government “because it carries the name of the city everywhere we go”.

Such concept of partner-ship in tourism with the city government came through after Tagum Cooperative and the City Tourism Office joined the 1st Coop Tourism Cluster Congress.

Bannering the theme, “Expanding Tourism in the Cooperative Sector,” the ac-tivity was organized as part of the Philippine Cooperative Centennial Celebration by the Regional Cooperative Devel-opment Council- 1(RDCI-1), the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) and the City Government of Vigan.

The congress provided a venue for cooperatives to be informed about some oppor-tunities in the tourism sector as well as assess the challenges and limitations of cooperatives “with regard to tourism pro-grams and projects”.

Among the topics dis-cussed were The Possible Areas of Coop Engagement in Tourism Industry, Coop Fi-nancial Investment and Man-agement, Cooperative Story Telling, and Opportunities and Challenges.

Participants to the con-gress came up with a “Call to Action” to be submitted to President Benigno Aquino III during the Cooperative Cen-tennial Celebration culminat-ing activity in October this year. (Tagum Cooperative)

THE Philippine Coast Guard is tightening its watch on foreign vessels

calling port in Davao as part of its effort to strengthen security.

Guesting during the recent Tagum Biz Talk at Big 8 Hotel, Commodore Joselito Dela Cruz cited the foreign vessels as “possible sources” of outside threats to Davao City’s relative-ly peaceful situation.

“Davao city is a peaceful city, but of course, the threat could be coming from the out-side. As mentioned the foreign vessels coming in, we do not know, could be in the guise of transporting goods,” he said.

Projecting worst case sce-nario, he said foreign vessels could be carrying “hazardous materials or weapons of mass destruction”. Because con-tainerized, foreign vessels can hardly be detected carrying harmful cargoes, he said.

Dela Cruz cited this situ-ation as a major challenge for PCG in Southeastern Mindan-ao which covers the Davao Gulf along which local economies are growing, expanding and venturing into exports indus-try.

“In Davao Region, the eco-nomic activities are progress-

ing. We also have to take a look at the security aspect of the progress,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dela Cruz re-vealed moves of coordinating with agencies of the national government protecting the Philippine waters particularly the Philippine Navy to come up with a maritime security plan for Davao Region.

He looked at the security plan as complementary to the growing economy of the Davao Region which has also become a major trans-shipment point of foreign vessels calling at the Davao Port to pick up bananas, the major export product of the region, and other goods.

The focus on security as-pect of the Davao Port also stems from the concern raised by the Mindanao Develop-ment Authority (MinDA).

Dela Cruz revealed that MinDA had received an ad-vance info sent through email from the United States Coast Guard which conveyed its plan “to blacklist the port of Davao”.

“Pag galing ang vessel dito di ka basta makakadaong sa port sa US; you have to under-go inspection,” he said refer-ring to Port of Davao. (PIA 11/ Jeanevive Duron-Abangan)

Coast Guard keepingwatch on foreign ships

BIG DELEGATION. A big delegation of Tagum Cooperative Officers led by Chairperson Norma R. Pereyras pose for posterity during the 1st Coop Tourism Cluster Congress in Vigan City. With Ms. Pereyras were members of the Tagum

Cooperative board of directors and management staff, plus Marlene R. Alastra, Tagum City Tourism Council chairperson; Cooperative Development Officer Antonio S. Alastra and Tagum City tourism office OIC Ma. Theresa S. Gerona.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 20156 EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMY

A TAX payer has peti-tioned to stop the bid-ding process of the

P40.57-billiion development operation and maintenance of the Davao International Airport of the Department of Transportation and Commu-nication (DOTC).

Andre R. Bucuy, a con-cern citizen from Davao City, filed before the Regional Tri-al Court (RTC) on August 11, 2015 a petition for the issu-ance of a temporary restrain-ing order (TRO) and writ of preliminary prohibitory in-junction on the ongoing bid-ding process relative to the project.

Named respondents in the petition were the DOTC, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), Pre-Qual-ification, Bids and Awards Committee (PBAC) chairman and the DOTC undersecretary for legal affairs lawyer Jose Perpetuo M. Lotilla.

Bucuy, in filing the pe-tition, said there’s already urgency for the issuance of a TRO within 72 hours because the DOTC has set on Tuesday, August 17, as deadline for the submission of the qualifica-tion documents from six com-panies.

These six conglomerates include GMR-Megawide, Met-

ro Pacific-JG Summit Consor-tium, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, San Miguel Corporation, Phil-ippine Skylanders Inc., and Union Equity. The DOTC tar-gets to award the project to the winning bidder by March of 2016.

Bucuy said the respon-dents “clearly committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of or excess of jurisdiction in initiating and proceeding with the bidding for the projects.”

He said respondents also failed to comply with the re-quirement of Law with the publication of the Invitation to Pre-Qualify and Bid. The proj-

ects up for bidding, he added, are “not ripe for public bid-ding” as mandated by the law.

The petitioner further claimed the respondents “proceedings violate the Con-stitutional and Statutory Re-quirement of transparency and full public disclosure.”

Another ground for the filing of the petition was that the “respondents violated the provisions of the Local Gov-ernment Code particularly the mandate of prior consultation with the Local Government Unit.”

Aside from a TRO, Bucuy also requested the court to “declare bidding proceed-

ings for the DIA bidding to be conducted in Davao City and actions carried out by respon-dents” to be “illegal and void”, starting from the publication of Invitation to Pre-qualify and Bid, “including all related acts done and issuance pro-mulgated.”

He also asked the court to command respondents to “cease and desist from any further proceedings, mile-stones and actions in relation to the project, without limita-tion, pre-qualification and ac-ceptance of financial offers in Davao City.”

Bucuy also said in the petition for the Court to com-

mand respondents “full and unimpeded public access to all information and docu-ments relating or relevant to the development, operations, maintenance, expansion or construction of the DIA.”

Meanwhile, former Davao City councilor Peter T. Laviña said groups in Davao oppos-ing the Davao Sasa port mod-ernization project will also seek legal remedies in push-ing their appeal.

“The groups against the Sasa Port PPP will also take this route to seek judicial re-lief because DOTC is not lis-tening to our voices,” Laviña told Edge Davao.

TRO sought vs airport bidding

WATER hyacinth can be useful, after all.Once the cause of

flooding in the municipality of Carmen, Davao del Norte, water hyacinth is now being used as the main raw materi-al in making sandals, arts and crafts, bags and home decors.

“We saw the potential of water hyacinth as the prima-ry source of raw material be-cause of its abundance in the area,” Mindanao Trade Expo Foundation Inc. (MTEFI) ex-ecutive director Mariane C. Mahinay said.

Mahinay said Carmen has more than 17 hectares of area with water hyacinth. Some of these water hyacinths are inside the community itself, allowing beneficiaries to har-vest 5,000 stalks in two to three days.

Mahinay said the founda-tion, thru the assistance of the local government of Carmen,

Department of Agrarian Re-form (DAR) and Department of Trade and Industry, had trained an initial of 20 mak-ers.

“Some of our trained weavers are plain housewife, market vendor and even tri-cycle driver,” she said.

The beneficiaries were trained for 12 days.

The water hyacinth, which the community used to consider as pest, also has really become a source of in-come for weavers.

“I used to hate water hy-acinth because it causes clog-ging in our drainage but now I already love it because it gives me income,” 37 year-old housewife and farmer Jocelyn Dolor Gempesaw said while working on the dried stalks of water hyacinth.

Dried for two to three days, the stalk that used to be soft and easy to break be-

comes sturdy. It is then dyed with different colors like pur-ple, red, and yellow.

Once dried, the stalks are flattened manually using an improvised and handy device made out of bent blue tubes used in construction.

The flattened colored stalks are then manually weaved with each other to create a masterpiece.

“Handbags, vases, slip-pers, home furnishing and a number of handicrafts are just some of the products that we can actually produce from water hyacinth,” MTEFI pres-ident Dr. Rosevic Lucilla del Rosario-Cembrano said.

Products made out of wa-ter hyacinth were showcased in the weeklong 2015 Mind-anao Trade Expo at the activ-ity area of the Abreeza Ayala Mall. The trade fair opened yesterday that was graced by officials of MTEFI and various

national government agen-cies.

Mahinay said the prod-ucts made of water hyacinth have a huge potential in the export market.

“We already received in-quiries from Japan,” Mahinay said.

The foundation cites that under the study of United Nations Environment Pro-gram (UNEP), entitled “Green Economy and Trade” that “products with environmen-tally friendly designs and companies that comply with sustainability standards for product and processes have an advantage in international market.”

Meanwhile, participating in the trade fair were 128 ex-hibitors from different parts of Mindanao. Organizers are targeting a P30-million rev-enue from sales in the week-long event. Cheneen Capon

Water hyacinth, once cause of flooding,is source of income for Carmen residents

THE Durian Council of Davao is eyeing a 3,000-hectare expan-

sion in Davao City for the next years, fearing that the province of Compostela Valley will over-take the city’ durian produc-tion.

“We have requested agri-culture committee chair coun-cilor Marissa Salvador-Abella to assist the Durian Council to scout an area suitable for expansion,” council chairman Larry Miculob told EDGE Davao in the opening of the 3rd Durian Festival at the Fountain Court Area of the SM Lanang Premier.

Miculob said Davao City has an approximate of 3,000 hectares of durian plantations

located at the districts of Toril, Tugbok, Calinan, and Baguio, while the province of Compos-tela Valley already has 2,800 hectares.

“We fear that the Davao City, which is known to be the durian capital, will be over-taken by Comval in three year; time,” Council secretary and durian producer Manuel Vil-lanueva said.

Villanueva said Davao will have a total of 6,000 hectares of mostly hybrid durian vari-eties once the plan is imple-mented.

“Suitable area for durian planting are those 900 feet above the sea level,” Villanueva said, adding this area include

3,000 hectares morefor durian planting

LOCAL share prices ex-tended their losing streak on Friday on low-

er-than-expected corporate earnings and tracking regional jitters over China’s devaluation of the yuan.

The benchmark Philip-pine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) declined 31.36 points to 7,408.44 from previous day’s 7,439.80 finish.

Jun Calaycay, analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp., said the market was disap-pointed with the earnings fig-ures released Friday.

”While growth was sus-tained, it wasn’t in line with expectations leaving investors with nothing to hinge buying on –particularly with the on-set today of the Chinese Ghost Month, traditionally believed to be a period of price weak-ness and light activity,” he said.

Calaycay sees pessimistic outlook for local stocks with the traditionally weak period that encompasses the Chinese

Ghost Month and the Western hemisphere summer season.

For the Chinese, the “ghost month” is considered an un-lucky period to open a new business and start new con-struction work or renovation repairs.

Complementing the as-sertion that markets weaken during this period is that it coincides with the summer months in the West, when fund managers take a vacation for about a week or two.

Calaycay also attributed the market’s decline to falling currencies across the Asian region even after China’s yuan checked a three-day slide.

Almost all counters were in the negative territory, except holding firms that advanced slightly.

Volume of transactions reached 1.45 billion shares val-ued at Php7.17 billion.

Decliners swamped ad-vancers, 103 to 62, while 50 issues were unchanged. (PNA)

PHL stocks slip

crc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

UNVEILED. IBEX Global chief executive officer Bob Dechant (third from left), country general manager Eric Kaufman (fourth from left), chief operating officer Gilbert Santa Maria (center), city councilor Louie John Bonguyan (rightmost), ICT-Davao president lawyer Samuel Matunog (second from

left), Park Inn by Radisson Davao general manager Pavan Kakar (fourth from right), and IBEX Global Davao officers pose for a photograph after the unveiling of the company’s expansion area at SM Lanang Premier on Friday night. Lean Daval Jr.

F3K, 10

OPEN ACCESS BPO, the newest business process outsourcing player in Davao City recently opened their Davao site located at the corner of Jacinto Extension and Quirino Avenue last Tuesday with much fanfare and fun.

EVENT

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 2015

EDGEDAVAOINdulge!

Open Access BPO launches Davao office Originally founded in 2006 in California by Ben Davidowitz and Henry Chang, and aims to pro-vide multilingual IT so-lutions to international clients in 25 languages ranging from Arabic, Ba-hasa Indonesia and Ma-laysia, French, Cantonese, French, Danish, English, Italian, Filipino, Greek, Japanese, and Polish,

among others. The Davao office is the latest centre for Open Access BPO which has also has op-erations in San Francisco, Taipei, and Makati and will offer both voice and non-voice services which will initially cater to Open Access BPO’s new US cli-ents. Before the official opening ceremonies be-

gan, there was a flash mob which surprised the guests. What was more surprising when when the comapny’s officers also stepped up to join the dancing. This was immediately followed by a ceremonial ribbon cutting which was also attended by Davao City councillor Al Ryan Alejandre, and Belle Tor-res, ICT Davao represen-tative and DCCCII trust-ee. “The Davao office is a work of love and thanks to the educated workforce as well as good working environment of the city, enables us the opportu-nity to expand while also maintaining the same standard.” says Open Ac-cess chief executive Ben Davidowitz. Open Access BPO is currently soft hiring agents and will eventually go into commercial opera-tion by September.

By Kenneth Irving Ong

From left: Arjay Flaviano, Senior Training Manager, Belle Torres, ICT Davao Representative and DCCCII Trustee, Hon. AL Ryan Alejandre, Ben Davidowitz, CEO of Open Access BPO, Henry Chang, President of Open Access BPO, Mike Chan, Operations Manager of OABPO, May de Guzman, Site Manager OABPO.

Belle Torres, ICT Davao Representative and DCCCII Trustee, Hon. AL Ryan Alejandre, Mike Chan, Operations Manager of OABPO , Ben Davidowitz, CEO of Open Access BPO, Henry Chang, President of Open Access BPO, roll oranges for good luck.

Ben Davidowitz.Henry Chang.

The Open Access BPO opening team.

A flashmob kicked-off the opening ceremonies.

TRAVELING to Metro Manila is a daunting experience – the traf-fic, the pollution, the crime rates, and just the mere thought of 10 mil-lion people. But it’s not all bad in the big city. It is also home to some of the country’s most loved restaurants – particularly Via Mare. A staple in the restaurants I frequent in Metro Manila, Via Mare’s puto bumbong is some-thing I wouldn’t miss the world for, maybe. Last week, in the middle of August, I was invited for a tête-à-tête with Filipino cuisine connoisseur, Glenda Barretto. Tita Glenda, as I fondly called her, is the woman be-hind the many delicious recipes and dishes that comes from the kitchen of Via Mare. And she has been at it for the past 40 years. During our chat, among the many dishes that were served, I particularly enjoyed the puto bumbong and the bibingka. As I was eating to my heart’s delight, she, ever so slightly, told me that the proper way to eat puto bum-bong is not just to have it with desiccated coconut and musco-vado sugar on the side, but to dip it in thick, warm chocolate. “That is the proper way of puto bumbong. That is how they did it in the Spanish time,” Tita Glenda said. And who am I to argue with the chef who served six presidents of the country, Pope John Paul II, and is a per-sonal favorite of the inimitable Imelda Marcos? The moment the sticky rice of the puto bumbong, with desic-cated coconut and muscovado sugar, all wrapped and drip-ping in warm, thick chocolate hit my mouth, it was as if my taste buds have experienced in-dulgence like no other. And oh, did I mention how the meal was plated? It was awesome. Unlike other cuisines’ pen-chant for presentation, Filipino cuisine is served in a more family-oriented manner–with-out the pomp and frills. But things changed in September 1975 when Via Mare Seafood Specialty Restaurant opened its doors to the public. After the very first dish was served, Fili-pino cuisine was never the same again. The restaurant did not only change the Filipino’s percep-tion of its own cuisine, it also brought global recognition to the sophistication and complex flavors of the Philippines. Via Mare’s chef Glenda Barretto, who has been at the helm of the restaurant since its incep-tion, and her strong belief in the Filipino cuisine’s potential to be world class is what pushed the restaurant to keep outdoing its achievements. While Tita Glenda’s contem-poraries would focus on in-tercontinental cuisine as their piece de résistance, she opted to highlight and present well-loved Filipino dishes with mod-

ern touches that made it more palatable to foreign guests. If lumpia was known as a roll, the Via Mare version had the filling wrapped in pouches held to-gether by spring onions. The ti-nola was also given a fresh take by serving the soup in a carved papaya or as a flan, inspired by the Chawanmushi of Japan. “The past 40 years is not only the story of a restaurant, it is a story of the Filipino people,”

Tita Glenda said. “Via Mare is our pride as we helped a lot of Filipinos enjoy and be proud of the cuisine that we have here, of recipes that we have enjoyed throughout our childhood, and of what Filipino fine cuisine truly tastes like.”

Enduring legacy of taste Since 1975, no other Filipino restaurant has been the top-of-mind when it comes to hosting

dinners for dignitaries, heads of state, international celebri-ties, and international events. From beauty queens during the 1995 Miss Universe pageant in Manila, the papal visit of then Pope John Paul II, the 1996 Asia Pacific Economic Coop-eration Summit, the gala of the Philippine-run of West End’s Miss Saigon, the 2007 ASEAN Summit in Cebu, the weddings of illustrious families, and other

milestones in Philippine his-tory, Via Mare was always the top choice. Via Mare, with Tita Glenda herself leading the kitchen, was also the choice of First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos whenever she hosted gala din-ners for visiting dignitaries at the Malacañan Palace. The for-mer first lady’s penchant for el-egance was apparent even in the food that she served her guests. In one instance, she requested for a more upscale version of the adobo – a request that Barretto easily managed by marinat-ing the chicken in simmering adobo sauce with red wine. An-other anecdote from the halls of presidential residence was how Barretto recreated a Mexi-can dish of squash, baked and topped with cream and caramel sauce based only on the narra-tive of Mrs. Marcos. The first lady nearly squealed in delight after the first bite.

Filipino favorites loved for generations True to its Filipino heritage, Via Mare serves Filipino cuisine that matches the eating pattern of Filipinos: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and merienda – a meal that is served in between the main meals of the day. Pan de sal is a breakfast staple among Filipinos and Via Mare serves it fresh every day, grilled with sides of corned beef, Vigan longganisa, Laguna cheese, and queso de bola. Other breakfast favorites, but can be enjoyed any time of the day, like tapa, smoked bangus, tuyo flakes, and tocino are served under the Altanghap section of the menu, an abbreviation for almusal, tanghalian, and hapunan – Fili-pino terms for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The lunch and dinner menu of Via Mare is not complete without crispy binagoongan, kare-kare, and pinais na alima-sag among its wide selection. An extensive array of salads with native greens is also on of-fer, as well as comfort food like arroz caldo and tokwa’t baboy. Merienda, or light snacks, are as important as main meals for Filipinos. At Via Mare, din-ers can choose from well-loved Filipino fare such as puto bum-bong, palitaw, and guinataang halo-halo. Ending scrumptious feasts on a sweet note are iced deserts such as halo-halo and guino-mis. “At 40 years, we have shown the world and most especially our fellow Filipinos, what Fili-pino cuisine is all about – it is about the freshest of ingredients cooked in influences of our an-cestors and the rich heritage of the Filipino nation, sprinkled with the love and affection of a Filipino chef,” Tita Glenda said. Delight in the well-loved Fili-pino flavors and savor your clas-sic family favorites at Via Mare. For more information, visit www.viamare.com.ph or like its official Facebook page (@Via-marePH).

By Carlo P. Mallo

A2 INdulge!FOOD

Tita Glenda and herPUTO BUMBONG

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 2015

FILIPINOS across the globe enjoy and experience in-tense kilig with Al-den Richards and Yaya Dub (Maine Mendoza) in the first ever kalyeser-ye on the longest-running noon time show in the Philip-pines, Eat Bulaga. Their record-breaking tandem, widely known as “AlDub”, started to gain popularity dur-ing an episode last July, when Yaya Dub (Maine Mendoza) got distract-ed with Alden Richards who was focused on the split screen. It was not long after that AlDub’s story progressed, and became a trending topic on social media, which eventually brought Eat Bulaga to even greater heights in terms of na-tionwide ratings. During AlDub’s seg-ment last Saturday, August 8, Yaya Dub

passed out due to over fatigue while she was about to get married to Jose Manalo’s character Frankie Arenolli. Jose, together with Wally and the whole production staff, took hold of the situation and kept the show going, while mak-ing sure that Maine’s well taken care of. She was rushed to the hospi-tal while the show went on.

Later during the day, Maine posted on her Ins-tagram account a photo of her with the caption saying that she has not been feeling well since that morning. “We’re too busy preparing for the segment that I forgot to take my meds. That’s probably the reason why I passed out during our cue. None of it was scripted. I was immedi-ately rushed to the hos-

pital so I can have myself checked. But nothing to worry, they said it’s all because of over fatigue. Super appreciate all the love and concern from everyone! Rampa na ulit si Yaya Dub!” Meanwhile, Alden was supposed to rush to the wedding to meet Yaya Dub. When he reached the venue of the ceremony and found no Yaya Dub, he

KAPAMILYA stars Shaina Magdayao and Matteo Guidi-celli are teaming up for the first time in an original ca-ble TV series that merges engaging comedy and rel-evant issues for the urban singles living in a complicated, modern world on Cinema One this August 29 at 8PM. “Single\Single”, Cine-ma One and The Philip-pine Star’s first project, is the cable channel’s first TV series that focuses on issues ranging from quarter-life crises to re-lationship dilemmas in a digital world. More importantly, the series aims to underscore the importance of handling finances, career path planning, and having a work-life balance for the urban millennial. The series follows the story of Joee (Shaina) and Joey (Matteo), two single strangers who will exchange sparks or non-sparks as an odd couple forced to share an apartment for prac-tical reasons and tries to answer the question, “when strangers have

no choice but to share the rent, will it be a di-saster or a happy ever after?” As a first of its kind project on Philippine cable TV, “Single\Single” combines the power of cable and print media to talk to Filipino millen-nials about how to cope as a single individual in an entertaining for-mat. Each week after an episode airs on Cinema One, in-depth discus-sion about wealth man-agement will be pro-vided in the Philippine Star’s Business Lifestyle

section by wealth man-agement expert and inspirational speaker, Francis Kong. The show’s lead stars also serve as role models to millennials. Shaina, who grew up in showbiz, is one of the many young celebrities who has managed her finances well. She owns several business ven-tures, including a salon and a summer camp for kids. Meanwhile, Matteo who hails from Cebu, also has a background in entrepreneurship as his family has estab-

lished businesses in his hometown. Also joining the cast of “Single\Single” are Cherie Gil who plays Matteo’s single mom in a very offbeat par-ent role; award-winning Cinema One Originals actress Anna Luna as Shaina’s career-driven buddy; and theater ac-tor Brian Sy as Shaina’s gay friend. Indie favor-ites Mara Lopez and Matt Daclan will also be completing the cast in guest roles. “Single\Single” is un-der the direction of inter-national award-winning independent cinema director Pepe Diokno, who also marks his first venture into cable TV and comedy. Palanca winner Lilit Reyes serves as the series’ writer, while film producer of the highest grossing Pi-noy indie movie “That Thing Called Tadhana,” Bianca Balbuena pro-duces the series. “Single\Single” pre-mieres this August 29 on Cinema One. New episodes will air every Saturday at 8PM with re-plays on Wednesdays at 830PM and Sundays at 10PM.

INdulge! A3ENTERTAINMENT

AlDub trends worldwide

Shaina and Matteo to star in Cinema One’s first breakthrough series

tweeted Yaya Dub and said, “Akala ko eto na yung tamang panahon. Get well soon.” AlDub took social me-dia by storm because of this event, and viewers have never been more excited for the love team’s long awaited meeting. GMA’s regional sta-tions in Ilocos, Bicol, Da-gupan, Cebu, Iloilo, Ba-colod, Davao, GenSan,

and Cagayan de Oro open doors for AlDub fans all over the country to watch Eat Bulaga and fully experience the fun and excitement of Alden and Yaya Dub’s enter-tainment. To know more about the latest updates on the Network’s regional events, follow GMA Re-gional TV on Twitter and Instagram via @GMARe-gionalTV.

EDGEDAVAOVOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 2015

PG

PG

PG/ *R16 11:30 | 1:40 | 3:50 LFS / *6:00 | 8:00 | 10:00 LFS

R-16

FANTASTIC 4 / * ATTACK ON TITAN Part 1

Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan/

*Haruma Miura, Kiko Mizuhara

R13 12:00 | 2:30 | 5:00 | 7:30 | 10:00 LFS

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 5

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

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.

Alicia Vikander, Henry Cavill, Hugh Grant

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

Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy Renner

THE LOVE AFFAIR

Bea Alonzo, Dawn Zulueta, Richard Gomez

August 13 – 16, 2015

FOR some people, jewellery can be as alien as the moon. For Oro Italia how-ever, glittering gold and diamonds should be made more accessible for those who want to catch the jewellery bug, and what better way to do that than to open another store at the second level of the Gaisano Mall of Davao last August 12. Already making waves for their affordable jewel-lery, Oro Italia’s designs range from pieces which one can wear daily to the more artsy and modern pieces that are right on the cutting edge of fashion. Whatever one’s fashion style is, Oro Italia is sure to have the perfect acces-sory for you. From white gold to rose gold, and from small ac-cent stones to bigger gems which glitter under the

A4 INdulge!EVENT

A glittering celebration at

ORO ITALIA

spotlight, Oro Italia’s piec-es also come with their own certificate of authen-ticity to ensure your pur-chases are genuine.

Oro Italia’s other stores are located at Zambo-anga city as well as at the ground floor of SM City Davao.

By Kenneth Irving Ong

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 2015

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 2015 7

ESCANDOR Develop-ment Corporation (Esdevco) recently

held another Open House for its signature project Ma-tina Enclaves last August 14 at the Esdevco Office in Ecoland.

A good number of pro-spective buyers attended the Open House for the

month of August as Esdev-co’s sales team pushed for-ward for improved sales performance towards the middle of the third quarter.

“The Open House has been a regular activity of Esdevco and this is the time where we spend one one one consultations with our clients. So far, we are per-

forming well amidst the heavy competition,” said Gerald Garces, project head of Matina Enclaves.

The Esdevco project is a mixed use development which is the initial venture into real estate of the Escan-dor conglomerate, known for its stronghold in the se-curity agency market as well

as the hotel industry.Construction for the first

building of the Residences, the condominium segment of Matina Enclaves, is un-derway. Condominium 1 is already fully sold while Con-dominium 2 is 70 percent sold.

EDGEDAVAO

BOTH the Philippines and Indonesia provide good business oppor-

tunities in the ASEAN integra-tion because of their wide and strong consumer base, a bank executive said.

Wick Veloso, president and chief executive officer of Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Philippines, said these two markets are just waiting to be captured and that they are the only bank which can pro-vide the opportunity.

“We would like to use HSBC’s international connec-tivity. No local bank, no re-gional bank will be able to do that,” Veloso told the Davao media during a roundtable teleconference at the Conti-nental Club Board Room of The Marco Polo Hotel Davao Thursday.

“It is only a bank with international footprint like HSBC being in 80 countries and territories around the world which will be able to give you that opportunity,” Veloso added.

Also participating in the teleconference were Veloso’s HSBC counterpart Sumit Dut-

ta and journalists in Jakarta, Indonesia where both offi-cials briefed the media of the present economic situation in the two countries.

The discussion focused on the potential impact of the Asean economic community on the markets and econo-mies of ASEAN, particularly the opportunities it brings to Philippines and Indonesia.

Veloso said with a com-bined population of 351 million, the Philippines and Indonesia offer big business opportunities specially in the sectors of power, water, hous-ing, telecom, medical care, education and infrastructure.

“They have the same de-mographics, almost the same kind of consumerism,” Veloso said.

“We can be the go-to bank. You just test these two markets and you will really make it,” he added.

Other than the Asean integration, Philippines and Indonesia have long-standing bilateral relationship within the BIMP corridor which, Ve-loso described, as the gate-way to China, Hong Kong and Korea.

Biz opportunities between Phl, IndonesiaBy CHARLES RAYMOND A. MAXEY

Bank executive says two countries have same demographics

Esdevco holds Open House

THE ECONOMY

FESDEVCO, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 20158 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

Blackouts’ economic effectsEDITORIAL

BLACKOUTS experienced by Davao City recently have alarmed some ob-servers who fear that the power outages would prove disastrous to the city’s otherwise robust economy.

Fortunately for Dabawenyos, their fears are now assuaged with a simple analysis by no less than Ivan Cortez, head of Davao City’s investment promotion center (DCIPC).

Cortez contends that the outages have little or no adverse effects at all in terms of economic losses. He says:

“The city’s businesses generate at least P578 million worth of transactions daily. The bulk of these transactions are done between the 12- hour peak period which is assumed to be between 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. With the assumption that 85 percent of the daily transactions are done within the 12-hour peak pe-riod, this would give us P40.9 million as the city’s hourly worth of transactions during the peak period.

“We cannot directly assume that Davao is losing P40.9 million right away per hour of power interruption simply because, on average, 70 percent of our daily transactions are related to meeting basic needs (food, clothing, etc). Meaning, regardless of the time of day when the power outage occurred, people will still buy and eat food, and continue to meet basic needs within the 12-hour peak pe-riod. Given these assumptions, the highest figure you can have for hourly losses will be at P12 million per hour.

“However, the P12-million hourly estimate for losses during a blackout is based on the assumption that all businesses totally halted operation during the entire hour of power outage. This is really not the case since there are businesses equipped with standby generators and there are businesses that can continue

operation just by using cheap led flashlights and turning to manual operations (manual business recording over the use of electronic cash register).

“Our local economy is generally consumer driven. What does this mean in relation to blackouts? Whether there is a 1-hour or a 3-hour power outage, gen-erally the daily business transactions will still be consummated even during the outages (since people will transfer and flock to the establishments with genera-tors) or will opt to delay the transaction until after power is restored. At the end of the day, the plan to consume will still be executed since the basics have to be met as set for the day.

“Please also take note that only 5 percent of our total businesses in Davao are in the manufacturing sector. This is the industry that will be most affected by power outages. But then again, generating sets now have become very afford-able that these industries have most likely bought their own sets already.

“All these considerations will bring down the hourly losses estimates to be-tween P3 million and P5 million. That figure can go near zero level if we include in the picture the spikes in sales for goods and services that are in demand (ha-lo-halo, cold sweets, rechargeable fan and flashlight, etc) during a blackout since the little inconveniences will drive some people to spend more than their daily budget.”

Cortez’ analysis makes sense. His studied reading of the real situation ef-fectively dismisses the bogey spread by the economic Cassandras who argue that the blackouts will spell doom on the city’s otherwise expanding economy. Cortez’s optimism augurs well for the Kadayawan Festival which is all about Dabawenyos expression of gratitude to nature and the Almighty for all the bless-ings that they have been showered with as a hardworking people. Madayaw!

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

Telefax: (082) 221-3601www.edgedavao.net

editorial@edgedavao.netmarketing@edgedavao.net

CAGAYAN DE ORO MARKETING OFFICELEIZEL A. DELOSO | Marketing ManagerUnit 6, Southbank Plaza Velez-Yacapin Sts.Cagayan de Oro CityTel: (088) 852-4894

RICHARD C. EBONAAdvertising Specialist

SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

EDGEDAVAOProviding solutions to a seamless global village.

ANTONIO M. AJEROEditor in Chief

Columnists: CARLOS MUNDA • HENRYLITO D. TACIO • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • ATTY. EMILY ZEN CHUA • GREGORIO G. DELIGERO • JOHN CARLO TRIA • VIDA MIA S. VALVERDE • Economic Analysts: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG

LEANDRO S. DAVAL JR. PhotographyARLENE D. PASAJE

Cartoons

KENNETH IRVING K. ONGBAI FAUZIAH FATIMA SINSUAT AMBOLODTO

MEGHANN STA. INES NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN

Lifestyle

Printed by Zion Accuprint Publishing Inc. Door 14 ALCREJ Building,

Quirino Avenue, 8000, Davao City, PhilippinesTel: (082) 224-1413

Telefax: (082) 221-3601www.edgedavao.net

editorial@edgedavao.netmarketing@edgedavao.net

GENERAL SANTOS CITY MARKETING OFFICE

EDMUND D. RENDONMarketing Specialist

General Santos CityMobile: (Smart) 0909-424-7990

MANILA MARKETING OFFICEANGELICA R. GARCIA | Marketing Manager

97-1 Bayanbayanan Ave.,Marikina Heights, Marikina City

Tel: (02) 654-3509

NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVOManaging Editor

AGAPITO JOAQUIN JR.Associate Editor

CHARLES RAYMOND A. MAXEYConsultant

FUNNY PEARL GAJUNERACHA MONFORTE

Correspondents

ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.CHENEEN R. CAPON

Reporters

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

RICHARD C. EBONAMarketing Supervisor

SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

JOCELYN S. PANESDirector of Sales

AGUSTIN V. MIAGAN JRCirculation

PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTEthe national association of newspapers

THE closer we get to January 1, 2016, when the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will officially

commence, more and more industry sectors in the Philippines are asking the same question: are we ready? Let’s look at a few statistics I found on the website of ASEANEXCHANGES.org and added some of my thoughts about the Philippines’ position:

Household income going up – ASEAN as a region will be the 3rd largest with household income of US$ 10,000 or more in 2018. This is good for investors in consumer products and real estate.

High smartphone penetration – Singapore has the fourth highest smartphone penetration in the world, with 73% of its population online and is the most mobile payment ready member state, followed by the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. For the Philippines, new markets via the smartphone are coming up: access to finance and healthcare.

Tourism – a key growth sector in

ASEAN – In 2012, ASEAN was the fastest g r o w i n g destination-region in the world, f o l l o w e d by South Asia. The P h i l i p p i n e s has so many options to grow the tourism sector but infrastructure needs to be established urgently (airports, seaports for cruise ships, roads, etc.) and security and connectivity issues need to be addressed.

The ASEAN expansion of international retail brands – Six out of the top ten countries where international retailers intended to open stores in 2014 are in ASEAN. This is also important for tourism development. The Philippines could be much more attractive if the rules for retail operations by foreign companies would be eased. Only H&M has made the

decision to enter the Philippines since 2001 (all others are using franchise arrangements).

Vehicle Sales – The 6th largest single marketplace for vehicles sales in the world is expected to be ASEAN by 2018. The Philippines has quite some catching up to do, getting investments in infrastructure organized, getting the automotive market from manufacturing to spare parts going, and taking the old vehicles off the road.

A boom in the trade of medical devices – ASEAN’s medical device market, which was worth about US$ 4.6 billion in 2013, is expected to double to US$ 9 billion by 2019. The Philippines will fully participate in this boom with more money allocated to healthcare and universal healthcare being one of the legacies of this administration.

Rich reserves of natural resources – ASEAN is ranked third largest producer in the world of oil and natural gas; 90% of all natural rubber and a quarter of the world’s rice production is grown in the Region. The Philippines is one of the

leaders in mineral resources which this Administration wants to keep untouched underground while poverty is suffered aboveground. Responsible mining is obviously misunderstood.

Foreign ownership – ASEAN has registered considerable progress in loosening the restrictions on foreign ownership of companies in various sectors. The Philippines has more to do to welcome and subsequently get foreign direct investments and should revisit the Foreign Direct Investment Negative List and the economic provisions of the Constitution.

Low cost carrier seat capacity growth - Low-cost carriers from ASEAN members accounted for more than half the global low-cost carrier seat capacity growth in the first half of 2013. The European Chamber of Commerce supports Davao to become a regional hub for ASEAN traveling consumers. 50% of arrivals in ASEAN are from other ASEAN countries.

Are we ready???

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 2015 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

Henry J. Schumacher

EUROPE BIZ

SINCE writing for EDGE Davao last year, I have found the paper’s ar-ticles and news reports crisp and

direct to the point.The photos are also well-conceptualized and vivid.

Two of the news reports that caught my attention last week were those writ-ten by our reporter Cheneen R. Capon. The first discussed about durian produc-tion in Davao Region dropping by 25% “towards the end of year as a result of the long drought season or the El Niño phenomenon.”

An El Niño strikes every three to sev-en years, when trade winds in the trop-ical parts of the Pacific Ocean weaken or reverse their usual route. The winds then blow surface water warmed by the tropical sun to the eastern Pacific Ocean and the equatorial west coast of South America.

Rain follows the current, and eastern South American may then experience flooding, while Australia, southern Afri-ca and most of Asia may have drought. In the Philippines, a long dry spell is likely to happen.

According to Larry Miculob, chair-man of the Davao Durian Industry Coun-cil, most durian growers were unpre-pared for the long drought that ensued during the months of April and May.

“We’re expecting a drop of 100 met-ric tons by the end of this year from the 500 metric tons durian produced in 2014,” Miculob was quoted as saying. “A lot of durian trees in the region pro-duced flowers, but most of it did not turn into fruit.”

This is bad news indeed for Davao, which is nicknamed the “Durian Repub-

lic.” Among Filipinos, du-rian is the second most favorite fruit – after man-go. In a survey conducted by this colum-nist, 40% of the respon-dents singled out durian as their fruit of all seasons.

“Nothing beats durian,” said Dr. Hi-lario Lapeña, a Filipino physician who now works in Canada, when asked about his most favorite fruit. “I have tasted lots of exotic fruits, but I still go back to my all-time favorite – the durian.”

On the average, the edible portion or aril is only 26 percent of the fruit by weight. According to the Food and Nu-trition Research Institute, the fruit is rich in vitamin C, phosphorus, calcium, and iron. It is also contains fair amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin. It is also a good source of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

For those who want to taste durian for the first time, be sure to buy the very best. But how will you know that the durian you are buying is the real thing? Here’s a tip from the experts: “When picking a durian to buy, look at the stem, if it is dry the durian is probably old. If the stem is cut off, shake the fruit and listen for the seeds knocking around; if you hear something, the pulp has proba-bly lost some moisture and therefore not

as tasty.”The other article talked about plant-

ing cacao as an intercrop of coconuts to hike cacao production in Mindanao. About 18 million cacao trees will be planted as intercrop of coconuts cur-rently grown in 36,000 hectares.

“Cacao is highly suitable to intercrop-ping and mixed farming systems, and can add more than US$1,500 per hect-are of income from 500 mature trees per year,” a cacao expert once said.

Janet Lopoz, the undersecretary and executive director of Mindanao Devel-opment Authority, said the chance of attaining the island’s target of doubling the current production of 20,000 metric tons by 2016 is possible if coconut farm-ers will intercrop their main crop with cacao.

According to Lopoz, “if the planting will start next year, cacao production here could reach to 109,000 metric tons by 2020.” She further said: “Only a portion of 200,000 hectares of coconut plantation is being targeted to be plant-ed with cacao seedlings to attain our tar-get for 2020.”

Cacao was first cultivated by the Ma-yas around the 7th century A.D. They carried the seed north from the tropical Amazon forests to what is now Mexico. In the 16th century, the Spanish planted cacao across South America, into Cen-tral America, and onto the Caribbean Islands. In the 17th century, the Dutch transported the cacao to other places around the globe like Java, Sumatra, Sri Lanka, New Guinea, and the Philippines.

There are three types of cacao, which are used to make cocoa and chocolate.

There’s the Criollo, which is less bitter and more aromatic than any other bean. Another is Forastero, whose beans are hardier than Criollo. Trinitario is a hy-brid of the two types.

For those who want to plant cacao in their farms, here are some tips from The Philippines Recommends for Cacao, pub-lished by the Philippine Council for Agri-culture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development:

• The use of seeds is the most meth-

od of planting cacao. Seeds must be se-lected carefully and must come from big pods obtained from trees which are highly productive, regular bearers and free from pests. Seeds must be planted immediately since their viability is lim-ited.

• Seedlings to be retained in the nursery for 3-4 months must be raised in polyethylene bags. The seedlings are shaded both above and at the sides for protection against strong winds. Coco-nut palm fronds can be used for the pur-pose.

• Transplanting can be done when the shoots become mature and the leaves become hard and dark green. Ut-most care is necessary in transporting as the seedlings are very pone to trans-planting shock.

• Care should be taken to remove the polyethylene container with minimal disturbance. Seedlings are to be plant-ed at the same depth as they were in the polyethylene bags. Topsoil is poured into the hole a few centimeters at a time and then carefully pressed down.

Of durian and cacao

ASEAN Facts:

Henrylito D. Taciohenrytacio@gmail.com

THINK ON THESE!

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 201510 NEWS10 NEWSDuterte... FROM 4

Esdevco... FROM 7

3K... FROM 6

EDGEDAVAO

THE Land Transporta-tion Office (LTO) 11 is hoping to issue new

driver’s license cards by Au-gust 17, reducing the 42,000 backlog on licenses in the region.

In an interview, LTO 11 regional director Gomer Dy said a new printing compa-ny, Allcard Plastics Philip-pines, took over last August 15 for the printing of the li-censes.

“Nagpuli na ta og mga printers og mga bag-ong cards (We have switched to a new printer and new cards). By (August) 17 hopefully we can issue the new cards,” he said.

Dy said the new cards feature new a design, with new color-coded classifica-tion for student drivers and conductors.

He said the non-profes-sional and professional driv-er’s license cards will still be colored blue. The conduc-tor’s license card is yellow, while student drivers will be issued orange cards. The fee to acquire a student permit remains at P150.

Dy said other changes include a new security fea-ture, enhanced resolution, and bigger fonts for the name and address of the driver.

The new licenses will

Villaruz asked for his help.“Nagpadala kog istorya

didto na kung mahimo dili lang patyon ba (I sent a message to them asking them not to kill their captives),” he said.

The mayor also said the kidnappers should accept any amount that the families are able to raise in exchange for their freedom.

He said the government strictly follows a no-ransom policy but the families of kid-nap victims can still pay ran-

som if that is what they want.Duterte hinted that he has

“other negotiations” with the kidnappers but did not reveal what these were.

PCG deputy Chief of Staff Commodore Joselito F. dela Cruz last week said the captors initially asked for P300 million in ransom for the freedom of the three victims.

But he said the amount went down to P3 million each for the Coast Guard personnel. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

LTO changes licensecard printing company

The Matina Enclaves now boasts of a Clubhouse which was inaugurated last December. Model units for the Plains are also ready for viewing. Road networks are in place with perimeter fence and Main Entrance. The firm also rehabilitated the drain-age around the area.

Esdevco president Glenn

Escandor is making sure ev-ery detail of the project is being followed to the letter as planned.

“It’s our initial project and we are putting our name in this one. We wish to give the future residents here the best possible communi-ty they can ever enjoy,” said Escandor.

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.abf@edgedavao.net

Tamugan in the city’s third dis-trict.

Durian Council vice chair-man Eduardo Devera said durian trees in the city were affected by the El Niño or the long drought season which started in the first quarter of this year.

“Even two to three years old durian tree died because of stress,” Devera said.

Around 30 percent of duri-an plantations in the city were affected by El Niño which is expected to end by the third quarter of next year, he added.

Earlier, the Council pro-jected that production of du-rian in the city will decrease by 25 percent of the 100 tons production in 2013.

Not only areas planted with durian will be increased, but also the durian production.

Davao City has a current durian production of only 67,000 kilos or 67 tons at 4.6

tons yield per hectare.Large bulk of the city’s du-

rian production is hybrid. The Council targets to in-

crease production per hectare feom 4.6 tons to 10 to 12 tons in the next few years by capac-itating durian farmers with the good farming skills.

Miculob said the increase in production would allow the city to cater international mar-kets like US, Japan, Hongkong and Singapore.

“US is starting to have de-mand on durian because of the increasing Asian population,” he said.

At present, Miculob said he cannot export a lot durian abroad because of limited sup-ply, durian being a seasonal fruit and with huge interna-tional demand.

Miculob also said he ear-lier sent an initial shipment of 50 packs of frozen durian to Japan. Cheneen R. Capon

SIDEWALK CHECK. Davao City Demolition Unit head Yusop Jimlani and San Pedro Police Station commander Chief Inspector Ronald Lao inspect the Bankerohan area last Friday to see if sidewalk vendors are still blocking the road. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

still have security features similar to the old cards, such as a 2D barcode.

An earlier report from abs-cbnnews.com said the new company will be replac-ing Amalgamated Motors Philippines Incorporated (AMPI), which supplied cards to the LTO for more

than 20 years.AMPI came under fire

when complaints of short-age of PVC license cards sur-faced last year.

Instead of the PVC card, those who renewed their licenses were told that they could use their receipts as temporary license.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 2015 11

Lung cancer: Filipino men’s top killerBy HENRYLITO D. TACIO

JOSEPHINE was not her usual cheerful self. When inquired how things were

going, tears came to her eyes. “My father has just been diag-nosed with cancer,” she said. “He’s not a candidate for sur-gery, but he begins radiation treatments next week, and we’re hoping for the best.”

Each time she reported

for work, she confided to a friend on her father’s condi-tion. Initially, he seemed to do well – the size of his tumor decreased in response to the radiation and he generally felt pretty good.

But his reprieve was short-lived. Soon, he started to experience progressive pain and weakness as the tumor

resumed its growth. Less than seven months from the time of his diagnosis, he died.

More and more Filipinos are now dying of lung cancer. According to the Philippine Society of Medical Oncology (PSMO), lung cancer leads among the top five cancers leading to death in the country.

Lung cancer also ranks as

the number one cause of can-cer among men in the country, the Philippine Cancer Soci-ety, Inc. (PCSI) claims. “Lung cancer is killing more Filipino men than ever before,” the so-ciety deplores.

One of its recent victims was broadcast journalist An-gelo Castro, Jr. The main man of The World Tonight was di-agnosed with lung cancer in 2008 and given three months to live.

But with his and his fami-ly’s faith in God, determination and the loving support of fami-ly and friends, he lived beyond three months. After taking a hiatus for over two years, he returned to work in 2011. A day after Christmas, he said in the air: “Move on. It is just a chapter in the past, but don’t close the book — just turn the page.”

Other famous men who succumbed to lung cancer include singer Nat King Cole, actor Steve McQueen, Beach Boys member Carl Wilson, New York Yankees Roger Maris, reporter Edward R. Murrow, and King George VI.

Women, however, are not spared from lung cancer. Among those who died of it were modelling pioneer Wil-helmina Cooper and Holly-wood actress Betty Grable. In the Philippines, lung cancer is the third leading cause of cancer among women – after breast and cervix. The PMSO says that out of 100,000 Fili-pino women diagnosed with lung cancer, 2,500 of them die.

Every year, almost two million people around the world are diagnosed with the disease. “Only about 250,000 of them will remain alive five years later,” claimed Dr. Ted Hamilton, medical director of Florida Hospital Central Care in Orlando.

Like most cancers, no one really knows what causes lung cancer. However, there are known factors that are associ-ated with an increased risk of lung cancer. Among these are dietary factors (deficient in vitamins, high in cholesterol), occupational carcinogens such as industrial chemicals (asbes-tos, arsenic, chromates, nick-el, and chloromethyl ethers), ionizing radiation, exposure to radon gas (radioactive gas, found in increased amounts in mines), and genetic factors (inherited predisposition to developing lung cancer).

“Air pollution causes about one percent of lung cancer cas-es,” notes The Merck Manual of Medical Information. One of the most common forms of air pollutants is the suspend-ed particulate matter (SPM) or those tiny solid particles dispersed from pesticides, as-bestos and thousands of other products.

Studies of the American Cancer Society cohort directly link the exposure to SPM with lung cancer. For example, if the concentration of particles in

the air increases by only one percent, the risk of developing a lung cancer increases by 14 percent.

But smoking, particularly of cigarettes, is by far the main contributor to lung cancer. In fact, lung cancer was un-common before the advent of cigarette smoking; it was not even recognized as a distinct disease until 1761. In Germa-ny in 1929, physician Fritz Lickint recognized the link between smoking and lung cancer, which led to an aggres-sive anti-smoking campaign. The British Doctors Study, pub-lished in the 1950s, was the first solid epidemiological evi-dence of the link between lung cancer and smoking.

“Lung cancer is almost exclusively found in smokers,” the Mayo Foundation for Med-ical Education and Research points out. “Men who smoke are 22 times more likely to develop lung cancer than men who don’t smoke. Women who smoke are 12 times more like-ly to develop lung cancer than women who don’t smoke.”

Cigarette and cigar smoke contains more than 40 car-cinogens or cancer-causing chemicals. Among these are tar, nicotine, cyanide, formal-dehyde, methanol, ammonia, acetone, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxide.

Tar is a dark, sticky sub-stance condensed from the chemical particles in cigarette smoke. A one-pack-a-day smoker collects about one cup of tar in his lungs in a year, according to the PCSI publica-tion, Lung Cancer and Smok-ing. “The tar from cigarette smoke affects the defenses of the lungs, neutralizing them so that they can’t do their work,” it explains.

The average person who is moderately active during the daytime breathes about 20,000 liters of air every 24 hours. And the lung is man’s breathing machine. It draws in air, filters it, circulates life-giv-ing oxygen for the body’s use and expels what is left over, mostly carbon dioxide.

Nicotine, a colorless oily liquid, has been traced to make cigarette smoking ad-dictive. “Smoking is extremely addictive, and the nicotine is the vehicle that initiates and

sustains the addiction. When a person quits the habit, he ex-periences several withdrawal symptoms during abstinence which is only relieved by nic-otine administration,” said Dr. Daniel Tan, president of To-bacco-Free Philippines.

The Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) reports that cigarette smok-ing kills around three million people every year. “Unless current trends are reversed, that figure is expected to rise to 10 million deaths per year by the year 2020 or the early 2030, with 70 percent of those deaths occurring in develop-ing countries,” the UN health agency warns.

The latest National Nutri-tion and Health Survey found that 35 out of 100 Filipinos are smokers. About 56.3 percent of Filipino males are smokers while 12.1 percent of Filipino women smoke.

Aside from lung cancer, cigarette smoking is also as-sociated with cancers of the tongue, mouth, upper respira-tory tract, oral cavity, esopha-gus, pancreas, kidney and uri-nary bladder.

“Treatment for lung can-cer is very expensive,” said Dr. Dennis Tudtud, PSMO presi-dent. “More often than not, a patient can’t afford the prohib-itive cost.”

The treatment of lung can-cer depends upon the type of tumor, the stage of the disease at diagnosis and the general fitness of the patient. If the tumor is small and there is no evidence of spread to local lymph nodes, surgical removal of the tumor is usually per-formed. Chemotherapy is used in all other stages, and rough-ly 75 percent of tumors will respond to it. In patients who decline operation, or who are not fit for surgery but still in stages I, II, and IIIA, high dose radiotherapy is the treatment of choice. It involves bombard-ing the lung tumor with high-dose radiation aiming to kill all the cancer cells.

“Lung cancer has a poor prognosis,” the Merck manual reminds. “On average, people with untreated lung cancer survive 8 months. Overall, even with therapy, the 5-year survival rate is only 13 per-cent.”

EDGEDAVAO

HEALTH

Lung cancer, incidence, survival and mortality (from Wikipedia) Lung cancer (from Wikipedia)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 201512

GENERAL SANTOS CITY MARKETING OFFICEEDMUND D. RENDONMarketing Specialist

Mobile: (Smart) 0930-669-3018

DAVAO CITY MAIN OFFICEJOCELYN S. PANES

Director of SalesDoor 14 ALCREJ Bldg.,

Quirino Ave., Davao CityTel: (082) 224-1413

Telefax: (082) 221-3601

MANILA MARKETING OFFICEANGELICA R. GARCIA

Marketing Manager97-1 Bayanbayanan Ave.,

Marikina Heights, Marikina City Tel: (02) 654-3509

CLASSIFIED EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 2015 13Kadayawan sa Dabaw LiveExclusively on SKY Free ViewALL things joyful and glo-

rious burst in full color in Davao City’s Kaday-

awan Festival this month. Celebrating cultural treasures, bountiful harvests, and the serenity of life, the Kaday-awan Festival highlights the heritage of Mindanao’s indig-enous peoples and its migrant settlers. From the 17th to the 23rd of August 2015, danc-es and live performances fill Davao’s streets as everyone indulges in the happiest week in one of Mindanao’s grandest cities.

Rooted in the age-old rit-ual of offering thanksgiving to the ancient Gods, especially “Manama” The Supreme Be-ing, this vibrant feast high-lights the plentiful fruits, flow-ers, vegetables, and grains that are seen as blessings from the divine. This spirit

and practice of giving thanks, known collectively as “pahi-nungod”, is what breathes life to the Kadayawan Festival to this day.

This year’s celebration can be called the very pin-nacle of all festivals in the country. Starting-off with an ecumenical ceremony to give thanks for this year’s bounty, it’s followed by a gauntlet of food fests, dancing, musical performances, parades, and pageants. Avid fans of this festival who can’t make it to Davao can enjoy all the fun straight from their TV screen at home as SKYcable and Des-tiny Cable digital postpaid and prepaid TV subscribers get exclusive live access to the major Kadayawan Festi-val events through SKY Free View. On August 21, revelers at home can catch Hiyas sa Ka-

NOTICE OF LOSS

Notice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS CONSOLIDATED INC. That CERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT No.(s) 1193389-2 under LOYOLA PLAN Contract No.(s) 30993-8 issued to BARLIS, ALEXIS B. was lost. Any transaction entered into shall be null and void.

8/17,24,31

dayawan, a contest to find the Festival Gem of Davao among the ten indigenous tribes of the city, from 6pm to 10pm. Another great event - the In-dak-Indak sa Kadalanan, a street dancing competition that spans all of Davao’s ma-jor streets and ends in a big showdown in Rizal Park – can be tuned-in to from 8am to 5pm on August 22. And then we have the Pamulak sa Ka-dayawan, a massive parade of floral-themed floats staged across the city, which airs on August 23, from 8am to 12pm.

The live coverage of these events is available for free on the following channels: Ch. 251 (HD) and Ch. 210 (SD) for those in Metro Manila, CAMA-NAVA, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan (San Jose Del Monte); and Ch. 703 (HD) and Ch. 23 (SD) for those in Cebu, Baguio, Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao, Gen-eral Santos, and Dumaguete. Destiny Cable subscribers can tune-in through Ch. 251 (HD) and Ch. 210 (SD).

To know more about this great SKY Free View live tele-cast, simply call the 24-hour customer service hotlines at 02 381-0000 for Metro Ma-nila, CAMANAVA, and Rizal; 046-484-4701 for Cavite; 049-534-1555 for Calamba and

Binan, Laguna; 02-520-8560 for San Pedro, Laguna and Carmona, Cavite; 044-693-5877 for Bulacan; 032-421-1818 for Cebu; 082-305-5456 for Davao; 074-442-4841 for Baguio; 034-432-0051 for Bacolod; 033-300-1210 for Iloilo; 035-225-1010 for Du-maguete; and 083 301-3134 for Gen. Santos City.

Only SKYcable provides quality home entertainment with the widest-range of standard and high definition digital channels; with over 190 channels, and other top-of-the-line services such as flexible subscription options via SELECT; iRECORD that records, pauses, and rewinds live TV; as well as real-time coverage of live concerts and sporting events via FREE VIEW and PAY-PER-VIEW. Subscribers interested to know more about SKYcable can simply log on to www.mysky.com.ph.

Enjoy over 90 channels in clear digital signal for only P550 per month with Desti-ny Cable. For inquiries about the services and promos of Destiny Cable call 418-0000. You may also contact Destiny Cable via their email address, weserve@destinycable.com.ph.

EDGEDAVAO

COMPETITIVE EDGE

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 20151414 CLASSIFIED EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 2015 15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO

FOR the second straight night, Marc Pingris was unable to drop by the

Philippine national men’s basketball team’s practice to formally inform the Gilas coaching staff and manage-ment of his withdrawal from the national team’s prepara-tions for the upcoming FIBA Asia Championship.

Pingris said late Friday night, though, that he plans to personally speak with Gi-las head coach Tab Baldwin, members of the coaching staff and the players on the squad when the team assem-bles for training again on Sat-urday afternoon,

Pingris’ agent, Ed Ponce-ja, said in a telephone inter-view that the player was sup-posed to go there Thursday but changed his plans due to the heavy rains. He also planned to visit Friday night, but was again unable to make it.

This weekend could be the last time the Gilas pool practices before leaving for Estonia via Turkish Airlines for a European training camp and pocket tournament. They are expected to make the trip on Monday night.

Ponceja explained why Pingris decided to skip par-ticipating in the Gilas pro-gram, which is gearing up

for the FIBA Asia, an Olympic qualifying tournament, to be held in China from Septem-ber 23 to October 3.

“Bago pa lang kasi yung coach ng Star medyo nagha-habol pa sila sa gagawin. Baka nga mag twice-a-day practice pa sila so hindi na kakayanin ni Ping yung oras,” Ponceja said.

Ponceja added that hav-ing a possible twice-a-day training with Star under new coach Jason Webb and joining the Gilas training pool alto-gether might affect Pingris in the long run.

“Alam mo naman ang ensayo sa Gilas mahirap ang training,” Ponceja added. “Si Ping hindi na rin naman kasi siya bata so kung mag-do-doble ensayo siya sa Star ta-pos mag-e-ensayo pa siya sa Gilas, baka naman bumigay yung katawan niya.”

According to Ponceja, Pingris is currently on the fi-nal year of his contract with the Hotshots.

Baldwin said he didn’t want to disclose the conver-sation he had with any of the players that are not currently training in the pool.

But even as the pool of players has become deplet-ed, Baldwin clarified that he won’t make any more addi-tions to the pool.

“We’ve talked about this as a management and if we don’t get anybody in by the time we came back from Es-tonia, to me, it’s counterpro-ductive to bring anybody in. That’s not a definitive deci-sion, but I’m prepared to put out there now and probably defend that position later on,” Baldwin said.

He is still holding out hope, though, for back-to-back PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo, who Baldwin envi-sioned to be an important piece of the program.

Fajardo, unlike the other players who begged off the pool, did so because of inju-ries and Gilas will be willing to wait a little longer to see if he can get healthy.

“The exception I’ll prob-ably make to that is June Mar. I’ve said from the very beginning he should be the centerpiece of this team. We need him. We understand his injury is one of those nagging things. It doesn’t have a time-table and because it doesn’t have a timetable, I’m not gon-na put a timetable on him,” Baldwin said.

“Eventually, we have to say it’s too late, but right now, because it is an injury situa-tion for him and nothing else, I’d say we’ll stay open for him longer than anybody else.”

GERMAN sports giant Adidas on Thursday agreed a sponsor-

ship deal with NBA super-star James Harden which was reported to be worth $200 million in a major blow to heavyweight rivals Nike.

The contract for the 25-year-old Houston Rock-ets star takes effect from October 1 and is under-stood to span 13 years.

Adidas said it would

not divulge the value of the long-term deal although American sports network ESPN claimed it was worth $200m (180 million eu-ros).

“From the start of this partnership, Harden is going to play a role in the worldwide promotion of Adidas which will coin-cide with the start of the new NBA season,” said a spokesman.

“He will also have a key

role in creating and devel-oping a line of sports shoes and clothing.”

Last year, Adidas an-nounced a 10-year link-up with English Premier League giants Manchester United worth a minimum £750 million (940 million euros).

The group is also at-tempting to re-establish its foothold in North America in the face of competitors, Nike and Under Armour.

THE man at the helm of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) obvi-

ously couldn’t hide his disap-pointment with the decision of several mainstays of Gilas Pilipinas not to play for the national team bound for the Fiba-Asia Men’s Championship in Changsha, China.

Manny V. Pangilinan, the SBP president, took to twitter in expressing his feelings espe-cially about PBA teams which lend players to the national squad as it scrambles to form a team competitive enough for the Sept. 23 to Oct. 3 meet that serves as qualifier to the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics.

“Sad day for Phil basket-ball. But thank you to the team

which helped the national cause. Laban Pilipinas. Puso,” Pangilinan twitted in his ac-count @iamMVP.

While Pangilinan was careful not to mention any en-tity, the message was obviously meant to mock the San Miguel Corp. group – the company ri-val of the Pangilinan faction in the pro league – as three of its players in back-to-back MVP June Mar Fajardo, Marc Pin-gris, and LA Tenorio begged off from playing for Gilas Pilipinas anew.

All three were part of the Gilas team that finished run-ner-up to Iran in the 2013 edi-tion of the Fiba-Asia meet here in Manila and had been listed by coach Tab Baldwin in the

16-man Gilas training pool.Of the three, Pingris was

the most vocal about his desire to suit up for the national team as both Fajardo and Tenorio already stated they’re not join-ing the team due to injury and health reasons, respectively.

Pingris initially said he will be available for Gilas only after his trip to France owing to fam-ily matters.

But since arriving from Eu-rope Wednesday, the Star Hot-shot defensive player hasn’t showed up yet at the Meralco gym for Gilas’ daily practice.

San Miguel management though, said all three players have been given the go signal to see action for the national team.

TOP-RANKED Novak Djokovic survived two match points and rallied

to beat Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis 5-7, 7-6 (7), 6-1 on Friday night in the Rogers Cup quarterfinals.

Djokoic survived two match points for the first time since 2012 in Shanghai against Andy Murray. The Serb, the tournament champion in 2007, 2011 and 2012, has won 51 of 54 matches this year.

“You have to give credit to (Gulbis) for playing an excellent match,” Djokovic said. “He was always making me play an extra shot, and putting a lot of pres-sure on my second serve. I had a lot of chances and closed it out in the end, but he had a couple of match points and it would’ve been deserved if he had won this match.”

Djokovic will face France’s Jermey Chardy, a 6-7 (9), 7-6 (13), 7-6 (4) winner over Amer-ican John Isner in the rain-de-layed opening match.

Fourth-ranked Kei Nishiko-ri of Japan beat seventh-seeded Spanish star Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4. The tournament winner last week in Washington, Nishi-kori topped Nadal for the first time in eight attempts.

“It took a long time to beat Rafa,” Nishiko-ri said. “I don’t usually like to play against him, but the last couple of matches — I had chances in Australia and in

DISHING OFF. Bryan Heruela of The Royal Mandaya Hotel-CMO dishes off an assist to a teammate after banging bodies with Goldstar muscleman Vic Manuel during the two teams’ encounter in the Ladayawan Invitational. TRMH-CMO won 102-87. Lean Daval Jr.

Novak Djokovic survived two match points and rallied to beat Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis 5-7, 7-6 (7), 6-1.

STILL HOPINGWith Pingris gone, Gilas is hoping for June Mar

Djokovic tops GulbisMadrid last year — so I knew I was close.”

Nishikori was all over Nad-al’s serve, breaking twice in the first set and twice more in the second.

“Today, I was almost dominating everything, so I’m very happy,” Ni-shikori said.

Nishikori will face the second-seeded Murray. The Scot beat 10th-seed-ed defending c h a m p i o n Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-4, 6-4.

T h e C h a r -dy- I s -n e r

match began nearly 2 hours late and was interrupted more than an hour in the second set by another shower.

Chardy fought off seven match points, five in the

second-set tiebreak-er. Isner

missed a volley at

the net and then hit wide on a service re-

turn on set point.“If you start to think

about match points or breakpoints, you start to be

nervous,” Chardy said. “It’s the only way to miss the shot.

In this match a lot of points were really important, with a lot of pressure.”

The 6-foot-10 Isner had won 11 of his previous 12 matches, taking the title two weeks ago in Atlanta and finishing second in Washington.

“It was a crazy match,” Chardy said. “We both had

a chance. We did a lot of good points. We were serving both really well.”

MVP rues Gilas snubs

Adidas signs James Harden

VOL. 8 ISSUE 98 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUGUST 16 - 17, 201516 EDGEDAVAOSports

THE Royal Man-daya Hotel-City Mayor’s Office

breathed life into its championship bid after dealing archnemesis and defending champi-on Goldstar Hardware a 102-87 thrashing on Friday night in the 2015 Kadayawan festival In-ter-Commercial Invita-tional basketball tour-nament at the Davao City Recreation Center.

With PBA stalwarts Beau Belga, Mark Ma-capagal, and Bonbon Custodio and ex-pro Jojo Tangkay at the firing end, TRMH-CMO jumped to an early 15-7 lead and were never threat-ened after that, coasting to their first win in two outings in the four-team tournament where every win and every point mat-ters.

Mark Macapagal shook off his rusty form to drill in 19 points in leading the Hoteliers’ scoring. Tangkay and the burly Belga who 17 and 15 points, respectively.

Goldstar Hardware’s Leo Najorda and Vic Manuel finished with 20 and 18 points, in that or-der in a losing effort.

Goldstar Hardware came up short for a ral-ly in the fourth. Down as much as 18, 89-71, Gold-star could only manage to cut the lead to just 10, 95-85 with 1:35 remain-ing.

In the other game, Montana Pawnshop Davao shook off an er-ratic start before beating MP Pacman, 75-65 for their second win in the elimination round. The win gave the unbeaten Pawnbrokers a 2-0 slate

and at least a tie for one of the finals berths.

Denand Lusdoc led Montana with 27 points while former Jose Maria Colleges guard Kenny Guibay added 11 with 9 coming in the third pe-riod leading his squad’s 10-2 run after being down, 38-29, before half-time.

Despite playing in-front of team owner Man-ny Pacquiao, MP Pacman failed to drill crucial bas-kets down the stretch. Swa Toyambi and Mark Yee led MP Pacman with 14 points apiece.

MP Pacman plays The Royal Mandaya Ho-tel while Goldstar Hard-ware battles Montana Pawnshop Davao as of presstime Saturday night for the final match-es in the elimination round.

BACK ON TRACKTRMH-CMO drubs Goldstar 102-87, Montaña gets second win

BATTLE OF MUSCLES. Beau Belga of The Royal Mandaya Hotel-CMO tries to shake off Goldstar muscleman Vic Manuel during the two teams’ encounter in the Ladayawan Invitational. TRMH-CMO won 102-87. Lean Daval Jr.