Edge Davao 7 Issue 120

P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31- SEPT. 01, 2014

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DAVAO

MINDANAO:NEXT COFFEE CAPITAL

COVER STORY Page2

SPORTS page 15

DRAY ON THE SPOT

CIVIT COFFEE: FROM EWWW TO AHHH

INSIDE EDGE

Don’t look now, but Mindanao is fast emerging as the next coffee capital of the Philippines as coffee growers set their sights on the island. With vast tracts of land – especially those in high altitudes – that can still be tapped for coffee plantations, Mindanao may well be on its way to being the country’s top coffee producer.

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VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31- SEPT. 01, 20142 EDGEDAVAO

COVER STORY

DON’T look now, but Mindanao is fast emerging as

the next coffee capital of the Philippines as coffee growers set their sights on the island. With vast tracts of land – especially those in high altitudes – that can still be tapped for coffee plantations, Mind-anao may well surpass the traditional areas in Luzon like Cavite in the produc-tion of the second most traded commodity in the world (next only to petro-leum).

“It’s high time for Min-danao to be explored and also featured,” Philippine Coffee Board, Inc. (PCBI) chair Nicholas Matti said. “They are the biggest area for coffee production and they hold much promise to take us internationally.”

As an opening salvo of sorts, Mindanao will take center stage in the

upcoming 7th National Coffee Summit to be held in Davao City on October 15 at Seda Abreeza Hotel. Held here for the first time, stakeholders from all over the country are expected to come and participate in the drawing up of a game plan for the industry. The summit also allows PCBI to feel the pulse of the farmers, producers, coop-eratives, non-government organizations, and coffee buyers, all for the better-ment of the industry.

A free coffee sampling event, dubbed Coffee Or-igins, will also be held on October 13 to 17 at the nearby Abreeza Mall to feature the places from which the various coffees come.

These activities are traditionally held in Metro Manila, but because of the potential Mindanao offers, the organizers decided to

move them here this year. PCBI itself said Mindanao “can truly boast of many high altitude coffees such as Mt. Apo, Mt. Matutum, and Mt. Kitanglad.”

“And with coffees from Mt. Apo getting two awards at a recent Roasters show in Thailand, Davao truly deserves to be highlight-ed in the next show,” PCBI added.

The two awards were won by the Mt. Apo Cof-fee brand of Davao City businessman Philip Dizon, whose Catimor coffee – a hybrid of Caturra (a type of Arabica) and Timor (a hybrid of Arabica and Ro-busta) – won awards in the espresso and siphon coffee preparations categories in the recently held THAIFEX Food Exhibition held in Bangkok, Thailand by the Asean Coffee Federation (ACF).

Dizon believes the

coffee he grows is of very high quality because of his farm’s rich volcanic soil, the best selection of ber-ries, and the way the farm-ers take care of the crop. His farm is in Kapatagan, Digos, Davao del Sur, which is a valley immediately in the foothills of Mt. Apo with an elevation of 1,300 meters above sea level.

He is optimistic about the future of the coffee in-dustry in Mindanao. “Cat-imor is considered a sec-ond-class coffee because it is a hybrid,” he told this writer in an interview. “If we can win awards with hybrid, how much more if we enter non-hybrid cof-fees like Arabica?”

Mt. Apo Coffee current-ly produces two varieties: Mt. Apo Civet Coffee and Altura Coffee. The farmers provide him with hand-picked berries which are then fed to civets that re-

side in his farm; in their stomachs, proteolytic en-zymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. The beans pass on to the animals’ droppings, which are collected, cleaned, processed, and roasted to become civet coffee – the most expensive coffee in the world (Mt. Apo Civet sells for P1,000 per 100 grams).

The civets, however, do not eat all the berries giv-en to them. What doesn’t get eaten is processed and roasted to become Altura Coffee. “It doesn’t mean the berries are inferior,” Dizon explained. “It’s just that the civets don’t eat them for some reason.” To this writ-er, Altura coffee tastes sim-ilar to civet coffee, only a little stronger and sharper as opposed to civet coffee’s smoother and more subtle flavor.

As an artisanal brand, Mt. Apo Coffee produces only a small amount of coffee: about 20 kilos of civet coffee and about 100 kilos of Altura every week. Dizon of course wants to expand his production, but ultimately his vision is not just for himself but for Mindanao as well. He wants to plant denuded areas in Mt. Apo with cof-fee, hitting two birds with one stone in the process: regreening the mountain and pushing Mindanao to the forefront of the coffee industry.

The payoff can be big: the global coffee industry is worth more than $100 billion, and worldwide people drink over 500 bil-lions cups of it every year. If Mindanao can capture even a small slice of that pie, then the lives of many farmers can be vastly im-proved.

MINDANAO:NEXT COFFEE CAPITAL

FROM EWWW TO AHHH!

CIVET COFFEETHERE was a time

when civet coffee was an unreach-

able dream for many cof-fee lovers. Touted as the most expensive coffee in the world, a cup would sell for as much as $80. Imagine blowing almost P3,500 on a cup of joe!

As its name suggests, civet coffee is made from the beans of coffee ber-ries that have been eat-en by the Asian palm civet (and other related civets). The beans stay in-tact through the digestion process and are passed on to the animals’ droppings. Farmers gather the beans from the droppings, wash them thoroughly, sun-dry them, and then roast them. Some sort of magic must happen inside the civets’ bowels, because

the resulting beans yield a coffee like no other.

Civet coffee used to be the exclusive product of Indonesia and Malaysia, but not anymore. Since palm civets are also en-demic to the Philippines (we call them alamid), it stood to reason that civet coffee could be found in places where coffee grew. When entrepreneurs found them, they began producing the coffee, re-sulting in lower prices. In Davao City, Dizon Farms sells civet coffee for P700 per 100 grams of whole roasted beans. Still on the high end of the price scale, but nowhere near the roughly $300 (or about P13,000) per kilo it sells elsewhere.

How does it taste? I’ve had it a few times and to

my palate it has a fruity and nutty flavor. I’d read several times that it was supposed to be choco-latey, but I personally couldn’t taste it. It’s very different from arabica (often served in coffee shops); to my tongue it’s closer to liberica (bara-co), but it’s still a lot different. Let’s just say it’s in a class all its own. Brewed properly, you can understand why people would pay top dollar for it.

Unfortunately, it’s not easy to find a place in Davao City that brews civet coffee properly. The first time I had it was at a small restaurant along Torres Street where the owner brewed it to per-fection. But in other plac-es I haven’t been as lucky.

One barista made a cup for me from pre-ground coffee stored in a plastic container that had prob-ably been sitting there for weeks.

Which is why my wife and I just buy the bottle of beans and make our own coffee at home using our cappuccino maker. Civet coffee makes for a different kind of cap-puccino, and I also like it espresso or Americano.

If you want a taste of something as exotic as civet coffee, now’s a good time to do it. It’s expen-sive but not prohibitively so, and you really do get what you pay for. If you make it properly, you get a cup like no other. Just close your eyes and don’t think about where it came from.

By JON JOAQUIN Cover photo courtesy of Mt. Apo Coffee

By JON JOAQUIN

VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31- SEPT. 01, 2014 3

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EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWSPAQUIBATO INITIATIVE. A Paquibato barangay official expresses his concern during the open forum of the Paquibato Initiatives Forum on oil palm industry last Friday at the Grand Oases Convention Center. NJB

STAKEHOLDERS. City Administrator Melchor Quitain (fourth from right), representing Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, is shown with program facilitator Man-ny Piñol, former North Cotabato governor (5th from right), councilor Danny

Dayanghirang (4th from left) during the Paquibato Initiatives Forum on oil palm industry last Friday at the Grand Oases Convention Center. NJB

MAYOR Rodrigo Duterte yester-day dismissed the

perception that he was in a squabble with his son, Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, and the City Council over their positions on come-dian Ramon Bautista, who was declared persona non grata by the City Council but whom Duterte said was welcome in Davao City.

In a statement issued Saturday, Duterte said his difference of opinion with Paolo, who is the presiding officer of the City Council, and other officials of the city does not mean they are fighting.

He said it was “a healthy exchange of ideas which is but part of a healthy democracy.”

“People should not ex-pect the City Council and the Office of the City May-or to agree on all matters all the time. I respect the City Council’s resolution to declare Ramon Bautista a persona non grata, but remember early on I said the apology would suffice, because to declare the ac-tor as an outcast was too severe,” the mayor said.

“Our different postures are part of day’s work, nothing more,” he added.

The perceived row started when the mayor talked to Bautista over the phone and made peace with him on Tuesday night, facilitated by Rock Ed founder Gang Badoy.

Duterte also wrote a note for Bautista, saying, “Tor Ramon: Mabuhay

Ka! Mayor Rody Duterte.” Bautista posted photos of the note and of Duterte writing it.

Duterte later said: “When a man humbles himself and apologizes for uttering a slur, that itself erases the wrong. To nurture residual hate against the guy is a hu-man frailty.”

A few hours after, the vice mayor released a statement saying the mayor “should respect the decision of the City Council because the body represents the people of Davao City who voted for him for decades.”

“The mayor of Davao City can always welcome anybody he wants on a personal level. But as long as Davao City is con-

cerned, Mr. Ramon Bau-tista is unwelcome here in our city because of the persona non grata resolu-tion,” the young Duterte said.

The mayor, in turn, issued a statement say-ing, “Let me remind the honorable vice mayor and the majority that their decision to declare Ramon Bautista persona non grata is a City Council resolution and not an or-dinance. It does not bind me and everyone else who disagree with it. The essence of a democracy is the right to dissent. As Voltaire would put it, ‘I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend your right to say it.’ For your education.” Jon Joa-quin

Duterte: No squabblewith VM, City Council THOUSANDS of feet

above Paquibato District, Ata tribal

leader Datu Dario Balinan is riding a helicopter for the first time.

He is the first from his tribe to do so.

Up there, he is draw-ing an imaginary line in what seems to be thou-sands of hectares. If all goes well, that area will be planted with 143 oil palm trees per hectare.

What the government can do.

A “plant now, pay later” program is being proposed to the city gov-ernment of Davao for the benefit of small farmers in Paquibato District who are interested in ventur-ing into the multi-billion

dollar palm oil industry.Manny Piñol, who imple-mented the same project during his term as gov-ernor of Cotabato, said during a forum at the Ritz Oasis Hotel last Friday that the program intends to provide an easy access to financing for farmers.

Instead of going to banks and cooperatives, small farmers may go di-rectly to the city govern-ment to loan money with-out interest.

Requirements for loan application may be much more simple compared to documents required by banks and cooperatives which usually require business registration, marketing agreement, Se-

[email protected]

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

The promise of palm oil

THE Davao City-grown pharmaceu-tical product MX3

received a therapeutic certification from a drug control agency in Malay-sia last year.

The National Pharma-ceutical Control Bureau of Malaysia approved MX3 Natural Garcin-ia Mangostana Exocarp 500mg Capsule on No-vember 28, 2013.

With the approval, the

product, which is already being distributed in some parts of Malaysia, now bears the tag information as Traditional Medicine in its packaging.

Dr. Edwin Bien, med-ical consultant of DMI Medical Supply Co., Inc. which own the MX3 brand, said the certifica-tion given by the Malay-sian government is im-portant especially since

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO [email protected]

MX3 gets therapeutic drug certification from Malaysia

VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31- SEPT. 01, 20144

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NEWS EDGEDAVAO

PLAY TIME. Two boys play with a baggage cart as they wait for a relative to arrive at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport. Lean Daval Jr.

EXPECT more traffic congestion in Davao City as the rehabili-

tation work on the Gover-nor Generoso 2 Bridge in Bankerohan gets delayed due to several factors.

Department of Pub-lic Works and Highways (DPWH) 11 regional di-rector Mariano Alquiza told reporters in a press briefing that the rehabili-tation of the bridge, which

had been scheduled for completion in October, will probably end before the year ends.

Alquiza said when he inspected the area, he saw that the heavy equipment being used are having a hard time digging un-der the river because of the old pile of the bridge which has been buried there.

He said this means

the workers cannot easily bury the new pile of the bridge.

The project had al-ready faced delays before it could start because of the presence of informal settlers living under the bridge who refused to va-cate the area. It took the DPWH several months before they could relocate the informal settlers.

There was also a need

to transfer the commu-nication and power lines that ran along the bridge.

Another factor that has been delaying the project is the frequent breakdown of the heavy equipment being used.

Alquiza said the re-habilitation, which costs P63 million, is now 69 percent complete. He said the contractor has already installed three

board piles in the bridge.DPWH project coor-

dinator engineer Alvin Cabueñas had earlier ex-plained that the bridge needs repairs due to its “critical condition.”

He said the foundation of the pier penetrates only a third of the foundation and that 11 meters of the foundation was already exposed with scouring.

“We cannot wait for

another flood to occur be-cause it might cause the bridge to collapse. That is why we need to repair the bridge immediately,” he said.

Cabueñas said the project is being imple-mented under Disaster Related Rehabilitation Project of DPWH and being managed by Ce-bu-based Oscar Sarmien-to Construction.

More traffic woes seen as delays hound bridge rehabBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

[email protected]

SUSPECTED Abu Sayyaf bandits released late Wednesday a mechan-

ic after holding him captive for 11 days in the moun-tains of Sulu.

Ronald Pelegrin, 38, said he was released in Barangay Danag, Patikul. From there, he proceeded to the Provincial Engineer’s Office (PEO) in downtown Patikul where he works as chief mechanic.

The PEO contacted the Anti-Kidnapping Group of the police upon his arrival at the office.

Pelegrin, escorted by AKG personnel, arrived early Thursday in this city aboard a commercial ferry. His family met them at the port.

He was then taken to

Camp Batalla where he un-derwent medical check-up.

Pelegrin and his family went home around 11 a.m. Thursday in Baranghay Sa-laan this city.

He said he did not know whether or not ransom was paid for his release.

The Abu Sayyaf bandits had earlier demanded P15 million for his freedom.

Pelegrin said he will no longer return to his work at the PEO in Sulu.

The bandits seized Pelegrin and his cousin and assistant, Dante Avil-la, 29, from their sleeping quarters at the PEO com-pound on the night of Au-gust 16.

But the bandits killed Avilla for refusing to go with them. (MindaNews)

Abu Sayyaf freeskidnapped mechanic

DAVAO City Water District (DCWD) announced that

it has scheduled four separate sets of water interruption to give way to completion of differ-ent service improve-ment projects.

First set is a four-hour water cut on Sep-tember 2 from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM affecting the entire NHA Ma-a, Ma-harlika Village and im-mediate environs. The Pipelines and Appurte-nances Maintenance De-partment (PAMD) crew will install the step test valves for the District Metered Area Project at NHA Ma-a.

Second set is on Sep-

tember 3 from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Areas with no water are the entire Santos Marketing Subd., Central Park Subd., NHA Sectoral Compound, Concepcion Compound and NHA Kadayawan Homes Phase I-A, Phase I-B, Phase II-A, Phase II-B, Phase III-A and Phase III-B. This water cut is needed for the tapping of the newly replaced 50mm diameter unplas-ticized Polyvinyl Chlo-ride (uPVC) mainline at Santos Marketing Subd. in Bangkal by the PAMD crew.

Third set is on Sep-tember 4 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM affecting the entire Northcrest Subd.

in Cabantian. This sev-en-hour interruption is needed for the tapping of the 4-inch diame-ter Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) pipeline to the existing 4-inch diame-ter and 6-inch diameter PVC pipelines for the water distribution sys-tem of Phase 3, Blocks 1-13 of Northcrest Subd. Approximately 180 new service connections can be accommodated once said project is complet-ed.

Last set is on Sep-tember 5 from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The entire Mitsuibusan Village in Bajada will be affected by this four-hour wa-

Water service interruptions insome city parts Sept 2, 3, 4, 5

DAVAO City par-ticipated in the 18th edition of

Kumbira held in Cagayan de Oro City last month – and emerged one of the winners.

Kumbira, organized by the Cagayan de Oro Hotel and Restaurant (Cohoara), is a profes-sional and student cu-linary show, touted to be the largest culinary event in Mindanao if not the country as it lasts for three days.

And yes, the competi-tion is live, which makes

it more fascinating.This year, the theme

was: “Throwback at 18: Looking back… cooking forward.”

Cohara president Ne-lia Lee said during the opening program: “We hope to develop and im-prove more the craft of our participants. Hope-fully, this will bring in more investors since we have homegrown culi-nary talents in the city.”

Security was very tight during the three-day event. After all, there were 31 schools,

18 establishments, and six elementary and high schools which joined the competition.

Aside from Davao City, other participants were from Medina, Mis-amis Oriental, Iligan City, Zamboanga del Sur, Bukidnon, Agusan del Norte, Dipolog City, Bu-tuan City, Pagadian City, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, Surigao City, and Marawi City.

Davao City was rep-resented by Holy Cross of Davao College, Inc.

Holy Cross getsgold in Kumbira

By HENRYLITO D. TACIO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31- SEPT. 01, 2014 5

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THE ECONOMY

DAVAO City-based Phoenix Petro-leum Philippines

Inc (PPPI) has recently opened a new L-shaped port facility in Calaca, Batangas, helping busi-nesses move their ship-ments away from the Ma-nila port.

Based on a disclosure from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Friday, PPPI said that through full subsidiary, Phoenix Petro-terminals and Industrial Park Corp (PPIPC), the new port port facility, will enable locators to accept more shipments for their business.

The disclosure also noted that the facility’s pier deck size is 120 me-ters x 18 meters, with a 9-meter width support.

Focused primarily on water transport, the area is also advantageous for businesses’ manufactur-ing plants, warehouses,

storage tanks and other facilities.

It was also blessed during the construction of the South Luzon Ther-mal Energy Corporation (SLTEC) power plant.

It will also have a ma-terial receiving facility, to be filled with hoppers, conveyor systems, and sprinklers that can re-lease coal shipments to the pier deck to the coal yards for more efficient and earth-friendly opera-tions.

PPPI is involved in trading petroleum prod-ucts and lubricants, oper-ation of oil depots along with storage facilities and shipping services.

Meanwhile, PPPI’s other subsidiaries are PFL Petroleum Management Inc (PMI), Subic Petro-leum Trading and Trans-port Phils Inc (SPTT) and Chelsea Shipping Corpo-ration. (PNA)

ORGANIC PARTY. Rizal Park turns into an organic produce market every Friday, attracting hordes of consumers who appreciate goods that are

grown naturally – with neither pesticides nor artificial fertilizers. Lean Daval Jr.

Phoenix opens port facility in Batangas

THE Bureau of Cus-toms (BOC) filed charges before the

Department of Justice against the owners and customs brokers of two firms for allegedly illegal-ly importing steel prod-ucts into the country.

Smuggl ing-re lated cases were filed against Tessie Ligon, owner and proprietor of Archer Blaze Marketing, with of-fices located at U-9 E.B. Santos Commercial Build-ing, National Road cor. P. Navarro, Paltao, Pulilan, Bulacan; and the firm’s customs broker, Aloha Pamintuan, with address at Rm. 326-330 Regina Building, 410 Escolta, Ma-nila; Renato Supan Miran-da, owner and proprietor of Echo Titan Marketing Resources, with offices at B12 L12 St. Jude Street, Marvi Hills Subdivision, Brgy. Gulod Malaya, San Mateo, Rizal; and Echo Ti-tan’s customs broker, Jun-nil Andujar Rollon, with address at Sitio Tarcom, Upper Laguerta, Busay, Cebu City.

Ligon, Pamintuan, Mi-randa, and Rollon face charges of violating the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines for al-leged unlawful importa-tion and the fraudulent

filing of import docu-ments under Sections 3601 and 3602 of the Tar-iff and Customs Code of the Philippines.

They are also facing charges for alleged viola-tion of the Bureau of Prod-uct Standards Law for the attempt of a non-holder of an Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) to import steel products without proper certification, and the Revised Penal Code for falsification of docu-ments.

In addition, Miranda and Rollon are also facing additional charges for al-leged misdeclaration of the weight and value of their shipments in viola-tion of Section 2503 of the Tariff and Customs Code.

“The country imports a significant amount of steel products and there is a strong demand for these. But we cannot be lax and allow uncertified steel products to enter the local market. Part of our mandate is to protect our people from cheap but unsafe products that could pose a risk to life and limb,” said Customs Commissioner John P. Se-villa.

Based on the com-plaint affidavit submitted by the BOC’s Intelligence

Alleged steelsmugglers sued

VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31- SEPT. 01, 20146

Freedom of expressionEDITORIAL

FINALLY, a city official got to the essential is-sue at the very foundation of the now-noto-rious hipon issue that has been hogging the

headlines and trending in social media for two weeks now. And not just any official: it was Mayor Rodrigo Duterte himself who pointed out why the issue, while seemingly trivial, is of fundamental importance to all of us in Davao City.

In responding to his son Vice Mayor Paolo Dute-rte’s reminder to him to respect the City Council’s resolution declaring comedian and UP professor Ramon Bautista persona non grata, the mayor said: “The essence of a democracy is the right to dissent. As Voltaire would put it, ‘I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend your right to say it.’”

The mayor was referring to his own disagree-ment with the City Council’s resolution, but he may as well have been saying it of Bautista. The

comedian had made a joke – arguably a bad one – and had been castigated for it. His response was to apologize not once but twice, and very publicly at that. At this point, the mayor said, the Council should have forgiven him. He acknowledged that asking for forgiveness is a difficult thing for a man to do, but Bautista did it anyway. Besides, what he said may have been a bad joke, but it was still his right to say it. If anyone had a beef against that, then there are avenues for them to air their com-plaint.

The protection of freedom of expression is vital for our democracy to flourish. Without it we are in danger of falling back into dark times. Dute-rte’s quote was actually incomplete. The state-ment attributed to Voltaire pushes the defense of freedom of expression to the ultimate sacrifice: “I disagree with what you say, but I will fight to the death your right to say it.”

EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

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VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31- SEPT. 01, 2014

A few days before he left for Manila to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award, I had the pleasure of talking

with Randy Halasan. He is the lone Filipi-no recipient of the prestigious recognition which is touted as the Nobel Prize of Asia.

Halasan is given the award for “his pur-poseful dedication in nurturing his Matig-salug students and their community to transform their lives through quality edu-cation and sustainable livelihoods, doing so in ways that respect their uniqueness and preserve their integrity as indigenous peo-ples in a modernizing Philippines.”

Halasan is the first Dabawenyo to re-ceive the award, the second Filipino in Mindanao to do such a feat, and the fourth winner from Mindanao. In 2004, Benjamin Abadiano was cited for “his steadfast com-mitment to indigenous Filipinos and their hopes for peace and better lives consonant with their hallowed ways of life.” Both are cited for Emergent Leadership.

The first two winners from Mindanao were Americans and both were recognized in international understanding (peace was added later into this category). In 1974, Rev. Fr. William Francis Masterson was rec-ognized for “his multinational education and inspiration of rural leaders prompting their return to and love of the land.” Eleven years later, Rev. Harold Watson was given the same recognition for “encouraging in-ternational utilization of the Sloping Agri-cultural Land Technology (SALT) created by him and his co-workers to help the poor-est of small tropical farmers.”

During my talk with Halasan, one of the most memorable statements he said was this: “Rich or poor, there’s no bound-

ary or limita-tions in helping our fellowmen, especially the poor. Nobody gets rich from the teaching profession, but a teacher like me gets rich from sharing knowl-edge, values, and positive attitudes to the community.”

Halasan is a teacher by profession who helped change not only the lives of the chil-dren in sitio Pegalongan, Barangay Malam-ba of Marilog District but also their parents and the community. Pegalongan is a far-flung place: as the local joke goes, all you need is P50 as fare to reach heaven.

“It is really a remote sitio and very diffi-cult to reach the place on foot and we need to cross two rivers,” Halasan has said.

Here’s what the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) said in its ci-tation: “It is a truism that it takes a village to raise a child. But it seems equally true that it takes just one person to launch this collective process of education. In the Phil-ippines, where a public school system has been in place for over a century, many com-munities remain either unserved or under-served.”

“Where physical access is difficult and dangerous, government’s presence weak and facilities are meager, and people are too poor to even claim an education, the work of public school teachers is nothing less

than heroic, and yet largely goes unher-alded,” the RMAF further said in its press release.

During our exclusive interview, he bared some facets of his life. On why he ac-cepted a teaching job in Pegalongan, he re-plied, “I had no choice. I had to use my pro-fession or I could be stuck working in other fields to which I am not fit.” After graduat-ing from college in 2003, he worked as as-sistant section head of a mall in Davao City.

“I was not able to take the teacher’s board exam because there was a prob-lem with my birth certificate,” Halasan said. After fixing the problem, he took the board exam and passed it with flying col-ors.

“I was totally shocked.” That was his reaction when he first came to Pegalongan Elementary School. After all, there was no electricity, no mobile phone signal, and worst, no television where he could watch national news. It was so dark at night that by 7 PM, he was already sleeping in his bed. Since he had nothing to do, he had to wake up at 5 AM.

The first thought that came into his mind after the first night was that he would seek a reassignment out of the place the first chance he could get.

What Halasan thought was only for a short time became seven years – and he is thinking of staying for more years. In hon-oring Halasan, the RMAF stated: “Moved by compassion for the children who have to walk miles and cross rivers just to get to school, and who often fall asleep in class from hunger and fatigue, and driven by a sense of duty to help the impoverished and defenseless forest tribals against the

encroachments of powerful outsiders, Halasan has embraced the Matigsalug community as his own. He has turned down offers for reassignment, and his family often does not see him for many weeks on end.”

Just recently, an annex of Gerardo Astil-la Senior Cultural Minority High School in Malamba was built at Pegalongan through his initiative. It opened in 2012 with 50 students; he became the teacher of those who enrolled in Grades 7 and 8. Today, two teachers are assigned in high school, so what he is doing right now is supervis-ing the school. The first batch of class to graduate will be in 2017.

Halasan, however, has done more than just teaching the children. He even helps the people living in Matigsalug to address food security. “If I only focus on educa-tion, nothing will happen; the children will continue to go hungry,” he was quoted as saying.

To fellow teachers, he said that it is im-portant to be creative and to have the ini-tiative in finding ways to deliver education needs. “To all teachers, particularly those who are assigned in far flung areas: Be happy and get inspired. We still have so many things to do and help, especially the tribal groups. Be creative and make some initiatives. Find some linkages; let’s not solely depend on our government since it has problems that also need our atten-tion.”

According to oral tradition, the word Pegalongan means “the place from which the light shines.” Because of what Randy Halasan has done, the place has become truly what its name suggests.

INTERIOR and local government Secre-tary Mar Roxas has been in his post for some time now but he has yet to make

his mark. He did better when he was trade and industry secretary where he stud-iedly cultivated a public persona as “Mr. Palengke.”

One wonders how come no compa-rable persona has evolved for his current cabinet position. He’s obviously trying to reinvent himself, build stature, and be a major contender for 2016; but unsuccess-ful so far.

Given his previous success and his knowledge of visioning a mission, defining its objectives, as he must have learned in management school long ago, it’s perplex-ing that he isn’t doing so well. It’s not as if he has no resources; he even enjoys an ad-vantage as presidential friend and crony.

Actually all Mar needs to do is think out and sharpen the immediate and me-dium-term mission of his department, which is to consolidate or secure the inte-rior space of the republic and assure good local governance by seeing to the correct implementation of the Local Government Code.

*****It’s a worthy challenge—and greatly

rewarding if he marshals his resources and makes an impressive showing. One thing he can do is bridge some knowledge gaps that keep people from being empow-ered and officials from conducting the business of government properly, so that good governance will be institutionalized.

For example, no official, agency, or department has pointed out or explained how the creation of the barangay into a full-fledged government, a public corpo-

ration, and an economy in its own right (under R.A. 7160) introduced changes and new processes into the political sys-tem.

The government’s structure before consisted of only two layers: local and national. After 1991, it became three lay-ers—primary (barangay governments), intermediate (municipal, provincial, re-gional), and national (top level). Rising from a base of 42,000+ barangay govern-ments to a midsection of close to 2,000 towns, provinces, and regions, the struc-ture tapers to the top, assuming a pyra-midal symmetry today.

*****Before, the structure was monolithic,

unitary under the presidential system, with a chain of command cascading from top to bottom, its operations typified by “trickle-down” policies and procedures—top-to-bottom planning, implementation, operation, evaluation.

After 1991, it was no longer mono-lithic or unitary but dual—parliamentary at the primary level (grassroots), presi-dential above (intermediate to national levels).

The barangay’s parliamentary char-acter (no separation of powers) relocated political power from the top (command structure flowing from the president/commander-in-chief downwards) to the base from which rises the sovereignty of the state and the authority of the govern-ment. People Power exemplified.

Note that the punong barangay chairs all three branches, so he’s very powerful, with no built-in checks and balances to assure transparency or accountability. But the law established the Barangay As-sembly which can temper the chairman’s powers, keeping him accountable and subject to the scrutiny of his peers. It’s an all-inclusive Assembly serving as the parliament of the community with power to hear and pass upon its operations and finances.

From these basic concepts flow a myriad of decisions and acts that no offi-cial, agency, or institution has bothered to point out or explain—causing unchecked aberrations and abuses.

****One issue concerns a seemingly sim-

ple question of terminology: Is the ba-rangay head a chairman or a captain? There’s a world of difference between these two terms and using either one has vital implications.

“Kapitan” is a military term refer-ring to a commander who orders peo-ple around, people who are his subordi-nates. But a chairman merely presides, not commands. The constituents are not his troops; they are his peers, and he presides over them only as “first among equals” and is accountable to them.

A “Kapitan” is answerable to his su-periors—all the way to the command-er-in-chief, not to his subordinates or troops. His word is law to his troops; he doesn’t even have to entertain their ques-tions or ascertain their wishes, much less obey them.

On the other hand, unlike a captain, a chairman is bound to listen to his con-

stituents, to obey them, and to accommo-date their wishes. Presiding and imple-menting group decisions is his essential function. If the captain/commander) can be said to be the master, the chairman as presider and implementer of resolutions and policies is a public servant.

****Finally, where the barrio kapitan of

yesteryears could be deemed as a “lit-tle president”—answerable to the com-mander-in-chief/president, today’s ba-rangay chairman is a “little prime minis-ter” answerable to his peers who consist of the local constituency that elects him and can recall or remove him on a ques-tion of confidence.

Some years back, when the late DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo attended a sum-mit of civil society and church groups, this issue was brought up and explained to him. Whereupon he promised he would rectify the rampant use of “kapitan” by issuing a memorandum circular to point out its inappropriateness and enjoin ev-eryone to refrain from using it.

Unfortunately, he never got around to issuing the circular and the promise per-ished with him when his plane crashed. So to this day, this terminological impro-priety continues to distort the nature, function, and power of the heads of ba-rangay governments, disempowering their constituents, demoting them to the status of subordinate soldiers and order-lies.

It would be so good if DILG Secretary Mar Roxas could empower the people of our primary governments with a simple terminological fix and put the officials in their proper place—as public servants!

Henrylito D. Tacio

THINK ON THESE!

Bring on the light!

Mar Roxas, DILG, and the info gap they should fill

VANTAGE POINTS 7EDGEDAVAO

BY MANNY VALDEHUESA

THE WORM’S EYEVIEW

VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31- SEPT. 01, 20148 EDGEDAVAO

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curity and Exchange Com-mission (SEC) registra-tion if it’s an association, corporation, partnership or single proprietorship, or Cooperative Develop-ment Authority (CDA) registration if it’s a farm-er’s cooperative, among others.

“I am envisioning that as long as the farmer can present a certification of land ownership issued barangay captain, he may avail himself of the pro-gram,” Piñol said

Wilfredo A. Tajan-tajan, head of the SME Southeastern Mindanao Center of the Develop-

ment Bank of the Philip-pines, said this project will be more accessible and doable to farmers in far flung areas , espe-cially those who are not member of any associa-tion or cooperative.

Paquibato District and its potential

Paquibato District covers 66, 242. 52 hect-ares or 27 percent of the city’s total land area, ac-cording to the Compre-hensive Land Use Pro-gram (CLUP) of the city.

Comprosed of 13 ba-rangays, Paquibato Dis-trict is considered to be one of the poorest areas

in the city because of lack of government services and road networks.

Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang said Paqui-bato District remains un-derdeveloped because of insurgency problem.

Most farmers are planting root crops like cassava and ube, among others. “We eat and sell the same root crops and we are tired of it,” Bali-nan said. He will take any opportunity to uplift his family from poverty, he added.

The income Balinan is earning from root crop may increase twice or

thrice because he will be able to harvest every 10 days compared to the four months with corn and rice.

Only a portion or 15,000 hectares of Paqui-bato District will be planted with oil palm.

Robertino Pizarro, president of the Philip-pine Palm Oil Develop-ment Council, said even if 10,000 hectares will be planted, farmers can still benefit because eco-nomic and social devel-opment will be immense.

There are still vast areas in Paquibato Dis-trict that are only planted

with cogon. There is no need to cut down trees or even burn them to the ground, as is practiced in Malaysia and Indonesia.

By next year, if at least 4,000 hectares will be planted with oil palm trees, investors will start to come in and put up small oil mills.

Where will the indus-try go?

It will not be only the idle lands in Paquibato District that will be soon converted in oil palm plantations but also the other areas in the coun-try, mostly in Mindanao.

Pizarro said the coun-

cil together with Philip-pine Coconut Authority is already crafting the roadmap for the palm oil industry.

According to him, the roadmap seeks to devel-op 56,641.71 hectares of land with bearing and non-bearing oil palms and about one million hectares of land suitable for oil palm plantation expansion by 2023.

Through the road-map, the Philippines will be able to attain self-suf-ficiency in the supply of palm oil at the same time be able to export in the future. CRC

here in the Philippines the product is only clas-sified as a food supple-ment.

Bien said the compa-ny is working hard to get recognition in the Philip-pines that its product is functional and can pro-

mote good health among Filipinos.

He said MX3 is not a replacement but works with the other medica-tions of patients. “Kailan-gan inumin pa rin ng mga pasyente ang kanilang mga gamot (The patients

still need to take their prescribed medicines),” Bien said.

“The good thing is that since our products are all natural, we do not see any over dosage of it, or any complication or side effects,” Bien said.

ter cut needed for the tapping of the newly re-placed 50mm diameter uPVC and 100mm diame-ter uPVC mainline at said area.

The projects involved in the first, second, and fourth sets of water inter-ruptions will help reduce non-revenue water.

Acting general manag-er Edwin V. Regalado asks for the understanding and cooperation of would-be

affected customers and advises them to store enough water prior to the scheduled water in-terruption. Water supply may be restored earlier if work goes smoothly or later if unforeseen prob-lems arise.

The general public may visit DCWD website (www.davao-water.gov.ph) and official Facebook page (www.facebook.com/davaowater) or call

the Central Information Unit / Call Center through the 24-hour hotline 297-DCWD (3293) and press “1” on their phone dial to listen to latest dai-ly water updates. They may also call / text 0927-7988966, 0925-5113293 and 0908-4410653 for other updates, com-plaints, queries and mat-ters pertaining to DCWD services. (Jamae R. Gar-cia)

(HCDC), which brought an amazing set of com-petitive and creative stu-dents backed up by high-ly-skilled coaches who are actually instructors of the school’s Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management program.

As expected, HCDC brought home honors to Davao City. It took the Gold prize in the Cake Decorating competition, according to Seth Liao, who was one of the par-ticipants. Nestea House Blend Concoction won Silver prize while the Ta-ble Setting for Two got the Bronze prize.

The HCDC group also

clinched several Diplo-mas (based on hospi-tality standard). These were for Waiter’s Relay/Table Napkin Folding, Entremetier, Fruit Carv-ing, Filipino Dessert, and Flair Bartending Tan-dem.

“With their innate inventiveness, our stu-dents have shown what potentials could have become of them in the future,” said Armando A. Mortejo, one of the coaches who accompa-nied the contingent.

The overall winners for the student division were as follows: Tago-loan Community College, champion; Father Sat-

urnino Urios Universi-ty, first runner-up; and University of Southern Mindanao-Kidapawan City Campus, second runner-up.

In the profession-al division, the Mon-ster Kitchen Academy was declared the all time-winner.

“Even though we didn’t win in the overall category, the experience we had will give us more inspiration to do better next year,” said Mortejo.

Art Boncato, assis-tant secretary of the Department of Tourism, said the Kumbira will soon be upgraded into a national competition.

Group, investigators found that Archer Blaze submitted fake docu-ments, including fake Conditional Release Per-mits of the Department of Trade and Industry-Bu-reau of Product Standards (DTI-BPS), to facilitate the firm’s importation of 47 20-foot containers of angle bars from Chi-na with a total value of P38.741-Million.

Attached to the per-mits was a fake letter sup-posedly from DTI-BPS ad-dressed to Port of Manila Acting District Collector Mario Mendoza attest-ing to the authenticity of the Conditional Releases issued. The shipments arrived through the Port of Manila in four batches last June 10 and 14, 2014.

In the second case, Echo Titan allegedly mis-declared the product they imported as ‘steel round bars’ from China. Howev-er, upon inspection, cus-toms examiners discov-ered that the shipment contained various steel products of various sizes including stainless steel flat bars, stainless steel angle bars, and stainless steel round bars.

Import documents also allegedly showed grossly misdeclaration of the weight and value of the goods inside one 40-foot and one 20-foot container vans in order to evade payment of the cor-rect duties and taxes.

The quantity of the products imported by Echo Titan was also al-

legedly misdeclared by as much as 33 percent. The import documents declared a quantity of 35,010 for the two con-tainers, with Dutiable Val-ue declared at P1.235-Mil-lion with total Duties and Taxes of P248,122.92.

Upon inspection, it was found out that the actual weight of the ship-ment was 52,100 kgs or a discrepancy of 17,090 kgs. With the discovery, Duti-able Value was adjusted and is now at P5.577-Mil-lion with the total Duties and Taxes now amounting to P1.113-Million.

The alleged smuggling attempt was foiled on the basis of Alert Orders is-sued by the BOC’s Intelli-gence Group, the Bureau of Customs said.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31- SEPT. 01, 2014 11EDGEDAVAO

HEALTH

ALTHOUGH his doc-tor told him that he was most likely to

have diabetes, Jerry nev-er changed his habits and didn’t heed the doctor’s advice of losing 20 kilo-grams. To think that his only sister had died of the said disease.

“I didn’t have that sense of urgency,” he said then. But nine months later, his condition wors-ened. The doctors diag-nosed him of having Type 2 diabetes.

“I should have followed what the doctors told me,” he says now. “I really nev-er thought it would hap-pen to me too soon.”

All over the world, the incidence of diabetes is growing; it is now among the top ten leading caus-es of death. The coun-try’s most recent survey showed that one out of every five Filipinos has di-abetes. “That means that around 20 percent of the population have diabe-tes,” points out the Philip-pine Diabetes Association (PDA), an umbrella orga-nization of all associations involved in the care of the diabetic patients.

Over 7 million Filipi-nos will have diabetes by 2030. But what is alarm-ing is that Filipinos diag-nosed with diabetes are getting younger. “Children as young as 5 years old have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes,” PDA re-ports. “With this trend, the Philippines is expect-ed to belong on the top 10 countries with the most people with diabetes 15 years from now.”

Considered as a “dis-ease of affluence,” diabe-tes is now taking its place as one of the main threats to human health in the 21st century. “Diabetes is going to be the biggest ep-idemic in human history,” warns Dr. Paul Zimmet, di-rector of the International Diabetes Institute in Victo-ria, Australia.

“Diabetes has no cure,” says Dr. Ricardo E. Fernan-do, founder and president of the Institute for Studies on Diabetes Foundation in the Philippines. “What doctors can do is just min-imize the complications or push its onset a little lat-er because the disease is more manageable among older people.”

Diabetes is a disease not caused by bacteria, viruses, or other microbes but by too much sugar in the body. Sugar is the ba-sic fuel that provides en-ergy for all body functions, from the beat of the heart to the thought processes of the brain.

Insulin, a hormone re-

leased from the pancreas, is the primary substance responsible for maintain-ing appropriate blood sug-ar levels. Insulin allows glucose to be transported into cells so that they can produce energy or store the glucose until it’s need-ed.

“But with diabetes, something goes awry,” says Dr. Willie T. Ong, an internist-cardiologist who serves as a consultant in cardiology at Makati Med-ical Center. “The pancreas becomes irresponsible. It either stops producing the hormone completely or else produces too much, which leads to insulin re-sistance. Either way, con-centration of sugar in the blood shoots sky-high.”

Of course, the body tries to eliminate the sug-ar. “The best to do that is via the urine,” says Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld, author of The Best Treatment. “But since the kidneys can’t excrete sugar in lump form, the body must pro-vide enough water to di-lute or dissolve the sugar in order to flush it out.”

The net result of all this is that the person will spend more and more time in the bathroom to void the sugar and at the water tap to drink the much needed extra water.

This is the basis why the cardinal signs of un-treated diabetes are fre-quent urination and great thirst. In women, the urine rich in sugar pro-vides a good medium for fungus to grow in the va-gina, hence the vaginal itching.

There are two types of diabetes: juvenile and adult-onset. Both types

are characterized by high levels of blood sugar. Both also share the same crip-pling or fatal long-term complications caused by excess sugar spilling over into sensitive tissues. But the similarities end there.

Elizabeth Hiser, a jour-nalist who writes for The New York Times, knows what Type 1 (juvenile) di-abetes is because she suf-fers from it. “The pancreas stops producing insulin, the hormone that allows the glucose in the blood to be moved into cells where it can be used as energy,” she writes. “Not surpris-ingly, the symptoms are severe, and without reg-ular injections to make up for the lack of insulin, the afflicted patient risks coma and death.”

Singer and actor Gary Valenciano has also this type of diabetes. His wife, Angeli, has saved the life of her husband several times already. “She has revived me a number of times, preventing me from falling into a diabetic coma,” he reveals.

On the other hand, someone with Type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes starts out with abnormal-ly high levels of insulin and can go for years – even decades – without know-ing he has the disease, because no immediate, life-altering symptoms oc-cur.

“The predisposition for developing Type 2 di-abetes is inherited,” writes Hiser, “and there are three factors that cause the disease to surface: being overweight, inactivity, and advancing age.”

Having too much body fat (and too little mus-

cle mass) decreases the body’s ability to use insu-lin, a condition called in-sulin resistance because cells literally become re-sistant to insulin’s effects.

Health experts say that carbohydrates, after a meal, are broken down to glucose, or single sugar units, which are absorbed and cause blood sugar levels to rise. Normally, over the next two or three hours, insulin efficiently clears blood sugar back to fasting levels.

When insulin does a poor job, blood sugar stays high between meals, even when insulin levels are abnormally high. As time passes, the insulin-pro-ducing cells of the pancre-as become dysfunctional. At this point, insulin injec-tions are needed.

“If you look at the spread of the scourge around the world, Type 2 diabetes occurs as a country advances tech-nologically, when people come out of the fields to sit behind desks,” notes Dr. Irwin Brodsky, director of the Diabetes Treatment Program at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

Type 2 is the strain most people have to fear. This is the real epidemic, accounting for 85-90 per-cent of diabetes cases in the country. “Getting diag-nosed early is important because most of its seri-ous complications are pre-ventable,” assures Dr. Ma-rie Yvette Rosales-Amante, who had her fellowship in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism at the University of Massachu-setts.

People with type 1 dia-betes need daily insulin in-

jections. Those with type 2 diabetes usually don’t need insulin injections. But 25 percent of them take drugs to improve sugar metabolism. “Treat-ing Type 2 diabetes with drugs does reduce blood sugar, that’s true,” says Dr. Ong.

But in many cases, doc-tors are electing to treat Type 2 diabetes with diet and exercise. They find that this lifestyle approach does more than just reduce blood sugar.

“It does a lot more,” says Dr. James Barnard, professor of physiological science at the University of California. “The same regi-men that puts diabetes on hold has a favorable impact on high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and obe-sity.” Those three, along with high blood sugar, are what doctors call the dead-ly quarter.

However, before doing anything, be sure to talk with your doctor. “We have been saying that diabetes is not a disease to be toyed with,” says Dr. Augusto D. Litonjua, president of the Philippine Center for Dia-betes Education Founda-tion. “It should be viewed with concern because if left untreated then there may be serious consequences. The glimmer of hope here is that if you treat a dia-betic really well, he will as long as a person without diabetes, and probably with a better quality of life because he takes care of himself better than one without diabetes who lives recklessly.”

PDA experts attribute the increase of diabetic in-cidence in the Philippines to the lifestyle and culture

of Filipinos. “For one, Fili-pinos love to eat,” PDA says. “Rice is the Filipinos’ staple food.”

Some studies have shown that the starch-rich staple can potentially release high amounts of sugar into the blood when digested. A 2007 study of Chinese women in Shang-hai found that middle-aged women who ate large amounts of rice and oth-er refined carbohydrates were at increased risk for diabetes compared to their peers who ate less.

In the United States, Americans who eat white rice on a regular basis — five or more times a week — are almost 20 percent more likely to develop dia-betes than those who eat it less than once a month.

For another, Filipinos are fond of holding cel-ebrations from fiestas, birthdays, weddings, and different holidays in which food indulgence is inher-ent and a crucial part of the celebrations.

“Filipinos have the best fatty, risky exotic foods,” PDA surmises. To name a few: batsoy, bulalo, liv-er and other organ meat, sisig, street foods (isaw, pork and chicken barbe-cue, adidas), and lechon.

Their condiments are among the world’s best: bagoong and patis. Filipi-nos also have the best and sweetest native delicacies and cakes, which are most-ly prepared from rice: puto, palitaw, biko, and bibingka, among many others.

With these kinds of foods, less exercise, and too much stress, it is no wonder there will be more diabetics in the Philippines in the years to come.

TOO MUCH SWEET CAN KILL YOU!By HENRYLITO D. TACIO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31- SEPT. 01, 201412 CLASSIFIED

Billiard Supplies

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Phone Nos.

Cell Nos.

EDGEDAVAO

INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31 - SEPT. 01, 2014

EDGEDAVAOSTYLE

THERE is no better feeling in the world than watching our loved ones sleeping fitfully. This is especially true for our precious little ones and this was what Lyn Buyco-Tan had in mind when she sought to create a bed linens collection which is the most sensible in home finery.

Photos by Mizelle Tan of Mimathology

Lyn is a true multi-hy-phenate who dabbles in interior design in addi-tion to teaching classical music appreciation in her kids’ school and be-ing a child-rearing advo-cate. Her store, The Oak & Acorn, which carries one-of-a-kind products for both parents and children alike, is a brick-and-mortar testament to her most important pas-sions. She stays involved in the design aspect of her husband Arch. Pat-rick Tan’s line of work and it is here where she gets to encounter suppli-ers whose wares get her excited with brimming possibilities. Such was the case when she came across a company which delivers top-quality lin-ens to select department stores in the country and international retail brands. The firm was willing to specially pro-duce items for Lyn even on a smaller scale and this was all the prompt-ing she needed to see Oak & Acorn’s linens collection to fruition. The first line of Lyn’s

linens collection is sh-am-type pillow covers. Calling to mind pris-tinely made-up beds and immaculately designed nurseries, these encase-ments which are made from 600-threadcount Egyptian cotton are ex-actly the kind that make you want to stare at or sink into. They come in clean lines and scalloped details in subtly cool pastel colors which Lyn intended so that they will be treated as classic mainstays in your bed-rooms that invoke feel-ings of sheltered nest-ing and delicious rest. Running your palms over the silky surfaces will all but convince you that they are truly a

Pieces of a haven

FPIECES, A4

A2 INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31 - SEPT. 01, 2014EDGEDAVAO

INdulge! A3VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31 - SEPT. 01, 2014 EDGEDAVAO

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Call: 224-0733 • Tionko St., Davao City

Pieces...FFROM A1

notch above your usual department store finds. That is why shouldn’t come as a surprise that they command a slightly higher price for its pre-mium features. Lyn happily concedes that buying the lin-ens is really a splurge but in the right direc-tion. Just like the other items developed by Oak & Acorn and proudly line their shelves, the underlying intentions are always towards the nurturing of children and building that feel-ing that they are loved. The bed linens are but one direction she is taking strides at and hopes that they will one day come to include full bed sheet sets and other complementary items. There is defi-nitely a line of stuffed toys in the works set to

be launched next year, which further bolsters Lyn’s purpose to build children a home envi-ronment that is a bliss-ful place filled with objects that will help them create meaning-ful memories. Just as how Lyn hopes that bedtime sto-ries and lullabies will be part of tucking chil-dren into bed in child-centric households across the city, she hopes that these pieces designed and created lovingly will be part of your own private ha-vens. Because propping your loved ones’ heads in only the best there is never goes out of style. Visit The Oak & Acorn at the 2nd level of Abreeza Mall, J.P. Lau-rel Avenue, Davao City. Contact no. 285-8659

VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31- SEPT. 01, 2014 13NEWSEDGEDAVAO

NOTICE OF LOSS

Notice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS CONSOLIDATED INC. ThatCERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT No.(s) 3127 under LOYOLA PLAN Contract No.(s)412011-9 issued to AURELIA O. VILLEGAS was lost. Any transaction entered into shall be null and void.

9/1,8,15

NOTICE OF LOSS

Notice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS CONSOLIDATED INC. ThatCERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT No.(s) 1004409 under LOYOLA PLAN Contract No.(s) 32256-1 issued to SOCORRO D. ANGSINCO was lost. Any transaction entered into shall be null and void.

9/01/08/15

THE Bureau of Cus-toms grossed P4.7 million in pro-

ceeds from the auction of an estimated 676,350 kilograms of smuggled garlic seized by the agency in June 2014.

A total of six bidders participated in the auc-tion on Friday (August 29) at the Manila Inter-national Container Port (MICP) which was held through sealed bidding.

The auction was originally set for last Tuesday (August 26) but was cancelled fol-lowing a issuance of im-port permits by the Bu-reau of Plant Industry that allowed the entry of several shipments of garlic on the same day,

which dampened bidder interest for the seized products and prompted MICP District Collector Elmir Dela Cruz to di-rect a re-appraisal of the bid price for lots to be auctioned.

From the original price of about P50 per kilo or a total minimum floor price of P33 mil-lion, the total floor price was adjusted to P16.69 million or about P24.50 per kilo.

There were no takers for the first lot or ship-ment, 17 units of 40-foot shipping containers with about 486,870 ki-los of garlic consigned to MC Jayson Interna-tional Trading as bid-ders said the shipment

had started to rot.The shipment had a

minimum asking price of P12-Million. The sale of this lot was deferred, pending further exam-ination of the garlic.

The second lot, four units of 40-foot ship-ping containers import-ed by Sofrich Trading with 104,670 kilos of garlic, sold for P2.592 million, or about P24.76 per kilo, to KKRL Trad-ing.

The third lot, com-posed of two units of 40-foot shipping containers with 55,850 kilos of garlic consigned to Yan Hu Food Manufactur-ing, was won by bidder Kaunlaran for P1.386 million, or P24.82 per

kilo.The last lot sold, a

40-foot shipping con-tainer with 28,960 kilos consigned to CMA CGM Philippines, was sold to a certain Nilo Peñaflor for P728,000 or P25.14 per kilo.

The winning bidders paid 50 percent of their respective bid prices, with the balance to be paid on the next busi-ness day. The winners then have two days to move their garlic out of MICP.

The winning bidders are also required to have the garlic fumigat-ed by a service provider duly accredited by the Bureau of Plant Indus-try.

BOC nets P4M from sale of seized garlic

VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31- SEPT. 01, 201414 EDGEDAVAOSPORTS

SHOCK waves hit the U.S. Open on Friday as veteran Mirjana

Lucic-Baroni spearhead-ed a series of stunning third-round surprises that claimed two of the top women’s seeds and seven-times grand slam winner Venus Williams.

Lucic-Baroni ousted second seed Simona Ha-lep, Italy’s Sara Errani posted her first career win over Williams and Swiss teen Belinda Bencic ousted sixth-seeded Ger-man Angelique Kerber on a sunny day that opened up the women’s draw.

Croatian Lucic-Bar-oni, a 32-year-old quali-fier ranked 121st in the world, dismissed Roma-nia’s Halep 7-6 (6) 6-2 to reach the fourth round for her best grand slam result since a 1999 run to the Wimbledon semi-finals.

With nothing to lose, Lucic-Baroni cut loose and rifled in 31 winners against Halep, who was

on the defensive through-out the 94-minute match.

“It’s amazing. I final-ly been able to play the tennis that I love to play. You know, being really aggressive and consistent at the same time,” said Lucic-Baroni. “Today was against one of the best players in the world.

“Best day of my life.”Bencic, 17, last year’s

French Open and Wim-bledon junior champion, defeated Kerber 6-1 7-5 to reach the round of 16 in her U.S. Open debut.

The Swiss, who made it to the third round at Wim-bledon, vowed not to be satisfied with her Flushing Meadows success.

“I want more,” said Bencic.

Lucic-Baroni’s next op-ponent will be 13th seed Errani, whose passage into the round of 16 was not as startling as the Cro-at’s dismantling of a world number two 10 years her junior, but a surprise

nonetheless.Errani, loser of all

three previous singles matches against Williams in straight sets, outdueled the seven-times grand slam winner in a thrilling third-set tiebreaker to win their roller-coaster clash 6-0 0-6 7-6 (5).

Two other veterans also advanced.

Ninth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, 29, crushed Sweden’s Johan-na Larsson 6-1 6-0, and 28-year-old Peng Shuai of China registered another upset.

The 39th-ranked Peng, who upset fourth seed Ag-nieszka Radwanska in the second round, eliminated 28th seed Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-4 6-3.

Also advancing was 10th seed Caroline Wozni-acki of Denmark, a 6-3 6-2 winner against 18th seed Andrea Petkovic of Ger-many.

CLIMACTIC TIE-BREAKER

ROGER Federer produced one particularly bril-

liant backhand lob that he celebrated by wag-ging a finger overhead during a straight-set sec-ond-round victory at the U.S. Open.

The second-seed-ed Federer beat 104th-ranked Sam Groth of Aus-tralia 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 Friday,

improving to 24-1 for his career in night matches held in Arthur Ashe Sta-dium.

Federer is also 54-1 in second-round Grand Slam matches; the only loss came at Wimbledon last year.

He limited the big-serving Groth to eight aces and broke him five times.

In the second set’s fi-nal game, Federer closed a 17-stroke exchange by sliding to his backhand side, stretching and flick-ing a high-arching lob that landed in. Federer raised his right hand and made a “No. 1” gesture with his index finger.

Federer next faces 42nd-ranked Marcel Gra-nollers.

SHOCK WAVES

Sabine Lisicki prepares to return a serve on Arthur Ashe Stadium. - Corey Silvia/usopen.org

Roger Federer attacks a backhand during a second-round match against Sam Groth. - Corey Silvia/usopen.org

Venus, Halep, Kerber booted out

Federer advances to third roundCITY Hall Executives

held their ground in the rough plays

of Game 1 and eked out an 84 – 78 win over As-sociation of Barangay Captains (ABC) as the 5th Conference kicked off on Friday night at the Davao City Recreation Center Almendras Gym.

The Executive Old-ies overcame the rugged and rowdy plays in the opening game of the new

series - marked with an ABC player being rushed to the hospital for check-up after the game – to take a 1 – 0 lead.

Christopher “Bong” Go ignored the on-and-off side skirmishes as the conference scoring lead-er poured in 27 points, including 17 in the first half.

Michael Peloton banked in 18 points as Joseph Felizarta dropped

14 for the Executives Old-ies who extended its win-ning streak to seven after tasting their only defeat in 18 games.

Glen Escandor was hit in the left eye in the third period where the spot-up shooter scored 8 of his total 12 points. The business-sportsman was clearly distracted by the hit in the eye as he went scoreless in the final pe-riod.

Executives overcomerough play, takes Game 1

VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31- SEPT. 01, 2014 15EDGEDAVAO SPORTS

WHEN the FIBA World Cup of Basketball tips

off tomorrow, the Philip-pines will feature one of the most unexpected par-ticipants in the whole tour-nament — Andray Blatche, current NBA free agent and erstwhile host of Lap-dance Tuesdays. Although Blatche is fairly reformed from his worst days with the Washington Wizards, he is still not considered to be the picture of depend-ability and commitment. Yet the oddity goes much deeper, because the Phil-ippines is a country with a basketball obsession that belies its relatively minor impact on the international game. How, exactly, would a player like Blatche fit in with this culture?

Not surprisingly, the answer is that it’s taking some time. In a new fea-ture for Grantland, Rafe Bartholomew details Blatche’s adjustment to his new team. Yet it’s his team-mates’ own adjustment to playing with Blatche that could be the most interest-

ing issue at play:A few days into training

camp, point guard Castro had already begun adding wrinkles from Blatche’s game to his own. During a four-on-four shell drill, he caught the ball on the wing and then raised it in an exaggerated, one-handed shot fake before swooping it back down into a jab-step fake, and then drove to the basket. It was a move Blatche had been using all week. The thought of one’s players adopting moves from Blatche, a player who has never been known for his work ethic or offensive efficiency, might cause anx-iety attacks in some coach-es. For Reyes, however, it was a sign his longtime players and his new pick-up were beginning to jell. It didn’t mean that he’d be coaching a team full of undersize Andray Blatche clones, but that they felt a “combination of respect and awe” for the big man’s game, and that playing with Blatche was giving his players “a lot of optimism [and] a lot of hope” about

their chances to pull off an upset in Spain. [...]

“Coming in, I had my doubts about Andray,” Reyes told me. “I thought he would be always away from us, but he’s actually thrown himself into the process. When people saw that he was a legitimate NBA player who was will-ing to be just one of the guys … there was a palpa-ble sigh of relief. [...]

That looming uncer-tainty is what made the Gi-las players hesitant about the plan to hire Blatche as a replacement for previous naturalized big man [Mar-cus] Douthit. “There were mixed reactions because Marcus was still here,” said Alapag, the 36-year-old captain who has been play-ing for various iterations of the national team since 2002. “After going through those battles and you have success with someone who you consider a brother and not just a teammate, you’re kinda worried when coach comes in and says, ‘Hey, we’re gonna try somebody else.’” [...]

THIS week, the best basketball nations in the world are

heading to Spain for the FIBA World Cup of Bas-ketball. The tournament — known until recently as the world champion-ships — lacks the over-whelming attention of the Olympics in the United States, but for many other countries it is considered to be nearly as presti-gious. As usual, Team USA enters the competition as the favorite, although that position is as precarious as it has been for some

time, with Spain serving as the strongest compe-tition. Even if the general hierarchy of teams hasn’t changed, there is no ques-tion that they appear less dominant than we’re ac-customed to.

The tournament tips off on Saturday, with Team USA set to take on Finland at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Here are five pressing stories to help you get acquainted with the World Cup before play begins.

1. Team USA looks vul-nerable.

When it comes to the best basketball country in the world, such issues as vulnerability are always relative, because their chances of losing remain much lower than those for any other team. Nev-ertheless, this is not the same Team USA that won the 2008 Olympics, 2010 world championships, and 2012 Olympics with very few hiccups. The team’s world championships/Cup roster never features the overwhelming star power of the Olympics, but it’s still reasonable to

think the group will in-clude one or two perenni-al All-NBA players. Team USA is used to the best.

The 2014 roster does not immediately look like such an established and dominant group. While USA Basketball expected

the absences of proven international commod-ities like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, the powers that be weren’t necessarily looking to be without Kevin Love (who bowed out due to his potential and eventual

trade from the Minneso-ta Timberwolves), Paul George (who was lost to his now-infamous leg in-jury during an exhibition game), and Kevin Durant (who withdrew from con-sideration due to mental and physical exhaustion).

HOST Holy Cross of Davao College (HCDC) and St. John

Paul (SJP) II College of Davao made their pres-ence felt by routing their rivals in the opening of the women’s basketball of the DACS Sportsfest 2014 at the HCDC gym.

The HCDC Lady Cru-saders exploded with a 25-9 blast in the first quar-ter and never looked back to demolish the Ateneo de Davao University, 84-57 in the first game. The Lady Crusaders enjoyed a 12-point lead after the first half, 43-31 then dou-bled their advantage by 24 points, 63-39 after the

third canto.Kathlene Gaudiano

topscored HCDC with 16 points and Junamae Dahay added 11. Alyssa Villamor led the Lady Knights’ los-ing cause with 12 points.

St. John Paul, on the other hand, survived the San Pedro College Lady Stallions, 65-59 despite a huge crowd support com-ing from the rival school.

Crowd-favorite guard Jessica Gutierrez scored on a jumpshot to tie the game, 37-all. Then SPC center Sofia Rose Sarda made a quick layup to grab the lead, 39-37 with 2:10 left in the third quarter. (PNA)

FAST FRIDAYS. Marco Tamayo of the MMA Davao United Fighting Championships explains the mechanics of the amateur selection and transition to profes-sional MMA during the Fast Fridays media forum at Archipelago 7107 at Barrio Fiesta in SM Lanang Premier. Lean Daval Jr.

THE MAN OF THE MOMENT. Andray Blatche of Pilipinas Smart Gilas.DRAY ON THE SPOT

How will Andray Blatche adjust will be key to success or failure

A close look at the FIBA World CupBy ERIC FREEMAN

HCDC, SJP take opener in DACS Women’s hoops

16 EDGEDAVAOSports

CHALLENGING curbs. Scorching heat of the sun. No problem.

Christopher “Bong” Go stamped his mighty class in Day 1 of the Jet Sports Association of Davao (JSAD) Invitational Jet-ski Racing Competition yesterday at the Sunset Beach Park in Samal.

Go, a veteran jet-skier, topped the first heat of the 300hp class, besting

a field of young and sea-soned speedsters.

The executive assis-tant of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and JSAD stand-out made the gruelling and complex curbs look easy and sprinted up a wide approach to the fi-nale to top the 300hp class with style.

He raced to the top of his second event after placing third in the pro

4-stroke 260hp.Another heat is set to-

day before the final round.Go’s remarkable per-

formance in the first day made him one of the fa-vorites entering the final round.

Go started joining na-tional jet-ski competition in the late 90’s but was out of action for more than a decade(Rico Bili-ran)

No. 5 Maria Sharapova surged past No. 26 Sabine Lisicki in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, to close out a sultry Friday evening at the 2014 US Open. - Andrew Ong/usopen.org

RETURN TO THE WATERS. Bong Go (extreme right).

Go shows might in jetski racing

VOL. 7 ISSUE 120 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, AUG. 31- SEPT. 01, 2014