Edge Davao 7 Issue 188

P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 7 ISSUE 188 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014

[email protected]

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

SPORTS page 15

INSIDE EDGEMAYWEATHER-PACQUIAO CLOSER TO REALITY

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

MAYOR SARA 2?

64.1

17.3

10.7

PLAYING THE MUSICAL CHAIRFORMER MAYOR INDAY SARA DUTERTE REP. KARLO NOGRALESVM PULONG DUTERTE

6 OUT OF 10 DABAWENYOS WILL VOTE FOR SARA DUTERTE AS NEXT MAYOR IF HER FATHER RODY DECIDES TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2016

6:2 PREFERENCE FOR FORMER MAYOR INDAY SARA OVER HER BROTHER VICE MAYOR PULONG DUTERTE

%

%

% 1 OUT OF 10 PROBABILITY TO ACHIEVE WHAT HIS FATHER FORMER SPEAKER PROSPERO NOGRALES FAILED IN HIS POLITICAL CAREER

* Based on October 6-7, 2014 survey conducted by the University of Mindanao (UM) Institute of Popular Opinion (IPO)

WE all know that ma-jority of Dabawen-yos want Mayor Ro-

drigo Duterte to run for Pres-ident in 2016. But if he does, who do they want to take his place?

A survey conducted by

the University of Mindanao’s Institute of Popular Opinion (IPO) found that an over-whelming 64.1 percent of Dabawenyos would vote for his daughter, former Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

The survey results also

showed that 17.3 percent would vote for her brother, incumbent Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte.

The third spot went to Davao City first district Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles with 10.7 percent, while the fourth

spot went to third district Rep. Isidro Ungab with 2.4 percent.

Other prospective can-didates were second district Rep. Mylene Garcia-Albano with 1.8 percent, and former Davao City Mayor Benjamin de Guzman. FSARA 2, 10

EDGE DAVAO Infographics

VOL. 7 ISSUE 188 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 20142 EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS

A POLITICAL ana-lyst yesterday said former Mayor Sara

Duterte remains the top choice among Dabawenyos to run for mayor in 2016 because she was personal-ly hand-picked by her fa-ther, Mayor Rodrigo Dute-rte, who is widely believed to be eying the presidency.

Ramon B. Beleno III told Edge Davao in an in-terview yesterday that Sara, although politically inactive, gained the trust and confidence of the pub-lic because of her father’s endorsement.

“There’s always this tendency that the mayor’s constituents will follow whatever he says. That’s o n e of the

r e a -s o n w h y

Dabawenyos don’t have any problem if the mayor wants speed limit, liquor ban, among others,” Beleno said.

He said the mayoral experience of Sara also gave her the edge over her brother, incumbent Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte.

“Although Paolo sits in the second highest position in the city government, he’s still not as active as his sis-ter when she was still serv-ing as mayor from 2010 to last year,” he said.

Beleno said Paolo’s name is typically written on waiting sheds, tarpau-lins, and other such materi-als – not on TV screens and newspapers. This means Sara, during her time, was always engaged in various issues.

Beleno, who is also a faculty member of the De-partment of Political Sci-

e n c e a n d H i s -t o r y

of the Ateneo de

Davao Universi-ty (AdDU), also said Sara has a better public image

JUST A DRILL. Employees of The Marco Polo, Davao carry a “casualty” into a waiting ambulance during the hotel’s simultaneous bomb and fire emergency drills on Tuesday afternoon. The drills, which were also participated in by

some government emergency response agencies, were conducted to strengthen the hotel’s emergency response system. Lean Daval Jr.

Experience, father’s blessing favor Sara

ANALYST SAYS:

FEXPERIENCE, 10

COUNCILOR Berino L. Mambo-o has warned establishments in Davao

City, particularly malls, that they can be charged with discrimination if they refuse entry to indigenous peoples (IPs) who are currently in the downtown area for the holiday season.

Mambo-o, a member of the Ata tribe and who is the Indig-enous People (IP) represen-tative to the City Council, told reporters that any person who will be found discriminating against the IPs will be penal-ized based on the provisions of the Indigenous Peoples Rights

Act (IPRA) Law of 1997 or Re-public Act 8371.

Mambo-o made the state-ment after being asked by me-dia for his reaction to reports that some malls prohibit IPs from entering their premises.

“Pwede ta mo file og kaso labi na kung discrimination (We can file a case especially if it is discrimination),” he said.

Davao City passed its own anti-discrimination ordinance in 2012 which, among others, penalizes restaurants, bars, stores, moviehouses, malls, and other places of entertain-ment for refusing entry to peo-ple based on national or ethnic

origin, religious affiliation or belief, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, or color of skin.

Mambo-o said so far his office has not yet received any complaints regarding the treatment of the lumads who are now in the city but added that he had received verbal re-ports on the matter.

“Kung duna gyud tay mapamatuoran o dunay ebidensya, himuon nato (If it can be proven or if there is evi-dence, we will pursue the com-plaint),” Mambo-o said.

Earlier, City Social Services and Development Office assis-

tant head Liwayway Caligdong said 1,000 IP families are al-ready in the shelters provided for them in the city proper.

A source from Abree-za Mall who asked not to be named said they do not have any policy prohibiting IPs from entering the mall.

The source said anyone can visit the mall anytime without any question.

For her part, SM City Davao public relations officer Apol Legario said they cannot comment on the issue as of the moment because they need to secure clearance first from their head office.

Malls warned against refusing entry to IPs

DAVAO City administra-tor J. Melchor V. Qui-tain has reminded all

heads of offices and employ-ees of City Hall that they are required to attend the flag raising and flag retreat cere-monies.

This after Quitain last month reprimanded some administrative officers after observing that there were only a few of them who were joining the flag ceremony.

He asked some of them to

submit an explanation letter on why they were not able to attend the ceremony.

In a memorandum issued on November 27, Quitain said all employees, including con-tract of service or job orders, should strictly observe the flag ceremony, retreat cere-mony, and other commem-orations of legal and special holidays.

“Failure to observe and comply with the policy shall be a ground for the filing of

appropriate administrative for violation of reasonable of-fice rules,” he said.

For first offense, the em-ployee will be reprimanded. For second offense, the em-ployee will be suspended up to one month, and for third offense the employee will be dismissed from service.

Quitain, however, said employees who are perform-ing utility and sanitation work, civil security and se-curity guards, ticket checkers

on duty are exempted from attending the activities.

Pregnant women and employees whose condition or illnesses are directly at-tributed to sunlight exposure and prolonged standing were advised to seek exemption from the Human Resource Management Office.

The City Hall flag cere-mony starts at exactly 8 a.m. every Monday, while the flag retreat is at 5 p.m. every Fri-day. [ABF]

[email protected]

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO [email protected]

Attend flag ceremony, City Hall workers told

VOL. 7 ISSUE 188 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014 3EDGEDAVAO NEWS

OUST AQUINO. Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Southern Mindanao secretary general Sheena Duazo, together with other militant group leaders, leads a protest rally staged by various progressive groups to call for the ouster of President Aquino along Roxas Avenue in Davao City Tuesday afternoon. Lean Daval Jr.

SteelAsia puts up mill in DavaoSTEELASIA Manufacturing

Corporation, the country’s largest steel manufactur-

er, has just completed a P3-bil-lion steel plant in Davao City in time for the expected growth of Mindanao following the Bangsamoro peace agreement.

The plant’s completion is in time for government initia-tives to build Mindanao infra-structure and generate busi-ness activity. Since 2012 up to 2015, the Mindanao public works and highways budget allocation exceeded all major region groups, including NCR, Northern Luzon, Southern Lu-zon, and Visayas.

The 2015 budget rep-resents a 68 percent growth from the previous year’s bud-get. This budget grew from P20 billion of 2012 to P27.5 billion in 2013, P37.5 billion in 2014, and P63 billion in 2015.

The Davao City plant is expected to reduce the cost of construction in Mindanao. Rebars no longer need to be shipped from Manila, and as a result Manila and Davao rebar prices would be the same.

The elimination of sea freight reduces the carbon

footprint associated with ship-ping fuel.

The mill in itself is a bench-mark for the steel industry in modern environmental pro-tection. Despite large water needs, the mill collects 100 percent of its water through a rainwater collection system.

The mill fully recycles wa-ter with zero effluent from op-erations. Its innovative closed lubrication system ensures no seepages of used oil into the environment. Its technologies are the most efficient in power and fuel consumption in the industry.

Government thrusts to encourage the manufacturing sector as a vehicle for inclu-sive economic growth are ad-dressed by the steel industry. The Davao steel mill will create 2,000 jobs directly and indi-rectly.

Manila stands to benefit as well from the establishment of the Davao mill. Dispersing eco-nomic activity across the archi-pelago decongests the Manila ports. Around 75 percent of SteelAsia’s operation is no lon-ger in Manila, but dispersed regionally.

THE Moro Islamic Liber-ation Front (MILF) on Tuesday vowed to ex-

ert all efforts to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers and remove the group from the UN list of armed groups using children as combat-ants.

The assurance came during an orientation on the UN-MILF Action Plan on the recruitment and use of chil-dren attended by UNICEF of-ficials and MILF command-ers, in Camp Darapanan here.

MILF first vice chairman Ghadzali Jaafar said they

wanted to set an example to other armed groups like the New People’s Army, Abu Sayyaf and Bangsamoro Is-lamic Freedom Fighters in respecting internationally recognized children’s rights.

“We approved this code of conduct as our sincere ef-fort to show our concern for children’s future, but it was never the policy of the MILF to use children,” Jaafar said.

“MILF is the only non-state armed group in the whole world attempting to be delisted from the list of armed groups that engage children in armed conflict

and this is something very, very unique”, according to UNICEF country representa-tive Lotta Sylwander.

She said the move would have global significance now that the group has set its eyes on developing the Bangsamoro together with the state.

In a visit last week to Camp Rajah Muda in Pikit, North Cotabato where the same orientation was held, one MILF fighter admitted it was difficult to refuse chil-dren who wanted to follow the footsteps of family mem-bers who have joined the

group.“But now, realizing the

improvements of the peace talks and the recent devel-opments with the sincerity of the present government, we rather wanted to see young fighters in schools,” the source who refused to be identified said.

Aside from MILF, military commanders and troops also underwent a series of orien-tation sessions on the action plan to ensure adherence to international law.

Globally, at least 740,000 people die directly or indi-

SteelAsia President Ben-jamin Yao said: “We are proud that we are part of the solution in the decongestion of Manila.”

The Davao mill is the larg-

est and most modern steel plant in the country, at par with the world’s best. The mill can produce 500,000 metric tons of rebars annually, bring-

ing Steel Asia’s total produc-tion capacity to two million metric tons from its six plants. This capacity is more than half the country’s demand of 3.3

million metric tons this year.SteelAsia has three plants

in Luzon, one in the Visayas, two in Mindanao, including the new Davao plant.

MILF vows to stop using child soldiers

DAVAO Light and Pow-er Company (DLPC) yesterday apologized

for the unscheduled power interruption that hit several areas in Davao City, saying it was caused by a fallen tarpau-lin that hit the company’s line near the SSS office along Baja-da.

In a statement, DLPC cor-porate communications officer Rossano Luga said customers connected to its ERA Line 2

experienced the emergency power interruption yesterday, December 3, which occurred from 9:51 a.m. to 10:44 a.m.

He said the affected areas were Bajada, Buhangin, La-nang, Sasa, and all the way to Panacan.

“Davao Light apologizes for the inconvenience brought about by the unscheduled ser-vice interruption, hence, was not able to make prior notice,” Luga said.

ALARMED by the rising local cases of Human Im-munodeficiency Virus

and Acquired Immune Defi-ciency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), the provincial government of South Cotabato is working on the creation of a special body that will spearhead efforts in combatting the disease.

Dr. Rogelio Aturdido Jr., South Cotabato Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) chief, said they will gather var-ious stakeholders in the prov-ince on Thursday to set off the creation of the Provincial HIV/AIDS Council.

He said they will discuss the composition, functions and mechanisms of the council as well as formulate the initial strategies and activities in line with the campaign against the disease.

The establishment of the

council was provided for in an ordinance passed recently by the provincial board or Sang-guniang Panlalawigan.

The measure was au-thored by board member El-len Grace Subere-Albios, who chairs the board’s committee on health.

“The council will mainly lead and coordinate efforts to curb the rising incidence of HIV/AIDS in the province,” Aturdido said.

The official said the coun-cil will involve provincial gov-ernment departments and offices, national government offices based in the area, city and municipal governments, and non-government organi-zations.

He said the special body will also be tasked to initiate

S. Cotabato formsHIV/AIDS Council

FMILF, 10

Davao Light explainsemergency blackout

FSOUTH, 10


ECONOMY

ASSETS AmountCash and Cash Items P 970,411,289.05Due from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas 600,722,556.58Due from Other Banks 1,248,854,855.94Financial Assets at Fair Value through Profit or Loss 0.00Available-for-Sale (AFS) Financial Assets - Net 2,280,066,490.35Held-to-Maturity (HTM) Financial Assets - Net 342,861,984.48Unquoted Debt Securities Classified as Loans - Net 0.00Investments in Non-Marketable Equity Security-Net 0.00Loans and Receivables-Net 19,654,136,324.71

Loans to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas 0.00Interbank Loans Receivable 0.00Loans and Receivables - Others 19,842,891,552.92Loans and Receivables Arising from RA/CA/PR/SLB 0.00General Loan Loss Provision 188,755,228.21

Other Financial Assets 1,062,937,736.51Equity Investment in Subsidiaries, Associates and Joint Ventures - Net 6,448,462.30Bank Premises, Furniture, Fixture and Equipment - Net 1,466,051,568.55Real and Other Properties Acquired - Net 21,673,032.17Non-Current Assets Held for Sale 0.00Other Assets - Net 443,403,807.49Net Due from Head Office/Branches/Agencies, if any (Philippine branch of a foreign bank) 0.00TOTAL ASSETS P 28,097,568,108.13

LIABILITIESFinancial Liabilities Designated at Fair Value through Profit or Loss P 0.00Deposit Liabilities 17,865,282,298.71Due to Other Banks 0.00Bills Payable 5,562,567,260.20

a) BSP (Rediscounting and Other Advances) 110,567,260.20b) Interbank Loans Payable 0.00c) Other Deposit Substitute 0.00d) Others 5,452,000,000.00

Bonds Payable - Net 0.00Unsecured Subordinated Debt - Net 0.00Redeemable Preferred Shares 0.00Special Time Deposit 0.00Due to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas 0.00Other Financial Liabilities 140,622,113.15Other Liabilities 389,695,729.73Net Due to Head Office/Branches/Agencies (Philippine branch of a foreign bank) 0.00TOTAL LIABILITIES P 23,958,167,401.79

STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITYCapital Stock P 2,471,903,970.00Other Capital Accounts 591,408,219.81Retained Earnings 1,076,088,516.53Assigned Capital 0.00TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY P 4,139,400,706.34TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY P 28,097,568,108.13

CONTINGENT ACCOUNTS AmountGuarantees Issued P 0.00Financial Standby Letters of Credit 0.00Performance Standby Letters of Credit 0.00Commercial Letters of Credit 0.00Trade Related Guarantees 0.00Commitments 0.00Spot Foreign Exchange Contracts 0.00Securities Held Under Custodianship by Bank Proper 0.00Trust Department Accounts 0.00

a) Trust and Other Fiduciary Accounts 0.00b) Agency Accounts 0.00c) Advisory/Consultancy 0.00

Derivatives 0.00Others 19,761,622.13TOTAL CONTINGENT ACCOUNTS P 19,761,622.13

ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONGross total loan portfolio (TLP) P 20,241,480,426.92Specific allowance for credit losses on the TLP 398,588,874.00Non-Performing Loans (NPLs)

a) Gross NPLs 618,174,437.91b) Ratio of gross NPLs to gross TLP (%) 3.05c) Net NPLs 219,585,563.91d) Ratio of Net NPLs to gross TLP (%) 1.08

Classified Loans & Other Risk Assets, gross of allowance for credit losses 2,422,419,171.05DOSRI Loans and receivables, gross allowance of credit losses 20,759,499.63Ratio of DOSRI loans and receivables, gross of allowance for credit losses, to gross TLP (%) 0.10Gross non-performing DOSRI loans and receivables 0.00Ratio of gross non-performing DOSRI loans and receivables to TLP (%) 0.00Percent Compliance with Magna Carta (%)

a) 8% for Micro and Small Enterprises 10.26b) 2% for Medium Enterprises 3.32

Return on Equity (ROE) (%) 14.87Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) on Solo Basis, as prescribed under existing regulations

a) Total CAR (%) 17.58b) Tier 1 CAR (%) 16.77

Deferred Charges not yet Written Down 0.00Unbooked Allowance for Credit Losses on Financial Instruments Received 0.00

We, Romulo C. Guerrero and Alex V. Buenaventura of the above-mentioned bank do solemnly swear that all matters set forth in the above balance sheet are true and correct to the best of our knowledge and belief.

(SGD.) ROMULO C. GUERREROComptroller

(SGD.) ALEX V. BUENAVENTURAPresident

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 22nd day of October 2014 at Davao City, Philippines, affiant exhibiting their Driver’s License No. L02-81-02-0440 and L06-71-010069, respectively.

Doc. No. 696Book No. 140Page No. VSeries of 2014

ATTY. BAMBETH MAHAL J. DIEZNotary Public for Davao City

Serial No. 219-2013 until December 31, 2014PTR No. 3861307 - 01/06/2014 - Davao City

IBP Life Member Roll No. 09796 - 03/11/11 - Pasig CityMCLE Compliance No. III-0020518 / IV-0001914

Roll of Attorney’s No. 56206One Network Bank Bldg., Km. 9, Sasa, Davao City

ONE NETWORK BANK, INC. (A RURAL BANK)

ONE NETWORK BANKA Rural Bank

www.onenetworkbank.com.ph

Balance SheetAs of September 30, 2014

(Head Office and Branches)

THE provincial gov-ernment of South Co-tabato is pushing for

the completion within the next two years of its ongo-ing tourism development projects in a bid to enhance the area’s thriving tourism sector.

South Cotabato Gover-nor Daisy Avance-Fuentes said the local government is pouring in additional in-vestments next year for var-ious tourism development initiatives, which includes the opening of new tourism circuits, access roads and re-lated facilities.

She specifically cited the ongoing construction of the P120-million circumferen-tial road that will connect the famed seven waterfalls of Lake Sebu town.

The project, which is funded by the Tourism In-frastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), is due for completion next year.

TIEZA opened last Oc-tober the bidding for the concreting component of the road project, which was aimed to improve access to the seven falls and other tourism areas in Lake Sebu.

Fuentes said they are currently finalizing plans for the development of the canopy walk and installa-tion of cable cars along the seven waterfalls as well as the opening of the lakeshore boulevard in Lake Sebu.

She said they are also working on the operation-alization of the Lake Lahit tourism facility and the opening of the small-scale mining leg in T’boli town, fruit park in Tupi town, and the biodiversity corridor of Tampakan and Tupi towns.

“We will also open next year additional facilities at our improved Productivity and Technology Center (Pro-tech),” she said.

The Protech Center, which is located in Koronad-al City, hosts a “pasalubong center” and a trading area for various local products.

Fuentes said these initia-tives are all aimed to attract more tourists to the prov-ince in the next two years.

The local government re-corded nearly 300,000 tour-ist arrivals from January to September and it expects the figures to further increase until yearend.

South Cotabato speeds uptourism infra projects

ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY HOUSING PROJECT. Mayor Rodrigo Duterte (center) poses with (from right) Taesoo Kwon, founding chairman of Dongrim Construction- South Korea; Joongho Cho, CEO of Don-grim Construction-South Korea/ASDC Director; engineer Jin Hee Hong, CEO of April Sharon Corp.-Davao Operations/ASDC Director & Dongrim Construction

VP; and JCI Sen. John Enerio, managing partner/gov’t./corporate liaison/PR-media relations of ASDC-Davao. The mayor said he was enthusiastic about the first built-in solar power houses in a subdivision in Davao City with net metering through Davao Light and Power Company. For more info one may call 0919-3596595/09053278454-JGE-PR120314.

Anna Liza Mondejar, tourism officer of the prov-ince’s arts, culture, tour-ism, sports and museum promotions unit, said the province’s tourist arrivals reached a total of 293,727 during the first three quar-

ters of the year.She said the total do-

mestic tourists or visitors reached 291,515 while the foreigners totalled 2,212.

Tourists who opted for overnight stay in the area reached 169,781, of whom

682 were foreigners.For the same day visi-

tors or excursionists, those from the province reached 110,264 while visitors from other areas reached 12,162. Foreign visitors reached 1,520.

Lake Sebu, the province’s banner tourism site, was the most visited area, followed by the tarsier sanctuary in Barangay Linan in Tupi, Mt. Matutum in Polomolok, Lake Holon and Mt. Melebingoy in T’boli. (MindaNews)

VOL. 7 ISSUE 188 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014

PRIVATE workers in Region 12 will receive an additional P5 increase

in their daily wages starting January 1 next year, bringing the area’s floor pay to P275.

Ofelia Domingo, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Region 12 director, said the pay increase represents the P5 additional cost-of-living allowance (COLA) that was set

in Wage Order No. RB XII-18 that took effect last August 1.

She said workers in the region received a P10 to P14 increase in their basic minimum wage upon the effectivity of Wage Order No. RB XII-18, with the integration of the COLA provided for in the previous wage order.

“Starting January 1, the daily minimum wage will increase to P275 we’re

currently intensifying our monitoring activities to ensure its full compliance in the entire region,” she said in a press conference.

Also known as Soccsksargen, Region 12 comprises the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotabato and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and

Cotabato.The Regional Tripartite

Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB), which is chaired by Domingo, endorsed the new wage order in June following a series of public consultations.

The board said the new minimum wage rates apply to all minimum wage earners in the region regardless of position, designation or status, and irrespective of the method

by which their wages are paid.It noted that the new wage

order reduced the number of minimum wage levels in the region from five to three, with workers in the non-agriculture receiving a daily pay of P275, agriculture with P257 and retail/service establishments with P255.

The RTWPB-12 has exempted from the new wage order all establishments that have total assets of less than P3 million, are not registered as Barangay Micro Business Enterprises, distressed establishments and those adversely affected by calamities such as natural and human-induced disasters, it said.

Domingo said they have assigned teams to conduct regular compliance visits in various business establishments and employers regarding the new wage order.

She said they were also mandating employers to properly pay the due benefits and incentives or bonuses of their workers, especially the 13th month pay.

“There are really establishments that have not been complying with the new wage rates but we’re closely monitoring them,” she said.

Citing their assessment,

the official said one of every 10 business establishments in the entire region is so far not compliant with the wage order.

Aside from the minimum wage violations, she said they monitored a number of employers who were properly providing the mandated benefits of their workers like the overtime pays.

Domingo said that in the month of November, they have issued two compliance orders against two business establishments for payments of due salaries and benefits to their workers that are worth P3 to P4 million.

She said the issuance of compliance orders are among the legal remedies that the agency may use against erring employers.

If the employers would ignore the compliance orders, she said the DOLE regional office may issue writ of execution and garnishment orders for their assets later on.

“We also have the option to file criminal charges against our erring employers but we try to avoid that route. Our approach is developmental and we look into various alternatives to resolve these problems but not at the expense of our workers,” she added. (MindaNews)

5Workers in R12 to get P5-wage hike in 2015

ALMOST DONE. Runners pass underneath the rebuilt Mandulog Bridge in Iligan City on Sunday (30 Nov 2014). The original bridge, shown in the background, fell during Typhoon Sendong three years ago after it was battered by thousands of logs

that came down from the mountains through the Mandulog River. Workers said the new bridge, which is almost done, will be open to the public before the year ends. [MindaNews photo by Bobby Timonera]

THE ECONOMY


VANTAGE

Solution to anarchyEDITORIAL

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

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Columnists: CARLOS MUNDA • HENRYLITO TACIO • MA. TERESA L. UNGSON • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • AURELIO A. PEÑA • MARY ANN “ADI” C. QUISIDO • LEANDRO B. DAVAL SR., • NICASIO ANGELO AGUSTIN • VIDA MIA VALVERDE • Economic Analysts: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG • JONALLIER M. PEREZ

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RICHARD C. EBONAMarketing Supervisor

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AQUILES Z. ZONIOFUNNY PEARL GAJUNERA

CHA MONFORTE Correspondents

ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.CHENEEN R. CAPON

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PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTEthe national association of newspapers

THE Davao City Council has proposed to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) the opening of 15 new public utility jeep

(PUJ) routes from as many points leading towards the fast-growing poblacion of Toril District.

The idea hatched by Councilor Bernard Al-ag makes a lot of sense to people who have closely observed the ex-ploding progress in Toril, a development that is behind the acceleration of business activities and the resultant increase in the movement of people and goods. The need for vehicles to transport the goods from the farms and other production areas of the district to the poblacion has tremendously increased through the years, prompt-ing government to open new farm-to-market roads or improve existing ones. Unfortunately, the number of le-gally-operated vehicles has failed to catch up with the fast-growing demand. As result, motorcycles-for-hire op-eration has filled the void, creating chaos in traffic. The

tricycles have been illegally using the highways. Pretty soon, accidents occurred and a solution has to be found.

“The lack of public transportation there creates a de-mand for tricycles, which is against the law,” correctly ob-served proponent Al-ag.

The creation of 15 jeepney routes, no doubt, will solve the road chaos in Toril and hopefully stop the loss of many lives and tremendous damage to property due to accidents.

This is not to say that ipso facto the traffic problem in the Toril poblacion will be eliminated. To be sure, this will not automatically make the drivers of public utility jeeps and motorcycles for hire, notorious for violating traffic rules and sometimes defying enforcers, behave. Open-ing franchise routes and road discipline are two different matters all together. What we need in Toril are decisive traffic enforcers who will implement the traffic laws and ordinances without hesitation.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 188 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014 VANTAGE POINTS 7EDGEDAVAO

Henrylito D. [email protected]

THINK ON THESE!

Thoughts of wisdom this Christmas season

The sublime hope of a new nation

John [email protected]

MY TWO CENTS’

YOU probably heard some of them before – from your parents, friends, teachers, and counselors.

Or you might have read a few of them from books, newspapers, magazines, and the Holy Bible. Or you got the idea from listening to music and watching movies and television talk shows. Now, read them all over again:

Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds a man down or polishes him de-pends upon the kind of stuff he is made of. Life is also a lot like tennis – the one who can serve best seldom loses. We dribble away our life, little by little, in small packages – we don’t throw it away all at once.

Learn by experience – preferably other people’s. Experience is not what happens to a man, it’s what a man does with what happens to him. One good reason experience is such a good teach-er is that she doesn’t allow any drop-outs.

He who has never failed has never tried. Five rules for job failure: (1) Do only what is required; (2) Leave it till the last minute; (3) Let the mistakes go; (4) Don’t listen to your conscience; and (5) Learn to be a convincing bluffer.

Think of your own faults the first part of the night when you are awake, and of the faults of others the latter part of the night when you are asleep. Most of us can live peacefully with our own faults, but the faults of others get on our nerves.

Practice what you preach. Doing right is never wrong. Adversity causes

some men to break; oth-ers to break records. One-half the trou-ble of this life can be traced to saying “yes” to quick, and not say-ing “no” soon enough.

Live truth instead of professing it. If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything. The man who fears no truths has nothing to fear from lies. The trouble with stretching the truth is that it’s apt to snap back.

When you determine what you

want, you have made the most import-ant decision in your life. You have to know what you want in order to attain it. If you’re not sure where you are go-ing, you’re liable to end up somewhere.

Trust in yourself and you are doomed to disappointment. Trust in money and you may have it taken from you. But trust in God, and you are nev-er to be confounded in time of eternity. The greatest act of faith in when man decides he is not God.

Big people monopolize the listening. Small people monopolize the talking. A great man is always willing to be little. The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than

saved by criticism.Don’t worry about your mistakes.

Making mistakes isn’t stupid; disregard-ing them is. More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying them.

If you expect perfection from people, your whole life is a series of disappoint-ments, grumblings, and complaints. If, on the contrary, you pitch your expecta-tions low, taking folks as the inefficient creatures which they are, you are fre-quently surprised by having them per-form better than you had hoped.

It is better to have love and lost than never to have at all. If someone loves you, your battle is a lot more than half won. Love cures people – both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. If we do not love, we are nothing. And, if we are not loved ourselves, we are no-body.

Until you make peace with who you are, you’ll never be content with what you have. Conquer yourself rather than the world. Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure. Failures want pleasing meth-ods, successes want pleasing results.

A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done. To get through the hardest journey we need to take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping.

Lots of people limit their possibili-ties by giving up easily. Never tell your-

self this is too much for me. It’s no use. I can’t go on. If you do, you’re licked, and by your own thinking, too. Keep believ-ing and keep on keeping on.

Remember to forgive – then re-member to forget. A forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note, torn in two and burned up, so that it never can be shown against the man. Forgiveness is our command. Judgment is not.

The happiest people don’t neces-sarily the best of everything. They just make the best of everything. The hap-py people are those who are producing something; the bored people are those who are consuming much and produc-ing nothing.

Forget yesterday, it is already gone. Don’t wait for tomorrow, it may never come. Accomplish all the things you want to do today. Do not look back and do not dream about the future. It will neither give you back the past nor sat-isfy your daydreams. Your duty, your reward – your destiny – are “here” and “now.”

Ten rules for successful living: (1) Find your own particular talent. (2) Be big. (3) Be honest. (4) Live with enthu-siasm. (5) Don’t let your possessions possess you. (6) Don’t worry about your problems. (7) Look up to people when you can – down to no one. (8) Don’t cling to the past. (9) Assume your full share of responsibility in the world. (10) Pray consistently and con-fidently.

No matter what do you and where you are, life goes on. So, take it easy.

A NATION is not only a population, a bloodline, language, and a territory, it is a set of collective dreams premised

on a sublime idea. I use sublime in the sense of Edmund Burke, since it connotes fear and death as equal emotions to joy and happiness. For one cannot truly grasp happiness with-out understanding pain, death, and other ter-rifying emotions. A respect for such makes us mature players in life’s game, winning some, losing others, yet picking ourselves up every time we fall, to keep running, and dream and hope along with others possessing the same sublime idea. For nations can exist only with the shared sublime.

Last Monday’s forum on the federal Phil-ippines revealed exactly that sense of the shared sublime. Presentations from Manny Piñol, proponent former Cagayan de Oro Mayor Reuben Canoy, and former Justice Secretary Bebot Bello. Reactions delved on the federal Philippine concepts of education from Rhona Canoy, Muslim identity from Prof. Moner Bajunaid and Atty. Randolph Parcasio of the MNLF, Lumad insights from Councilor Merino Mambo-o, Spiritual views from Archbishop Nanding Capalla, the legal basis of a federal Philippines from Dean Is-raelito Torreon, the Local government per-spectives from Gov. Joe Zubiri and Mayor To-mas Osmeña, even sharings from former AFP

Chief of Staff H e r m o g e n e s Esperon. The event as syn-thesized by Atty. Jess Dure-za. Of course, Mayor Duterte.

The sub-lime agree-ment, if you will, is that we in the Land of Promise have known promise after broken promise. For it is not up to Mala-cañang’s occupant to deliver on the promise, it is the system that leaves that promise ever broken and unfulfilled. For a long time, half of all government resources are earmarked for Luzon, while more than half our GDP comes from Mindanao. The disparity in gov-ernment attention is only outweighed by the unequal social reality of a Mindanao left poor while funding the capital’s largesse. Yet, while successive national governments have brought new laws that aim to reorient this unjust balance, all of these become pieces of useless paper, as full implementation of any legislated program for self determination must come with the resolve to prove the em-

powering resources.Over the years imperial Manila has re-

mained imperious towards us. Even the best of the current government’s priority programs, the Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), are largely designed and meant to deal with the effects of urbanization in the Greater Manila area (new skyways and ex-pressways) , rather than programs to drive new economic growth and ensure adequate, affordable food and power supply in the out-er regions that can decongest the metropol-itan capital. Centralized power and decision making facilitates a lack of foresight and an inherent insensitivity to the needs of those outside the center. They decide first for themselves, everybody else’s needs and in-terests follow after, if at all.

Centralized power, and its shortsighted nature, has reaped its fullest damage in the current congestion in the air, land, and sea of the greater Manila area from Lucena to Dagupan. By fostering in-migration to this core, it has allowed the population to swell beyond its carrying capacity to what now is a 50 million-strong immediate constituency fed its regular dose of traffic, high commod-ity prices and endless frustration, in whose spare time are awed by the illicit affairs and intrigue of the actors and comedians they elect to public office. They are too preoc-

cupied with temporalities to protest these difficulties and create meaningful change. This has spawned the squeeze play we see today – privatizing critical services simply because of the inefficiencies resulting from its own lack of foresight, pushing costs and preventing the support needed for these ba-sic services to be taken by a greater number of people who need them. Drive these costs up, and the cost of new business also rises. Less new investment to provide livelihoods, in turn, means more poverty for the popu-lace. Such is the price of centralized power in the Philippines.

The historical fault of centralized gover-nance has only bred a historical animosity among us, a mad rush for the pork barrel. In the end, all have been made dependent subjects of the central king. What sort of de-velopment is that? So far all attempts by the central government have been left to make people hungrier. Paper laws and issuances without teeth or resources have only air to blow in our faces, fleeting through and for-gotten.

Through it all, a federal government has its advantages, and probable disadvantages. All reactors, though, were one in endorsing it. The sublime fears of some were outweighed by the sublime hope of our collective dream of something better for all.


VOL. 7 ISSUE 188 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014 9EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 188 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 201410 NEWSSara 2...

EDGEDAVAO

Edge Davao asked Sara in a text message for her re-action to the survey result, and she responded by say-ing she was “grateful for the trust and confidence.”

Asked if she is actually planning to run for mayor in 2016, she said, “I cannot answer at this time.”

Edge Davao tried to contact Paolo for his reac-tion but he did not reply.

Sara was the first fe-male mayor of the city and is currently practicing her profession as a lawyer in her law firm.

She won her first elec-toral bid as vice mayor in 2007 and defeated former House Speaker Prospero “Boy” Nograles in the 2010 mayoral race.

Her brother Paolo ran for vice mayor unopposed in 2010. Before that he served as city councilor and president of the Associ-ation of Barangay Captains (ABC).

IPO specialist on poli-tics and governance Adrian Tamayo told Edge Davao that the respondents did not indicate reasons why they chose Sara over Paolo.

“They just indicate whom they will vote as mayor if Duterte goes for the presidency,” Tamayo said in a text message yes-terday.

In a statement, IPO said

it surveyed 1,200 Dabawen-yos on October 6 to 17, sys-tematically choosing the re-spondents and employing a 5 percent margin of error and 95 percent confidence interval.

The survey found that seven out of ten Dabawen-yos would vote for Mayor Duterte as president in 2016.

IPO said the respon-dents of the survey are those who can vote in 2016.

“They are mostly female (74 percent), married (82 percent), aged 30-49 (50 percent). Half of the re-spondents are unemployed, 30 percent are into busi-ness, 12 percent are work-ing on a contractual basis, and 7 percent have regular employment,” it added.

More than half have fin-ished high school, 21 per-cent reached college, and 9 percent obtained a college degree.

Most of the respondents belong to income class E (59 percent) with month-ly income P5,000 and be-low, a quarter belong to income class D (P6,000 to P1,000), 6 percent belong to lower class C (P11,000 to P20,000), and 1 percent belong to income class B (P21,000 to P35,000), while 0.42 percent of the respondents belong to in-come class A. [CRC]

than Paolo.“Sara has this motherly

image, family oriented, and has principles,” he said.

Beleno, however, said Paolo still has time to catch up.

“For example, if Paolo will be more proactive there could be a possibility he can win the people’s heart. I think there’s a need for him to have a sudden change in his image, but for now if Rody will run for president, they need to push Sara (to run for mayor),” he said.

“I, as a voter, personally want Sara to run for mayor because her way of handling the city is closer to her fa-ther’s,” he added.

Beleno said first district Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles landed third because there are no issues surrounding him yet.

“It’s very important for voters that the image of their politicians are clean,” he said, adding that many politicians are hiring public relation officers to maintain their good image. [CRC]

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rectly as a result of armed violence every year. One third of these deaths can be attributed to armed conflicts in war zones.

In the Philippines, it is estimated that around 30,000 to 50,000 children were displaced by armed conflict every year for the past years, mostly in Mind-anao.

The UN-MILF Action plan is a key component in ensuring protection for chil-dren in situations of armed conflict.

Signed in 2009, the Ac-tion Plan commits the MILF to concrete, time-bound activities pertaining to the prevention of recruitment and use of children as com-batants or in supporting roles, the separation of any children under 18 from the command structure, unim-peded access for UN verifica-

tion, and awareness raising on child rights and child pro-tection for its military rank and file, as well as for MILF communities.

Orientations are cur-rently being carried out across all 31 MILF base commands and seven Front Commands in Mindanao for Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) commanders and troops.

So far, 4,151 BIAF ele-ments from 26 base com-mands and four fronts have received these trainings.

At the end of these ses-sions, MILF front and base commanders would public-ly commit to ensure that no children are associated with their respective commands, and that if there are cases, these children will be sep-arated from the command structure.

various campaigns in connec-tion with the disease, particu-larly in properly informing the public about it.

The IPHO said on Tuesday it has recorded nine confirmed deaths in the province this year due to disease complica-tions caused by AIDS.

John Codilla, IPHO’s HIV/AIDS focal person, said the nine fatalities were among the 53 new HIV/AIDS cases that were detected in the area from

January to September this year.Of the 53 new cases, Co-

dilla said 13 were already full-blown AIDS while 40 were as-ymptomatic HIV.

A total of 48 cases in-volved males, 11 of whom were former Overseas Filipi-no Workers. Twenty-five of the new HIV/AIDS victims were aged 25 to 34 years-old and 16 were within the 15 to 24 years-old age range.

With the detection of the

53 new HIV/AIDS, Codilla said the province’s disease incidence now stands at a to-tal of 194.

He said 184 of these cas-es were only recorded from 2010 up to the present.

Aturdido said their cam-paign is currently focused on encouraging more people, especially those who had engaged in “risky sexual be-havior,” to undergo voluntary screening and testing for HIV.

He said that aside from the IPHO, all government or public hospitals and rural health units within the prov-ince’s 10 towns and lone city are now capable of conduct-ing HIV/AIDS tests and coun-seling.

“We have a team that regularly visit our local com-munities to conduct HIV/AIDS tests and awareness sessions,” he added. (Min-daNews)

ARCHITECTURE WEEK. United Architects of the Philippines Davao chapter president Architect Michael Madrazo (right) and District 1 director Architect Jaime B. Gonzaga announce the activities lined up for the upcoming Nation-

al Architecture Week 2014, which focuses on the ASEAN Integration 2015, set on December 8 to 13 at SM City Davao. Madrazo and Gonzaga graced yesterday’s Club 888 media forum at The Marco Polo, Davao. Lean Daval Jr.

A FILIPINO man was ar-rested in China for al-legedly smuggling five

kilos of illegal drugs and could face death penalty if convicted.

The Department of For-eign Affairs, in a statement on Wednesday, said the Filipino was apprehended in Ning-bo, China after he was found carrying five kilos of crystal methamphetamine, common-ly known as “ice.”

“He was arrested at the airport while waiting for his flight to depart from Ningbo en route to Kuala Lumpur, Malay-sia,” the DFA said.

The DFA did not say when the man was seized by Chinese authorities, but said it was “the

most recent” arrest of a sus-pected Filipino drug courier.

A person caught in pos-session of illegal drugs in the amount of more than 50 grams is meted the death penalty in China if convicted.

Since 2011, five Filipinos – all drug couriers – were put to death in China.

Unfazed by the executions, many Filipinos continue to en-gage in drug trafficking.

“The Department of For-eign Affairs reiterates its warn-ing to Filipino travelers not to allow themselves to be recruit-ed by drug syndicates in carry-ing out their drug-trafficking operations,” it said, citing the latest modus operandi of drug

syndicates to recruit travelers who would transport the ille-gal drugs out of China.

According to the DFA, Fil-ipino recruits travel to Guang-zhou from Manila where African members of the drug syndicates give them packag-es containing the illegal sub-stance.

They are then asked to travel to Ningbo or Shenzhen where they are to take a flight to Kuala Lumpur. In at least two instances, minors where asked to accompany the Fil-ipino recruits during their travel.

“The DFA warns the Filipi-no traveling public that China imposes harsh penalties for

persons convicted of trans-porting illegal drugs. Filipinos who are residing, working, or vacationing in China are advised to be cautious in ac-cepting packages intended to be delivered back to the Phil-ippines or to another transit destination like Malaysia,” the department advisory said.

As of September this year, the DFA recorded a total of 805 Filipinos who are de-tained abroad for drug-relat-ed offenses.

Of this figure, 341 are de-tained in Asia and the Pacific, 244 in Middle East and Africa, 116 in the United States and the Americas, and 104 in Eu-rope. (PNA)

AUTHORITIES inter-cepted Tuesday a shipment of P1.5 mil-

lion worth of shabu at the Zamboanga International Airport, an official disclosed.

Joseph Ladip, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) regional director, said Wednesday they inter-cepted the shabu shipment with the assistance of a K9 unit while they were in-

specting outbound cargos at the airport.

Aside from the PDEA op-eratives, personnel from the Aviation Security Group and Office of the Transport Se-curity of the Department of Transportation and Commu-nications also inspected the outbound cargos were the personnel from the (OTS).

Ladip said they are tracking the people–

consignee and consigner–behind the shipment of the one-half kilo of shabu but did not disclose their iden-tities.

He said the illegal drug was bound for Jolo, Sulu coming from Manila when it was intercepted.

He said it was placed in a plastic bag and concealed in the speaker of a stereo.

The seizure of the shabu

shipment came as authori-ties tightened security and inspection of cargos at the airport.

Since November 2013, millions of pesos worth of shabu have been seized at the airport.

The biggest haul was in November 2013 with the seizure of 19 kilograms of shabu worth around P180 million. (MindaNews)

Another Filipino arrested for drug trafficking in China

P1.5-M shabu seized in Zamboanga City

VOL. 7 ISSUE 188 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014 11

NOTICE OF LOSSNotice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS

CONSOLIDATED INC. That CERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT No.(s) 21073524 under LOYOLA PLAN Contract No.(s) 10057861-1 issued to OSCAR B.LANCIOLA was lost. Any transaction entered into shall be null and void.

12/4,11/18

Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Transportation

and CommunicationsLAND TRANSPORTATION FRAN-

CHISING AND REGULATORY BOARD

Regional Office No. XIDavao City

Petition for Renewal of a Certifi-cate of Public Convenience with Amendment of Line to operate THE FREIGHT TRUCK Service

SAMUEL A. CAMAGANACAN, Case No. 2010-XI-01004Petitioner

x- - - - - - - - -- - - -----x

NOTICE OF HEARING

Petitioner is a grantee of a Certificate of Public Convenience issued in this case authorizing the operation of a THE FREIGHT TRUCK service on the route. WITHIN TAGUM CITY and from said place to any point in RE-GION XI with the use of ONE (1) unit, which Certificate will expire on November 15, 2015. In the petition filed on November 25, 2014,petitioner requests author-ity to extend the validity of said certificate as well as to AMEND the authorized route so as to operate along the route.WITHIN TAGUM CITY and from said place to any point in MINDANAO accessible to motor vehicle traffic and vice ver-sa with the use of the same unit previously authorized.

NOTICE, is hereby given that this petition will be heard by this Board on FEBRUARY 2, 2015 at 09:30 a.m. at this office at the above address.

At least, TEN (10) days prior to the above date petitioner shall publish this Notice once in a one (1) daily newspaper of general cir-culation in Mindanao.

Parties opposed to the grant-ing of the petition must file their written opposition supported by documentary evidence on or be-fore the above date furnishing a copy of the same to the petitioner, and may if they so, desire appear on said date and time.

This petition will be acted upon by this Board on the basis of its records and the documentary evidence submitted by the parties, unless the Board deems it neces-sary to receive additional docu-mentary and/or oral evidence.

WITNESS the Honorable BENJAMIN A. GO, CESO V, Regional Director, this 25th day of Novem-ber 2014 at Davao City. TERESITA DELA PEÑA-YÑIGUEZChief Transportation Development Officer

IN 1974, Henry Kissinger, then the United States’ Secretary of State, fa-

mously declared that by 1984 no child, woman, or man would ever go to bed hungry. That promise, un-fortunately, remains gross-ly unfulfilled.

At the 1996 World Food Summit, political leaders from 186 coun-tries pledged to halve the number of hungry people in the world by the year 2015 – or a reduction of 20 million each year. Yet, “far from decreasing, the num-ber of hungry people in the world is currently increas-ing,” said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

“Today, widespread hunger in a world of plenty calls equally for moral out-rage. The silent holocaust that causes some 40,000 hunger-related deaths ev-ery day is unconscionable and must be abolished,” declared Ismail Seragel-din, former chairman of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.

Climate change will further complicate food production. According to Dr. Randy A. Hautea, global coordinator and Southeast Asia Center Director of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agribio-tech Applications (ISAAA), the change of weather will greatly affect the health and productivity of crops, livestock, fish, and forests.

Climate change will increase hunger and mal-nutrition, he said. It is expected that by 2080, an additional 5 to 170 million people are at risk of hun-ger, which is defined as the physical sensation of desir-ing food.

Is there a likely solu-tion in sight for hunger? There is now one possible solution. “I now say that the world has the tech-nology – either available or well advance in the re-search pipeline – to feed on a sustainable basis a popu-lation of 10 billion people,” Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug pointed out. “The more pertinent question today is whether farmers and ranchers will be permitted to use this new technology.”

Dr. Borlaug, touted to be the “Man Who Saved A Billion Lives,” was re-ferring to biotechnology.

“Biotechnology is a mod-ern technology that makes use of organisms (or parts thereof) to: make or mod-ify products; improve and develop microorganisms, plants or animals; or de-velop organisms for spe-cific purposes in a more precise manner,” explains a fact sheet circulated by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agricul-ture (SEARCA).

The tools used in bio-technology include gene cloning, tissue culture, mi-crobial culture, DNA-mark-er technology, and genetic engineering. The latter is the most controversial as it is the method used in de-veloping genetically modi-fied organisms (GMOs).

A GM/biotech or trans-genic crop is a plant that has a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology, according to the SEARCA fact sheet.

“GM technology can address problems that cannot be solved through conventional crop im-provement methods,” the fact sheet informs. “It enables plant breeders to bring together in one plant useful genes from a wide range of sources, not just from within the crop species or closely related plants.

“This powerful tool allows plant breeders to attain a desired trait com-bination faster and ad-dress urgent concerns like the development of crops that are resistant to biot-ic (diseases and pests) or abiotic stresses (drought and waterlogging), and with increased yield and improved food and nutri-ent quality,” the fact sheet adds.

In 1994, Calgene’s de-layed-ripening tomato became the first GM food crop to be produced and consumed in an industrial-ized country. In 1995, GM cotton and GM corn were subsequently commercial-ized. Also soon to be intro-duced in the country are the following: GM eggplant and the vitamin A-rich golden rice.

The SEARCA fact sheet gives assurance that GM crops will not replace va-rieties from traditional breeding “because genetic modification is only con-

The possibilities of biotechnologyText and Photos By HENRYLITO D. TACIO

ducted to introduce im-portant major genes to the already established and bred varieties.”

Genetic modification is conducted to further im-prove the already existing popular and high-yielding varieties. The transgenic variety can also be used in crop improvement and breeding programs, the fact sheet says.

But the big question is: Are GM-crops safe to eat? Although health risk of eat-ing transgenic food is yet unknown, there are signs that it could cause aller-gies, resistance to certain medicines, and possibly even affect internal organs.

In Europe, research-ers at the York Nutritional Laboratory reported that health complaints caused by soya – the ingredient most associated with ge-netically modified food – increased from 10 to 15 in 100 patients over the past year.

A consumer advocacy group in United Kingdom said that genetically mod-ified soya can be found in bread, biscuits, baby milk, baby foods, breakfast ce-reals, margarine, soups, pasta, pizza instant meals, meat products, flours, sweets, ice creams, crisps, chocolate, soy sauce, veg-gie-burgers, tofu, soya milk, and pet foods.

Recent scientific data, according to Dr. Romeo Quijano of the Department of Pharmacology at the UP College of Medicine, indicated “the emergence of new diseases, the rapid evolution of virulence and the widespread occur-rence of drug and antibiot-ic resistance are associated with the rise of genetic en-gineering.”

An estimated 60 per-cent of all processed foods contain at least one genet-ically engineered compo-nent, writes Jon Luoma in Mother Jones magazine. In the Philippines, Filipinos may be eating transgenic foods, such as potato chips, corn cereals, or soya milk. “Love it or loath it, trans-

genic food is set to become a bigger part of what we eat,” someone noted.

And consumers need not worry. Tantono Sub-agyo, the seed regulatory director of CropLife Asia, said that biotech crops are rigorously tested for safety prior to commercializa-tion.

“Biotech crops are test-ed to ensure they are as safe as conventional crops, and have similar nutri-tional and compositional content,” Subagyo said. “Biotech crops are among the most extensively tested foods in the history of food safety.”

In fact, there is wide-spread agreement from scientists and internation-al health organizations, in-cluding the World Health Organization, that biotech crops, foods, and feeds are as safe as conventional-ly-bred crops, foods, and feeds.

In addition, over 3,200 renowned scientists worldwide have signed a declaration in support of agricultural biotechnology and its safety to humans, animals, and the environ-ment.

The 2010 report of the European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation on GMOs GMOs noted: “The main conclusion to be drawn from the efforts of more than 130 research projects, covering a peri-od of more than 25 years of research, and involving more than 500 indepen-dent research groups, is that biotechnology, and in particular GMOs, are not per se more risky than conventional plant breed-ing technologies.”

“Two to three trillion meals have been eaten by human in North America and wherever containing GMOs. There’s nothing to substantiate the (nega-tive) health impact (accu-sations) against any GMO products – not one, even headache or stomach-ache,” said Mark Lynas, a former anti-GMO activist

and author of Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet.

According to ISAAA, “biotech crops can serve as engine of rural economic growth for the alleviation of poverty for the world’s small and resource-poor farmers.” In the Philip-pines, for instance, Joseph Benemerito of Cagayan won a national award for his quality GM corn. He admitted that 22 hectares of land can be easily man-aged with biotech corn.

“GM (technology) is cheaper. If the biology of the crop can protect crops from pests, that’s more beneficial to farmers, cheaper than spraying,” said Lynas in a press state-ment. “Everywhere, when farmers are given a choice, they adopt it quickly. They can have high yield even if they pay a little more for seeds.”

While writing the book “God Species” in 2011, in which he attempted to become consistent in his position on the science of climate change, envi-ronment, and food pro-duction, Lynas came to a realization that GM is the answer to food shortage problems.

Regulation should be imposed on organic crops because one can die from natural causes “very easily from bacteria, from water, or contamination of ma-nure during harvest.”

It must be recalled that it was organic crops that caused the death in 2011 of 51 people in Germany from ingesting E.coli-con-taminated bean sprouts from an organic farm, as confirmed by Lower Sax-ony’s Agriculture Ministry.

“Organic has killed a few hundred people. GM has killed no one. Imag-ine headlines if 50 people would have died in Ger-many because of some GM. It would have been worldwide fear – like nu-clear power. It would have been worldwide hysteria,” Lynas said.

Here’s another advan-

tage of planting biotech crops. Globally, they can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ag-riculture. Studies have shown that adopting bio-technology reduces the use of 475 millions of gal-lons of fuel by farm equip-ment – not mentioning the additional “soil car-bon sequestration” due to reduced plowing or im-proved conservation till-age. “This is equivalent to removing five million cars from the road for one year,” said Graham Brookes, di-rector of PGEconomics, a British research firm.

Meanwhile, the battle continues between GM ac-tivists and GM advocates. Who will emerge the win-ner? No one knows but there are always losers – the hungry. One sage puts it in this perspective: “A man who has enough food has several problems. A man without food has only one problem.”

(Last of 3 parts)

EDGEDAVAO

SCIENCEENDING HUNGER


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Rafski Cake and Bakery Supply is the recommend-ed destination for all your confectionery, packaging and baking needs. Located at the heart of downtown Davao, it is home to an ex-tensive collection of afford-able and reasonably priced cake and baking supplies that will surely ignite the sweet creative genius in you. As you step inside, you’ll immediately be greeted with an array of shapes, colors and happiness. From all corners, the sweet aroma of cakes, pastries and chocolates will leave you craving for a chance to use everything they have in store. Even Chef Duff of the renowned Charm City Cakes of Baltimore (Lifestyle channel’s Ace of Cakes) will surely be in awe! From raw ingredients (chilled butter, whipping

cream and cream cheese) to macha powders, nuts, and marshmallows, you’ll surely have a Willy-Won-ka- moment every time you are here. Rafski Cake and Bakery Supply also have an enormous collec-tion of chocolates, ready-made edible toppers, balls and colored sprinklers perfect for all your social media posts (Instagram and Pinterest, anyone?!). Now, making something extraordinary and out of the box will never be a problem!

INdulge! VOL.7 ISSUE 188 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014

EDGEDAVAOFOOD

NOT EVERYONE wants dessert but for those who have a knack for creating sweet treats and those who have a sweet tooth to match, finding that one-stop-shop is as im-portant as knowing that recipe for your cake or cupcake by heart. With Christmas and the sweet era on full alert all year round, you have every reason to bake and create memo-ries with family and friends with your cakes.

Everything you need for baking

Speaking of boxes, they too have a massive collec-tion of boxes, ornaments and display holders for cakes of various shapes and sizes. From one celebration to another, packing your kitchen masterpiece will now be as easy as 1-2-3. That’s not all, Rafski Cake and Bakery Supply also offers KitchenAid mixers and accessories perfect for the baker in you. Wilton baking ac-cessories are also available and so are silicone mats and molders, piping kits, cutters and candles for that perfect sparkle to every dessert. If you cannot seem to find what you need, their gracious staff will help you with a smile. Most often, Rafski himself will aid you in your sweet quest inside his saccharine playground. Surely, amateurs, pastry enthusiasts and Chefs will have a grand time brows-ing the many shelves of

Rafski Cake and Bakery Supply. For all your confection-ery, packaging and baking supplies, visit Rafski Cake and Bakery Supply at 71 Carmam Building, Sta.

Ana Avenue, Davao City. Operating hours: Monday to Saturday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. You can also call them up at 082.3051560 or browse their Facebook fan-page athttps://www.face-

book.com/therafski Make #TheRoyalChef your Thursday habit! Fol-low and tag me on insta-gram (herroyalheiress) for your delicious pics and food finds!

Go on and indulge in their many choices and let your masterpiece shine brighter than before.

Make your wish come true and reward yourself with a KitchenAid.

Amazing cake stands that double as centerpieces at Rafski Cake and Bakery Supply.

Already known for their all-time favourite ex-otic coffee blends as well as new best sellers such as their sliders and delicious pastries, the aptly named Nite with Chef Karlo is bound to be a breath of fresh air, taking the res-taurant cafe on a whole new direction. “We wanted to intro-duce a totally new menu for Jack’s Ridge’s 15th an-niversary, that is why for three nights we will be having a totally new menu featuring all-new dishes that have yet to be placed on our existing menu,” says Karlo “this is one way to highlight the new dish-es, giving diners a new ex-perience and new flavours to taste.” Some of the new dishes include Seafood Tomato

Soup, a rich tomato soup with clams and blue mus-sels finished with a dollop of cream; Shrimp Cevi-che, raw shrimps tossed in acidic marinade and fin-ished with coconut milk; and Lyonnaise Salad with Breaded Chicken; salad greens with julienne car-rots, turnips, cucumber, and beans topped with a poached egg and a fried chicken breast fillet. Pasta lovers can choose from the spicy Grilled Seafood Fra Diavolo, to Karlo’s version of Vongole featuring clams cooked in garlic, olive oil, and white wine topped with fresh basil. For the main courses, Karlo went with more hearty fare offering beau-tifully roasted Garlic Chicken, a punchy Mexi-can Rib Eye served with special Mexican rice, and a French-style Pork Steak served with Pine-apple Confit. There is also Grilled Prawns with Yoghurt Salsa Verde for people who would want lighter fare. A Nite with Karlo at Karlo’s Gourmet and Cof-fee is on December 12 to 14. For reservations or inquiries, one can call 2978830 or visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Jacksridge.

IN ANOTHER pioneering move, Globe Telecom is boosting smartphone penetration in the country with an innovative offer that allows prepaid customers to avail of discounted devices and get rebates with GoGadgets. GoGadgets is the first-of-its-kind prepaid service that allows customers to create their own prepaid bundle by choosing a gadget from a menu of discounted Android phones ranging from as low as P2,699 to P7,899. To complete their prepaid bundle, customers just need to choose their promo combo (texts to all networks or unlimited calls), the validity period of the promo (7, 15 or 30 days) and the registra-tion period (6, 12, 18 or 24 months), with no need to submit any requirements. Customers can earn their money back via GCash every time they register to any GoGadgets promo, which allows them to get their devices almost free. Devices that can be availed from GoGadgets include CloudFone Excite 400dx, a smartphone that comes with interchangeable batteries and has 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB of internal storage and long-lasting battery which can last up to 1 day of heavy use and 2-3 days on regular usage and Samsung Trend Lite which sports 4-inch screen pow-ered by 1GHz processor and 3-megapixel rear camera. “We continue to provide game-changing experiences to our customers through the introduction of innovative and first-in-market products and services. With GoGad-gets, prepaid customers get the latest devices and get their money back while enjoying the flexibility of prepaid promos, enabling them to fully enjoy their digital lifestyle,” says Issa Cabreira, Senior Vice President, Globe Consumer Mobile Marketing. GoGadgets comes on the heels of another pioneering innovation from Globe Prepaid, GoSAKTO. When it was first launched in 2013, GoSAKTO offered its prepaid customers the ability to create their own promo, allowing them to choose the kind and amount of calls, texts, and data they need for the validity they want. With the improved GoS-AKTO launched in June this year, subscribers can now add apps and sites like Facebook, Instagram, Viber, and You-Tube to their promo, letting customers create over 200 mil-lion different call, text and app combos. Globe Prepaid customers can register by dialing *143#, choosing GoSakto and selecting Choose a gadget. GoGadgets is already available in select Metro Manila Globe Stores (Glorietta, Market! Market!, Robinson’s Manila, SM Aura, SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall, SM Southmall, and Trinoma) and in select provincial Globe Stores in Luzon (San Fernando La Union, SM Calamba, SM Olongapo, LCC Iriga, and Central Mall Cavite) and Visayas (Robinson’s Tacloban, Boracay, and Gaisano Island City Mall Bohol). To know more about Globe Prepaid GoGadgets, text GadgetINFO to 8888 for free.

A2 INdulge! VOL.7 ISSUE 188 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT FOOD

Globe extends smartphone ownership to prepaid customers with GoGadgets

Chef Karlo’s vongole.

Pork steak with pineapple confit. Mexican Rib Eye.

Roasted garlic chicken.

Chef Karlo serving Shrimp Ceviche.

GIFT GIVING MADE HASSLE-FREE. The Christmas season is upon us! Still haven’t finished your Christmas shopping? Why not just give your loved ones an SM Gift pass, this way they can buy what they like and you get to enjoy the holidays hassle free.

AS PART of Jack’s Ridge’s 15th anniversary celebration, Karlo’s Gourmet and Coffee will be holding three special nights of cu-linary adventures from December 12 to 14 featuring all-new food creations by the res-taurant’s namesake Chef Karlo Mercado.

A date with Chef Karlo By Kenneth

Irving Ong

INdulge! A3ENTERTAINMENT

VOL.7 ISSUE 188 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014 EDGEDAVAO

THE Mindanao docu-mentary “War Is a Ten-der Thing” will open this year’s Mindanao Film Festival on December 3, 8pm at the Gaisano Mall Cinema 6. The documentary which deals about the rebellion in Mindanao, the second longest run-ning conflict in the world set between the integra-tion of the diverse Chris-tian and Muslim cultures. Directed by Adjani Arumpac from General Santos City, “War Is a Tender Thing” won Spe-cial Mention in the New Asian Currents Competi-tion Yamagata Interna-tional Documentary Film

Festival in Japan. Aside from Japan, it was shown in France (Signes de Nuit Interna-tional Festival), Singa-pore (Southeast Asian Film Festival) and was shown in the recent Cine Totoo Philippine International Documen-tary Festival. It was also nominated in the Gawad Urian Awards 2014 for Best Documentary. The 10th Mindanao Film Festival is the coun-try’s longest running regional film festival in the country. This year’s theme “Celebrating Re-gional Imaginations.” aims to highlight the growth of the festival

which traces its roots to a guerrilla film workshop based film festival. This year’s MFF boasts of a record-breaking number of 68 short films and feature length pro-ductions coming from the different regions across Mindanao. The-atrical screenings will be held this December 3 to 9 at Gaisano Mall Cinema 6. For the com-plete Theatrical Screen-ing Schedule, log on to w w w.facebook.com/mindanaofilmfest. The Mindanao Film Festival is organized an-nually by the Mindanao Film and Television De-velopment Foundation,

Inc. in partnership with the National Commis-sion for the Culture and Arts. The 10th MFF is also brought to you by South-Spot Entertainment Net-work, Alchemy of Vision and Light, Film and De-velopment Council of the Philippines, Davao Autism Center, Gaisano Cinema, Gaisano Mall The Peak, Microsoft, Fo-rumZFD, Philippine Press Institute, M Magazine, SushiDito, Ganda, Villa de Mercedez, Zabadani, The White House, Sound Chaser, Juno Churrasco, Taters Davao, Manangz, Kuilans Siopao, Davao Music Nation, and Lou-works Studio.

Acclaimed Mindanaoan documentary to open 10th Mindanao Film Festival

“SWEET, young and happy” is how Philippine showbiz’s Teen Queen Kathryn Bernardo describes her self-titled debut album to be ini-tially released online by Star Mu-sic this Sunday (November 30) via Starmusic.ph. It will be available at all record bars nationwide begin-ning December 5. According to Kathryn, she ven-tures into music to widen her ho-rizon as an artist. “Acting will remain my comfort zone. But for now, I want to ex-plore and learn many things like singing, dancing, and hosting. I also want to know how to play musical instruments,” she said. The 18-year-old recording star admits that she is very hands-on in the production of her album filled with easy-listening, feel-good tracks. “Since this is my first time in re-cording, I trusted Star Music with the song choices because they surely know better what fits my voice,” Kathryn explained. “But in terms of the album’s concept, layout, and total look, and even

in the music video, I helped out to make it really personalized.” When asked about her musical influences, the Teen Queen has a handful of favorites, including Ju-ris, Michael Bublé, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and her idol Sarah Geronimo. Featured in Kathryn’s debut al-bum produced by Rox Santos, are three revivals, five original songs,

and three bonus tracks. She made a revival of Sharon Cuneta’s “Mr. DJ,” Cris Villongco’s “Crush ng Bayan,” and Heart Evan-gelista’s “Love Has Come My Way.” Among the original tracks are “Na Sa ‘Yo Din Pala,” “Ikaw Na Nga Yata, “K Tnx Bye,” “Temporary Deja Vu,” and album’s carrier single “You Don’t Know Me” which was composed by singer-songwriter Marion Aunor. All eight tracks have minus one versions in the album. Meanwhile, Teen King Daniel Padilla is also part of Kathryn’s debut album. Part of the bonus tracklist are Teen Queen’s version of “Pagdating ng Panahon and the popular KathNiel duet perfor-mances of “Got to Believe In Mag-ic” and “Pinas Smile” (ABS-CBN 2014 Summer Station ID). Kathryn’s self-titled debut al-bum will be available at all record bars nationwide for only P199. Digital tracks can also be down-loaded via online music stores such as iTunes and Mymusicstore.com.ph.

Kathryn shares feel-good album under Star Music

‘It’s Showtime’ hosts share Christmas wishes STILL REELING from “It’s Showtime’s” win as Best Variety Show at the re-cently held Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC) Star Awards for TV, the program’s judge-turned-hosts are even more mo-tivated than ever to con-tinue to give inspiration and make the madlang people happy. “I wish ‘Showtime’ would never end!” ex-pressed Ryan Bang when asked what his Christmas wish is. Jhong Hilario added, “I hope our projects keep coming in and we get to inspire more people.”

Other hosts, including Billy, wishes his father good health, while his girlfriend Coleen Garcia and co-host Teddy Cor-puz long for happiness and safety for their fam-ily. “I’m praying for our family’s strength, espe-cially now that we’re go-ing through tough times, and for the continuous recovery of those affect-ed by typhoon Yolanda so they can feel the es-sence of Christmas,” said Vhong Navarro. Anne Curtis, on the other hand, wishes that “all children get to experience utmost happiness and love.” At the top of Jugs Jugueta’s Christmas

wishlist is finally getting the dream condo unit for him and his fiancee, while Karylle is content and thrilled to be cel-

ebrating her first Christ-mas as Mrs. Yuzon. Co-hosts Vice Ganda and Kuya Kim Atienza also feel exception-ally blessed after having been recognized by the PMPC Star Awards for TV as Best Male TV Host for “It’s Showtime” and Best Celebrity Talk Show Host for “Gandang Gabi Vice,” and as Best Educa-tional Program Host for “Matanglawin,” respec-tively. Don’t miss the fun in “It’s Showtime’s,” 12:15PM from Mondays to Fridays and 12NN on Saturdays on ABS-CBN. For updates, fol-low @ItsShowtimena on Twitter, @ItsShowtimeOf-ficial_IG on Instagram, and like www.facebook.com/itsShowtimena.

GP /*PG 13

R 13

PG 1312:00 | 2:30 | 5:00 LFS

R-16

THE HUNGER GAMES:MOCKINGJAY PART 1

11:25 | 1:15 LFS |* 3:05 | 5:00 LFS

PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR /

*GRACE OF MONACO

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson

Tom McGrath, Chris Miller /

*Nicole Kidman, Tim Ruth, Paz Vega

GP

PAST TENSE

Kim Chiu, Aiai Delas Alas, Xian Lim

12:20 | 2:40 | 5:00 LFS

DUMB AND DUMBER TO

Jim Carey, Jeff Daniels, Carly Craig

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

A4 INdulge! VOL.7 ISSUE 188 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014EDGEDAVAOEVENT

‘Tis the season of caring and sharing as Park Inn by Radisson Davao held its Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in grand from as invited guests, hotel friends and media filled the hotel’s lobby.

Present of the occasion was none other than the president of SM Hotels and Conventions Corporation’s Elizabeth Sy looking sharp in a purple dress. Also pres-ent were children from the House of Hope Founda-tion who were the guests of honour during the event as Park Inn dedicated their tree lighting to the charity organisation. After a short musical per-formance courtesy of the magical voices of Songspell

Ms Elizabeth Sy (President of SM Hotels and Conventions Corp) together with General Manager Pavan Kakar and Nes Jardin.

Songspell Philippines performs in front of an audience.

Ms Elizabeth Sy with the children from the House of Hope.

Elizabeth Sy and Pavan Kakar with writer Maya Padillo and DOT Region XI officer Eden David.

Jinggoy Salvador and the hotel’s Asst Director for Sales Annie Perez.

kingong for more travel stories, foodie finds, and happenings in, around, and beyond Durianburg.

Philippines who sang songs of inspiration and of hope, the tree lighting ceremony started in earnest with Ms. Elizabeth Sy, and Park Inn by Radisson Davao’s gen-eral manager Pavan Kakar together with the children form Hose of Hope push-ing the ceremonial button, lighting up Park Inn’s co-lourful Christmas tree that features the trademark co-lours of the hotel. Follow me on Instagram or on Twitter @kenneth-

A Christmas more colorful


WARM WELCOME. The Marco Polo, Davao general manager Andrew Tan (right) welcomes Iraq’s Ambassador to the Philippines Ahmed Kamal Hasan AL- Kamaly (second from left) upon the latter’s arrival at the hotel yesterday morning. Lean Daval Jr.

13EDGEDAVAO

BIGGER PICTURE

IT’S the start of a new stage as selected ben-eficiaries of Pamilyang

Pilipino Pantawid Program (4Ps) start to engage them-selves in sustainable liveli-hood projects.

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 11 regional director Priscilla Razon said the agen-cy is helping beneficiaries to shift from being grantees to becoming small business owners after receiving cash grants to support the health and education of family members ages 0 to 18.

Razon said with the launch of the “Kaya ko ang pagbabago” – DSWD’s 4Ps new branding – last Sun-day during the PaskuJuan at NCCC Mall Davao, the sus-tainable livelihood program (SLP) of DSWD will give 4Ps beneficiaries the opportu-nity to engage in economic activity.

“We are targeting all the 205,000 4Ps beneficiaries in the region,” she said, adding that the agency assisted 25 percent or about 59,000 4Ps beneficiaries this year.

Under the SLP, each ben-eficiary will receive a mini-

mum P10,000 capital with which to start a small busi-ness that can suffice the dai-ly needs of each family.

Razon said the beneficia-ry has to identify a project that is income generating and has a potential mar-ket. She said the beneficia-ry should also consider the source and availability of raw materials.

Razon said beneficiaries can form into groups so that the cash assistance will in-crease.

However, she stressed that only beneficiaries who are ready for the shift will be allowed to avail themselves of the livelihood program of DSWD.

“Our project officers have already evaluated fam-ilies that are ready to under-take the project,” she said, adding there are still 4Ps families that still prioritize education and health.

Razon said DSWD has al-ready partnered with private companies that will patron-ize the products made by the 4Ps beneficiaries.

She said in fact, DSWD also conducted a Christmas bazaar where SLP beneficia-

4Ps beneficiaries get boost to become entrepreneurs

ries from Compostela Valley, Davao City, Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte showcased their products.

The booth of Davao Ori-ental was decorated with its hot chili product that has al-

ready gained a following in the local market because of its distinct taste.

The Davao City booth showcased processed food products like jam and chips, while Davao del Norte exhib-

ited its agriculture products as well as organic fertilizers from vermicast and pesti-cides.

DSWD also partnered with Technical Education and Skills Development Au-

thority (TESDA) and pri-vate groups for the capacity building of the beneficiaries.

Razon said the agency will be allocating a bigger budget for the SLP next year. [CRC]


THE BEAST. Calvin Abueva of Alaska (dark) wiggles past Chris Ellis and Greg Slaughter of Ginebra (light) during the Alaska-Ginebra game in the PBA Philippine Cup. Nuki Sabio.

EDGEDAVAOSports

JUAN Manuel Marqeuz weighs in on the verbal cold war

between superstars Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao as rumours continue to circulate the two titans may finally meet in the ring in 2015.

The biggest fight of all time is still being bantered about in the weeks since Manny Pacquiao defeated Chris Algieri. A fight between the Filipino superstar and the legendary Floyd Mayweather Jr. (that’s been several years in the making) has been hinted at by both sides but the two men have mostly been preoccupied verbally sparring on social media.

Mayweather attacked Pacquiao a week ago, posting a looped video of him being knocked down by Juan Manuel Marquez in a fight Pacquiao lost by KO in 2012. The ‘Pacman’

responded by taunting that “TBE” (a moniker of “The Best Ever” Floyd has given himself) stands for “The Best Excuses”.

This week, none other than Juan Manuel Marquez weighed in, giving his thoughts in an interview on ESPN Deportes: “People will blame Mayweather if the Pacquiao fight does not happen,” Marquez told ESPN. “If Floyd wants to be known as the best fighter ever, he needs to demonstrate it by taking this fight and beating the man who was considered the pound for pound best for many years in Manny Pacquiao.

Mayweather needs to stop posting videos and pictures on social media mocking Pacquiao and just take the fight. After the fight he can say whatever he wants but until then, the most important thing is accepting the fight!”

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Kevin Durant didn’t look rusty when he

drove past Anthony Davis for a two-handed dunk, or when he fired off any of his three 3-pointers.

The 27 points scored by the reigning NBA MVP in his comeback from a foot injury just wasn’t enough for Oklahoma City to overcome Tyreke Evans’ relentless drives to the hoop or Davis’ all-around dominance.

Evans scored 15 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, Davis had 25 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, and the New Orleans Pelicans snapped a three-game skid with a 112-104 victory over the Thunder on Tuesday night.

“I was confident in myself. I knew my wind wasn’t where I wanted it to be, obviously, but I felt good out there,” said Durant, who missed the Thunder’s first 17 games with a fractured right foot.

Thunder coach Scott Brooks said before the game he’d limit Durant to 30 minutes for his first few games back, and that was how much he played in New Orleans.

“I just got to keep putting together good days and I’ll keep getting back to where I want to be,” Durant added. “To get back to midseason form like I want to be is going to take some time. No excuses for me. I’m out there, I got to play hard as I can no matter what and I got to go out there and be the best leader and player I can be.”

The Pelicans had three

players with double-doubles. Jrue Holiday had 23 points and 10 assists while Ryan Anderson had 23 points and 11 rebounds.

“We did a great job of being disciplined on our game plan, knowing what guys were going to do and we just stayed with it for four quarters,” Davis said.

“We’ve got to defend, rebound and run. That’s what we do. That’s going to get our offense going,” Davis added. “When we’re moving the ball, sharing the ball, cutting hard and playing for each other, it makes the game a lot easier.”

Russell Westbrook, in his second game back from a hand injury for the Thunder, scored 21. But he was not nearly as efficient as his previous game, when he scored 32 points in about 24 minutes in a win over New York.

Oklahoma City trailed by as many as 19 early in the third quarter. But with a lineup of reserves, the Thunder closed the quarter on a 10-3 run during which Jeremy Lamb and Reggie Jackson each hit a pair of jumpers.

Jackson, who finished with 17 points, kept scoring early in the fourth — including a driving scoop as he was fouled and a roundhouse dunk — and the Thunder got as close as 87-82 on Perkins’ layup with 10:24 left. But when Perkins complained that he was fouled while scoring, he was assessed a technical, which marked the beginning of a 13-3 Pelicans run.

NOT SO FAST, FLOYD. Juan Manuel Marquez (right) the last man to defeat Manny Pacquiao said Floyd Mayweather should stop blabbering and fight the Filipino champion instead.

JMM blasts Floyd: Stop mocking Pacquiao

Durant returnsbut Thunder loses

VOL. 7 ISSUE 188 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014 15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO

THE much-awaited su-perbout between Floyd ‘Money” Mayweather

and Manny Pacquiao might finally happen soon, after Pac-quiao’s trainer Freddie Roach revealed the “right persons” in CBS CEO Les Moonves and Top Rank chief Bob Arum have al-ready commenced talks.

For those people who be-lieve that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is afraid to face Manny Pac-quiao in the boxing ring be-cause he has not yet answered the Filipino boxing icon’s challenge to fight him. Simply pump the breaks, because the fight has more of a chance of happening in 2015 now more than ever.

Sam Watson, who is a longtime friend of Mayweath-er’s adviser Al Haymon, has said that the undefeated boxer wants to fight Pacquiao.

“Floyd wants to fight him (Pacquiao) real bad,” Watson told Fight Hype. “Floyd, that’s all he talks about is fighting Manny Pacquiao, so once the deal is set and done, you’re

going to be seeing the biggest fight you ever saw in your life.”

Recently, Pacquiao’s train-er Freddie Roach has said that Mayweather is demanding a rematch clause which should not come as breaking news as the pound-for-pound king had a similar clause in his contract to fight Robert Guerrero in May 2013.

Watson also shared his thoughts on Pacquaio’s last fight against Chris Algieri in Macau, stating that Pacquiao is back to his old winning form, which makes the fight great for Mayweather.

According to an article by Yahoo Sports, Watson used to work for Motown Records. He was a close friend of the late singer Marvin Gaye, who intro-duced him to Muhammad Ali.

Watson’s job in Motown Records also paved the way for his longtime friendship with Haymon. Watson and Haymon, who was once a concert pro-moter, had a meeting in 1980 and they have been friends ever since.

Mayweather and Pacquiao have been fighting it out on social media these past few months. On Dec. 1, Pacquiao took a jab at Mayweather after posting one photo of his latest fight against Algieri. Pacquiao’s caption was directly intended for Mayweather.

“Stop throwing punches on Instagram and let’s get in the ring,” Pacquiao wrote. The eight-division Filipino world champion also included the hashtag #TBE, which May-weather uses to describe him-self as “The Best Ever.”

A week ago, May-weather also taunted Pac-quiao on Instagram by posting a video of Pac-quiao being knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez.

If and when Pac-quiao and/or Mayweather finally and officially announce the fight,

expect more speculations on the probable prices for both live and PPV numbers— and expect that it won’t come cheap as it could very well be the fight of the century.

Mayweather has been ru-mored to make around 100 million while Pacquiao would make a cool 60 million if they ever sign on the dotted line.

CLOSER TO REALITY

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Andre Agassi has seen many tournaments

come and go in his long and illustrious career and the American great believes the new International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) has all the ingredients to be a long-term success.The 44-year-old joined up with his Singapore Slammers team mates on the second leg of the Asia-based mixed team event this week and was quick to echo the sentiments of all the players involved, who have been unit-ed in their enthusiasm for the

innovative competition.“There’s a lot of upsides

in this for me,” he told re-porters in Singapore, one of a quartet of Asian cities hosting the IPTL along with Manila, Delhi and Dubai.

“Watching the sport go to places where there should be tennis and enthusiastic fans who can enjoy a format that is motivational to the young-er generation in these cities, in these communities,” he added.

“It’s great for them and for the players, acting like a team out there. You want it

bad but you also want to keep it relaxed so its a fun environ-ment for us.

“You also get to see so many different match-ups and the game played in so many different ways and that also lends to a better future for the sport.”

Agassi is one of the ‘icons’ on the four teams, who have also recruited a host of big names including Serena Wil-liams, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapo-va.

He predicted fans would warm to the tournament once

they fully understand its com-plex scoring system.

“It’s a bit like our ranking system in that once you kind of get it then you are fine ... you understand it,” said the eight-time grand slam champion.

“So those things are being worked out day-to-day but only a few days into it and ev-erybody is getting a lot more comfortable.

“This will grow for the crowds as next year they will know what to expect. I think that enthusiasm and knowl-edge will translate but it al-ready is pretty high.”

SINGAPORE (Reu-ters) - Serena Wil-liams returned to the

scene of her WTA Finals win but could not prevent her Singapore Slammers team slumping to a fourth straight defeat in the inau-gural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) on Tuesday.

The world number one is the highest-profile player participating in the four-city mixed team event at Singapore’s Indoor Sta-dium this week but it was the unbeaten Delhi-based Indian Aces who continued to dominate the early pro-ceedings.

The Aces were on court first as a sparse crowd wit-nessed the form side of the tournament ease to a 30-11 victory over the UAE Royals in the five one-set format tie that is decided on games won rather than overall set victories.

Playing in front of a packed arena in the night session, Williams won her match against Belgian Kirsten Flipkens but lost the mixed doubles, partner-ing Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, as her team fell 29-21 to the Manila Mavericks.

The tournament kicked off in Manila on Friday and will proceed to Delhi before concluding in Dubai on Dec. 13, the event mirroring its India-based cricket coun-terpart by adding bright lights, glitz, glamour and audience participation to a

fast-paced format.Additional touches in-

clude a 20-second serve clock, a ‘Happiness Pow-er Point’ joker that scores double and can be played once per set, no advantages, no lets, coaching timeouts and a five-minute shootout if a match is tied at 5-5.

Ridiculed by some ob-servers as little more than an extravagant series of ex-hibition matches, Williams jumped to the defence of the tournament, saying it was an ideal mix of fun and competition.

“I came into this think-ing it was going to be fun and a blast but not good preparation (for the new season). However, after I played in Manila I realised this is a great way to pre-pare for the pre-season,” Williams told reporters.

“I can only see it grow-ing as it’s such a great fun opportunity and all the players are supporting it. We are not happy to keep losing but we did the best we could.

“Maybe we need to re-lax a little bit as we are trying too hard because we want to win so bad,” said Williams who won the WTA Finals here in Oc-tober.

After four rounds of matches the Indian Aces lead on 16 points, ahead of the Manila Mavericks and UAE Royals on 11 points with Singapore propping up the table on six points.

Pacquiao-Mayweather fight pushing forward

HE’S FIGHTING HIM? Floyd Mayweather’s camp is seriously considering the Pacquiao fight.

LEGEND. Retired former world no. 1 Andre Agassi returned to play in the fledgling IPTL Singapore leg.

Agassi returns to play in IPTL Serena’s Slammers lose again


Transcend.Trailblaze.

Transform.


DAVAOYour edge.

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Translates to the increase in the minimum wage of employees in the non-agricultural, and retail and service establishments employing more than 10 workers to P317.00 per day.

DAVAO CITY, DIGOS, ISLAND GARDEN CITY OF SAMAL (IGACOS), TAGUM, PANABO, MATI AND THE PROVINCES OF DAVAO DEL SUR, DAVAO DEL NORTE, DAVAO ORIENTAL, and COMPOSTELA VALLEY

COVERAGE

P5ADDITIONAL COST OF LIVING ALLOWANCE (COLA)

THE Department of Em-ployment and Labor (DOLE) 11 reminded

private establishment own-ers to comply with the imple-mentation of the P5 addition-al cost-of-living allowance (COLA) which became effec-tive yesterday.

DOLE 11 regional di-rector Atty. Joffrey Suyao said during the Kapehan sa

Dabaw at SM City Annex yes-terday that December 1 was the start of the implementa-tion of the second tranche of Wage Order RB-XI-18 which started to take effect last June.

This will translate to the increase in the minimum wage of employees in the non-agricultural and retail and service establishments

employing more than 10 workers to P317 per day.

The new daily minimum wage for the agriculture sec-tor is P307, while for service establishments employing not more than 10 workers it is P286.

The order covers the cities of Davao, Digos, Is-land Garden City of Samal (Igacos), Tagum, Panabo,

and Mati and the provinces of Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, and Compostela Valley.

According to the DOLE 11 website, the COLA is “given to workers for loss in purchas-ing power due to inflation at a rate normally pegged at the consumer price index (CPI) and cushion the effects of the

COMPLY WITH [email protected]

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

FCOMPLY, 10

EDGE DAVAO Infographics

DOLE 11 asks firms to implement additional COLA

P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 7 ISSUE 185 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 1, 2014


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Newest member of Edge Davao celebrates a

winning season

REGARDING HENRY

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REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS SPECIAL

Home for the holidays

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Edge Davao 7 Issue 188

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