edge davao 6 issue 212
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Edge Davao 6 Issue 212, January 12-13, 2014TRANSCRIPT
P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014
By CHENEEN R. CAPON
EDGE Serving a seamless society
DAVAO
HOT RICE
AMID the quest to end rice smuggling activ-ities in Davao City,
Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte pledged to find the “Da-vid Tan” believed to be be-hind the billions in tax loss and deprivation of Filipino farmers. This issue has been streaming not only in local news outlets but also in the nationally-circulated news-papers and TV networks.
Weeks after he bared the smuggling of rice into the ports of Davao City on his weekly “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa,” TV program, Dute-rte showed a photo of the alleged “David Tan” during a press briefing at The Marco Polo Davao last Friday night.
In an earlier report, he was quoted as saying that the mystery suspect in the P7-billion rice smuggling activities was from Cebu and not from Davao City. He even clarified that there’s no
“Bangayan” involved in the rice importation mess. He maintained that the David Tan Bangayan is fictitious.
This is contrary to the claim of Jesus Aranza, chair of the Federation of Philip-pine Industries, that David Tan Bangayan was a “for-mer scrap metal trader from Davao City before [going into] rice smuggling.” Ar-ranza said that Tan heads several companies, includ-ing Advanced Scrap Special-ist Corp., Amphibian Metal Trading Co., Advance Tran-system Corp., among other businesses.
Duterte to CHR: Shut upThe admonition e “Shut
up” echoed in various new-papers after the city mayor dismissed the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) criticism of his pronounce-ment against criminals in the city as “unethical” and “unbecoming.”
“I want smuggling of rice in my city stopped. But if you still do not stop your smuggling activities, I will kill you,” Mayor Duterte had reportedly warned rice smugglers.
The mayor said that he is even willing to be thrown into jail if he kills a rice smuggler. “Alam mo, sa totoo lang, kung walang Pil-ipino na papatay para sa ta-ong bayan, sa mga farmers, at takot mamatay, walang mangyayari sa bayan na ito ... We have to defend the Fil-ipino farmer.”
It is not only the Filipino farmers that should be pro-tected but also the taxes that are not collected from this illegal activities. The Philip-pines is losing billions and billions ib taxes that could be used in improving social services and projects.
Smuggling of rice to the
FHOT, 2
ASSURED. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte meets with local rice traders and dealers who sought an audience with the mayor after names of some local traders were dragged into the rice smuggling issue. Dute-rte, however, assured the businessmen that they don’t have any reason to feel harassed as long as they do not engage in any illegal importation of rice. Inset is city information officer Leo Villareal holding the photo of the alleged “David Tan” which Duterte showed during a press briefing at The Marco Polo Davao last Friday night. [CIO]
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014
detrement of Filipino farmers, according to him, is economic sabo-tage as it undermines the economy of the na-tion.
Duterte added that if CHR officials cannot do anything but critize his pronouncement as “un-ethical,” they “better get out of the government”. “You’re not helping us. You are not helping the Filipinos anymore.”
Duterte to rice trad-ers: Do not support smuggled rice
In a meeting with local rice traders at The Marco Polo Davao last Friday, the mayor said that the traders should check the sources of their imported goods. If they are suspicious, they could personnally inform him to check the credibility of the source.
His visitorial right as the highest govern-ment official in the city government allows him to examine, inspect, and supervise the operation of an entity.
He said that he would protect traders who are not engaged in this ac-tivity and will not allow any form of extortion to happen in his territory.
Various sectors in support of Duterte’s campaign
Believing that rice smuggling would kill the local rice production in-dustry, various groups in the city support Dute-rte’s quest to end rice smuggling into the city.
Johnny N. Loyola, a local rice trader for the past 40 years said in a press briefing at The Marco Polo Davao Fri-day night that they had assured the mayor that they would not patron-ize smuggled goods.
Loyola said that the market loses its com-petetiveness if cheap rice floods the market, killing the local rice in-dustry. It is not only the farmers who are affect-ed, but all allied indus-tries depending on rice production.
On the other hand, Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (DCCCII) president Antonio T. Dela Cruz said in an earlier report that smuggling deprives local businessmen while Min-danao Business Council chair Vicente Lao said
that “any form of smug-gling is always bad for the country because we are depriving the coun-try of revenues and our own farmers of their livelihood.”
Rice Industry in PHLRice remains the sta-
ple food of majority of Filipinos. Research says that it accounts for 25 percent of the food ex-penditure of the poorest 30 percent of the popu-lation.
On the other hand, a report from Manila Times said that at pres-ent the Philippines is allowing 350,000 metric tons (MT) of rice to en-ter the country annually at reduced tariff rate of 40 percent. The coun-try is the third largest importer of rice in the world. The first is Nige-ria while the second is Indonesia.
The country imports rice from countries like Vietnam and Thailand.
The reason the country imports rice, based on a research by the International Rice Research Institute(IRRI) is that the Philippines is an archipelago. It’s land-scape contributes as to the fact that the country, despite being agricuture based, depends on rice importation.
In addition, the coun-try experiences numer-ous typhoons annually, making rice produc-tion “more difficult and risky”.
Aside from this, oth-er reasons are -- faulty government policy, cor-ruption, conversion of rice land to other uses, backward rice farmers, deteriorating irrigation system, lack of credit system for farmers, and others.
2WEATHER FORECAST
EDGEDAVAO
ON THE COVER
HOT RICE
WHO IS DAVID TAN?
THE Regional Trial Court 16 has or-dered one Joseph
Mangupag Ngo, who is seeking the release of his P21-million worth im-ported rice earlier seized by the Bureau of Customs Davao, to comment with-in 10 days on the motion for reconsideration filed by the Office of the Solic-itor General (OSG).
Judge Emmanuel C. Carpio, presiding judge of RTC 16 stated in his order dated last Friday to comment after the OSG’s Henry Ysaac questioned the order of the court dat-ed December 12, 2013 granting the writ of pre-liminary injunction.
On December 5, 2013, Ngo’s legal counsels, An-thony P. Banzali and Fer-dinand M. Taglucob, filed for permanent injunction with prayer for a tem-porary restraining order
against district collector of the Bureau of Customs in Davao for confiscating the rice shipment from the Starcraft Internation-al Trading Corporation.
The plaintiff said he has an agreement with Starcraft International Trading Corporation to buy shipments of im-ported rice set to arrive in Davao City on various dates in October and No-vember 2013.
The agreement said that ownership over the rice shipments, on a per shipment basis, is trans-ferred to plaintiff upon payment of the down payment, thus, the plain-tiff made payment of P21,132,000 represent-ing the down payment for the rice shipments in the said bill of lading.
On the other hand, the OSG said in its motion
BOC in tug-of-warover P21-M rice By EMILORD P. CASTROMAYOR
FBOC, 10
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014
THE Davao City Prosecution Office revived libel cas-
es against a union leader and editors of two local tabloids.
The cases were raf-fled off last Thursday to RTC 11 and RTC 10 with warrants of arrest set to be issued against respon-dents Romelito Pablo, president of Lapanday Box and Plastic Plant Workers Union-Associa-tion of Democratic Labor Organizations-Kilusang Mayo Uno, and publisher Marietta F. Siongco of the Mindanao Daily Mirror and Stella Estremera, ed-itor-in-chief of Sun Star Davao.
Prosecutor Panfilo Ju-nior R. Lovitos stated in his resolution on the mo-
tion for reconsideration filed by the complainant, Lapanday Foods Corpo-ration represented by le-gal counsel Leilani Yang-yang-Espejo, that the CPO was able to substantiate the “missing element” of libel that was ruled on January 31, 2013.
It may be recalled that the prosecution office dismissed the case for in-sufficiency of evidence as it opined that the alleged defamatory remark was not clearly indicated in the stories published as to who the persons in the Lapanday management were referred to as the of-fended parties.
Lovitos said “It can be reasonably inferred that Lapanday Foods Corpora-
THE Bureau of Cus-toms (BOC) is looking at reviving
two divisions that would further enhance security from illegal activities.
With this, Deputy Commissioner for En-forcement Group (EG) Ariel Nepomuceno has ordered the conduct of a study on how to revive the water patrol division and radio communica-tions group.
“I just instructed last week the conduct of a formal study how to re-vive. But I think there is a need to revive these two divisions. I don’t know if the staff could come up with their report in 30 days. Of course, if they came up with the result, it would be subjected to
the usual procurement study,” he explained.
Nepomuceno noted that the bureau needs radio communications department, as he be-lieves that the bureau is one of the few agencies in the world that does not have such division.
“Maybe we are one of the few enforcement group in the world that does not have tactical radio communications capability, we only use cellphones look at what happened in Tacloban when all systems fail we don’t have tactical ca-pability. So the bureau needs that tactical capa-bility,” he added.
On the other hand, the BOC official said the
THE government’s weather agency warned against
possible flooding and landslides in Mindanao from moderate to occa-sionally heavy rains that are expected to persist for two to three hours there beginning late Satur-day afternoon due to the low-pressure area east of the island.
”Flooding is threat-ening in low-lying areas and landslides in moun-tainous areas,” Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Ser-vices Administration (PA-GASA) said in its 4 p.m. rainfall advisory released Saturday.
PAGASA expects mod-erate with occasionally
heavy rains over portions of Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Sur, Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte.
Light to moderate with occasionally heavy rains are forecast over portions of Surigao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao City, General San-tos City, Cotabato City, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sarangani, Mis-amis Oriental, Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Basilan and Misamis Occidental which may persist for two to three hours, the agency added.
PAGASA advised the public and disaster risk
3
NEWS
EDGEDAVAO
THE BIG NEWS
SPEED LIMIT VIOLATORS. Land Transportation Office (LTO) law enforcers apprehend motorists who violated Executive Order (EO) No. 39 or the Speed Limit Ordinance along E. Quirino Avenue in Davao City over the weekend. Lean Daval Jr.
RECOGNITION. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte gives a memento, the replica of a Philippine Eagle’s head carved on wood, to Ambassador Raymond Wang of the Taiwanese Embassy in the Philippines at The Marco Polo Davao last Friday evening. [CIO]
FPAGASA, 10
FCUSTOMS, 10
FCPO, 10
PAGASA warns vs flooding, slides in Mindanao areas
Customs looking at reviving 2 divisions
CPO revives 2 libel cases
By EMILORD P. [email protected]
A GUN-RUNNER and three others were arrested by Davao
City police in separate en-trapment operations last Friday.
Rodel Cabiling Sr, 52, was arrested for selling “loose” firearms in Tade-co, Sto. Tomas and other places in Davao del Norte.
The others arrested
were Ronald Galendes, 28, Adell Gravador, 21, and Jay Anthony Lazaro, 31, all members of the notorious gang dubbed “Trip Gang”.
Sr. Supt. Joel Pernito, regional director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Region 11, said chief in-spector Darwin Rafer,
team leader of Davao del Norte CIDG led the en-trapment that resulted to the arrest of Cabiling while Chief Inspector Warren Dablo, team lead-er of CIDG Davao arrested the other three suspects.
Cabiling was caught in possession of one .45 caliber pistol, three mag-azines for .45 pistol and
and .22 caliber ammuni-tion. The items will serve as evidence against the suspect during court pro-ceedings.
Three other suspects were arrested by police who recovered one .45 caliber pistol and a mag-azine for .45 caliber pis-tol along with P200 in marked money.
Gun-runners arrested
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014
A YEAR after the d e v a s t a t i o n wrought by super
typhoon Pablo in three of its 10 towns, Davao Oriental is celebrating with the inauguration last Wednesday (January 8) of Subangan, an interactive, state of the art provincial museum that Tourism As-sistant Secretary Art Bonca-to says “should set a trend” in museum development nationwide.
“What we see in Davao Oriental is great communi-ty involvement that to my mind would be very infec-tious, engaging others to contribute. This, to me, is nation building,” Boncato told MindaNews.
Subangan, Governor Corazon Malanyaon said, is a Dabawenyo word for “east” or “where the sun rises…. to rise, come out, bloom, begin to grow” and for a province that wakes up to a glorious sunrise ahead of the rest of the country (the country’s easternmost, Pusan Point, is located in Caraga, Davao Oriental), Boncato expects it will lead the way for other local governments in Min-danao and the rest of the country, to follow.
At the inauguration program on Wednesday afternoon, Boncato told the crowd gathered at the Museum Gardens, that it is “very seldom that we see a provincial government spend its time, effort, mon-ey, blood and tears if you will, in coming out with a very, very important muse-um program.”
“Having gone through great calamity a year ago, we’re all together now celebrating something different, celebrating something from our hearts. As the saying would go, a city with no museum is a city with no soul. I am happy that Davao Oriental is a province of great souls and of great people,” he said.
Malanyaon said Suban-gan speaks of “eternal hope, endless as the rising of the sun as it welcomes each new day” and “symbolizes the resiliency of the peo-ple of Davao Oriental and our determination to rise up to challenges and over-come trying times as what we have exhibited when, together, we fought to overcome the devastation brought by super typhoon Pablo.”
InteractiveLocated at the Provincial
Tourism Complex in Baran-gay Datu Martin Marundan,
Subangan has a floor area of 1,000 square meters on two levels and showcas-es themed exhibits of the province’s natural, cultural and historical heritage and a special memorial exhibit on Typhoon Pablo (Bopha).
The memorial is in a room on the ground floor, the walls filled with photographs on the impact of the typhoon on agriculture, infrastructure, lives, the rescue and relief operations, humanitarian aid and a summation of the reconstruction and development framework of “building back better.”
A window to a smaller room gives visitors a view of a mound of debris from the typhoon’s wrath.
Subangan, designed by Architect Edmundo Vi-acrucis, complemented by Architects Cesar Rey Gamalong and Lachelle Ma-rie Ravelo, and interior de-sign and exhibition concept executed by interior design-er Charisse Puentespina, assisted by Architects Cath-erine Grace Kileste, Desiree Joy Cabiles and Mere Flor Alico, Engineer Mark Otero and Graphic Artist Borriz Caparuzo of CPuentespina Design and Architecture, Subangan is a visual and aural delight and offers vis-itors a different kind of ex-perience.
The museum has blown-up photos, videos, interactive visuals (in some areas, there are tablets available for guests to scan a QR-coded picture to get ad-ditional information or vid-eo on the flora and fauna or on the skeletal installation of Davor, the sperm whale), dioramas, documents, a sampling of the Mandaya’s oral poetry, house, music, weapons of warfare, dress-es, as well as the Kalagan’s dresses, and dances by the seaside, on video.
“Ako yan,” (That’s me), said one of the elderly Ka-lagan dancers, grinning as he pointed to the dance vid-eo on the wall.
Where are the IPs?A number of out-of-
town guests who expected a presentation or a speech from the province’s indig-enous peoples – the Man-daya and Kalagan/Kaagan -- during the inaugural program were disappoint-ed. Even the music played while waiting for the pro-gram to start was neither Mandaya nor Kalagan.
But inside the museum, the Mandaya and Kalagan occupy a huge space on the ground floor for exhibits on their cultural heritage, a
number of the artifacts do-nated by them. They came to the inauguration in their traditional dresses.
The design of the muse-um’s fence grillwork takes after the dominant image of the dagmay, the Mandaya’s handwoven fabric from ab-aca fiber.
Subangan also features in huge photographs and video, the provinces’ tour-ist destinations, including Aliwagwag Falls and other lesser known waterfalls, caves, beaches, rivers and lakes, a “forest walk” where one can walk over a tem-pered glass-topped video screen of insects crawling on the forest floor. There are also samplings of wood species from the forests.
Subangan also features a field view of the Pygmy Forest of Mt. Hamiguitan.
According to the web-site of the World Heritage Convention, the Mt. Ha-miguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary belongs to the 15 biogeographic zones in the Philippines considered to have the highest land-based biological diversity in terms of flora and fauna per unit area and was nominated for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List for its “outstanding universal sig-nificance.”
Davor the whaleThe museum features
as its centerpiece exhibit the skeletal installation of the 53-foot long, 20 metric ton Davor, the sperm whale which chose the shores of San Isidro and Governor Generoso towns as its final resting place in 2010.
Malanyaon said the in-
stallation is “the largest in the Philippines and the 7th largest in exhibition in the world.”
The museum would have been inaugurated on December 4, 2013, exactly a year after super typhoon Pablo battered the munic-ipalities of Baganga, Cateel and Boston, supposedly to celebrate how the province has risen from the devasta-tion, Malanyaon told Min-daNews in November. But she said she did not deem it proper to celebrate, in deference to the victims of super typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas.
The museum had a soft opening on November 19, but only for the blessing of-ficiated by Bishop Patricio Alo, who was accompanied by the other priests of the Diocese.
Envisioned during her first term as governor (2007 to 2010), the muse-um had its groundbreaking rites during Malanyaon’s second term, on June 30, 2011 and was inaugurated during her third term.
Construction stopped when Pablo struck the province in December 2012 and resumed only in the lat-ter part of 2013.
In his welcome address, Mati mayor Carlo Luis Ra-bat said Subangan is “a her-itage for all of us” and adds “cultural, historical and ed-ucational reasons to visit our place.”
Mark Tadeo Lapid, chief operating officer of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authori-ty (TIEZA), described the museum as a “symbol of
strength of Davao Oriental.” Tieza funded P10 mil-
lion of the P25-million museum project. Aside from TIEZA and the pro-vincial legislature, the two district representatives to Congress, Thelma Almario and Nelson Dayanghirang, as well as former Las Pi-nas Representative, now Senator Cynthia Villar, also helped fund the project through their Priority De-velopment Assistance Fund coursed through the De-partment of Public Works and Highways.
Malanyaon told Min-daNews the P25 million covers the building con-struction, interiors equip-ment, landscape, land de-velopment, road inside and outside the promenade, coffee shop, guardhouse and souvenir shop, fence and professional fees for research.
Museums as zones of peace
Boncato congratulated the province’s leaders for coming up with something “so sophisticated.”
“Creating a museum I think is an indication of a sophistication of leader-ship of the people in the community,” Boncato said, adding that the museum is a repository of things, a place for convergence, a zone of peace, a savior, an inanimate spokesperson for visitors to “see the real Mindanao.”
“This is a repository of things that have been found in the past, that we have in the present and definite-ly will house what we will have in the future. What
a wonderful gift to the Philippine Tourism Indus-try. Thank you very much Davao Oriental,” he said.
Museums, he added, create a lot of symbolism for communities as they are a place for convergence, a place where democracy is played and practiced.
“This is where people from all walks of life, rich or poor, come together and it is a place that we appre-ciate the diversity of culture and data, and artifacts dis-played. So in effect, muse-ums are also zones of peace because it is where we, in Davao Oriental -- represen-tation of a tri-people -- can come together, talk about our history our present and our future in such amiable and friendly manner,” he said.
Museums are also “sav-iors,” citing as example how the province saved the sperm whale’s remains for the residents and visitors to see and understand the province’s rich biodiversity.
90 museumsBoncato recalled that
Tourism Secretary Ra-mon Jimenez urged Min-danawons during the Min-danao Business Conference in August 2013 “to not let the news dictate the image of Mindanao, the image that we will have.”
Boncato said they are confident that Subangan “will be in the forefront of changing that image of Mindanao out in the world.” The crowd applauded.
In Mindanao, he said, museums are part of the Mindanao Communication
4 EDGEDAVAO
BIGGER PICTURE
ORIENTATION. Davao Oriental Governor Corazon Malanyaon gives Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority chief Mark Lapid an orientation of the newly opened provincial museum called Subangan at the Tourism Complex in Mati City, Davao Oriental last Wednesday.
DAVAO ORIENTAL’S SUBANGAN:
Mindanao’s state-of-the art museumBy CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS Photo by TOTO LOZANO
FMINDANAO, 10
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014 5B
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EDGEDAVAO
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014
BRISK performance of manufactured and agro-based prod-
ucts steered merchandise exports to another dou-ble-digit growth in Novem-ber 2013, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
This statement came after the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported that merchandise exports grew 18.9 percent to $4.3 billion in November 2013, from $3.6 billion a year ago.
“The buoyant export performance of manu-factured products, driven primarily by electronics, reflects gains from the re-vival of the manufacturing sector as one of our growth drivers,” Economic Plan-ning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said.
Exports of manufac-tured goods sustained a double-digit growth of 16.9 percent in November 2013, registering a total value of $3.7 billion during the pe-riod.
He emphasized major gains were recorded in manufactured items such as electronic products, garments, wood manu-factures, chemicals, and machinery and transport equipment.
Electronics, which comprised over half of ex-ports receipts from manu-factured goods, was up by 10 percent, consistent with
the projected gradual re-covery in worldwide sales of personal computers and an uptick in global consum-er confidence.
“Export revenues from agro-based products also soared as a result of higher value of our exported ba-nanas, fish products, cen-trifugal and refined sugar, desiccated coconut, and unmanufactured tobac-co,” Balisacan, who is also NEDA Director-General,
said.Outward shipments of
total agro-based products grew by 38.1 percent to $265.4 million in Novem-ber 2013, from $192.2 million in the comparable period in 2012.
Export performance of mineral and petroleum products likewise ex-panded by 3 percent and 250 percent, respectively.
For the first eleven months of 2013, mer-
chandise exports rose 2.6 percent to $49.4 billion.
“We are the top export performer among major trade-oriented economies in East and Southeast Asian region,” the Cabinet Official noted.
Vietnam and China followed, growing by 15 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively, in November 2013.
Meanwhile, Japan remained as the top des-
tination of Philippine exports in November 2013, accounting for 23.6 percent of total overseas merchandise sales re-ceipts equivalent to $1.1 billion.
Next to Japan is the United States of America (USA) with a 13.7-percent share of the country’s to-tal exports followed by China (12%), Hong Kong (9.6%), and Singapore (7.7%).
Stat Watch
MONTHLY AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATE (January 2011-September 2013)
Month 2013 2012 2011
Average 42.23 43.31December 41.01 43.64November 41.12 43.27October 41.45 43.45
September 43.83 41.75 43.02August 43.86 42.04 42.42
July 43.35 41.91 42.81June 42.91 42.78 43.37May 41.30 42.85 43.13April 41.14 42.70 43.24
March 40.71 42.86 43.52February 40.67 42.66 43.70January 40.73 43.62 44.17
7.1 1st Qtr 2013
7.8 1st Qtr 2013
USD 3,741 million
Feb 2013USD 4,708
million Feb 2013USD -967
million Feb 2013USD -640
millionDec 2012
P 4,964,560 million
Feb 2013
2.4 % Mar 2013P113,609
million Mar 2013
P 5,281 billion
Mar 2013
P 41.14 Apr 2013
6,847.5 Mar 2013
132.8 Apr 2013
2.6 Apr 2013
3.1 Apr 2013
418,108 Feb 2013
20.9% Jan 2013
7.1% Jan 2013
1. Gross National IncomeGrowth Rate(At Constant 2000 Prices)
2. Gross Domestic ProductGrowth Rate(At Constant 2000 Prices)
3. Exports 1/
4. Imports 1/
5. Trade Balance
6. Balance of Payments 2/
7. Broad Money Liabilities
8. Interest Rates 4/
9. National Government Revenues
10. National government outstanding debt
11. Peso per US $ 5/
12. Stocks Composite Index 6/
13. Consumer Price Index 2006=100
14. Headline Inflation Rate 2006=100
15. Core Inflation Rate 2006=100
16. Visitor Arrivals
17. Underemployment Rate 7/
18. Unemployment Rate 7/
Cebu Pacific Daily 5J961 / 5J962 5:45 Manila-Davao-Manila 6:15Zest Air Daily Z2390 / Z2390 5:45 Manila-Davao-Manila 6:25Cebu Pacific Daily 5J593 / 5J348 6:00 Cebu-Davao-Iloilo 6:30Philippine Airlines Daily PR809 / PR810 6:10 Manila-Davao-Manila 7:00Philippine Airlines Daily PR819 / PR820 7:50 Manila-Davao-Manila 8:50Cebu Pacific Daily 5J394 / 5J393 7:50 Zamboanga-Davao-Zamboanga 8:10Cebu Pacific Daily 5J599 / 5J594 8:00 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 8:30Cebu Pacific Daily 5J347 / 5J596 9:10 Iloilo-Davao-Cebu 9:40Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri/Sun 5J963 / 5J964 9:40 Manila-Davao-Manila 10:10Philippine Airlines Daily PR811 / PR812 11:30 Manila-Davao-Manila 12:20Cebu Pacific Daily 5J595 / 5J966 12:00 Cebu-Davao-Manila 12:30Cebu Pacific Thu 5J965 / 5J968 12:55 Manila-Davao-Manila 13:25
Cebu Pacific Tue/Wed//Sat 5J965 / 5J968 13:35 Manila-Davao-Manila 14:05Silk Air Mon/Sat MI588 / MI588 13:35 Davao-Singapore 18:55 Silk Air Wed/Sun MI566 / MI566 15:20 Davao-Singapore 18:55Silk Air Thurs MI551 / MI551 12:05 Davao-Singapore 15:45Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Wed/Fri 5J507 / 5J598 15:00 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 15:30Philippine Airlines August 15:55 Mani2Mani 16:50Zest Air Daily Z2524 / Z2525 16:05 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 16:45
as of May 2013
Indicator Latest
1. Gross National Income Growth Rate (At Constant 2000 Prices)
6.8 2nd Qtr 2013
2. Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate (At Constant 2000 Prices)
7.5 2nd Qtr 2013
3. Exports USD 5,045 million
Sep 2013
4. Imports USD 5,711 million
Sep 2013
5. Trade BalanceUSD -665
million Sep 2013
6. Balance of Payments USD 692
million Jun 2013
7. Broad Money LiabilitiesP 5,980,938 million
Aug 2013
8. Interest Rate 2.0 % Sep 2013
9. National Government Revenues
P 127,336 million
Sep 2013
10. National government outstanding debt
P 5,609 billion
Sep 2013
11. Peso per US $
P 43.83 Sep 2013
12. Stocks Composite Index
6,191.8 Sep 2013
13. Consumer Price Index 2006=100
135.2 Oct 2013
14. Headline Inflation Rate 2006=100
2.9 Oct 2013
15. Core Inflation Rate 2006=100
2.5 Oct 2013
16. Visitor Arrivals 382,022 Aug 2013
17. Underemploymen Rate
19.2% Jul 2013
18. Unemployment Rate 7.3% Jul 2013
6 THE ECONOMY
FURNITURE FAIR. A shopper inspects furniture on display in the furniture fair now ongoing in one of the malls along J.P. Laurel Avenue in Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.
THE Tourism In-frastructure En-terprise Zone Au-
thority is increasing its investments for tourism sites in Mindanao.
This according to Mark Lapid Chief Oper-ations Officer of TIEZA who visited Mati City last January 8 for the opening of the prov-ince’s Subangan Muse-um.
Lapid said that Min-danao will have an al-location of P300-mil-lion for TIEZA projects which is higher com-pared to last year’s allo-cation of P270-million.
One of the TIEZA projects is located in Siargao Island known for its surfing spots. The project includes the construction of duplex cottages and bleacher seats in Pilar, Siargao Is-land, Surigao del Norte.
Also in the plans is the development of the ecotourism potentials in Mt. Hamiguitan, Lapid bared in his speech at the museum opening citing R.A. 9593.
According to the provisions of Republic Act 9593 or the Tour-ism Act of 2009 the law which created TIEZA,
five percent (5%) of the travel tax collection share intended for TIE-ZA shall be earmarked for ecotourism sites in depressed provinces with strong tourism po-tentials.
Mt. Hamiguitan also in Davao Oriental is known for its centu-ry-old pygmy forests and home to the most diverse varieties of plant and animal life in the county is the Phil-ippines’ nominee for inclusion to the list of World’s Heritage Sites.
Lapid said they are awaiting proposals for
Mt. Hamiguitan as now they are enabled to fund these projects based on the mandate of the tour-ism law.
“TIEZA has been promoting Mindanao, last year we helped in promoting MICE (Meet-ings Incentives Conven-tions Exhibitions) in Davao. “ Lapid said.
Also part of its assis-tance in tourism in the region is a substantial amount of P10-million given to the province of Davao Oriental for the realization of its Suban-gan museum.
“Having a museum
is not just something that we visit, we see museum as a landmark as a means to inspire the people.” Lapid said during his speech.
The successor of the erstwhile Philip-pine Tourism Authority (PTA), TIEZA under the tourism law is a corpo-rate body which shall designate, regulate and supervise the Tourism Enterprise Zones estab-lished under RA 9593, as well as develop, man-age and supervise tour-ism infrastructure proj-ects in the country. [PIA 11/RG Alama]
Tourism infra in Mindanao to get boost
Exports surge anew in November 2013
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014 7EDGEDAVAO
PROPERTY
SUCCESSFUL young professionals expect to live a sophisticat-
ed, modern lifestyle as they reap the fruits of a re-warding career. They nor-mally have high-paying jobs, look cool and fash-ionable, regularly engage in recreation and fitness, and enjoy cultural attrac-tions.
They place great val-ue in achieving a higher social status among their peers, and as such, have high standards especially when it comes to where they live. As ambitious city dwellers with a status to maintain, they choose only the best location they can be proud to call home.
That’s why these well-heeled set always choose Northpoint, the British colonial themed condo community at the junction of Buhangin and JP Lau-rel Avenue, Bajada, Davao City. Northpoint is a land-mark condo development of Vista
Residences, the verti-cal marketing arm of the country’s largest home-builder,Vista Land.
The stellar reputation alone of Vista Residences as a developer is already a big draw to these young professionals, as they know the value of a good reputation and solid track record. They understand they get real value for their
money when investing in a Vista Residences home.
Northpoint’s living proposition is very attrac-tive to these city sophisti-cates. Nestled at the heart of the growth center that is north Davao, Northpoint gives them a premier ad-dress with its central city location. But its surround-ings are green, clean, and serene—a stark contrast to the city’s concrete jun-gle and its hustle and bus-tle.
That’s because North-point is a green commu-nity that prides itself for its verdant plant life, pre-served age-old Acacia trees, and hundreds of imported Caribbean pine trees. Its
condo buildings are also built to principles of green architecture, making them a pleasant and healthful place to live.
For their fitness regi-men, these young urban dwellers will find North-point’s deluxe facilities and amenities quite to their lik-ing. The clubhouse, Wake-field Manor, has a fitness gym for exercising and a wellness pool with salinat-ed water for a water work-out.
For some outdoor ex-ercise, they can brisk walk or jog along the trail that circles the condo property, and breathe in the fresh air and pleasant scent of pine trees. They can also stroll
Young urban professionalscall Northpoint home
around and find a spot to commune with nature in the pocket gardens, nature park, or even just under the cool shade of the trees.
Placing importance on their social life, they want to be able to entertain and hold gatherings with friends and peers. They can have a pool party at Wake-field Manor, use the cabanas and grill pits for a barbecue, or lounge at the multi-pur-pose hall with its comfort-
able seats, tables, and wide windows that open to the green outdoor.
Yuppies also like North-point because they want to be within the most fashion-able part of the city. Located at the center of the growing commercial and shopping district of north Davao, Northpoint is quite near the best and biggest malls with its long line of boutiques, hi-end retail shops, and fash-ion and accessories stores.
Living in Northpoint gives them the benefit of living within short distance to all their daily activities, from driving to work, pay-ing bills, going to worship places, running errands, having a medical checkup, making bank transactions, and buying groceries at su-permarkets or public mar-kets.
Clearly, living at North-point satisfies all their need for modern conveniences
and more, allowing them to enjoy an affluent lifestyle they seek and work hard for. A Northpoint home ad-dress is an undeniable sign they have achieved success not only in their career, but also in life.
More on Northpoint is available at the Camella Davao offices at Delgar-Bldg, (fronting Northpoint) JP Laurel Avenue, Bajada, Davao City, telephone 295-3973.
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 20148 EDGEDAVAO
VANTAGE
Ghouls in our midst
OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager
Columnists: MA. TERESA L. UNGSON • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • AURELIO A. PEÑA • ZHAUN ORTEGA • BERNADETTE “ADDIE” B. BORBON • MARY ANN “ADI” C. QUISIDO • LEANDRO B. DAVAL SR., • NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN • NICASIO ANGELO AGUSTIN • EMILY ZEN CHUA • CARLOS MUNDA Economic Analyst: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG • JONALLIER M. PEREZ
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AQUILES Z. ZONIOCorrespondent
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EDITORIAL
FOR a long time now, Filipinos have been bombarded with stories about unchecked graft and corrup-
tion practices in low and high places in government, and to a large degree, also in the private sector.
Most of the stories tell of elected and appointed government officials and their accomplices in the private sector being charged with stealing the people’s money in the millions of pesos. If we go by media accounts, there seems to be a worsening in the degree of such crimes —the stealing of public money is becom-ing more unconscionable each passing day. And so we now hear about govern-ment officials being accused of system-
atically raiding the public coffers of not just millions but billions of pesos.
Days ago, we read in the papers about another criminal act -- overpricing in the construction of bunkhouses intended for the pitiful victims of super typhoon Yolanda, allegedly involving a politician and a conniving contractor. This form of corruption is ghoulish. Its perpetra-tors are no different from vultures feed-ing on the carcasses of dead animals and human beings.
This is really too much. Crimes like these ought to be classified as heinous and corresponding penalties for them made more severe especially if the per-petrators are themselves lawmakers.
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014
AQUILES Z. ZONIOCorrespondent
VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO
Bold proposal
A THOROUGHLY CORRUPT CUL-TURE REMAINS – Now it can be told. Smuggled rice gained smooth
entries into the country’s different sea-ports notably in Davao City and the came by shiploads, not by container vans. No less than Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte ear-lier made the revelation and says that rampant rice smuggling has been going on for quite some time. Either the Bu-reau of Customs (BoC) is looking at the opposite direction or just simply ignores it for obvious reasons, presuming that it can be both, only the smuggling syndi-cate knows better.
A name of a certain Davidson Tan Bangayan was floated and circulated in media as the alleged mastermind of a powerful smuggling syndicate, but May-or Rodrigo Duterte thinks it is a fictitious name. The faceless suspect according to the mayor is from Cebu and not Davao, and not related to the Davao City-based Bangayan business family. Mayor Duter-te lost no time at all and declared a total war against rice smuggling syndicates operating in the city and waging it with the unwavering support of the business sector and the people.
Now here’s the thing: rice smuggling continues unabated. So, of course, May-or Duterte was fuming mad and issued a stern warning to unscrupulous local rice traders to severe their ties with smug-gling syndicates to avoid being meted with the harshest punishment if found guilty of conniving with the econom-ic saboteurs. More than this, the may-or warned members of the smuggling syndicates to immediately stop their nefarious activities otherwise he might be prodded to order their arrest and de-fying lawful orders mean shooting and killing them in the process.
This, to the mind of the Commission
on Human Rights (CHR) is a clear vio-lation of due process. The CHR head re-minded the mayor that being a pub-lic official he has the moral responsibility to uphold the rule of law. Meanwhile, a Palace spokes-man likewise prompted Mayor Duterte that his role is to ensure that laws are obeyed and strictly followed in a way that is best for society. It is short of say-ing that any official can’t take any harsh action or put the law into their own hands without being given correspond-ing legal penalties.
But that can be talked, discussed and debated. As a matter of fact Mayor Dute-rte has a quick reply to the reaction of the CHR and the Palace. This is not to say that the rights of the alleged sus-pects should be ignored, however, if his threat to the culprits actually happens, the mayor says he is willing to go to jail. “Whatever is the outcome of my action, it is my own problem not theirs, refer-ring to his critics. The major problem ac-tually is the big-time rice smugglers who are in cahoots with corrupt and greedy Customs personnel. My sole intent is only to protect the interest of the small farmers and legitimate rice dealers,” the mayor angrily said.
This is the point that Mayor Duter-te was making when he said the smug-gling syndicates directly affect the small farmers and the government be-cause they do not pay tariffs and import duties thereby depriving the adminis-
tration worth billions of revenues an-nually. Well, we have no idea whether “eliminating” unscrupulous local rice traders and smugglers is in fact the right solution. But that is the core of the matter, and only Mayor Duterte needs to determine it for himself. Neverthe-less, his bold proposal has the effect of forcing the Aquino administration, per-haps to check closely what government agencies or their outside allied groups are allegedly involved in rampant rice smuggling.
Half-way through the Aquino admin-istration, the wary public particularly persistent critics and political detrac-tors noticed that it was unable to keep its campaign promise to totally eradi-cate corruption in all government levels especially in the graft-ridden Customs bureau; the leadership is oblivious that some of the President’s own trusted officials are the very source of the pre-vailing problem. This is precisely the reason why the greater problem of a thoroughly corrupt culture remains.
To totally eliminate if not minimize corruption would be a tough challenge for the Aquino administration as cor-rupt officials who have established “unholy alliance” with well-organized money-making syndicates are not born but bred. And breeding of good, honest and role model public servants should ideally start within the institution they worked for. For sufficient reasons Pal-ace image-builders can’t please ev-erybody. Critics say that with an Aqui-no-controlled media, favorable news reports come as deodorizers, a cleans-ing process and diversionary tactics to keep the present dispensation’s alleged failures in mounting corruption scan-dals and widespread smuggling activi-ties from prying public scrutiny.
BY MANNY VALDEHUESA
WORM’S EYEVIEW
Corruption in the barangay (actually in public life, generally)
PRIDE will push him to do whatever he likes. It will make him presume that it is what everyone else likes
also, or should like. It makes him pre-sumptuous. He could become a tyrant who thinks his behavior makes him out to be a disciplinarian.
There’s greed which makes him ob-sess about acquiring power, wealth, honor, and credit for achievement. The cupidity of this official is betrayed by his penchant for aggrandizing dominion over people, ideas, or things. He is clan-nish and is a dynasty-builder. He will put his family’s mark on every conceivable thing or achievement. And he shame-lessly imposes his family’s control over politics and economics, boasts about be-ing able to do so, and revels over the fact. Rarely will he be a statesman.
Then there’s envy which begrudges goodness in others, in which an official is loathe to acknowledge success or achievement outside of his own or of his family’s or clan’s.
This is the official who insists on es-tablishing new programs or projects to replace previous ones, or renames plac-es or things to ensure his or her own glo-rification. Beware of his wrath or fury. For in his jealousy, he will destroy your good works and sacrifice your wellbeing to ensure his own welfare and blame others for doing so.
There’s also gluttony which seeks to devour everything unfavorable or dis-advantageous that lies in its path. Glut-tony is excess, an uncommon indulgence in pleasure or pleasurable delights like gambling, smoking, carousing, eating or drinking, even sex.
Gluttony also encompasses greed, avarice, attachment to worldly posses-sions. It offends human decency and dignity and debases a person.
Not least, there’s sloth which is lazi-ness, apathy, or indifference—which are deadly to the misery and suffering of the poor and disadvantaged or social prob-lems in general. Slothful leaders rarely set records for public service or make a difference in the community.
Corruption is sin or wrongdoing. Come to think of it, it embodies all the seven capital sins!
It is an offense against goodness, against doing the good expected of a citi-zen or public servant. It is the ever-pres-ent threat to our way of life and our liv-ing arrangements. And like the devil, it is always on the prowl. That’s why we must be on the lookout, and guard against it.
For it usually is unnoticed—unless it strikes in a big way, inflicting damage where it’s least expected, causing tre-mendous impact.
Take the pork barrel and its abuse. It had been around for sometime but no one saw its dark side. No one saw how it got officials and constituents addicted or how it crept up on our congressional districts, even on some of its church-es and churchmen. Then it exploded on prime time and the front pages and could no longer be ignored.
Now there’s the DAP, so-called Dis-bursement Accelerated Program con-cocted by the department of budget and management. It’s still a developing story, still to be judged by the court. But it’s looking every bit as shocking—and big-ger!—than the pork barrel. Let the vigil continue!
[Manny was former UNESCO regional director for Asia-Pacific, director at de-velopment academy of the Philippines, vice chair at Local Government Academy, and 2004 PPI-Unicef awardee for out-standing columnist. He heads Gising Ba-rangay Movement as national convenor and president. [email protected]]
A thief is a thief is a thief.
THE road to perdition is built by seemingly upright citizens who think nothing of stealing.
We always read and hear about the corruption of government officials and yet each one declares to the high heavens that they are living a life of integrity and service to the people. The war against corruption is waged by a precious few but there is a gargantuan network of master-minds and underlings that steal from the country’s coffers. Sadly, such stealing is considered a norm and is even expect-ed of officials. Political family dynasties blatantly enrich themselves while their areas of responsibility wallow in poverty, generation after generation. Mindanao is home to such dynasties and though they are respectably acknowledged in public media, we know of their corruption, id-iosyncrasies, businesses, and infidelities.
The rehabilitation of the Typhoon Yolanda-stricken areas has opened busi-ness opportunities for the construction and agriculture industries, among many others. My husband, whose business is marine and agricultural machineries, was approached by the Department of Agri-culture to supply the necessary items for the rebuilding of Tacloban. Much as we saw this as good income opportunity, we also deemed this our chance to be of con-
crete help to our country. If my hus-band learns that the ma-chines are being bought for Tacloban, he lowers the prices and recom-mends only the best brands. DA, upon seeing the thrust and capacity of my husband’s business, wanted to award hefty contracts to him. We were excited. But as the wheeling and dealing wore on, the monsters within slowly revealed themselves. Business meetings were done over bottles of beer at 11am. Text messages would come in at unholy hours of the night from DA people asking that we give or lend them money for one thing or another. One even had the gall to ask money for the birthday party of his child. Given the convoluted and shady interac-tions, my husband gave up the opportu-nity. He declared that he did not want to build our home from money earned that way. I felt a twinge of disappointment but I am certain that goodness begets good-
ness. Now that the news of the substan-dard bunkhouses for the Yolanda survi-vors came out, we are glad that we did not aid and abet the corruption. But we are utterly disgusted at the officials and con-tractors for taking advantage of the least advantaged. They should be ashamed of themselves. Japanese officials have taken their own lives for less reason. We could only wish our own people would have the same sense of shame, if not the same sense of honor and integrity.
Closer to home, another thief sur-faced. A trusted supervisor and friend of the family was caught taking money from our store’s tills. He would nonchalantly swipe bills from the cashier’s box using the last three fingers of his hand and ca-sually put the money in his pockets. He has done this repeatedly. In his mind, he thinks he is not seen. He declares he is innocent but his misdeed was immortal-ized on video. More than that, he dimin-ishes himself in the eyes of the crew he is supposed to lead. He diminishes himself to himself. I am ashamed for him. But I bleed for his family.
A thief is a thief is a thief. Well-dressed, well-bred, well-educated, well-employed, well-connected. It does not matter. If you take what is not justly and rightfully yours, a thief is a thief is a thief.
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014
THE Department of Health (DOH) has been actively coordinat-
ing with local government units to prevent the spread of measles in the country, a Malacanang official said on Saturday.
Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that children with ages 9 to 11 months have been receiving the first dose of
anti-measles vaccine and the second phase will be those who are 12 to 23 months old.
One to two years old will be inoculated by receiving the anti-measles booster.
“Ginagawa ito ng De-partment of Health, in co-operation with the local government units. In par-ticular, dito sa City of Ma-nila, in cooperation with the DOH, nag-cover na sila
ng 148 barangays at ang breakdown ay 21,560 chil-dren,” Valte said in an in-terview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on Saturday.
Children with ages not more than five years old were vaccinated, according to Valte.
At the same time, the DOH also deployed mobile teams to conduct door-to-door vaccination to en-
sure that children ages 9 months old to five years old receive the first dose of anti-measles vaccine, Valte said.
Measles is a highly con-tagious viral disease trans-mitted through droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons.
There is no specif-ic treatment for measles and recovery may take two to three weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Complications of measles however may result in blindness, diar-rhea, pneumonia, enceph-alitis and ear infection. Vaccine is available for chil-dren to prevent them from being infected. [PNA]
10 EDGEDAVAONEWS
Mindanao...
PAGASA...
Customs...
CPO...
FFROM 4
FFROM 3
FFROM 3
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Plan. “Do you know that in
Mindanao, we have a total of around 90 museums? Would you believe that? This could be the 91st mu-seum of Mindanao and this is a number greater than what we have in Manila,” he said, adding that the Tour-ism department wants to make the network of muse-ums in Mindanao “to be our inanimate spokespersons. We would like to open our museums to all guests and visitors, to see the real Min-danao.”
Boncato later told MindaNews that in 2010, the number of museums in Mindanao was already 85 although most of these are small and privately owned, are housed in col-leges and universities, or schools of living traditions of the indigenous peoples.
He promised to provide a list of the
museums in Mindanao. But only a few
museums in Mindanao are government-owned. The National Museum has only two branches in Mindanao’s 26 provinces and 33 cities – in Butuan City (Butuan branch and Balanghai Shrine) and in Jolo, Sulu, while the Na-tional Historical Commis-sion of the Philippines has the Rizal Shrine in Dapi-tan.
Only a few local gov-ernment units in Mind-anao operate their own museums. The now refur-bished museum in Sulu (actually in Patikul town, very near the provincial capitol) was operated by the province starting1982 but was donated to the Na-tional Museum in 1994.
Among the city g o v e r n m e n t - o w n e d museums in Mindanao are the Museo Dabawenyo
in Davao City, the Museo Panabo in Panabo City and the Cagayan de Oro City Museum.
Subangan Museum is intended to be an in-come-generating project to keep it sustainable. Lyrna Padohinog of the Bookings and Reserva-tions unit of the museum said it is open Mondays to Sundays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Entrance fee is P100 for foreign nation-als, P50 for locals, P30 for residents, P20 for senior citizens, P20 for students outside Davao Oriental and P10 for students and children within Davao Oriental.
Mati City is 162 kilo-meters from Davao City or a two-and-a-half hours ride away, and is 112 kilo-meters from Tagum City, or about an hour and 45 minutes away. [MindaN-ews]
General Santos Drive, Koronadal City, South Cotabato 9506Tel. No. 083-228-2511 ; Fax No. 083-228-2654
WANTED FOR IMMEDIATE HIRING!
BUS DRIVER
Qualifications:
1. Male, 28 – 40 years old2. At least high school graduate3. With 5 years driving experience (bus, trucks)
Requirements:
1. Driver’s License with Official Receipt2. 2 x 2 I.D. picture (2 pcs.)3. Certificate of Employment or clearance from previous employment
May apply in person at Human Resource Department, YBLI Office, General Santos Drive, Koronadal City.
General Santos Drive, Koronadal City, South Cotabato 9506
Tel. No. 083-228-2511 ; Fax No. 083-228-2654
WANTED FOR IMMEDIATE HIRING!
BUS DRIVER
Qualifications:
1. Male, 28 – 40 years old2. At least high school graduate3. With 5 years driving experience (bus, trucks)
Requirements:1. Driver’s License with Official Receipt2. 2 x 2 I.D. picture (2 pcs.)3. Certificate of Employment or clearance from
May apply in person at Human Resource Department, YBLI Office, General Santos Drive, Koronadal City.
Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Transporta-tion and CommunicationsLAND TRANSPORTATION
FRANCHISING AND REGULA-TORY BOARD
Regional Office No. XIDavao city
Petition for Renewal of a Certificate of Public Convenience to operate aPUJ DUAL OrdinaryRegular Service
JOCELYN M. MASANGUID, Petitioner Case No.2009-XI-00215
x- - - - - - - - -- - - -----x
NOTICE OF HEARING
Petitioner is a grantee of a Certificate of Public Con-venience issued in this case authorizing the operation of a PUJ-DUAL Ordinary Reg-ular Service on the route: BARACATAN ROUTE and for cargoes as dual service from said route to any point in Region XI with the use of ONE (1) unit, which certifi-cate will expire on Septem-ber 9, 2014. In the petition filed on December 9, 2013, petitioner request authority to extend the validity of said certificate to operate along the same route with the use of the same unit previously authorized.
NOTICE, is hereby giv-
en that this petition will be heard by this Board on JAN-UARY 29, 2014 at 09:00 a.m. at this office at the above ad-dress.
At least, TEN (10) days prior to the above date peti-tioner shall publish this No-tice once in a one (1) daily newspaper of general circu-lation in Mindanao
Parties opposed to the granting of the petition must file their written opposition supported by documentary evidence on or before the above date furnishing a copy of the same to the petitioner, and may if they so, desire ap-pear on said date and time.
This petition will be acted upon by this Board on the ba-sis of its records and the doc-umentary evidence submit-ted by the parties, unless the Board deems it necessary to receive additional documen-tary and/or oral evidence.
WITNESS the Honorable TERESITA DELA PEÑA-YÑI-GUEZ, Officer In-Charge, this 9th day of December 2013 at Davao City.
EDGAR CRISANTO R. VIOLAN
Acting Chief Transportation
Development Officer
BOC...FFROM 2
for reconsideration that from the order dated last December 12, while the plaintiff was given the op-portunity to present and offer its testimonial and documentary evidence before the court, the gov-ernment was not given that opportunity .
There was only one hearing conducted and OSG was not given its day in court to repute plain-
tiff ’s evidence to prove why injunction should not be granted.
OSG also said that the plaintiff has no clear le-gal right for purposes of obtaining a preliminary injunction that he has not alleged much less shown that he is duly licensed by the National Food Author-ity to engage in the busi-ness of rice importation or distribution.
reduction andmanage-ment councils concerned to monitor the weather and the agency’s next ad-visory.
Earlier, PAGASA said the LPA entered the Phil-ippine Area of Responsi-bility (PAR) at around 4
p.m. Friday.If the LPA develops
into a tropical depression while within PAR, PAGA-SA said it’ll be named “Ag-aton.”
Tropical depression is one classification of tropical cyclones and is
marked by maximum wind speed of some 63 kilometers per hour, PA-GASA noted.
“Agaton” is the name PAGASA assigned to the first tropical cyclone in the country this year. [PNA]
bureau also needs to have a water patrol divi-sion so that they can also intercept illegal activi-ties in the sea.
“The advantage is the bureau is directly accountable to arrest water form illegal activ-ities. At present, one can blame the system for ex-ample, they can claims that there is a delay dis-patch of the Philippine Coast Guard or there was leak in the infor-mation things like that,” Nepomuceno said.
He added, “The coor-dination itself might be blamed whether right or wrong so if you have your own capability you have nobody to blame, you will be personally accountable. That for me is the biggest advan-tage,”
Although, he said that it would involve expenses since the divisions would need personnel, equipment among others, he likewise believes that it would be a right deal.
“I don’t have an infor-
mation yet on the expenses, but if you would relate that to how much we are losing to smuggling. I think it is a right investment. Of course we have to do it correctly,” the BOC official said.
Nepomuceno has no indication as to how many personnel were previously employed in the two divi-sions.
“I have no idea. I was just surprise that there were two divisions un-der the category inactive or suspended,” he added. [PNA]
tion was the one referred to in the newspaper arti-cles as “murderer of labor leaders.”
The alleged defam-atory statements were published on October 13,
2012 after the negotia-tion on employees’ bene-fits failed.
Meanwhile, Lovitos recommended P10,000 bailbond for their tempo-rary liberty.
THE Department of National Defense (DND) is planning to
create a new intelligence agency which will eventu-ally replace the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).
This was revealed by ISAFP head Brig. Gen. Edu-ardo Año who said that the proposal is still undergoing study as the planning guid-ance issued by DND Secre-tary Voltaire Gazmin aims to create a bigger intelli-gence organization.
He also dismissed talks that ISAFP will be abol-ished.
“It’s just that the intel-ligence unit of the AFP will be part now of the whole defense department,” he further said, noting that the new spy agency will be like that of the US Defense Intel-ligence Agency.
Año pointed out that nothing is final as of the moment as the plan is still undergoing review.
“Not within 2014, probably that will be (by) 2015... But of course, we are always trying to change the organization for the better, it’s the dynamics of the organization,” he said. [PNA]
Plans to supplant ISAFP under study
EASTERN Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said over the weekend it is better
to give President Benigno S. Aquino III emergency powers to address the looming power rate hike and the lack of mass transit systems in Metro Ma-nila and neighboring provinc-es.
“Congress should study the possibility of granting President Aquino emergency powers to deal with two cat-astrophic problems confront-ing our country today –- the rising cost of power and the lack of mass transit in Metro Manila and neighboring prov-inces,” Evardone said in an in-terview.
“We cannot afford a busi-ness as usual approach in dealing with these twin mega problems. It has been prov-en that palliative solutions to these problems have very lit-
tle impact,” he pointed out.Evardone’s recommenda-
tion of giving the Chief Execu-tive emergency powers is not new. He also recommended this move at the height of the rotational brownout in Mind-anao last March 2012.
When he was the gov-ernor of Eastern Samar and president of the Union of Lo-cal Government Authorities of the Philippines, he also sup-ported then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Procla-mation 1017, which placed the country under a state of emergency.
Evardone explained that granting emergency powers to President Aquino would “allow government to solve the woeful state of the coun-try’s power and mass trans-portation systems, which he blamed on years of neglect.” [PNA]
DOH working with LGUs against measles-- Palace
Emergency powers to PNoy mulledto address looming power hike
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014 11EDGEDAVAO
ENVIRONMENT
A TOTAL of 81 healthy pawikan hatchlings were released on the
shores of Aboitiz Cleanergy Park in Punta Dumalag last January 2 and 4, 2014. Caretaker Rodolfo M. Manib, Sr. noticed 3 hatch-lings around 5 p.m. of Jan-uary 2 and informed Mr. Fermin Edillon, Communi-ty Relations Department Manager of Davao Light. With guidance from local biologist Dr. Ruth Gamboa of UP Mindanao and former caretaker Bobby Onin, 23 hatchlings of the 120 eggs were then released 4 hours after they emerged and be-came active. With needed human assistance, the other 58 hatchlings were dug free from their nest and were released last January 4 at 4 p.m. Some graduate and
undergraduate Biology stu-dents of the University of Southeastern Philippines conducting research on the coastline and the Legal Team Members of Davao Light luckily witnessed this rare event. Sometime in October 2013, these pawikan eggs, believed to be of the Olive Ridley species, were laid in Lawis, Toril. Department of Environment and Natu-ral Resources (DENR) per-sonnel Efren Tagurda and Jose Lechoniso brought the eggs to Punta Dumalag and requested Onin to help them transfer the eggs to a protected area to ensure a higher survival rate. With Onin’s efforts, these eggs were given clearance from Davao Light and buried in the Aboitiz Cleanergy Park for incubation.
Pawikan hatchlings take on 2014 waves
Hatchlings get dug up and ushered to safety as they break away from their shells.
THE government is strengthening its con-trol on the use of lead
and its compounds in the local production of consum-er products, as well as its importation, sale, distribu-tion and disposal following the issuance of a chemical control order (CCO) for lead and lead compounds by the Department of Environ-ment and Natural Resourc-es (DENR).
“The Chemical Control Order for Lead and Lead Compounds is a result of numerous consultations with various stakeholders with the intention of re-ducing unreasonable risks and injuries to people as a result of their exposure to the chemical as well its neg-ative impact on the envi-ronment,” DENR Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje said.
He also said the order was in support of the global action for the elimination of lead in paints.
According to Paje, lead is a heavy metal and highly toxic that exposure to it or ingestion can severely dam-age the nervous system. The chemical can also affect the development of children as well as the cardiovascular, reproductive and immune systems; impair the kid-neys; and could also cause hearing loss and tooth de-
cay.The CCO for lead, con-
tained in DENR Adminis-trative Order No. 2013-24, strictly prohibits the use of lead and lead compounds in the local manufacture of packaging for food and drink, toys, school supplies, cosmetics, water pipes and other consumer products. It also reiterates the ban on the use lead as fuel additive.
“With the CCO, existing prohibitions by other agen-cies of the government gov-erning the use of lead and lead compounds in various consumer products are fur-ther strengthened,” he said.
The order has also set the standard content of lead for locally produced paints at 90 parts per million (ppm), as well as the time-frame for the strict imple-mentation of the standard which starts in 2016 for paints intended for archi-tectural, decorative, house-hold applications while paints for industrial appli-cations, starts in 2019.
“The reason for setting the implementation phase for paints is to enable our paint industry to shift to lead-free production. There is now a global action for the elimination of lead in paints, and certainly this CCO is our way of showing our oneness with this advo-
cacy,” Paje stressed.The DENR chief added
that the new regulation on lead is consistent with Re-public Act No. 6969, oth-erwise known as the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Con-trol Act of 1990, as it also addresses the transport and treatment of lead-contain-ing wastes prior to disposal. RA 6969 was issued by the government in response to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.
“Since lead is a toxic substance, the regulation covers not only the pro-duction process, but starts at the importation of the chemical to transport, re-cycling and even up to dis-posal of lead-containing wastes. Thus, the order also covers not only the manu-facturers or industrial users but also the importers, dis-tributors, recyclers, as well as the waste service pro-viders like the transporters, waste treaters and dispos-ers,” Paje explained.
As such, persons or enti-ties involved in importation, manufacture, distribution, use, recycling, treatment, storage and disposal of lead and lead compounds, whether newly involved or with existing compliance
certificates, are required to register with the DENR’s Environmental Manage-ment Bureau (EMB).
Applicants are also re-quired to provide a Safety Data Sheet to ensure the en-vironmentally-sound man-agement of the chemicals.
The DAO details re-quirements for labeling, manufacturing and training, storage, transport, treat-ment and disposal of lead and lead-containing mate-rials.
To ensure proper imple-mentation of the new pol-icy, the DENR will conduct capability building and con-tinuous consultations and discussions with its partner agencies under the Depart-ments of Health, Trade and Industry, and Finance; as well as the Philippine As-sociation of Paint Manufac-turers, the Ecological Waste Coalition, and International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) Philippines.
The order also tasks the EMB to lead the devel-opment of standards or threshold limits relative to the other existing uses of lead, and to monitor compli-ance with these standards. Violators shall be subject to administrative and crim-inal sanctions relative to RA 6969 provisions.
DENR prohibits use of lead in local production of food packaging, paints, consumer products
ABOITIZ Power is develop-ing a sprawling property in Davao City as a nature
park which will serve as a biodi-versity classroom.
Located in the coastal ba-rangay of Punta Dumalag, the eight-hectare seaside property was once the site of a vacation house for executives of the Davao Light Power Company (an Aboitiz company) and also served as a training area for its linemen.
Within its vicinity is the 37-hectare Marine Protected Area established by the City Government in 2007. The area is also known as the Pawikan Sanctuary as it was the nesting ground of sea turtles. The nest-ing site is located in the only white-sand beach in Davao City.
According to Willy Rodolfo, Corporate Communications Manager of Aboitiz Power, the company decided to turn the property into a nature park where people will be educated about biodiversity.
Rodolfo said that the cur-rent feature of the site which is now named as Cleanergy Park will be preserved and in fact more trees particularly man-groves will be planted in the area.
Last November the whole employees of the Aboitiz Group in Mindanao flocked to the site to plant 2,000 trees to jumpstart the Cleanergy Park project. Rodolfo said that aside from 2,000 fruit and forest trees about 2,000 mangroves will be planted in the area. The trees will be geotagged and information about these trees will be post-
ed inside the park forming an integral part of their eco-trail.
Among the plans include a gazebo which will serve as a welcome area and a class-room, an eco-trail, a weather station which aims to provide location-specific weather in-formation and a lighthouse in partnership with the Philip-pine Coast Guard.
In its development time-line for 2014 plans are up for a scientific baseline research of the area, geo-tagging of trees, the establishment of an organic farm, infrastructure improvements such as guard house, boardwalk and rest stations and view decks.
By 2015 a turtle habitat conservation program will commence, the fish sanctuary project with giant reefs and giant clams seeding will be started and the setting up of a weather satellite station will also be part of the plans.
The park is also envi-sioned as a renewable en-ergy area as solar and wind power will be used in light-ing up the area.
With the place a popu-lar location for photography enthusiasts, the place is still open to photographers. He added that the park will be open for the public to enjoy the unique biodiversity of the area with its mangroves and beach forests, park benches will be put up with-in its eco-trails.
If completed and opened, the Cleanergy Park will be the largest park in Davao City. [PIA 11/RG Ala-ma]
Power firm to develop nature park in Davao
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 201412 CLASSIFIEDS
HEALTH
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VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014 CLASSIFIEDS13
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VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 201414 EDGEDAVAOEDGEDAVAO
MOTORINGVOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY,
JANUARY 12-13, 2014
THE SLEEK three-wheeled car looks futuristic, but, as its creator acknowledges,
it uses no new technology.What makes the Elio Mo-
tors vehicle unique is its ul-tra-high fuel economy and an ultra-low price tag: $6,800.
The vehicle, which was on display at the Showstoppers startup showcase on the side-lines of the Consumer Electron-ics Show in Las Vegas, promises to deliver as much as 84 miles (134 kilometers) per gallon (3.8 liters) of gasoline for high-way driving.
It accelerates as quickly as many cars on the road -- to 100 miles per hour in 9.6 seconds, according to the company. Ur-ban fuel economy is estimated at 49 miles per gallon.
Company founder Paul Elio said he came up with the idea because “I got mad about seeing all this wealth leave the country” for imported petro-leum.
An engineer by training, Elio began the firm in 2008 and recently took over an aban-doned General Motors plant in Louisiana -- one which had
been producing the gas-guz-zling Hummer.
In order to deliver the best fuel economy, the car has a cockpit wide enough only for the driver, with a passen-ger seat in the rear. It has two wheels in front and tapers in the rear to a single wheel.
“Front-to-back seating, that’s the key to mileage,” Elio told AFP.
This makes it principally a one-person car, but Elio said the vehicle is a good solution for the millions who drive along to work or leisure events.
Elio readily admits there is no special technology in the car -- it has a three-cylinder internal combustion gasoline engine, power windows, air conditioning and anti-lock brakes. While it does not have some of the on-board electron-ic gadgety found in other vehi-cles, drivers can connect their smartphones for navigation, apps and more.
“This was a design com-pletely based on existing engineering,” says company spokesman Jim Andrews.
The car has a top
crash-impact rating from the National Highway Transpor-tation Safety Board, and is expected to meet all US safety standards.
Elio is targeting the US market but hopes to eventu-ally ship internationally.
He has more than 6,000 orders from customers who have paid a deposit, and hopes to start delivering in the first quarter of 2015.
He also plans to speak with major automakers, in-cluding Chrysler, about possi-ble partnerships.
It’s not clear how much of an impact the Elio vehicle will have, but it comes after a sizzling debut for anoth-er startup carmaker, Tesla, which sells a $70,000 electric car.
Other three-wheelers may be in the words as well: a three-wheel concept car from Toyota was on display at the huge electronics exhibition.
Elio said he is encouraged by the response to the car.
“We didn’t design it to be cool,” he said. “It was cool by accident.”
EVEN before its unveil at the 2014 North American International Auto Show
(NAIAS), Subaru has revealed that its all-new Subaru WRX STI is going racing. It’s going to compete in the 2014 Nür-burgring 24-Hour Race slated for June 19-22. Subaru and its in-house tuning arm, Subaru Technica International (STI) aims to win its third victory in the SP3T class following its win in 2011 and 2012.
The Subaru WRX STI Nür-burgring 24-Hour Race race car is based off the production WRX STI but further enhanced by STI to boast a higher level of competitiveness. The an-nouncement comes without any sort of specification that the race car will have. Like last year, Hideharu Tatsumi will take the helm of team opera-tions as team manager, in addi-tion to the development of the car. As for team drivers, Toshi-
hiro Yoshida and Kouta Sasaki both from Japan will be listed, adding two more drivers from Europe.
The announcement is a lead up to the Tokyo Auto Sa-lon 2014 where Subaru and STI will outline its motorsports program for 2014. Aside from Subaru and STI’s participation
at the Nürburgring 24-Hour Race, it will compete in the Su-per GT Series with the Subaru BRZ GT300. Subaru will also continue to support privateer teams who will participate in the FIA World Rally Champi-onship 2 (WRC2) and the Eu-ropean Rally Championship (ERC).
Subaru WRX STI races before launch
MOTORALLY 2014. Ducati Philippines president and CEO Toti Alberto (second from left) and wife Joey Cua Alberto (second from right) with some mebers of the Ducati moto riders during the Motorally 2014.
Three-wheel car gears for 2015 US launching
INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014
EDGEDAVAOEVENT
THE Royal Mandaya Hotel welcomed the new year 2014 with a royal banquet pre-pared for the hotel’s officers and employees, as well as loyal clients and friends.
TRMH general man-ager Benjie Banzon led the traditional New Year Countdown ushering in the Year of the Horse. “It looks like we’ll have a galloping year ahead. The future looks good for Davao City’s hotel in-dustry,” Banzon said. “We wish everyone a bliss-ful year ahead. Welcome 2014!” The Royal Mandaya Hotel’s official family led by Glenn Escandor and wife Michelle, brother Gerome and matriarch Violy also wished their friends and clients a ban-ner year in 2014. The Royal Mandaya
Hotel, one of the most successful home-grown hotels, is located at Palma Gil Street in the heart of Davao City.
Countdown royaleThe Royal Mandaya Hotel welcomes 2014 with a New Year countdownBy Neil Bravo
ON December 31, 2013, more than 1,000 people came together at The Foun-tain Court grounds of SM Lanang Pre-mier in Davao City to ring in the New Year with a fun run and countdown cel-ebration. The event dubbed ‘TwelveZeroOne’ provided Dabawenyos the oppor-tunity to mark the New Year peacefully and safely sans the firecrackers, and raise funds for the benefit of Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ sur-vivors. It was organized by Coca-Cola in partnership with SM Lanang Premier, the City Government of Davao and Pasko Fiesta. When the clock struck 12 midnight, about 600 runners consisting of fam-
ilies, running profession-als and enthusiasts in their singlets, racebibs, and glow in the dark baller bands dashed through the 5-km. stretch from SM Lanang Premier to Bajada and vice versa. The race was high-lighted by the participa-tion of families with their kids, some have their pets tagging along while others injected a playful dose of creativity to the occasion by donning their bright, colorful attire while on the tracks. Dances, cosplay per-formances, and games were held to entertain the crowd. Drum beaters
and live DJ music set the party mood for the night and laser and waterworks shows, the latter lasting 20 minutes at SM Lanang Premier’s 122-meter mu-sical fountain, dazzled the audiences. ‘TwelveZeroOne’ was supported by Accu Image Productions, Energen, SM City Davao, Brother Print-er, Lotus, and 107.5 WIN. Now on its third year, the Coca-Cola New Year’s eve countdown event was first launched in 2011 and has offered an alternative way of welcoming the New Year with sports-oriented and fun activities.
ONE of the country’s best portrait studios for kids and the entire family, 123 Smile, is now open at SM City Davao. Seeing the world through the kids’ eyes, 123 Smile, spe-cializes in playful kiddie and family portraiture. With spe-cially trained photographers and a wide range of props and costumes available at the studio, portraits will never be the same again! Experience a photo session where you can play, party and pose your way to profession-al portraits. The new 123 Smile at SM Davao also offers regular photo services such for IDs and passports. Be a SMILE member now and en-joy special treats! Walk into the colorful and kid-friendly 123 Smile studios. Have a fun-tastic photo session today. Visit 123 Smile at the 2nd floor, Level 2 of SM City Davao.
DON’T miss the chance to upgrade your lifestyle in 2014 by taking part in the biggest nationwide sale to kick off the year! Join the Welcome 2014 Sale, a synchronized mall-wide sale across all Ayala Malls happening from January 2 to January 19, 2014. Shoppers in Glorietta, Greenbelt, Alabang Town Center, Ayala Center Cebu, Market! Market!, TriNoma, Bonifacio High Street, MarQuee Mall, Harbor Point, and Cen-trio Mall are all treated to this massive countrywide sale, and Davao shoppers get to join in by shopping at Abreeza Mall. Shoppers can score discounts starting from 10% up to as much as 80% from both local and foreign brands. From clothing and footwear to books and eats, there’s an awe-some bargain buy for everyone at Abreeza Mall. Customers are encouraged to share their great finds from the Welcome 2014 Sale; just use the hashtags #WelcomeAy-alaMallsSale, #WelcomeSaleFinds, and #Welcome2014 in so-cial media posts and join shoppers from all over the country make virtual noise in this huge retail party. More excitement awaits Davaoeños at Abreeza Mall in the first flush of this brand-new year. Reverie 2014, Davao’s first 3D mapping party featuring sets by DJ Torch, DJ Reo Mendoza, DJ Erwin Edralin, and DJ Surf, lights up the Park Dining area on January 18. From January 17 to 23 and again from January 26 to 30, the Red Bazaar invades the Activity Center; on January 25, the Activity Center plays host to the Paradigm Fashion Forecast 2014. Abreeza Mall then caps off the month with a mall-wide Chinese New Year Celebration on January 31. For more information on programs and happenings at Abreeza Mall, visit the concierge at the ground floor or call (082) 321-9332. Stay updated by liking www.facebook.com/AbreezaMall and following @abreezatweets on Twitter and @iloveabreezamall on Instagram.
A2 INdulge!
Fun modern portraits at 123 Smile
Abreeza Mall holds huge sale to welcome 2014
UP AND ABOUT EVENT
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014EDGEDAVAO
Dabawenyos kick off 2014 at Coca-cola’s TwelveZeroOne run at SM Lanang Premier
Participants warm up for the Coca-Cola fun run at The Fountain Court grounds.
After the sprint, runners enjoy their moment of triumph at the photo wall.
A runner stands out from the crowd in his neon green headgear and trainers.
SM Lanang Premier Mall Manager Engr. Therese Lapeña-Manalo gives a new year’s message during the event.
Mindanao SM Supermalls AVP for Marketing Russel Alaba (2nd from left) presents a Special Award to the runner with the cutest pet.
The family with the most number of members to first finish the race receives a special award from SM Supermalls led by AVP for Marketing in Mindanao, Russel Alaba (2nd from left).
Jean Montenegro, Coca-Cola Bottlers Marketing Manager for Mindanao, welcomes the crowd to the ‘TwelveZeroOne’ countdown event.
Leading international magazine Euromoney has once again named AirAsia Berhad as the winner of the ‘Best Managed company in Asia for the Airlines & Aviation sector’, for the Euromoney ‘Best Managed and Governed Companies – Asia Poll 2014’.AirAsia was the winner of the same accolade in 2013, a trib-ute to the company’s focus on integration and expansion and excellent corporate foresight of the aviation industry.The poll is based on replies received from a total of 93 of the leading equity analysts at the largest investment banks and research houses in the Asia Pacific region nominating a total of 214 different companies.Analysts were asked to name which companies were the most impressive across a number of factors including; man-agement accessibility, accounting transparency and corpo-rate governance procedures amongst others.Analysts praised AirAsia for its leading role in promoting transparent communication to investors, citing that “the company has a clear strategy and good visibility”. Analysts also noted that “AirAsia senior management continues to demonstrate prudent gearing, transparency, good gover-nance and clear articulation of strategy.”
AirAsia is Asia’s best managed company two years in a row!
Photo caption:
AirAsia Berhad CEO, Aireen Omar receiving the ‘Best Managed company in Asia for the Airlines & Avia-
TO kick off its 25th anniver-sary year, Metro is bringing its readers the boldest and most daring edition of its highly anticipated Metro Body Issue, where Miss Uni-verse 2013 3rd Runner Up Ariella Arida sizzles on the cover in one of the season’s hottest trends. Ara looks fresher and fiercer than ever in tropi-cal prints, divulging what she’s really like underneath it all—the title, the glam-our, and the limelight. She opens up about life after the world’s most prestigious pageant, revealing things she’s never revealed before. Joining Ara in this ultra exciting issue are today’s most talked about personal-ities in entertainment, mod-eling, and sports, alongside fresh faces whose stars will shine brighter, and some of the most standout names from Metro Body features past. Among those that took on Metro’s challenge of baring their all in the truest sense of the word are the likes of Brent Javier, Carlos Agassi, Cristine Reyes, Den-nis Trillo, Enrique Gil, Jake Letts, Janna Tee, Jason Aba-los, JC de Vera, Jessica Yang, Joaco Cañas, John James Uy, Rafa Siguion-Reyna, Randy See, Raphael Robes,
Rayver and Rodjun Cruz, Rufa Mae Quinto, Sam Con-cepcion, Sky Yang, Sunshine Cruz, Tom Rodriguez, Val-erie Weigmann, Victor Basa, Vince Ferraren, the Viva Hot Babes, and Wendy Tabus-alla—shown wearing only the must-have accessories from the Resort 2014 collec-tion. Metro also gives its read-ers a closer look into how to sport Resort 2014’s hottest trends, from nautical and white, to denim and tropical prints—carefully putting to-gether the best selection of
clothes, shoes, and accesso-ries. Apart from all that, get tips on how to be a fresh-faced, glowing beauty with our tips for luminous skin, and take a closer look at the spectacular event that was, the Metrowear Icon: Francis Libiran gala. The Metro January Issue is out in bookstores and newsstands nationwide for only P150. Like Metro Mag-azine on Facebook (www.facebook.com/Metro.Mag-azine) and follow Metro on Twitter or Instagram (@Me-troMagPH).
GMA News TV was the chan-nel to watch out for in 2013 -- launching groundbreak-ing new series and bringing home an unrivaled haul of international awards, while covering the biggest break-ing stories of the year. The coveted George Fos-ter Peabody Award, a Silver World Medal at the New York Festivals, a Silver Medal at the US International Film and Vid-eo Festival, the UNICEF Asia-Pacific Child Rights Award, only Philippine finalist at the Japan Prize, the Philippine Quill Award for Excellence, the most television wins at the Catholic Mass Media Awards … these were just a few of the international and local honors that GMA News TV took home the past year, led primarily by its documen-tary program Reel Time and its flagship newscast State of the Nation with Jessica Soho. GMA News TV is ready to continue its winning streak this 2014. Following on the heels of the successful Katipunan se-ries, GMA News TV presents another period drama in 2014
– Ilustrado. The series will take viewers through Jose Rizal’s travels in Europe, including Rizal’s many romances, his rivalry with Filipinos abroad, his poverty and homesick-ness and his passion to write about his homeland. GMA News TV also launch-es Cine Totoo: the 1st Philip-pine International Documen-tary Film Festival. Cine Totoo will be awarding grants to 11 documentary filmmakers to produce their dream projects. Three winners will be chosen from among the grantees – Best Documentary, Jury Prize and Audience Choice Award – and all three will air on GMA News TV come September 2014. Meanwhile, GMA News TV reminds viewers about some of its most valuable titles. The only show of its kind currently on Philippine TV – Investigative Documentaries, hosted by Malou Mangahas solidly follows the paper trail behind issues every week. Investigative Documentaries assesses the performance of political clans, studies the im-pact of government policies
and investigates corruption. Trust the program will do even more of this in 2014. I Juander is an almost week-ly trending topic on Twitter. Led by Susan Enriquez and Cesar Apolinario, the show has captured viewers’ hearts with its unforgettable social experiments and its enter-taining discussion of Filipino culture, food, traditions and superstitions. Hosted by veteran docu-mentarists Kara David and Howie Severino, News To Go is the no-frills morning news-cast with relevance, depth and insightful interviews that give context to the news. Game-changing weekend documentary programs Reel Time and Front Row have been sweeping the awards the past two years. The documentaries tackle pov-erty and social ills, telling the raw stories of the subjects themselves, using no hosts or voice-overs. These programs, and many more, have contributed to making - and keeping - GMA News TV the Philippines No. 1 news channel.
INdulge! A3
Metro kicks off Silver anniversary with sexiest Metro Body shoot ever
GMA News TV unveils 2014 projects
ENTERTAINMENT
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014EDGEDAVAO
A4 INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT
“ASAP 19” pumps up the energy of the New Year with its non-stop world-class perfor-mances this Sunday to be led by “Bride for Rent” stars Kim Chiu and Xian Lim. Join the whole ASAP Ka-pamilya as they celebrate the birthday of the ultimate heartthrob Piolo Pascual; grand launch of Angeline Quinto’s ‘Higher Ground’ al-bum; and Star Magic’s spe-cial welcome to its newest Kapamilya, Klarisse de Guz-man. ABS-CBNmobile will also take the spotlight on Sun-day for its grand launch to be led by Bea Alonzo, Julia Montes, and Jodi Sta. Maria. King of the Gil Enrique Gil will fire up the ASAP dance floor through a show-stop-ping production number with ‘next generation of stars’ Kim Barranda, Yuan Es-
trada, Grae Fernandez, and Icee Ejercito. This Sunday, “ASAP 19” will also pay tribute to in-ternational music icons like Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Billy Joel, Supremes, Everly Brothers, James Ingram, and The Beatles. Prepare for a breathtak-ing dance showdown in ‘ASAP Supahdance’ featur-ing Gerald Anderson, En-chong Dee, Shaina Magda-yao, Maja Salvador, Jessy Mendiola, Iya Villania, Em-press, John Prats, Rayver Cruz, and Cristine Reyes. Also, watch out for a
top caliber musical experi-ence from Martin Nievera, ZsaZsa Padilla, Charice, Arnel Pineda, Lani Misalu-cha, Erik Santos, Jed Mad-ela, Yeng Constantino, and Nikki Gil; and the fun-filled jamming session of ASAP Sessionistas Juris, Richard Poon, Kean Cipriano, Sitti, and Aiza Seguerra, with ASAP Covers namely Sam Milby, Nyoy Volante, Paolo Valenciano, Princess, Paolo Onessa, and KZ Tandingan. Meanwhile, witness an-other inspirational sharing from Mr. Pure Energy Gary Valenciano in his segment ‘With Love, Gary V.’ Welcome 2014 with a bang in the country’s lon-gest-running, award-win-ning variety show, “ASAP 19,” this Sunday, 12:15nn, on ABS-CBN. For viewers who want to purchase ASAP official merchandise, simply visit the ABS-CBN Store located at the ground floor of ELJ building in Quezon City, or visit ABSCBNstore.shopinas.com and MyRegalo.com. Visit ASAP.abs-cbn.com to hang-out live with stars at ASAP Chill-Out. Also join the fun at “ASAP 18′s” of-ficial social networking ac-counts at Facebook.com/asapofficial and Twitter.com/ASAPOFFICIAL, and know the latest happenings in “ASAP 19” by tweeting the hashtag #ASAPTribute.
Kim and Xian spice up ‘ASAP Tribute’
this Sunday
EDGEDavao Davao Partners
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014 15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO
WIE unveils her latest weird putting stance
Michelle Wie has tried a variety of ways to get the ball in the hole on the green, so her most recent effort, done with tongue firmly implanted in cheek, should come as no surprise to fans of the Big Wiesy.
Michelle Wie has taken a lot of guff over the rather odd way she swings at putts -- even though bending over from the waist into a “tabletop” position has
helped the two-time LPGA Tour winner dra-matically improve her ef-forts on the greens.
Wie, who showed off a pretty good driving motion from Phil Mick-elson’s southpaw per-spective, could not care less what anyone says about her rather unorth-odox method, which has evolved over the years from anchored belly bats and claw grips to her cur-rent stance.
“A lot of people have talked about my putting stance or whatnot, but I
honestly don’t care how I look as long as I make putts,” Wie told reporters during the Solheim Cup in August. “I think that you walk up to any pro-fessional golfer and you tell them -- give them a choice between looking cool and making putts, and I’m pretty sure ev-eryone’s going to say, ‘making putts.’”
Wie suggested that naysayers check out her stats with the flat stick that she maneu-vers with an even flat-ter back, which have,
indeed, “gotten a lot better.” In 2012, the 24-year-old Stanford grad was ranked 119th in both putts per green in regulation and put-ting average; last year she came in 25th and 53rd, respectively.
So Wie pays no atten-tion to observers whose sacroiliacs ache just watching the 6’1 former prodigy hunch over the ball, and she’s confident enough in her skills to goof on them and her-self, as she proved via Twitter on Wednesday.
A WEIRD WIE TO PUTTMichelle Wie unveils her weird putting stance
FIBA Asia communications head S. Mageshwaran said the PBA should move the
Governors’ Cup to give the na-tional team more time to pre-pare and allow its best players to join Gilas Pilipinas for the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
“The third and final confer-ence of the PBA, the Governor’s Cup, can be – and in my opinion should be – put off in support of the national team,” he wrote in a column on the FIBA Asia website.
“No league can survive or retain its credibility by deny-ing the national team the time and space to prepare for an event as big as the World Cup. And any fan — including all those who steadfastly follow the PBA proceedings — would want their favorite players to don the national colours, given a choice.”
The league’s schedule cur-rently has the Governors’ Cup slated to end in mid-August, some two weeks before the start of the World Cup in Spain on August 30.
Last season, the PBA al-tered its schedule by mov-ing the Governors’ Cup to give way to the FIBA Asia Championship in Manila. That resulted in a silver medal run for the country, earning it a ticket to return to the world basketball stage for the first time in four decades.
“There are many inter-ests — most of them vested — which are aiming to ruin the show. But the PBA, as a collective unit which does believe in the development of basketball, should resist and win against these inter-ests,” added Mageshwaran.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Shaun Livingston was flying all over the court. LeBron
James could only sit and watch.Joe Johnson scored 32
points, Livingston helped Brooklyn dominate the second overtime after James fouled out, and the Nets beat the Mi-ami Heat 104-95 on Friday night for their fifth straight vic-tory.
Livingston had two bas-kets and two blocked shots in the second OT, finishing with 19 points, a career-high 11 re-bounds and five assists over 51 minutes in a sensational effort while starting for injured Deron Williams.
The Nets followed the lead of a player who spent years revitalizing a career that was sidetracked by a horrific knee injury, jumping on the Heat ear-ly and fighting them off late.
''Gutsy. Gutsy,'' Kevin Gar-nett said. ''I thought we fought for 48-plus minutes.''
Paul Pierce scored 23 points but missed jumpers that could have won it at the end of
regulation and the first over-time. Still, the Nets remained unbeaten in 2014, adding a vic-tory over the two-time defend-ing NBA champions to their re-cent wins over Oklahoma City and Golden State.
''It was huge,'' Livingston said. ''We've obviously been playing better as of late. I think our momentum that we were carrying into this game, we're trying to ride that wave.''
James had 36 points, seven rebounds and five assists, but fouled out on an offensive foul with 36 seconds left in the first overtime and the Heat trailing by two. It was the first time that James fouled out in the regular season since 2008.
Miami pushed it to a sec-ond overtime without him, but it was all Nets from there against a Heat team that was already missing Dwyane Wade and two other starters.
James was visibly frus-trated with his teammates in the first half - he said he apol-ogized at halftime for his at-titude and body language. He
was irate when Mirza Tele-tovic flagrantly fouled him, but nearly overcame all that to help Miami pull it out.
''We're a no-excuse team, but right now we have three starters that didn't play,'' James said. ''Even though we've got a lot of depth, it is hard to make up for three starters being out.''
Miami totaled six points in the overtimes, fewest ever in the shot clock era (since 1954-55) in a game that went at least two overtimes.
Norris Cole scored 18 points, but Ray Allen was 2 of 14 for nine points in place of Wade, who rested his sore knees after playing 39 min-utes in a loss at New York on Thursday. Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers also sat out the game, which featured players on both teams wear-ing nicknames on their jer-seys, a first of its kind in the NBA.
Livingston and Johnson made the first two baskets of the second overtime, then
Livingston blocked a shot by Cole.
Pierce followed with a 3-pointer, Garnett made a jumper and Livingston spun into the lane for a dunk and a 104-93 lead. He had anoth-er block on Allen, who finally made the Heat's only basket of the second OT on a wide-open layup with 16 seconds to go.
The Heat came up with the idea to wear nicknames on their jerseys and wanted another team to participate, and the Nets were selected.
So in place of the teams' regular jerseys were ones reading names such as King James and J. Shuttlesworth (for Allen's character, Jesus Shuttlesworth, in the film ''He Got Game.'')
The Nets wore their road black jerseys with Truth (Pierce) and Big Ticket (Gar-nett).
Gimmicks are nice but good games are even better, and the Heat and Nets deliv-ered a great one.
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Maria Sharapova happi-ly admits that patience
is not her strongest trait but the Russian will temper her expec-tations as she begins her Austra-lian Open title campaign.
The 26-year-old missed the last few months of the 2013 season, including the U.S. Open, with an injury to her right shoul-der, the same shoulder that re-quired surgery in 2008.
She made an impressive re-turn to the WTA Tour last week by reaching the semi-finals in Brisbane before losing to world number one Serena Williams.
After another lengthy ab-sence, Sharapova knows better than to expect to hit top form immediately.
"You obviously have to lower your expectations a little bit and be a bit realistic about maybe the first few matches," she said at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
"You have to grind, work through them, hope to get better as the tournament goes on."
The Australian Open cham-pion in 2008, Sharapova be-gins her campaign this year against American Bethanie Mat-tek-Sands, an opponent who has given her trouble in the past.
Sharapova said she had spent so much time consulting doctors about her troublesome shoulder in recent years that she was contemplating a new career once she is done with tennis.
Sharapova aching to return
Nets beat Heat in 2 OTs for 5th straight win
FIBA ASIA OFFICIAL URGES PBA:
Adjust for Gilas in World Cup
ROOKIE FLYER. Terrence Romeo of GlobalPort (light) takes flight over Ron-ald Tubid and June Mar Fajardo of Petron (dark) during the GlobalPort-Petron match in the PBA Philippine Cup on Friday. PBA Images
MICHELLE WIE
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 201416 EDGEDAVAOSports
MORE than 1,000 people con-verged at The
Fountain Court grounds of SM Lanang Premier in Davao City to ring in the New Year with a fun run and countdown celebra-tion on December 31.
The event dubbed TwelveZeroOne provided Davaoeños the oppor-
tunity to mark the New Year peacefully and safely sans the firecrackers, and raise funds for the benefit of Typhoon Yolanda sur-vivors. It was organized by Coca-Cola in partner-ship with SM Lanang Premier, the City Govern-ment of Davao and Pasko Fiesta.
When the clock
struck 12 midnight, about 600 runners con-sisting of families, run-ning professionals and enthusiasts in their singlets, racebibs, and glow in the dark baller bands dashed through the 5-km. stretch from SM Lanang Premier to Bajada and vice versa. The race was highlighted
by the participation of families with their kids, some have their pets tag-ging along while others injected a playful dose of creativity to the occasion by donning their bright, colorful attire while on the tracks.
Dances, cosplay per-formances, and games were held to entertain
the crowd. Drum beat-ers and live DJ music set the party mood for the night and laser and waterworks shows, the latter lasting 20 minutes at SM Lanang Premier’s 122-meter musical foun-tain, dazzled the audi-ences.
‘TwelveZeroOne’was supported by Accu Image
Productions, Energen, SM City Davao, Brother Printer, Lotus, and 107.5 WIN. Now on its third year, the Coca-Cola New Year’s eve countdown event was first launched in 2011 and has offered an alternative way of welcoming the New Year with sports-oriented and fun activities.
5k Run ushers in 2014 at SM Lanang
NEW YEAR RUN. Runners warm up at the Fountain Court grounds for the start of the 5K Run. Right, some of the finishers display their finisher’s medals. PR
VOL. 6 ISSUE 212 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, JANUARY 12-13, 2014