P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

EDGEDAVAOSports

PAOLO: ARREST ME

Warriors whip Cavs P15

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

VM chides PNP for ‘Great Raid’ plan

DAVAO City Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte dared the Philippine National

Police (PNP) Central Office to arrest all alleged drug lords in the city – including himself.

“Paanhia sila diri, ipada-kop na tanan big-time na drug lord diha (Let them come here and arrest all the big-time drug lords there),” Paolo said in an interview yesterday.

“Ipaapil ko kay drug lord man ko (Include me because I am a drug lord),” he added in jest.

The vice mayor made the statement in reaction to reports that an operation dubbed “The Great Raid” is allegedly being hatched in-volving special anti-drug units of the government that will be fielded to Davao City to swoop down on a “drug laboratory” here.

According to former North Cotabato Governor Emmanuel Piñol, the raid is intended to destroy Duterte’s image as an anti-drug cru-sader and suggest that Davao

City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is involved in the drug trade himself.

In his verified Facebook page, Piñol said the raid is being planned by political op-erators to destroy and derail Duterte’s presidential bid.

Earlier, Davao City Police Office (DCPO) spokesperson Chief Inspector Milgrace Driz told EDGE Davao that the DCPO has no knowledge of a supposed plan being hatched to bust a drug laboratory in the heart of Davao City.

Driz said the PNP Central Office does not need to co-ordinate with local police in the conduct of an operation or case build-up against drug pushers “if the reason is con-fidentiality.”

She said it is during the actual operation that there should be coordination with the local police to avoid a mis-encounter.

At the same time, Driz said there is no illegal drug laboratory in the city based on police monitoring.

SUITED UP. A member of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) tries out a body armor called blast suit  worth P2.5 million donated by the US government at Camp Leonor Domingo yesterday. Blast suits are designed to withstand the pressure generated by a bomb and any fragments the bomb may produce. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 20162 EDGEDAVAO

NEWS

DAVAO City Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte yes-terday said even his

name was used by Jacama Sales and Marketing to entice people to invest in the com-pany.

In an interview yesterday, Paolo said he had received a report as early as November last year that his name was being used by the company.

“Naa nay ni-text sa akoa og nanawag sa akoa nga ginagamit nila akong pan-galan. So, gi-report nako na kang CD Danao (Davao City Police Office director Senior Superintendent Vicente Danao

Jr) na imbestigihan og sa CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) (Someone called and sent me a text mes-sage telling me that my name was being used. So I reported it to Danao and CIDG for in-vestigation),” he said.

Paolo said according to his source, the company claims that he invested mil-lions of pesos in Jacama.

He said he is now refer-ring the matter to his legal counsel for appropriate legal action.

“I will still wait for the ad-vise of my lawyer,” he said.

Paolo said he has received

many complaints against the company through text mes-sages.

He said city administra-tor Jesus Melchor V. Quitain asked him just this month what action should be taken against the company.

“Ni ingon ko sa iyaha nga kung pwede na imbestigahan. Unya pag makit-an nga mga datuan na o dautan ilang negosyo para sa constituents nato sa Davao City pasirad-an og ipaundang ilang negosyo, (I told him to investigate the company and if there are vio-lations, the business must be closed down),” he said.

Earlier, Quitain said the city, through the Business Bu-reau, closed down the com-pany for misdeclaration in its business permit.

He said in its application for business permit, the com-pany indicated it was a “re-tail” company that would do “a little wholesale.”

Quitain, however, said it turned out that the compa-ny’s operations and transac-tions involved investments.

He also said the capital amount the company de-clared was only P250,000 even thought it had millions of pesos in transactions.

ANOTHER tower of the National Grid Corpora-tion of the Philippines

(NGCP) was bombed on Mon-day morning by unidentified men in Lanao del Sur, the sec-ond attack on power facilities in Mindanao this month.

In her Facebook post on Monday, NGCP Mindanao spokesperson Milfrance Ca-pulong said Tower 50 of Agus 2-Kibawe 138 KV line, locat-ed in Brgy. Pantar, Dimayon Bubong, Lanao del Sur was not completely destroyed and restoration works would start as soon as the area is declared safe.

She said the attacks on NGCP towers have only wors-ened the Mindanao power sit-

uation.Last year, 16 towers were

bombed, of which nine were completely toppled. All except tower 25 in Lanao del Sur were restored on December 24, 2015.

Capulong said an emer-gency restoration structure had to be put up to connect the power sources back on the grid.

“NGCP stresses that the bombings only aggravate the tenuous power situation in Mindanao. The incoming 600MW of generation capac-ity from new power plants will not be sufficient to re-lieve Mindanao of its energy problems unless the bombing

GOVERNMENT chief negotiator in peace talks with Moro rebels

pitched anew for the enact-ment of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) to help the county counter rising threats of ter-rorism in Southeast Asia.

The BBL is expected to top the priorities of the House of Representatives and the Sen-ate when they resume session Monday, based on earlier pro-nouncements of their respec-tive leaderships last month.

GPH peace panel chair Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, a political scientist, said the

Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), which government and the Moro Is-lamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed in March 2014, and the draft BBL not only fulfill social justice objectives but “are also containment measures against jihadist extremism” when viewed from the global securi-ty perspective.

The BBL seeks to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a po-litical entity with broader powers to address the de-cades-long aspiration of the

A 15-YEAR old Grade 3 student of the Salugpon-gan School in Talaingod,

Davao del Norte, was killed Sunday reportedly by the para-military group, Alamara, the Save Our Schools (SOS) Net-work said.

Citing reports from the community, the SOS Network in Southern Mindanao said in its press release that student Alibando Tingkas was report-ed killed in Sitio Laslasakan, Barangay Palma Gil, Talaingod by a member of the Alamara whom community members identified as Joven Salangani.

“We are enraged and sad-dened by this incident. The paramilitary group and their military cohorts will not stop from attacking and even kill-ing lumads in the name of their counter-insurgency op-erations, even children are not spared anymore” Rius Valle, spokesperson of the SOS Net-work in Southern Mindanao said.

Valle said witnesses saw Tingkas and two adult com-panions walking home at around 3 p.m. Sunday, walking from Sitio Nasilaban, Brgy. Pal-ma Gil heading towards Sitio

Bayabas “when suddenly they were fired upon in Sitio Lasla-sakan, just a half-an-hour walk from Sitio Nasilaban.”

Valle said Tingkas was shot at the chest twice.

He said they have yet to confirm if the suspect, Sa-langani, was alone or with a group.

Valle noted that the sus-pect is from Sitio Barobo, “a known Alamara territory where a detachment of the 68th Infantry Battalion (is) lo-cated.”

He said the community believes that the Alamara was

organized and funded by the 68th IB, an allegation the 68th IB commander denied.

The SOS said that the Ala-mara, like the Magahat-Ba-gani in Surigao del Sur and other paramilitary groups in Mindanao, “are believed to be funded and organized by the Armed Forces of the Philip-pines to augment their forces for its counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan in Mindanao.”

Lt. Col. Vicente Edgardo de Ocampo, commander of the 68th IB, told MindaNews

OVERRIDE. Members of different militant groups stage a protest rally in front of the Social Security System (SSS) office along J.P. Laurel Avenue in Davao City yesterday to urge Congress to override President Aquino’s veto of the P2,000.00 pension hike. Lean Daval Jr.

Paolo says Jacama firm usedhis name to entice investorsBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

Lumad student, 15, killed in Talaingod

Another NGCP towerbombed in Lanao Sur

Ferrer: BBL to stave offgrowth of extremism

F LUMAD, 10

F ANOTHER, 10

F FERRER, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 3EDGEDAVAO NEWS

THE City Government of Davao submitted the project design of

the P70-million Agri-Pinoy Trading Center (APTC) to the Japan International Coopera-tive Agency (JICA) for possi-ble grant, councilor Marissa Salvador-Abella said yester-day.

“Hopefully, JICA will give P400 million for the concret-ization of surrounding area and purchase of more equip-ment for the center,” Abella, chair of the City Council’s committee on agriculture, told EDGE Davao yesterday.

The facility will be erect-ed in a five-hectare property owned by the National Devel-opment Corporation (NDC) in Daliao, Toril and will be part of the 25-hectare Davao Food Exchange Complex (DFEC) that will developed by the local government in the next two years at a cost of P200 million.

The rest of the funding, she said, might be used for the purchase of trucks that will be used to transport goods and agriculture commodities from far-flung production ar-eas in Davao City.

Once granted, part of the funding will also go to the construction of a training cen-ter, demo farm, inland fishery, plant nursery, and material recovery facility.

“The material recovery facility will be used to process biodegradable waste from the

center to be fertilizer,” Abella said.

She said the P70-million funding from the Depart-ment of the Agriculture (DA) will only be allotted for the construction of the building which is eyed to start anytime this year.

The completion of the fa-cility, which will eliminate the interference of middlemen, is also expected by December this year.

Once completed, the cen-ter will be managed by the city government by a man-agement board comprise of different city government of-fices like City Agriculturist’s Office and the City Coopera-tive Office.

“We’re proposing that the board will be headed by the assistant city administrator and me as the chair of the committee on agriculture,” Abella said. “We will propose for the creation of a executive order that will set the board under the new administra-tion,” she added.

Abella said the committee is also conducting orientation among farmers who will or-ganize themselves into coop-eratives.

She said she is planning to implement plant zoning in major production areas in the city to ensure that there will be no replication and over production of a single crop.

“We will be talking to buy-ers soon,” she said.

THE Department of Agri-culture (DA) in Region 12 will start its planned

cloud seeding operations on Wednesday as it moves to mit-igate the worsening impact of the continuing dry spell on farm areas in various parts of the region.

Zaldy Boloron, DA-12’s regional technical director for operations, said Tuesday the move was based on the re-sults of the final assessment conducted by the agency and personnel from the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) central office.

He said the cloud seed-ing operations will focus on localities with standing crops that have already been show-ing signs of wilting due to the intense dry weather, which is triggered by the prevailing El Niño Phenomenon.

The official cited palay and

corn areas in portions of the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani.

“The cloud seeding will start tomorrow (Wednesday) and will continue until March,” Boloron said in a radio inter-view.

DAVAO del Sur is among the 10 prov-inces in the country

chosen as pilot areas for the three-year Early Childhood Care Development program in a bid “to ensure the full development of the child” through integrated social services, an official said Mon-day.

The province, in particu-lar Hagonoy and Magsaysay towns and Digos City, has been enrolled in the program after scoring high in pover-ty incidence and prevalence rate of children with malnu-trition, National Nutrition Council (NNC) 11 program coordinator Dr. Ma. Teresa Ungson said.

A total of 9,526 preg-nant mothers, zero to five month-old infants, and six to 23-month old children are expected to benefit from the program in 69 barangays in Digos and the two towns.

Aside from Davao del Sur, the program covers the prov-inces of Pangasinan, Quezon, Camarines Sus, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Leyte, Zam-boanga del Sur, and Sulu.

Speaking in Monday’s Kapehan sa Dabaw, Ungson said government services hardly reach the chosen ar-

eas in Davao del Sur.“They are not neces-

sarily the worst in poverty incidence and malnutrition rate but they are at the bor-derline. We want to remove them from the list,” she said.

She emphasized the need to educate the parents, espe-cially the mothers, on prop-er child-rearing practices to prevent malnutrition.

She said the body that determines the recipients is composed of the Department of Health, National Nutrition Council, Department of Agri-culture, and Department of Social Welfare and Develop-ment.

Davao del Sur’s malnu-trition prevalence rate was at 11.67 percent, Davao Ori-ental 6.56 percent, Davao del Norte 5.77 percent, Compos-tela Valley 5.14 percent, and Davao City 4.8 percent, based on the Millennium Develop-ment Goals results released in 2013.

Data from NNC 11said the prevalence rate of under-weight and severely under-weight children aged zero to five years and nine months decreased to 5.43 percent from January to March 2015 compared to 6.14 percent for the same period in 2014.

To be implemented from 2016 to 2018, the ECCD sys-tem refers to the “full range of health, nutrition, early ed-ucation, and social services development programs that provide for the basic holistic needs of young children from aged zero to four years.”

But Ungson added that the first 1,000 days of the children, starting from preg-nancy, is critical to their de-velopment that all support must be given to the child at this stage.

“The mothers should complete the prenatal check-up, immunization and new-born screening for the chil-dren,” she said. “Above that, we also want to teach them how to handle pregnancy and take care of their bodies and the babies.”

She said it is important to capture the children’s de-velopment this early because brain develops faster from zero to two years old.

Citing the United Nations Children’s Fund’s Global Nu-trition Database in 2012, she said the Philippines ranked 9th among 14 countries where 80 percent of the world’s stunted children live. (Antonio L. Colina IV/Min-daNews)

City seeks Japan grant for agri-trading centercrc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

NAME-DROPPING. Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte says multi-level marketing company Jacama Sales and Marketing Company used his name to entice more investors. Jacama Sales and Marketing Company was

recently closed down by the Davao City Business Bureau for violation of the 2005 Local Revenue Code of Davao City. Lean Daval Jr.

DA to start cloud seeding operations in Region 12

Davao del Sur among 10 pilotareas for child care program

F DA, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

MALACAÑANG yester-day gave assurance that the government

is always open and ready to ex-plain what really transpired in the Mamasapano incident that killed 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers of the Philip-pine National Police (PNP).

Presidential Communica-tions Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. made the comment in reaction to the claims of Senate minori-ty leader Juan Ponce Enrile that he has new evidence to prove that President Benigno Aqui-no was directly and actively involved in the planning and preparation of the Oplan Exo-dus.

The 91-year-old veteran lawmaker also claimed that the President “did not do anything at all to save” the PNP elite forc-es after the operation to arrest

international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan resulted in an encounter between the SAF troopers and Moro rebels.

“We have been saying that in every situation, the position of the government is always open and transparent regard-ing that and ready to explain at the right place and the right time,” Coloma said in a press briefing.

Coloma said the President, in many instances, had made public addresses where he ex-plained and revealed all what he knows about the Oplan Ex-odus which resulted in the kill-ing of Marwan.

“It is our objective to reveal to our countrymen the whole truth about the Mamasapano incident,” he said.

Coloma said contrary to Enrile’s claim, President Aqui-

DAVAO City councilor Victorio Advincula Jr. yesterday said instead

of vetoing the P2,000 increase in the SSS pension of retirees, President Benigno Aquino should look for other sources of funds that can subsidize So-cial Security System (SSS).

In an interview with EDGE Davao, Advincula, chair of the City Council’s committee on social services, said Mr. Aquino should not think of the remain-ing funds of the SSS because the agency is not for profit but is supposed to give social ser-vice to the people.

“Hindi dapat ganyan kasi SSS is a social service and not profit making (It should not be like that because SSS is a social service, not for profit-mak-

ing),” he said.Advincula said the govern-

ment has a lot of sources from which it can get subsidies for the pension, such as the collec-tion from the Sin Tax.

He said the Sin Tax is al-ready being used to give senior citizens free PhilHealth insur-ance.

“If we did it for PhilHealth, why not also do it for SSS?” he said, adding that the money from the Sin Tax is enough to provide funding for all social services for the people.

Advincula said it is time to increase the pension of retir-ees because the health expen-ditures of a senior citizen have also increased.

“If you reach the age of re-tirement your health will also

be costly,” he said.Advincula said Mr. Aqui-

no’s veto of the proposal re-flects a poor management since he does not trust the per-son he appointed to manage the agency.

In a separate interview, councilor Bonifacio Militar said he believes the President’s decision is for the benefit of fu-ture pensioners.

“I think the President knows best what is happening in this country. He knows best what is the financial status of the country,” he said.

“As he (Aquino) explained, the (SSS) will be bankrupt af-ter 2029 because we will be utilizing our savings for the ad-ditional benefits of P2,000 for ever pensioners,” he said.

Councilor Jimmy Dureza, for his part, said he cannot understand why the President vetoed the proposal because the lawmakers have done thor-ough study before passing it.

“Dili man na sila basta-bas-ta mopasar og balaodnon nga it will cause the bankruptcy of the SSS (They will not just pass a law if it will cause the bank-ruptcy of the SSS),” he said

He said the government should review the law and make some adjustments on the proposal since it is a long overdue benefit.

“Instead of P2,000, maybe they can do it P500 or P1,000, not necessarily P2,000 as long as they can give it to the pen-sioners, because it is a long overdue benefit, ” he said.

4 NEWS EDGEDAVAO

F PALACE, 10

ARMY soldiers repulsed on Sunday night an at-tack by the Bangsamoro

Islamic Freedom Fighters in a remote village here, a military official said.

Elements of the 2nd Mech-anized Infantry Battalion were conducting patrol in Barangay Kabingi, a known area of BIFF, when the rebels struck.

As the soldiers moved into fighting positions, an impro-vised explosive device went off followed by gunfire from two directions, 1Lt Emmanuel Fer-rer, Army team leaders said.

Ferrer said a 20-minute gunfight ensued, adding the Army did not sustain casual-ties. He could not say if the BIFF suffered losses.

He said that before 8 p.m., soldiers backed by an armored personnel carrier went to Kabingi following reports from villagers that about 20 heavily armed men were massing in the area.

He said the rebels fled un-der cover of darkness. Soldiers pursued them but Ferrer told his men not to press as there could be booby traps.

Soldiers led by Lt. Colonel Warlito Limet, 2nd Mechanized Brigade commander, found a box with an improvised bomb along the rebels’ escape route. Army bomb experts defused the bomb Monday morning.

Limet said that before the attacks Army intelligence agents learned of an impend-ing harassment by the BIFF in the so called SPMS box.

SPMS refers to the adjoin-ing towns of Shariff Aguak, Pagatin (Datu Saudi), Mama-sapano and Shariff Saydona, a known bailiwick of the BIFF where government forces have detachments, command posts and checkpoints.

Limet said Sunday night’s attack was led by “Kagi Tatang”. (Ferdinandh Cabrera/Min-daNews)

COMMUNICATION Secre-tary Herminio Coloma, Jr. on Tuesday said there

is a need to verify the infor-mation that the weapons used during the recent terrorist at-tack in Jakarta, Indonesia came from the Philippines.

Reports quoted Indone-sian Police spokesperson An-ton Charliyan as saying that the guns were likely to have come from the Philippines based on information gathered from those arrested after the attack that killed eight people on Thursday.

Coloma said there is a reg-ular exchange of information among member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“Hinihintay pa natin ang impormasyon galing sa ating security cluster at mga securi-

ty forces. Meron namang regu-lar na palitan ng impormasyon ang mga bansa ng ASEAN, lalo’t lalo na sa pagitan ng Pilipinas, Indonesia at Malaysia. Masin-sin ang pakikipag-ugnayan ng ating mga security forces sa mga counterparts hinggil diyan. Kaya’t mas mainam na hintayin muna natin kung mayroon talagang beripi-kasyon ‘yan para hindi tayo gu-magawa ng puro espekulasyon lamang,” he said during a press briefing at the Palace.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are still awaiting a formal report from their Indonesian counterparts.

National Police Chief Director General Ricardo Marquez said they will start checking once they receive the report. (PNA)

ALL BRACED UP. Fellow councilors check on councilor Tomas J. Monteverde IV who is sporting a neck brace during yesterday’s regular session at Sangguniang Panlungsod. Monteverde attended a regular session for the first time yesterday after a few months of leave of absence for a still unspecified reason. Lean Daval Jr.

Look for other sourcesto fund pension: dadBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

DEADLINE BEATERS. Business owners sit in a long queue as they process their respective permits from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) at the one-stop business permit renewal shop at Sangguniang Panlungsod yesterday. The last day for business permit renewal is today, January 20. Lean Daval Jr.

Soldiers thwart BIFFattack in Maguindanao

Palace ‘ready to explainMamasapano incident’

Verify reports that guns usedin Jakarta attacks came from Phl

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 5EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMY

CARD Inc. is now a bank.Now, the main thrust

of CARD Bank Inc. is to establish branches where there is limited access to for-mal financial institution.

CARD Inc. used to be a social development organiza-tion based in Malalag, Davao del Sur. Its almost 1,000 ma-tured clients can be transi-tioned to formal banking sys-tem.

“Opening branches to ar-eas where there is limited ac-cess to formal financial insti-tution is our thrust as a micro-finance-oriented rural bank,” said Dolores Torres, president and CEO of CARD Bank.

The CARD Bank is the sec-ond bank established in the area.

International awardee CARD Bank has already es-tablished three branches in Davao Region, particularly in Davao City - Magallanes, Buhangin and Matina, where it serves almost 47,000 so-cio-economic families.

“The bank will further reach the municipalities of Pa-dada, Sta. Maria and Hagonoy this year,” Torres said.

CARD Bank operates na-tionwide with 70 established branches serving 1.7 million clients.

These clients of CARD

Bank will also have the chance to buy shares of stocks through transfer of their com-pulsory savings as payment for shares of stocks.

This is what CARD envi-sioned, according to Torres.

“We can ensure that the poor will gain control over their own resources and over their own destiny by only cre-ating a vehicle for asset own-ership,” said Dr. Jaime Aristo-tle B. Alip, CARD MRI founder and managing director.

Alip added that CARD will further expand and open more branches in all regions of the country reaching out to millions of clients.

CARD Inc. now a bankcrc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

DAVAO Oriental will launch early this year the priority eco-tour-

ism projects viewed to boost the tourism industry of the province after Typhoon Pablo devastated tourism sits in the province in 2012.

Davao Oriental Tourism Information Officer Miguel Trocio on Friday named some of the priority landmarks that are up for launching early this year. These are: Mt. Hamigui-tan Range Eco-Tourism Park, Aliwagwag Protected Land-scape Eco-Tourism Park, Cape San Agustin Heritage Park in Governor Generoso, Pusan Point Eco-Tourism Park in Caraga and the Davao Oriental Welcome Park, and Subangan Museum in Mati City.

The mentioned desti-nations made the province known to tourists. But the province made significant constructions to formally

make them as tourism sites, Trocio said.

He cited for instance the Pusan Point located downhill in the innermost town of San-tiago in the municipality of Caraga, is a landmark destina-tion Davao Oriental is known for. Marked by a large white Cross, the site now has a visi-tors’ viewing deck, a museum and a lighthouse. This site is considered a highly significant place in the province as this is the only place in the country where the sun is seen to rise first.

Trocio also made special mention of the Mt. Hamigui-tan Range Eco Tourism Park and Aliwagwag Protected Landscape which will soon be formally opened to the pub-lic. Mt. Hamiguitan Sanctuary was declared World Heritage Site by the United Nations Ed-ucation, Scientific and Cultur-al Organization (UNESCO) in

June 2014.Trocio said at the moun-

tain’s buffer zone one could now avail of a research center, tourists villas, a natural sci-ence museum, and an inter-pretative center where tour-ists can view the mountain especially its pygmy forest.

The Aliwagwag Protected Landscape project in Cateel is an eco-park showcasing conservation and biodiversity. A birdcage of 64 bird species found in the forests within the area. There will also be canopy walks, zip line rides, trail hik-ing, picnics, and river cruising.

It contains the headwa-ters of the Cateel River in the southern Diwata Mountain Range which provides the wa-ter source and irrigation for surrounding rice fields and communities in Davao Ori-ental and Compostela Valley provinces. It was named after the remote rural village in the

municipality of Cateel where Aliwagwag Falls is seen.Tro-cio said the complex will also include a restaurant, souve-nir shop, viewing deck and a livelihood center where local crafts will be featured, includ-ing pottery and weaving of Dagmay, an indigenous cloth.

Davao Oriental’s state-of-the-art Subangan Museum will also be formally opened. The facility features treasured relics, photos, videos, interac-tive visuals, documents, and textiles from the province.

Subangan’s main attrac-tion is the fossilized remains of a 50-foot long sperm whale, believed to be the largest in the Philippines and the sev-enth largest in the world.

All of the eco-tourism projects mainly contain a mu-seum to give visitors sufficient information about each of the eco-project, Trocio said.

Eco-tourism projects launching in DavOr Task Kasambahay formedTHE Department of La-

bor and Employment in Davao Region leads part-

ner agencies in formulating as-sistance to house helpers.

Atty Jeoffrey Suyao, direc-tor of the DOLE 11 said the gap between government and the house helpers prompts the creation of a mechanism com-posed of other partner agen-cies and other stakeholders aimed to fully implement the Republic Act 10361, otherwise known as the Domestic Work-ers Act or the Kasambahay Law.

Suyao said through the Tu-long Alay Sa mga Kasambahay or Task Kasambahay, the gov-ernment takes upon itself the responsibility to monitor the implementation of the law.

“We need the basic data to really assess if we do well in our implementation and plan more to provide appropriate assistance to the house help-ers,” he said.

Suyao said that the govern-ment could hardly identify and determine their exact number in Region 11.

He said given this situa-tion, the government hardly provide needed assistance to them.

“It is the reason why we converge in order to take se-riously our respective roles in the implementation of the Kasambahay Law,” Suyao said.

He surmised that the im-plementation of the Kasam-bahay Law commemorates its third year anniversary today.

Suyao said the standard salary for Kasambahay in Davao City is pegged at P2,000 being a first class city.

He said that it is the duty of the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board to de-termine if the current salary grade still remains relevant to the prizes of goods and services while the barangay

F ECO-TOURISM, 10 FTASK, 10

FOR THE EAGLE. Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) executive director Dennis Salvador (second from right) receives a check worth P750,000 from Marco Polo Hotels president Jennifer Cronin and PEF and

Halifax Davao Hotel, Inc. chair Carlos G. Dominguez during the hotel’s turn-over of donation ceremony on Thursday night. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 20166 EDGEDAVAOTHE ECONOMY

crc@edgedavao.netBy CHENEEN R. CAPON

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

HUNDREDS of business owners swarmed the Business Bureau yes-

terday just to meet the Janu-ary 20 deadline for renewal and business permits appli-cations.

Business Bureau chief lawyer Lawrence Bantiding said they will be catering ap-plicants from 8:00 a.m. until

12 midnight for last-minute applicants. The bureau set two venues for this year’s per-mit renewal—at the Sanggu-niang Panlunsod (SP) build-ing and NCCC Mall of Davao.

Meanwhile, a total of 30,035 business owners ap-plied for the renewal of their Mayor’s permit, while 298 applied for new permits as of

January 18, Monday. This is already 96 percent

of the 31,000 target applica-tions for this year’s renewal period.

Bantiding said there was an increase in the number of business owners applying and renewing their permits this year compared to the same period last year which

totaled 306 and 29, 010, re-spectively.

Last year, the bureau is-sued 35,000 business per-mits.

Bantiding reminded the public not to practice the last-minute habit and that there will be no extension since the bureau started ca-tering applicants as early as

January 3, Saturday in both venues.

“We intended to start on a Sunday to ensure that we will be able to give our busi-ness owners ample time to renew their Mayor’s Permits,” he said.

Bantiding said the busi-ness owners can still renew their permits even beyond

January 20, but they will pay 25 percent penalty from their gross sales tax.

Among the basic require-ments of business permit re-newal are previous business permit, notarized list of all employees, barangay clear-ance, Fire Safety Inspection Certificate (FISC), and avail-able financial statement.

Mad rush to beat permit renewal

THE Davao City Council approved yesterday the amendment to a

provision in the Comprehen-sive Land Use Plan for the accessibility of subdivisions that are being developed.

In yesterday’s regular session, the proposed reso-lution to enact an ordinance amending the article 9 of City Ordinance no. 0546 of 2013 or the City Land Use Plan 2013-2022 was ap-proved on second reading.

The proposal went on nominal voting where 21 councilors voted in favor of the amendment. Only one

member voted in the nega-tive with one abstention.

The proposal was initi-ated by Councilor Bernard Al-ag, chair of the committee on rules, privileges, laws and ordinances.

Under the existing or-dinance, projects which are of socio-economic and en-vironmental significance or of national interest with an area of one hectare above should have a 10 percent allocation for more green spaces to be planted with trees and ornamental plants to be developed for water pond purposes. This is in

addition to open space re-quired by law.

The proposed resolution, however, says the Subdivi-sion and Housing Developers Association (SHDA)-South-ern Mindanao and the Or-ganization of Socialized and Economic Housing of the Philippines (OSHDP)-Davao Chapter have claimed that the requirement is “burden-some, expensive, and confis-catory” on their part as well as to their clients.

The groups have also said the additional cost will be passed on to the clients.

The resolution pointed

out that most of the existing open spaces in the subdi-visions remain unplanted. Some of the areas are used for poultries, piggeries, as grazing yards of goats, sheep, and cows.

Al-ag proposed that in-stead of allotting 10 percent more green spaces, devel-opers would be required to leave open spaces, setback areas, and sidewalk strips.

These are the areas where trees and ornamental plants would be planted and water ponds would be devel-oped and then turned over to the homeowners.

SP amends CLUP on accessibility

THE Department of Tour-ism (DoT) here is ex-pecting 19 international

delegates from different coun-tries that will be arriving next week to join in the ongoing Asean Tourism Forum (ATF) which highlights products from Davao.

DoT 11 regional director Roberto P. Alabado III said there are confirmed delegates who will join the post ATF tour to Davao and they will be in from January 23 to 26.

“But we expect the num-ber will increase,” Alabado said, emphasizing that Davao has become one of the major destinations in the country that will be extensively pro-

moted during the ATF tour together with Palawan, Cebu and Bohol.

The ATF 2016 also fea-tures an exhibition booth for Davao exhibitors that opened on Monday. This was set up at a cost of Php1 million, said Davao City tourism head Li-sette Marquez, who said that the booth is big enough to showcase products of tour operators, real property own-ers and other tourism related sector.

With Davao City already a MICE (Meetings, Incentive, Convention and Exhibit) des-tination, Marquez said inter-national and local buyers will

19 int’l delegates in Asean Forum

FLAG carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Mon-day announced that it

has successfully launched its inaugural flight to Kuwait over the weekend marking the start of its route network expansion this year.

The send-off ceremony was held at the Ninoy Aqui-no International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2 on Sun-day (January 17).

This is only one of the flights in the airline’s net-work in the Middle East. PAL is also set to launch flights to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday (Jan 19).

PAL’s flight to Kuwait de-parts in Manila every Mon-day, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday 10 p.m. and arrives

in Kuwait the following day at 6:55 a.m. local time. It meanwhile departs in Ku-wait every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 2:55 p.m. local time and arrives in Manila 8:15 a.m. the follow-ing day.

On the other hand, its flight to Jeddah departs in Manila every Tuesday and Saturday 10:30 p.m. and ar-rives in Jeddah the following day at 8:45 a.m. local time. It departs Jeddah every Wednesday and Sunday 2:15 p.m. and arrives in Manila 8:20 a.m. the following day.

These routes will utilize the A330-300 aircraft.

These make seven Mid-dle East destinations for the airline. (PNA)

PAL launches flights to Kuwait

CHEAP GAS. Motorcycle riders gas up at a station along E. Quirino Avenue in Davao City yesterday. The prices of gasoline products have dropped due to the lifting of Iran sanctions imposed by the US government. Lean Daval Jr.

El Niño, 10 others are RDC’s priorities in 2016Gov Dolfo: 5 big-ticket projects in Davao City

THE REGIONAL DEVEL-OPMENT COUNCIL of Region 11 (RDC 11) has

lined up 11 priority projects all to be tackled or started in the first half of 2016 before the current RDC 11 setup ex-its for the new one under the administration elected in May.

The priorities were enu-merated by Davao del Norte Gov. Rodolfo P. del Rosario who has headed the council for years as chairman during the year’s first RDC 11 press

briefing at the NEDA (Nation-al Economic Development Authority) regional office in Bangkal, Davao City last Fri-day.

“As we start the year, the Council calls all our partners to apprise stakeholders on the development efforts of this region to achieve our goals for growth and prosperity on to ensuring stability and in-clusiveness of growth,” as the RDC 11 chairman urged “our media development partners

to rally with us in this effort.”The 11 priorities are:1). The implementation

of the Roadmap to Address the Impact of El Niño (RAIN) prepared by the cabinet-level El Nino Task Force, which is chaired by the Socio-economic Planning Secretary;

2). Linking Davao Region’s industry clusters with global value chains as this shall sig-nificantly bring stability and growth opportunities for the region’s small and medium

enterprises (SMEs);3). Implementation of

the Davao Food Terminal Exchange Complex in Toril, Davao City;

4). The review of the Davao Light Rail Transit (LRT) Project proposed by the Davao City government with an esti-mated cost of about US$ 885 million;

5). Closure of issues re-lated to the Davao Sasa Port Modernization Project costing

F EL NIÑO, 10

F 19 INT’L, 10

Gov. Rodolfo P. del Rosario

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 7EDGEDAVAO

SCIENCE

Getting to know golden rice

By Henrylito D. Tacio

(First of Two Parts)

VITAMIN A promotes good vision, especially in low light. It is also

important in reproduction, growth, and immune function. Despite current interventions, vitamin A deficiency (VAD) remains a serious problem worldwide.

“VAD is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children and increases the risk of disease and death from se-vere infections. In pregnant women VAD causes night blindness and may increase the risk of maternal mortality,” says the World Health Organi-zation (WHO).

An estimated 250,000 to 500,000 vitamin A-deficient children become blind every year, half of them dying with-in 12 months of losing their sight, according to the Gene-va-based UN health agency.

Vitamin A, a fat-soluble vi-tamin that is stored in the liver, comes in two types. There’s the preformed vitamin A which is found in animal prod-ucts such as meat, fish, poultry and dairy foods. The pro-vita-min A is found in plant-based foods such as fruits and vege-tables.

Filipinos are susceptible to VAD as rice is their staple food. Some studies show that 89% of Filipinos consume rice on a daily basis. “Rice-consum-ing populations are especially vulnerable to VAD because regular rice does not contain vitamin A or its precursors, and intake of vitamin A–con-

taining meat is low,” the Amer-ican Society of Nutrition says.

But there’s a better way to solve this problem: putting vitamin A in rice. And this is where Golden Rice comes handy. Normally, rice plants produce beta-carotene in their green parts, but not the grain that people eat. Golden rice is genetically engineered to pro-duce beta-carotene in the edi-ble part of the plant.

“Not owned by any com-pany, Golden Rice is being de-veloped by a nonprofit group with the aim of providing a new source of vitamin A to people both in the Philippines, where most households get most of their calories from rice, and eventually in many other places in a world where rice is eaten every day by half the population,” wrote Amy Harmonaug in an article which appeared in The New York Times.

But the rollout of Golden Rice in the Philippines may be delayed due to the deci-

sion of the Supreme Court (SC) in stopping the govern-ment’s field testing of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant tal-ong and nullifying biotechnol-ogy regulations.

According to a resolution read by SC spokesman The-odore Te, the high tribunal dismissed several petitions in support of field testing for ge-netically modified, pest-resis-tant Bt talong.

In its decision, the SC said

the Department of Agriculture Administrative Order No. 8 failed to meet the minimum requirements for safety set in Executive Order No. 514 which established the National Bio-safety Framework (NBF).

Deputy Director General Bruce J. Tolentino of the Inter-national Rice Research Insti-tute (IRRI) believes the issu-ance of new rules to replace AO No. 8 could affect the launch of Golden Rice in the Philippines.

Golden Rice, which is undergoing experiments at IRRI, has not yet reached the field testing stage. “At this moment, IRRI has no research ongoing in re-search farms outside of the IRRI headquarters experi-ment station, which, thereby, would require review under AO 8. Thus, at this time, it seems the SC decision has no effect on the ongoing Golden Rice research,” Tolentino was quoted as saying by the Busi-ness Mirror.

“However, should there be an extended delay in the issuance of regulations to replace AO 8, then IRRI’s research, particularly those in partnership with the De-partment of Agriculture and the Philippine Rice Research Institute may be subject to delay,” the IRRI official added.

Golden rice has been bred with local rice cultivars in the Philippines and Taiwan and with the American rice cultivar Cocodrie. The first field trials of these golden rice cultivars were conducted by Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in 2004. According to scientists, field testing provides a more accu-rate measurement of nutri-tional value and enables feed-ing tests to be performed.

In the Philippines, the first generation golden rice was first tested in advanced field trials in IRRI in 2008. The second generation of se-lected varieties was field test-ed in the wet season of 2010. At the state-owned PhilRice, confined field trials of ad-vanced lines were conducted

in February to June 2011.“The field trials are an

important step in evaluating the performance of golden rice and to determine if it can be planted, grown, and har-vested just like other popular rice varieties,” PhilRice said in a statement. “These trials are also part of the safety as-sessment of golden rice.”

But despite the good things that golden rice brings, there are those who are against its commercial-ization. “The statement that golden rice would solve world hunger is ludicrous,” wrote Leonard Pollara of Or-ganic Sage Consulting.

The international organi-zation Greenpeace opposes the use of any patented GMOs in agriculture and opposes the cultivation of golden rice, claiming it will open the door to more widespread use of GMOs.

“There’s so much mis-information floating around about GMOS that is taken as fact by people,” said Dr. Mi-chael D. Purugganan, a pro-fessor of genomics and biol-ogy and the dean for science at New York University, who sought to calm health-risk concerns in a primer on GMA News Online. “The genes they inserted to make the vitamin are not some weird manu-factured material,” he wrote, “but are also found in squash, carrots and melons.”

Golden Rice was one of seven winners of the 2015 Patents for Humanity Awards by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. (To be concluded)

Golden rice plants (Photo courtesy of IRRI)

Golden rice in rice field. (Photo courtesy of IRRI)

Golden rice (Photo courtesy of IRRI)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 20168 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

EDITORIALBig raid?

LIKE any other urban area, Davao City has its share of problems. To say that this city is free of all forms of urban concerns is to completely miss what the city is all about and why its govern-

ment and its people work hard together to continue its progress. Problems such as poverty, traffic jams, prostitution, and crimes are all part and parcel of being a highly urbanized city. And yes, despite what some Dabawenyos themselves may claim, there is still a drug problem in the city, one that necessitates rather frequent operations by the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) in coordination with the Phil-ippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). Indeed, the fact that the “buy-bust operations” still net quite a number of suspected pushers on a regular basis indicates that drugs are still a menace — even in a city whose mayor waves an iron fist against the trade of such illegal substances.

Viewed from this perspective, the supposed “Great Raid” that Ma-nila-based authorities are allegedly hatching is actually a good thing. The DCPO itself had launched two “one time, big time” operations last year that resulted in multiple arrests as well as the deaths of a number of suspected pushers. Such operations have a huge “shock and awe” value, and they set the tone for how the authorities intend to treat those who are involved in the drug trade. But as DCPO spokesper-

son Chief Inspector Milgrace Driz has indicated, sometimes the PNP national leadership deems it necessary to launch operations itself outside of the knowledge of the local police force in order to prevent crooked cops from warning criminals with whom they are in cahoots. If such a “Big Raid” is being hatched, it is actually a welcome develop-ment as there is an assurance that no one will be given a heads-up.

The problem, of course, is the allegation made by former North Cotabato Governor Emmanuel Piñol that the raid is being planned to derail Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s presidential run. In the al-leged scenario, police will swoop down on a drug laboratory right in the heart of the city, with the intent of showing that either Duterte is actually powerless against drugs or that he himself is involved in the drug trade. Those who live in Davao City know how ridiculous this proposition is, but those who see only what the media report may well be swayed to believe it. But should such an operation be mounted, and should it actually yield a drug lab, then it only serves to reinforce the reality that urban centers attract all sorts of people and that lowlifes are an inevitable part of the whole mix

We actually hope that the Big Raid, if it is actually true, would be ruthless in handling criminals in the city. Duterte can explain himself to the people whose votes he is courting.

Columnists: MA. TERESA L. UNGSON • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • AURELIO A. PEÑA • ZHAUN ORTEGA • BERNADETTE “ADDIE” B. BORBON • MARY ANN “ADI” C. QUISIDO • LEANDRO B. DAVAL SR., • NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN • NICASIO ANGELO AGUSTIN • EMILY ZEN CHUA • CARLOS MUNDA Economic Analyst: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG • JONALLIER M. PEREZ

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

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

Quirino Avenue, 8000, Davao City, PhilippinesTel: (082) 301-6235

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

editorial@edgedavao.netmarketing@edgedavao.net

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

RICHARD C. EBONAAdvertising Specialist

SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

EDGEDAVAOProviding solutions to a seamless global village.

ANTONIO M. AJEROEditor in Chief

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

LEANDRO S. DAVAL JR. PhotographyARLENE D. PASAJE

Cartoons

KENNETH IRVING K. ONGBAI FAUZIAH FATIMA SINSUAT AMBOLODTO

MEGHANN STA. INES NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN

Lifestyle

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

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

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

editorial@edgedavao.netmarketing@edgedavao.net

GENERAL SANTOS CITY MARKETING OFFICE

EDMUND D. RENDONMarketing Specialist

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

MANILA MARKETING OFFICEANGELICA R. GARCIA | Marketing Manager

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

Tel: (02) 654-3509

NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVOManaging Editor

AGAPITO JOAQUIN JR.Associate Editor

CHARLES RAYMOND A. MAXEYConsultant

FUNNY PEARL GAJUNERACHA MONFORTE

Correspondents

ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.CHENEEN R. CAPON

Reporters

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

RICHARD C. EBONAMarketing Supervisor

SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

JOCELYN S. PANESDirector of Sales

AGUSTIN V. MIAGAN JRCirculation

PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTEthe national association of newspapers

“PRAYER is more than verbal-ly filling in some requisition blank,” Billy Graham states.

“It’s fellowship with God! It’s commu-nion with the Lord through praising Him, rehearsing His promises, and then sharing our needs.”

Atty. Nick Mabale Caraquel, a friend who grew up in San Isidro, Davao Orien-tal, is a fine young man who believes in prayer. He came from a poor family who has seven children.

When he was in third grade, his parents requested him to stop going to school and instead asked him to help them by selling banana cue in the bus terminal. He was saddened; he wanted to continue his studies but he had no choice. “I prayed that someday I will un-derstand God’s reason why He allowed it,” he said.

But Nick, who believes in education, was able to finish elementary. And it came to pass that when he was grad-uating from high school, the govern-ment offered for the first time the State Scholarship Program (SSP) to poor but deserving students in private schools. He took the qualifying exams and was awarded as one of the 13 SSP scholars in the country, representing Region XI.

The scholarship was his ticket to en-roll at the Ateneo de Davao University, where he took BS Industrial Engineer-ing. After graduation, he worked in one of the world’s top food manufacturing companies and was assigned in Cagay-an de Oro City. However, his childhood dream of becoming a lawyer beckoned. With the money he saved, he decided to fulfill his dream. He pursued law at the Xavier University (Ateneo de Cagayan)

and passed the bar in 2003.

In 2007, Nick visited the United States to look for better op-portunit ies . Three weeks after his ar-rival, he asked his friends to pray for him with a specific request. He recalled: “If God has better plans for me in America, the Nestle USA will call my friends’ landline the follow-ing Monday at 9 am.” True enough, at 9 in the morning that Monday, the phone rang and the company called. He was hired.

In 2012, Nick decided to work as a full-fledged lawyer in New York City. With only three weeks approved vaca-tion from his work, he concentrated on 13 out of 21 subjects for the 2-day New York bar examinations. The first day was the toughest; it had the NY Bar five essay questions.

Before he left the hotel, he asked God to give him at least one topic he could fo-cus on. Should that selected topic be one of those that will come out, he assumed that with God’s guidance, he would pass the bar exam. Out of nowhere, someone whispered in his ears to concentrate on libel and defamation.

The 100-multiple choice federal law portion and the first 2 essay questions were covered in the morning session. The afternoon session started with the

3rd essay question and lo and behold the topic was -- hold your breath! -- about li-bel and defamation. It was then that he knew he would pass the bar exam. And he did.

A few months later, Nick was in a quandary whether he would stay in the US or be back in the Philippines, although deep inside him, he wanted to stay. Again, he prayed asking that if his plans aligned with His plan for him, he will receive his American citizenship notification on or before April 2 (Thursday). And, yes, it happened as what he had requested.

“All my life,” he says now, “I am guid-ed by prayers in every major decision I make. It’s a trait I learned from my moth-er. I always ask for God’s sign to give me confidence that the decisions I make are aligned with His.”

When we depend on man, we get what man can do. But when we depend on prayer, we get what God can do.

In praying, we must not forget that our prayers are to be answered. Some are answered just as we wish; some are answered in a way different from what we wish – in a better way! Some are answered by a change in us; some by a change in others. Some are answered by the giving of a greater strength to bear trials, and some by the lifting of the tri-als. Some at once; some in years to come; and some may take eternity.

Yes, God always answers prayers – in his own mysterious ways. Dr. Robert Schuller reminds us in his thought-pro-voking piece:

“When the idea is not right, God says, ‘No.’ No – when the idea is not the best. No – when the idea is absolutely wrong. No – when though it may help you, it

could create problems for someone else.“When the time is not right, God says,

‘Slow.’ What a catastrophe it would if God answered every prayer at the snap of your fingers. Do you know what would happen? God would become your ser-vant, not your master. Suddenly, God would be working for you instead of you working for God. Remember: God’s de-lays are not God’s denials. God’s timing is perfect. Patience is what we need in prayer.

“When you are right, God says, ‘Grow.’ The selfish person has to grow in unself-ishness. The cautious person must grow courage. The timid person must grow in confidence. The dominating person must grow in sensitivity. The critical person must grow in tolerance. The negative person must grow in positive attitudes. The pleasure-seeking person must grow in compassion for suffering people.

“When everything is all right, God says, ‘Go.’ Then miracles happen: A hope-less alcoholic is set free. A drug addict finds release. A doubter becomes as a child in his belief. Diseased tissue re-sponds to treatment, and healing begins. The door to your dream suddenly swings open and there stand God saying, ‘Go!’”

“The prayer power,” says J. Hudson Taylor, “has never been tried to its full capacity… If we want to see mighty won-ders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness, failure and dis-appointment, let us answer God’s stand-ing challenge, ‘Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!’”

Just remember this: “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of,” wrote Alfred Lord Tennyson.

WITH the presidential campaign heating up, there is undoubt-edly a lot of false informa-

tion, misconceptions, and wrong beliefs about Davao City not being what it is touted to be.

It began with Mar Roxas casting doubt on Davao’s safety, calling it a myth. Of course, local police who were previously under him as DILG Secretary were quick to show him figures to the contrary. Then there was the supposed “great raid” on Davao to include a major drug bust. All of these were purportedly aimed at embarrassing Mayor Duterte by casting Davao’s low crime as a myth. A few friends of mine pointed out to me that even the supposed “fake rice” scan-dal several months back was meant to achieve the same embarrassing effect on Mayor Duterte. Of course, this plays easily into the imagination of many Fil-ipinos who have not been to Davao, and carries with it the possibility that Dute-rte’s credibility will be hurt going into

the opening salvo of the campaign in February.

Not sur-p r i s i n g -ly, many Davaoeños re-acted strongly against Rox-as for these statements. A few called it unfair, since many feel that the Davao that they love is not the sole result of whatever gover-nance Rudy Duterte established. What exacerbated their disappointment was his sudden turnaround from praising Davao’s governance a mere 5 months prior in an event of the Davao City Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry.

Surely, Duterte’s strict implementa-tion of rules and other programs were a major factor, but it only helped realize

the opportunity that was clear in the mix of peoples, the heightened sense of industry, the migrant spirit of mak-ing things happen, the mutual respect of citizens of varying backgrounds – all of these the intangibles that conspired to give Davao the peace and develop-ment it today enjoys. And why not, with its home region experiencing regional growth that at 9.4%, which is 3 points higher than the national average eco-nomic growth, with an unemployment rate lower than the country’s and pover-ty levels lower than the rest?

All of this growth is premised on the reality that there is peace and order in Davao that allows its citizens to make full advantage of the natural opportuni-ties – the sunshine, the regular rainfall, the fertile soils and clean water. This at-mosphere is what gives entrepreneurs courage to expand their business, to ex-plore new opportunities and keep their costs low. The affordable standard of living makes their businesses even more

stable, as electricity is 40% cheaper than Manila, and our city’s water is drinkable. These low costs allow good business margins that prime the business for ex-pansion and more growth. The Davao entrepreneur expands into neighboring areas, bringing opportunity with him or her.

To start questioning the premises of this economic growth with false infor-mation and break the social cohesion among Davaoeños will threaten the sta-bility of the city and threaten to plunge it yet again in a violent spiral. This will even be more vile if done simply in the name of personalized politics the Filipi-no politician is famous for. All Davao cit-izens should be wary of attempts to do this and call out the candidates that do so. If we are unable to do this, we suffer from events from which it may be hard to recover.

Please do not destroy the city just to destroy its mayor. Please do not bully its citizens just to prove certain points.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

In God, we trust

Please be fair to Davao, even if you campaign against its Mayor

Henrylito D. Taciohenrytacio@gmail.com

THINK ON THESE!

John Triaecisouth@gmail.com

MY TWO CENTS’

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 201610NEWS

Eco-tourism... FROM 5

Task... FROM 5

Lumad... FROM 2

Another... FROM 2

Palace... FROM 4

El Niño... FROM 6

19 int’l... FROM 6

Ferrer... FROM 2

DA... FROM 3

EDGEDAVAO

The priority eco- tourism projects development projects were included in the prov-ince’s P175 Million Annual Investment Program (AIP) for 2014 presented during the re-cent Provincial Development Council Meeting held at the City of Mati.

The fund is sourced out from the 20 percent Local Gov-ernment Development Fund (LGDF).

Earlier, Davao Oriental Governor Corazon Malanyaon said the government is pri-

oritizing the above projects to help boost the province’ s tourism industry which suffer a severe setback after pounded by typhoon Pablo in December 4, 2012, one of the worst typhoons to hit Mind-anao. Davao Oriental is among those severely hit by Pablo.

Meanwhile, Trocio said they will also proposed for the establishment of rest rooms in between long stretches of roads going to the tourism destinations in view of public demand. (PNA)

chairs and the Department of Social Welfare and Develop-ment monitor alleged abuses inflicted on children.

The Task Kasambahay is composed of the DOLE 11, Philippine Information Agen-cy, Social Security System, De-partment of Education, Phil-

Health, Department of Interior and Local Government, De-partment of Social Welfare and Development, Home Mutual Development Fund, Technical Education and Skills Develop-ment Authority and the San Pedro College. (PIA 11-Joey Sem G. Dalumpines)

“wala pong Joven Salangani na part ng 68th IB, sundalo or CAFGU (Citizens Armed Forces Geographic Unit). Wala din pong Alamara sa lugar ng Talaingod. What we have are CAFGUs. Wala din po kaming detachment sa Sitio Barobo” [There is no Joven Salangani in the 6th IB, either as soldier or as CAFGU member. There is also no Alamara in Talaingod. What we have are CAFGUs. We also do not have a detachment in Sitio Barobo.]

The SOS Network said Tingkas was the “29th child victim of extrajudicial killing” under the Aquino administra-tion’s “Oplan Bayanihan.”

Valle also said they have just received information that

“teachers of Salugpongan school all over Talaingod have received threats from Ala-mara.”

“They said they will kill teachers in Sitio Tibucag, Sitio Nasilaban, Sitio Dulyan and Si-tio Kamingawan on preposter-ous claims that these teachers are NPA (New Peoples Army) members,” Valle said.

He said the SOS Network will conduct further investi-gation as he called on local government officials in Talain-god “to also investigate and apprehend those responsible, and for the national leadership to take heed lest things go out of hand and they will also suf-fer the consequences.” (Min-daNews)

of transmission facilities are stopped,” she said.

She added sufficient sup-ply and strong transmission are both integral to a stable power situation, as she en-couraged support from the public, local and national gov-ernments, police, military, and community leaders to ensure the security of the towers and identify the perpetrators.

NGCP completed last Sat-urday repair works on tower 63 in Purok 4, Brgy. Pagangan in Aleosan town, North Cota-bato after it was destroyed on Thursday by still unidentified men.

Capulong said tower 25 in Ramain, Lanao del Norte

has remained isolated as the landowners won’t allow NGCP personnel to enter the loca-tion to conduct repair works, pending unsettled claims with the National Transmission Corporation.

“NGCP was denied access to tower 25 by the landowners who demand payment from Transco for their decades old claim. The dispute remains unresolved to this day,” she said.

She said the NGCP “ap-peals for the expedite resolu-tion between landowners and Transco so that it may begin repairs at the soonest possible time.” (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)

Moro people for meaningful self-rule over their ancestral homeland.

The Moro struggle has led to a four-decade long separat-ist war that has claimed the lives of at least 120,000 people and pushed back progress in the Bangsamoro areas, in turn, breeding social and political discontent among the local population.

The establishment of the Bangsamoro entity is a key measure to implement the CAB that will signal the start of decommissioning of the MILF’s combatants and their firearms, and its transition from an armed revolutionary movement to a political force that pursues its aspirations through democratic processes like elections.

In a statement, Ferrer said the creation of the Bangsam-oro will strengthen efforts to end the armed conflict in Min-danao as well as “stem the tide of extremism” in this part of the region.

There has been renewed concern over terrorism in the region following the Jan. 14 at-tacks in Jakarta, Indonesia for which the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria claimed responsibil-ity. The attacks left seven peo-ple dead, five of which were the assailants, and 23 injured.

Last November, Ferrer and MILF peace panel chair Moha-

gher Iqbal issued a joint call on legislators to have the BBL en-acted soonest to help create an environment that denies the growth of extremism in Bang-samoro communities.

“I reiterate our appeal to our legislators… in view of the recent violence in Indonesia, which is so much closer to home,” Ferrer said.

In previous Congressional hearings on the BBL, National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia said passing the measure “can help in curbing the spread of extremism in Mindanao.”

“In particular, the Bang-samoro government would be able to help moderate Islamic leaders to counter the ideology of radicalism being promoted by ISIS and steer the Muslim community away from ISIS in-fluence,” Garcia pointed out.

Secretary Teresita Quin-tos-Deles, presidential advis-er on the peace process, said last week the success of the Bangsamoro peace process will be a showcase of how “an Islamic movement can address its grievances and pursue its interests through a legitimate mode of democratic political engagement while still re-maining within the country’s territorial integrity and consti-tutional framework, and with-out losing their culture and identity.” (Ryan D. Rosauro/MindaNews)

Cloud seeding is the pro-cess of manually spreading ei-ther dry ice or salt into the up-per part of the clouds to help stimulate the precipitation process and form rain.

The DA central office had identified cloud seeding as among the immediate counter measures to mitigate the im-pact of the El Niño, which was predicted to last until June.

Boloron said they have commissioned an aircraft form the Philippine Air Force for the cloud seeding, which will be done on a daily basis, depend-ing on the cloud formation.

He said DA-12 and the BSWM have dispatched per-sonnel within the target areas to act as cloud spotters.

The official said they have allotted an initial P6 million for the cloud seeding opera-tions, which costs P45,000 to P50,000 per sortie or flight.

“We have set one to two sorties per day, depending on the weather and cloud forma-tions in the target areas,” he said.

As of Tuesday, Boloron said their monitoring showed that vast tracts of palay and corn areas in the region were

already affected by the dry spell as well as the emergence of pests like rodents and army worms.

But he said they have not yet received any report on damages as a direct result of the dry spell, which already affected around 7,000 hectares of farmlands in South Cotaba-to.

“There are crops that are already showing signs of wilt-ing and these will be the focus of our cloud seeding opera-tions,” he said.

As to the infestations, he said local agriculture offices have reported occurrences of army worm attacks but there have been no significant dam-ages so far.

The rat infestations are currently worsening in parts of South Cotabato and North Cotabato but noted that the agency’s Regional Crop Protec-tion Center (RCPC) has been working to address the prob-lem, he said.

Boloron said the RCPC has dispatched technical teams, and distributed rodenticides and insecticides to help com-bat the infestations. (MindaN-ews)

no and concerned officials did all they could to save the SAF troopers.

Coloma said the concerned government officials are ready to attend the reopening of the Senate inquiry into the bloody Mamasapano encounter on January 27.

Last Monday, the Senate upheld its previous decision to reopen the Mamasapano in-

quiry after Enrile assured that “new matters” will be brought up in the upcoming public hearing.

Senator Grace Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public service and dangerous drugs, submitted her commit-tee report based on the five public hearings and five execu-tive sessions on March 18 last year. (PNA)

P18.9 billion;6). Ensure the completion

of the 300-MW San Miguel Corp. Global Power Coal Plant Project in Malita, Davao Occi-dental;

7). Ensure, together with the Department of Public Works and Highways, the conduct of the Full-blown Feasibility Study for the Samal Bridge Project;

8). Secure, together with the Department of Trasnpor-tation and Communication, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the Public-Pri-vate-Partnership Center, the implementation of the devel-opment, operation and main-tenance of the Davao Interna-tional Airport;

9). The updating of the Davao Region Human Re-source Development Plan, which shall address issues on jobs-skills mismatch and the responsiveness of the region’s human resource to both do-mestic and global labor re-quirements;

10). Advocate the pas-sage of House Bill 4412 and HB 2292 into law to establish the Davao Regional State Uni-versity System, the first ever regional state university in the Philippines;

11). The conduct of pre-paratory activities towards the formulation of the Davao Region Successor Plan, 2017-2022, together with its accom-panying, the Results Matrices, the Regional Development Investment Program and the Regional Development Re-search Agenda.

Del Rosario said RAIN is a roadmap designed to address impacts of El Niño, particularly on food security, energy secu-rity, health and safety.

On the other hand, the Davao Food Exchange Com-plex shall provide a venue for selling and trading of agricul-tural produce with facilities such as trading post, food pro-cessing centers, technology /business incubation center, and an additional component replicating the tourist attrac-tion-concepts of the world’s best fresh markets.

The LRT project involves the establishment of a rail sys-tem that would run from the Davao International Airport to Matina Crossing as Phase 1 and extending up to Toril as Phase 2. Governor del Rosario said that RDC review shall be undertaken parallel with the evaluation by the PPP Center. CHENEEN R. CAPON

get to know more and even book for their future events here.

“It is our goal that visi-tors continue to come,” she said. Marquez emphasized exposure at the ATF and sim-ilar events, is an opportunity where “we could present to the industry the latest and the best that we could offer them”.

Alabado said Davao del-egates include the Philippine Eagle Center, Malagos Gar-den Resort, Pearl Farm Re-sort, Banana Plantation and Hijo Plantation tour and the

BIMP-EAGA (Bruenei, Indo-nesia, Malaysia and the Phil-ippines-East Asean Growth Area) Ecofusion facility at the Abreeza Ayala Mall here.

The delegates will get the chance to taste Davao’s delec-table Durian known as “King of the Fruits” and also witness a tribal living museum.

Also the products of micro entrepreneurs will be shown to the delegates through ac-tual bead-making, weaving, and handmade paper making of which they can try doing it themselves, he added. (PNA)

BEFORE he ends his term as chairperson of the Davao Regional Devt

Council in June this year, at a mature age of 82, Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo P. del Rosario sets 11 priorities for the development planning body to pursue in 2016.

Among the RDC 11 prior-ities are the Implementation of the Roadmap to Address the Impact of El Nino; linking Davao Regions industry clus-ters with global value chains to significantly bring stability and growth opportunities for small and medium enterpris-es; and the implementation of the Davao Food Terminal Complex in Toril, Davao City.

Other Davao Region RDC

priorities include the review of the Davao Light Rail Tran-sit (LRT) Project proposed by the Davao City Government, the closure of issues related to the Davao Sasa Port Mod-ernization Project, and the completion of the 300 mega-watt San Miguel Corporation Global Power Coal Plant Proj-ect in Malita, Davao Occ.

The RDC also wants to ensure the conduct of the full blown feasibility study of the Samal Bridge Project which was the recommendation of the pre-FS completed in 2015, secure the implemen-tation of the development, operation , and maintenance of the Davao Airport; and update the Davao Region Hu-

man Resource Development Plan to address the job-skills mismatch.

Del Rosario also advo-cates the passage of House Bill 4412 and Senate Bill 2292 into law to establish the Davao Regional State University sys-tem, the first ever regional state university in the country.

Before he bows out of office, Del Rosario wants the RDC to conduct preparato-ry activities to formulate the Davao Region Successor Plan 2017-2022 together with its accompanying documents, the Results Matrices, the Re-gional Development Invest-ment Program and the Re-gional Development Research Agenda.

Del Rosario wanted the formulation process to start before he ends his term as the RDC chairperson. He views the Successor Plan as mech-anism to ensure that priori-ties set will be supported and continued by the next RDC chairperson whatever would be the outcome of the national and local elections.

Meanwhile, Del Rosario encourages his successor to push the set priorities and aim to get a substantial share of the annual budget. How-ever, he said requests for in-clusion in the national budget should be in accordance with needs of the Davao Region constituents. (PIA 11, Jeane-vive Duron-Abangan)

RDC 11 sets 11 priorities for 2016

The event was graced by key personalities be-hind the Philippine Eagle Foundation, such as Mr. Carlos G. Dominguez (Chairman of PEF and Halifax Davao Hotel,Inc.-owning company of Marco Polo Davao), PEF Executive Director Den-nis Salvador, Marco Polo

Hotels President-Desig-nate, Ms. Jennifer Cronin, friends from the national and local media, tourism partners, and major cor-porate donors. “We deeply appreciate working with the Marco Polo Hotels Group. Real-

EVENT

EDGEDAVAO

THE CAMPAIGN to help save the critically endangered Philippine Eagle got a boost last week as Marco Polo Hotels, with properties in Hong Kong, China, and the Philippines, expressed support by handing over a donation worth P750,000 to the Philippine Eagle Foundation in a lavish ceremony last January 14 at the grand ball-room of the Marco Polo Davao.

URBANISSIMO A4

All for thePHILIPPINE EAGLE

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016INdulge!

FIT AND WELL GROOMED, that’s how 52-year old Jimmy Ocoma Javier started his 2016. In fact, this is his customary practice of welcoming the New Year.

A2 INdulge! EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT

SKY introduces paperless billing

Starting the year RIGHT

Help save the environment and get exciting rewards

After his first barbershop experience, he became a

loyal client of Rocky’s not only because he liked the

result of the barber’s cut but also of the clean place and the other Rocky’s offerings.

KICK OFF 2016 with a new habit by helping save the environment through SKY’s paperless billing and get a chance to be one of the lucky few who will win an iPad Mini. S K Y c a b l e , SK Y b ro a db an d, and Destiny Cable residential p o s t p a i d subscribers with a good credit standing who will enroll their account in the electronic billing statement service via SKY’s website (mysky.com.ph) until January 31 can join the promo. During the grand raffle draw, four lucky subscribers will win one iPad Mini 16GB each, while 10 subscribers will take home

environment-friendly health and wellness products from Gina Lopez’s G Stuff. The call to go green by switching to paperless billing allows SKY subscribers to help

in reducing greenhouse gas production and save thousands of trees. Paperless billing is also a convenient and accessible way for subscribers to view their bills whenever, wherever. Make the switch now! Don’t miss the chance to win great promo prizes from SKY and help save the environment at the

same time. For 25 years, SKY has established itself as a pioneering leader in digital cable TV, offering unmatched entertainment and constantly innovating to

provide the best experience to its valued subscribers. S K Y s u b s c r i b e r s should look

forward to better and brighter things as SKY continues to bring world-class, accessible entertainment to every Filipino home in the future. For more information on the promo mechanics and to know more about the services and promotions of SKY, visit www.mysky.com.ph or call 381-0000.

That comes as no surprise. If you’re into fitness, then you’ll know why. Jimmy is into fitness. It was fitness that brought him to Davao for work, fitness that made him stay and why he decided to open his own fitness club, Beefit Gym & Aerobics, in 2000. Today, the brand has three branches across the city. As to grooming, the man met the year with his signature hairstyle, the “semi-kalbo,” as he refers it, or the No.4 (on the electric clipper attachment). “I like to keep it cool,” Jimmy said of his choice since he spends most of his time at the gym, either checking on the three clubs he runs or personally training a client. He admits that he has always been a sa-lon patron even if he sports his “no styling needed” look. That was until he chanced upon Rocky’s Barbershop in SM Ecoland a couple of years ago. “I got curious, so I stepped in,” he said. “I hear the Rocky’s ad over the radio all the time and pass by a Rocky’s barbershop whenever I’m in a mall. My first impres-sion of it was it’s a barbershop for kids.” After his first barbershop experience, he became a loyal client of Rocky’s not only because he liked the result of the barber’s cut but also of the clean place and the oth-er Rocky’s offerings, “I’m very impressed with how Rocky’s have improved and broadened its amenities.” Since his preferred hairstyle is easy to achieve, he has no preferred or “suki” bar-ber. Depending on Jimmy’s free time, he can have his haircut at any Rocky’s branch in any mall he’s nearest at. He has made his rounds of all the branches and has tried several barbers, “They’re all good so it doesn’t really matter which Rocky’s I go to and which barber does my hair,” he shares. A year after Jimmy brought his son to Rocky’s GMall for a haircut. He confessed it was a memorable moment for him be-cause just like him in the past, his 17-year old son Javi is a loyal salon patron. “Javi was kind of hesitant to have a bar-ber touch his hair because he’s used to having haircut at salons, but he agreed to a haircut at Rocky’s. I just sat at the wait-ing area reading the paper while having free coffee.” Yes, free brewed coffee is one of Rocky’s offerings in all its five branches. Jimmy shared that Javi goes to Rocky’s by himself now. Like him, Javi has no

“suki” barber even if he’s metic-ulous with his hairstyle. That’s how much the young boy trusts the barbers of Rocky’s. This year is the 20th year of Rocky’s Barbershop grooming the men—and their kids—of Davao. Just like Jimmy and Javi, fathers and their sons have made Rocky’s a grooming tradi-tion in their families. “My message to Rocky’s on its 20th year is that they con-tinue to grow and improve on all the services. More power to

you and looking forward to the opening of more branches.”                   Rocky’s Barbershop is the first barbershop to open in a mall in Davao City in 1986. All its five branches today are con-veniently located in malls- Vito-ria Plaza, Abreeza Mall, GMall, SM City & SM Lanang Premier. 2016 marks its 20th year in the business. Jimmy and Javi Javier are the featured Father and Son per-sonalities in the 2016 Traditions calendar of Rocky’s.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

INdulge! A3EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

ABS-CBN cable channels Cinema One, Jeepney TV, and Lifestyle are bringing the best of local and foreign entertainment closer to Filipinos with a roster of must-see shows in TV and film headlined by the country’s hot love teams and Hollywood’s brightest stars.

EXPECT MORE SURPRISES and twists in the life of Rosa as GMA’s morning primetime drama Dangwa nears its final episode this month.

This week, the real identity of the beautiful flower vendor Rosa—played by Kapuso young actress Janine Gutierrez—will be revealed. An unexpected guest will also drop by, striking a chord in Rosa’s life. He is Miguel (Martin del Rosario), the grandson of Dante who is responsible for Rosa’s decision to give up her immortality, thus her descent to Dangwa. What happens when Miguel discovers that the lady he meets is the same woman his grandfather loved before? Meanwhile, now that Baste (Mark Herras) already professed his feelings for Rosa, the true personality of Lorenzo (Aljur Abrenica) will also be revealed. Among her two suitors, to whom will Rosa give her heart? Not to be left behind is Miriam, Rosa’s dear friend. Viewers will surely feel the romantic excitement as Miriam’s blooming love story further unfolds. Only one mysterious flower is left with Rosa. Who will be its lucky recipient? What will happen to Rosa as Dangwa’s heroine nears

the end of her mission? Don’t miss the last two weeks of Dangwa, 11 a.m. on GMA 7.

ABS-CBN cable channels showcase PH hottest love teams and Hollywood stars this January

Twists and surprises as Dangwa finale nears

lifestyle channel hub of fun-loving, modern Filipinos is also beefing up its content offerings to kick-off 2016. Filipino foreign film lovers should not miss the airing of the 22nd Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards that will air live on Lifestyle (SKY and Destiny ch. 52) on January 31 (Sunday) at 9AM. SAG, one of the much-awaited awards event in Hollywood, will honor and celebrate the best performances on

film and TV in the past year. Other shows that will air on Lifestyle are “Juliette’s City Guides,” “Dance Moms,” “Beat Bobby Flay season 3,” and “Rich Kids of Beverly Hills season 2.” For more information, visit the official Facebook pages of Cinema One, Jeepney TV and Lifestyle. These channels belong to the family of cable channels of Creative Programs, Inc., a subsidiary of ABS-CBN.

Cinema One, the number one cable channel in the country, continues to offer a slew of entertaining blockbuster Filipino films such as the rom-com hit “Ang Tanging Pamilya” top billed by the team up of Toni Gonzaga and Sam Milby on January 22 (Fri). Meanwhile, the 2014 blockbuster “Starting over Again” starring Toni Gonzaga and Piolo Pascual will be screened on January 31 (Sun). Film buffs should also look forward to seeing the best films of Piolo, Cinema One’s Numero Uno during the entire month, Toni on Romance Central every Sunday at 6PM, Vhong Navarro on Tuesday Comedy at 9PM, and Sharon Cuneta on Wednesday Winners at 9PM, among others. The country’s throwback channel Jeepney TV also has a wide array of timeless shows and Pinoy classics. Fans of “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano” must tune in to Jeepney TV for the

ultimate throwback of Coco Martin and Maja Salvador’s top-rating and first teleserye together in 2011, “Minsan Lang Kita Iibigin” led by the love team of Coco and Maja. It will be back on TV by January 28 (Thursday) and will air every Thursday at 3PM. Those who miss the tandem of original “Mara Clara” stars Judy Ann Santos and Gladys Reyes are also in for a treat via Jeepney TV. The throwback channel will showcase the 2010 Kapamilya teleserye “Habang May Buhay,” which also featured the pairing of Judy Ann with Derek Ramsay. Classic shows “Bida Si Mister, Bida Si Misis,” “PBB Celebrity Edition Season 1,” and “Pieta” will also mark their return on cable TV through Jeepney TV, while Vhong Navarro will grace various Jeepney TV programs for the whole month as the channel’s icon this January. Lifestyle, the one-stop

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

R13

R16 / *R16

G12:00 | 2:00 | 4:00 | 6:00 | 8:00 | 10:00 LFS

ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS:THE ROAD CHIP

Bella Thorne, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Justin Long

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

THE BIG SHORT

12:00 | 2:00 | 4:00 LFS / * 6:00 | 8:00 | 10:00 LFS

CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES/ *JERUZALEM

John Travolta, Michael Pitt/* Yael Grobglas, Yon Tumarkin

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

Christian Bale, Steve Carell,

Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt

THE 5TH WAVE

Chloe Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson

January 20 – 26, 2016

A4 INdulge!EVENT

URBANISSIMO A4izing our many needs, they went out of their way to or-chestrate a fund-raising proj-ect which engaged both its guests, associates and mem-bers of the local community. In doing so, it did not only en-hance public awareness about our national bird; but had the entire Marco Polo family em-brace the effort. This partner-ship is a great example of how a Corporate Social Responsi-

bility should be carried out”, says Dennis Salvador, Execu-tive Director of the Philippine Eagle Foundation. Aside from the ceremonial turnover, the event program also featured a fashion show choreographed by one of the country’s most seasoned stage directors, Constantine Siñel, with models coming from the Hijos de Davao Foundation, an organization of old fami-lies in Davao City. The models donned ethnic-inspired fash-

ion creations by Rene Salud as well as modelled with the Philippine Eagle Stuffed toys designed, which were sold to attendees from various or-ganizations who attend the event. Thanks to the additional effort, the Marco Polo Davao was able to raise another P250,000 from corporate donors during the evening, bringing the total donation amount to P1,000,000. “I am truly grateful and honored to have contributed to this milestone. I was al-ways fond of birds, and when a friend came up to me last 2013 and presented the idea of dressing up the stuffed toys with my designs, I said yes without batting an eye-lash. We look forward to have a more fruitful partnership with Marco Polo Hotels in the

future for this noble cause,” said Rene. The crusade to help the Philippine Eagle does not stop there. For everyone who wants to do their fair share to help one of the world’s most noble fliers, Philippine Eagle stuffed toys are still avail-able at all Marco Polo hotels worldwide, the proceeds of which go to the Philippine

Eagle Foundation. Aside from Marco Polo Hotels, the successful turn-over ceremony was also made possible by various non-profit and corporate sponsors; such as Philippine Airlines, Anto-nio O. Floirendo Foundation, Camera Club of Davao, Boy-sen Paints Philippines, Hijos de Davao Foundation, and Renee Salud.

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 11EDGEDAVAO

COMPETITIVE EDGE

IN aggressively fulfilling international commit-ments and promoting in-

digenous sustainable energy, the Department of Energy (DOE), through the facilita-tion of its Renewable Energy Management Bureau, has awarded renewable energy service contracts (RESCs) accounting for about 1,700 megawatts (MW) potential capacities.

These projects are on top

of the additional total poten-tial capacity of 12,128 MW recorded in November 2015. If all these projects are aggre-gated and realized, the coun-try’s installed capacity could reach up to about 20,000 MW by 2030, which is higher than the initial National Renew-able Energy Program target.

“We are committed to increase our RE capacity and maintain a minimum of 30% share in the power genera-

tion mix in the coming years,” Energy Secretary Zenaida Y. Monsada said.

Through this government intervention, the country will be able to achieve its under-taking to triple installed RE capacity by 2030, reflecting its 21st Conference of the Par-ties pledge and proactively responding to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s aspi-ration of doubling RE capaci-ties of member-economies

from 2010 level by 2030.Towards the last quarter

of 2015, the newly appointed Energy Secretary has green-lighted the following RE proj-ects after having meticulous-ly reviewed each contract.

The DOE called on con-cerned government agencies and local government units to extend utmost assistance to the project proponents to fast track the timely realiza-tion of these vital RE projects.

GLOBE Telecom is prim-ing Philippine schools for 21st century learn-

ing with the use of innovative information and commu-nications technology (ICT) solutions that transform the delivery of education.

Through its IT Enabled Services Group, Globe was chosen as the ICT education solutions provider of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) for its Brightspace Learning Man-agement System under the Globe Education Solutions suite.

Globe Education Solu-tions is the telco’s pursuit into strengthening education delivery in the Philippines through the use of ICT.

With the aspiration to mold the youth into world-class and global citizens through technological in-novations in education, the Brightspace learning plat-form seamlessly connects digital content, learning ana-lytics, mobile and collabora-tion tools, adaptive learning with an ecosystem of appli-

The Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc. (MISFI) in part-

nership with Alliance of Con-cerned Teachers (ACT-Davao Region) along with the co-operation and assistance of the Panabo City Government conducted a three-day Min-danao-wide Teacher’s Lead-ership Skills Training for IP teachers to uphold IP edu-cation in far flung areas in Mindanao from January 15 to 17, 2016 held at Panabo Function Hall 3rd floor City Hall building, Panabo City.

Present in the event as invited guest speakers were Panabo city administrator Ja-mail Lunar G. Macla and Save Our Schools (SOS) Network spokesperson Rius Valle.

Macla talked about the Major Legal Bases and Minor Legal Bases of Government’s laws uplifting legal rights of students to education pro-tecting them from militariza-tion while Valle tackled the widespread of militariza-tion in Lumad community schools affecting IP students from remote areas in Mind-anao.

MISFI organized the seminar to inform IP teach-ers to protect the children from being affected by mili-tary presence and attacks in different communities. The purpose of the skills training was to equip teachers on the legal bases of education from the DepEd’s memorandum as well as giving them teaching strategies to motivate Lumad children to study hard.

Valle said over 95 at-tacks have been launched by

armed groups since 2015, af-fecting 81 schools and 4,265 students.

The memorandum en-compasses guidelines on how teachers can defend their rights from military groups that want to enter their community school.

Also present during the event was IP Rep. Datu Rodrigo A. Ambasan who shared his gratitude to the Panabo City government for giving way to such activity for the improvement and educa-tional awareness to Lumad IP teachers.

For her part, DepEd Pana-bo Division School Superin-tendent Cristy Epe shared her sentiments regarding their search for IP teachers who sincerely have a heart for teaching. “Teaching is a commitment and teaching should come from the heart so as to boost the confidence of every child,” she added.

The seminar was also graced by Panabo City Vice Mayor Janrey G. Gavina.

Among the school attend-ees were the Salugpongan Ta Tanu Igkanagon Community Learning Center and Cen-ter for the Lumad Advocacy Inc. A total of 24 community schools from different ba-rangays all over Mindanao also sent IP teachers to join the seminar, namely from Ta-laingod Palma Gil, Barangay Daguhoy Compostela Valley, Tibagon Mabini, Pagsaban-gan, Manurigao, Barangays Manggayon, Ngan, San Mi-guel, Comval, Taytayan, Mal-ibago and Giangga Tugbok. Debbie Calope – CIO Panabo

DOE awards new contractsfor renewable energy projects

MISFI holds leadershiptraining for IP teachers

Globe readies Phl education for 21st century learning

BRIGHTSPACE. Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu (2nd from right) and De La Salle-College of Saint Benil-de President Br. Dennis Magbanua FSC (2nd from left) flash the Benilde sign during the partnership agreement signing between Globe Telecom and De La Salle-College

of Saint Benilde, enabling the school access to the tel-co’s Brightspace Learning Management System. Joining them are D2L Senior Channel Sales Manager David O’Ha-gan (leftmost) and Globe Head of Sales Engagement for Globe Education Solutions Bobby Khan (rightmost).

CATCHING WIND. The contracts DOE has awarded include four wind energy projects.

cations, resources, and ser-vices.

Its key benefits include optimized, outcome-based, and student-centered learn-ing; increased faculty pro-ductivity and efficiency; improved performance, attainment, and success rates; and improved student engagement and retention among others.

“The digital shift is upon

us and now is the best time to bring the benefits of technol-ogy to education,” Globe Pres-ident and CEO Ernest Cu said. “This will definitely impact not only the delivery of edu-cation but the learning expe-rience of students today and in the future. Our partner-ship with De La Salle Benilde demonstrates our commit-ment to transform learning in the country and bring the PH

education sector to greater heights and in a global scale.”

For his part, DLS-CSB President Br. Dennis Mag-banua FSC said the digital solutions powered by Globe Education Solutions “en-hance teachers’ and students’ learning experience beyond the classroom walls.”

“Globe has the capacity and expertise to make a real difference in this vital sector

of the society and we look forward to the innovative solutions and services that Globe has in store for DLS-CSB,” Magbanua said.

Globe Education Solu-tions (GES) offers a world-class system for education that fits every school’s needs. These are the school manage-ment system Educube from Globals providing improved efficiencies of school oper-

ations such as enrollment, grading, accounting, invento-ry and other processes; eB-ooks from Flipside Publishing Services, Inc. through content conversion and creation, ebooks aggregation, and dis-tribution; and learning man-agement system Brightspace from D2L which supports flexible, personalized, and a mobile-ready learning expe-rience.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 201612CLASSIFIEDS EDGEDAVAO

Advertise with

Tel No. 082.221.3601/224.1413Email: edgedavao@gmail.com marketing@edgedavao.net

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 13NEWSEDGEDAVAO

Mamasapano folk grateful for bridgeIF there are things that

have come out good in this town after the tragedy al-

most a year ago that left 44 police commandoes, 17 Moro rebels and five civilians dead, one of them is the new bridge in Brgy. Tukanalipao that res-idents now use in lieu of the old one that serves as a re-minder of that fateful day.

Villagers cross the new bridge with their work ani-mals, even four-wheel vehi-cles.

“We used to cross this river on foot; now we can do it without difficulty,” Sala Kayanga and his wife Bai Ka-nutan said as they crossed the bridge on a water buffalo pulling a cart.

The wooden bridge that connects both ends of the corn fields still stands but is no longer used as it has de-teriorated. It was the same bridge used by the Special Action Force troopers and some members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that engaged them at dawn of Jan. 25, 2015.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has in-troduced other projects like an irrigation system and new schools to restore people’s trust in government and sus-

tain peace initiatives.On Jan. 25, Maguindanao

Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu will lead a medical outreach mission in partnership with the military and peace advo-cates.

The SAF troopers had come to Mamasapano to get Malaysian bomber Zulkipli bn Hir alias Marwan and his Filipino aide Basit Usman. Marwan was killed in the raid based on the DNA test done on one of his fingers by the US Federal Bureau of Inves-tigation.

The operation, done without coordinating with the MILF as provided for in the ceasefire agreement be-tween the government and the rebel group, led to the suspension of deliberations on the Bangsamoro Basic Law in Congress.

Lawmakers took turns accusing the MILF of bad faith, a development that threatened to derail the peace process.

Maguindanao 2nd dis-trict Rep. Zajid Mangudadatu has filed a bill seeking to de-clare January 25 as national day of mourning to remem-ber those who perished in the carnage. (Ferdinandh Cabrera/MindaNews)

NEW BRIDGE. A farmer and his family cross the new wooden bridge in Barangay Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao. The place was the site of an encounter on Jan. 25, 2015 that left 44 police commandos, 17 MILF rebels, and five civilians dead. MindaNews photo by Ferdinandh Cabrera

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

Nagayo debutsin PH Ladies Open

14 EDGEDAVAOSports

DAVAO City’s golf phen-om Alessandra Chris-tine Zozobrado-Nagayo

begins her journey to the big league as she tees off today in the 54th Philippine Ladies Open at the cool and scenic Tagaytay Midlands course. Nagayo, who just turned 12 las December, is seeing action in the Open for the first time and will be tested not only by the country’s top swingers like Princess Superal, Pauline de Rosario and Jayvee Agojo but also by a crack foreign invaders.

Organized by the Wom-en’s Golf Association of the Philippines (WGAP), the Open is the biggest women’s golf event in the country.

“Ella is not expecting so much. It is just for exposure

for her to experience playing at this level,” said her mother Councilor Rachelle Zozobra-do-Nagayo. In an online inter-view with Edge Davao.

Nagayo practiced yes-terday at the Midlands par 72 lay out with a distance of 6,021 yards. The frontnine has 2 par 5’s, 5 par 4’s and 2 par 3’s. The backnine has also the same configuration.

Nagayo will be teeing off on Flight 7 at 8 30 am yoday with compatriots Aiza Moran, Eden Hernan-dez and Felicia Macala. Last year, Thai Pimnipa Pan-thong fended off Pauline del Rosario’s late charge with clutch putts then nipped compatriot Kanyalak Pree-dasutthijit by one with a clos-ing one-over 73 to rule the

Champion Infinity Philippine Ladies Open Golf Champion-ship on her very first try at Wack Wack’s West course.

Pimnipa, 17, bucked a missed green bogey on No. 16 with tough par putts in the last two holes, including a delicate six-footer on the 17th that kept her overnight two-shot lead intact and a pressure-packed 16-footer for par on the final hole to frustrate Kanyalak’s playoff bid.

Nagayo is coming off two international stints last year finishing a strong fourth in the 2015 Veritas Junior World Championship in Pas-adena, California and tied for 86th in the US Kids World Championships in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

FOR its impaccable team-work, Manny Pacquiao said he’s picking Alaska

to win over San Miguel in the ongoing Smart Bro-PBA Phil-ippine Cup finals.

“Alaska ako,” said the box-ing superstar who’s also the playing-coach of Mahindra, when asked which team he thinks will win the all-Filipino conference.

“Ang galing ng teamwork nila.”

The Aces drew first blood in the best-of-seven series with a 100-91 win over the Beermen in the series opener. Game Two is set on Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Colise-um.

The 36-year-old Pacquiao arrived in Los Angeles on Monday night (Tuesday, Ma-

nila time) for his whirlwind press tour with Timothy Brad-ley to promote their April 9 world welterweight title bout.

The eight-time world divi-sion champion had a light din-ner with wife Jinkee and mem-bers of his staff in his second floor suite at the posh Beverly Hills hotel while watching the US NCAA game between Okla-homa and Iowa State.

Just as the game was winding down, the congress-man of Sarangani province again stressed the importance of teamwork in basketball – exactly the way Alaska plays - after Iowa State upset top-ranked Oklahoma, 82-77.

“Alam nyo sa basketball, hindi lang isa o dalawang tao ang puwedeng magaling. Li-mahan ‘yan, e,” he said.

THERE was much pre-Australian Open fo-cus on Serena Williams’

four-month layoff from tour-naments and what her return would be like. Maria Sharapo-va had missed a fair amount of tournaments over recent months as well, though.

After losing to Williams in the semifinals at Wimbledon last summer, Sharapova didn’t play in another tournament until Wuhan at the end of September due to a lingering right leg injury. She lost her only match there, reached the semifinals of the WTA Finals and played in the Fed Cup in the middle of November, but pulled out of Brisbane this month due to a sore left fore-arm.

Maria Sharapova came into the Australian Open facing questions about her health. AP Photo/Mark Baker

Sharapova says her arm and her health are fine now,

and it certainly looked that way when she returned to the court for Monday’s first-round match. Sharapova whipped No. 56 Nao Hibino in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3.

“I haven’t played any matches in many weeks,” Sharapova said. “This is just great to come out here and start my season at the Austra-lian Open. I’m quite pleased with the way I played tonight.

“There’s always a little bit of nerves, sometimes more, sometimes less, going into any Grand Slam, but especial-ly when it’s your first tourna-ment of the season. Just a dif-ferent feeling. I try not to focus so much on the opponent or the atmosphere and just real-ly focus on myself and try to bring the positives of a good training week, just try to exe-cute that and keep it simple.”

Hibino was making her debut in a Grand Slam and she did so against the player she

says inspired her to get into the game. She said she even still has three posters of Sharapova hanging on the wall of her bed-room. “She’s got to take those off,” Sharapova said. “It’s time to put her posters up there.”

It didn’t look like Hibino would have much to remem-ber from her debut against her idol when she quickly lost the first set and then rapidly found herself down 4-0 in the sec-ond. But Hibino rallied a bit to win three games while Shara-pova made some errors before finally recovering to win. She said she served well -- she had 11 aces -- but could have re-turned better.

Asked about her memo-ries of her own Grand Slam de-but, Sharapova replied, “That was way too long ago, it makes me feel really old.” She said she does remember playing here for the first time and later win-ning a title here. “And I would love to have a repeat,” she said.

Maria Sharapova came into the Australian Open facing questions about her health.

THE Philippine Red Cross Million Volun-teer Run 3 in Davao

City will be held on February 6 in an out and back course at the SM City Davao car park in Ecoland.

“We are hoping to get at least 1,000 runners,” said Gwen Clarise Cachuela of the Davao Red Cross Chapter at the weekly SCOOP Session of The Royal Mandaya Hotel last Tuesday.

This is still part of the na-

tionwide PRC Million Volun-teer Run 3, which is partici-pated simultaneously by the 38 chapters in the country.

“This year, PRC is target-ing to get at least 3 million runners nationwide,” said Cachuela.

The 4K fun run kicks off at 6 AM while the route starts at the SM Davao car park going to the Tulip Drive, Quezon Boulevard, Ecoland Drive and back to Tulip Drive and to end at SM Davao car

park.The regular registration

fee is P400 inclusive of a sin-glet and a race bib.

A discount price of P200 will be given for the adults, who prefer without the sin-glet but only with a race bib. Students and seniors will also pay P100 for the race bib only.

Fore more inquiry contact mobile no. 0928-8096690 or davaocity@red-cross.org.ph.

njb@edgedavao.net

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

THE BIG EASY. Ella Nagayo of Davao City, only 12, will battle the best golfers in the country and overseas in yoday’s start of the Philippine Ladies Open. Danny Nagayo photo

Red Cross Run 3 set Feb. 6

Pacman picks Acesto win PBA crown

Sharapova advances at Aussie Open

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 15EDGEDAVAO SPORTS

Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks shoots the ball against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

Warriors whip Cavs

CARMELO Anthony was sore and struggling, and would have preferred to be out of

the game much earlier.Then it came time for a

game-tying shot.‘’I was going to take that,’’ he

said, ‘’take that one regardless.’’He made it with 3.4 seconds

left in regulation, and the New York Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 119-113 in two overtimes Monday.

Anthony was just 7 for 28 from the field after sitting out two games with a sprained right ankle, but he made the most important shot he took, a 3-pointer from straight away over Nerlens Noel after the Knicks were on the verge of losing a game they led by 18 points in the third quarter.

‘’He saved us in that mo-ment,’’ rookie Kristaps Porzingis said.

They finally won it in the sec-ond extra period, sparked by two baskets and a blocked shot from reserve guard Langston Galloway.

‘’That Philly team is a team that is definitely improving,’’ Knicks guard Arron Afflalo said.

‘’Just very happy to get out of here with a win.’’

Afflalo led the Knicks with 25 points, and Anthony had 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Porzingis had 16 points and 12 rebounds, but sat out the overtimes after hurting his right foot trying to grab an offensive rebound.

Ish Smith had 16 points and 16 assists for the Sixers, who were seconds away from a sec-ond straight victory, but couldn’t overcome their 13-of-25 shooting from the free-throw line. Smith was just 8 for 28 from the floor but had all but two of his points after the third quarter.

‘’We were down 18 and found a way to not only get back in it, (but) really be in a position to win the game,’’ 76ers coach Brett Brown said. ‘’To not see that through is really disappointing.’’

Noel finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Rookie Jahlil Okafor had 20 points in 26 min-utes, but didn’t play after the third quarter as Smith and Noel flour-ished once he went off the floor.

‘’I was ready. I was staying

ready but the guys had it rolling,’’ Okafor said. ‘’It was an exciting game.’’

The Knicks bounced back after losing two straight while An-thony was out of the lineup. They led 52-47 at halftime before open-ing an 18-point lead in the third, when the 76ers committed seven turnovers and managed just 16 points.

Anthony hoped at that point he would be able to get some rest, saying his ankle pain hindered him all game.

‘’Then I looked up and the lead just kept getting cut and cut and cut, so at that point I knew it was going to be a longer night,’’ Anthony said.

Really long - he played 49 minutes.

Smith, just 1 for 10 through three quarters, had consecutive baskets at the end of a 9-0 run that cut it to 78-76 early in the fourth. The Sixers went ahead on Hollis Thompson’s 3-pointer with 52 seconds left in regulation and were up 96-93 when Smith fol-lowed with a jumper, setting up Anthony’s 3.

FORMER Barcelona captain Xavi believes the club’s all-star forward trio of Lionel

Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar is the best attacking line-up in foot-ball history.

Messi and Neymar finished first and third respectively in last week’s Ballon d’Or vote having, along with Suarez, inspired Luis Enrique’s team to a haul of five trophies in 2015.

Xavi, who was present for three of those successes before calling time on his illustrious Camp Nou career, believes the coach has impressively developed Barcelona’s style from the sub-

lime tiki-taka period under Pep Guardiola – making them equally potent on the counter-attack as they are in possession.

“Luis Enrique has evolved Barcelona,” said Xavi, who now plays for Qatari club Al Sadd, in an interview with Marca. “He is seri-ous, very professional.

“Barcelona now also have players capable of playing two ways. When we have the ball, with possession; but now, if you flinch, they go on the counter and this is an option handled perfectly.

“Neymar, Luis Suarez and Messi are amazing. We do not need much preparation – these

three are able to create attacks on their own.

“And then there is what lies behind: Busquets, Pique, Alba, Rakitic, Alves… a great team.

“We have the best attack in the world, I think it is the best for-ward line in history.

“Here, I see everyone in Eu-rope from Bayern Munich to Real Madrid. Today, Barcelona are the best team in the world – a team to enjoy from a distance.”

Nevertheless, Xavi feels Bar-celona face a battle to retain their Liga title in the face of compe-tition from Atletico Madrid and long-time rival Real Madrid.

Knicks top 76ers in 2OT

Barca great Xavi hails MSN as best of all timeLionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar amount to the most formidable forward line football has ever seen according to Barcelona great Xavi.

LEBRON James and Carmelo Anthony are a step closer to a fourth Olympics, and Ste-

phen Curry is in position for his first.

The NBA stars were among 30 players selected Monday as fi-nalists for the U.S. basketball team that will attempt to win a third straight gold medal.

The final 12-player roster for Rio de Janeiro will be chosen this summer. If James and Anthony are on it they would become the first American men to play in four Olympics.

The other candidates for Rio are: Kevin Durant and Rus-sell Westbrook (Oklahoma City); Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and De-Andre Jordan (Clippers); Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge (San Antonio); Klay Thompson,

Draymond Green, Andre Iguoda-la and Harrison Barnes (Golden State); Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love (Cleveland); Dwight How-ard and James Harden (Houston); Anthony Davis (New Orleans); Paul George (Indiana); DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay (Sacra-mento); John Wall and Bradley Beal (Washington); Jimmy Butler (Chicago); Mike Conley (Mem-phis); DeMar DeRozan (Toronto); Andre Drummond (Detroit); Ken-neth Faried (Denver) and Gordon Hayward (Utah).

‘’The depth of talent that ex-ists in the national team program is extraordinary. Repeating as gold medalists at the 2016 Olym-pics will not be easy, but we feel confident that we have 30 final-ists who offer amazing basketball abilities and special versatility,’’

USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said in a statement.

Kobe Bryant, who is retiring after this season, took himself out of the running for a third Olym-pics this weekend.

James and Anthony have al-ready joined Hall of Famer David Robinson as the only U.S. men to play in three Olympics, winning bronze in 2004 before leading the U.S. to gold in Beijing and London. Paul could join that list this sum-mer.

James has said he would base his decision about playing on his health and his family’s wishes, and may not decide until after his NBA season ends.

‘’I haven’t thought about it,’’ he said at Cleveland’s shoot-around before its game against Golden State on Monday.

James, Curry among 30 Team USA finalists

Stephen Curry (R) of the Golden State Warriors

challenges LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the third quarter at Quicken Loans Arena on

Monday. (AFP Photo/Frederic

J. Brown)

STEPHEN Curry didn’t smell champagne. Blood was in the air.Curry scored 35 points

in three quarters, Andre Ig-uodala added 20 and Gold-en State returned to the arena where it won the NBA championship last season and embarrassed the Cleve-land Cavaliers 132-98 on Monday night.

The Warriors built a 30-point lead in the first half, pushed their advan-tage to 43 after halftime and bounced back from a shock-ing loss in Detroit over the weekend by winning their fifth straight over Cleveland.

Only a late flurry of points helped the Cavs avoid their worst home loss in franchise history.

‘’They did what they wanted,’’ LeBron James said.

Curry made seven 3-pointers - his last put the Warriors ahead by 40 late in the third quarter - and the reigning league MVP seemed right at home in Quicken Loans Arena, where the Warriors clinched their first title since 1975 last

June. On Sunday, Curry said he hoped the visitor’s locker room ‘’still smells a little bit like champagne.’’

That aroma had long dissipated, but the Warriors looked thirsty for more bub-bly.

Curry downplayed his champagne boast.

‘’The last time I was there we had a trophy, we had champagne and we had goggles,’’ Curry said, recall-ing last season’s Game 6. ‘’We had a good time.’’

With Curry leading the charge, the Warriors over-whelmed the Cavs, who lost at Golden State 89-83 on Christmas Day and could do little to stop the defending champions.

James scored 16 for Cleveland, which just went 5-1 on its longest road trip this season. And like last season’s Finals, James didn’t have much help. Kyrie Ir-ving had eight points on 3-of-11 shooting and Kevin Love had three points in 21 forgettable minutes.

‘’Against the top teams you want to play well and

we haven’t done that. We’re 0-3,’’ James said of Cleveland’s r e c o r d a g a i n s t G o l d e n S t a t e and San A n t o -nio, the West’s top p o w e r s . ‘’Tonight was an example of how far we have to go to win a champi-onship.’’

Even though Cleveland is healthier now than in Decem-ber, an expected battle between two of the league’s best teams never materialized. This one be-longed to Golden State from begin-ning to end.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 211 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 201616 EDGEDAVAO