P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016

RODY’S SIMPLEINAUGURATIONAndanar: No champagne, blue cheese during Duterte’s oath-taking rites

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

P15

By CHARLES RAYMOND A. MAXEYand FUNNY PEARL A. GAJUNERA

EARTHQUAKE DRILL. Students use their hands

to cover their heads during yesterday’s national

simultaneous earthquake drill at Sta. Ana Elementary School along R. Magsaysay Avenue in

Davao City. Lean Daval Jr.

DON’T expect cham-pagne bottles and blue cheese during

the inauguration of Presi-dent-elect Rodrigo R. Dute-rte.

Incoming Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) secretary Mar-tin Andanar said the incom-ing president is doing away with the customary ban-quets like the vin d’honneur that follows after the inaugu-ration, but rather only hold a diplomatic reception for the guests when he takes his oath as the 16th President of the Philippines on June 30 at Malacañang’s Rizal Hall.

“The President is a sim-ple man. Do not expect any champagne bottles popping, caviar or blue cheese,” An-danar said during a press briefing at the Marco Polo Davao yesterday.

Duterte will instead serve fried banana and coco-nut juice during the import-ant occasion.

Andanar, in a separate press briefing on Monday, said the organizing commit-tee has decided to approve the national broadcasting of the inauguration Duterte.

Andanar said that the nine national broadcasting companies will be given ac-

cess at the new executive building in Malacañang.

Other media outfits can also get an accreditation from the PCOO office.

He said Duterte will be reading his speech through the teleprompter written and reviewed by two people.

“He has a tendency of not following the script and be extemporaneous. The Pres-ident still has full editorial control of the speech,” An-danar said.

He said that the entire event will be simple with no expensive foods in the table.

Members of the first fam-ily are expected to attend the

inauguration. Incoming Davao City

Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Dute-rte are flying to Manila on June 28 together with their mother Elizabeth Zimmer-man, Duterte’s former wife.

“I was invited,” Zimmer-man told reporters on Mon-day.

After his inauguration, the President will go directly to the mass oath taking of the cabinet members.

Duterte is expected to ar-rive at Malacañang at 10:30 a.m. for the program proper. The inauguration will start at 12 noon.

WAKE-UPCALL

EDGEDAVAOSports

Turkey spanks Gilas 103-68

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 20162 EDGEDAVAO

NEWS

SERIOUS TALK. Incoming President Rodrigo R. Duterte confers with incoming finance secretary Carlos Dominguez during the last day of “Sulong Pilipinas” consultation with business leaders at SMX Convention Center in Davao City Tuesday evening. Lean Daval Jr.

By FUNNY PEARL A. GAJUNERA

Shake drill draws many participants

THE Department of Pub-lic Works and Highways in the Davao Region

(DPWH 11) is maximizing its efforts for the completion of various on-going flood control and drainage improvement projects in Davao City.

For 2016, DPWH 11 has allotted PP368.6 million for 12 high impact projects in the city’s three legislative dis-tricts. Most of them concen-trated in urban areas, the proj-ects are meant to mitigate the effects of flooding which has been a prevalent problem of the city which worsen during the rainy months.

According to DPWH Re-gional Director Mariano R. Alquiza, “these projects are in response to studies and con-sultations that identified the

flood-prone areas within the city,” citing the result of reg-ular meetings conducted by the Task Force Drainage under the Office of the City Mayor of which the Flood Control and Drainage Unit (FCDU) of DPWH 11 is a member.

A big fraction of the ma-jor flood control and drainage projects undertaken by the agency are situated in the city’s north-western part, which in-clude projects along Quirino, Camus , Mabini, Jacinto Exten-sion, Lopez-Jaena and parts of Barangay Ma-a, among others.

Data from DPWH 11-FCDU also bared that Task Force Drainage has already come up with project propos-als totaling almost P3 billion to be submitted to the appropri-

INCOMING President Ro-drigo R. Duterte is not averse to the proposal that

his extremely popular week-ly television program “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa” aired from Davao City be broadcast nationwide.

He told a group of 15 broadcasters led by Maximo “Dodong” Solis who visit-ed him Monday night at the Malacanan of the South in the regional equipment depot of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in barangay Panacan he will soon announce whether he would go nationwide with the one-hour television show broadcast by ABS-CBN Davao and simulcast by its radio sta-tion, DXAB.

The President-elect also announced he had instructed his staff to study the possi-bility of turning the govern-ment-owned and -operated Philippine Television (PT-4) into a public broadcasting corporation like the British Broadcasting Corporation in London.

The BBC, headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, is the world’s oldest national broadcasting organi-zation and the largest broad-caster in the world by num-ber of employees, with over 20,950 staff in total, of whom 16,672 are in public sector broadcasting including part-time, flexible as well as fixed contract staff, the total num-ber is 35,402.

“The BBC is established under a Royal Charter and operates under its agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Its work is funded principally by an annual television license fee which is charged to all British households, compa-nies, and organizations using any type of equipment to re-ceive or record live television broadcasts. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and used to fund the BBC’s ex-tensive radio, TV, and online services covering the nations and regions of the UK. From 1 April 2014, it also funds the BBC World Service, launched in 1932, which provides com-prehensive TV, radio, and on-

line services in Arabic, and Persian, and broadcasts in 28 languages.”

“Around a quarter of BBC revenues come from its com-mercial arm BBC Worldwide Ltd. which sells BBC programs and services internationally and also distributes the BBC’s international 24-hour English language news services BBC World News and BBC.com, provided by BBC Global News Ltd.”

Upon the request of Solis’ group, the incoming Presi-dent promised he would look into the legalization of the operation of more than 100 low-powered neighborhood radio stations which had been operating without Congres-sional franchise. AMA

INCOMING house speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez is not giving any chairman-

ship slots for the minority in the House of Representatives.

Alvarez, of Davao del Norte, announced this to the media during the consultative work-shop with the business com-munity in Davao City which ended Tuesday. He said when Congress resumes, he will not give any committee chairman-ship to the members of the mi-nority.

Even former committee

chairpersons will not be ex-empted if they will not join the majority.

“If they will be in the mi-nority, yes (no chairmanship for them), but if they will join the majority there is a possibil-ity that some of them will get chairmanship,” Alvarez said.

At present, several mem-bers of the Liberal Party ex-pressed intention to join the PartidongDemokratiko Pilipi-no-Lakasng Bayan (PDP-La-ban).

However, in an earlier inter-

view with the outgoing speaker of the house Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte he said that “LP mem-bers will eventually join the coa-lition” with the PDP-Laban.

Meanwhile, Alvarez said that the Makabayan bloc has also expressed their intention to join the coalition.

“We have talked with them (Makabayan bloc members). They have manifested their in-tention to join the majority. We are just waiting when we can sign the coalition agreement,” Alvarez said.

As of the moment the PDP-Laban has signed a coali-tion with the Nacionalista Party, Nationalist People’s Coalition, National Unity Party and Lak-as- Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD).

Talks are also still on going with Vice President Jejomar-Binay’s United Nationalist Alli-ance (UNA) party.

The current members of the PDP-Laban in the congress is currently at 72, however, they have reached to more than 200 because of the coalitions.

Alvarez: No chairmanshipslots for minority in House

DPWH pursues drainage projectscosting P368-million in Davao City

Rody hints at “Gikan sa Masa..” going nationwide; studies BBC

MORE or less seven hundred officers, men and women, non-uni-

formed personnel of the East-ern Mindanao Command, Philippine Navy, Advance com-mand post of the 10th Infantry Division, 5th Civil-Relations Group and school-children from the Felix Apolinario El-ementary School participat-ed in the shake drill 9:00 am Wednesday.

Participants observed the duck, cover and hold as the first siren sounded simulating the occurrence of a tremor. Conse-quently the second siren weed

and they all went out of the building towards the open field in an orderly fashion with their hands over their heads.

The Eastern Mindanao Command headed by Brigadier General Ronnie Evangelista, assistant commander set up immediately an incident com-mand center and telecommu-nication system. Thereafter, ambulance were dispatched to ferry the wounded to the safer grounds.

Liza Mazo, director of the Office of Civil Defense XI who observed the exercise lauded

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VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016 3NEWSEDGEDAVAO

WAITING FOR RODY. Outgoing Davao City Police Office (DCPO) director Senior Superintendent Vicente Danao Jr. (left) and incoming DCPO director Senior Superintendent Michael John Dubria are all smiles while waiting for

President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte during the last day of “Sulong Pilipinas” consultation with business leaders at SMX Convention Center in Davao City Tuesday evening. Lean Daval Jr.

IT will be the first not only in Asia, but in the whole world.President-elect Rodrigo

R. Duterte’s June 30 inaugura-tion will be broadcast through Facebook live and set to reach more online viewers, even Fil-ipinos abroad.

Incoming communication secretary Martin Andanar on Tuesday night said his office, the Presidential Communi-cations Operations Office (PCOO), met with members of Facebook’s public policy who flew in from SingaporeTues-day night at the Marco Polo Davao to discuss on the via-bility of the live-streaming the inauguration on Facebook.

“We essentially talked about how Facebook could help us stream the entire in-auguration on June 30 seam-lessly,” Andanar said.

Andanar met with Face-book public policy head for Asia Pacific Elizabeth Her-nandez during the meeting, together with incoming pres-

idential spokesman Ernie Abella, campaign finance head Paul Dominguez, and Nic-Gabunada, who headed the social media aspect of Duter-te’s presidential campaign.

“We focused on the inau-guration since the streaming of the inauguration through Facebook will be the first in Asia, if not in the world,” An-danar said.

He said the Facebook team is looking on the possi-bility of tweaking its internal system to allow the continous live streaming of the event which will start in the morn-ing until afternoon of June 30.

“Facebook will study that if they can tweak the setting because usually if you go on Facebook live after 90 min-utes it turns off and you have to switch it on again on a new live event,” the former TV5 anchor said, adding it is only fitting to utilize Facebook which become one of the pri-mary campaign platforms of

COMBAT VS ILLEGAL DRUGS. Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 11 legal counsel lawyer Behn Joseph Tesiorna says illegal drug activities declined due to the efforts being undertaken by authorities before incoming

President Rodrigo R. Duterte assumes office. Tesiorna and Buhangin Police Station commander Chief Inspector Milgrace Driz (left) were among the guests of yesterday’s AFP-PNP Press Corps media forum. Lean Daval Jr.

AN AGREEMENT for an interim ceasefire of both the government armed

forces and the communist reb-els is expected to be reached once the government peace panel and the Communist Par-ty of the Philippines-National Democratic Front of the Phil-ippines (CPP-NDFP) resume negotiations on the third week of July.

“This is the first time…in the past even a temporary ceasefire – they (CPP-ND-FP) do not accept because it means capitulation of forces…baba ang baril…manaog sila (lay down arms…come down {from the boondocks}),” in-coming Secretary of the De-partment of Labor and Em-ployment (DOLE) Silvestre Bello III explained in a press conference Tuesday at the Royal Mandaya Hotel.

Bello said it is the first time in 14 years they have agreed to discuss the issue on ceasefire. It may be recalled that the last ceasefire was in 1986 during the administration of former President Corazon Aquino. But the ceasefire failed due to lack of monitoring.

But Bello said they have yet to configure how they would set up the monitor-ing system since the issue on communist armed conflict is of nationwide scale unlike the Moro conflict which is more confined to Mindanao.

Also seen in July is the re-lease of political prisoners on the basis of the Joint Agree-ment on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).

According to Bello, the CPP-NDFP panel has present-ed an initial list of 18 to 20

WITH the recent an-nouncement of in-coming Department

of Transportation and Com-munications (DOTC) secre-tary Arthur Tugade to review P18.9-billion modernization of the Sasa Port and the signing of the memorandum of agree-ment (MOA) between the city government of Davao and the Mega Harbour Port Develop-ment Corporation (MHPDC) to develop the Davao Coastline and Port Development project, a member of the city council on Wednesday is considering for the merging of the two projects which he said would further provide economic ben-efits to Davao City and the rest of Davao region.

“If I will be given the priv-

ilege to propose, I would sug-gest that the Mega Harbour Project Coastal Development Plan should be included in the Davao Port modernization project as an integrated plans and programs,” Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang told the EDGE Davao in an interview on Wednesday.

Dayanghirang pointed out that the city and the rest of the region could not rely on Sasa Port because it has a very small area.

“If the two projects are integrated then we will have a much bigger port,” he added.

The councilor also stressed on the maximiza-tion of the use of funds and big savings on the part of the government if there will be an

agreement to merge the two big projects.

“It would depend now on the Mega Harbour and the DOTC if they are interested to integrate it. That can be done easily. They just convene among themselves and agree.”

In terms of operations, Dayanghirang said the Phil-ippine Port Authority (PPA) and the city government of Davao can come out with some scheme on joint management.

Mega Harbour is a 200-hectare port, commercial and residential complex proj-ect that will be developed 40 meters away from the coast-line of Davao City, from the ar-eas of Agdao to Bucana.

Dayanghirang also wel-comed the decision of the

DOTC to review the Sasa Port modernization project, saying that the increase of the amount of the project is unexplainable to the city government.

“We do not know the rea-son why there was that very huge amount of increase,” he emphasized.

The project was opposed not only by the city govern-ment but also by the various sectors in the city including the business community.

Incoming secretary Tu-gade said on Tuesday that the agency will look into the stalled implementation of the modernization project.

Dayanghirang is hopeful that with the coming of the new administration of presi-

Dad mulls merger of port and Mega Harbour projects

adlopez0920@gmail.comBy ALEXANDER D. LOPEZ

Duterte peace panel, NDF seen to forge deal on truce

Rody inauguration live on Facebook

crc@edgedavao.netBy CHENEEN R. CAPON

TO ENSURE people’s par-ticipation in decision making at grassroots

level, the Department of So-cial Welfare and Development (DSWD-12) has gathered Waednesday leaders of Indig-enous Peoples (IPs) in SOC-CSKSARGEN for a consultation dialogue for the construction of 135 classroom projects in the region.

Bai Zorahayda T. Taha, DSWD 12 regional director said that the dialogue was aimed at ensuring that stake-holders, especially IP leaders, are inclusively taking active roles in the project with their important insights and recom-mendations.

“Aside from its unique im-plementation mode, this proj-ect will not follow the conven-tional type of classrooms as of non-IP areas, instead its de-sign and other aspects will be based on the suggestions and wisdom of IP communities,” Taha added.

The classroom project, which is part of the support to the establishment of new pub-lic schools for the Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao, has been allotted by the national gov-ernment and World Bank with some PHP114.75 million for the region, according to Taha.

“It is a gesture of respect and recognition of our commu-

DSWD 12 to build schoolsaccording to IP’s culture

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VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 20164 EDGEDAVAO

SUBURBIA

HAD she been given the chance to finish her studies, she would have

wanted to become a doctor or a soldier. Instead, she became someone more than she ever hoped for. She became the ‘peo-ple’s soldier’ or as her co-bene-ficiaries fondly call her “sundalo sa katawhan”.

Fifty-two year-old Juliet Rivera is an ordinary house-wife. She finished high school and lived a simple life in their quaint little village at Barangay Sto. Nino, Talaingod, Davao del Norte.

Her husband Eleazar, 55, works as a laborer at a local farm. With no permanent in-come, Juliet helps her husband by working as a freelance mas-seuse. On a regular day, she earns P 150.00.

“Ang amoang ginakita sa una igo ra gyud aron maka-kaon mi (What we earned was enough to meet our food needs),” she shared. “Sa pana-hon nga naay mga panginahan-glan sa eskwelahan ang amoang mga anak, maghilak gyud ko kay kulang man jud amoang kwarta. Igo ra gyud sa panginahanglan sa sulod sa balay Sama sa ilang ginaingon, hand to mouth lang gyud (Whenever our children need some stuffs for school, I would end up crying for we were really short with cash. We just had enough for the basics at home. As they say, we survived in a hand-to-mouth basis).”

It was in 2009 when the

Rivera Family was identified as one of the beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Juliet recalls how excited she was when for the first time there was someone from the government who did a house-to-house enumeration in their barangay. Though there were no promises of anything when they were interviewed, still she prayed and hoped for the best.

“Pirti gyud nakong lipaya pagkahibalo nako nga naay pro-grama nga motabang sa amo-ang mga kabos (I was overjoyed when I learned that there’s go-ing to be a program that would help us),” she exclaimed.

“Karon nga naa na ang Pantawid, dili na mabiyaan ang akoang mga anak sa mga activities sa school. Sa una mai-bog lang na sila kung naay mga girl scout camping ug uban pa kay wala man gyud mi ikagas-to. Karon makaapil na gyud sila (Now with Pantawid, my children will no longer be left behind in any school activities. Before, they felt resentful when there are girl scout camps and other events since we could not afford to pay for these things. Now, they can easily join),” Juliet tearfully reminisced.

“Sa una kung mag-ulan mangabasa mi sa sulod sa balay tungod sa dagko nga bangag sa atop. Maluoy gyud ko maglan-taw sa akoang mga anak. Karon,

nakapa-atop na ko aron makat-ulog na mi og tarong maski pa mag-ulan (When it rained, we would end up soaked inside our home because of the large holes in the roofing. I felt sorry for my children. Now, I can have my roof repaired so that we can sleep comfortably even when it rains).”

Eleazar and Juliet’s six chil-dren are consistently on the top of their class -Christian Louie, 27; Agatha Gloria, 24; Eleazar Jr, 17, and in 1st year college; Rey-mound, 16 and in Grade 11; Eli-za Mie, 15, and in Grade 10; and Jessa Mie, 13, a Grade 8 student.

In 2012, the Rivera Family was awarded as the provincial winner for the Huwarang Pam-ilya Search.

Juliet shared how the program had helped her gain self-confidence and developed her trait as a leader. Her 32 member-beneficiaries look up to her.

“Sa una mahadlok ko makig-atubang sa tawo kay maulaw ko kay unsa ra gud ang akoang naabot. Dako gyud og kausaban sa akoang pagka-tawo ang nahatag sa Pantawid, na-educate ko. Daghan ko og nahibaloan nga mga kaalam nga akoang ma-treasure ug ma-himong kusog (I felt nervous in front of people before because I was ashamed of my low ed-ucation status. Pantawid has tremendously changed me. My eyes were opened. I learned a lot of lessons from the pro-

gram which I could treasure and which will serve as my strength).”

“Pinaagi sa Pantawid, na-hatagan mi og bili nga maka-tabang sa amoang isig ka tawo. Napahimuslan mi maski wala mi naabot na grado. Mapas-alamaton ko sa DSWD nga gi-paminaw ug gihatagan og bili ang amoang mga suhestiyon aron mapalambo ang programa (Pantawid valued our worth and capacity to help others. We were mobilized despite our low educational status. I am grateful to DSWD for accepting and ap-preciating our suggestions to further improve the program).”

“Kung wala ni nga pro-grama daghan pa karon ang nagkamang. Daghan pa karon ang kawang pa gihapon, wa-lay kausaban sa kinabuhi. Dili lang ako ang natabangan sa programa mao nanghinaut ko nga ipadayon gihapon ni nga programa (If not for the pro-gram, many would still be im-poverished. Many would still lead the same old routinary life with no significant changes in their poor living condition. The program has helped a lot of people, not only my family. I am hoping the program will be continued).”

Juliet voluntarily went around the entire District 1 of Davao del Norte to gather sup-port from her co-beneficiaries for the continuance of Pantawid Pamilya. She alone was able to

TAGUM Coop has its new partners in harnessing the thrust of the busi-

nesses it operates from collec-tion hubs to hotel accommo-dation.

ECPay and NIDA Rooms are now part of the Tagum Coop family after a Memoran-dum of Agreement (MOA) was signed on June 6, 2016, Mon-day evening during the regular Board Meeting.

Present to sign the MOA were Tagum Coop Chairper-son Monica L. Salido along with the members of the Board of Directors (BOD) and the management, Ms. Ellen Grace Nuez, partnership man-ager of NIDA Rooms Tagum Davao area, and personnel from the ECPay representing President Raymund Jude Agu-ilar.

With this endeavor, Elec-tronic Commerce Payments, Inc or ECPay now serves as the partner of Tagum Coop in the collection of bills and pay-ments of the latter’s members.

The partnership with ECPay came after the BOD ap-proved a resolution in March this year to expand the col-lection services of the Coop to its 11 branches, from just one Bayad Center in NCCC Mall of Tagum.

The putting up of payment

centers was in line with the institution’s 6-year strategic planning of “maximizing orga-nizational effectiveness, under the Internal Business Process”.

ECPay is a Collection Pay-ments Processor since 2001 with over 4, 500 retail outlets nationwide including appli-ance centers, banks, conve-nience stores, gas stations, pawnshops, and supermar-kets/department stores.

Meanwhile, NIDA Rooms (Global Rooms Philippines, Inc.) now becomes the partner of Tagum Coop in promoting and advertising its Budgetel business not just in the coun-try but in Southeast Asia.

Guests who wish to check in at the TC Budgetel may book reservation without hassle through the NIDA Rooms mo-bile app or via website as five rooms in the Budgetel are now branded by the latter.

NIDA Rooms, considered as Asia’s Largest Hotel chain, is a foreign-based hotel room consolidator which started its operation in the country since 2015.

With these partnerships, Tagum Cooperative went an extra mile leveling up its oper-ations especially in providing avenues for members to access the Cooperative wherever they are. (Tagum Cooperative)

Tagum Coop has 2 new partners

Talaingod’s Sundalo sa Katawhan

Tagum Coop Chairperson Monia L. Salido (sitting, left), along with other officers and management, signs the MOA with NIDA Rooms partnership manager Ellen Grace Nuez (sitting, right)

Tagum Cooperative inks MOA with NIDA rooms for its partnership in the Budgetel Business

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Gensan raises dengue alert;records 389 cases since JanTHE City Epidemiology

and Surveillance Unit (CESU) of the City Health

Office (CHO) here has raised the alert level against the dead-ly mosquito-borne dengue fever following the surge in the number of suspected cas-es which record reached 389 since January.

City Disease Surveillance Officer, Dr. Mely Lastimoso disclosed that the said figure is 159% higher than the 150 cas-es recorded for the year 2015.

“There were 389 Dengue cases reported to CESU from January 1 to June 11, 2016 and 53% of these numbers or a to-tal of 168 infected patients are children ages 1-10 years old.”

Lastimoso said three deaths have also been report-ed this year from Barangay City Heights, Barangay Conel and Barangay Fatima com-pared to the zero casualty last year which prompted local health officials to intensify the city’s no let up campaign against dengue.

Last week, hundreds of participants composed of ba-rangay officials, health work-ers and nutrition scholars, public school teachers and principals, school nurses and nutrition teachers from the city’s 26 barangays convened at Labangal gymnasium to cel-ebrate the 6th ASEAN Dengue Day.

This year’s theme revolves on DOH battlecry: “Four O’clock Habit: Stop Look and Listen” where citizens are asked to band every 4pm in searching and destroying the possible thriving places for mosquitoes especially the Aedes aegypti

which transmit the viruses that cause dengue fever.

“We should not be compla-cent but rather we should help each other in cleaning our ba-rangays especially that dengue is a year-round problem. We have just experienced El Nino, and we know that mosquitoes thrive in warm weather; and now rainy season is here, we should get rid of stagnant, clear waters in our areas as these are the best breeding places for mosquitoes,” said Francisco Cavan, Sr., Barangay Kagawad of Labangal.

Meanwhile Lastimoso re-vealed that CESU, in coordina-tion with the Department of Health (DOH) 12, is currently intensifying the dengue con-trol program especially in the implementation of the Aksyon Barangay Kontra Dengue which aim to to reinforce clean-up drive against Dengue, and mobilize all sectors for clean-up drive (search and destroy).

The standard message of the campaign, she said is also to the reinforce the 4s Strategy on dengue prevention which include: Search and destroy breeding sites; Self Protection; Seek early advise/consultation at the nearest health center; and Say YES to fogging when there is an impending outbreak (hotspots).

The DOH has also identi-fied public elementary schools in the city as recipients of the School-Based Insecticide Treated Screen (ITS) “to re-duce the incidence and deaths of dengue by reducing levels of transmission through reduc-tion of vector population.” (PG-Fruylan/PIA-Gensan)

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016 5EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMY

crc@edgedavao.netBy CHENEEN R. CAPON

A CIVIL society group formed through Face-book in October last

year plans to file a case against Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) for the implementa-tion of a circular order stop-ping the night operation of wooden-hulled boats.

The group, calling itself Samal Watch, however, said it will have to exhaust all means before seeking legal action against Marina.

Group administrator Jack Tello said their organization will wait for the executive order to be issued by Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos) mayor Al David Uy next week seeking to exempt the opera-tion of wooden boats during night time in Samal from the implementation of the Circular Order No 2016-02, or the re-vised rules on the facing out of the wooden-hulled ships car-rying passengers in domestic shipping.

Tello said the group will also meet with boat operators and other Samal residents who were not properly consulted before the order takes effect on July 7.

“We’ll also meet with the president of the Association of Barangay Captains in Samal as well as Davao City Mayor Sara

Duterte-Carpio to lobby our concerns,” Tello said during the Habi at Kape media forum at the Abreeza Mall.

Tello said the order should not be implemented since there was no proper public consultation conducted prior to the first consultation con-ducted last Tuesday.

“They are not even pre-pared for the consultation because they’ve given us the wrong venue,” he said, adding it was not well-represented by affected sectors because only less than a 100 attended the event.

Paul Suazell, one of the members, said the stoppage of the operation of wood-en-hulled boats carrying pas-sengers spells disasters to residents of Samal who are using these as primary mode of transportation.

Suazell said 90 percent of the 110,000 residents of the island use wooden boat to fer-ry goods from Samal to Davao City. He said workers and stu-dents preferring wooden ships to cross interisland.

“This would have an ad-verse effect on the students and entrepreneurs traversing the water through the wooden ferry,” he said, adding the pro-vision of the order has no legal

Group mulls raps vs Marinabasis.

Marina, Sauazell said, could not just remove the op-eration of lantsa in Samal be-cause of its cultural value long before the operation of steel-hulled boats carrying passen-gers.

He said the Marina cannot

use its argument of preferring Maywest, owned by the Bang-gayan, over wooden lantsa because of safety and conve-nience.

“There’s no truth on their claim that it is more safer to use the ferries of Maywest because it is not even built for

passengers,” Suazell said.The ship is built for cargo,

according to him.“Passengers inside their

vehicles cannot even go out-side because seats and life jackets were not enough,” Sua-zell said.

Boat operators will be also

adversely affected.“They will be losing 1/6

of their daily income because they cannot operate at night,” he said.

There are more than 20 wooden boat carrying pas-sengers in Samal operated by more than 10 operators.

LIVE STREAMING. Smart Telecommunications public affairs and corporate communications head Ramon Esberto (right) says the company will evaluate its capability and facilities to cater the planned live streaming of incoming President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s inauguration on June 30. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 20166THE ECONOMY EDGEDAVAO

crc@edgedavao.netBy CHENEEN R. CAPON

EUROPEAN Union Am-bassador Franz Jessen urged small businesses

from the agriculture sector to secure the Mindanao Col-lective Trademark (MCT) for product leverage as their ticket to the international market.

Jessen said Mindanao products have so much poten-tial in the European market especially now with the MCT which gives products coming from the island an origin that

denotes quality and sustain-ability though the voluntary standards (VS).

The MCT was established by the Mindanao Development Authority with the assistance from the EU through its Trade Related Technical Assistance Project 3 (TRTA3) which aims to integrate Mindanao’s small and medium enterprises into the international and regional trading and investment sys-tem. It was launched last Tues-

day.MinDA secretary Luwalha-

ti R. Antonino said the trade-mark “will improve the com-petitiveness of products origi-nating from the island through alignment with internationally recognized VS which guaran-tee sound management prac-tices, traceability and sustain-ability.”

Hoping to entice more SMEs to invest in the region’s high value crops like banana,

coffee, cacao, and coconut, Antonino said the MCT will also function as a certification trademark.

“Meaning, the objective of the collective trademark is to be able to carry out common promotion of “quality Mindan-ao products” in domestic and international markets,” she said.

The changing preference of the international market is

Traders told: Securecollective trademark

PROJECTS aimed to boost cacao production in Davao region was re-

cently visited by a team from the World Bank (WB) headed by its new country director, Mara K. Warwick.

Warwick and her team that include WB senior ru-ral development economist FraukeJungbluth, lead econo-mist Aleksandra Posarac and senior communications offi-cer Dave Llorito particularly paid a visit to the farmer-ben-eficiaries of the approved P26-million Cacao Production and Dry-fermented beans marketing in Barangay Subas-ta, Calinan.

The project is currently being implemented under the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) in Davao region.

In a statement to the me-dia here, DA-PRDP said that Warwick and her team had an actual interaction with the leaders of cacao farmers in the area especially from the Sub-asta Integrated Multipurpose Cooperative (SIMC).

“The team was delighted to see the operations of the cooperative and its existing facilities,” the DA-PRDP state-ment said.

The interaction also served as a venue where ben-eficiaries directly shared to WB officials the regular op-erations of the project and its impact to their lives and the community.

“This is the very first proj-ect I’ve visited (in the Philip-

pines). So I am really thrilled to see you and your project,” Warwick was quoted in mes-sage during the integration that was joined by more than 50 farmers and project imple-menters of peech in a gather-ing of about 50 farmers and project implementers of SIMC.

As she lauded the success of the project, Warwick also expressed gratitude to the farmers for their dedication and enthusiasm as being part of the WB funded program.

“I know you put so much hard work and many number of hours in the preparation of the plans and attending meet-ings and other activities,” she added.

During the visit, Engr. Froilan Rigor, Planning officer of Davao City presented to WB executives the Davao Devel-opment Strategy (DDS) which outlines the key infrastruc-tures planned to be estab-lished in three years that will link the city’s production area to the bigger markets in Davao city and nearby commercial centers.

In the same statement, DA-11 regional director Reme-lynRecoter described cacao as the champion commodity of Davao region under DA-PRDP program, considering that at least 80 percent of the coun-try’s cacao project is from Davao region.

As she expressed her impressions to the on-going cacao development projects in the area, Warwick also as-sured the farmers of the con-

WB lauds efforts to boost cacao production in Davao

adlopez0920@gmail.comBy ALEXANDER D. LOPEZ

World Bank country director Mara K. Warwick (center) shows off roasted cacao beans ready for processing. With her are (from left) PRDP OIC-National Director Arnel De Mesa, WB communication officer Dave Llorito, lead economist Aleksandra Posarac and PRDP Mindanao director Lealyn A. Ramos. (Photo by Jay M. Rosas/PSO Mindanao)

SAMAL CONCERN. Jack Tello (right) administrator of Samal Watch, together with Jojo Tejano (left), co-administrator and Paul Suazell (center) raised their concern during the regular Habi at Kape press conference at the Abreeza Mall on Wednesday on the implementation of the circular issued

by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) to prohibit wooden-made vessels to travel after 6:00 p.m. starting on July 7, saying that the same will have adverse effects to the people of the Island Garden City of Samal who are regular passengers of said type of sea vessels. (Alexander D. Lopez)

PRESIDENT-ELECT Rodrigo R. Duterte vowed that they will study the 10 recom-

mendations of business leaders to his socio-economic agenda during the two-day consultative workshop held in the city.

“I assure you. We will study and review it and for now I would say I see nothing wrong with this. This is doable. It’s a matter of just doing it and implementing it right away,” he said during the last day of the “Sulong Pilipinas: Hakbang Tungo sa Kaunlaran” at the SMX Convention Center on Tuesday.

Duterte, a lawyer, said he is banking on the experts in the government to study the coun-try’s economy in order to come up with actionable plans on eco-nomic matters while each of his cabinet members review other recommendations “to where the subject matter belongs.”

Philippine Chamber of Com-merce and Industry Inc. (PCCII) president George Barcelon pre-sented the first part of the rec-ommendations while the other half was delivered by Mindanao Business Council (MBC) chair-man Vicente Lao.

Barcelon said the “best of minds” in the country’s business community were able to give their suggestions on what the next administration should pur-sue to further the growth of the economy.

“When you think about it, this comes very cheap it. If you were to ask them to bill us, I don’t think we can afford their talents,” he said.

Barcelon said that a com-prehensive tax reform package topped the recommendations of the business sector.

This includes reduction of corporate and personal income taxes as well as lower capital gains tax rates that are similar to the taxation systems of Singapore and Hong Kong.

“To compensate for the defi-cit resulting from reduced tax rates, the foremost suggestion is to increase excise taxes by ex-panding the definition of luxury goods,” he said.

The businessmen agreed to have a national identification sys-tem that will allow for a more tar-geted social services and prevent double-counting or leakage.

“Past administrations at-tempted to institute a nationwide identification system but lacked the political will,” Barcelon said.

Once pushed, he believes the system will improve access to health, education, food, shelter, conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs, and peace and order.

They recommended automa-tion and streamlining of process-ing time of permits and bottle-necks in land titling. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)

Rody welcomes businessleaders’ recommendationsTHE PROVINCIAL government

of South Cotabato today hon-ored 17 non government

organizations and 11 local govern-ment units in the province for its contribution on good governance since 2013.

The recognition includes dis-tribution of certificates of apprecia-tion by the Provincial Development Council (PDC) headed by South Co-tabato Gov. Daisy Avance Fuentes, to recipients was conducted at the PDC hall of Provincial Planning and

Development Office (PPDO) here.Fuentes said the provincial

government’s partners in develop-ment initiatives of the government played major roles as members of the PDC.

Fuentes handed over the certif-icates of appreciation to represen-tatives of the following NGOs: The NGOs were Mahintana Foundation Inc., Coalition of Social Development Organizations, Girl Scouts of the Philippines, Boy Scouts of the Phil-ippines, South Cotabato Foundation

Inc., Chiu Bun Gim Foundation Inc.South Cotabato Chamber of

Commerce & Industry Foundation Inc., OND-Hesed, World Vision, Save The Children, Social Action Center, Women’s Indigenous Focus for En-hancement, Maguindanaoan Devel-opment Foundation Inc., Provincial AgriI-Fishery Council Inc., South Cotabato Mango Industry Council, NDMU Foundation Inc. and Tri-Peo-ple Gentud Foundation.

For the 2016-2019 PDC term of office, Fuentes said a new set of

NGOs will be accredited by the Pro-vincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO). PPDO is the PDC sec-retariat.

Before the awarding proper, a presentations was conducted by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) about the PAMANA projects accomplished in South Cotabato and the PHP8.8 billion accomplishments of the 2nd Congressional District under Con-gressman Ferdinand Hernandez. (PNA)

South Cotabato Dev’t Council honors partnersF WB, 13 F TRADERS, 13

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016 7EDGEDAVAO

HEALTHUnderstandingchildhoodvaccinations

Living in a time of unprecedented medical interventions, it is difficult to fully appreciate the contribution vaccines have made to human health

By HENRYLITO D. TACIO

EIGHTEEN-MONTH-OLD Jessie was an active, playful toddler. Then,

one day, he was struck down with a high fever, severe cough-ing, diarrhea, vomiting and a red rash on his face and chest.

When Jessie started gasp-ing for breath on the sixth day of his illness, his parents rushed him to a hospital. The doctor diagnosed pneumonia, a complication of measles. Al-though he was given intrave-nous fluids and antibiotics, his condition worsened. Two days after admission, Jessie died.

Sarah, the boy’s mother, later told doctors she didn’t realize that measles was life-threatening. She hadn’t had Jessie vaccinated against the disease even though she lived just over a kilometer away from a health center. “If only I had known,” she said.

With vaccine available for measles, the acute bacterial re-spiratory infection should have been part of history already -- but such is not the case.

It must be recalled that in 2014, the Department of Health reported a total of 1,810 cases of measles in Davao Re-gion from January to July, with most of the cases coming from Davao City.

According to a news report circulated by the state-run Philippine News Agency, mea-sles cases were high in Talomo North with 181 reported cases, Buhangin with 124 cases, and Talomo South with 105 cas-es. However, confirmed cases were high in Talomo North with 21 cases, Talomo South with 14 cases, Buhangin with 13, and District A with 13 cas-es.

Measles is a highly conta-gious, serious disease caused by a virus. It remains one of the leading causes of death among young children glob-ally, according to the Gene-va-based World Health Organi-zation (WHO). Approximately 114,900 people died from measles in 2014 – mostly chil-dren under the age of 5.

Since the United Nations health agency launched its Ex-panded Program on Immuni-zation (EPI) in 1974, millions of deaths have been prevented every year. During 2000-2014, measles vaccination prevent-ed an estimated 17.1 million deaths. Global measles deaths have decreased by 79% from an estimated 546,800 in 2000

to 114,900 in 2014, the WHO reports.

Unfortunately, public health experts believe that this progress is potentially in jeopardy. “Fewer children are suffering and dying from infections, so parents are not taking the problem seriously,” says Dr. Zulkifli Ismail, profes-sor of pediatrics and director of Hospital Universiti Kebang-saan Malaysia. “Parents are putting their children at risk when they don’t bring them in for their shots.”

Although the global cam-paign for childhood immuni-zation has been a towering success, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns that there is still a long

way to go.“Nearly one in 5 infants

are still left out of the life-sav-ing benefits of vaccines and are exposed to a far higher risk of death and disability,” UNICEF deplores. “An estimated 1.5 million unvaccinated children die each year.”

In the Philippines, over 1,000 children needlessly die each year from six childhood killers: diphtheria, measles, polio, whooping cough, tuber-culosis and tetanus. Most of those who died are children who are not immunized.

Basic medical knowledge is also low. “Many parents do not know that the reason for decline in infectious diseases is due in a large part to vaccina-

tions,” says Dr. Lam Mun San, an infectious disease consul-tant physician with the Mount Elizabeth Medical Center in Singapore. “Even when par-ents know something about vaccinations, they tend to ex-aggerate the side effects and downplay the consequences of diseases from unvaccinated children.”

Nevertheless, the case for childhood vaccination remains overwhelming. “Living in a time of unprecedented medi-cal interventions, it is difficult to fully appreciate the contri-bution vaccines have made to human health,” wrote Leo-ny Garcia in a special report which appeared in Business Mirror.

“In fact, the widespread adoption of vaccines was one of the greatest public-health innovations of the 20th cen-tury. Deadly and highly-in-fectious diseases, like small pox, whooping cough, polio and measles, have either been eradicated completely or are

under control, thanks to the development and administra-tion of vaccines,” Garcia added.

A vaccine, which under-goes several trials, is safe. The WHO defines a vaccine as “a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease.” It further explains: “A vaccine typically contains an agent that resem-bles a disease-causing micro-organism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins or one of its surface proteins. The agent stimulates the body’s immune system to recognize the agent as foreign, destroy it, and ‘remember’ it, so that the immune system can more eas-ily recognize and destroy any

of these microorganisms that it later encounters.”

Recently, there has been some concern about autism and vaccines. The increase in reported autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) made some parents wonder if there is a connection with vaccines, particularly the tripe measles, mumps and rubella (MMR). Yet, there hasn’t been any sci-entific proof.

In its website, the Sanofi Pasteur Inc. said: “More than 20 published scientific studies conducted in various countries have found no link between vaccination and ASDs. More-over, a 2014 meta-analysis of more than 1.2 million children found that neither vaccines, nor vaccines components, are associated with the develop-ment of autism.”

In addition, the Journal of the American Medical Associa-tion and the New England Jour-nal of Medicine found no link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

“Despite what you may hear or read, all current vac-cines are safe,” assures Dr. Is-mail. “Vaccines have helped prevent more diseases than all antibiotics put together.”

Vaccines are effective. Po-lio is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children. It was once a disease feared worldwide, striking suddenly and para-lyzing mainly children for life. In 1988, when the Global Po-lio Eradication Initiative was formed, polio paralyzed more than 350 000 people a year. Since that time, polio case numbers have decreased by more than 99%.

The success of trivalent oral polio vaccine is just one of many medical triumphs in recent years.

Diphtheria is a serious disease caused by bacteria. The bacteria live in the mouth, throat, and nose of an infected person. It can be passed to others by coughing or sneez-ing. In the past, diphtheria was a greatly feared illness in the United States. In the 1920s, there were between 100,000 and 200,000 cases of diph-theria each year with 13,000–15,000 deaths. Because of widespread immunization and better living conditions, diph-theria is now rare in the United States.

Vaccines are not perfect,

but they are highly effective. “Normally, vaccines are at least 80% effective -- that is, eight out of 10 children vaccinated will develop antibodies against the infection and be protected,” says Dr. C. John Clemens, for-mer EPI medical officer with the WHO in Geneva.

Although no medical in-tervention is 100% safe, the risk of serious side effects from vaccines, such as severe aller-gic reactions, is low.

“Any vaccine can cause side effects,” the Mayo Clinic points out. “Usually, these side effects are minor — low-grade fever, fussiness and soreness at the injection site. Some vaccines cause a temporary headache, fatigue or loss of appetite. Rarely, a child might experience a severe allergic reaction or a neurological side effect, such as a seizure. Al-though these rare side effects are a concern, the risk of a vac-cine causing serious harm or death is extremely small. The benefits of getting a vaccine are much greater than the pos-sible side effects for almost all children.”

A warning: vaccines should not be given to children who have known allergies to specific vaccine compo-nents. “If your child develops a life-threatening reaction to a particular vaccine, further doses of that vaccine won’t be given,” the Mayo Clinic says.

Parents wonder why vac-cines are given so early? “The diseases that childhood vac-cines are meant to prevent are most likely to occur when a child is very young and the risk of complications is great-est,” the Mayo Clinic says. “That makes early vaccination — sometimes beginning shortly after birth — essential. If you postpone vaccines until a child is older, it might be too late.”

In addition, the full course of immunizations must be completed; otherwise, the vaccines may not work. For instance, two doses of the vac-cine against measles are rec-ommended to ensure immu-nity and prevent outbreaks, as about 15% of vaccinated chil-dren fail to develop immunity from the first dose.

Parents who avoid hav-ing their child vaccinated are courting for trouble. “In gen-eral, skipping vaccines isn’t a good idea,” the Mayo Clinic

F HEALTH, 10

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 20168 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

EDITORIALBig loss for Davao sports

THE demise of Davao’s basketball patron Regino “Boy” Cua is a big blow to the sport in the Davao Region.

Cua was the long-running head of the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP) Region 11 and before that, the head of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP). He was credited for organizing several basketball leagues including the highly-successful Duterte Basketball League (DBL) which has grassroots, community and elite programs. No wonder it is supported strongly by the City government of Davao.

Cua was a humble, hardworking sports leader who is well respected by everyone in the community. His words were like well of wisdom to sports officials—the young and the old alike.

He was no ordinary leader. He was a visionary and a uni-fier.

Cua was known for maintaining the harmonious relation-ship among all basketball stakeholders ever since he took over the reins of the sport which used to have warring fac-tions.

Cua was in the basketball scene for decades and he never waned in working silently to give many basketball talents from the city a chance to have better lives.

Cua’s shoes is simply too big to fill in and his loss will leave a large vacuum in the local sports scene.

To the selfless sports leader who offered his time, fortune and wisdom to the sport, this city offers its deepest grati-tude. Rest in peace, Regino “Boy” Cua.

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

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VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

WITHOUT water, plants can’t grow and ripen. Thus, without irrigation, how can farmers

plant crops and expect a bountiful harvest? How can their families and the nation survive the cruel El Nino weather?

Incoming Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol has threatened to kick out current NIA Administrator Florencio Padernal if the agency fails to release free water to the farmers when the incoming Duterte government begins on July 1.

While visiting somewhere in Region 2, Pinol was irked by a statement of NIA’s spokesperson who said they could not give free irrigation to farmers because that would endanger the agency’s operations.

Pinol knows whereof he speaks. It is apparent NIA people were more concerned about the agency’s operational cost-efficiency than serving the farmers and meet food security requirements. Talk about misplaced priorities.

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has made it his campaign promise to provide free water to all farmers to irrigate their fields and hopefully expect a better yield.

Life has been very hard these days as

the long drought has s e v e r e l y affected food production. My wife has a small farm in Polomolok (S. Cot.) and it didn’t make any productive yield for the last two seasons because there was not adequate rainwater that poured out from the heavens on which local farmers thereat normally depended much on.

The NIA personnel in charge of irrigation were not of much help as they waited for instructions from higher authorities. Thinking in the box, as usual.

This is about as good time as any that inefficient government personnel be replaced. Taxpayers’ money should go to public servants who work for the public good. Thousands of deadwoods have populated the national bureaucracy that kicking them out of government service

would be best.Whether Padernal complies or not,

the attitude of NIA as an agency mirrored the thinking of their incumbent officials expressed by its spokesperson.

The laid-back, slow reaction to problems affecting the country has become the prevailing attitude of public servants in the outgoing Aquino administration. Six years of indolent, average public service has negated whatever GDP growth PNoy has been trumpeting since.

As a sportswriting colleague of Pinol for many years, I would even suggest that Manny wields the broom and sweep out all the inert remnants of Aquino-appointed personnel in the DA to ensure the ensuing mandated performance of the department would not be hampered.

A new era in governance is a –dawning.“The issue of free irrigation for

the Filipino farmers is a presidential commitment and it is non-negotiable,” Pinol was reported saying.

The Duterte DA designate has been scouring the country (Byaheng Bukid) since his appointment was publicly announced to make a personal look-

see of the farmers’ plight, especially in the countryside. The promise made by outgoing DA chief Prospero Alcala to turn the country into a self-sufficient rice producing nation appeared to have been a dud.

The Philippines has not stopped importing rice from Vietnam and Thailand, two ASEAN neighbors who learned the science of rice technology from us in the years when Masagana 99, the rice program of then Pres. Ferdinand Marcos, was making history.

Statistics say there are more than 24 million Filipinos living below the poverty line.

That, in a nutshell explains why food security is the first priority. We need more food more than we need shelter and other amenities.

I am being led to believe that appointees of PNoy have not been hearing and listening to what is being aired in public by President-elect Duterte. Therefore, should they stay a minute longer in office?

Fire ‘em, Sec. Pinol! (Email your feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.) God bless the Philippines!

Fire the NIA chief

INCOMING DOTC secretary Arthur Tu-gade hit the nail on the head when he famously exclaimed that “binababoy

na tayo ng traffic” (traffic is treating us like pigs), to justify calls for emergency measures to deal with the traffic. This will now be a famous utterance to describe, refreshingly, how metro Manila traffic has snarled growth and diminished the quali-ty of life of Metro manila residents, where half of our nations commerce is traded. From a macro standpoint, 2.4 billion peso lost daily to traffic given by a certain mul-tilateral donor agency is no joke, since almost 60 percent of our country’s Gross Domestic Product comes from the great-er Manila areas. Imagine the surrendered productivity and wealth for the country if vehicular traffic in the capital was man-aged better. Consider the health risks in terms if higher stress coupled with expo-sure to polluted air on its streets that are a negative externality to this unfortunate outcome.

For Mindanao residents, metro traffic and the high cost of daily living are the main deterrents against moving there, or

staying there for long pe-riods. Traffic and extended travel times mean lost o p p o r t u n i t y costs. Imagine travelling to Manila, stay-ing in a hotel, paying for all means, and managing only two business meetings per day? Those of us who travel elsewhere can easily man-age double that, making these trips more worth our while.

Last year, President PNOY tasked Cab-inet Secretary Rene Almendras to solve Metro Manilas traffic by instituting a task force to help address the terrible road chaos with measures to improve traffic flow, even leading up to the PNP highway patrol taking charge of Metro manila’s main thoroughfares. These measures gave us the barriers in between lanes that

made the flow a little faster. Six months hence and many of these measures seem for naught as the usual EDSA crawl has re-turned. Moreover, the president’s cabinet secretary taking charge of what is essen-tially a problem for Mayors of small cit-ies like mandaluyong is a bigger concern, since a large segment of the electorate has been conditioned over the years to believe that it is part of Malacanang’s job to fix the capital region’s traffic.

This came to a head when the country hosted the 2015 APEC Summit in where else, Metro Manila. This gave the metro its worse traffic jams, forcing detours by public buses into smaller streets to free up the thoroughfares for the VIP motorcades. Images of the families with small children alighting from these public transports to walk the remaining kilometers of their journey in irritating heat or rain, as their conveyances remained stuck in crawl po-sition for hours. What a struggle it was to get to your destination, in spite of the fact that work and school `were called off. Calvary came early for Mega Manilans, en-raged at the insensitivity of PNOY and his

anointed successor Mar Roxas.Nonetheless, the hard fact is that Met-

ro Manila traffic debilitates and has done so for decades. It has gotten progressive-ly worse over the last few years, with the same thoroughfares fed by low car prices and easy payment terms. It just is disappointing when the current govern-ment does not value the need to manage it sustainably, and engage the local gov-ernments to take the leadership to solve of what should actually be their problem, chooses to micro manage it, making it worse merited the attention of the pres-idential palace may not sound odd for many Metro Manila residents, who, his-torically, expect the Philippine President to micromanage their street traffic.

It is nonetheless refreshing to hear the tough, reassuring words from the new DOTC Secretary, a far cry from his prede-cessors Mar Roxas and Joseph Abaya who basically shrugged his shoulders and al-lowed others to take charge of a problem that clearly, he can solve. Roxas and Aba-ya allowed the pigs to grow, Tugade had better slaughter them.

Is Metro Manila traffic going to the pigs? Yes.

Fred C. Lumba

SPECKS OF LIFE

John Triaecisouth@gmail.com

MY TWO CENTS’

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 201610 NEWSDPWH... FROM 2

Shake... FROM 2

Dad... FROM 3

Rody... FROM 3

Duterte... FROM 3 DSWD 12... FROM 3

HEALTH... FROM 7

Talaingod... FROM 4

EDGEDAVAO

MEDIA FORUM. Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) spokesperson Major Ezra Balagtey gives the details of yesterday’s national earthquake drill during AFP-PNP Press Corps media forum. Lean Daval Jr.

says. This can leave your child vulnerable to potentially seri-ous diseases that could other-wise be avoided.

“And consider this: For some children — including those who can’t receive certain vaccines for medical reasons

— the only protection from vaccine-preventable diseases is the immunity of the people around them. If immunization rates drop, vaccine-prevent-able diseases might once again become common threats.” (Photos from the net)

muster 75,000 households sign her signature campaign for the program in 2015.

“Ang Pantawid Pamilya naghatag og dakong kausaban diha sa akoang pamilya, kaus-aban diha sa akoang pagkatao ug katumanan sa gamay nako nga damgo nga mahimong sun-dalo -sundalo para sa katawhan (Pantawid Pamilya made a sub-stantial improvement to my family and to myself. It paved

the way for me to fulfill my sim-ple dream of being a soldier - a soldier for the people.

Pantawid Pamilya has been helping over 234,000 families in Davao Region attain their dreams and access better op-portunities. The program is also assisting 29,884 IP ben-eficiaries thru the Modified Conditional Cash Transfer for Indigenous Peoples (MCCT-IP). (DSWD)

ate agencies for funding next year.

“We are pursuing these projects persistently as planned and scheduled, es-pecially at this time when the country is anticipating the

monsoon season,” said Alqui-za, adding that the projects indicate the aggressive stance of the DPWH regional office in cooperation with the LGUs in addressing the city’s flooding woes.

the precise reaction of the par-ticipants in observing the duck, cover and hold.

She also noticed that the military leveled up its readiness by setting up telecommunica-tions system in order to reach out to the farthest areas under the EastMinCom, accounting of transportation that might be used in the search and retrieval operations, use of a generator set and the participation of all sectors within the camp.

She said foremost in the ex-ercise is the identification of an evacuation area where people gather while waiting for further instructions from the author-ities. Mazo also stressed that responders must be trained in handling medical emergencies.

“I appeal for those leaving near fault lines to be wary of the possibility of an earthquake in their area and to observe

proper precautions like duck, cover and hold once the tremor occurs. They must stay away from breakables like windows and must cover under durable tables amid the shaking, and leave immediately to the open space for their safety,” she said.

Major Ezra Balagtey, spokesperson of the EastMin-Com explained that the setting up of an incident command center is an exercise for the command leadership to reach out to four regions in Mindan-ao in the event of a calamity. He said EastMinCom covers the Regions X, XI, XII and XIII. Balagtey said radio response teams in these areas make sure that radio telecommunication works in times of crisis. “All sectors within the camp par-ticipate in the exercise,” he said. (PIA 11/Joey Sem G. Dalump-ines)

dent-elect Rodrigo Duterte the DOTC can finally look into the project.

“I can even initiate for the lifting of the resolution so that the national government will have the leeway to study again the project,” he proposed.

The SanguniangPanlung-sod of Davao previously passed aresolution rejecting the mod-ernization project of Sasa Port saying that its implementation would violate provisions of the local government code, partic-

ularly sections 2 and 27.With the incoming admin-

istration of Duterte, Dayanghi-rang is certain the city govern-ment and other stakeholders in the region will no longer be disregarded on all matters concerning the modernization of Sasa Port.

“I am sure will not be dis-regarded. In the past it seems they were hiding from us a lot of things and undermined the power of the LGU as provided by law,” Dayanghirang said.

nities,” Joey L. Bogay, regional director of National Commis-sion on Indigenous Peoples, said of the consultation.

“This will help ensuring these projects will not com-promise traditions and cultur-al integrity of IP communities,” he added.

Others national gov-ernment agencies including Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Health (DOH) also presented programs and projects for IP communities to discuss poli-cies and recommendations.

About 18 areas across the region are set to benefit the project. These are Kidap-

awan City, Libungan, Magpet, Makilala and Tulunan in North Cotabato; General Santos, Koronadal, Banga, Polomolok and T’boli in South Cotabato; Kiamba, Maasim, Malapatan, Malungon and Maitum in Sa-rangani; Esperanza, Senator Ninoy Aquino and Lebak in Sultan Kudarat.

Taha was grateful to IP leaders as 65 indigenous peo-ples mandated representative (IPMR) and tribal leaders at-tended the consultation-dia-logue.

Taha explained that the project project will follow the community-driven develop-ment (CDD).

the president-elect during his campaign.

“They’re (Facebook ex-ecutives) very excited about it. We are also excited about it ‘cause we have 51 million Filipinos who are in Facebook and we have more than a bil-lion of people on Facebook,” he said.

Overseas Filipino can watch live the ceremonial oath-taking even miles away from their home.

Foreign online netizens can also view the live-stream of the 71-year old country’s chief executive who caught international attention for his controversial statements on bringing back death penalty and media killing.

Andanar said the event will start by 10:30 a.m. until 3:00 in the afternoon, while the simple inauguration will be done betweem 12noon to 12:30.

“We will be announcing soon official page where the event will be streamed,” he said.

Building long-term part-nership

Andanar said the meeting also resulted in the possibility of forming a long-term rela-tionship between Facebook and the incoming administra-tion on broadcasting future events in the Malacañang through Facebook Live.

“We talked about the pos-sibility of having a continuous partnership after the inaugu-ration,” he said.

After the next week’s in-auguration, the next biggest event is the State of the Nation Address which could be also broadcast through Facebook.

With the digitalization direction taken by his team, he said the press briefing and announcements.

However, he clarified that it is still not final whether

Duterte will entirely close his door from media interview and encounters.

Opening the doorsWhile the inauguration

Rizal Hall will be exclusive-ly covered by state-owned RTVM, a space will be provid-ed outside for national broad-cast companies.

Referred as a “good news after so much serious thoughts,” Andanar said the Duterte’s inaugural team has given the “go signal for the big network companies to have their own strategic place within the palace so that they can have their own stand up-pers with palace as their back-ground.”

“We’ve already decided to give that space for 8 to 9 national and international broadcast networks, he said. There will also an available space where media can have ambush interviews with the atteendees.

Talk with SmartIncoming finance secre-

tary Carlos G. Dominguez also talked with Telecom giant Smart Communication public affair head Ramon R. Isberto in a separate meeting Tuesday night.

Isberto said Dominguez has requested the telecom company just Tuesday night to provide reliable internet connection necessary for the success of the live streaming.

“We still have to check whether we have existing fi-ber cable installed in the Rizal Hall,” Isberto said in a separate interview at the Marco Polo.

Isberto yesterday said his team is already in Malacañang to check the facility.

He said he has to wait for the result of the discussion before he can make commit-ment with the incoming fi-nance secretary.

names, who will participating in the peace negotiations as consultants and messengers, among others.

Bello said these are just initial developments attained during the meeting between the incoming government peace panel and the CPP-ND-FP last June 14 and 15 in Oslo, Norway where they sealed the agenda to start the formal peace talks in July.

He said the panels have agreed to fast-track the re-maining three substantive issues namely the socioeco-nomic reforms, political and constitutional reforms and end of hostilities and disposition of forces. To fast-track the re-maining issues, Bello said they would recommend for the si-multaneous discussions of the respective committees next month.

Before the stalled peace talks, only the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Hu-man Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRI-HL) which is the first of four agreements in the substantive agenda of the formal talks was signed. The CARHRIHL was signed on March 16, 1998 in The Hague, The Netherlands and was approved on April 10, 1998 by NDFP National Coun-cil Chairperson Mariano Orosa and on August 7, 1998 by GRP President Joseph E. Estrada.

Last June 14 and 15, the incoming Duterte peace panel and the CPP-NDFP agreed to recommend to President-elect Rodrigo Duterte the imme-diate release of NDFP con-sultants and other JASIG pro-tected persons in accordance with the JASIG to enable them to participate in the peace ne-gotiations; and the immediate release of prisoners/detain-ees based on humanitarian grounds.

During the resumption of the formal talks they will discuss the affirmation of pre-viously signed agreements; ac-celerated process for negotia-tions, including the timeline for the completion of the remain-ing substantive agenda for the talks, socio-economic reforms,

political and constitutional reforms, and end of hostilities and disposition of forces; re-constitution of the (JASIG) list; Amnesty Proclamation for the release of all detained political prisoners subject to concur-rence by Congress; and the Mode of Interim ceasefire.

The Joint Communiqué was signed by members of the incoming GPH panel composed of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza, GPH panel chair Silvestre Bel-lo, and Hernani Braganza as member; while, the CPP/NDFP panel is composed of NDFP Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison; NDFP panel chair Luis Jalandoni; and Fidel Ag-caoili as member. Ambassador Elisabeth Slattum, the special envoy to the Philippines Peace Process Royal Norwegian Gov-ernment, stood as witness.

Last Friday, Dureza lauded the signing of the Joint State-ment in Oslo, Norway as it ushers in the formal re-start of “another renewed effort to end conflict and bring about that long elusive but cherished peace in the land.”

Dureza described their meeting “as a reunion of sorts of old friends on both sides of the negotiating table but whose efforts in various times and climes in the past proved futile.

“Now, new sparks of the dawning Rodrigo Duterte pres-idency are re-igniting the peace landscape,” he added.

According to Dureza, there was optimism and trust during the two-day meeting. “There is mutual enthusiasm and hope, not only amongst us negotia-tors across the table, but most significantly, among us all Fili-pinos, in whose behalf all these efforts are being done in the first place,” he added.

Dureza expects some chal-lenges along the way but said “there is a destination that we must all inevitably reach.”

Since the government par-ticipants have not yet assumed office, the two panels agreed to formalize the consensus points soon after Duterte’s govern-ment starts. (PNA)

an earlier promo, Misto introduced its Wine & Cheese offering to give wine lovers a way to enjoy the as much wine as they

nedy Kapulong, “These new offerings give more value to our guests as well as Dabawenyos who are looking for more dining options during the week-end.” Beer and Barbecue Nights sets are available every Saturday starting 6PM to 11PM at Php1680 nett for two persons and Php840 nett for each ad-ditional person. An improvement from

DAVAO’S FOOD LANDSCAPE IS LITER-ALLY CHANGING EVERY MONTH and Misto, Seda Abreeza’s all-day dining restau-rant just upped the ante with the launch of new and exciting offerings last June 17.

More to savor at Seda First up is Seda Abree-za’s Buffet Fridays. Recog-nising that Dabawenyos really love to eat, Misto now serves a spread of in-ternational and local dish-es at the end of the work week. Buffet Fridays offers all-time favorites from Misto such as boneless lechon, Misto’s signature roast beef, a lavish pasta station, and more, with live musical performances to complete the indulgent dining experience. Buffet Fridays is avail-able from 6PM to 9PM at Php880 nett for adults, Php 480 nett for kids aged seven to twelve years old, and free for kids six and below. For Saturday nights, Seda Abreeza introduces Beer and Barbecue Nights by the pool. Weekend-ers on a staycation or urbanites who are look-ing for a different dining experience can grill clas-sics such as pork belly, Hungarian sausage , and chicken wings matched with ice cold beer. Aside from the food and live music, guests who avail of the Beer and Barbecue Nights set get two swim-ming passes to complete the poolside experience. “We noticed that our guests have been spend-ing more time in the hotel and at Misto in particu-lar,” said Seda Abreeza’s general manager Ken-

FOOD

EDGEDAVAOINdulge!

love for two hours paired with a platter of various imported and Davao-made cheese. “Before, our wine-all-you-can promo covered only wines and guests would still have to order tapas or cheeses ala carte to pair food with their wine, this new promo makes wine and cheese appreciation easier and, at Php1180 nett and Php780 nett for each additional person for the wine buf-fet, more affordable for guests,” said Kennedy. For more information or reservations, you may visit Seda Abreeza or call them at 082-2443000 or 082-3228888 or send an email to dvo@sedahotels.com.

Buffet Fridays offers all-time favorites from Misto such as boneless lechon, Misto’s

signature roast beef, a lavish pasta station, and more,

The Seda Abreeza team led by general manager Kennedy Kapulong (third from left).

Grilling and the pool are a perfect combination every Saturday night at Seda.

Seda’s signature Angus roast beef takes certer stage during Buffet Fridays.

Seda Abreeza will soon launch their signature cakes.

Wine lovers will adore Seda Abreeza’s Wine and Cheese offering with all-you-can-drink wine for two hours plus a platter of delicious cheeses.

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016

A2 INdulge! EDGEDAVAO

Ramadan Iftar 2016 favoritesFast break

FOOD

RAMADAN KAREEM (GENEROUS RA-MADAN), my Muslim brothers and sisters. Alhamdulillah, we are all blessed to witness this glorious month. Thank you, Ya Allah, for the opportunity.

The month of Rama-dan is not just abstaining from eating from sunup to sundown. It’s more than just food – Ramadan is a holistic sacrifice that en-ables the self to go beyond the usual, accept change and live out the change that you want to be. It’s not easy, yes, nothing is. But, if you don’t test the waters, you’d never know your limit. You’d never re-alise on your worth. You’d fail to appreciate yourself. As I age and mature (yes, I think so too), I re-alise on the many little things I used to take for granted. The minutest of details that used to irk me are now that things that make me smile from ear to ear. Maybe it’s the changing of times or the change of scenery; but whatever it may be, I am thankful, that in this lifetime, I am able to test my boundaries and extend the depths of my zone. Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic cal-endar year and is the Mus-lim fasting month. A time of togetherness, it is also a great period of devotion, worship and of course, reflection. The month/period is also an opportu-nity for us to receive and share the bountiful bless-ings showered upon us. Like you, I pile up on food and all that there is in time for the month long fasting. Not because I just want to but because through this, I can pre-pare the meals and dishes to cook for our Suhor (or Shari – the meal con-sumed at dawn) and of course, for our Iftar. I say ‘our’ as I live with my yayey who is also the same faith as I am. Hooray for that! And just like you, I too have my favorites during Suhoor and Iftar. But, let’s talk about Iftar. Person-ally, I love anything hot and sweet. I love freshly cooked ginataan or sindol (what it’s called in Magu-

indanaon) or arrozcaldo with lots and lots of fried garlic bits. I also love mi-natamis na saging with butter (oh yeah try it) and a bowl of champorado made with Malagos ca-cao nibbles. My favorite drink? Coffee. To say that I got it from

my parents is truly an understatement. My Dad and Mom, Samel G Am-bolodto, Cotabato City & Bai Rowena FS Ambolod-to, also love ginataan or sindol and arrozcaldo. Most often, when I’m at home, it’s anything you’d want to eat. But most of-ten, this is what we have. (PS I miss my mom’s sin-dol. Bigtime.) For my cousin, Bai Scherinazadh Soraya S. Abdul, who works uneven hours in the hospital, she loves a bowl of Pangat (cooked like minatamis na saging but with gata – sugar, banana and gata) for Iftar. She also loves slices of fresh fruits. My cousin in Singa-pore, Johanna Carissa Sinsuat Krishna, loves her dates for breaking her fast.

She normally have them in small ziplock bags in-side her bag so she can munch on them wherever she may be. After pop-ping some dates, she’ll eat whatever she fancies that day. Mother of two super bibo boys and one ma-likot girl, another cousin

of mine, Bai Omayrah Shariffa S. Zainal, loves her sindol too. She loves it packed with fruits and with glutinous rice to make it thicker and thus flavorful than ever. Our family friend, Zainab, loves batangan (palitaw version of Magu-indanons) and Maranao’s

version of fresh fruit salad where the fruits are liter-ally swimming in cream. Oh and yes, she loves her sweets. My Tita, Bai Minda S Blo, and her daughter , Bai Faiqha S Blo, loves bread paired with the ginataan or sindol. Of course, staple drink being coffee or tea. I miss. Last I had this, I was in Singapore, break-ing my fast. When I got

back, I just had to search for the recipe and attempt to copy the same. Let’s just say I still need to practice.

Bubur Kacang Merah This Red Bean Porridge is a traditional Malaysian dessert and is served ei-ther chilled or warm – I love it chilled. Rinse and soak dried red beans for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside. Pour 1 ½ cup of fresh coconut milk (you can also use canned) and 300ml tepid water in a deep pot over low-me-dium heat. Add drained beans. Heat pot until boil-ing. Let boil for 5 minutes. Lower heat. Add sliced knob of fresh ginger. Sim-mer. Cook until beans ex-pand and soften. Add brown sugar to taste and a pinch of salt.

Personally, I add 2 tablespoon of melted but-ter, cinnamon powder and vanilla essence. I add cin-namon in everything I eat. So, what’s your Iftar (or Iftari is the sunset meal to end the day’s fasting) staple? Make #TheRoyal-Chef your Thursday habit. Follow my messy food af-fairtheroyalchefeats.word-press.com or on Instagram @theroyalchefleebai

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016

INdulge! A3EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

Rhian Ramos is new host in Taste Buddies

Gloc-9 releases comeback album under Star Music

BEGINNING THIS SATURDAY, Rhian Ramos joins Solenn Heusaff as the new co-host of GMA News TV lifestyle show Taste Buddies. Together, the two Kapuso ladies will bring fresh, fab, and fun to another level as they take viewers to the different facets of Filipino modern living: from trying mouth-watering food to embarking on various exciting adventures. Being good friends with Solenn in real life, Rhian expressed her excitement to join Solenn in the show. “I’m just lucky enough to be made part of it,” she said. Solenn, on the other hand, is looking forward to spend time with Rhian. “She eats almost anything like me. She’s sporty and kalog. It’s gonna be fun,” she shared. On her first episode as the newest Taste Buddies girl, Rhian takes Solenn to Rue Bourbon—a chic dining and wine place in Tomas Morato, Quezon City. Solenn, of course, won’t be left behind. She

brings with her hunks Vince Velasco and Rafa Siguion-Reyna. Rhian and Solenn discover how Rue Bourbon’s bestsellers Gambas with Chorizo and Corned Pork Scarface are prepared. Vince and Rafa, meanwhile, spend time together with the baristas and learn the ropes of making some of the restaurant’s signature flaming shots. Later in the show, Solenn and Rhian undergo the quickie quiz, “Kaibigan Ba Talaga Kita?” where Rafa and Vince test the girls’ friendship. Both have to make sure they have the same answers as every incompatible reply has a consequence. The guys are not spared though. If the ladies get the answers right, Rafa and Vince will have to face the consequence as well. Expect Solenn and Rhian to treat viewers to a wide array of taste and cravings for food, fashion, trends, events, places and any buzz-worthy subjects. Catch “Taste Buddies” every Saturday from 8:45 to 9:15 p.m. only on GMA News TV.

ANOTHER OPM ICON HAS COME HOME TO STAR MUSIC. After 10 years, OPM rap icon Gloc-9 has finally released his comeback album with the record label titled “Sukli,” for which he also served as the overall producer. “I’m excited for all the things that I can do now that I’m back with my Star Music family. ‘Sukli’ is an album that proves writing songs is still my dream come true. I am happy that my fans, who continue to support me, will hear the new songs I made,” said Gloc-9. With six studio albums, one DVD release, and multiple hit songs to his name, Gloc-9 doesn’t really have much more to prove. Yet “Sukli” reveals a rapper who still continues to work hard at his craft, wanting to deliver something new for his listeners. The album’s carrier single “Hoy!,” whose music video was recently released, is about the Filipino spirit and resilience despite trying times. “I have laid out more stories here about my fellow Filipinos, along with new music and the voices of some artists I respect. Like my previous albums, this album is about the day-to-day experience of our kababayans,” he shared. As in the past, it is in storytelling that Gloc-9’s skills as songwriter shines the most. In “Kalye,” he dares walk on the wild side of discussing a historical event such

as the EDSA 1986 Revolution. In “Payag,” he dares ask the difficult question of why we fall silent about the country’s state of affairs, no matter how oppressive or unjust. In “Industriya,” he tells the story of the many who fall prey to the promises of fame, fortune, and limelight. In “Sagwan,” it is the stories of seamen that is told, where living in the middle of the sea is the sacrifice they make for their families. Gloc-9’s music, often socially conscious and relevant, has definitely made a mark on listeners and Filipinos. He has received over 40 awards from different award-giving bodies in the country, including Awit Awards, MYX

Music Awards, PMPC Star Awards for Music, Guillermo Mendoza Box-Office Entertainment Awards, and FAMAS Awards. The OPM rap icon has also made songs for Star Cinema movies such as “Trip” and “Jologs,” and for Kapamilya programs “Nginiig,” “Star Circle Quest Reload,” “Go West,” “Kung Fu Kids,” “Rated K,” and “Krystala,” and produced the theme song for “Mangarap Ka.”Before that, he was named finalist at the 2002 “Himig Handog Love Songs” as composer and interpreter for the song “Bakit.” “Sukli” also features collaborations with artists Gloc-9 says he admires. He teams up with KZ on “Industriya,” with Ebe Dancel on “Ang Probinsyano,” and with Mayonaisse’s Monty Macalino on “Sagwan.” Completing the track list are “Barya Lang,” “Payag,” and two versions of “Sukli” – the original version that features Maya and the acoustic version that features Miro Valera. “Sukli” can now be streamed on Spotify and is now available at all record bars nationwide for P299. Digital tracks can also be downloaded via online music stores such as ABS-CBN Store, iTunes, Mymusicstore.com.ph, Amazon.com, OneMusic.ph, and Starmusic.ph. For more information, visit Starmusic.ph or follow Star Music’s official social media accounts at Facebook.com/starrecordsphil, Twitter.com/starrecordsph and Instagram.com/Starmusicph.

THE LONGEST-RUNNING DRAMA ANTHOLOGY IN ASIA presents another heart wrenching story as the life of Courageous Caitie, the little angel who showed the world her unwavering smile and immeasurable resolve despite her very rare condition, is portrayed on “MMK” this Saturday. Caitie (Miel Espinoza) is the first daughter of married couple Tine (Shaina Magdayao) and Jayjay (JC de Vera). The couple met when both were rebuilding their lives from failed relationships and suddenly found themselves in each other’s arms. Seeing each other as life partners, they planned to get married and to have children. To the couple, the birth of Caitie made their union perfect and as it stood were both very happy on the day they first laid eyes on Caitie. When Caitie was three years old, symptoms of a mystery illness began surfacing such as rashes all over her body. In a span of three months, Caitie had to be confined in three different hospitals as doctors could not seem to diagnose her condition. Jayjay felt responsible for Caitie’s condition due to his family’s medical history, while Tine felt so lost that she already thought of ending their marriage. Consumed by hopelessness, they shared Caitie’s story online to find support. An overwhelming response came their way and Caitie came to be known as Courageous Caitie. Joining this “MMK” episode are Aubrey Miles, Dante Ponce, Aiko Climaco, Bernadette Allyson, Kenzo Gutierrez, and Miko Raval. The episode is directed by Dondon Santos and written by Joan Habana. “MMK” is led by business unit head Malou Santos.

Courageous Caitie’s inspirational story on ‘MMK’

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016

PG

11:40 | 2:15 | 4:50 | 7:25 | 10:00 LFS

ME BEFORE YOU

12:40 | 3:00 | 5:20 | 7:40 | 10:00 LFS

Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin

INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE

Liam Hemsworth, Joey King, Maika Monroe

June 22-28, 2016

11:40 | 2:15 | 4:50 | 7:25 | 10:00 LFS

THE CONJURING 2

Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson,Frances O'Connor

Guaranteed Seating & One Time Viewing Only

Guaranteed Seating & One Time Viewing Only

PG

Guaranteed Seating & One Time Viewing Only

R13

1:00 | 3:15 | 5:30 | 7:45 | 10:00 LFS

FINDING DORY

Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Diane Keaton

Guaranteed Seating & One Time Viewing Only

G

A4 INdulge!EVENT

THE RECENTLY CON-CLUDED DAVAO CU-LINARY CUP HELD AT SM LANANG PREMIER BROUGHT TOGETHER MANY OF THE PHILIP-PINES’ TOP CHEF AS WELL AS MIND-ANAO’S BRIGHTEST COMPETITORS TO VIE FOR CULINARY GOLD. But aside from all the action and seri-ous judging, a fellowship night was hosted by the LTB Chefs Association of Davao president Sally San Jose at Chippens in the Garden at Caban-tian. Away from the serious-ness of competition, the welcome dinner served as a way for members of the association to meet with the officers and members of LTB Chefs Association of the Philippines this year, lead by Fernando Araca-ma. Joining chef Aracama were some of the bright-est chefs in the Philippines such as James Antolin, J. Gamboa, Norbert Gandler, Carlo Miguel, Jerome Va-lencia, Sito Senn, Buddy

Afterhours with the top chefsBy Kenneth Irving Ong

DAVAO PARTNER ESTABLISHMENT

GENSAN PARTNER ESTABLISHMENT

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016

Trinidad, Penk Ch-ing Tan, Dan Basil-lo, Brando Santos, Reggie Aspiras, Mia Yan, and Jem Ray-mundo. Members and officers of LTB Chefs Association of Davao as well as the winners of Miss Global Philippines graced the occasion.

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016 11

“We are right on our target with the desired

schedule but we remain

cautious and patient that

every detail is being attended to,” Cruz said

Aeon Towers construction now moving up to 12th level

EDGEDAVAO

PROPERTY

DAVAO’S next icon-ic structure has moved up construc-

tion to the 12th level.As of Wednesday, the

construction team of the 33-level Aeon Towers proj-ect reported the concreting of the 11th floor and will be moving up to the next level by next week.

Aeon Towers is the initial venture into real es-tate development by the FTC Group of Companies, a Davao-born firm with interesting mix of business ventures.

FTC Group of Compa-nies president and CEO said the project is well into its scheduled topping off late this year as construc-

tion has progressed ac-cording to timelines.

“We are happy with the progress of the project both in the perspective of sales and construction,” said Cruz.

Cruz also said there are only a few units left for sale for the first tower.

Cruz said the construc-tion is well on track of the schedule. The target turn-over of the project is set on December this year bar-ring any hitches.

“We are right on our target with the desired schedule but we remain cautious and patient that every detail is being at-tended to,” Cruz said.

Cruz said the Aeon

Towers will have residen-tial units of varying sizes and features in several floors, a luxury hotel, fit-ness gym, jogging lane, shops, BPO offices, skydeck pool, and offices.

Future residents of Aeon Towers will have the bragging rights to the best views available in the sky-line of Davao City.

Aeon Towers offer res-idential units facing the city (City View) and facing the Island Garden City of Samal (Island View)—the best ever views to the rich-ness of Davao’s land and seascapes.The Aeon Tow-ers is cast in glass and will have a clear look at the ma-jestic environs.

njb@edgedavao.net

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 201612CLASSIFIEDS EDGEDAVAO

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO GENSAN PARTNERS

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO PARTNER ESTABLISHMENTS

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016 13EDGEDAVAO

3 REPORTERSEDGE DAVAO is in need of 3 reporters for immediate

hiring.

* College degree holder (Communication Arts graduate preferred, but not required)

* Capable of writing English news and feature stories on business and governance

* Has potentials of becoming editor* Single* Not more than 35 years old

Entry pay negotiable.

Submit application letter and curriculum vitae to:

Antonio M. AjeroEditor-in-Chief

Edge Davaoajero_antonio@yahoo.com

09274733467

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

WANTEDWB... FROM 6

Traders... FROM 6

tinued support of WB to their undertakings.

“The kind of work that you are doing here and the aspira-tions that you have will be ful-ly supported and I can assure you that from the World Bank side we will continue to sup-port you strongly,” Warwick said.

Warwick and her team were in Davao City for the two-day SulongPilipinas busi-

ness workshop that was con-vened by the economic team of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte.

Warwick is an Australian national and the first female country director for the Philip-pines of WB.

She replaced MotooKoni-shi who recently retired after 35 years of service with the world financial institution WB.

The DA-PRDP, on the other

hand is a six-year rural devel-opment project worth P27.5 billion designed to uplift the socio-economic lives of the basic sectors of the Philippine society.

The project is being fund-ed through loan from the WB worth P20.56 billion and the P7-billion counterpart of the government of the Philippines and the local government units (LGUs).

demanding information on the origins of products to ensure quality, according to Antonino.

“Traceability becomes a

criticalk factor in ensuring the competitiveness of the prod-ucts that are introduced inter-nationally,” she said, adding

that Mindanao products will have unique differentiation by using MCT.

“Through this trademark, potential customers can easily identify the product’s origin, thereby getting information on the methods and operations that products undergo,” An-tonino said.

MinDA will be facilitating the establishment of the MCT by assisting interested MSMEs in the Knowledge Center on Voluntary Standards and Best Management Practices, a cen-ter that will encourage MCT beneficiaries to adopt their VS of interest and eventual use of trademark.

Under the MTC, entrepre-neurs are encouraged to se-cure international third party certification from Global Gap, Fare Trade, Organic, Halal and Utz for leverage coffee and tea as voluntary standards.

MinDA will be prioritizing players from different indus-tries like cacao, coffee, banana, sardines and poultry.

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016 3NEWSEDGEDAVAO

WAITING FOR RODY. Outgoing Davao City Police Office (DCPO) director Senior Superintendent Vicente Danao Jr. (left) and incoming DCPO director Senior Superintendent Michael John Dubria are all smiles while waiting for

President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte during the last day of “Sulong Pilipinas” consultation with business leaders at SMX Convention Center in Davao City Tuesday evening. Lean Daval Jr.

IT will be the first not only in Asia, but in the whole world.President-elect Rodrigo

R. Duterte’s June 30 inaugura-tion will be broadcast through Facebook live and set to reach more online viewers, even Fil-ipinos abroad.

Incoming communication secretary Martin Andanar on Tuesday night said his office, the Presidential Communi-cations Operations Office (PCOO), met with members of Facebook’s public policy who flew in from SingaporeTues-day night at the Marco Polo Davao to discuss on the via-bility of the live-streaming the inauguration on Facebook.

“We essentially talked about how Facebook could help us stream the entire in-auguration on June 30 seam-lessly,” Andanar said.

Andanar met with Face-book public policy head for Asia Pacific Elizabeth Her-nandez during the meeting, together with incoming pres-

idential spokesman Ernie Abella, campaign finance head Paul Dominguez, and Nic-Gabunada, who headed the social media aspect of Duter-te’s presidential campaign.

“We focused on the inau-guration since the streaming of the inauguration through Facebook will be the first in Asia, if not in the world,” An-danar said.

He said the Facebook team is looking on the possi-bility of tweaking its internal system to allow the continous live streaming of the event which will start in the morn-ing until afternoon of June 30.

“Facebook will study that if they can tweak the setting because usually if you go on Facebook live after 90 min-utes it turns off and you have to switch it on again on a new live event,” the former TV5 anchor said, adding it is only fitting to utilize Facebook which become one of the pri-mary campaign platforms of

COMBAT VS ILLEGAL DRUGS. Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 11 legal counsel lawyer Behn Joseph Tesiorna says illegal drug activities declined due to the efforts being undertaken by authorities before incoming

President Rodrigo R. Duterte assumes office. Tesiorna and Buhangin Police Station commander Chief Inspector Milgrace Driz (left) were among the guests of yesterday’s AFP-PNP Press Corps media forum. Lean Daval Jr.

AN AGREEMENT for an interim ceasefire of both the government armed

forces and the communist reb-els is expected to be reached once the government peace panel and the Communist Par-ty of the Philippines-National Democratic Front of the Phil-ippines (CPP-NDFP) resume negotiations on the third week of July.

“This is the first time…in the past even a temporary ceasefire – they (CPP-ND-FP) do not accept because it means capitulation of forces…baba ang baril…manaog sila (lay down arms…come down {from the boondocks}),” in-coming Secretary of the De-partment of Labor and Em-ployment (DOLE) Silvestre Bello III explained in a press conference Tuesday at the Royal Mandaya Hotel.

Bello said it is the first time in 14 years they have agreed to discuss the issue on ceasefire. It may be recalled that the last ceasefire was in 1986 during the administration of former President Corazon Aquino. But the ceasefire failed due to lack of monitoring.

But Bello said they have yet to configure how they would set up the monitor-ing system since the issue on communist armed conflict is of nationwide scale unlike the Moro conflict which is more confined to Mindanao.

Also seen in July is the re-lease of political prisoners on the basis of the Joint Agree-ment on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).

According to Bello, the CPP-NDFP panel has present-ed an initial list of 18 to 20

WITH the recent an-nouncement of in-coming Department

of Transportation and Com-munications (DOTC) secre-tary Arthur Tugade to review P18.9-billion modernization of the Sasa Port and the signing of the memorandum of agree-ment (MOA) between the city government of Davao and the Mega Harbour Port Develop-ment Corporation (MHPDC) to develop the Davao Coastline and Port Development project, a member of the city council on Wednesday is considering for the merging of the two projects which he said would further provide economic ben-efits to Davao City and the rest of Davao region.

“If I will be given the priv-

ilege to propose, I would sug-gest that the Mega Harbour Project Coastal Development Plan should be included in the Davao Port modernization project as an integrated plans and programs,” Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang told the EDGE Davao in an interview on Wednesday.

Dayanghirang pointed out that the city and the rest of the region could not rely on Sasa Port because it has a very small area.

“If the two projects are integrated then we will have a much bigger port,” he added.

The councilor also stressed on the maximiza-tion of the use of funds and big savings on the part of the government if there will be an

agreement to merge the two big projects.

“It would depend now on the Mega Harbour and the DOTC if they are interested to integrate it. That can be done easily. They just convene among themselves and agree.”

In terms of operations, Dayanghirang said the Phil-ippine Port Authority (PPA) and the city government of Davao can come out with some scheme on joint management.

Mega Harbour is a 200-hectare port, commercial and residential complex proj-ect that will be developed 40 meters away from the coast-line of Davao City, from the ar-eas of Agdao to Bucana.

Dayanghirang also wel-comed the decision of the

DOTC to review the Sasa Port modernization project, saying that the increase of the amount of the project is unexplainable to the city government.

“We do not know the rea-son why there was that very huge amount of increase,” he emphasized.

The project was opposed not only by the city govern-ment but also by the various sectors in the city including the business community.

Incoming secretary Tu-gade said on Tuesday that the agency will look into the stalled implementation of the modernization project.

Dayanghirang is hopeful that with the coming of the new administration of presi-

Dad mulls merger of port and Mega Harbour projects

adlopez0920@gmail.comBy ALEXANDER D. LOPEZ

Duterte peace panel, NDF seen to forge deal on truce

Rody inauguration live on Facebook

crc@edgedavao.netBy CHENEEN R. CAPON

TO ENSURE people’s par-ticipation in decision making at grassroots

level, the Department of So-cial Welfare and Development (DSWD-12) has gathered Waednesday leaders of Indig-enous Peoples (IPs) in SOC-CSKSARGEN for a consultation dialogue for the construction of 135 classroom projects in the region.

Bai Zorahayda T. Taha, DSWD 12 regional director said that the dialogue was aimed at ensuring that stake-holders, especially IP leaders, are inclusively taking active roles in the project with their important insights and recom-mendations.

“Aside from its unique im-plementation mode, this proj-ect will not follow the conven-tional type of classrooms as of non-IP areas, instead its de-sign and other aspects will be based on the suggestions and wisdom of IP communities,” Taha added.

The classroom project, which is part of the support to the establishment of new pub-lic schools for the Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao, has been allotted by the national gov-ernment and World Bank with some PHP114.75 million for the region, according to Taha.

“It is a gesture of respect and recognition of our commu-

DSWD 12 to build schoolsaccording to IP’s culture

F DAD, 10

F DUTERTE, 10

F DSWD 12, 10

F RODY, 10

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 201614 EDGEDAVAO

COMPETITIVE EDGE

INCOMING Tourism Secre-tary Wanda Corazon Teo received a warm welcome

from Davao tourism stake-holders, as she was intro-duced to owners and repre-sentatives of establishments attending the evaluation ses-sion of the Visit Davao Fun Sale program last June 18 at the SMX Convention Center in Davao.

Teo, who currently heads the National Association of

Independent Travel Agencies (NAITAS), was announced as the new tourism chief under the Duterte administration last June 13, 2016.

In an impromptu mes-sage, she expressed her enthusiasm “to lead the de-partment and continue the momentum of the tourism industry being one of the im-portant contributors to the country’s economy.”

She assured incoming

president Rodrigo R. Duter-te that she will work in line with his economic agenda and strict “no-corruption” policy.

Restaurateur Benjie A. Lizada, head of the execu-tive committee of the Visit Davao Fun Sale Program, ex-pressed his confidence in the incoming tourism chief and his excitement towards the tourism industry of the city. “We are very fortunate that

the President-elect and the incoming tourism secretary come from Davao City.

“ While tourism stake-holders of the city have been supportive of the different programs of the Department of Tourism in the past, VDFS expects an unparalleled pub-lic and private sector col-laboration as it proceeds to actively promote, not only Davao City, but the entire Davao Region,” Lizada said.

Davao tourism stakeholders welcome new DOT secretary

Incoming DOT Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo (5th from Left) receives a warm welcome by the Davao tourism stakeholders led by the Visit Davao Fun Sale (VDFS) Execom last June 18, 2016 at the SMX Convention Center Davao.

In an impromptu message for the Davao tourism stakeholders attending the Visit Davao Fun Sale Evaluation Session last June 18, 2016 at the SMX Convention Center Davao, incoming DOT Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo expressed her intention to work in line with the President-elect’s economic agenda and strict “no-corruption” disposition.

Visit Davao Fun Sale Execom Chair Mr. Benjie Lizada welcomes the incoming Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo who graced the Visit Davao Fun Sale Evaluation Session at the SMX Convention Center last June 18, 2016.

WHAT’S your online car exchange experience? Was it

smooth and straightforward, or was it plagued with ambiguity and hesitation? No matter what their age, cars are big-ticket items that cost anywhere from five to eight figures. The last thing you want is to deal with someone who can’t make up their mind, whether that person is buying your car, or selling one to you.

Dedicated car-exchange websites are a great idea—at least in theory. They offer buyers a convenient opportunity to check out a vehicle from the comfort of

their homes, without wasting time or fuel to hop from one car dealer to another. Sellers, on the other hand, can upload their photos and details of their car immediately to a potentially international audience.

In practice, however, not all online car exchange sites live up to their premise: Half of the time, important details such as mileage or service history are deliberately omitted. Other times, photos are blurred, dark or poorly framed. While not everyone is expected to be an automobile photographer, a little effort can go a long way in showing your vehicle in the

best light. Sometimes—though not frequently—the car’s price won’t even be precise, with a note that reads “Send message for pricing” or “Last price inquiry only upon seeing vehicle”.

Fair enough; the rapport between the buyer and seller is dynamic once they meet, potentially affecting the final pricing, though it would be nice—and secure—to know exactly how much money one must bring along to consummate the transaction and not any less because, as stated earlier, cars are big-ticket items, unlike mobile phones or tablets.

With new vehicle sales at an all-time high; and the secondary market booming commensurately, online car exchanges are the wisest first step to acquiring or unloading a car. But are all online car exchange sites as effective as the other?

Your time—as well as your buyer and seller’s time—is valuable. Trimming out all the clutter and leaving only the relevant data makes the exchange process quick and hassle-free. Clear photos, concise yet complete car details; comprehensive contact information and an assurance of legitimacy all

Carmudi PH makes your online car selling and buying process easyinspire consumer confidence critical for that first step.

With its global expertise in the field of online car trading, Carmudi and its local online counterpart, Carmudi.com.ph, have constructed their site to be as informative as possible without being vague or redundant. Everything you need to know to buy or sell your vehicle is on the site, awaiting only a personal inspection—or perhaps even a test drive—to seal the deal. With Carmudi, less confusion yields more productivity in the shortest time.

Transform your online car exchange with Carmudi, where finding the car of your dreams doesn’t have to be a nightmare. Visit www.carmudi.com.ph for more info.

About CarmudiCarmudi was founded in 2013 and is

currently available in Bangladesh, Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, and Zambia. The vehicle marketplace offers buyers, sellers and car dealers the ideal platform to find cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles online.

WAKE-UP CALL15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO

Turkey spanks Gilas 103-68

Alaska owner offers Gilas solution

After loss to Cavs, Walton moves on to Lakers job

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016

LUKE Walton realizes he is reporting to his dream job a little late.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ new head coach is determined to catch up quickly as he starts the biggest project of his life.

The Lakers formally intro-duced the 36-year-old Walton on Tuesday (Wednesday, Manila time), 53 days after they hired the Golden State assistant coach to lead their rebuilding from the worst season in franchise histo-

ry.“I’m so excited to get after it

here,” said Walton, who played nine seasons and won two titles as a Lakers forward.

After wowing Lakers owner Jim Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak in a late-April interview, Walton still completed his second season as an assistant to Steve Kerr with the Warriors, who lost Game 7 of the NBA Fi-nals on Sunday.

With the sting of that loss

still fresh, Walton drove down from Oakland on Monday and immediately got to work with the franchise that drafted him in 2003. The Lakers are starting from the floor after Kobe Bry-ant’s retirement and a 17-65 season, but Walton only sees op-portunity.

“I think we’re in an exciting time,” Walton said. “We have ex-tremely talented young players. We have a ton of money to spend in free agency. We have draft picks this year, and the fact that Mitch and Jimmy Buss trusted me with this, in being part of this rebuilding, post-Kobe era, just means the world to me.”

The Lakers have the No. 2 pick in the draft on Thursday night, and they’re expected to add Duke scorer Brandon In-gram to a young core that al-ready includes D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clark-son. They’ve also got ample sala-ry cap space to sign several vet-erans in free agency, and Walton immediately began his pitch to the game’s big names.

“We’re going to put our stamp on the culture that we

want,” Walton said. “It’s going to be joy. Our players are going to like coming into practice every day. We’re going to play a brand of basketball that LA fans will appreciate. ... We have money to spend. I know the Buss family and I know the Laker organi-zation, and they’re going to do what it takes to win. To me, that’s all you really need to know. I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to come here.”

Just three years after his playing career ended, Walton is under the spotlight that always shines on a franchise once run by Pat Riley and Phil Jackson. Wal-ton became one of the hottest coaching properties in basket-ball in the just-completed season with his remarkable work run-ning the Warriors during Kerr’s medical absence.

Walton coolly led Golden State to a 24-0 start that eventu-ally stretched to 39-4 before Kerr returned from back problems. NBA rules require the wins to be credited to a team’s head coach, even if he isn’t on the bench, which means Walton will coach his first official game this fall.

WAKE-UP CALL15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO

Turkey spanks Gilas 103-68

Alaska owner offers Gilas solution

After loss to Cavs, Walton moves on to Lakers job

Messi, Argentina beat U.S. in Copa semifinalsLIONEL Messi was too much

for the United States to con-tain, as Argentina beat Jurgen

Klinsmann’s team 4-0 to reach the Copa America final.

The five-time world player of the year set up Ezequiel Lavezzi’s opening goal in the third minute, then scored on a free kick to break Argentina’s career scoring record and assisted on the final goal Tues-day night.

“This was the goal when we got here, to play another final, and we made it,” Messi said. “We’ve been spectacular from day one and we deserved this.”

After Messi doubled the lead in the 32nd minute with his 55th international goal, his tourna-ment-leading fifth, Gonzalo Higuain quickly ended U.S. comeback hopes when he put the rebound of his initial shot past goalkeeper Brad Guzan in the 50th minute. Higuain scored from a Messi pass in the 86th minute as well.

Argentina will seek a first ma-jor title since the 1993 Copa -- and a first since Messi’s debut in 2005 -- when they play Chile or Colombia on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

“That’s what we hope and what we want, to finally achieve that,” Messi said. “We deserve it, for all the good work we’ve been doing all these years.”

The team might be missing Lavezzi, who fell backward over an advertising sign board and ap-peared to land hard on his left arm at about the 60th minute. Lavezzi was able to get up several minutes later and left on a cart.

Hosting a special, expanded 16-nation edition of South Amer-ica’s championship to celebrate Copa America’s 100th anniversary, the U.S. won a difficult group that included third-ranked Colombia and then beat No. 13 Ecuador in the quarterfinals. But top-ranked Argentina and Messi, who turns 29 Friday and is at the top of his game, outclassed the U.S. from the open-ing whistle and stunned the sellout crowd of 70,858 at NRG Stadium.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi cele-brates with teammates after scor-ing a record goal vs. the U.S. Getty Images

Messi has helped Barcelona win eight titles in Spain’s La Liga and four in the Champions League, but his Argentina trophies have been limited to the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship for players under 20 and the gold med-al in the 2008 Olympics, mostly for players under 23. La Albiceleste lost to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final and to Chile in last year’s Copa America final.

The U.S. and Jurgen Klinsmann were trying to rebound after get-ting eliminated by Jamaica in the semifinals of last year’s CONCA-CAF Gold Cup, losing to Mexico in a playoff for a 2017 Confederations Cup berth and struggling in the semifinal round of 2018 World Cup qualifying.

The Americans close the tour-nament Saturday in the third-place match at Glendale, Arizona.

Klinsmann inserted midfield-ers Kyle Beckerman and Graham Zusi into his lineup along with for-ward Chris Wondolowski because of suspensions assessed to mid-fielders Jermaine Jones and Ale-jandro Bedoya, and forward Bobby Wood. In an effort to spark offense, 17-year-old Christian Pulisic en-tered at the start of the second half, and Steve Birnbaum came on in the 60th for Beckerman, allowing Geoff Cameron to move up to midfield. Darlington Nagbe replaced Clint Dempsey in the 78th minute.

Argentina went ahead when Lavezzi played a short corner kick to Ever Banega, who passed back to Lavezzi sprinting from the cor-ner diagonally. Lavezzi beat Fabian Johnson to the ball and poked it to Messi about 25 yards out, in the center of the field. As the U.S. de-fense started to come out, Messi one-timed a flick with his left foot over the back line to Lavezzi, who got to the ball ahead of Kyle Beck-erman about seven yards from the goal. He headed the ball over Guzan, who had started to come off his line.

ALASKA owner Wilfred Uytengsu on Tuesday offered a ‘win-win’ solu-

tion to the dilemma confront-ing the PBA and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) over the formation of a new Gilas cadet pool in light of Fi-ba’s shift to a home-and-away qualifying tournament for the 2019 World Cup.

Speaking ahead of a meet-ing between PBA commis-sioner Chito Narvasa and SBP officials set on Wednesday, Uytengsu proposed that all amateur standouts who are set to be signed to long-term contracts by Gilas be allowed to join the next pro league rookie draft.

However, he proposed

that these drafted players, while receiving compensation for their mother teams, will be allowed to stay with the Gilas cadet pool for three years or any duration agreed upon by the PBA and SBP, before join-ing their pro league teams at the end of their national team service.

“How do we create a win-win (solution?) By mandating that all amateur players that will sign contracts with the Gilas Cadets will have to join the PBA draft. These players, however, will not be eligible to play in the PBA until their con-tracts with Gilas is completed, or the team decides to release them to their PBA teams,” said Uytengsu.

“Upon being drafted, play-ers will be paid a monthly al-lowance of P50,000 a month by the mother team, augment-ing the salary from the national team. This allows the team that drafted the player to retain the player’s rights,” the outspoken Alaska team owner added.

The SBP has decided to re-vert to the original Gilas cadet concept following Fiba’s de-cision to shift to a home-and-away qualifying format for the 2019 World Cup that put in doubt the continued partic-ipation of PBA players in the national team program.

However, SBP’s plan to sign the top players coming out of the college ranks, among them Kiefer Ravena, Mac Belo,

Kevin Ferrer and Ray Parks, has raised fears of a shallow draft for the PBA next season.

Uytengsu said his proposal can heighten the interest for this year’s PBA draft and at the same time allow PBA ballclubs to continue to support the Gilas program through their drafted players.

Under Uytengsu’s propos-al, Gilas players will be allowed to re-sign with their PBA mother teams for maximum contracts at the end of their tenure with the national team.

On the other hand, the SBP will be tasked to shoulder the cost in the event of any injuries to the players during their tour of duty with Gilas, Uytengsu added.

Pippen, Rodman:We are still the greatest teamTHE Golden State Warriors may have

snatched the best regular season re-cord in NBA history from them, but

the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls remain the greatest team ever – at least, according to Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen.

The 95-96 Bulls racked up a then-re-cord 72-10 slate in the regular season, then went on to defeat the Seattle Su-personics in six games to win the NBA championship – their fourth NBA crown. That Bulls team finished with a combined regular season and postseason record of 87-13.

This year, the Warriors rewrote the history books by winning 73 games and losing only nine. But their playoffs run was far from dominant: Golden State wound up losing as many games – nine – in the postseason as they did in the entire regu-lar season.

The capper was a stunning 89-93 defeat to Cleveland at home, and the Warriors had to watch as LeBron James and the Cavaliers celebrated a historic champion-ship on their own court.

After the game, Rodman – who led the NBA in rebounding and was named to the All-Defensive team – congratulated the Cavaliers and added a pointed statement for the Warriors.

“Congrats to the Cavaliers for winning the NBA title,” Rodman tweeted. “War-riors, you had a great regular season.”

GILAS Pilipinas quickly got a feel of the kind of competition awaiting it

in the Olympic Qualifying Tour-nament in Manila three weeks from now.

The national team failed to contain a hot-shooting Turkey side and dropped a 103-68 de-cision in their tune-up match early Wednesday morning (Manila time) in Istanbul.

The Filipinos never got going in the game the mo-ment they fell be-h i n d

early, 30-19,as the sizzling outside snipping by the eight-ranked Turkish led by back-up wingman Birzan Batuk proved too hot to han-dle.

By the half, Gi-las was already staring at a 57-32 deficit after being outscored in the second quarter, 27-13.

B a t u k had 22

points in the first half aione for the host coun-try, including a scorching 5 of 6 shooting from

three-point range.The two teams will meet again in a similar tune up game in

Manila on July 1, four days before the Olympic quali-

fier kicks off at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Gilas is coming fresh from a nine-day training camp in the mountains of Kapernisi, Greece prior to its trip in Istanbul.

The team will spend one more day in the Turkish city before depart-ing for Bologna, Italy on Thursday to com-pete in a four-nation

pocket tournament to be joined by the

host country, Canada, and China.

OUTMATCHED. By the half, Gilas was

already staring at a 57-32 deficit after being outscored in the second quarter, 27-13.

NEW COACH. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak and team owner Jim Buss are counting on Luke Walton to lift the Lakers after a 17-65 season. AP

P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016

RODY’S SIMPLEINAUGURATIONAndanar: No champagne, blue cheese during Duterte’s oath-taking rites

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

P15

By CHARLES RAYMOND A. MAXEYand FUNNY PEARL A. GAJUNERA

EARTHQUAKE DRILL. Students use their hands

to cover their heads during yesterday’s national

simultaneous earthquake drill at Sta. Ana Elementary School along R. Magsaysay Avenue in

Davao City. Lean Daval Jr.

DON’T expect cham-pagne bottles and blue cheese during

the inauguration of Presi-dent-elect Rodrigo R. Dute-rte.

Incoming Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) secretary Mar-tin Andanar said the incom-ing president is doing away with the customary ban-quets like the vin d’honneur that follows after the inaugu-ration, but rather only hold a diplomatic reception for the guests when he takes his oath as the 16th President of the Philippines on June 30 at Malacañang’s Rizal Hall.

“The President is a sim-ple man. Do not expect any champagne bottles popping, caviar or blue cheese,” An-danar said during a press briefing at the Marco Polo Davao yesterday.

Duterte will instead serve fried banana and coco-nut juice during the import-ant occasion.

Andanar, in a separate press briefing on Monday, said the organizing commit-tee has decided to approve the national broadcasting of the inauguration Duterte.

Andanar said that the nine national broadcasting companies will be given ac-

cess at the new executive building in Malacañang.

Other media outfits can also get an accreditation from the PCOO office.

He said Duterte will be reading his speech through the teleprompter written and reviewed by two people.

“He has a tendency of not following the script and be extemporaneous. The Pres-ident still has full editorial control of the speech,” An-danar said.

He said that the entire event will be simple with no expensive foods in the table.

Members of the first fam-ily are expected to attend the

inauguration. Incoming Davao City

Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Dute-rte are flying to Manila on June 28 together with their mother Elizabeth Zimmer-man, Duterte’s former wife.

“I was invited,” Zimmer-man told reporters on Mon-day.

After his inauguration, the President will go directly to the mass oath taking of the cabinet members.

Duterte is expected to ar-rive at Malacañang at 10:30 a.m. for the program proper. The inauguration will start at 12 noon.

WAKE-UPCALL

EDGEDAVAOSports

Turkey spanks Gilas 103-68

VOL. 9 ISSUE 83 • THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016

THE passing of Davao’s bas-ketball patron Regino “Boy” Cua will be a big loss to the

sport in the Davao Region.Christopher “Bong” Go, special

assistant to president-elect Rodri-go R. Duterte, said he is sorry to hear the sad news of Cua’s demise on Tuesday.

Cua was the long-running head of the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP) Region 11 and before that, the head of the Basket-ball Association of the Philippines (BAP). He was chiefly responsible for organizing several basketball leagues including the Duterte Bas-ketball League (DBL).

“So sorry to hear the saddest news in davao sports, the passing of Boy Cua which is a huge loss in the city’s basketball field,” said Go, himself a basketball standout in ‘B’ leagues, and co-manager of the CCMO-The Royal Mandaya Hotel basketball team that has domi-nated the local cagedom in recent years.

Go considers Cua his “friend and mentor”

“I am really saddened by the sudden loss of my friend and men-tor who is considered as the God-father of Davao’s basketball,” he said.

Go also cited the harmonious

relationship among all basketball stakeholders with Cua at the helm of SBP.

“We have had a good and har-monious relationship with Boy Cua through the years especial-ly during the Duterte Basketball League days where we joined hands in putting up a genuine community-based basketball program,” Go said. “He was an ex-traordinary man. There are many in the community who will mourn deeply his passing and I am one of those.”

Go said he is offering his prayers to the late basketball lead-er.

“My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family,” Go said.

Meantime, the Dabaw City Sports Council Inc. also expressed its sadness over the loss of the re-spected elder in Davao sports.

Dexter So, president of DCS-CI and nephew of Cua, said Cua’s passing leaves a big vacuum in the sporting community.

Rommel Tan, head of the As-sociation for the Advancement of Karatedo (AAK) Davao, also ex-pressed his grief as “student and godson” of Cua.

SPORTSCOMMUNITYIN GRIEF

16 EDGEDAVAOSports

Go says Cua’s death big loss to Davao hoopsnjb@edgedavao.net

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

HE IS MY MENTOR. Christopher “Bong” Go considers the late SBP 11 director Boy Cua his mentor in basketball.