Duterte told reporters at the Davao City Recre-ation Center (Almendras Gym) that the city would benefit from the expansion as Mindanao is already ex-periencing a power short-age.

“Pila ka adlaw – mga 10 ka tuig gikan karon, totally wala na ta’y energy (one of these days, about 10 years from today we will lose energy totally),” Duterte said, adding that all means should be utilized to meet the power demand.

He said that coal is the cheaper and more acces-sible source of power that could satisfy the demand of the city.

“Kay mahal kaayo ang gasoline og krudo ( Unya kanang geothermal sa Mt.

Apo, we expect something 100 percent na mo buto para magpasaka sa turbine, we are only generatinjh less than 30 percent (of en-ergy). So, wala ta’y makuha diha,” Duterte said.

The mayor also an-swered the worry of en-vironmentalists that the operation of the coal fired-power plant would harm the ecology and the health of communities ar-pund it the plant.

“Ako mayor gud ko, mosugot kaha ko na mad-aot ang kalawasan sa mga tao? Am I stupid na mosu-got ko’g ing-ana” Duterte stressed.

He said that he really needs to balance it because he doesn’t want the people

P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014

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

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

FRODY, 10

RODY DEFENDS TSI EXPANSIONCoal is still the cheaper alternative--Duterte

BACK TO BACK TITLE. Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte awards the championship trophy to The Royal Mandaya Hotel-City Mayor’s Office team owner Glenn Escandor after his team crushed Rep. Manny Pacquiao’s MP Pacman War-

riors in the finals of the Araw ng Davao Invitational basketball tournament. Also in photo are Duterte’s executive assistant Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and City Sports Office head Willaim Ramirez. Lean Daval Jr.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte last Wednesday defended the approval on second reading by the city council of the request of Therma South Inc. (TSI) to expand its gen-erating capacity in Barangay Binugao. Toril from 300 megawatts (MW) to 645 MW.

SUDDEN RAIN. Workers on their way home cover themselves with cardboard boxes against the sudden downpour brought by the low pressure area affecting Davao City and nearby provinces in Mindanao yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 20142 EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS

crc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

5 BENEFITS. Chevron Phils., Inc. Product Engineering Specialist Jude Porras discusses the five benefits of Caltex with Techron additive during a presentation of Caltex the 5 star fuel technology update in yesterday’s press briefing held at the Marco Polo Davao. Lean Daval Jr.

CHAMPIONSHIP. A spectator watches the championship match of the Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte-VM Pulong Duterte Cup 77th Araw ng Davao Invitational basketball tournament between Davao-based The Royal Mandaya Hotel and General Santos’ MP Pacman Warriors in between the metal barriers Wednesday night at the Davao City Recreation Center. Lean Daval Jr.

MOST of “hot meat”-confiscated in Davao Ciry are in

talipapas, an official of the City Veterinarian’s Office said.

Dr. Cerelyn B. Pinili, CVO head said that their monitoring team usually confiscates hot meat out-side public markets. “Dira kasagaran sa mga nagadis-play-display ra sa gawas sa palengke..”

She said that it is sel-dom that her team find

“double-dead meat” inside the market.

“Once na musulod sa palengke iniaagi jud na ng inspeksyon,” Pinili said, adding that meat in public markets come from autho-rized abattoirs in the city.

Currently, Nenita’s Stock Farm and Slaughter House is the only abattoir accredited by NMIS, while the rest are accredited by the City Government of Davao.

Last year, the CVO was

able to confiscate1,129 ki-los (kls) of illegally slaugh-tered meat in the city . This was lower than the 7,000 kilos confiscated the previ-ous year (2012).

The team was able to seize 531.13 kls in the first quarter of the 2013; 879.22 kls in second quar-ter; 1,089.75kls in rheth-ird ;and 629kls in the last quarter of 2013.

The total confiscated “hot meat” last year was lower than their 4,000 kls

2013 target and was lower than the 7,000 kilos seized in 2012.

Earlier, Dr. Esther Cher-ry Rayos, assistant city veterinarian said that “the number of violators de-creased because they fear that they will be jailed,” citing the Republic Act 9296 or the Meat Inspec-tion Code of the Philip-pines. Violation of RA 9296 will lead to imprisonment of not less than one day

Most ‘hot meat’ come from outside markets

FMOST, 10

More stalls coming up at night market MORE stalls for side-

walk vendors will be available at the

Tiangge sa Katawhan Night Market on Roxas Avenue in Davao City.

City Mayor’s Drainage Management Unit (CMO-DMU) chief Ret. Col. Yusop Jimlani announced last Monday there will be 104 more available stalls added to the existing 503.

“We will get another block near the boulevard for expansion,”Jimalani said, adding that there were 418 occupied stalls during the celebration of Araw ng Dabaw.

“We recorded the high-est number of consumers last Sunday,” he said. “The night market is stariting to become effective.

THE Davao City An-ti-Drug Abuse Coun-cil (CADAC) has

asked the private sector to partner with their pro-gram in the fight against iillegal drugs.

William Ramirez, chairman of CADAC told reporters in a chance in-

terview at the city hall yesterday that in order to fulfill their goal they need partners to work with.

“Government projects cannot succeed without support from the private sector,” said Ramirez.

This year, Ramirez said

WAR AGAINST DRUGS

CADAC to partnerwith private sectorBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

THE animal control center of the Davao City veterinarian’s

office (CVO) is intensifying its dog nabbing operation in city streets to prevent the spread of rabies.

Dr. Cerelyn B. Pinili, CVO’s head, told report-ers in yesterday’s ‘I-Speak media forum’ at the con-ference room of city hall that the unit is averaging 50 dogs a day.

Uy “Actually, gipa in-tensify gyud nako kay naa man gu’y directive si mayor (Rodrigo R. Dute-rte) ato na at least 40 -50

(dogs daily) so, naning-kamot gyud ang team na matuman ang order ni mayor,” Pinili said, adding that their unit is doubling its efforts snd was able to meet their daily quota.

Pinili said that they already impounded 1,237 dogs from January to March and that .

of the 1,237 dogs im-pounded; only 35 percent were claimed by the own-ers and the rest will un-dergo euthanasia if no one would claim them.

The intensified cam-

DESPITE ANGRY OWNERS

CVO intensifies dog nabbing

FWAR, 10

FMORE STALLS, 10

IN a discussion with Davao-based media, Caltex recent-ly showed how engines that

are fed with low quality fuels become dirty in no time. In contrast, the same test showed pictures of how an engine that regularly uses Caltex with Techron is kept clean and op-erating at optimum levels.

Using a boroscope to take videos and photos inside cars’ engines, car owners were able to see the build-up of un-burned and harmful depos-its in piston tops and intake

valves in their car engines. Only cars that were fed with Caltex with Techron showed internal engine parts almost as clean as brand new. The bo-roscope tests involved 35 cars with at least 25,000 kilometers on the odometer or at least 3 years old. Caltex with Techron is marketed by Chevron Philip-pines Inc. (CPI).

Jude Porras, Product En-gineering Specialist, CPI, said, “Over time, deposits can accu-mulate in your car’s combus-

Caltex brings to Davao five benefits of Caltex with Techron

FCALTEX, 10

FCVO, 10

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014

THE Department of Social Welfare and Development

(DSWD) paved its way to another milestone in empowering poor com-munities as it launched Kalahi-CIDSS PAMANA (Payapa at Masaganang Pa-mayanan) peace-promot-ing community projects in Kapalong, Davao Del Norte.

The launch was led by Mayor Edgardo Timbol, Regional Director of DSWD Priscilla N. Razon, together with the Local Government Officials, Davao del Norte provincial representatives, volunteers and project ben-eficiaries.

Conducted with the launch was the Munici-pal Orientation with 10 participants from the town’s 14 barangays who were oriented on the process, implementing policies, management of sub-projects, community structures to be organized, among others.

As Kalahi-CIDSS [now known as National Commu-nity-Driven Development Program] sets off a new cy-cle in Kapalong, aside from its primary goal in alleviat-ing poverty and improving local governance, it also focuses on peace and de-velopment in the commu-

nity specifically in conflict affected barangays (CABs).

In her message, Di-rector Razon stressed, “KALAHI-CIDSS PAMANA aims for peace and devel-opment. We want to live in a community where there is peace and tranquillity, to have a peaceful mind, espe-cially children, when they go to sleep at night.”

She also challenged ba-rangay beneficiaries to real-ly make this project sustain-able and really meet its goal in 2014.

Elki Mae L. Ubanan, 15, who benefitted from the program earlier, admitted that the Kalahi-CIDSS proj-ect empowered those stu-dents who were deprived of education.

Now, they have a school in Barangay Flori-da through the initiative of Kalahi-CIDSS with the sup-port of the community. The sub-project called “1 unit, 3 High School Classroom Building” was conceived to provide decent classroom to the students.

She is very delighted that other youths like her who live in far-flung and conflict-affected barangays would also enjoy the same privilege she had.

Adding that, “Lingaw gyud mag eskwela kay

daghan matun-an, ug nali-pay pud gyud ko kay tanan bata nga pareho nako ma-hatagan na og hapsay nga panghuna- huna, ug wala nay kahadlok tungod sa pa-ghatag og tagad sa kalinaw ani nga bag-ong proyekto (I really enjoy attending school because I learn a lot. I am glad that children like me will have peace of mind

because of this new project [PAMANA] that promotes peace).”

Following the MOA signing, the barangay cap-tains, councilors, commu-nity volunteers and purok leaders also took part in “Panaad sa Pagsuporta”, a symbolic act wherein participants pledged their commitment for the proj-

ect. Shortly after the

pledge, all participants from the LGU and DSWD signed the Manifesto of Support to signify their dedication to work togeth-er for peace and develop-ment.

Among the projects DSWD has brought in the town are Pantawid Pami-

lya, Social Pension for Se-nior Citizens, Sustainable Livelihood and Supple-mentary Feeding.

The successful projects of DSWD in the past are indicative of Kapalong’s capability to implement social protection programs for its less fortunate sector. [DSWD/Julie Ace Brandon F. Ramos]

3EDGEDAVAO

COMMUNITY SENSE

Beneficiary of Kalahi-CIDSS High School Classroom Elki Mae L. Ubanan relates how the community sub-project enabled her and her fellow students attend school in their own village without having to hike far.

Kalahi-CIDSS PAMANA launched in Kapalong

EMPLOYEES in The Louis Berger Group, Inc.’s(Louis Berger)

Davao, Philippines, office recently spent an afternoon with children from the Ta-cloban Streetlight Foun-dation whose orphanage in the Leyte province was wiped out by Typhoon Hai-yan last November.

Louis Berger donated US$2,800 in school sup-plies, books, tables, chairs, food and other relief as-sistance to the foundation. The staff also enjoyed spon-soring an afternoon of food and games for the children during an event held at the-Jireh Mission Foundation in

Davao del Norte, Mindanao, where the children have been staying since the or-phanage was destroyed.

Louis Berger has been closely allied with Mindan-ao’s development, having executed donor-funded economic growth, gover-nance and poverty alle-viation programs in the region since 1995 through its work for the Growth with Equity in Mindanao Program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Through Louis Berger’s 2013 Give Back campaign, the company’s annual em-ployee-corporate giving

program, Louis Berger also gave more than US$35,000 in employee donations and company-matched contri-butions to the Red Cross/Red Crescent Typhoon Ap-peal in support of Typhoon Haiyan relief.

“Louis Berger has been working with communi-ties in the Philippines since 1972,” said Tom Lewis, Lou-is Berger Group president. “It is our hope that these contributions will go a long way in helping the people and communities we have worked with and had a connection to for decades recover from this tragic event.”

NerrenHomeres (center), Streetlight Foundation sponsor relation officer, accepts a donation of $2,800 in school sup-plies, books, furniture and food from the GEM program team. To her right is Mie Shen Reyes,GEM deputy chief of party for logistics, and to her left is Marites Doral, GEM administrative manager.

Louis Berger staff offer relief assistance to children impacted by Typhoon Haiyan

CONSISTENT with its commitment of deliv-ering healthcare for all,

specifically for the poor and the marginalized, the Philip-pine Health Insurance Corpo-ration (PhilHealth) will join forces with the Department of Social Welfare and Develop-ment (DSWD) as it delivers its new Alaga Ka Program.

Alaga Ka Program is an integrated marketing scheme aimed at keeping the mem-bers informed of their Phil-Health coverage, benefits and other public health programs of the Department of Health (DOH).

In collaboration with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG),

Department of Health (DOH), Philippine Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP), Associa-tion of Municipal Health Offi-cers, and other Non-Govern-ment Organizations, the Alaga Ka Program aims to advocate the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) to poor fam-ilies identified in the DSWD Listahanan throughout the country.

The Alaga Ka Program will be launched on March 24 in 17 regions nationwide.

The regional launch is slated at the National Com-prehensive High School Covered Court, Nabunturan, Compostela Valley Province.

Expected to attend are 4,408 Listahanan-identified

poor families. Lined-up activities for

the launch include Mem-bers’ Orientation on Tamang Serbisyo Kalusugang Pam-pamilya (TseKap), Maternity Package and No Balance Bill-ing, Amendment/Updating of Listahanan Member’s Record, Profiling and Enlistment of Members to TseKap, and Pro-vision of Point Care Benefits.

A Help Desk will also be put up to respond to inquiries and complaints from mem-bers.

Currently, involved agen-cies are meeting up to ensure smooth implementation of this latest health care pro-gram. [DSWD/Florame B. Es-pada]

FOR ALAGA KA PROGRAM

PhilHealth taps DSWD Listahanan

FULL SUBSIDY OF FARMERS’ SSS CONTRIBUTIONS. The Social Security System (SSS) signed an agreement with the Department of Agriculture (DA) for the full subsidy of monthly SSS contributions for an initial batch of 100 se-lected farmers all over the country during ceremonies held at the DA Main Office along the Elliptical Road in Diliman, Quezon City on March 14. The agreement will pave the way for the social protection of thousands of farmers nation-wide who are qualified Community Extension Workers or members of Rural Based Organizations assisted by the DA Agricultural Training Institute (ATI). The subsidies will be based on a minimum monthly salary credit of P3,000, for a monthly SSS contribution of at least P330 per self-employed farmer. Photo shows SSS President and Chief Executive Officer (PCEO) Emilio de Quiros, Jr. (center) and Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala (3rd from right) shaking hands during the signing, with both SSS Senior Vice President for Account Management Judy Frances See (3rd from left) and DA-ATI Director Asterio Saliot (2nd from right) serving as witnesses. Also present were (from left) SSS Offi-cer-in-Charge for Cooperatives and Informal Sector Department Honorato Carranza Jr., SSS Special Assistant to the PCEO Ma. Lourdes Mendoza, and DA-ATI Extension Program and Partnership Division Chief Engr. Renato dela Cruz.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 20144GENERAL SANTOS CITY

SARANGANI

EDGEDAVAO

SUBURBIA

SOON THEY SHALL FALL. The sight of two golden shower trees festooned with yellow leaves provides a stark contrast to the overcast skies above Malay-balay City in this photo taken on Wednesday afternoon, 19 March 2014. [MindaNews photo by H. Marcos C. Mordeno]

A NEW govern-ment-funded high school is set to rise in

General Santos City. This is after the city

government donated a 1.3-hectare land at Ba-rangay Calumpang to the Department of Education (DepEd) -GenSan to be the site for a new public high school in the city.

City Mayor Ronnel Ri-vera signed the deed of do-nation on March 12.

Witnessing the event were DepEd Schools Divi-sion Superintendent Gil-do Mosqueda, Assistant Schools Division Superin-tendent Mario Bermudez, DepEd GenSan division supervisors and City Hous-ing and Land Management Office head Mary Ann Bacar

Also present to witness the signing were Barangay Calumpang Chairman Rey-naldo Salubre and students, faculty and staff of General Santos City National High School (GSCNHS).

The new school will be constructed at Opring Vil-lage, Barangay Calumpang in a land formerly owned by the Cahilsot family and has been purchased by the

city government for P4.9 million.

The new school will be named as the Calumpang National High School, an annex of GSCNHS

ASDS Bermudez dis-closed that the DepEd has allocated P9.5 million for the construction of two- storey building in the said area. One building will be consisting of four class-rooms.

Bermudez said that the DepEd GenSan is just waiting for a resolution coming from the Sangguni-ang Panglungsod (SP) that authorizes Mayor Rivera to donate the land before they begin the immediate construction of the school buildings.

Bermudez said that the new school’s target is to accommodate as much as 1,000 students.

During the event, May-or Rivera bared his edu-cational programs such as the implementation of Early Childhood Care and Development Initiative (EC-CDI) to daycare centers; the Community Teach of Alay sa Kabataang Generals La-hat ng Alaga at Talino (AK-

LAT) Office; the incoming Project 100 which will aim to erect 152 classrooms in the city; the launching of the Special Program for the Employment of Students

(SPES) Jobs Fair in part-nership with Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE); the collaboration with Small and Medium Enterprises Development

Council for the Entrepre-neurship Program for high school students; and his own PTA and Armchair Do-nation programs.

SDS Gildo Mosqueda

said “it will be great help for the DepEd GenSan in investing in quality learning system in the public schools of the city.” [GENSAN INFO OFFICE/Ian John M. Lagare]

New public high school to rise

IN a bid to prevent the occurrence of hy-giene-related disease

outbreaks, the provincial government of Sarangani has stepped up its efforts to improve sanitation standards in local commu-nities.

Dr. Arvin Alejandro, officer-in-charge of the Sa-rangani Provincial Health Office, said the local gov-ernment has created a special task force to over-see the implementation of sanitation programs in the province and spearhead its promotion and advo-cacy.

He said the activation of the task force was per-sonally endorsed by Sa-rangani Gov. Steve Chiong-bian Solon as a strategy to improve public health standards in the prov-ince’s 140 barangays.

“The provincial task force will mainly pursue efforts to achieve zero open defecation status in all seven municipalities of the province,” he said in a statement.

The official said the creation of the task force will complement with the

commencement in the province this year of the World Bank-administered Water and Sanitation Pro-gram (WSP).

He said the agency earlier selected the prov-ince as a pilot area for the WSP along with the prov-inces of Quezon and Ne-gros Oriental.

The WSP, which will begin this year, mainly aims to end the open def-ecation practice in the area within the next three years or by 2016.

The World Bank launched the program to cope with global efforts to achieve the United Na-tions Millennium Devel-opment Goal on sanitation of cutting by half the pro-portion of people without universal access to im-proved hygiene by 2015.

A program briefer said it “supports poor people in obtaining affordable, safe and sustainable access to water and sanitation services” in coordination with the national govern-ment, local government units, non-government organizations and the pri-vate sector.

Leo de Castro, WSP project coordinator, said in a statement that the program will work to scale up sanitary conditions in the selected pilot areas.

He said they consider such task as quite chal-lenging as a significant percentage of the popu-lation in these areas still practice open defection.

Such situation is prev-alent among poor house-holds situated in remote or outskirt areas, he said.

Alejandro said govern-ment estimates showed that around 6.1 million of the country’s population have remained without access to proper sanita-tion facilities.

He said an “absolute number of people living in rural areas are using un-improved toilets and defe-cating in the open.”

The official said 24.8 percent of these are in Region 12 or the Soccsk-sargen Region and with Sarangani Province ac-counting for 18.5 percent.

“These poor fami-lies mostly reside in geo-graphically isolated and marginalized barangays.

They don’t have sanitary toilets, hence open defe-cation is widely practiced,” Alejandro said.

Most of these resi-dents are considered as among the province’s poorest of the poor and beneficiaries of the na-tional government’s con-ditional cash transfer or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

Alejandro said the open defecation practices in the area have triggered “high rates of under five years-old morbidity as ev-idenced by the prevalence of food and water-borne diseases.”

From 2007 to 2013, he said acute gastroenteri-tis turned out as among the leading cause of ad-missions in local govern-ment-run hospitals in the province.

To help address the problem, Alejandro said the provincial govern-ment has tapped some non-government organi-zations and the private sector for the provision of low-cost sanitary facilities to poor households in the province. [MindaNews]

LGU intensifies sanitation driveSOUTH COTABATO

AROUND P190 mil-lion worth of infra-structure projects

funded by the national government and the pro-vincial government of South Cotabato have been completed in the area in the last 14 months.

Marnilo Aperocho, South Cotabato Provincial Engineer’s Office (PEO) chief, said Thursday the completed infrastructure projects represent about 63 percent of around P300.2 million worth of projects that were funded and implemented by the provincial government and other government agencies since January last year.

He said the imple-mentation of the remain-ing P110.69 million worth of projects is still ongoing in various parts of the province’s 10 towns and in Koronadal City, the pro-vincial capital.

The completed and ongoing projects, which totaled 159 components, are comprised of 108 buildings, 19 roads, nine drainage and lined canals, six flood-control struc-tures, five box culverts and five secondary structures, four bridges and three

water systems, Aperocho said.

Some of these proj-ects were partly funded by national government agencies, among them the Department of Public Works and Highways, De-partment of Agriculture (DA) and Tourism Infra-structure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA).

Aperocho said the completed projects in-clude 68 buildings, 17 roads, six drainage and lined canals, five flood control structures, three box culverts, three bridg-es, two water systems and five secondary structures.

“We’re targeting to complete all the remain-ing projects before the end of the year,” he said.

Aside from these projects, Aperocho said several other major infra-structure initiatives are in the pipeline for imple-mentation in the province this year.

He said these include the completion of the pro-vincial hospital annex or the Upper Valley Commu-nity Hospital in Surallah town and the three-story U-shape building at the provincial capitol in Koro-nadal City. [MindaNews]

P190M infra projects completed

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014 5EDGEDAVAO

THE ECONOMY

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is reminding

Filipinos abroad to patron-ize reputable and reliable freight forwarders as the department continues to receive complaints of un-delivered cargoes.

DTI Consumer Protec-tion Group (CPG) named freight forwarders alleged-ly involved in bogus activi-ties include Philbox Direct Ltd. in the United Kingdom and Springer International; Al Rodah Marine Cargo in United Arab Emirates and D’ Winner Logistics Phils., Inc.; Kabalen Fowarders in Saudi Arabia; and a per-son named Alexander D. Cunanan who is affiliated with ADC Spedition Ser-vices.

”We have received nu-merous complaints against them for not delivering car-goes to their rightful own-ers. We found out that two of them operating illegally as freight forwarders and have not been delivering the ‘balikbayan’ boxes to

their consignees,” DTI-CPG Undersecretary Victorio Mario Dimagiba said.

”Springer Internation-al and Winner Logistics Phils., Inc. are now facing revocation of accreditation with DTI,” added Dimagiba.

Further, DTI-Philippine Shippers’ Bureau (PSB) has warned overseas Filipinos particularly in Germany to stop sending “balikbayan” boxes through Alexander D. Cunanan who is associ-ated with ADC Spedition Services.

”Based on complaints received, the DTI-PSB dis-patched a monitoring team last March 6, 2014 to verify the known addresses of Mr. Cunanan including that in Barangay San Bartolome, Sta. Ana, Pampanga. Based on the information provid-ed by the household helper in the said address, the par-ticular residence belongs to Ms. Merlita Cunanan, sister of Mr. Alexander Cunanan, who is currently in an un-disclosed place in Metro Manila,” DTI said. [PNA]

DTI alerts Filipinos abroad on bogus freight forwarders

PROMOS. Representatives of leading cellular phone companies show fliers of their upcoming promos for the 14th anniversary of Davao-based cellular phone and gadgets dealer Wiltelcom in time for the electronics and gadgets sale which is part of the month-long Big Davao Fun Sale. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014

Cebu Pacific Daily 5J961 / 5J962 5:45 Manila-Davao-Manila 6:15Zest Air Daily Z2390 / Z2390 5:45 Manila-Davao-Manila 6:25Cebu Pacific Daily 5J593 / 5J348 6:00 Cebu-Davao-Iloilo 6:30Philippine Airlines Daily PR809 / PR810 6:10 Manila-Davao-Manila 7:00Philippine Airlines Daily PR819 / PR820 7:50 Manila-Davao-Manila 8:50Cebu Pacific Daily 5J394 / 5J393 7:50 Zamboanga-Davao-Zamboanga 8:10Cebu Pacific Daily 5J599 / 5J594 8:00 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 8:30Cebu Pacific Daily 5J347 / 5J596 9:10 Iloilo-Davao-Cebu 9:40Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri/Sun 5J963 / 5J964 9:40 Manila-Davao-Manila 10:10Philippine Airlines Daily PR811 / PR812 11:30 Manila-Davao-Manila 12:20Cebu Pacific Daily 5J595 / 5J966 12:00 Cebu-Davao-Manila 12:30Cebu Pacific Thu 5J965 / 5J968 12:55 Manila-Davao-Manila 13:25

Cebu Pacific Tue/Wed//Sat 5J965 / 5J968 13:35 Manila-Davao-Manila 14:05Silk Air Mon/Sat MI588 / MI588 13:35 Davao-Singapore 18:55 Silk Air Wed/Sun MI566 / MI566 15:20 Davao-Singapore 18:55Silk Air Thurs MI551 / MI551 12:05 Davao-Singapore 15:45Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Wed/Fri 5J507 / 5J598 15:00 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 15:30Philippine Airlines August 15:55 Mani2Mani 16:50Zest Air Daily Z2524 / Z2525 16:05 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 16:45

as of May 2013

Stat Watch

MONTHLY AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATE (January 2011-September 2013)

Month 2013 2012 2011

Average 42.23 43.31December 41.01 43.64November 41.12 43.27October 41.45 43.45

September 43.83 41.75 43.02August 43.86 42.04 42.42

July 43.35 41.91 42.81June 42.91 42.78 43.37May 41.30 42.85 43.13April 41.14 42.70 43.24

March 40.71 42.86 43.52February 40.67 42.66 43.70January 40.73 43.62 44.17

7.1 1st Qtr 2013

7.8 1st Qtr 2013

USD 3,741 million

Feb 2013USD 4,708

million Feb 2013USD -967

million Feb 2013USD -640

millionDec 2012

P 4,964,560  million

Feb 2013

2.4 % Mar 2013P113,609

million Mar 2013

P 5,281 billion 

Mar 2013

P 41.14 Apr 2013

6,847.5 Mar 2013

132.8 Apr 2013

2.6 Apr 2013

3.1 Apr 2013

418,108 Feb 2013

20.9% Jan 2013

7.1% Jan 2013

1. Gross National IncomeGrowth Rate(At Constant 2000 Prices)

2. Gross Domestic ProductGrowth Rate(At Constant 2000 Prices)

3. Exports 1/

4. Imports 1/

5. Trade Balance

6. Balance of Payments 2/

7. Broad Money Liabilities

8. Interest Rates 4/

9. National Government Revenues

10. National government outstanding debt

11. Peso per US $ 5/

12. Stocks Composite Index 6/

13. Consumer Price Index 2006=100

14. Headline Inflation Rate 2006=100

15. Core Inflation Rate 2006=100

16. Visitor Arrivals

17. Underemployment Rate 7/

18. Unemployment Rate 7/

Indicator Latest

1. Gross National Income Growth Rate (At Constant 2000 Prices)

6.8 2nd Qtr 2013

2. Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate (At Constant 2000 Prices)

7.5 2nd Qtr 2013

3. Exports USD 5,045 million

Sep 2013

4. Imports USD 5,711 million

Sep 2013

5. Trade BalanceUSD -665

million Sep 2013

6. Balance of Payments USD 692

million Jun 2013

7. Broad Money LiabilitiesP 5,980,938 million

Aug 2013

8. Interest Rate 2.0 % Sep 2013

9. National Government Revenues

P 127,336 million

Sep 2013

10. National government outstanding debt

P 5,609 billion

Sep 2013

11. Peso per US $                                      

P 43.83 Sep 2013

12. Stocks Composite Index

6,191.8 Sep 2013

13. Consumer Price Index       2006=100

135.2 Oct 2013

14. Headline Inflation Rate       2006=100

2.9 Oct 2013

15. Core Inflation Rate       2006=100

2.5 Oct 2013

16. Visitor Arrivals 382,022 Aug 2013

17. Underemploymen Rate

19.2% Jul 2013

18. Unemployment Rate 7.3% Jul 2013

6 THE ECONOMY

A mother and child strip kadyos ( Pigeon Peas) in Aleosan market, North Cotabato. Kadyos is sold at P25 per cup and is commonly found in Ilong-go-dominated areas. [MindaNews photo by Keith Bacongco]

BUDGET carrier Cebu Pacific Inc. (CEB) and Tigerair

Philippines have start-ed adopting a common booking channel as part of their strategic alliance.

Cebu Pacific told the local bourse it launched on Tuesday the initial stage of the strategic al-liance following the sign-ing of an agreement for purchase of 100 percent of the Philippine affiliate of Singapore-based low-cost airline Tigerair.

“Cebu Pacific has completed purchase of shares, including the 40-percent stake of Ti-ger Airways Holdings Limited, in Tigerair Phil-ippines. Cebu Air Inc has

secured the approval of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), and is now in the process of seeking congressional approval,” it said.

Tigerair Philip-pines flights can now be booked through the Cebu Pacific website www.ce-bupacificair.com and oth-er CEB booking channels.

Tigerair Philippines flights will continue to be operated out of the NAIA Terminal 4, while Cebu Pacific flights will remain to be at NAIA Terminal 3.

“The strength of the alliance lies in our abili-ty to offer our trademark lowest fares to the larg-est low cost network

to, from, and within the Philippines. The alliance gives us an opportunity to serve new markets, like India and Australia, as we expand our route network with Tigerair,” said Cebu Pacific Presi-dent and Chief Executive Officer Lance Gokong-wei.

“We are excited to be part of the Cebu Pacific family. We are commit-ted to do our part to con-tribute to the growth of our business: upholding the highest standard of excellence for perfor-mance and customer service thereby creating for our company a rep-utation beyond par in the Philippine aviation

industry,” said Tigerair Philippines President and CEO Olive Ramos.

Upon full implemen-tation of the alliance, the Cebu Pacific and Tigerair websites will be used as sales and distribution platforms to market all routes operated by both airlines. The carriers also expect to collabo-rate on other common destinations in Asia.

Cebu Pacific current-ly operates over 2,200 flights per week with 50 aircraft to 24 interna-tional and 33 Philippine cities in its network.

Tigerair Philippines, on the other hand, op-erates about 118 flights per week with five air-

craft to 11 domestic and international destina-tions, from its bases in Manila and Clark.

By combining their resources, Cebu Pacific will be able to provide services to high growth markets including Aus-tralia, Myanmar and In-dia.

Tigerair will be able to fly more passengers to additional cities in Cebu Pacific’s extensive network in the Philip-pines and North Asia.

Both airlines will be providing low cost airline services to over 100 million potential passengers from differ-ent points in the alliance network. [PNA]

THE Department of Energy (DOE) and the Export-Import

(Ex-Im) Bank of the Unit-ed States signed a Memo-randum of Understanding (MOU) today for $1-bil-lion worth of financing guarantees to further fa-cilitate renewable energy (RE) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) industries in the Philippines.

“The signing of the MOU is an important venue to cultivate part-nerships and coopera-tion between the Philip-pine Government and the American private sector,” said Energy Undersecre-tary Raul B. Aguilos, add-ing that it can support the realization of energy projects in the country.

Under the said MOU, DOE and Ex-Im Bank will exchange information on trade and business op-portunities and explore options for utilizing up to $1 Billion in Ex-Im Bank medium and long term loan guarantees and/or direct dollar loans to finance U.S. exports in support of selected ener-gy projects in the Philip-pines.

In particular, the DOE and Ex-Im will work to-gether in promoting busi-ness development op-portunities on renewable

energy and LNG facilities including port, receiving terminals, regasification facilities, pipelines and other transportation in-frastructures.

DOE Undersecretary Raul B. Aguilos and Ex-Im Bank Board of Director Patricia M. Loui signed the MOU in the presence of newly-designated Philippine Senior Official on Energy Leader DOE

Undersecretary Loreta G. Ayson, DOE Undersecre-tary Ramon Allan V. Oca, DOE- Energy Policy and Planning Bureau Direc-tor Jesus T. Tamang, and US Department of Com-merce Deputy Assistant Secretary Holly Vineyard at the Audio Visual Room of the DOE in Taguig City.

Likewise, members

of the DOE Management

Committee, delegates from Ex-Im Bank, heads of Philippine Nation-al Oil Company and its subsidiaries, and heads of key industry play-er associations such as Philippine Independent Power Producers Asso-ciation, Petroleum Asso-ciation of the Philippines, Biomass Alliance of the Philippines and officials from the Department of

Foreign Affairs-Office of American Affairs attend-ed the event.

Currently, the DOE is formulating a fuel mix policy that would en-courage energy diversifi-cation that is cleaner and sustainable including RE and LNG. By 2030, the DOE also targets 9,930 megawatts increase in the country’s RE capac-ity.

DOE gets $1-B financing from US Ex-Im Bank for LNG and RE

Cebu Pacific, Tigerair adopt common booking channel

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014 7

IN which country where diarrhea remains a lead-ing killer of children,

where water-borne diseas-es are more common than sanitary toilets, and where farmers cannot water their own crops?

The answer: the Philippines.

In the 1950s, the Phil-ippines had as much as 9,600 cubic meters of clean water per person, accord-ing to Dr. Rafael D. Guerre-ro, former head of the Phil-ippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development. Four de-cades later, Filipinos must make do with little more than a third for that volume – 3,300 cubic meters per capita.

Today, the Philippines ranks second from the low-est among Southeast Asian countries in terms of per capita water availability per year with only 1,907 cubic meters. Thailand is at the bottom, with 1,854 cubic meters. Vietnamese have more than twice what Filipinos get: 4,591 cubic meters.

“The image of a wa-ter-rich Philippines is a mi-rage,” Gregory C. Ira, former head of the water equity in the lifescape and landscape study (WELLS) of the Inter-national Institute of Rural Reconstruction, once point-ed out. “There is a water crisis in the Philippines, one of the wettest countries of Southeast Asia.”

A World Bank report said that areas where the per capita water supply drops below 1,700 cubic meters per year experience water stress while areas with per capita water sup-ply below 1,000 cubic me-ters per year are already suffering from water scar-city. Four river basins that are undergoing the latter category are Pampanga, Agno, Pasig-Laguna, and the island of Cebu.

The water crisis is more transparent in Metro Ma-nila, home to more than 10 million people. “For many residents in Metro Manila, coping with a ‘water supply crisis’ has been part of their daily woes for years,” says

the databank and research center of the IBON Founda-tion Inc.

Metro Manila was one of the nine major cities list-ed as “water-critical areas” in a study by the Japan In-ternational Cooperation Agency in 1991. The oth-er eight cities were Metro Cebu, Davao, Baguio, Ange-les, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga.

“Metro Manila is cur-rently experiencing water deficits,” the World Bank re-port states. “Although for some cities like Baguio, which have no shortfall con-sidering current demand, it is know that major water shortages do occur during the summer.”

At least 17 million Fili-pinos today have no access to adequate and safe drink-ing water. “(About) 31 percent of illnesses in the country are water-related due to lack of clean drinking water supply and efficient sanitary facilities,” said Rep. Bernadette R. Herrera-Dy of Bagong Henerasyon Par-ty List.

In 24 provinces, one of every five residents quaffs water from dubi-ous sources, the Philippine Human Development Re-port says. These provinces are : Sulu, Maguindanao, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan,Mas-bate, Zamboanga del Norte and Sur, Negros Ori-ental and Occidental, Sultan Kudarat, Palawan, Cama-rines Norte, Leyte, Mis-amis Occidental, Apayao, Quezon, North Cota-bato, Bukidnon, Iloilo, Guimaras, Agusan del Sur, Nueva Vizcaya, Ilocos Norte and Benguet.

Several factors con-tribute to water short-age, including variability in climate, demographic patterns, and unsustain-able water-use patterns. In some urban centers of the Philippines where water is available, 50 per cent never reaches the designated con-sumers due to leakage, theft and poor management.

These identified prob-lems are compounded by the degradation of water resource base. For instance, many of the country’s larg-

est cities are located in wa-tersheds (also called drain-age basin) where all avail-able water is being used.

“Land use and vegeta-tive cover in the watershed are very important because they affect water flow and water quality,” explains Pat-rick Durst, senior forestry officer of the regional office of theFood and Agriculture Organization in Bangkok, Thailand.

One indicator of a good watershed is a healthy for-est. “This is because forests can help to relegate the flow of water,” explains Durst. A recent report released by the Department of Environ-ment and Natural Resourc-es (DENR) said that 90 per-cent of the 99 watershed areas in the country are “hydrologically critical” due to their degraded physical condition as a result of loss of forest cover.

“One of the most for-midable environmental challenges the Philippines faces today is its diminish-ing forest cover,” the World Bank report claims. “Of the country’s total forest-land area of 15.88 million hectares, only 5.4 million

hectares are covered with forests and fewer than a million hectares of these are left with old growth forests.”

River pollution also contributes to the coun-try’s current water woes. A report released by the Asian Development Bank said that 16 rivers are now considered “bio-logically dead” during dry months. Some 48 per cent of water pollution come from domestic waste, 37 per cent from agricultur-al waste, and 15 per cent from industrial waste.

Many major coastal cities in the country are encountering saltwater in-trusion problems in their groundwater resources due to over extraction of fresh water. Take the case of Cebu which “can always become the country’s salt capital,” to quote the words of veteran journalist Juan Mercado.

Cebu reportedly pumps 275,000 cubic meters dai-ly. Its coastal aquifer can recharge less than half. Demand from population and industry will more than double by 2030. This

“over-mining” permits salt water to seep in. The dam-age is irreversible. It takes 500 years or so to flush tainted underground res-ervoirs.

“The saline water edge has already pene-trated three kilometers inland,” noted the March 1995 Cebu Water Resourc-es Potential study. “It is moving at a rate of 100 to 150 meters per year.”

“Water isn’t just a com-modity. It is a source of life,” says Sandra Postel, director of the Massachu-setts-based Global Water Policy Project. Ideally, a person should have at least 50 liters of water each day to meet basic needs – for drinking, food prepara-tion, cooking and cleaning up, washing and personal hygiene, laundry, house cleaning.

Postel believes water problems will trail climate change as a threat to the human future. “Although the two are related, water has no substitutes,” she ex-plains. “We can transition away from coal and oil to solar, wind and other re-newable energy sources.

But there is no transition-ing away from water to something else.”

Water covers over 70 percent of the earth’s sur-face and is a major force in controlling the climate by storing vast quantities of heat. About 97.5 percent of all water is found in the ocean and only the remain-ing 2.5 percent is consid-ered fresh water. Unfortu-nately, 99.7 percent of that fresh water is unavailable, trapped in glaciers, ice sheets, and mountainous areas.

Water is drawn in two fundamental ways: from wells, tapping under-ground sources of water called aquifers; or from surface flows - that is, from lakes, rivers, and man-made reservoirs. Water is drawn in two fundamental ways: from wells, tapping underground sources of water called aquifers; or from surface flows - that is, from lakes, rivers, and man-made reservoirs.

“Water, water every-where,” wrote Samuel Tay-lor Coleridge in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, “but not a drop to drink.”

SOON TO BE AN ELUSIVE COMMODITY?

EDGEDAVAO

BIGGER PICTURE

WATER: TEXT and PHOTO By GERRY T. ESTRERA

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 20148 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

Good news

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EDITORIAL

P15 billion in investments which will generate 20,000 jobs in five to seven years. The harbinger of the good news is property development giant

Megaworld Corporation when it announced Wednes-day it is building an 11-hectare township, its 10th in the country.

The mixed-use project will be called “Davao Park District”to be located in a property along the Santiago P.Dakudao Loop in Lanang, in an area which was once a sprawling golf and country club.

“Davao Park District” is just another of the big-ticket projects that are forthcoming, unmistakable indicators of the booming economy of Davao City. This about to rise central business district (CBD) is also a precursor of close to a dozen international BPO (business process outsourcing) companies in Manila who would locate in “The Park” once the office buildings are in place.

Of course, Dabawenyos are elated to be informed of such a positive development, but they owe it to them-selves and their leaders that the city has become a mag-net for big-time investors such as Megaworld, which owns the phenomenal Eastwood City and other highly

successful township projects in Manila and elsewhere in the country. These are projects that have generated more than a hundred thousand jobs and – counting.

“Davao City is the economic center of Mindanao. This is the best place to build our very first township in Southern Philippines, which we envision to be Min-danao’s new central business district.” That quote comes from Dr. Andrew L. Tan, chairman and chief ex-ecutive of Megaworld, no less. Concerned Dabawen-yos, including old-time moneyed or landed gentry who have been hesitant to invest in their own backyard, so to speak, , certainly hope that this city of 2 to 3 million will prove to be deserving of such confidence from a big-time investor.

Expectedly, the city’s perceived economic boom will entice residents of neighboring provinces to gravitate to the city and add to the social pressures of progress. To be sure there will be challenges as a re-sult of in-migration, but they are what we euphemis-tically call “pleasant problems” that can be matched with creative solutions by the more visionary among our city fathers.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014

Part 1 of 2

(Conclusion)

BY REIHAN SALAM

ANALYSIS

BY MANNY VALDEHUESA

WORM’S EYEVIEW:

AQUILES Z. ZONIOCorrespondent

VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAOStiff tourism competition

How to fix higher education

Our parliament in waiting

THIS is a parliament with an all-inclu-sive membership. It should set the ba-rangay’s direction, policies, priorities,

budget, and service standards—a generally unfulfilled role. We should pass resolutions on these. Then they won’t take us or the others for granted anymore.

It is only this Assembly that can hold the chairman, the sanggunian, or their appointees accountable for their performance. You are a sovereign member of this Assembly. As such, you are also an official of the barangay govern-ment and a stakeholder/stockholder of it as a public corporation.

The Barangay Assembly’s role is similar to the stockholders’ meeting of a corpora-tion, its highest authority. The sanggunian is the board of directors acting on behalf of the stockholders/stakeholders—managing day to day affairs of the barangay corporation, mak-ing decisions when the stockholders are not in session.

The law requires members of the Assem-bly to meet at least twice yearly in order “to hear and pass upon the activities and finances of the barangay” (Section 398, R.A. 7160, the Local Government Code). This means it may convene not just twice yearly, as is the current practice, but as often as necessary. Only by doing so can people their government’s oper-ations regularly. And only through it can they ensure that the officials know and respect the popular will. And if the officials are unwilling, the people can convene it themselves.

People Power What Filipinos still don’t know—their of-

ficials included—is how powerful this grass-roots parliament called Barangay Assembly is; that it can remove or replace officials for loss of confidence (through Recall); and that this is official People Power. It’s time every-one knows and appreciates this.

Time also to know that apart from cast-ing a vote, it is only through this Assembly that a Filipino can act and speak as a sover-eign citizen—making known his sentiments or suggestions to government. Without this Assembly, he remains powerless—just as in-dividual congressmen are powerless when Congress is not in session, or just as individ-uals do not constitute People Power unless joined by many more individuals assembled in one place.

No less important: unless this Assembly formally deliberates as a body, the commu-nity cannot form a consensus or decision on any issue that concerns it or the nation, nor can popular will be crystallized.

Harmonize In a democracy, exchange of views or

ideas is essential to forging consensus or popular will (usually capped by a resolution, statement, or declaration). “Deliberative con-versations” they call it. Consensus forms the base of community solidarity.

Opinion polls do not produce consensus, nor express solidarity; only formal deliber-ation or exchange. Consensus flows from agreement or from a convergence of minds resulting to harmony and unity. People miss this point when they complain about divisive politics at community level, the grassroots.

It’s because no one bothers to explain the non-partisan nature of the barangay or that it’s supposed to be a parliamentary govern-ment and that parliamentary rules of order enable people to process their differences so-berly, not violently.

But because the Barangay Assembly is never convened properly, even barangay of-ficials do not take up issues or deliberate on them like civilized citizens do. They can hard-ly reach consensus or agree without knocking heads or decapitating dissenters!

Let the Barangay Assembly observe par-liamentary practice. Let it follow parliamen-tary rules of order. Let our people will mature politically. Then they will learn to govern themselves!

[Manny is former UNESCO regional direc-tor for Asia-Pacific, secretary-general of South-east Asian Publishers Association, director at development academy of Philippines, vice chair of Local Government Academy, member of the Cory Government’s Peace Panel, and PPI-UNICEF awardee for outstanding columnist. valdehuesa@gmail.com]

AMBITIOUS GOAL IN PENNY-PINCH-ING TIMES – The Dabawenyos’ eu-phoric mood and positive feelings,

and the remarkable success of the recently concluded 77th Araw ng Dabaw historical and ethnic-inspired celebration has started to simmer down. Better still, city and top regional tourism executives should refrain from inundating the news desks and air-waves with hyperbolic plans and promo-tions for next year’s festivity. It’s too early to get enthusiastic.

Instead of thinking about new ideas and strategies how to make the celebration far better next year, city and regional tourism planners should better emulate other city and provincial tourism offices in improving the tourism market in their areas. They al-ways have to bear in mind that competition is the single-most-important pattern for driving productivity higher in the tourism business.

Many stakeholders in the local tourism industry say that major players should map out new strategies for the next leap forward – more work, good ideas, better coordina-tion and proper planning certainly because creativity and originality is what it take to entice frequent travelers, local, and foreign tourists.

They must forget about demonstrat-ing their knacks for evolving post-festival observations and heaving praises and ac-colades for the success of the Araw festiv-ity. They should instead carry out with in-creasing intensity the objective that always worked so well: emphasis on high-glitz pro-motional campaign through the gathering of public and private tourism representa-

tives to discuss and formulate scheme that would stimu-late tourism.

This may be a grandiose goal in these penny-pinch-ing times but it’s just appro-priate. City and tourism officials should at least adopt a more fun-damental approach in promoting tourism because stiff competition is the name of the game and has intensified dramatically. One case in point is that other regions in Min-danao with vast tourism potentials have snapped out from slumber and the adja-cent areas likewise have proven that they can match Davao City and the region as the ultimate destination for both business and leisure in this part of the island.

FORTHRIGHT POLITICAL BURSTS – In time of impending predicaments the pres-ent administration must strengthen our democratic institutions – the executive, leg-islative and judiciary. It should likewise in-clude the fourth estate, police and military establishments.

The pork barrel must and should finally go and widespread corruption should be minimized if not totally eliminated. Our free press ought to be independent to become the watchdog of society. We must also en-sure the integrity of our electoral process-es aimed at electing rightful and deserving public servants.

Regrettably, we as a people have all too often been fragmented into factions each chasing after its self-interest with-out regard for the common good. Perhaps this is the reason why we are persistently confronted with life-and-death threats – a magnitude of complex problems and gov-ernment neglect.

Both elected and appointed officials must lead by example. They must be ad-vocates of integrity, decency and morality. They should set their lives and service com-mitments as an example: a life that is leash with strict adherence to transparency, hon-esty, equality and moral values. They should enhance their code of right and wrong, and their sense of discipline and obligations to help the citizenry especially those who are in dire needs.

We must therefore look deeper into the situation of our national policies in which we cannot institute long-term and mean-ingful reforms when we are constantly under political pressures. For example, sec-retaries and top-level officials appointed by the President, as a matter of fact, owe allegiance only to the appointing authority – and to one else.

By all indications, they came from influ-ential political clans, big businesses or the elite profession, and naturally they tend to serve and protect the interests not of the masses of their countrymen, but their own kind. It’s only too late that the people learn and realized that most if not all elected and appointed officials have not taken up the cudgels for crucial issues and other priori-ty concerns, and were seen as feckless and clueless bureaucrats.

AMERICA’S elite higher education institutions are the envy of the world. Foreign students flock to

the oldest and wealthiest U.S. research universities to take advantage of re-sources that are unparalleled, thanks to the deep pockets of many centuries’ worth of captains of industry.

Yet when we consider the post-sec-ondary institutions that educate the typical American high school grad, we see a very different picture. While the share of Americans who enroll in high-er education has grown substantially in recent decades, graduation rates have been stagnant.

Community colleges promise an affordable education to millions of stu-dents, but they often fail to offer the courses students need to complete a degree in a reasonable amount of time. Public colleges and universities churn out graduates who are forced to take jobs that don’t actually require a four-year post-secondary education. Most private non-profits do the same, and they’re also notorious for charging ob-scene tuition that their graduates can scarcely afford. And private for-prof-its, which have grown enormously by taking on some of the hardest-to-ac-commodate students, stand accused of loading up their students with debt without offering them marketable skills.

It is hard not to sympathize with the Obama administration, which last week launched a new effort to ensure that career training programs are meeting the needs of their students.

The problem with the new White House push, however, is that it focuses on a too-narrow aspect of America’s higher education crisis: about 8,000 vocation-al programs at community colleges, state universities, and for-profit col-leges, which train students in subjects like business administration, nursing and automotive repair.

The basic problem that the Obama administration hopes to tackle is that while a large and growing number of students enroll in vocational post-sec-ondary schools, most of whom make use of federal grant aid and subsidized loans to meet the cost of tuition, an alarmingly high share of them are fail-ing to find well-paying jobs. And stu-dents who can’t find well-paying jobs struggle to meet the cost of servicing their loans, let alone pay them off.

The Department of Education plans to identify vocational programs that leave their average graduate paying a high share of their earnings in loan payments (8 percent or more of total earnings, 20 percent or more of dis-cretionary earnings) as well as those with a high average loan default rate (of 30 percent or more). Programs that cross these red lines in two out of three years will lose the right to offer their

students federal financial aid.Curbing the abuses of this sector

could do some good. But career train-ing programs represent a small subset of the higher education universe. If we take a somewhat wider view, it seems pretty puzzling that, say, business or engineering majors at four-year col-leges and universities aren’t being treated as enrollees in vocational pro-grams.

Why not? Given the epidemic of un-deremployment among recent college graduates, it might make sense to ap-ply the same standard to all post-sec-ondary institutions, not just those that are explicitly labeled career training colleges.

Steve Gunderson, president of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, the trade association that represents the for-profit higher education sector, observes in a tart press release that “if the regulation were applied to all of higher education, programs like a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern Univer-sity, a law degree from George Wash-ington University Law School and a bachelor’s degree in social work from Virginia Commonwealth University, would all be penalized.”

My reply to Gunderson would be that, well, yes, let’s penalize these programs too. It makes perfect sense to establish a regulatory floor to pro-tect consumers from the least effective post-secondary programs, whether they’re at vocational schools or stan-dard-issue colleges and universities.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 201410 NEWS

INNOVATORS. Inventors Ruel Benedicto (right) and John Inocensio Raman give details of their latest feeds concoction during this week’s edition of Kapehan sa Dabaw at the Annex of SM City Davao which will enable farm animals to produce more milk. Lean Daval Jr.

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to suffer the darkness and could be waterless since the Davao City Water Dis-trict uses power to distrib-ute water.

“Either, ngit-ngit ta an-ing kalibutana, manimaho ta, o naa tay gamay na pow-er but we have to control it. The control process is ‘state of the art anti-pollutants,’ ” he said.

The city council ap-proved on second reading last Tuesday the resolution “endorsing the request of TSI to raisetheir generation capacity expansion.

The resolution states that TSI they should follow terms and conditions such as:

a) Compliance of TSI to the conditions stipulated in the approval of the 300 MW project, as outlined in

Davao City Ordinance No. 200-11, Series of 2011

b) The City Environ-ment and Natural Resourc-es Office (Cenro) is mandat-ed to monitor closely the compliance by TSI with the provisions and mandates of all applicable national and local environmental laws.

c) The Multipartite Monitoring Team is also requested to submit to the local government, through the Office of the City Mayor and the Sangguniang Pan-lungsod, a semi-annual re-port of its findings on TSI’s compliance with conditions stipulated in its ECC on the 300 MW project and on the ECC that is yet to be issued on the project expansion.

d) TSI is also request-ed to double its Carbon Sink Management Pro-

gram (CSMP) commitment and plant an additional One Million (1,000,000) trees in its expansion proj-ect to be grown in close coordination with the CENRO. The company is also encouraged to provide mechanisms so that the CSMP implementation will not just serve as a means of people’s participation in environmental protec-tion but also serve as a form of community liveli-hood project with the aim of generating income for project beneficiaries.

Some members of the council added additional terms to be included inthe amended resolution.

Councilor Marissa S.A-bella added that TSI should submit an ecological land-scape plan for the power

plant from its approval up to December 2014.

On the other hand, councilor Maria Belen S.Acosta wants TSI that, even if they already com-plied with the 2 million trees, should still conduct annual tree planting proj-ects. The number of trees would be determined by the Multipartite Monitor-ing Team.

Councilor Mary Joselle D. Villafuerte also add-ed the provision that TSI should refrain from selling ‘fly-ash’ to any private or government cement plant pending examination of its substance.

Manuel M. Orig, first vice president of TSI said that they would follow the specific conditions laid down by the city council.

up to six years and fines of P50,000 to P100,000. Reports also bared that of the total confiscated “hot meat” 2,402 kilos “were unfit for human consump-tion and were disposed to a condeming pit in Ma-a, Davao City. The remaining 910 kilos fit for human consumption were given to charitable institutions.”

Pinili said the public should be extra caereful about the meat they buy and consume, as hot meat can cause diseases.

“Dili ni sa sulod sa palengke makuha, once na musulod sa palengke iniaa-gi jud na ng inspeksyon”

CVO Dr. Cerelyn B. Pinili said in an interview yester-day that

Sa gawas sa palengke kay kung naa na sa sulod

Nakadisplay sa talipapa intercept namo

Walang ordinance once nag adopt may budget sa daming

Gidiscourage andg adoption kasi astrya al-though may monitoring ki-nukunan ng examin brain so far wala pa

Last year isaIpapaadot at risk kasi

hindi lalabas ang symptonAabot 6 monthThree day eutanize naFirst day250SecondAdd 50Add 50Dog pound sa maaIsang mobile lowered

bite caseInfo drive and result of

vaccination about 70 k ex-pect pa na bababa

that the council approved a resolution asling for addi-tional Guidance Counseling rooms and additional per-sonnel such as guidance counselors, researchers and 12 lecturers to boost

the anti-drugs campaign among the youth.

He said that the coun-cil’s campaign in public schools and for out-of-school youth in the city teaches the bad effects of

addiction to illegal drugs.“So, dako pa mig traba-

hoon,” he said, adding that aside from hiring additional manpower, they will also send their staff for training to other countries to learn

their strategies in the fight against illegal drugs.

Ramirez said that may-or Rodrigo R. Duterte is fo-cused on the campaign of saving the youth from the bad effects of illegal drugs.

More stalls...

Caltex...

FFROM 2

FFROM 2

There were 74 stalls occupied by vendors sell-ing assorted apparel, 76 catered shoes, 25 bags and 61 temporary apparel stalls which were occupied for the Araw ng Dabaw event, 64 are selling accessories, 113 were stalls for food, and 35 are temporary food and beverages stalls.

The unit is also planning to put insrtall 3 x 5 x 4.27 meters covered stalls for ting vendors in preparation for the rainy season.

“Kung hindi natin sila uunahan baka bumalik nanaman sila sa mga pro-hibited areas,” he said.

Also, Jimlani said that they are coming up with the night market name.

The experimental night mrket is due on April 22. Jimlani said that a thesis containing the evaluation

of the night market will be formulated for 90 days then will be presented to the City Council.

If the night market will be successful it will be rep-licate dto other areas in the city.

Earlier, Traffic Manage-ment Center chief Dionesio Abude identified the areas were it will be implement-ed once approved. Areas chosen for night market are Ilustre St. Extension from the underpass of Bangkero-han Bridge to the corner of Ilustre and Pichon Sts., Duterte to General Luna Sts., both sides of Roxas Ave. particularly beside the drainage canal from corner of Father Faura and Pag-asa Sts., Bangoy to Alvarez Sts. in Magsaysay Avenue, and Bangoy St. towards the fly-over bridge in Agdao. [CRC]

2 local inventors need fundingTO PRODUCE AMINO ACID

DAVAO inventors say that they can extract amino acid from

various plants if they have funding.

Customized formula for hogs and other livestock and hogs developed by inventors John Inocencio Raman and Ruel Benedicto said that the locality has an abundant source of amino acid, like corn, however, they dont have the equip-ment aurh which to pro-duce it.

“We sti+ll import our in-gredients from other coun-tries instead of using syn-thetic materials,” Raman said.

Raman is a mechanical engineer who was able to practice his profession on a farm in Los Angeles,Califor-nia, United States of Amer-ica (USA) for two years. He worked in the nutrition de-partment of the farm where he obtained his experien-clear he said. Inocencsio said that their invention is

capable of decreasing feed-stock consumption by hogs and chickens up to 30 per-cent.

Their invention is now used on farms in Davao del Sur.

“We customize the formula depending on the needs of the animal,” Benedicto said, adding that their products are re-search-based.

Currently , the inven-tors have their own concept store in Digos City.

The two inventors are developing a formula that will increase milk produc-tion of cows in Davao del Sur.

The organic formula, ac-cording to Raman, is added to the feedstock of cows.

“We have tested it on 17 cows. From 51 liters extracted from cows in the morning and 30 in the af-ternoon, with our formula, it increased to 90 liters in the morning and 87 liters in the afternoon.”

crc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

tion chambers. These deposits can cause knocking or pinging, run-on or reduced perfor-mance, particularly if your car has driven over 25,000 kilome-ters. Deposits on carburettors, fuel injectors and intake valves can cause your car to produce higher emissions, may begin to hesitate and stutter during acceleration, knock or lose power.”

In contrast, included in the test was an eight year old car with 107,000 kilometers of mileage consistently using Caltex scored a near perfect 9.8 in intake valve deposit (IVD) cleanliness scale of 1-10 based on rating from the Coordinat-ing Research Council (CRC) in the US.

During the tests, cars with engines that showed valves, spark plugs and combustion chambers with heavy deposits were fueled with Caltex with Techron for five days. Boro-scope tests were then again conducted afterwards and showed significant gains in engine cleanliness. A car with a clean fuel system is more responsive than a car that is choked up with deposits. Few-er deposits mean less chance of deposit-related engine problems.

Only Caltex has Techron, a powerful fuel additive based on the unique compound

called polyetheramine (PEA) that works at the molecular level to prevent and clean de-posits left behind by other fuel brands. Other deposit control additives may clean the en-gine’s intake system but con-tribute to combustion cham-ber deposits. These deposits can cause an engine to need a higher octane fuel to avoid knocking and run-on, or loss in performance. In contrast, Techron is not only effective in fuel system deposit control, it also minimizes build-up of combustion chamber deposits.

Caltex with Techron gives motorists five benefits. First, is maximized power. Test bench data shows that deposit build up in critical engine parts due to the use of inferior fuel can result to about six percent power loss. The Techron in Caltex helps clean up these de-posits resulting to restoration of lost power.

Second, improved fuel economy because Techron re-moves performance-robbing deposits. Cars perform best when vital engine parts are kept clean. Fuel economy is restored when deposits are removed from the fuel system. A clean engine burns fuel more completely, getting more en-ergy from every drop of fuel, resulting in longer distances travelled.

paign operation has also to contend with the prob-lem of owners catching up

with th team tyo demand the release if their dogs which the yeam refuses to

do.Pinili urges owners to

be responsible with their

dogs and not let them roam the streets. [ABF]

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014

LOGGING – whether le-gal or illegal – is one of the primary culprits of

the fast disappearance of the country’s forest resources.

“Logging is most ecologi-cally destructive in the moun-tains,” wrote multi-awarded science journalist Alan Ro-bles in an article circulated by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ). “It is next to impossi-ble to replant trees on rocky mountainsides once their thin skin of topsoil has been washed away.”

The tragedy that hap-pened in the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro a few years back was a proof of the havoc caused by ex-cessive mountain logging. Floods and landslides buried more than 1,000 people and a thousand more missing.

Sean McDonagh, a priest who worked in the area, be-lieved deforestation magni-fied the threat, since large surfaces of rainforest in the upper portions have been converted into pineapple plantations.

“The deforestation was literally criminal,” McDough decried. “If the rainforest in the area had been left intact, even 12 hours of continuous rain would not cause the dev-astation.”

Cutting and processing of the logs cut from the forest constitute a big industry. But it creates an environmental hazard in areas where it is done. “The destructive of logging stems from its un-sustainable nature,” Robles explained. “It is an extractive industry that destroys forest resources at a much faster pace than they can be re-placed by nature’s regenera-tive capacity.”

In his article, Robles further wrote: “Even refor-estation (which most loggers don’t bother to do after they have mowed down their concessions) doesn’t restore

the ecological balance and diversity because the pro-cess of logging itself destroys so much. Loggers bulldoze roads by cutting a swath through the jungles. And when the trees are cut, they are dragged across the frag-ile undergrowth, destroying saplings and other vegeta-tion.”

Logging is just one of the culprits. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said oth-er causes of deforestation in the country include forest fires, natural calamities (like earthquake and volcano eruption), as well as conver-sion to agricultural lands, hu-man settlements and other land uses brought about by urbanization and increasing population pressure.

“An increase in popula-tion density, whether due to natural increase or migra-tion, heightens the proba-bility of deforestation in any given area,” writes Jonathan Nash in a briefing paper.

Additional threats to Philippine forests come from mining operations, collec-tion of fuelwood, and slash-and-burn farming practiced by kaingineros. “These mi-grant farmers attack virgin forest lands to cultivate the rich soil, which they quickly deplete,” said Harold R. Wat-son, recipient of the 1985 Ramon Magsaysay Award for peace and international understanding. “Then, they move on, looking for more. One day, there is no more (ar-eas to look for).”

These are the main rea-sons why the Philippines is now almost completely de-void of its forests. According to the UN Food and Agricul-ture Organization (FAO) 25.7 percent or about 7,665,000 hectares of the country’s to-tal land area of 30 million hectares is forested. Of this, only 11.2 percent (861,000) hectares) is classified as pri-

mary forest. Between 1990 and 2010,

the Philippines lost an av-erage of 54,750 hectares or 0.83 percent per year. “Most of the (Philippines’) once rich forest are gone,” said the FAO publication, Sustainable For-est Management. “Forest re-covery, through natural and artificial means, never coped with the destruction rate.”

In February 2011, Pres-ident Benigno C. Aquino III, signed Executive Order 23, which declared a morato-rium on “the cutting and harvesting of timber in all natural and residual forests” throughout the country.

More often than not, de-forestation is often equated with calamities like land-slides and flash floods. In its editorial, Philippine Daily Inquirer deplored: “In just one decade, 2000 to 2010, 27 floods and 17 landslides occurred, affecting about 1.6 million people each year and destroying crops and infrastructure worth tens of million pesos a year. In all these floods and landslides, deforestation was a major factor. Bald mountains, de-pleted forests and barren watersheds caused rainwa-ter to flow down and flood the plains.”

But there’s more to de-forestation than just flash floods and landslides. De-forestation also results to declining crop yields, loss of vital soil nutrients, and deg-radation of surrounding eco-systems.

“Trees serve as barriers to soil erosion and ensure that vital nutrients are nat-urally returned to the soil,” explains Nash. “In many tropical areas, valuable soil erodes and crop yields can quickly decline when trees are cleared to make way for agriculture or livestock. Eroded soil often ends up in steams and rivers, leading to siltation, contamination, and

stagnation. These processes, in turn, disrupt aquatic eco-systems, often killing fish and other aquatic organisms.”

In their collaborative book, Soil Erosion: Quiet Crisis in the World Econo-my, authors Lester R. Brown and Edward C. Wolf contend: “The loss of topsoil affects the ability to grow food in two ways. It reduces the in-herent productivity of land, both through the loss of nu-trients and degradation of the physical structure. It also increases the costs of food production.”

If forests are continued to be cut, sources of future medicine would be in jeopar-dy. “As forests are destroyed, degraded, or fragmented, many of the valuable species of plants and animals – any number o which contain pre-cious genetic resources that could lead to new pharma-ceuticals or provide import-ant traditional medicine – are threatened or lost forever,” Nash claims.

Deforestation also means spreading of tropical diseases and reduced quanti-ties of safe water. The spread of some potentially fatal tropical diseases like malar-ia, dengue fever, and cholera often follows paths of defor-estation. As some forest ani-mal species such as birds and bats disappear, insect popu-lations swell, facilitating the transmission of disease.

Watersheds that are de-forested lose their ability to provide adequate amounts of water consistently. “If the forest perishes, so will the life of people,” said Diomedes De-mit, one of the farmers from Bukidnon who joined the so-called ‘Fast for the Forests’ in Manila some decades ago. “The trees are our source of life. Without trees, there will be no water. If there is no wa-ter, there will be no life.”

Deforestation exacer-bates climate change. For-

ests reportedly contain 40 percent of all stored carbon, more than any other terres-trial ecosystem, and thus help buffer against global warming. Land-use change – of which tropical deforesta-tion is the most significant component – was responsi-ble for roughly 20 percent of human-induced carbon emissions during the 1990s.

“If left unchecked, glob-al warming could melt polar ice caps, raising sea levels by several feet and threatening low-lying countries,” Nash warns. “Such a development would be devastating for many countries.” And that includes the Philippines, which is composed of 7,100 islands.

Ex-Senator Heherson Alvarez, who was formerly head of the environment de-partment, once commented that if deforestation is not soon curbed, time would come that “we will be trav-eling to Manila and around

Central Luzon by ban-cas (outriggers).”

In 1990s, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines warned against an ecological debacle in the country should deforesta-tion continued unabated. No one listened; it was busi-ness as usual.

Ben Malayang III, pres-ident of Silliman State Uni-versity, commented: “That the forest, the foundations of our forests, or whatever for-ests remain in the country, is not a matter of technical forestry, but rather a symp-tom, or an indication, or a measure, of the failure of our political and social systems.”

The signs are now writ-ten on the wall! “The Aqui-no administration has to muster the political will and undertake as soon as possi-ble a massive reforestation program covering all the severely deforested areas in the country,” the Inquir-er editorial urged.

11EDGEDAVAO

ENVIRONMENT

WHERE HAVE ALL OUR FORESTS GONE?

TEXT and PHOTOS By GERRY T. ESTRERA

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 201412 CLASSIFIEDEDGEDavao Davao Partners

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INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014

EDGEDAVAOSPECIAL FEATURE

Vibrant and colorfulA look back atPark Inn by Radisson Davao’sfirst year

DAVAO CITY’S hotel accommodation and tourism infrastructure capacity continues to grow with the coming of big corporate players and global brands. Its country charm, busy seaport, bustling com-mercial centers, and progressive economic policies made Davao an anchor destination for business in the Philippines, attracting invest-ments in facilities which cater to corporate needs.

One of the established players that have taken notice of Davao’s rise as a MICE (Meetings, In-centives, Conventions, Events/Exhibitions) hub is Park Inn by Radisson, a hotel brand with an ex-isting portfolio of 129 ho-tels across Europe, North America, Canada, and the Middle East. Davao City, the fore-runner in business, tour-ism and investment in the southern Philippines, made another milestone with the opening the first Park Inn hotel in Asia Pa-cific. Park Inn by Radisson is Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group’s internationally successful mid-scale lim-ited service concept. It is a segment-leading brand with a 26 year track record of delivering quality guest experience, focusing on the modern essentials of today’s business and lei-sure travelers. The brand has expanded its global presence in Asia Pacific, beginning with the for-mal opening of Park Inn by Radisson Davao last

March 22, 2013. For the property in the Philippines, Carlson Re-zidor Hotel Group part-nered with SM Hotels and Conventions  Corporation --- a subsidiary of SM In-vestments Corporation. The company operates four hotels and two con-vention centers across the Philippines, and one full-service beach and country club in Luzon. Adding Color to Life Park Inn by Radisson Davao opened for busi-ness in time for the city’s hosting of the 2013 MICE Convention. The hotel was one of the leading partner-hotels for the said ven-ture  and served as venue for some key activities. Park Inn by Radis-son Davao has 165 Stan-dard Rooms, 33 Superior Rooms and 6 Junior Suites which all feature modern and vibrant décor. Situ-ated right next to SMX Convention Center and SM Lanang Premier Mall, the hotel is the most ideal choice for business and leisure travellers who are looking for convenient, trendy, and affordable accommodation. The fa-cilities and values take

Park Inn by Radisson Davao’s all-day dining restaurant RBG.

Park Inn by Radisson Davao’s colorful and modern lobby.

Park Inn by Radisson Davao’s meeting room.

Service with a smile at Park Inn by Radisson Davao.

FVIBRANT, A4

DAVAO experienced pre-mium entertainment as GMA’s A-listers Dingdong Dantes, Marian Rivera, Dennis Trillo, and Regine Velasquez lead a star-stud-ded entourage and make their way to the Crown Jewel of Mindanao for its annual Araw ng Dabaw celebration. Last March 14, Friday, Jennylyn Mercado, Yas-mien Kurdi, and Ervic Vijandre from the pri-metime series Rhodora X invaded Gaisano Mall of Toril and Gaisano Mall of Davao. GMA Primetime King Dingdong Dantes joined them in the Gai-sano Mall of Davao for a Kapuso Fans Day after coming from an outreach activity in Zonta Elemen-tary School, Isla Verde, Sta. Ana District, Davao City. The next day, March 15, the unparalled singing prowess of Asia’s Song-bird Regine Velasquez conquered the Activity Area of the Abreeza Mall as she takes on her first ever Kapuso Fans’ Day for all for her Dabawenyo. The Songbird belted out her most popular hits as well as hosted a Sing-a-la-Regine competition where audience members sang Regine’s hits to win prizes. Regine’s show was fol-lowed by another Kapuso Mall Show at the NCCC Mall that afternoon fea-turing Marian Rivera and her leading man in the GMA Primetime series Carmela Ang Pinaka-magandang Babae sa Mundong Ibabaw, Alden Richards. Anak Ko ‘Yan

finalist James Wright, who sang the theme song of the series Sana’y Ikaw, also performed at the event which was hosted by

comedian-impersonator Boobay. Marian and Alden also led stars in Sunday’s float parade along with other Kapuso stars. Present in the float parade are The Borrowed Wife’’s Camille Prats and Rafael Rosell; Paraiso Ko’y Ikaw’s Kim Rodriguez and Kristof-fer Martin; Innamorata’s Max Collins and Luis Alandy; and Villa Qui-natana’s Janine Gutier-rez, Sunshine Dizon, and Lucho Ayala. Back-to-back Kapuso mall shows followed with Camille, Rafael, Kim, Kristoffer, Dennis Trillo and Lauren Young at SM City Davao; and with Ja-nine, Sunshine, Max, Luis, and Lucho at Gaisano Grand Citimall Davao.

SM LANANG PREMIER and Metrobank Foundation, in part-nership with the National Commission of Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Committee on Architecture and Design, will present an exhibit of winning artworks at the Lower Ground Level, SM Lanang Premier from March 20 to 22, 2014. Called ‘Art MADE Public,’ the exhibit will showcase the winning entries of selected former winners of Metrobank Art and Design Excellence (MADE) National Competitions since 1989. The exhibit will also involve the participation of persons with disabilities by showcasing their works of art. More than 30 paintings will be put on display during the 3-day exhibit. Set up by Metrobank Foun-dation in 1984, MADE is a com-petition in painting, sculpture, architecture and interior design that aims to promote Philip-pine art and help launch the careers of its winners. ‘Art MADE Public’ will be officially launched on March 20 at 6:00 pm. MADE artists, guests from the government, SM and Metrobank executives are expected to attend the launch. Alongside the exhibit, a lecture series for students will be held on March 21 from 1:00pm to 4:30pm. Among the top-ics to be discussed include Visual Arts, Sculpture, Interior De-sign, Architecture and a special topic on present day issues on tourism and heritage and the benefits of community par-ticipation in conservation and cultural tourism. On the last day of the exhibit, March 22, a ‘HeArt for Heal-ing Art Workshop for Children with Autism’ will be conduct-ed by Dr. Grace Evangelista from 1:30pm-5:00pm. It is a proj-ect in collaboration with Autism Society of the Philippines and MADE N.O.W. To appeal to a broader audience, the exhibit was earlier held at SM Aura Premier, SM The Block, SM City Iloilo and SM City Cagayan de Oro, and will have its final run at SM Lanang Premier. For inquiries about MADE, lectures and workshop, contact MADE Secretariat at (02)898-8856 or email Louise.calicdan@metrobank.com.ph. You may also visit SM Lanang Premier on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for event updates.

ASUS showcases their tablets in Davao City’s Big Blowout event in Gaisano Mall from March 24 – 31, 2014. Endusers can experience ASUS Tablets such as the MeMO Pad HD7 and Fonepad 7 Dual SIM. Buyers can also get freebies such as 4GB memory card if they purchase an ASUS MeMO Pad HD7 and 8GB memory card if they purchase ASUS Fonepad 7 dual SIM and other ASUS freebies during the event. ASUS will also hold fun games and activities on March 28, 2014 where game participants get a chance to take home a brand new ASUS Tablet. Endusers who visit the ASUS booth during this day can also enjoy free 1-minute international long distance calls to their loved ones using the ASUS Fone-pad 7 dual SIM.

Fonepad 7 ME175CG Dual SIMThe Fonepad 7 is a 7-inch phablet with built-in 3G connectivity and Dual SIM phone functionality that de-livers best value for a mobile device. Fonepad 7 features an HD IPS display for a sharp, vivid picture and a high-performance Intel Atom Z2520 1.2GHz processor to ensure a responsive and smooth experience. Its 3G connectivity further enhances performance and makes web browsing, social networking, and video calls fast and fluid. The Fonepad 7 Dual SIM is available at Php8,995.

ASUS MeMO Pad™ HD 7The ASUS MeMO Pad™ HD 7 has a quad-core processor and 1GB RAM for smooth social networking and web browsing. The 7-inch display has a 1280 x 800 native resolution for crisp text and images, and IPS technology for accurate, vibrant colors with 170-degree wide viewing angles. MeMO Pad™ HD 7 also features enhanced sound, courtesy of ASUS Son-icMaster audio technology. The MeMO Pad HD7 is available for Php6,995.

A2 INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014EDGEDAVAO

‘Art MADE Public’ at SM Lanang Premier on March 20 to 22

ASUS to showcase tablets in Big Blowout in Davao City

UP AND ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT

GMA stars shine in Araw ng Dabaw

FOR three years in a row, “Listed,” has been the Phil-ippines’ premiere lifestyle authority—but starting this March 25, the show will be taking things to whole new levels and daring viewers to take on the high road in and beyond the Metro through a bigger, better, and bolder fourth season. Returning as hosts of “Listed’s” fourth season are lifestylistas Karen Pamintu-an and Walter Demesa who are set to present exciting scenes, steals, and experi-ences. Going into their fourth season, Karen and Walter also have a different zest for making things interesting on set. With more sponta-neity this season, the two are more than eager to get started. Walter particularly ex-pressed how what’s coming up is something fun that he looks forward to. “It wakes you up, because you’re laughing so much,” he said. “Especially this season, be-cause there’s no script.” Karen, who has been with the program since the start,

is also still very happy to be working on the new season. “It’s not hard to keep your energy up, because it’s so much fun,” she said. The duo will be taking on the booming lifestyle scene in Manila and celebrating the finer things in life, going into daring adven-tures through brand new segments that are sure to offer the audience an in-depth and intriguing look into how to live it up. The show’s new season will also be bringing back the “ B u c k e t List,” this time more inter ac t ive and more ex-citing. In this segment, K a r e n a n d

Wal-

ter will be completing items on netizens’ and their own bucket lists, jumping into the all s o r t s o f funny

situ-

ations. Get a chance to meet the “Listed’s” hosts Karen and Walter at the third and final leg of the Oscars Big Quiz Night happening at Aracama, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig this Friday. Join in the fun and put your film expertise to the test through three trivia rounds designed for groups of

three to five people. To participate, simply regis-ter at the venue entrance before the games start at 7:30pm. All this and more

will be coming up as “Listed’s” brand new season takes

off. Don’t miss out on the pilot episode of the fourth sea-son this March 25 at 9:00pm on the Life-style Network (Sky-Cable channel 52).

For updates, visit and like the Lifestyle Net-

work’s official Facebook page (www.facebook.

com/LifestyleNetwork).

AFTER playing “Dyosa,” national sweetheart Anne Curtis resolved she wouldn’t do an-other fantaserye. But “Dyesebel” changed her mind. “I wasn’t sure I could still do another fantaserye af-ter Dyosa. Fantaseryes are challenging because of the costume changes and the prosthetics,” explains Anne in “Tapatan Ni Tunying” air-ing this Thursday (Mar 20). “But Dyesebel is an iconic character. It is a huge part of Philippine literature. So I took back what I said and agreed to do the project, because it’s Dyesebel,” she says. Anne, who has been in showbiz for 17 years, be-lieves her hard work has paid off after she got one of her dream roles. Meanwhile, Sen. Lito Lapid insists in a separate interview that he prefers to make movies than to en-gage in debates with his fel-low senators. “I like doing movies. I pre-fer to be dragged by horses and do stunts. And people will not doubt my earnings

from doing movies,” the senator and former actor explains. Sen. Lito also answers is-sues about his wealth. When asked about his controver-

sial 50-hectare land prop-erty in Porac, Pampanga, he quips, “I was once a super-star, right?” Don’t miss “Tapatan ni Tu-nying” (TNT) this Thursday

(Mar 20), 4:45 PM on ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya Gold. For updates, follow @TNTunying on Twitter and Instagram, or like its Facebook page www.facebook.com/TNTunying.

INdulge! A3VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014EDGEDAVAO

‘Listed’ takes life to new heights with the launch of its fourth season

Anne Curtis:I couldn’t refuse ‘Dyesebel’

Hot or Not?

Beyonce was spot-ted wearing a fancy football mini dress. Although the singer can wear almost any-thing you throw at her, it may seem the look is lost and confused. Did she nail sport-meets-club-wear with this Tom Ford top or is it way too Vegas-meets-Green-Bay?

PG 13

R 13

R 16

PG 1312:00 | 2:30 | 5:00 | 7:30 | 10:00 LFS

R-16

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE 2D

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

NEED FOR SPEED 2D

12:25 | 2:20 | 4:15 | 6:10 | 8:05 | 10:00 LFS

DEVIL'S DUE 2D

Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green

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

MAKE YOUR MOVE 2D

BoA Kwon, Derek Hough

Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper

Allison Miller, Zach Gilford

A4 INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014EDGEDAVAOSPECIAL FEATURE

after the Adding Color to Life  brand philosophy of a fun, friendly and hassle-free guest experience. The hotel has 4 event spaces for formal and in-formal functions. The col-orful  interiors, free high speed internet access, smart services and menu options are designed to make meetings more dy-namic. RBG (short for Restau-rant, Bar & Grill) is the hotel’s all-day dining out-let that  can also accom-modate social events or formal gatherings. This bold new bar and grill concept delivers buzz and ambience, great food and friendly service in a mod-ern setting. The vibrant décor add life and energy to the casual scenery, while the cozy ambiance encourages social interac-tion among guests. The glass patio doors open to the al fresco area, allowing diners to enjoy the fresh air and garden. Destination CampaignIn recognition of the Phil-ippines as the location of the first “next genera-tion” mid-scale Park Inn brand to be established in Asia Pacific, the hotel launched an online photo contest entitled, “How does the Philippines add

color to your life?” The photo competition, which ran from April to June 2013,  was aimed at gen-erating buzz about the sights and sounds around the destination by gather-ing colorful pictures of the Philippines. This social media initiative, which used Facebook as a plat-form, was adapted from the hotel’s  Adding Color to Life brand service phi-losophy, in conjunction with the strong More Fun in the Philippines tourism campaign. “We wanted to encour-age Filipinos and travelers to show the world why it’s more fun in the Philip-pines,” shares  General Manager Arun Arora. Rising Star of the YearNow a year in operation, Park Inn by Radisson Davao maintains its place-ment within the top 3 of their primary  competi-tors set. The property also ranks as one of the top 5 hotels in the city on Tri-pAdvisor. One of the highlights from last year is the hotel’s recognition from Carl-son Rezidor Hotel Group as the Rising Star of the Year. This award recog-nizes an exceptional hotel that is newly opened, and has achieved excellent re-

sults since its opening. The award was given in the General Managers Con-ference in Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu. Responsible Business Part of the hotel’s brand commitment is to take the lead in being a responsible business taking care of the safety and well-being of employees, guests, com-munity and the environ-ment. This year, Park Inn by

Radisson Davao’s par-ticipation began with the Children at Risk Program of the Carlson Rezidor Asia Pacific Region. For the entire month of September, Park Inn by Radisson Davao focused their efforts on helping the children from the House of Hope, a shelter for kids with cancer. The staff not only shared pre-loved clothes and toys, but also raised funds through the “My Age, My Pledge”

drive. The children were also invited for hotel im-mersion, followed by a col-orful party hosted by the staff. “In lieu of the tradi-tional office parties, our team chose to gather and celebrate Christmas at the House of Hope to bring cheer and joy to the kids. After all, Christmas is, first and foremost, for the children,” says Mr. Arora Making Their Mark

 Collaboration is the key.  “The hotel has al-ready  made several mile-stones during its first year. We are grateful to all our guests,  clients, friends from the media  and the entire community for their support and trust. Aside from that, it was also through each staff’s contribution that we were able to make our mark and reach this far in terms of business and operations,” Mr. Arora concludes.

Park Inn by Radisson Davao’s Standard Room with its king-sized bed.

Great food and friendly service in a modern setting at RBG.

Park Inn by Radisson Davao’s pool.

Vibrant...FFROM A1

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014 13

3/14,21,28

Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late ROBERT TONGSON GALLANO has been the subject of an EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE WITH WAIVER OF RIGHTS executed by his heirs per Doc. No.377; Page No. 76; Book No. X; Series of 2014 of the NOTARY PUBLIC MARIANO L. APAO, JR.

LEGAL NOTICE

EDGEDAVAO

COMPETITIVE EDGE

SILICON Valley entre-preneur Bowei Gai has emerged with a new

project, the World Start-up Wiki, after being holed up with his team since December 2013 in Cebu, Philippines. The World Startup Wiki that seeks to build startup databases on all countries first focuses

on the Philippines and has gone live in Moscow during the opening of the Global Entrepreneur Congress last March 17, 2014.

Entrepreneurs can look up list of incubators, nota-ble startups, available tal-ent to costs or everything one needs to know before building a startup in the

Philippines. Aside from data on the country and its startups, Gai’s project al-lows entrepreneurs to look up potential investors and vice versa.

The 28-year-old came from Silicon Valley where he sold his company for millions of dollars to Linke-dIn. Gai visited the Philip-pines after globetrotting for his World Startup Report in 2013 that he first presented during the Geeks on a Beach conference in Boracay.

“We helped him setup a small team of volunteers and consultants in Cebu for his WSW project,” said Cebu-based Tina Amper of TechTalks.ph who point-ed to the experience as an example of collaboration between experienced en-trepreneurs and sharp lo-cal talents who are eager to learn and can meet fast-paced, world-class type of business practices.

“We look forward to more of such collabora-tion,” Amper said, because this allows Filipinos to experience Silicon Valley practices without leaving Cebu. This organic process has become like our own homegrown version of the

“Startup Chile” program where foreigners are en-ticed to visit Chile to set-up businesses.

“Our visitors like Bo-wei also experience the richness of Filipino culture -- the food, laughter and endless celebrations.”

In Cebu, observed Am-per, “the normally hard-charging 24-hour working Gai finds occasions to stop and celebrate birthdays and work in exotic places as the beach and beach-front restaurants.”

This awesome work-

play environment comes with the lower cost of build-ing startups and foreign-er-friendly culture, some-thing attractive to entrepre-neurs from the Silicon Val-ley and other more mature startup communities in the United States and Europe.

From left to right: Tina Amper, organizer Geeks On A Beach (GOAB), Bowei Gai, founder World Startup Report and World Startup Wiki.

Silicon Valley entrepreneur works with Cebu team on startup project

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 201414 SPORTS EDGEDAVAO

BOSTON (AP) -- The word came shortly before tipoff: LeBron

James wouldn’t be playing.Big 4th pushes C’s past

LeBron-less Heat, 101-96 Comcast SportsNet New England

Good news for Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens. But not as good as the news his team delivered down the stretch.

Jeff Green’s 3-pointer broke a 94-94 tie with 2:32 left and Rajon Rondo hit two running baseline shots in the last two minutes as the Celtics broke a five-game losing streak with a 101-96 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.

Stevens had prepared to face James, who scored 43 points in a 100-96 win over the Cleveland Cava-liers the previous night. But when he learned that James would sit out with back spasms, ‘’you just move on to what’s next,’’ he said.

What came next for the Celtics was a poor first quarter in which they made 9 of 27 shots, a better sec-ond quarter and a second half in which they out-scored the Heat 48-37.

‘’We were down 12’’ after the first quarter, Ste-vens said. ‘’And then we hit 60 percent of our shots the rest of the way and that’s why we won.’’

That and the Heat’s second-half shooting prob-lems. They sank 40 percent of their attempts in that half after hitting 56.5 percent. In the second half, Chris Bosh made 1 of 6 shots and Dwy-ane Wade hit 2 of 9.

‘’I was just off,’’ Wade said as James sat in the op-posite corner of the locker room dressed in jeans, a gray T-shirt and dark green ski cap while eating pasta.

‘’I had opportunities,’’ Wade said with a smile. ‘’I just couldn’t go my normal 60 percent shooting self.’’

Rondo made his shots when the Celtics needed them, continuing to regain his skills since returning Jan. 17, almost a year after tearing the anterior cru-ciate ligament in his right knee.

‘’That’s the most frus-trating part of my game that hasn’t come back,’’ he said of sinking floaters near the basket. ‘’I expect-ed it to be there. I made two tonight and have to continue to work on it.’’

He finished with nine points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds. Avery Brad-ley led Boston with 23 points and career highs of six 3-pointers and nine 3-point attempts. Brandon Bass added 18 points.

‘’I just have that confi-dence in my shot,’’ Brad-ley said. ‘’We didn’t only execute at the end of this game but we played great defense.’’

The Heat, who had

won their previous two games after losing five of six, were led by Wade with 17 points, Chris Anders-en with 16, and Ray Allen and UdonisHaslem with 14 each.

‘’We aren’t used to play-ing so unstable,’’ Bosh said. ‘’We need to pick it up.’’

Miami remained in sec-ond place in the Eastern Conference, three games behind Indiana, which lost to the New York Knicks.

The Heat would have had a much better chance to gain on the Pacers had James played. But coach Eric Spoelstra kept him out against one of the NBA’s worst teams because of the back problem.

‘’It was sore in the walkthrough today, but he was able to go through it so I didn’t really think much of it,’’ Spoelstra said. ‘’Then it didn’t get much better by game time so it was a pret-ty easy decision.’’

AMBO Yapparcon of Puerto Princesa, Pala-wan ruled the Expert

and Pro-Open divisions in the 77th Araw ng Dabaw Cyclo-max Motocross competition held March 16 at the MotoX Davao race track at the Davao Crocodile Park in Ma-a.

Yapparcon beat Jeven La-grada of Loreto, Agusan Sur in both championship races while Dondon Capilitan of Di-gos City finished third in both exciting events witnessed by thousands of fans.

Malaybalay’s Glenn Lapuz and Juven Lagrada placed fourth and fifth, re-spectively in the Pro Open while Mlang’s Toby Buenaflor and Juven Lagrada finished fourth and fifth in the Expert.

Local bet Abu Mata of Team Phoenix Davao shared the limelight by winning both the Novice Lites and Novice Open races. Mata, son of Mo-tox Davao organizer Bok, out-classed Timoy Olmoguez of Bansalan and Michael Tapic of Davao in the finals of the Novice Open.

Olmoguez and Tapic fin-ished second and third, re-spectively. Mata also bested Tapic in the finals of the Nov-ice Lites with Jaspher Banot of Don Marcelino, Davao del Sur taking third place.

Mlang’s Toby Buenaflor and Juven settled for fourth and fifth in the Novice Open while Digos’ Jeff Razonable and Davao’s AJ Bubuli placed fourth and fifth in Novice Li-tes.

Mata also topped the KLX150 Novice race by out-racing Davao’s Tristan Galan-

to, Eric Leynes, Cyrus Ian Ristor and Dondon Awa in the finals. Galanto finished second, Leynes third, Ristor fourth and Awa fifth.

The other results:PEWEE50 – 1. Charlie

Pascua (Kabacan) 2. Kakay dela Piedra (Malaybalay) 3. Susie Magarang (Digos) 4. Elced Maningo (Gensan) 5. Ivan Roble (Bukidnon)

PEWEE65 – 1. Bilog Cabaya (Aleosan) 2. Nino Manacap (DC) 3. Joshua Ve-larde (Digos) 4. Stephen Gibon (Lurogan) 5. Charles Diano (Panabo)

MINI85 – 1. Terrence Na-pat (Mlang) 2. Joshua Velarde (Digos) 3. Vincent Calamun-gay (DC) 4. Nino Manacap (DC) 5. Tots Lumapaz (DC)

INTERMEDIATE – 1. Doy-doy Bandigan (Mati) 2. Mi-chael Tapic (DC) 3. Abu Mata (DC) 4. Juven Lagrada (Lore-to) 5. Angelo Pogosa (Mati)

PANTRA – 1. Felson Bac-ulpo (Bukidnon) 2. Burds Ja-mio (Tampakan) 3. Wender Pangan (Kabacan) 4. Jungle Cabuco (Bukidnon) 5. Duds Herman (Matanao)

ENDURO – 1. Glenn Lapuz (Bukidnon) 2. Tonton Fernandez (Midsayap) 3. Briliant Patricio (Kabacan) 4. Jed Luna (Tandag) 5. Eric Cordova (Digos)

KLX150 BEGINNER – 1. Eric Cordova (Digos) 2. Eric Leyens (DC) 3. Dondon Awa (DC) 4. Billy Rashmunda (DC) 5. Cryrus Ian Ristor (DC)

The one-day event was sponsored by the city govern-ment of Davao and Phoenix Petroleum Phils. – LITO DE-LOS REYES

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Tony Parker scored 25 points, Kawhi Leon-

ard added 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs pulled away from the Los Angeles Lak-ers on Wednesday night, winning 125-109 for their 11th consecutive victory.

Danny Green scored 16 points and Tim Duncan had 12 points and 16 rebounds for the NBA-leading Spurs, who haven’t lost since Feb. 21 while winning 14 of 15.

With their seventh straight victory over the Lakers dating to last sea-son’s playoffs, the Spurs opened a 1 1/2-game lead over Indiana for the league’s best record. San Antonio leads Oklahoma

City by two games atop the Western Conference.

Pau Gasol had 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for Los Angeles. Xavier Henry scored 24 points in the Lakers’ sixth loss in seven games.

Los Angeles has lost 20 of 26.

San Antonio held off a decent challenge from the miserable Lakers with strong shooting down the stretch and 14 second-half points from Leonard. Green and Manu Ginobili hit three 3-pointers apiece for the Spurs, who opened a three-game California road trip by calmly match-ing their longest winning streak of the season.

Kent Bazemore scored

13 points and hit three 3-pointers for the Lakers, who hadn’t played since their 34-point loss at San Antonio five days earlier. That win was the biggest in this long-standing rival-ry for the Spurs, who have followed up last spring’s four-game playoff sweep of Los Angeles with three straight wins this season.

Kobe Bryant has played against the Spurs just four times in the clubs’ last 12 meetings.

Green hit five of the Spurs’ 13 3-pointers in last week’s blowout, but the Lakers largely kept up with powerful San An-tonio in the rematch. Los Angeles led for stretches of the third quarter be-

fore San Antonio scored 18 points in roughly 3 1/2 minutes with big baskets from Parker and Leonard.

San Antonio matched its largest lead of the night at 108-97 on Duncan’s jumper with 6:03 left. Marco Belinelli and Park-er contributed big shots down the stretch as the Spurs pulled away.

The Lakers yielded 100 points for the 12th consecutive game and gave up 110 for the sev-enth straight game. Los Angeles is the Western Conference’s worst defen-sive team.

Robert Sacre had seven points and a career-high 11 rebounds for Los An-geles.

Celts melt Lebron-less Heat

Spurs notch 11th straight win

Yapparcon rules Araw motocross

OVER THE TOP. Los Ange-les Lakers center Pau Gasol, of Spain, puts up a shot as San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan defends during the first half of an NBA bas-ketball game, Wednesday (Thursday PHL Time), March 19, 2014, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

NO CONTROL. Boston Celtics center Kris Humphries (43) cannot control a rebound against Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem (40) and guard Dwyane Wade (3) in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Boston Wednesday (Thursday PHL Time), March 19, 2014. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014 15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO SPORTS

Michael “Hammer Fist” Farenas (37-4-4, 29 knockouts)

of the Philippines and Hec-tor Velazquez (56-20-3, 38 KOs) of Mexico both made the 130 pounds limit for their super featherweight clash at the Fil Oil Flying V Arena in San Juan. The two combatants took two dif-ferent routes to get there but the fight for the vacant WBC ABCO title will go on as planned.

Farenas was the first fighter to weigh in during the event held at the Lan-caster Hotel in Shaw Bou-levard. He tipped the scales at 130.5 pounds, and then dropped his boxers to get inside the 130 pounds limit.

Velazquez on the oth-er hand weighed in at 135 pounds, which was already

in the lightweight division. Before the proceedings, his handler was already tell-ing people that the fighter will not make weight as he weighed differently with the Games and Amuse-ments Board’s scale.

The Mexican also stripped completely naked, only covered by the Mex-ican flag, but the scale re-fused to be his friend.

Velazquez, who once fought Manny Pacquiao, quickly left the area and proceeded directly to the hotel’s sauna in an attempt to drop pounds fast. If not, he would have been penal-ized 10% of his purse and required to wear 10 ounce gloves while the power punching Farenas would wear 8 ounce gloves.

Velazquez made his

way back to the weigh-ing area after an hour, his brow dripping with sweat. He weighed in again but it still was not enough as he tipped the scales at 132 pounds. Dejected, he once against packed his bag to sweat out some more.

On his third try, two hours after the initial weigh in, Velazquez finally made the 130 pound limit.

While his opponent was struggling to make weight, Farenas was already inside his room, taking in fluids and resting for their upcom-ing fight. Velazquez took the bout against Farenas in short notice so it would have been understandable if he weighed in one or two pounds overweight. How-ever, five pounds over the limit simply meant that

Velazquez did not cut back on food or water intake pri-or to the weigh in.

Shedding five pounds that quick means that he had a lot of fluids inside his body.

Even if the Mexican spent extra two hours to drop the weight, Velazquez said he’s going to give Fare-nas a tough fight.

“I still want to continue fighting,” Velazquez said through a translator. “My dream is to have one more shot at a world title before I retire from boxing and to do that, I have to beat Fare-nas.”

The fight card present-ed by MAG PACMAN Box-ing International Promo-tions will be aired on GMA 7 on March 22 right after Eat Bulaga.

Farenas foe barely makes weight

THE Philippine Football Federa-tion was saddened

by a fight that broke out between parents and players during a youth football tournament in Cebu last Sunday.

“Like any football lover, I am just sad that something like this can happen especially in-volving the youth,” PFF President Mariano Ara-neta told InterAksyon.com.

“Spectators should never be inside the foot-ball field during a match much more to be in-volved in the melee.”

Alcoy FC and Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu were playing in an Under-18 football match last Sunday in the 16th Aboitiz Cup when a brawl happened in the middle of the game which was allegedly sparked by some par-ents of SHS-AdC players.

Photos of Sun.Star Cebu, which first report-ed the incident, showed

that one man, known as parent of one of the SHS-AdC players, entered the pitch to attack the Alcoy goalkeeper.

Three players of Al-coy who got hurt during the fight are reportedly preparing to file child abuse charges against those who attacked them.

Araneta said that the PFF will also review the incident for possible fur-ther sanctions after the investigation done by the Cebu Footbal Asso-ciation.

“Cebu FA are doing the investigation since its under their jurisdic-tion. They will give us their report once its fin-ished,” Araneta said.

The CFA has report-edly disqualified the two squads from the tourna-ment while six-month bans were also slapped against the coaches and players involved in the brawl. Sanctions against those who ignited the brawl will also be given.

PFF saddened by brawl in Cebu

THE Aboitiz Founda-tion has expressed its dismay over

a brawl that broke out during a youth football tournament it organized in Cebu last weekend.

“We are very con-cerned about the in-cident that happened during a football game in the Aboitiz Cup last Sun-day and will not condone this unacceptable behav-ior,” the company wrote in a statement on its offi-cial Facebook page.

“The Cebu Football Association (CFA), the or-ganizer and implementer of the Football Cup, is currently investigating the matter and will send us their report once it is complete.

Sun.Star Cebu first re-ported the brawl which involved parents and players during an Un-der-18 football match between Alcoy FC and Sacred Heart School-Ate-neo de Cebu. Three play-ers of Alcoy were hurt during the fight which was allegedly sparked by the furious parents of the SHS-AdC players. Photos of the incident spread on social media last Tues-day.

“Meanwhile, we wish for the speedy recovery of those who were hurt, especially the children, during the incident,” the Aboitiz statement con-tinued.

“We trust that the CFA will take the right and immediate measures to prevent similar incidents from happening in the fu-ture.”

“The Aboitiz Football Cup was created 16 years ago to promote the values of teamwork, discipline, sportsmanship, and even education itself, among the youth and hope that these values will contin-ue to be upheld.”

The CFA has report-edly disqualified the two squads in the tourna-ment while six-month bans were also slapped against the coaches and players involved in the brawl. It will also for-ward the sanctions to the Philippine Football Federation, which could impose a nationwide ban against the conc

Members of Alcoy who were hurt in the in-cident will also reported-ly file child abuse charges against the parents who attacked them.

Aboitiz Foundation expresses dismay

LE Tour de Filipinas re-turns in April with an-other highlight stage

that would challenge the speed-riding skills and en-durance on flat and well-paved roads of 75 foreign and local riders seeing ac-tion in the fifth edition of the four-day International Cycling Union event on the Asia Tour calendar.

To be called the “Tri-ple-X Stage” that will serve as a signature race for new Le Tour de Filipinas orga-nizer Jerry Jara, the cyclists from 15 teams will take off from Subic and will tackle three of the country’s fin-est and most modern high-ways—Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and the brand new Tar-lac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX)—on their way to the finish in Ca-banatuan City.

The stretch covering 182.5 kilometers will be the second stage of the Le Tour that for its 2014 edition has forged principal partner-ships with Air 21, SCTEX, NLEX, TPLEX, SMART and Victory Liner.

“It’s green and go for

the Fifth Le Tour de Fili-pinas. Preparations are in place and we are all excited with how the complexion of the race would be this time with the Triple-X Stage,” said Jara, the Air 21 presi-dent who was designated by cycling godfather Al-berto Lina to organize this year’s Le Tour which will cover a total of 616 kilome-ters.

From the northern tip of Luzon in the two previous editions, the 2014 Le Tour goes down to Central Luzon for its kickoff stage, a 152.9 kilometers ride from Clark in Pampanga to Olongapo City on April 21. Stage Two marks history through the Olongapo City to Cabanatu-an City route via SCTEX and TPLEX. Stage Three on April 23 will be from Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija, one of the hotbeds of cycling in the country, over the foothills of the Sierra Madre on to Dal-ton Pass to the Bayombong, Nueva Viscaya, finish cover-ing 146.6 kms.

And then the stage the Le Tour is known for — the “Northern Alps” Stage Four from Bayombong to Ba-guio City over a 132.7-km

roller-coaster ride on the Cordillera’s through Kaya-pa Highway and Ambuklao Dam.

Competing in the 2014 Le Tour are foreign teams Satalyst Giant Racing Team (Australia), CCN Cycling Team (Brunei), Pegasus Continental Team (Indone-sia), TSR Continental Team (Iran), Polygon Sweet Nice (Ireland), Aisan Racing Team (Japan), Team Ukyo (Japan), Track Team Astana (Kazakhstan), Terengga-nu Pro Asia Cycling Team (Malaysia), Attila Cycling Club (Mongolia), OCBC Sin-gapore Continental Cycling Team (Singapore), and UAE Cycling Team (UAE). The lo-cal challenge will be led by 7-Eleven Road Bike Philip-pines and Standard Insur-ance Cycling Team com-posed of Philippine Navy.

Le Tour de Filipinas is presented by Air 21 in part-nership with SMART and Victory Liner; road partners North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), Tarlac-Pangasin-an-La Union Expressway (TPLEX), Subic-Clark-Tar-lac Expressway (SCTEX), Haima, Chevrolet, Jinbei, Terry Larrazabal Bike Fes-

tival; fuel partner Petron; drink partner Gatorade and Maynilad; insurance pro-vider Prudential Guarantee; hotel partners Microtel Ca-banatuan and Fontana Lei-sure Parks; retail partner Air 21 Stores; sanitation by Integrated Waste Manage-ment, Inc.; apparel by 188 Import & Export; medical support by the Philippine National Red Cross; host communities Clark Devel-opment Corporation, An-geles City, Olongapo City, Cabanatuan, and Baguio City. Media partners are Canon, OrangeFix, Sign-Media, Rappler.com, Ya-hoo! Sports, Aeroeye Asia, TV 5, Living Asia Channel, Dream Satellite TV, Pana-hon TV, CLTV 36, Business Mirror, Hola! Magazine, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin, Sports Di-gest, The Philippine Star, DWIZ 882, DZXL 558 and RW 95.1. Le Tour de Filipi-nas is co-organized by UBE Media.

To send off the Le Tour, a side event, the Air 21 Ex-ecutive Cycling Race will be flagged off also on April 21 on an 88-km road race from Clark to Subic.

All systems go for Le Tour de Filipinas

Devon Sullivan of The Royal Mandaya Hotel-City Mayor’s Office muscles his away against an MP Pacman Warriors defender. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014EDGEDAVAOSports16

EDGEDavao Davao Partners

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

That said, is how The Royal Mandaya Hotel-CMO authored another historic win in local hoopdom after winning its second straight Arawng Davao basketball title 76-63 over MP Pacman Warriors before a frenzied crowd at the Davao City Recreation Center on Wednesday night.

Coach RonelLeuterio went to his veterans when it looked like his gang of devil-may-care young turks were not up to the task and just like that, the game drastically changed com-plexion handing the Hoteliers a come-from-behind victory in the winner-take-all finale.

After erecting a 13-6 lead, TRMH-CMO succumbed to the Warriors’ attack mode an-chored by Louie Medalla and Big Boy Clavel as the backcourt crew of EmanCalo and Darwin Cordero lapsed into a maze of errors.

Leuterio then sued for time and used a veteran-lad-en crew of John Ferriols, Jo-joTangkay, Nino Gelig, Celino Cruz and Hafer Mondragon. That combination changed the tempo of the ballgame into a deliberate halfcourt set. More importantly, it doused cold wa-ter to the searing Warriors run led by Clavel, Medalla and 6-5 beanpole Rene Pacquiao.

The 6-4 Ferriols, on loan from his pro team in the PBA, played solid basketball all game long firing 21 points, hauling 9 rebounds and dish-ing off 4 assists aside from blocking three shots in an all-around game that netted him the tournament’s MVP honors.

From a 17-23 deficit after the first quarter, Ferriols had six points in a crucial second quarter run that shoved the Hoteliers to the driver’s seat 37-32 with a little over 4 min-utes left before the lemontime break which ended with the Hoteliers on top at 50-41.

In the third, Pacquiao was limited to only 2 points and he got baited to his third foul by Dennis Daa. Ferriols conspired with import Devon Sullivan to finish the thrd quarter 1ith a huge 14-point margin, 64-50.

Ferriols was not done un-til the fourth period where he continued to score inside the paint as Tangkay hit his stride from the perimeter.

It was the second straight Arawng Davao title for the Ho-teliers who were cheered on lustily by the pro-TRMH crowd. No less than Mayor Rodrigo Duterte awarded the trophy to TRMH owner Glenn Escan-dor who thanked his boys for showing a big heart.

“This is a very sweet vic-tory for us. We feel that we are vindicated. We could have won two titles last year if not for some glitches. I thank the boys for trying so hard to win this one for us,” said Escandor.

Leuterio praised his wards for the gallant stand. He ad-mitted he had to switch styles in midstream to turn back the Warriors. “Nagkagulonaangm-gaguwardya naming, so I need-ed a player who can control the tempo and that was Celino Cruz,” he said.

Cruz did not score and missed all four tries but it was his leadership that counted most in the end.

HOW SWEEP IT ISTRMH-CMO sweeps Araw hoops, takes back-to-back cage titles

njb@edgedavao.net

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 5 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2014

DARING DRIVE. Eman Calo of The Royal Mandaya Hotel-City Mayor’s Office sneaks in a twinner against bewildered MP Pacman Warriors defenders. Lean Daval Jr.

MVP. The Royal Mandaya Hotel-City Mayor’s Office’s John Ferriols goes up for a shot against an MP Pacman Warriors defender. Ferriols scored 21 points and hauled down 9 rebounds to earn MVP honors.Lean Daval Jr.