Edge Davao 6 Issue 256

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has de-clared March 17 as a

special non-working hol-iday in Davao City in line with the celebration of the ‘77th Araw ng Dabaw.’

Executive secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. signed Proclamation No. 735 se-ries of 2014 dated March 13 granting the request of the city government.

It will grant city resi-dents full opportunity to participate in the activities of this year’s celebration with appropriate ceremo-nies.’

Mayor Rodrigo R. Dute-rte directed government officials and employees to participate in the celebra-

tion.“It is a sovereign day for

us, and for the big boom in Davao City,” said Duterte last Wednesday night.

The mayor said that Senators Ramon ‘Bong’ Re-villa Jr. and Allan Peter Cay-etano will visit the city to share in the celebration.

The major activities of the

‘Araw’ are the crown-ing of Mutya ng Dabaw at the Davao City Recreation Center (Almendras gym) tonight.

On Saturday will be the Sayawan sa Da’n or street dance competition which will be held on San Pedro, Legaspi, Rizal and Bolton

P 15.00 • 44 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 6 ISSUE 256 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 14-15, 2014

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO [email protected]

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

FHOLIDAY, 11

MARCH 17 HOLIDAYPNoy proclaims Monday a special holiday in Davao City

BUY BUST. Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte examines the hand gun recovered from Crisostomo Dejarme, an alleged illegal drug peddler who was killed in a joint buy bust operation of the Davao City Police Office’s Investigation and Detection Management Branch and Sta. Ana Police Precinct operatives in Mabini, Quezon Boulevard Wednesday afternoon. Also in the photo is Duterte’s executive assis-tant Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go. Lean Daval Jr.

ICONIC SYMBOL. Parents, together with their children with physical and mental impairment, walk by the Philippine Eagle statue inside the People’s Park yesterday. The Philippine Eagle is an iconic symbol of Davao City which will celebrate its 77th founding anniversary on March 16. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 6 ISSUE 256 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 14-15, 2014

A MEMBER of the Davao City council has proposed an

ordinance which will give death benefits to the heirs of a bonafide senior citizen of the city.

Councilor Danilo C. Dayanghirang, chairman of the committee on finance, ways and means, and ap-propriations has filed ‘a resolution to enact an ordi-nance appropriating funds for the implementation of death benefits of P2,000 for each of the surviving heirs of the bonafide senior citizens of Davao City.

Dayanghirang stated in his resolution that the pro-

posal is in line with section 4 of Republic Act 9994 or the Expanded Senior Cit-izens Act of 2010 that the death benefit assistance of P2,000 should be given to the nearest surviving relative of a deceased se-nior citizen, ‘which amount shall be subject to adjust-ments due to inflation in accordance with the guide-lines to be issued by’ De-partment of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

“Davao City will not only recognize the rights of senior citizens to take proper place in society and make it a concern of

WOMEN are en-couraged to be aware of disaster

risks and adapt to climate change for the survival of families.

Milagros “Inday” del Rosario, President of the Provincial Officials Spous-es Initiative (POSI) of Davao del Norte, said that owing to their influence in the family, women should learn simple knowledge and skills on how to re-duce the impact of climate change in every home.

“I urge you to use that special place of influence to understand climate change, and adapt to it,” said the better half of Gov-ernor Rodolfo del Rosario, at the Women’s Day 2014 celebration of the province on March 12, 2014.

On her keynote ad-dress, the First Lady of the province further asked the Dabaonon women to heed the warning and infor-mation campaigns of the government and rally the whole household to reduce risks and adjust to climate change.

As she puts it, this will “enable the whole house-hold to survive with mini-mal impact to health, nutri-tion and education of our children.”

Del Rosario said the two phenomena have affected the earning, es-pecially of rural families, making it difficult for wom-en to figure out how to eq-uitably distribute the small family earnings.

They have also made

MAJOR Camilo Cas-colan Jr., customs police commander

of the Bureau of Customs,

District Port of Davao, has been recommended for re-lief by Port District Collec-tor Ernesto Aradanas due

to allegation that Cascolan “received an extra settle-ment of the P2.5 million” in exchange for release of 15 units of dumptruck on undervalued declaration of import duties and taxes.

However, Aradanas told Davao reporters last Wednesday that Cascolan is still serving in his post while awaiting decision by the Enforcement and Se-curity Service (ESS) of the BOC Manila headquarters.

In the briefing paper given to reporters, the ac-cusation was described as “a serious and grave allega-tion” though “this Port has no concrete information on it.”

Last February 24 a shipment consisting of 15 units of dumptruck

(DAYUN brand) arrived at the port of Davao from China.

It was consigned to Goldtech International Machineries Trading Corp. through a licensed cus-toms broker named Christ Lamb Vicente.

Four days after, in February 28, the consign-ee declared the subject shipment as 15 units of dumptruck under Import Entry NO. 02405-14 with an attached Asean-Chi-na Free Trade Agreement (ACTFTA) form. It declared duties and taxes in the total amount of P3,188,489.

On March 3, 2014 the ESS-Davao headed by Cas-colan conducted a “spot-check” to examine the

BUSINESS leader sup-ports Davao City Vice Mayor Paulo Duter-

te’s plan to propose an ordi-nance that wpuld mandate big private firms in the city to allocate 10 percent of their total workforce for persons with disabilities (PWDs).

“This (the proposal) is a very good plan of the vice mayor and is in accordance with the city’s anti-discrim-ination ordinance. Howev-er, every company or em-ployer has its own hiring or recruitment policy,” Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., president Antonio dela Cruz said.

He added that the issue on requirements can be ad-

dressed by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

He said that he will con-duct a survey among to the members of the chamber regarding the matter, even as the proposal is still be-ing ironed out by Duterte’s legal team regarding the in-tricacies in the measure..

The vice mayor said that the proposal is still with the “legal team but if it is applicable, it is readily set for public hearing”.

It is not only the local business chamber that lauds the proposal but also Manuel Autida, chair-man of the Association of Differently-abled Persons

2

FDCCCII, 11

FCASH, 11

FWOMEN, 11FRELIEF, 11

EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS

ATENEO de Davao University (AdDU), a leading educational

institution in Davao City is planning to integrate ro-botics in the curriculum of elementary students, spe-cifically those in Grade 6.

Engr. Randell U. Espina, dean of the School of Engi-neering and Architecture, told Edge Davao that this would encourage young students to pursue engi-neering or any science re-lated course and be able to develop their own technol-ogies.

“We already conduct-ed training to the faculty of the grade school of AdDu and we decided na we can start introducing this one because we already won

the high school robotics competition here, siguro maganda na start it with the grade school,” Espina said.

“Last year we had a training module for robot-ics. Before kasi, we only borrowed robotics kits from a company,” he said.

The institution started giving training and work-shops to high school stu-dents two years ago. Espi-na said that they realized that incorporating it to the secondary curriculum is al-ready late.

“Through this early ex-posure to robotics, young kids will be able to create and innovate a thing and eventually market it instead of being an employee. We need to teach them to be

output-based,” Espina said.“Robotics is symbolic

and you can parallelized it with new technology or innovation,” Engr. Michelle Soledad, department chair of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, said.

Soledad added, “if you bring a robot to a child, para syang laruan, but mag eenjoy sya at magig-ing interesado sya. You are actually teaching the child more than just playing, you are actually teaching him or her that he can innovate kasi ang mga robots na ito pwede imanipulate and ask them to do anything. It is both symbolic and educa-tional.”

Espina said that ADDU is partnering with the Ate-

neo de Manila on this ini-tiative, adding that this will enhance and train the skills to kids for national and in-ternational robotics com-petition.

When asked whether they plan to share it with other schools here, the dean said, yes.

“This will start more competitions among schools and students,” he said.

Earlier, the school en-gineering and architecture department conducted one-day robotics work-shops for grade school stu-dents in Davao City during the two-day ADDU School of Engineering and Archi-tecture Exhibit at SM La-nang Premier Atrium.

AdDU upbeat on [email protected]

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

DCCCII head supports Paolo on PWDs hiring

Cash aid to surviving heirs of senior citizens By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

[email protected]

Women urged to reduce risk, adapt to climate changeRelief of customs police chief asked

MARANTE, 80. Herminigildo Marante Jr., retired police colonel, who managed a family-owned fleet of taxi cabs in Davao City, died of prostate cancer last Wednesday, March 12.

ACHIEVEMENT TEST. The Grade VI students of Fil-Asian Mission Academy, Inc. are seen coming out of the testing room after taking part of yesterday’s National Achievement Test (NAT). Millions of elementary students both from public and private schools nationwide took the annual examination

administered by the National Education Testing and Research Center (NETRC) of Department of Education (DepEd) yesterday. It is aimed to help assess knowledge and skills of students in the subjects of Mathematics, English, Science, Filipino, and HEKASI. Lean Daval Jr.

ALLEGED P2.5-M ‘TARA’ EYED


“I’d like to think that after 10 years, the number of indie films to be produced each year will double if not triple. This will happen only if the audience is ready to watch indie films and supports the filmmakers. Because I think that would be the basis of the producers to invest on an

indie film. By that time also, the moviegoers have already learned to scrutinize as to what the movie really is all about than just being spoon-fed as to the events of the movie.” – McRobert Nacario, Davao indie film cinematog-rapher

“I WANT to devote time to it. I may even produce one. I really

want to experience it.” That was what Vilma Santos told “Philippine Daily Inquirer” on what she would do if and when would take the plunge to make an independent movie.

Santos – the Star for All Seasons – is one of the country’s acclaimed actress-es, winning several acting awards, including a grand slam for her tour de force performance in “Relasyon” (1982). In the 1970s, she ventured into film produc-tion making at least five movies, including the scenic “Pagputi ng Uwak, Pag-Itim ng Tagak” (1978).

Why an actress with such stature would make an indie film? “Actually, matagal na talaga akong naiintriga sa indie films. Noon ko pa gus-tong subukan talaga pero wala lang talagang panahon. This is something new and a different challenge for me,” Santos explained when she did Jeffrey Jeturian’s “Eks-tra,” a movie about a bit play-er. She added, “Sawa na ako playing the usual roles, so this is definitely a different challenge for me. As an art-ist, I want to experience how they do it.”

For her performance, she got her first Cinemalaya Best Actress award. Although she never thought of bagging an award, she thought the mov-ie was “More of fulfillment ko as an artist, e. Ano yung pwede kong gawin na iba ang at the same time may meaning at saka may kaunt-ing conrtribution sa mga ek-stra na nakasama ko dati.”

Watching movies is one of the favorite pastimes of Fil-ipinos. Having one of Asia’s earliest film industries, the Philippines remains undis-puted in terms of the highest level of theater admission in Southeast Asia. But over the years, the film industry has registered a steady decline in the movie viewership from 131 million in 1996 to 63 million in 2004.

According to the sta-

tistics by the National Sta-tistics Coordination Board (NSCB), while the average annual number of local-ly-produced films from the 1960s to the 1990s was over 140, the average num-ber of local films in the first decade of the 21st century went down to 73.

Foreign films, mostly from Hollywood, dominat-ed mainstream cinema and fewer than twenty quality local films were being pro-duced and shown year-ly. Many producers and production houses later stopped producing films af-ter losing millions of pesos.

But a new sense of ex-citement and trend envel-oped the film industry with the coming of digital and ex-perimental cinema. Seem-ingly indicating this was the winning of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2000 of Raymond Red’s short film “Anino” (Shad-ows) in 2000. What really pioneered the digital revo-lution was the 1999 digital feature film “Still Lives” by Jon Red. Many other digital filmmakers soon followed suit.

“The emergence of dig-ital cameras and their high-tech accessories in the mar-ket have spawn the growth of indie films,” observes one film critic. “For anyone now could make his or her own movie films in accordance to one’s own personal styles and way without the influ-ences of the mainstream movie outfits, which indeed have a good effects on mov-ie industry in the world, especially also in the Phil-ippines where these indie films becomes so prominent and have salvage the almost dying Philippine movie in-dustry.”

3EDGEDAVAO

BIGGER PICTURE

How indie films save the dying movie industry

Contributor

By GERRY T. ESTRERA


COTABATO CITY--A phalanx of anti-ri-ot police and a fire

truck stood ready near the entrance of PC Hill along Sinsuat Avenue, just across the compound of the Immaculate Concep-tion Cathedral on Tuesday afternoon, where Mindan-ao’s first Cardinal, Orlan-do Quevedo talked about servanthood and of being a man for peace in “a land thirsting for peace, for har-monious relations and for integral development.”

The anti-riot police were there not on the re-quest of the Archdiocese of Cotabato but on orders of the Presidential Secu-rity Group to secure a VIP guest — President Benigno Simeon Aquino III — who arrived some 40 minutes late for the supposed 4 p.m. Thanksgiving mass that fi-nally began at 4:48 p.m.

Apparently to ex-plain the delay, inside the Cathedral that had been jampacked by 3 p.m. Que-vedo, in the Cardinal’s red wardrobe, walked into the church from the left en-trance near the altar at 4:22 p.m. and speaking from his pulpit, cited two reasons for his sudden appearance, the first of which the crowd did not find amusing.

“The dignitary who will speak here,” pointing to the podium with the seal of the President of the Phil-ippines to the right of his pulpit, has not yet arrived” but was expected to arrive soon.

The other reason amused the thousands of parishioners who came to celebrate the four-in-one affair: Quevedo’s elevation as Cardinal, his 75th birth-day that day, his 50th year as priest and 34th as bish-op.

“This is how a Cardi-nal looks,” Quevedo, who stands 5 feet tall, said as he moved to the center to let the audience have a full view of him.

“More, more,” the crowd egged him on and they laughed some more when the Cardinal obliged after explaining that part of the Cardinal’s wardrobe is the surplice, a white lace garment which reaches be-low the knee and which he described as “parang kurti-na” (like a curtain).

He said people can take photographs of him in his layered garments

and joked that he has been “sanitized by the Presi-dent’s men.”

Quevedo left at 4:27 p.m. and returned at 4:48 for the mass, to the relief of those who had waited long, among them elderly bishops.

In his 28-minute hom-ily, he thanked the Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Guiseppe Pin-to for coming, along with Bishops from Mindanao and the rest of the Phil-ippines, the parishioners and the President of the Philippines for allowing special flights into the air-port which is under repair and where flights have not been allowed from Tues-days to Thursdays since December 2013.

“Without the special flights today, many of my brother Bishops will not be able to come, the Papal Nuncio can’t come,” he said.

“Cotabato is a chosen place”

He said that while be-ing a Cardinal is an honor – “specifically for Mindanao and a very special honor for Cotabato because the Cardinal in Mindanao is the Archbishop of Cotaba-to,” he still does not know why he was chosen.

“Maybe because I am Archbishop of Cotabato,” he said, citing the problem of poverty in his area, its being center of conflict be-tween Bangsamoro rebels and the military, an area of disasters particularly flooding incidents, and the challenge of harmonious relations between faiths.

He said the Pope may have chosen someone from Cotabato not only for these reasons but also “because Cotabato is a chosen place.”

“That as well as the fact that the Pope is a Pope of surprises and God is also a God of surprises,” Quevedo said.

Days after the Janu-ary 12 announcement of Pope Francis that he was among 19 new Cardinals who would be officially welcomed into the College of Cardinals during rites in the Vatican on February 22, Quevedo told Mindan-ews he had yet to define his role as Cardinal.

He has apparently de-fined his role. In his homi-ly on Tuesday, he said “the call to a cardinal is a call for a deeper mission.”

To be a servant

He said being a Car-dinal is “not a position of power and honor but of servanthood, of being called by the Lord to be a servant, to go out and wash the feet of the apostles,” especially “in the context of a broken land, a land that needs to be healed,” a “land of imbalances… a land thirsting for peace, a land thirsting for harmony among Christinsas Mus-lims, Lumads and other faiths.”

“I, as a Cardinal in Min-danao, in Cotabato have to be a servant. I hope to be a man of peace in this bro-ken land.. to promote har-monious relationship not only among the tri-peoples of Mindanao but also with members of other faiths. I have to be a promoter of integral development,” Quevedo said adding the need to “free people from everything that oppresses the people.”

He called on other Bishops in Mindanao to support one another and “think of the common good, not only four our di-ocese.”

He ended his homily by reading a Psalm he wrote while in Baguio, while on retreat after he was named Bishop in 1980.

After communion, the Papal Nuncio spoke and delighted the crowd with his speech laced with Ce-buano and Ilonggo.

President Aquino spoke from his podium

from 6:32 p.m. to 6:39 p.m. but his message could hardly be understood from those in the front area. The President was accompa-nied to the Cathedral by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Local Govern-ments Secretary Mar Rox-as, Budget Secretary Butch Abad, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Tere-sita Quintos-Deles, ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman and Maguindanao Gover-nor Esmael “Toto” Man-gudadatu. Former Ilocos Sur Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson was also present. He was governor when Quevedo was assigned as Archbishop of Nueva Sego-via in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.

Resignation letter At the “Parangal sa

Cardinal” testimonial dinner at the South Seas Mall convention center af-ter the mass, the Oblates of Mary Immaculates’ I-watch presented a video titled “The Cardinal from the Margins” and another video from wellwishers, Plastered on the walls of the convention center were a chronicle of pho-tographs of the Bishop across his half-a-century service as priest, Muslims also preformed songs during the intermission.

Thanking the guests in a 27-minute speech that showed the Cardi-nal’s unique sense of hu-mor and his attempts to be discovered as a singer, Quevedo said he went

around the tables for pho-to sessions with the guests because he would have “hidden under the table listening to these very em-barrassing eulogies.”

“Is that really who I am?” the Cardinal asked.

He announced that “tonight, I will write my letter of resignation to the Pope,” as mandated by Canon Law when a Bishop reaches the age of 75, and would give it to the Papal Nuncio on Wednesday morning.

The Papal Nuncio, he said, will forward the let-ter to Pope Francis with a note on whether or not he is still in good health, and probably the Papal Nuncio will sense the advent of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease in him because he would tell him “I wrote this letter and if he asks what is it, I would tell him I don’t know, I forgot what it is but it must be important nonetheless.”

He thanked “in par-ticular my friends in the Bangsamoro,” referring to two representatives from the Moro Islamic Liber-ation Front and Bainon Karon, former OIC Vice Governor of the Autono-mous Region in Muslim Mindanao, from the Moro National Liberation Front.

“Pray for me” He urged Min-

danawons from all faiths to “pray for me” to be a “holy, wise, humble, gener-ous and zealous Cardinal.”

He admitted having shed tears while prepar-ing for the Consistory on February 22, when the Filipino community sang during mass the song “Kunin mo o Diyos, at tang-gapin mo…” and shared how Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the Archbishop of Manila who failed to come to Cotabato City because of an ailment, greeted him after that mass in Rome “and he began crying on my shoulders and we were both crying.”

He said at certain moments in his life, he is moved to tears, particular-ly when he hears the song, “Be not afraid.”

At the community in the afternoon mass, the Cardinal was at the cen-ter aisle giving the hosts to parishioners but a few minutes later, somebody took over.

He left the center aisle because “they were sing-ing that song.”

He recalled how his first reaction to the news that he was going to be Cardinal was “shock then fear.”

“Fear continues even now,” he confessed and again asked the audience to “pray for holiness, wis-dom, humility, generosity and zeal.”

He then led the singing of Salve Regina and wasn’t able to leave the conven-tion center immediately due to requests for souve-nir photos. [MindaNews]

Of servanthood and being‘a man of peace in a broken land’

MINDANAO’S FIRST CARDINAL:

By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS

SELFIE WITH THE CARDINAL. Parishioners, priests and relatives flock to Orlando Cardinal Quevedo to have their pictures taken after a mass celebrated by him at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cotabato City on March 11, 2014. MindaNews photo by Toto Lozano

EDGEDAVAO

BIGGER PICTURE

VOL. 6 ISSUE 256 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 14-15, 2014 5EDGEDAVAO

THE ECONOMY

TO keep its branch network in step with its increasing mem-

bership, the Social Security System (SSS) opened a total of 21 local offices in 2013, most of them stationed in areas with high foot traffic and easy accessibility such as shopping malls.

SSS branches that opened last year include SSS Congressional in Quezon City, SSS Guadalupe in Maka-ti City, and SSS Panabo in Davao del Norte. Alongside its branch expansion was the launch of SSS Service Offices last year at the Muntinlupa City Hall and in 17 shopping malls nationwide.

This year, SSS plans to expand further its network by setting up 24 additional branches, including new ones in major cities and business districts with a high demand for SSS transactions such as Alabang, Eastwood, Marik-ina, Mandaluyong, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasig, Taguig, Sta. Rosa, Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Davao and Cagayan de Oro.

“The SSS also aims to launch Service Offices in ten malls nationwide this year, and three of these – at Rob-insons Place Malabon, Rob-insons Place Malolos, and Robinsons Place Roxas-Capiz --- already started operations within the first two months of 2014,” said Gloria Cuisia, Head of the SSS Branch Eval-

uation Services Department.SSS Service Offices are

built in partnership with mall operators or local gov-ernment units, which usu-ally offer the office space to SSS rent-free, as part of shared efforts to make transactions convenient and accessible for their custom-ers and constituents who are also SSS members. The mall-based offices are open on Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., while those in goverment offices are open on Mondays to Fri-days from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“We will continue this expansion of our network of Service Offices, as it is still a faster means of increasing SSS presence as compared with building or renovat-ing our own branch sites, which need to go through public bidding,” Cuisia add-ed. “Apart from making SSS more accessible, the cre-ation of new SSS branches and Service Offices also help decongest the volume of members and transactions in our existing offices.”

To date, the state-run institution has a total of 135 branches, 63 Service Offices and 33 Representative Offic-es under its network of local offices. SSS Representative Offices accept SSS appli-cations and forward these to their respective mother branch.

SSS expands network of offices to serve increasing membership

BOUND FOR DAVAO. Laborers pile bananas in Barangay Sibsib, Tulunan, North Cotabato before transporting them to Davao City. Banana is one of the major products in Tulunan. [Mindanews Photo by Keith Bacongco]

EDGEDavao Davao Partners


THE government plans to have a spe-cial economic zone

for the mining industry which will operate like the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Trade and Industry Sec-retary Gregory Domingo told reporters in an inter-view.

Similar to PEZA, the mining ecozone will offer one-stop-shop service like issuing of various permits to run a mining venture.

”Parang PEZA (It’s like PEZA); the way PEZA op-erates, but they will not be regulatory. The regu-lations will be under MGB (Mines and Geosciences Bureau) and DENR (De-partment of Environment and Natural Resources),” said Domingo, who is part of the Mining Indus-try Coordinating Council (MICC).

He added that the ad-ministration for the pro-posed mining ecozone will be under Philippine Mining Development Cor-poration (PMDC).

He noted that this proposed mining ecozone aims to ease the process of doing business in the mining industry as inves-tors will no longer coordi-nate with other local gov-ernment agencies.

”In exchange for a much clearer (revenue) sharing, or a more equi-table sharing, the gov-ernment will provide you with all the support,” the Trade chief said.

Locators in the min-

ing industry zone will be under the new revenue sharing which the MICC will soon finalize under the new mining bill of the government.

Domingo added that investors of the indus-try under the old mining schemes may also con-vert to the new regime.

”Iyong mga old mining firms pwedeng mag-migrate into this new one. Ide-declare mo na mining zone sila. Pero once you declare it, un-der that, kailangan under the new revenue sharing [Those firms under the old schemes can migrate

into this new one. You will just declare that it is (part of the proposed) mining zone. But once you de-clare it, under that, it is needed that they will be under the new revenue sharing],” he said.

He also clarified that the special economic zone for mining industry will not give tax incentives for the investors in the said sector but will still be entitled for zero-duty on importation of capital equipment.

According to Domin-go, the proposed mining ecozone will be a provi-sion included in a new

mining bill crafted by MICC. It will also seek for an Executive Order to de-clare the operation of the proposed special mining industry zone.

Further, he mentioned that MICC is now on its “fine tuning” for the new mining bill after its mem-bers had a meeting on Monday.

He added that the bill will be introduced first to the Office of the President before submitting it to the Congress.

”We have to seek the approval of the palace,” Domingo said.

The Trade Secretary

noted that in the new bill, there will only be one scheme for both old and new mining investors.

However, Domin-go did not disclose how much will be the new rev-enue sharing.

Currently, the min-ing industry has two schemes: the Financial Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) scheme which basically government has share on gross revenue and the Mineral Production Shar-ing Agreement (MPSA) scheme where govern-ment earns through ex-cise tax. [PNA]

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

IMITATION. Vendors wipe off dust from imitation sunglasses, which they sell for P50 each at the Digos City terminal.[MindaNews Photo by Keith Bacongco]

PHILIPPINE coco-nut oil exports fell 35% at the start of

this year, driving up glob-al prices, after a super typhoon destroyed mil-lions of trees, an industry group said Tuesday.

In normal times the Philippines accounts for more than 40% of world exports in the oil, which is used in daily items

such as detergents, bath soap, and margarine, ac-cording to the United Co-conut Association of the Philippines.

Super Typhoon Hai-yan, which killed or left missing about 8,000 people in November last year, also destroyed or severely damaged about 10% of the nation’s coco-nut trees.

This led to coconut oil exports falling to 143,870 tons in January and Feb-ruary, a drop of 35.2% for the same period last year, the association said, warning a quick turn-around was impossible.

“It will take several years for the supply to normalise (even) if we replant what has been lost during the typhoon,”

the association’s exec-utive director, Yvonne Agustin, told the Agence France-Presse.

“We are of course projecting a reduction in volume this year, and that would lead to increased prices in the world mar-ket.”

Agustin said coconut oil prices were already “substantially higher”

than before the typhoon, with the commodity cur-rently trading at $1,445 a ton.

While she could not give exact pre-typhoon prices, the Indone-sia-based Asian and Pa-cific Coconut Community reported on its website that coconut oil sold for $810 a ton in June last year. [AFP]

Creation of one-stop-shop ‘mining zone’ mulled--DTI

PHL coconut oil exports fall after Yolanda

VOL. 6 ISSUE 256 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 14-15, 2014 7

The battlecry is simply put: ROAR!

Edge Davao’s sixth year silent-ly passed by but the silence is but how the celebration went—austere but strongly motivating.

There’s no need for some chest-beating and rip-roaring pitches. At six, Edge Davao, erst-while the first and only business paper in Davao City, has evolved to become a fierce competitor in the mainstream daily news publi-cation platform.

Whipped from a battery of vet-eran journalists and promising young talents, Edge Davao is roaring in an industry where com-petition is as fierce as a jungle reaping some recognition in dif-ferent journalistic endeavors from award-giving organizations and civic groups. If Edge Davao were human, he is silent, success-driv-en and hardworking. It thrives on a culture built on respect for the media industry and commitment to the public.

This young news organization is barely up on its feet walking by itself and finding its own niche. Yes, we ROAR (Responsible, Ob-jective, Accurate, Reliable)!

Patronage, readership, and faith—that’s about the best recog-nition for an organization that ex-ists to fill the demands of a seam-less society.

To our faithful readers and in-dustry partners, thank you for growing and ROARing with us.

ROAR!

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

ANTONIO M. AJEROEditor in Chief

NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVOManaging Editor

GREG G. DELIGEROAssociate Editor

RAM M. MAXEYConsultant

LEAN S. DAVAL JR. Photography CHENEEN R. CAPON

Reporter ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.Reporter KENNETH IRVING K. ONG

Creative Solutions

JOCELYN S. PANESDirector of Sales

RICHARD C. EBONAMarketing Supervisor

EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 6 ISSUE 256 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 14-15, 20148 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

The BOC once again


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

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

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

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

[email protected]@edgedavao.net

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

RICHARD C. EBONAAdvertising Specialist

SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

EDGEDAVAOProviding solutions to a seamless global village.

ANTONIO M. AJEROEditor in Chief


Columnists: CARLOS MUNDA • MA. TERESA L. UNGSON • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • AURELIO A. PEÑA • MARY ANN “ADI” C. QUISIDO • LEANDRO B. DAVAL SR., • NICASIO ANGELO AGUSTIN • VIDA MIA VALVERDE • Economic Analysts: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG • JONALLIER M. PEREZ • Lifestyle Columnists: BAI FAUZIAH FATIMA SINSUAT AMBOLODTO • MEGHANN STA. INES • NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN

LEANDRO S. DAVAL JR. JOSEPH LAWRENCE P. GARCIA Photography Contributing Photographer

ARLENE D. PASAJECartoons

KENNETH IRVING K. ONGCreative SolutionsPrinted by Zion Accuprint Publishing Inc.

Door 14 ALCREJ Building,Quirino Avenue, 8000, Davao City, Philippines

Tel: (082) 301-6235Telefax: (082) 221-3601www.edgedavao.net

[email protected]@edgedavao.net

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

GENERAL SANTOS CITY MARKETING OFFICEFLORENCE S. VILLARIN Marketing Specialistc/o PZ Villarin MarketingSalvani St., Oringo Brgy. City HeightsTel: (083) 303-2215

MANILA MARKETING OFFICEANGELICA R. GARCIA | Marketing ManagerBlk. 1, Lot 10, La Mar Townhomes, Apitong St.,Marikina Heights, Marikina City Tel: (02) 942-1503

NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVOManaging Editor

GREGORIO G. DELIGEROAssociate Editor

RAMON M. MAXEYConsultant

RICHARD C. EBONAMarketing Supervisor

SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

AQUILES Z. ZONIOCorrespondent

ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR./ CHENEEN R. CAPONReporters

JOCELYN S. PANESDirector of Sales

AGUSTIN V. MIAGAN JRCirculation

PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTEthe national association of newspapers

EDITORIAL

A RANKING Customs police official in the Port of Davao is in hot water, ostensibly due to allegations that he received P2.5

million to favor an importer of 15 dumptrucks.The Bureau of Customs intelligence group

in Manila has reportedly asked Davao District Collector of Customs Ernesto Aradanas to re-lieve Maj. Camilo Cascolan, district command-er of the BOC’s Enforcement and Security Ser-vices (ESS).

Expectedly, Cascolan denied the serious alle-gation, insisting that he and his men were just doing their job, even as he claims that he still has to receive the reported recommendation for his relief, adding that ESS Davao is “open to any probe”.

On the other hand, BoC-Davao admits that the “port has no concrete information” on ESS Davao’s alleged move to get extra settlement

from Goldtech International Machineries Trad-ing.

At this juncture, it would be difficult to pre-dict the outcome of this case. What’s clear is the need to expedite the investigation as it au-gurs well for the ongoing campaign for reforms in the once graft-ridden government bureau. It is actions like these that convince the public that, indeed, the new leadership at the bureau is serious about reforming the BOC. It is hoped, though, that the probe would be fair to all-- to the taxpayers, and to Major Cascolan--whose family’s honor is at stake.

This is one of the challenging events in the life of the port’s leader, District Collector Ara-danas, who has a mission to accomplish, and that is to introduce badly needed reforms un-der his jurisdiction.

We say good luck to him.


Part 1 of 2

Part 1 of 2

BY CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS

SPECIAL FEATURE

BY PATRICIO P. DIAZ

MIND DA NEWS

AQUILES Z. ZONIOCorrespondent

VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

Never-ending political sideshow

IT SEEMS MORE LIKE AN UNCONTROL-LABLE ADOLESCENT – There are some pretty heavy issues confronting the na-

tion and some of the problems are clearly beyond government’s control, and yet it is in political infighting where the energies of our lawmakers go. Members of Congress are instructed by the Constitution to “main-tain highest standards of integrity and credibility,” but that hasn’t prevented some members of the Senate from engaging in a senseless “word war” on the floor.

At the height of the discussions about the shameful PDAF or pork barrel scan-dal some senators displayed outrageous behavior on the floor – hurling bitter side comments, personal insults and baseless allegations. The entire energetic wrath was focused on the involvement of some alleged cash-starved and thick-witted law-makers and the disgraceful issue has taken the spotlight away from the substance of governance and the business of the Senate.

Did anybody care about the role of the Senate specifically in enacting laws of gor-geous foundation until claims of the in-comparable PDAF scam made headlines? Never before in the nation’s history that the Senate been in discomfitures – the function continued to turn in disorderly fashion. None of the legislature’s action has helped its standing, which suddenly seems more like an uncontrollable adolescent than a re-sponsible player on the political stage.

Moreover, the outlandish accusations and counter-accusations are somewhat an attempt to justify the contending sena-tors’ hidden motives. Most of the senators especially the old-hand hadn’t helped and worked seriously to improve the socio-eco-nomic status of the country but rather

their concerns overshadowed their legislative responsibili-ties. What they were actually guilty of simply may be focus-ing their atten-tion intently on the political sideshow at the expense of the irate and disgusted people.

The pork barrel controversy is expect-ed to drag on and would intensify uncer-tainties surrounding the 2016 general elections seen as crucial to restoring some credibility and integrity to some power-ob-sessed senators who are either seeking re-election or keeping a moist eye on higher positions. There is plenty of reason for the disenchanted public to get discouraged: some senators displayed unwillingness or inability to assume accountability for the situation they have created, whether will-fully or not.

These instances paint a very poor pic-ture of the behavior of our elected leaders. The bar of public opinion has, unfortunate-ly been lowered and the aghast and dissat-isfied people are truly disappointed in the performance of the Upper House. However, there’s a twist. The political opposition is blaming the whole mess on what they see as a cynical maneuvering by the Aquino ad-ministration. Their anger stemmed in part from the fact that only opposition senators were implicated in the financial scandal.

This imbroglio actually is a black eye not only for the opposition but the admin-

istration as well. They cannot but feel sorry to the nation that the situation has reached the point it has. Most damaging for the opposition senators who were spooked by corruption charges is that the serious and exhausting fund controversy will kill off their political ambitions. Meanwhile renowned political analysts observed that the Aquino administration has been beset by scandals and haplessness prompting its political enemies to capitalize with the situ-ation by trying to turn it out of the political sphere.

The never-ending rigmarole in the Sen-ate was a political game of chicken – a num-bers game in the real sense. Grandstanding and self-aggrandizement are fares of the day primarily designed to gain more media mileage that would eventually further their political interest. And everybody is taking advantage of the pork barrel controversy because it generates much public attention - the more media coverage, the more expo-sure to the people. What a heck!

The country is plunged into a political mess after the revelation of the pork barrel scam and sparks nationwide street pro-tests; outraged by the involvement of some alleged thick-faced lawmakers whom peo-ple voted in office. Isn’t it the voters fault to begin with? As the investigation of the pork barrel intensifies, the disenchanted public urged the courts to deliver speedy ruling expressing confidence that the pretext for the enmeshment of some senators was too thick to legally stand. On the other hand, the opposition was put off by the political mess and disgusted by the alleged maneuverings saying it was too hasty, too early and pre-mature to judge. And the senseless disputes continue with no end in sight.

IN Mindanao, power supply is still too unstable for comfort since the Mindanao-wide brownout last Feb-

ruary 27. The only assurances for re-turn to normalcy are that (1) thorough investigations are being done and (2) reports will be released as soon as the investigations are completed; there have been (3) recommendations and (4) vows to prevent the recurrence of power outages.

What is the situation? Mindanews reported (March 9,

2014: Still in the dark 10 days after Mindanao-wide blackout) that in Zan-boanga City, power outage was from four to five daily, improving from eight to nine hours from the last week of February to March 5; in Kidap-awan City, deteriorating to four to five hours daily from two hours; in Bukid-non, fluctuating from six, four or two and a half hours daily except Satur-day; in Davao one-hour in rotation; in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City; none. In the absence of an update, situation in General Santos City is “any time, short or long”.

Information as to what really had happened and what will happen is not in state of total blackout so it can be said to be just that of “brownout”. While we impatiently wait for the in-vestigation reports, we can assume the situation is not so serious to wor-

ry about.What really happened?

In the DOE (Department of Ener-gy) report, at 5:32 a.m. last February 27, the breaker of Agus 1 hydroelec-tric plant in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur tripped. Power plants are con-nected to the transmission network at the switchyard. The breaker is the switch mechanism that trips to dis-connect or break the circuit when there is trouble in the line, hence, the term.

For circumstances the DOE report did not reveal, in succession 18 units of Agus hydroelectric plants (1, 2, 7, 4, 5, and 6), two units of Pulangi hydro-electric plant, and three other plants (Mt. Apo Geothermal in North Cota-bato, STEAG in Misamis Oriental, and SPCC) also tripped. So the Mindanao transmission system collapsed.

These plants that tripped have a total capacity of 677.2 megawatts. As reported by NGCP (National Pow-er Grid Corporation) that operates the transmission networks in the Philippines, the Mindanao system’s

“demand stood at 785 megawatts”; while at the time of the blackout, the “supply was 853 megawatts”, the “93 megawatt reserve” could not com-pensate for the 677.2 megawatt loss. That explained the Mindanao-wide blackout – a most reasonable expla-nation.

NGCP reported to DOE that the Mindanao grid had been fully re-en-ergized by 12:18 noon on the same day. To be honest about it, energy was restored but hour-long outages have been recurring quite regularly since then. Does this mean just the regular tripping of the breakers or the deplet-ed capacity of the plants to produce power?

What is being done?Since February 28, NGCP and NPC

(National Power Corporation) have been separately looking into the root cause of the “system-wide shutdown”. As of March 9, “they were still com-pleting their respective investiga-tion,” revealed NDCP spokesperson Atty. Cynthia Perez-Alabanza. In the “thorough” investigation, a tri-agency effort, the NGCP and NPC gather data about “the switchyards and power plants” and reconcile their reports; and Transco (National Transmission Commission) will interpret the re-sults. DOE will release the report -- when completed.

Brownout in Mindanao: What Ails?

WILL the signing of the Com-prehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) this month

and the submission of the draft Bang-samoro Basic Law by March 31 mark the beginning of a March marked with cele-brations for the Bangsamoro?

March in the history of the Bangsam-oro is a month marked with tragedies.

Between March 5 and 7, 1906, some 600 men, women and children (other re-ports say 900) were massacred by Ameri-can soldiers on Bud Dajo in Jolo, Sulu.

The New Orleans Times-Democrat called it “a frightful atrocity.” Reacting to the newspaper headline, “Women slain in Moro slaughter,” Mark Twain wrote, “’Slaughter’ is a good word. Certainly there is not a better one in the Unabridged Dictionary for this occasion.” The Boston Post screamed, “if this is imperial expan-sion, heaven save us from any more!”

On March 18, 1935, Hadji Abdulha-mid Bongabong of Unayan and 189 Ma-ranaos sent a letter of Appeal to the US Congress in what is now referred to as the “Dansalan Declaration of 1935.” A portion of the appeal reads: “Should the American People grant Philippine inde-pendence, the Islands of Mindanao and Sulu should not be included in such in-dependence. Our public land should not be given to other people other than the Moro. We should be given time to acquire them, because most of us have no lands. Our people do not yet realize the value of acquiring those lands by the process of law. Where shall we obtain the support of our family if our lands are taken from us? It will be safe to us that a law should be created restricting (the acquisition) of our land by other people.”

Thirty three years later, the Jabidah Massacre of March 18, 1968, where at least 23 Moro trainees bound for a mis-sion to reclaim Sabah in Malaysia were killed in Corregidor, triggered protest ac-tions from the Moro population, leading to the formation of what would be the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

It is not clear exactly when the MNLF was established but it reckons its founda-tion day to March 18, 1968, the day of the massacre.

During the negotiations for what would be the Tripoli Agreement of 1976, MNLF chair Nur Misuari of Sulu, then an instructor at the University of the Philip-pines in Diliman and vice chair Salamat Hashim of Maguindanao, then a student in Cairo, Egypt, sat beside each other in the MNLF peace panel.

Hashim in an interview in April 2000 said that during the negotiations for that agreement, he was pushing for autonomy only for the remaining Moro-dominated provinces in Mindanao, but was outvoted by Misuari and his group, who demanded autonomy for 13 of what were then 22 provinces and nine of what were then 16 cities in Mindanao.

The Tripoli Agreement was signed 23 December 1976. But invoking his martial law powers, then President Ferdinand Marcos made moves to set up not one but two regional autonomous regions.

On March 25, 1977, Marcos issued Proclamation 1628 declaring autonomy in the Provinces of Lanao de Sur, Lanao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, North Cotabato, Zamboanga del Sur, Zam-boanga del Norte, Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Ta-wi, Davao del Sur and South Cotabato in Mindanao and Palawan province and the cities therein: Marawi, Iligan, Cotabato, Pagadian, Zamboanga, Dipolog, Dapitan and General Santos City and the city of Puerto Princesa in Palawan.

March in the history of the Bangsamoro


“WHY do the righ-teous suffer?”

This is an oft-asked question in the book of Job.

Job is a righteous man who is very prosperous and has seven sons and three daughters. In Job 1:10-11, Satan told the Lord: “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

God gives the accus-er permission to test Job’s righteousness. All Job’s pos-sessions were destroyed. Worst, his ten children were killed by a mighty wind. His health deteriorated. Still

Job didn’t curse God, but in-stead shaved his head, tore his clothes, and said, “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return: Lord has given, and Lord has taken away; bless-ed be the name of the Lord.”

Job’s experience came to mind after what Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte told reporters when he ar-rived after visiting Tacloban City, which was devastated by Yolanda, touted to be the world’s worst cyclone that made landfall in history.

“God must have been somewhere else or he forgot that there is a planet called Earth,” Duterte was quoted as saying. “I don’t know if I have to cry. I cannot shout in anger because you cannot be mad at anybody there.”

When asked his idea on the possibility of a similar ty-phoon to hit Davao City, the

mayor replied: “The Pacific Ocean generates the warm and cold. It’s always the ty-phoon comes from the east of our country. If such kind of typhoon would hit Davao, I would begin my counting at 5,000 dead.”

A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that devel-ops in the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean between 180° and 100°E. Again, the Philippines is located in this region which, according to the US National Hurricane Center, is referred to as the northwest Pacific basin.

Wikipedia, the free en-cyclopedia, shares this in-formation: “The majority of storms form between June and November whilst tropi-cal cyclone formation is at a minimum between Decem-ber and May. On average, the northwestern Pacific features the most numerous

and intense tropical cyclones globally. The Philippines re-ceive a brunt of the landfalls, with China and Japan being impacted slightly less.”

“Each year, about 20 tropical cyclones enter our country,” says Rene Paciente, chief of the weather fore-casting and warming system of Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronom-ical Services Administration. Fortunately, only 6 to 9 of these tropical cyclones make landfall.

But this year, 25 tropical cyclones have already en-tered the country’s area of responsibility. Next month, the country will commemo-rate the two worst typhoons to enter the Philippine area of responsibility.

Typhoon “Sendong” hit the northern part of Mind-anao on December 16, 2011, killing at least 1,080 people. A year later, on December 2, Typhoon “Pablo” smashed into the main southern is-land of Mindanao. Rarely hit by storms, the region suffered about 1,900 people dead or missing.

But the recent Yolan-da (international name: Haiyan) is touted to be the mother of all typhoons to hit the country. Associated Press reported: “Yolanda slammed the island nation with a storm surge two sto-ries high and some of the highest winds ever mea-sured in a tropical cyclone – 314 kilometers per hour as clocked by US satellites, or 237 kilometers per hour based on local reports.”

But typhoons are just tip of the iceberg. “The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone plac-es on Earth,” said Kathleen Tierney, director of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado. “They’ve got it all. They’ve got earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, tropical cyclones,

landslides.” “The Ring of Fire” –

that is how scientists call the area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. Unfortunately, the Philip-pines – a country with 7,107 islands – is located in this rim sometimes called the circum-Pacific seismic belt.

About 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes and 81 percent of the world’s larg-est earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire. The recent earthquake that hit Bohol is a proof of it. In the morning of October 15, 2013, a de-structive earthquake shook the island noted for its Chocolate Hills and endan-gered tarsier.

The earthquake was recorded at a magnitude of 7.2, which has an energy “equivalent to 32 Hiroshi-ma bombs.” The Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945 packed power equal to 20,000 tons of TNT.

But the worst earth-quake to hit the country happened on July 16, 1990. A 7.8-magnitude earth-quake struck the densely populated island of Luzon, which killed an estimated 1,621 people with most of the fatalities came from Central Luzon and the Cor-dillera region.

Baguio City, one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations, was among the areas hardest hit. It caused 28 collapsed buildings, including hotels, factories, government and university buildings, as well as many private homes and establishments. Kennon Road, the main vehicular route to Baguio, as well as other access routes to the mountain city were shut down due to landslides; it took three days before enough landslide debris

was cleared to allow access by road to the stricken city.

According to scientists, the Ring of Fire has 452 vol-canoes and is home to over 75 percent of the world’s active and dormant volca-noes. The Philippines, for instance, has around 200 volcanoes scattered all over the archipelago. Fortunate-ly, only 21 are considered active.

A volcano is consid-ered active if it has erupted sometime within the last 600 years. If a volcano has not erupted in 600 years, it is regarded as inactive (dor-mant). There are also volca-noes which are considered extinct.

The active volcanoes in the country, according to Philvocs, are Pinatubo in Zambales; Mayon in Legazpi City; Taal in Talisay, Batan-gas; Canlaon in Negros Ori-ental; Bulusan in Sorsogon; Smith, Didicas, Babuyan Claro and Camiguin de Ba-buyanes, all in Babuyan Is-land Group; Cagua in Cagay-an; Banahaw in Laguna/Quezon; Iriga in Camarines Sur; Biliran in Biliran; and Iraya in Batanes.

In Mindanao, the active volcanoes are: Ragang and Matutum, both in Cotabato; Hibok-Hibok in Mambajao, Camiguin; Calayo in Valen-cia, Bukidnon; Bud Dajo on Jolo Island; Musuan in Bukidnon; and Makaturing in Lanao.

“Like ghost and mon-sters, volcanoes can be scary when they erupt. They rumble, shake and spit out fire, steam, ashes, and rocks. But unlike ghosts and monsters, volcanoes are of this world. As such, they can be studied and under-stood,” commented the late Raymundo S. Punongbayan, when he was still alive and was heading the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvocs).

10

Land in the path of nature’s wrath

Contributor

By GERRY T. ESTRERA

EDGEDAVAO

ENVIRONMENT VOL. 6 ISSUE 256 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 14-15, 2014


shipment of Goldtech be-fore it was released from the port.

“During the 100% ex-amination no discrepancy was found with regards to the description and the quantity as declared by the consignee. Consequently, the 15 units dumptruck was cleared for release by the assessment division af-ter reclassifying the same resulting to additional du-ties and taxes in the aggre-gate amount of P890,292,” BOC Davao said.

The additional amount increased the total duties and taxes to be paid by the consignee to P4,078,781.

Earlier, last Feb. 21, Aradanas ordered the sei-zure of four units of brand new Toyota Prado vehicles from United Arab Emirates which were illegally re-leased by customs officials of the Dadiangas (General Santos City) subport to be bound to North Harbor in Manila.

Said shipment con-signed to Ayumi Rose Trading is supposed to have a retail value of US$56,000 per unit while the claimant declared it at only US$23,000 per unit.

The shipment is still held at the North Harbor.

The release caused for the relief of five sub-port officials.

BOC Davao said that Ayumi has considered fil-ing a motion to quash the warrant of seizure and de-tention (WSD) with their expressed waiver relieving the district collector from any liability that maybe at-tached in connection with the WSD once the motion is granted.

“Although Ayumi has denied any deliberate in-tention on their part to disregard existing cus-toms rules and regulations and undermine the au-thority of the district col-lector... it is given a chance to settle to seizure case with the approval of the

Commissioner, pending the proceedings, provided that the claimant is able to show lack of fraud in the importation of their ship-ment,” BOC Davao further said.

During the second press conference that Aradanas held since he assumed his post last Feb. 3, many issues were re-sponded.

Asked if he could final-ly stop smuggling at cus-toms, Aradanas, a retired brigadier general, said “no.”

He laboured to add: “It can’t happen overnight. This would take years. Swertihin na tayo if we can stop it in five years’ time.”

He pointed out that the problem is a complex one that needs participa-tion of all stakeholders involved and dealing with the customs, inside and outside.

He added there is an “internal audience” that must be considered in the current reform moves but “once society will not con-firm these, it will take us a long time. This is the re-ality if we allow ourselves for the things in time to

change.”He also defined tara as

the amount that does not go to the government.

He said that a long time ago tara technically meant taxes and duties given to the government and through the years it had changed in meaning, which means the “extra money” that goes to “col-lection outside.”

Others long dealing with customs said that tara evolved to be a bribe money for under-the-ta-ble deals given out of seeking approval from corrupt customs officials for special treatment such as undervaluing of ship-ment, non- or misdeclara-tion. This results to tech-nical smuggling and loss of government revenues.

Aradanas vowed to make “radical innova-tion” that the other side of stakeholders like the brokers of importers and exporters will pay to the government and “no more extra money to be given to collection outside”.

“It’s not an easy job. It’s a job to be done by all of us,” he told reporters. [Cha Monforte]

NEWSHoliday...

Cash...DCCCII...

Relief... Women...

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FFROM 2

FFROM 2

FFROM 2 FFROM 2

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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

streets. On Sunday morning will

be the ‘Parada Dabawenyo’ or civic parade participat-ed in by private companies, schools, local government offices, national agencies, non-government organiza-tions (NGOs), with groups from the metro are expect-ed to join the parade along with colorful floats.

The parade route will

be from Magsaysay Park to Magsaysay Avenue, turn-ing left to C. M. Recto, then right to Bonifacio St. and turn left to Legaspi St., and on to San Pedro St. before exiting to Quimpo Boule-vard.

In the afternoon, the Banda Hudyaka or Band Competition takes over to entertain crowds of revel-ers.

(ADAP) Mutipurpose Co-operative.

ADAP Multipurpose Cooperative is the econom-ic arm of ADAP Inc.

“Happy mi ana na gipropose na sa vice mayor kay mahatagan ang PWDs

a chance to be employed,” Autida said.

The cooperative has 169 members and 20 of them are employed by pri-vate firms in the city while some work for the coop. [CRC]

the family, community and government but also to en-courage their families and community they live with to reaffirm the valued Fili-pino tradition of caring for senior citizens, ” the reso-lution states.

The legal spouse can receive the assistance, but if the latter is already dead, it will go to the nearest surviving relatives such as

children, parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchil-dren, if the proposal is ap-proved.

“In the event that no one from the above men-tioned relatives are still liv-ing, the benefactor, wheth-er related or not to the se-nior citizen, who provided care or who gave any form of assistance to him or her, and whom the senior citi-

zen was dependent on for the primary care and mate-rial support, as certified to by the City Social Services Development Officer (CSS-DO), ” the proposal states.

The CSSDO should for-mulate and adopt imple-menting rules and regula-tions to carry out the ob-jectives of the ordinance, in consultation with the City Mayor’s Office, City

Legal Office, City Treasur-er’s Office, City Budget Office, City Planning and Development Office, and OSCA.

The proposal was part of last Tuesday’s agenda but it was deferred by the body since they don’t have enough time to discuss it since city council were busy discussing the road closure ordinances.

house chores for wom-en more difficult, such as gathering of firewood that are becoming scarcer or fetching drinking water from nearby springs that are drying up.

Add to this burden the threats to lives and prop-erties at the onslaught of tropical depressions.

Del Rosario bared government interventions have largely targeted wom-

en because they are usually concerned about house-hold welfare, and are likely to remember, and adopt simple knowledge and skills on how to reduce the impact of climate change to every home.

In Davao del Norte, mothers were enlisted as among the principal partners in the imple-mentation of the Oplan A.N.D.A.M. (Advocacy

on Natural Disasters Awareness and Manage-ment) program that was launched by the governor last December.

The initiative has been teaching mothers and oth-er stakeholders in identi-fied communities simple technologies that reduce their vulnerability to ca-lamities and allow them to build back better. [Noel Baguio]

AS part of Social Se-curity System’s (SSS) campaign to

enhance its service deliv-ery, employers all over the country can now receive their reimbursements for advance payments of em-ployees’ sickness and ma-ternity benefits directly at

their own bank account, instead of waiting for SSS checks from the mail.

Agnes San Jose, SSS Vice President for Bene-fits Administration, said the SSS Sickness and Ma-ternity Benefit Payment thru the Bank (SMB PB) Program provides em-

ployers a safer, faster and more convenient means of reimbursement than its previous system of send-ing checks thru registered mail, which may take up to a month depending on their mailing address.

“Companies, as well as household employers, will

benefit from the SMB PB Program since it address-es concerns regarding lost, misdelivered or stale re-imbursement checks that can take several months to replace. It also eliminates the waiting period for mailing and check clear-ing,” San Jose said.

SSS improves reimbursement system

VOL. 6 ISSUE 256 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 14-15, 201412 CLASSIFIEDEDGEDavao Davao Partners

EDGEDavao Gensan Partners

Tel No. (083) 553-2211 / (083) 877-0019 / (083) 878-0308

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INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 256 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 14-15, 2014

EDGEDAVAOARTS & CULTURE

A tale told through danceThe Locsin Dance Workshop’s 67th Annual Recital

IF my friend Anavi had not informed me about it, I would

have missed one of the Durianburg’s annual spectacle, the Locsin Dance Work-shop’s Annual Re-cital. Already on it’s 67th year, the recital brings together the Locsin Dance Work-

The finale of Engkanto.FA TALE, A4

DAVAO is about to experi-ence premium entertain-ment as GMA’s A-listers Dingdong Dantes, Mar-ian Rivera, Dennis Trillo, and Regine Velasquez lead a star-studded entourage and make their way to the Crown Jewel of Mindanao for its annual Araw ng Da-baw celebration. On March 14, Friday, Jennylyn Mercado, Yas-mien Kurdi, and Ervic Vi-jandre from the primetime series Rhodora X invade Gaisano Mall of Toril at 3PM and Gaisano Mall of Davao at 5pm. GMA Pri-metime King Dingdong Dantes joins them in the Gaisano 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 Songbird Regine Velasquez is set to conquer the Activity Area of the Abreeza Mall as she

takes on her first ever Ka-puso Fans’ Day at 4PM all for her Dabawenyo sup-porters to witness. Come 6PM, the NCCC Mall of Davao welcomes GMA Primetime Queen Marian Rivera together

with her Carmela Ang Pinakamagandang Babae sa Mundong Ibabaw lead-ing man Alden Richards in a mall show to be host-ed by Boobay. With them is James Wright, the voice behind the show’s theme music Sana’y Ikaw. On March 16, Sunday, a stellar parade awaits the Dabawenyos as Marian and Alden, together with stars from GMA’s After-noon Prime block tour Davao City’s major streets beginning at 7AM. Present in the float parade are The Borrowed Wife’s Camille Prats and Rafael Rosell; Paraiso Ko’y Ikaw’s Kim Rodriguez and Kristoffer Martin; Innamorata’s Max Collins and Luis Alandy; and Villa Quinatana’s Ja-nine Gutierrez, Sunshine

Dizon, and Lucho Ayala. Back-to-back Kapuso mall shows follow with Camille, Rafael, Kim, and Kristoffer at 2PM in SM City Davao; and with Janine, Sunshine, Max, Luis, and Lucho at 4PM in Gaisano Grand Citimall Davao. Capping the celebration is a Kapuso Night with Dennis and Lauren Young, which starts at 6PM in SM City Davao.

BS-CBN’s “Maalaala Mo Kaya” will inspire TV view-ers to value their loved ones through the touching tale of inseparable brothers, Okoy and Luman, who will be por-trayed by Jason Abalos and Dominic Roque. Okoy and Luman have a promise to be at each other’s side for the rest of their lives. Driven by their dream of building their own house, Okoy works hard and sac-rifices almost everything

to help his y o u n g e r brother fin-ish his stud-ies. How will Okoy accept that fact that his beloved b r o t h e r , whom he has taken care of all his life, has given up on him at his most trying time? Also part of Jason and Dominic’s “MMK” are Malik-

si Morales, JM Ibañez, Dianne Me-dina, Mymy Davao, and Mike Aus-tria. It is di-rected by Garry Fer-

nando, written by Arlene Tamayo and Arah Jell Ba-dayos, and researched by Akeem del Rosario. “MMK” is led by business

unit head Malou Santos, production manager Roda Dela Cerna, and executive producer Lindsay Anne Di-zon. Don’t miss Asia’s longest-running drama anthol-ogy, “MMK” this Saturday (March 15) after “Wansap-anataym” on ABS-CBN. For more updates, log on to MMK.abs-cbn.com, follow @MMKOfficial on Twitter, like Facebook.com/MMKOf-ficial.

IN CELEBRATION of Araw ng Dabaw and in support of the Big Davao Fun Sale, SM Lanang Premier will be mounting a unique foodie event called ‘The Davao Gourmet Collective: STREET FOOD FEST’ on March 14-16 and March 21-23, 2014, from 4pm to 10 pm at The Fountain Court. This is the third wave of the Davao Gourmet Collec-tive, which was first orga-nized at last year’s Kaday-awan Festival. Drawing from the success of the two pre-ceding events, it is expected to attract thousands of food lovers from across the Philip-pines who are in Davao City to celebrate Araw ng Dabaw and be part of the Big Davao Fun Sale. The Street Food Fest will showcase must-try global street eats crafted by Davao City’s top gourmands. Among par-ticipating food purveyors include Malagos Farmhouse and Cheeses, Manna, Bangkok Wok, Ineng’s, Kushiya, Cucina Ilo-cana, Monica Floirendo, Bistro Selera, Cacao de Davao, Cel-lar de Boca, JR Pastry, Bleu Chili, Mexican and Crocodile Ice Cream and Shakes. Kicking off on Friday, March 14, at 6pm, the Street Food Fest will be held at The Fountain Court grounds. Feast on world-class street food at the Davao Gourmet Col-lective. Check out SM Lanang Premier on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for news and event updates.

THIS MARCH, as the cool weather quickly turns into swelter-ing heat, the upcoming summer season gets even hotter with the release of Metro Society’s annual men’s issue. The magazine this month turns the temperature up by turning the spotlight on men found making waves in the kitchen. With the lo-cal food industry having gained popularity in the last decade, the Philippines has become an international culinary destination and these men have played a crucial role in transform-ing not only the country’s views, but tastes as well. Leading the pack are four men who have piqued curiosity, whet appetites, and satisfied palates: Green Pastures’ Robby Goco, Sensei Sushi’s Bruce Ricketts, Hungry Hound’s Rob Pengson, and Hatch22 and Pink Panda’s Erwan Heusaff. Metro Society believes that these men are the future of the food industry in the Philippines--each of them having their own views when it comes to preparing, cooking, and plat-ing dishes, possessing a personal style about things that sets each of them apart and an undeniable passion that makes what they do memorable. The Men’s issue also presents the annual hall of fame--the country’s top list of men who are consistently polished and impeccably dressed. The magazine’s Men in Suits section is a real treat, selecting men in the culinary scene, including chefs, restauranteurs, connoisseurs, bloggers, and critics. All these and more can be found in Metro Society’s Men’s Issue this March. Grab a copy now at leading bookstores and newsstands nationwide.

A2 INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 256 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 14-15, 2014EDGEDAVAO

SM Lanang Premier to hold Street Food Fest on weekends

Metro Society launchesMen’s Issue this March

UP AND ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT

Dingdong, Marian, Dennis, and Regine V. lead Kapuso

stars to Araw ng Dabaw

Jason and Dominic to play brothers in “MMK”

CELEBRATE ARAW NG DABAW AT THE WATERFRONT INSULAR HOTEL. It is a weekend culinary extravaganza at Cafe Uno Restaurant as the Waterfron Insular Hotel Davao cooks up your favourite local Dabawenyo dishes for only Php750 nett per person. For every group of five on March 16, two will enjoy their buffet lunch for free! For more information call 082-300-8881 or 233-2881 to 83.

EVERYONE’S a VIP this March 15, Saturday, as clubs Starr and Moon, in partner-ship with Hybrid, Cork & Bar-rel, Club Aurum World K-Box and Edong’s Resto Bar, in co-operation with SMART and Colt 45, bring you the Araw ng Dabaw Step Up Street Party. The 1st Araw ng Dabaw Step Up Street Party will fea-ture top international guest DJ Ingo Vogelmann from Germany. Ingo Vogelmann runs three successful shows on FRISKY — the number 1 radio station in its field — the 8 hours marathon show “LIGHTWORKS”, the legend-ary Ambient show “TIME OUT” and the “Release Pro-mo Hype Chart Essentials” where Ingo showcases the best new material from the most significant promo pool for progressive dance music. From over 200 shows on the station, “LIGHTWORKS” has been ranked #4 in 2011, after Nick Warren, Dave Seaman and the “Artist Of The Week”. 7 albums and over 150 singles and remixes mark-ing his way, he is currently working on his 8th artist al-

bum for which he teamed up with the Danish classical/crossover singer Helene Hør-lyck as well as New York City based singer Jane Silence, to create another pioneer-ing work in the field of ad-vanced eletronic music. Also out in 2013 are remixes for the award-winning produc-er Lee Fletcher and the Ger-man label Cirque Du Son. He is joined by the coun-

try’s top celebrity DJs, DJ Kirby Yu from Cebu, DJ Coki and Cherry Summer of Apl.de.Ap’s Jeepney Music, as well as Davao’s very own DJ Patrick, DJ James, Kevin Rage, DJ Enzo, DJ Robert and DJ Cindy. As they set the Davao crowd with the coolest dance music, fun and sur-prises also await all party attendees as confetti bazoo-

kas, water cannons, water guns, jello shots, glow in the dark paints, colored pow-ders, glow sticks and whis-tles will be set-up and given away for everyone’s enjoy-ment. Lots of games and prizes, as well as free WiFi connection, will be provided for the whole street, made possible by SMART. A FREE, fun, up and hap-pening street party coming this Araw ng Dabaw week-end, March 15, 2014, Sat-urday, you definitely don’t want to miss. Gates open at 1:00 PM, while party starts at 3:00 PM - 1:00 AM En-trance and exit gates will be at Bajada St. (by the Central Convenience Store). For in-quiries, contact Ms. Angel Abella at 0932-4562146 / 0926-171-2161

GET READY to party and glow this March 15 as Manic Nightings, the team behind successful EDM parties such as Carte Blance, Elements and Reverie, together with Smart Telecom is set to hold the biggest Araw ng Dabaw party this year titled Libera-lia, The Neon Glow Party at the Crocodile Park concert grounds. Liberalia, The Neon Glow Party will feature a roster of some of the biggest-named DJs in the country such as DJ Clyde Harris, DJ Aliana Jimenez, DJ Erwin Edralin DJ Reo Mendoza and Curse & Bless together with local DJs Wack Masbad, Niel Recinto, Antonio Tupas and DJ Torch. Making the evening hot-ter will be the Godfather of Philippine house music and resident DJ of Manila’s Re-publiq, Ace Ramos with his own mash ups that mix hip hop, rnb, elektro rock, chart-topping hits, and upcoming tracks. DJ Ace Ramos always keeps each set fresh and he will definitely keep the party crowd on the dance floor until the wee hours of the morning and has has shared the stage with international

DJs such as Tiesto, Steve Aoki, Jermaine Dupri, Lil Jon, Vice, Qbert, Stonerokk, Yves V, Laidback Luke, Dirty South, Paul Van Dyk, Bassjackers, Porter Robin-son, John Dahlback, Swanky Tunes, David Morales, Avicii, Calvin Harris, Benny Benassi, Fedde Le Grand, R3Hab, Er-ick Morillo and Afrojack. DJ Ace Ramos was also voted as the 2010 Club DJ of the Year by Wave 89.1 in the Ur-ban Music Awards. Performing together with Ace Ramos is Boracay’s very own DJ Surf, a.k.a. ‘the-toplessdj’ who’s influence

comes from Ibiza’s style of house music, listening to DJs such as Carl Cox, Pete Tong and the electronic sound of Deadmau5. The half Eng-lish, half Filipino DJ played in many of the Philippines’ most iconic clubs and is the DJ of choice for visiting in-ternational acts, consistently impressing crowds with his style, preparation, distinctly unique mixing and incom-parable energy behind the decks. Tying everything togeth-er and taking the party to the next level is the partici-pation of UniversoROBOT,

an international group of performers consisting of three-meter high human-oid robots fitted with with LED lights and advanced special pyrotechnic effects as CO2 cannons. Universo-Robot regularly performs in the most exiting “clubbing” events worldwide such as at the FIB 2010 and 2011, during the Amnesia Ibiza World Tour, the POP STAR tour with Brian Cross, the Supermartxe World Tour, Space Ibiza on Tour, MTV EMA in Madrid, the Opening Amnesia Ibiza 2011 and the closing Party at Space Ibiza

INdulge! A3VOL. 6 ISSUE 256 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 14-15, 2014EDGEDAVAO

Everyone’s a VIP at the Arawng Dabaw Step Up street party

2011. General admission tick-ets to Liberalia, The Neon

Glow Party are available for Php500 while VIP stage-side tickets with unlimited drinks from Bacardi are available for Php1,500. Tickets are now available at Soul Life-style stores at Gaisano Mall of Davao and Abreeza Mall, Cellar de Boca at SM Lanang Premier, and at Backyard Burger outlets at Quimpo Blvd. and Quirino Avenue. Rides to Liberalia are available on March 15 from 2PM to 12 midnight at S&R Matina at the gate fronting NCCC, Gaisano Mall of Da-bao near the van terminal, the back parking of Abreeza Mall and at the back parking of SM Lanang Premier.

Liberalia, The Neon Glow Party set to make Davao party history this March 15

PG 13 /

* PG 13

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

12:00 | 1:50 | 3:40 LFS / *5:30 | 7:45 | 10:00 LFS

MANNY 2D / *NON-STOP 2D

Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green

12:00 | 1:55 | 3:50 LFS / * 5:50 | 7:55 | 10:00 LFS

WEDDING PALACE 2D / * MAKE YOUR MOVE 2D

Brian Tee, Hye-jeong Kang /

*BoA Kwon, Derek Hough

Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper

Manny Pacquiao / *Liam Neeson

A4 INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 256 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 14-15, 2014EDGEDAVAOARTS & CULTURE

shop’s ballet students from all grades for a performance that kicks off the stu-dio’s summer season classes. The first part of the pro-gramme was an enchant-ing number titled Eng-kanto which tells the story of a farmer who mistak-enly takes firewood from the enchanted garden on an engkanto. Cursed by the engkanto his daughter went on a journey to find a cure for her father’s ail-ment meeting many spiri-tual beings that populate Filipino folklore as the Nuno sa Punso, the Tik-

balang, the Babaeng Na-kaputi, the Kapre, and the Mananggal as creatively portrayed in dance by the dancers. Engkanto was like a modern storybook come to life and riddled funny moments and values ev-ery Filipino parent and child can take home with. Of course this was thanks to the wonderful choreog-raphy that can only come from Agnes Locsin to-gether with her proteges, Biag Gaongen, Monique Uy and Abigail Alejandro. While the first part of the program was playful and enchanting, the sec-

ond part was truly spectac-ular with the senior ballet dancers taking to the stage to perform Ballet Filipini-ana which features ballet movements to the tune of classic Original Filipino Music. From the very first Pas de Deux to the breath-stopping solo performance of Monique Uy, I was sure everyone in the audience was captivated by the beauty, strength and grace of the dancers and their precise movements. Being that the Annual Recital is just a preview of things to come, I an-noy wait for the Locsin Dance Workshop’s Sum-

mer Showcase that will be held on May 14 at the CAP Grand Auditorium which will feature La Revolu-cion Filipina together with eleven dancers from Ballet Philippines who will be in training under Agnes.

Individuals those who want to join or learn more about ballet, jazz or mod-ern dance at the Locsin Summer Dance Workshop to be held this April 7 to May 14 one can contact them at 2274753 or email

them at [email protected]. Follow me on Instagram or on Twitter at @kenneth-kingong for more travel tales, foodie finds, as well as happenings in, around and beyond Durianburg.

Mga Bulaklak (the flowers).

Mga Ibon (the birds).

The finale of Ballet Filipiniana.

A tale...FFROM A1

VOL. 6 ISSUE 256 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 14-15, 2014 13

AN online security game, an Android device-based log-in

system, an access control for personal health re-cord systems and an open source-based cellular sys-tem.

These are research projects designed by Fil-ipino students which are among the 15 finalists cur-rently competing for the top three prizes in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Af-rica Cup of Kaspersky Lab’s CyberSecurity for the Next Generation 2014.

This year’s regional competition, which is ex-pected to be attended by the company’s founder Eugene Kaspersky, is being held from March 12-13 at the University of Korea in Seoul, South Korea.

All four research pa-pers are authored by Com-puter Science students from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

Teammates Adelen Vic-toria Festin, Camille Sala-zar and Flor Marie Carmeli Sison submitted two quali-fied research papers.

One of their papers is about SecuriThief, an al-ternative tool to teach chil-dren online security in the form of a computer game

using true-to-life simu-lations. “We believe that through gaming, children will be able to learn faster and in a more efficient way because of its fun factor and its personal approach to things,” Festin and her group said.

Their second paper introduced Communect, a low-cost, easy-to-de-ploy, alternative and se-cure open source-based (OpenBTS) communica-tion system where mobile phone users can connect to make calls and send mes-sages particularly in areas that do not have access to conventional mobile net-works or areas with dam-aged telecommunication systems.

The group said Com-munect can also be used for community develop-ment such as organization of disaster risk manage-ment activities and cen-tralization of information dissemination.

The group of Dan An-tonio Reyes, John Smith Paraggua and Ray Torres presented Binary Login us-ing Android Device or what they call BLADE System, an easy-to-deploy solution using a two-factor authen-tication system.

BLADE requires the

use of an Android device as a security token on top of the typical username-pass-word security scheme for a person to successfully log-in and prevent security at-tacks on his online account. The fourth paper from the Philippines is solely-au-thored by 26-year-old Rose Ann Sale-Zuniga, who is taking up her master’s de-gree in Computer Science.

Zuniga is proposing a usable, secure and dynam-ic design for a task-role-based access control for Personal Health Record (PHR) systems. A PHR is a health record that a patient owns and manages.

“What it does is it limits a user’s access to the sys-tem based on the task as-signed to him, while tasks are based on his role. For example, a person with role of a nurse should not be able to access sensi-tive medical information unless he is authorized. He can only access a pa-tient’s medication list if, say, a doctor gives him the task to print it. After printing the list, the task ends and he should not be able to access it again unless another task gives him that privilege,” Zuniga explained.

4 Filipino research papers compete in Kaspersky Lab’s CyberSecurity

EDGEDAVAO

ICT HUB

VOL. 6 ISSUE 256 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 14-15, 201414 EDGEDAVAOCLASSIFIED

VOL. 6 ISSUE 256 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 14-15, 2014 15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO SPORTS

EMPLOYEES of Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) con-

quered five local and in-ternational marathons in the past few weeks, two of which were ultramar-athons or races spanning more than the standard 42.195 kilometers.

Senior training super-visor Carl Balagot, corpo-rate wireless consultant Carlo Gonzalez, and secu-rity officer Sandy Alenta-jan finished the first-ever 250-kilometer ultramar-athon from Rizal Park in Manila to Baguio in just three days. They covered 90 km on the first day, an-other 90 km on the second day, and 70 km on the last day.

Meanwhile, senior engineers Alfeus delos Santos and Arvin Arcil-la, administrative assis-tant Marian Mera, and senior supervisor Felipe Mascareñas braved even the uphill challenges of the Luneta-to-Tagaytay ultramarathon which stretched for 62 km.

Arcilla also finished the 42.195-km Standard Chartered Hong Kong marathon, which is recog-nized as one of the leading road races in the world by the International Associ-

ation of Athletics Federa-tions.

Even Smart’s first-time marathoners fin-ished the Bull Runner Dream Marathon in Sta. Rosa, Laguna with flying colors. The 42.195-km event is the only marathon in the world that caters to first- or second-time mar-athoners.

Among the finishers were public affairs man-ager Jill Lava, infrastruc-ture and operations man-ager Marvin Cabataña, senior specialist Delia Ma-jam, and project manage-ment officer Patrick Peig.

Meanwhile, channel communications super-visor Karen Macapagal finished third in the 8 km category of the Amway Fun Run held recently in Davao City.

All the ultramarathon and marathon finishers are members of the SMS or Samahang Mananakbo ng Smart, which aims to encourage Smart employ-ees to discover and im-prove their running skills. SMS is one of 20 employ-ee clubs at Smart which seek to promote active wellness in the company so its workforce can live by the “Live More” mani-festo.

14 YR. old biker to joinTHE Davao Pobre Bikers Association

(Dapoba) will also see ac-tion in the Mayor Rody & Vice Mayor Pulong Duter-te Cycling Challenge slated on March 15 and 16 in sep-arate routes.

Dapoba will be spear-headed by elite riders Ronnie Urdaneta and April John Maniyog according to its former president Dom-inic Carpio.

“We will still finalize the final line-up,” Carpio, a former Southeast Asian Games gold medalist.

Aside from the two elite riders, each team must also have three to four 23 un-der riders to complete the team for the team category.

Meanwhile, 14-year old Raven Chris Candog of Toril is also joining in the mountain bike cross coun-try race which will start and finish near at the Maa firing range.

Candog was the young-est participant during the 2010 Kadayawan MTB at the age of 8 years old.

The 23 Under will have three laps for a total of 27 kilometers while the 18 below will have two laps for 18 kilometers.

The 160-kilometer

Road Race will start and end at the SM Ecoland West.

The two-day event is organized by the Davao City Sports Consumer Co-operative and Philcycling and sponsored by the city government in coordina-tion with the City Sports Development Division.

It is supported by Em-perador Brandy, Ideal Vi-sion, One Radio 102.7 FM and RMC Broadcasting Corporation.

The MTB cross country will have categories in the Junior (18 under) and the 23 under only, while the Road Race has categories in the team and Junior (18 under).

Each team in the road race shall be composed of only one or two elite riders plus three to four 23 under those born 1991 for a max-imum of six riders.

Organizer Salvador “Jun” Paholio Jr., deputy secretary general for Min-danao of Philcycling said that cash prizes, trophies and medals are up for grabs. Registration is free but the mandatory docu-ments include a certified true copy of birth certifi-cate from NSO and Philcy-cling-UCI license.

Dapoba to join Araw bikefest

Smart runners shine

MANNY Pacquiao is in Los Angeles pre-paring for his up-

coming fight with Timothy Bradley Jr., but he may have a bigger target in mind — Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The Filipino fighter is preparing for a rematch against Bradley, and those around Pacquiao believe a win should set him up for what has been an elusive fight against Mayweath-er. So far the two fighters have been unable to com to terms on a match, but it’s looking increasingly inevi-table that they meet.

“As far as I’m concerned, Mayweather can’t go around saying he’s the best until he fights the best and for me, Manny’s the best,” said Justin Fortune, who is

back as Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach.

If he does defeat Bradley when they meet April 12, Manny Pacquiao may still have another step before he can meet Floyd Mayweath-er Jr. It’s likely that he would fight Juan Manuel Marquez later in 2014, which would set up what could be the fight of the century.

As long as both Pac-quiao and Mayweather can keep winning, it’s likely that both fighters would command $50 million each when they finally meet, in-siders believe.

Pacquiao’s camp has been publicly pushing for a Mayweather fight for months. After his comeback win against Brandon Rios, Pacquiao promoter Bob

MIAMI (AP) — Something about facing the Miami

Heat still brings out the best in Paul Pierce.

Jason Kidd isn't half-bad against them, either.

Pierce scored 17 of his 29 points in the third quar-ter and delivered two cru-cial scores late, Shaun Liv-ingston created a turnover on the game's final play and the Brooklyn Nets topped the Heat 96-95 on Wednes-day night — moving to 3-0 this season against the two-time defending NBA cham-pions, two of those wins coming by a single point and the other in overtime.

"We haven't had any success," Kidd said of Brooklyn's perfect mark against the Heat. "We've just been lucky to win some games."

Maybe, maybe not. In Kidd's past 24 games against the Heat as a coach or player, his teams are 19-5. And this was just the latest entry in Brooklyn's surge, with the Nets now an Eastern Conference-best 23-9 since Jan. 1.

Mirza Teletovic scored 17 off the bench. Livingston finished with 13 points and Andray Blatche scored 11 for the Nets.

Chris Bosh scored 24 points for Miami, giving him 15,003 for his career. Dwyane Wade scored 22, LeBron James finished with 19 and Mario Chalmers scored 14 for the Heat, who gave up 22 points off turn-overs and were hit with two technicals (on Wade and Chalmers) for arguing calls within a 92-second span of the third quarter.

"It's competition," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team has dropped four of its past five games.

"It's survival of the stron-gest right now. ... We still feel confident about our game. We just need to put it together."

Miami had a chance at the end. Deron Wil-liams missed a jumper with about 8 seconds left, and Wade grabbed the rebound. He took a cou-ple steps downcourt, then called time out with 3.5 seconds remaining, and Miami had to burn another one in order to advance the ball into the frontcourt for the final play.

Whatever Spoelstra drew up never got off the ground. Bosh tried to get the ball to James in the lane, but Livingston knocked it away and time expired.

"Losing four of five," James said, "that's pretty bad."

Pierce was 5 for 5 from the field, 3 for 3 from 3-point range and got fouled on another try from beyond the arc in the third quarter, his biggest-scoring period of the season.

"I'm sure his antenna is raised in games like this, against us," Spoelstra said.

Chalmers made a 3-pointer to get Miami within 84-81 with 6:57 left, but Teletovic — who hadn't had a double-digit scoring game in exactly a month before Wednesday — answered from several feet beyond the arc on the next Brooklyn possession to restore a six-point lead.

Miami never got the lead back. Pierce had a 3 to make it 90-86, then a drive to snap a 92-all tie with 1:45 remaining.

"Paul's got too much left in the tank to be a role player," Williams said.

The Nets were without Kevin Garnett (back) and

Andrei Kirilenko (ankle). Garnett is expected to miss at least one more game, while Kirilenko tested his ankle in a morning shoot-around practice before the Nets figured he wasn't ready to play.

Miami beat every other team in the league last sea-son, and still could repeat

the feat this year. The Heat entered Wednesday having beaten 26 of the 29 oppos-ing clubs, the three hold-outs being Houston (who visits Sunday), Memphis (who Miami hasn't faced yet) — and the Nets, who won the first two meetings against the Heat this sea-son in Brooklyn.

Nets repeat over Heat 96-95STILL POSSIBLE

Manny and Floyd may yet agree to fight

PITCH AND PUTT. Phoenix Petroleum Philippines presidenty Dennis Uy pitches from the fringe during the 6th Phoenix Open golf tournament at Rancho Palos Verdes. Boy Lim

HARD ON TRAINING. Manny Pacuiao is dead serious at training camp.

VOL. 6 ISSUE 256 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, MARCH 14-15, 2014EDGEDAVAO16

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Edge Davao 6 Issue 256