Edge Davao 7 Issue 184

P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 7 ISSUE 184 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28 - 29, 2014

SEVEN out of ten Dabawenyos would vote for Mayor Rodri-

go Duterte as president in 2016, a survey has found.

In a statement, the Uni-versity of Mindanao’s In-stitute of Popular Opinion (IPO) said it surveyed 1,200 Dabawenyos on October 6 to 17, systematically choos-ing the respondents and

employing a 5 percent mar-gin of error and 95 percent confidence interval.

IPO said the survey found that 70 percent Dabawenyos will vote for Duterte while all other “per-ceived presidentiables” are tailing off far behind.

“Eight in 100 will vote for (Vice President Jejomay) Binay who comes as the next

choice; 7 in 100 Dabawen-yos will choose (Manila Mayor Joseph) Estrada; and (President Benigno Aquino) fourth,” IPO said.

The survey found that Senator Grace Poe falls far behind “with a very small margin.”

IPO said the four are “statistically tied on the sec-ond spot” after Duterte.

“Statistically, Duterte’s good leadership subsumes the idea that it is address-ing criminality because he is brave (17 percent) and can implement peace and order (15 percent) and rule of law (5 percent),” IPO said.

Three percent believe he can address the corruption problem that plagues the

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

[email protected]

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

F70%, 10SPORTS page 16

INSIDE EDGE

70% FOR RODYBUILT TO BE CHAMPION, BUILDING A CHAMPION

Survey: Dabawenyos support Duterte bid

NO TO AERIAL SPRAY. A group of environment advocates displays a miniature banana-shaped airplane to emphasize its call to ban aerial spraying in the country during the I-Speak media forum at City Hall yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 184 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28 - 29, 2014

Davao City Mayor Ro-drigo Duterte urged all political and civic

leaders all over Mindanao, including representatives of different sectors, to attend the first Mindanao Leaders Summit on Federalism in Davao City on December 1.

The one-day event, dubbed “Mindanawons Forging Unity Toward a Fed-eral System of Government,” will discuss the possibility of pushing federalism as a viable alternative to the present form of government and effect political and social changes not just in Mindan-ao but for the whole country as well.

“I am calling on all re-sponsible leaders in the is-land, from government and civil society organizations, from the business and aca-deme sectors, the leaders of the Church, the military and

the youth, let us all forge a well-informed, united front, so we could craft a collective plan of action for Mindanao’s true identity reflective of what its peoples and tribes truly wish and aspire for,” Duterte said in a statement.

He said the people who are expected to attend the summit are former Presi-dent Fidel V. Ramos, Msgr. Fernando Capalla, Ateneo de Davao University Presi-dent Fr. Joel Tabora, former Mindanao Economic Devel-opment Council (MEDCo) chair Paul G. Dominguez, and retired General Hermogenes Esperon.

Local government heads from provinces and munic-ipalities were also invited, while Catholic bishops and Muslim religious leaders are also expected to attend the event.

2 EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS

FRODY, 10

FEXECOM, 10FTIGHTENED, 10

FKOREAN, 10

THE different law en-forcement agencies in Davao City will be

tightening security starting next week for the upcoming Christmas festival.

Davao City Police Of-fice (DCPO) deputy director for operations Superinten-dent Angel Sumagaysay told reporters in yesterday’s I-Speak Media Forum that they will be providing strict security for the upcoming activities of the Pasko Fiesta sa Dabaw which will start on December 5.

Sumagaysay said they will deploy around 7,000

security forces in the city involving the DCPO, Region-al Public Safety Battalion, Task Force Davao (TFD), 69th Infantry Battalion, and the 84th Infantry Battalion under the 10th Infantry Di-vision.

He said the areas of con-centration will be the city proper, particularly San Pe-dro Street, Claro M. Recto Street, and Roxas Avenue where the major activities will be held.

“Those do’s and don’ts last year, if you still remem-ber, we will apply them again just to secure the area,” he

said.Sumagaysay said the

prohibited acts during the activities include wearing of sunglasses and bringing of backpacks, tumblers, and canisters that are not trans-parent.

“We will activate depos-itory centers just to deposit these things, just in case. Hopefully, the people of the city will be aware or in-formed that these prohibited things would not be brought during the celebration of ac-tivities,” he said.

Sumagaysay also that the Public Safety and Security

Command Center (PSSCC) is making adjustments on the Close Circuit Television Cam-eras (CCTV) in the city.

He said that the PSSCC will transfer some CCTV cameras in the areas of con-vergence during the activ-ities to monitor the flow of the events.

Sumagaysay assured the public that they will secure the city during the celebra-tion.

“Enjoy the celebration be-cause Davao City Police Of-fice and Task Force Davao

THE Pasko Fiesta sa Dabaw executive com-mittee is still finalizing

the budget for the expenses of the month-long activities in the city.

In yesterday’s I-Speak Media Forum held at City Hall, festival director Rich-ard Dian Vilar told reporters that as of the committee’s meeting last Wednesday the proposed budget of the festi-val has been trimmed to P5 million from the P9.6 million which was earlier bared.

Vilar said the reduction of the proposed budget for the festival was due to some calls that the festival should be simple.

“Anyway, basin mapangi-taan pa og paagi. I-finalize na jud siya next week (Anyway, maybe there would be some

ways for additional funds. This would be finalized next week),” he said.

Vilar said that they will possibly tie up with the pri-vate sector or companies that will sponsor the excess expenses for the events.

He said they would pre-fer support in kind such as water or food because much is spent on these items in ev-ery activity of the Christmas Festival.

Vilar said the P5 million budget will be drawn from the community development fund of the City Tourism Op-erations Office (CTOO).

Earlier, councilor Al Ryan Alejandre said Mayor Duter-te has ordered a cut in the budget for the Pasko Fiesta in order to allocate funds for

OFFICIALS of Korean Engineering and Con-struction (KEC) who

are interested in construct-ing a mass transit system in Davao City will come back here by March 2015 to pres-ent the most viable railway system for the city.

Councilor Tomas Mon-teverde, chair of the commit-tee on transportation and communication, told report-ers in an interview that the South Korean group has to assess whether the system will be constructed below the ground or above.

“The group has already started the feasibility study,” Monteverde said, adding

that the study is expected to be finished by first quarter next year.

Monteverde said Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is serious in pushing the project especial-ly since the city is developing economically.

“The mayor said the gov-ernment can still borrow money from World Bank because we still have the ca-pacity to pay debts,” he said

The entire project is expected to cost billions of pesos but the city is plan-ning to implement it under a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.

Monteverde said once

Rody urges Mindanao leaders to attend Federalism Summit

TIGHTENED SECURITYDCPO on tight watch for Pasko FiestaBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

[email protected]

CAN’T BE LATE. A worker shields himself with an umbrella while braving the heavy downpour just to get to work on time along City Hall drive in Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

Execom still finalizingPasko Fiesta budget

CHRISTMAS SECURITY. Davao City Police Office (DCPO) operations commander Superintendent Angel Sumagaysay outlines the security measures that will be implemented for the upcoming Pasko Fiesta Dabaw celebration. Sumagaysay was a guest in yesterday’s I-Speak media forum at City Hall. Lean Daval Jr.

Korean investors to present mostviable railway system in March

[email protected]

By CHENEEN R. CAPON


THE one-stop shop for the renewal of permits will start early next

year in two venues to avoid congestion of taxpayers.

In yesterday’s I-Speak Media Forum, Business Bu-reau head lawyer Lawrence Bantiding announced that the one-stop shop will ac-cept applications for renew-al and new business permits starting January 3, 2015.

“We decided to start ear-ly because if we start on Jan-uary 5, it might create much

congestion at the Sangguni-ang Panlungsod (SP) build-ing and NCCC Mall,” he said.

Bantiding said he is ex-pecting more than 30,000 applicants for renewal, ex-cluding the employees who are going to apply for occu-pational permits.

He said the Business Bureau expects to cater to around 2,000 taxpayers and 1,000 occupational permit applicants per day.

He said the bureau is-sued 33,134 business per-

mits as of October this year.“We are expecting that

all these taxpayers will re-new their business permits during the renewal period or up to January 20,” Bantiding said.

Bantiding said the busi-ness owners can still renew their permits even beyond January 20, but they will pay 25 percent penalty from their gross sales tax.

On January 3 and 4, the one-stop shop will start at 8 a.m. and will end at 5 p.m. in

two venues: SP building lob-by area and Kadayawan Hall of NCCC Mall.

On January 5 and 6 and on January 17 and 19, the one-stop shop will start at 8 a.m. and will end at 7:30 p.m. in the same venues.

On January 10 and 11, the one-stop shop will be up to 5 p.m. only. On January 12 to 16 and 19, it will be up to 9 p.m in the same venues.

On the last day of renewal,

SMALL- and medi-um-scale farmers and animal raisers in Davao

City are being encouraged to practice organic farm an-imal raising because of the forecasted mild El Niño early next year.

Speaking at a recent press conference, Davao City Veterinarian officer Dr. Cere-lyn Pinili said raising native

farm animals have higher survival rate of about 60 per-cent compared with hybrid or imported animals.

“Our native chickens and pigs can stand changes in temperature unlike hybrid animals that are very sensi-tive. Our native animals have already learned to adopt in our weather,” Pinili said.

She also said during the

rough season it is better to raise free-range animals.

Pinili also encouraged farmers to raise ruminant animals like sheep and goats that only eat grass.

She said the City Veter-inarian Office (CVO) has al-ready started programs that will help small farmers next year when El Niño hits and causes a prolonged dry sea-

son.“We have our technicians

trained so that they will be our resource speakers in our various seminars for farm-ers,” she said.

Pinili also said the city is developing some parts of Paquibato district to become a training center on organic farming and ethno veteri-

THE Mindanao Thalas-semia Foundation, Inc., (MTFI) will conduct a

lay forum on thalassemia for patients, parents, and com-munity on December 6 at sec-ond floor of Seamen’s Hospital located at R. Castillo, Davao City.

MTFI president Amy Bis-nar told reporters in a recent interview that thalassemia is an inherited lifelong disorder of the blood, in particular, a defect in hemoglobin synthe-sis.

“Symptoms of the disor-der are not seen in the fetus and in newborns. The reason for this is that they have in-creased amounts of fetal he-moglobin,” Bisnar, who has a child with thalassemia, said.

She said normally, after six months of life, fetal hemo-globin is gradually replaced by adult hemoglobin.

Bisnar said in Davao City, there are 40 recorded patients with the blood disease. She said the oldest patient in the foundation is already 88 years old.

In some parts of Mindan-ao, particularly in Cotabato, Zamboanga, General Santos City ,and Davao, the founda-tion recorded a total of 500 patients suffering from the blood disorder.

Bisnar said children with thalassemia cannot make enough adult hemoglobin, so they eventually become ill

before they are two years old and nearly all of them by the age of four.

Bisnar saidthalassemia patients are pale and their growth is stunted.

“Their abdomens are big because of the enlargement of the liver and spleen and will have bulging cheekbones and forehead and their skins are dark,” she said.

Treatment is largely by re-peated blood transfusion, iron chelation, and splenectomy or the removal of spleen.

“The treatment is very expensive because this disor-der is a lifelong illness,” Bisnar said.

She said most patients, like her child, have to under-go at least two blood transfu-sions in a month while others require once in every week.

“(This is) because thalas-semia patients have increased iron in the body and this excess iron has to be removed by iron chelation which is done three to five time a week,” she said, adding that this treatment cost at least P800 per session.

Bisnar said parents who have a child suffering from the disorder are discouraged from carrying another child because of the tendency to pass the dis-order again.

“A thalassemia carrier will bear three out of five children with the disorder, that’s why it’s better to just have one,” she said. CRC

3EDGEDAVAO

FFAMERS, 10

FBUSINESS, 10

Lay forum on thalassemia set

[email protected]

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

Farmers told to go organic for El Niño

NEWS

Business renewal to start earlier to avoid congestionBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

[email protected]

VOL. 7 ISSUE 184 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28 - 29, 20144 EDGEDAVAO

THE ECONOMY

BOHOL is moving to be-come the must-go des-tination in the Philip-

pines as it launches new and exciting tourist attractions with rock bottom prices for airfares, hotels, resorts and tours during a travel fair to be held in Glorieta Mall in Makati City on December 8 to 10, 2014.

“We will also formally launch our newest campaign titled ‘Behold...BOHOL,’ which was developed with the help of CNN’s branding expert Anita Mendiratta. Bo-hol is the first province that benefitted from an outreach program of CNN,” Bohol Gov-ernor Edgar Chatto said.

For her part, AirAsia Philippines CEO Joy Caneba said the airline “takes pride in our collaborative nature and together with our part-ners, ‘Visit Bohol 2015’ cam-paign will enable everyone to fly to Bohol through our low fares, superb service and massive connectivity across 90 destinations in Asia, Chi-

na, India, Australia and the Asean region.”

The three-day event is the first time the tourism sector in Bohol comes to-gether in a massive cam-paign which is part of the Bohol Tourism Action Plan developed through the col-laboration of the United States Agency for Interna-tional Development through its Advancing Philippine Competitiveness Project (USAID-COMPETE), the De-partment of Tourism (DOT), the United Nations-World Tourism Organization (UN-WTO), and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) as well as local tourism stake-holders.

AirAsia, the leading and largest low-cost carrier in Asia, is the exclusive airline partner for the campaign and will offer super low pro-mo seats for flights from Ma-nila to Tagbilran (Bohol).

The airline, which has been awarded the Skytrax’s World’s Best Low Cost Carri-

er for six consecutive years, is also committed to offer year-round low fares for flights between Manila and Tagbilaran (Bohol) and Ma-nila and Cebu. Promo seats are available for booking www.airasia.com.

At least 50 percent dis-count in accommodation, tours and other travel essen-tials in Bohol will be offered during the three-day travel fair. Boholano products will also be made available at af-fordable prices.

The travel fair will open in a grand program featur-ing the world-famous Loboc Children’s Choir. The chorale group will have a nightly concert at the mall.

Bohol province is dubbed as the eco-cultural tourism capital with its fasci-nating Chocolate Hills, pris-tine and white sand beaches in Panglao and Anda. It is also home to the well-loved tarsier, considered the small-est and oldest primate in the world.

Aside from the iconic destinations, the province is surrounded by caves, tran-quil rivers, fascinating wa-ter falls, marine sanctuaries, mangroves, and diving sites.

Governor Chatto cred-ited the strong support and cooperation of tourism stakeholders in Bohol in promoting the new tourist destinations of the province.

“The strong partnership between the local govern-ment and the private tour-ism stakeholders, a well-equipped manpower with innate hospitality as well as the rich natural, cultural and historical attractions of Bohol are the three main factors why we are confident to become a tourism super-power,” Chatto said.

AirAsia, the Filipino Low Cost Carrier is fully sup-porting the ‘Behold...BOHOL’ campaign by offering its low-est possible rates for tourists visiting Bohol. It flies three times daily from Manila to Bohol.

AirAsia offers superlow fares to Bohol

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino on Wednesday laid out the govern-

ment’s plans on how to im-prove the coconut industry – and the lives of its farmers – as the government awaits the Supreme Court’s deci-sion on the longstanding is-sue on the P71-billion Coco Levy Fund.

During a dialogue with members of the Kilus Mag-niniyog, who staged a 71-day march from Davao City to Malacañang Palace, Presi-dent Aquino said the govern-ment has sincerely tried to

resolve the issue, citing the various court decisions on the fund that were in favor the coconut sector.

“Ang problema lang po: hangga’t wala pang hatol hinggil sa motion for par-tial reconsideration na ating nilatag para sa kasong CO-COFED vs. Republic, at wala pang utos ang Korte Supre-ma hinggil sa nilatag nating motion for partial entry of judgment para sa kaso, hindi pa po tapos ang proseso, at hindi pa rin po natin maaar-ing gugulin ang perang dapat nakalaan sa industriya ng ni-

yog,” he explained.He, however, noted that

while waiting for the court decision, the government has increased the Philippine Coconut Authority’s (PCA) funding from P593 million in 2010 to P5.1 billion in 2013.

“Sadyang malaki nga po ito, dahil isinama na rin sa budget ng PCA ang pon-do para sa mga magsasaka ng niyog na sinalanta ng bagyong Yolanda, pati na rin ang pagtugon sa mga tinamaan ng cocolisap,” the President said, adding that

Aquino presents gov’t plans for coconut industry, farmers

FAQUINO, 10

ONE-STOP SHOPS. Davao City Business Bureau chief lawyer Lawrence Bantiding announces that his office will again set up one-stop shops in key locations around the city next year to help speed up the processing of business permit renewal. Bantiding was a guest in the I-Speak media forum at City Hall yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has allowed thrift banks

(TBs) and other smaller banks to engage in foreign exchange trading.

In a statement, the BSP said its policy-making Mon-etary Board (MB) now al-lows TBs to issue foreign letters of credits (LCs) and pay, accept, negotiate im-port or export drafts or bills of exchange; and to act as dealers of deliverable foreign exchange (FX) for-wards “if they meet certain criteria.”

Currently, only universal and commercial banks (U/KBs) are allowed to conduct such services.

With the amendment, TBs with existing authority to issue foreign LCs “may apply for a Type 2 Limited Dealer authority to operate as dealer of deliverable FX forwards” subject to exist-ing licensing process.

“It is expected that pol-icy amendment will expand the FX risk hedging options

of SMEs (small and medium enterprises) to the extent that they are better served by thrift banks,” it said.

Similarly, the MB also approved the amendments to the powers and scope of authorities of banks by rec-ognizing TBs, rural banks (RBs), and Cooperative banks (Coop banks) to buy and sell FX.

”This will enable these banks to play a more active role in the remittance busi-ness,” the BSP said.

BSP said that “while it is recognized that the buying and selling of foreign ex-change will entail additional market risks, ample pruden-tial safeguards are in place.”

”Monitoring of foreign exchange exposures are adequately captured in the BSP prudential reports and the extent of thrift, rural and cooperative banks’ compli-ance and assessment of risk management, and risk expo-sures are evaluated during the BSP on-site examina-tion,” it said. (PNA)

THE Philippine econo-my accelerated by 5.3 percent in the third

quarter of 2014 from seven percent during the same pe-riod last year, mitigated by the lingering effect of pow-erful typhoon ‘Yolanda’ on agriculture sector.

The July to Septem-ber figure brought average three-quarter growth to 5.8 percent, lower than the government’s 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent gross domes-tic product (GDP) target for 2014.

In a press briefing, So-cioeconomic Planning Sec-retary Arsenio Balisacan said a 6.8-percent growth in the fourth quarter is “very

doable” given the expect-ed pickup in government spending and sharp increas-es in business expectations.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Thurs-day reported that the entire agriculture sector main-ly pulled down the GDP growth, decelerating by 2.7 percent in the third quar-ter, the lowest since fourth quarter of 2009.

The industry sector also slowed down to 7.6 percent, slightly lower than the pre-vious year’s 7.7 percent.

”The services sector de-celerated to 5.4 percent but remained the main driver of GDP growth for the quarter,” the PSA said. (PNA)

BSP allows thrift banksto engage in forex trade

Economy expands5.3% in Q3 2014

VOL. 7 ISSUE 184 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28 - 29, 2014 5EDGEDAVAO


VANTAGE

Protecting freedom of expressionEDITORIAL

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

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

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RICHARD C. EBONAMarketing Supervisor

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AQUILES Z. ZONIOFUNNY PEARL GAJUNERA

CHA MONFORTE Correspondents

ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.CHENEEN R. CAPON

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PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTEthe national association of newspapers

IT is in November that we in Davao City remember how fragile our freedoms are, and how much we need to strengthen the exercise of our freedom of expression.

The 23rd of the month is the commemoration of the 2009 Ampatuan massacre which saw the deaths of 58 people, of whom 32 were journalists and media workers. Five years have passed since that singular horror, and yet we see that not only has justice evaded the victims and their families, journalists have continued to be targets of killing and oth-er forms of attack. Under the Aquino administration alone, more than 20 journalists have been killed in the line of duty. For them we mourn, and we set aside this month for them.

On Thursday night the Davao media community honored the best among its ranks, and congratulations must indeed be poured out on those who won and on those who were nominated in the Globe Davao Media Excellence Awards. They are a testament to the excellence and resilience of

the media whose practitioners continue to work hard to ensure that the people are informed updated on matters and issues that affect them directly. The threats are always there, and in may ways they have intensified, but Davao City’s journalists know that their commitment to the truth and to the people cannot be compromised.

Thursday night’s awarding ceremony may be seen as a highlight in the media community here, but it is what hap-pens the day after that matters the most. After going through such a high, reporters go back to the field, gathering news and making sure the newspapers, TV and radio stations, and online sites and are filled with relevant stories. It is true what the truism says: in the media profession there is no overtime; it is all the time. It is enough that we pause on No-vember 23 to remember our fallen comrades, or celebrate the best in us during the media excellence awards. The real-ity for media practitioners is that freedom of expression is a daily struggle, and we fight tirelessly to protect it.


WITH the recent spate of contro-versies hounding people like PNP Chief Purisima, it has al-

ways seemed odd to me that since the opening of the Napoles scam, and the investigations of Senators Enrile and Es-trada, Mayor Duterte’s warning against rice smugglers, and many more scandals that heretofore would remain unnoticed by a jaded public. Just recently, the Phil-ippine Center for Investigative Journalism revealed several Senators and their high profile campaign contributors – yes, even the presidents allies were not spared. All of a sudden, campaign contributions fell under public scrutiny.

Over the last 30 years, it seemed as though these issues were not worth re-porting about, since the public’s eye would probably be blind to the possible infractions. People till now have perhaps grown scandal weary, and cynical to the pursuit of good governance.

Truly, after Napoles fell, even Butch

Abad and oth-er executives have had to bear scruti-ny, and most of all, Aquino family friend Vice President Binay is not protected. The VP is practical-ly the adoptive brother of the president, and bears a stronger relationship with the Aquino family than any Roxas will.

Yet PNoy has allowed the public to take a closer look at the would-be next president, forcing him to measure him-self against a standard of leadership and integrity that the people themselves have suddenly hoisted over all officials. Wheth-er or not he and other public officials will eventually face prosecution or punish-

ment is actually less vital than creating a stronger sense of accountability and per-formance in government. After all, laws against corruption were not meant to pre-vent such behavior.

What is the net effect? People in pub-lic office seem to be less blatant in their displays of wealth, less brazen in their greed, or more crafty in their effort to hide their alleged wrongdoings. If Noy-noy is allegedly noynoying in his slow-ness to protect his allies, then the net effect may well be good for all moving forward.

The Indian economist Amartya Sen posits the need for a free press and de-mocracy as essential in addressing fam-ines in India. He argues that such a feed-back mechanism forces governments to exercise greater accountability and dis-patch to address the famines that often plagued them in the 1960s. Are we seeing a slight change towards greater account-ability? The social media explosion has

unleashed and empowered a cabal of cit-izen reporters that cannot be controlled, as everybody can already claim a license to report the truth they see.

Mainstream Media practitioners, while forever seeking to challenge any form of accreditation or licensure as cen-sorship, will do well to note that such a reality may render them obsolete in the long run. The people, armed with the internet, a smart phone, and the will to seek the truth, will expose the rawness of the harsh reality better than the newshen or the radio patrol reporter. That will be very difficult to sugarcoat or deny. Neti-zens are too many to be paid off.

Those in power and those who seek power must therefore be warned: no spin or media management strategy, and yes, not even Noynoy can adequately protect you from the lens of the Facebook gen-eration. You will have to buy Facebook and control it yourself or just do your job well.

VANTAGE POINTS 7EDGEDAVAO

Henrylito D. [email protected]

THINK ON THESE!

Man in white

Why Doesn’t Noynoy protect them?

AFTER graduating from Xavier Univer-sity High School in Cagayan de Oro City in 2003, Paul John (PJ) A. Vesagas

took up nursing because it was the trend at that time. After all, most of his high school friends and classmates were also joining the bandwagon.

Although PJ never imagined himself be-coming a nurse, he decided to make the best out of it.

In 2007, he finished his nursing course and took the licensure examination, passing with flying colors. After passing the board examination, he took several jobs. At one time, PJ was doing a special class for medical doctors and paramedical professionals who were taking up nursing of the Blessed Moth-er College’s Department of Nursing.

Some people think of nurses as some-one who help doctors. But nurses are more than just that. Remember Florence Night-ingale, a British social reformer and statis-tician? The founder of modern nursing, she came to prominence while serving as a nurse during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed “The Lady with the Lamp” after her habit of mak-ing rounds at night.

“To serve others in times of needs” seems to be the primary reason for being a nurse. PJ learned this well through an experience that happened about a year and a half ago.

PJ remembered it clearly: He left the hos-pital at around past midnight not because he had rendered a 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift of duty but to supervise student nurses in the inten-sive care unit. No one came, however. “I sim-ply left because my students had unanimous-ly decided not to show up,” he said.

It was cold outside the hospital but the coldness could not ease the anger he had for his students who never bothered to inform him that they were not coming at all. He was

standing with other commut-ers waiting for a vehicle. As it was already late at night, taxis were scarce.

A jeepney stopped in front of him while he was still thinking of what to do the following day. The fury inside him was eased as he wouldn’t be spending more time wait-ing for a taxi. Since the jeepney was going to the route where he was going, he decided to take a ride.

PJ sat on his chosen spot. He looked around to see the faces of other passengers just to make sure if it was safe to ride with them as it was already late at night. Instead of finding a questionable character, he real-ized he was the only nurse on board.

Usually, there were two or three peo-ple wearing white uniform riding a jeepney. Who cares if he was alone? At the back of his mind, he kept telling himself: “At least I would be in bed before 1 a.m.”

But PJ did not have the slightest idea what would happened a few minutes later.

At first, the jeepney was moving slow. Then after a few more minutes, it began to move fast. PJ wanted to shout to the driver to drive slowly but he was too far from him and was sleepy. Besides, it seemed that oth-ers were enjoying the ride.

Fifteen minutes had elapsed when the commotion of other passengers awaken him. He opened his eyes and saw a vehicle that may have been turned upside down probably by a recent road mishap a few

minutes before their jeepney entered the scene.

His co-passengers had mixed emotions with what they saw. The driver decided to slow down as the jeepney came nearer to the accident scene. PJ and his co-passen-gers were completely shocked with what they saw; there were still injured people inside the vehicle pleading for help. “The accident must have occurred just moments before we arrived,” someone commented.

While some of his co-passengers were exchanging opinions, PJ was caught by sur-prise when a co-passenger yelled, “We have a nurse in here.” Then, begging at PJ, “Sir, please help them!”

The other passengers could not agree more. “I froze for a fraction of a moment,” PJ recalled. “I was trying to process the in-cident to myself. I snapped out of it then gathered myself.”

PJ stepped down from the vehicle to see what he could do that necessitates his knowledge and skills in emergency nurs-ing care and first aid. First he assessed the scene, and then he sought the assistance of other male passengers from their jeepney in pulling out trapped victims.

It was a team effort. Some of the pas-sengers also called the police and the ambu-lance. A few ladies put modified sign posts ahead the scene so that incoming vehicles would be aware of the accident.

It took some ten to twenty minutes be-fore the policemen and paramedics arrived.

After seeing that everything seemed to be alright, PJ went back to the jeepney. But before that, he received so many hand-shakes of gratitude and people thanking him verbally for being the “front liner.”

“In the end, it entered my mind that it was my white nurse’s uniform that had giv-en them the impression and confidence that

a health professional was readily available in unfortunate times like that,” PJ surmised.

PJ, who is about finish his masters of arts in Sociology, explains the phenomenon as “symbolic interactionism,” which has three assumptions. First, humans act on the basis of the meanings which things have for them; second, meanings arise from the interaction among people; and lastly, mean-ings are handed and modified through an interpretive process used by people in deal-ing with things encountered.

“As with my Good Samaritan experi-ence, the people that time – especially the man who hollered that I was a nurse – had identified me as such because of my uni-form. Probably, the group of people who were with me had interpreted by mere pres-ence as a form of relief to some extent and that they had expected me to help out since the nature of my profession is to save lives,” PJ explained.

“That’s the price of wearing the nurse’s uniform,” he continued. “It is socially con-structed that is reinforced by culture. In a way, it also serves as a reminder to other nurses not just to be on the look-out but also to live by the expectations of society in wearing the white distinguished uniform.”

But what saddens him is that the white nurse’s uniform has been “chronically bat-tling against profanity.” He cites the case of the janitorial services in the shopping malls and nannies or “yayas” who are wearing white uniform.

“I hope people will understand and ap-preciate that we wear those white uniforms to convey the message that we save lives and that we walk with dignity heads up,” PJ pointed out. “After all, it took us four years of college education, a quarter of a year of review and a licensure examination just to be in ‘white.’”

John [email protected]

MY TWO CENTS’



VOL. 7 ISSUE 184 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28 - 29, 201410 NEWS

nary medicine.The Philippine Atmo-

spheric Geophysical Astro-nomical Services Adminis-tration (PAGASA) has identi-fied Davao City as one of the areas that will experience a long drought in the coming months.

PAGASA Davao station chief Gerry Pedrico earli-er said Compostela Valley Province, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental will also ex-perience a long drought.

The Department of Ag-riculture, which has already formed a task force on El Niño, has declared 44 of the country’s 81 provinces to be highly vulnerable to any re-sulting dry spell.

The government has is-sued a statement that it is prepared for the dry spell, adding that food supply is the main priority under the government’s proposed 2015 budget.

Among the mechanisms that DA will implement if there is an occurrence of El Niño are cloud seeding, use

of stand-by irrigation pumps, beefing up of stocks invento-ry of drought resistant palay and corn seeds, and intensi-fication of the campaign for farmers to plant root crops that are known to survive long period of drought.

“We are increasing our stocks of buffer grain re-serves (imported grains) to last until the nest normal harvest season in case the current cropping period will have a huge shortfall in production as expected,” Re-gional Agriculture and Fish-ery Council (RAFC) 11 vice chair Armando C. Angsinco said in a text message.

He said the council has already started cam-paigning and implementing the urban organic agricul-ture.

The Philippines experi-enced the worst El Niño in 1997 and 1998 that caused an estimated $68 million worth of damage to agri-culture. CRC/ with reports from Funny Pearl Ga-junera

Farmers... 70%...

Business...

Tightened... Korean...

Execom...

Aquino...

Rody...

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January 20, the NCCC Mall one-stop shop will be open up to 10 p.m. and the one-stop shop in SP building will end at 12 midnight.

Requirements for renew-al of business permits are previous business permits, notarized list of employ-ments, authority to transact the renewal of permit with the business bureau, clear photocopy of valid identifi-cation card of all signatories and the transacting person, original Barangay Clearance, certified copy of proof of ex-emption (if any) and avail-

able financial statement of the previous year from City Treasurer’s Office.

Additional docu-ments may be required depending on the line of business engaged. If the business establish-ment has violations or is be-ing blocked from renewal, it may proceed to payment but must settle all deficien-cies prior to issuance of per-mit.

Any major amendment of the permit must be pro-cessed in the Business Bu-reau office at SP Building.

country, can lead the coun-try towards development (3 percent), and can make government officials func-tion well (3 percent).

Two in 100 Dabawenyos also believe he has the skill, experience, and wisdom to perform the functions of a good President.

“His character of taking care of the marginalized and the needy like the dis-abled, the women, and the old makes him a good pres-ident (1 percent); he is be-lieved to have the solutions to the enduring poverty and hunger (1 percent); he will never be budged by bribe money of unscrupulous businessmen (1 percent),” IPO added.

“Dabawenyos will sup-port (Duterte) because they

are bound to him as he is their Mayor who has a heart for the poor but is hard on criminals. It was observed that there is ‘Duterte fanat-icism’ and they surely will support him all the way,” the group added.

The minority who would not vote for Duterte said they want him to re-main mayor (10 percent) or took his word that he would not run (6 percent).

Some said he is too old (4.5 percent), sick (2.2 per-cent), and he would not survive politics in Manila (3.8 percent).

Others also said he can-not win because he has no money, no support from big politicians and business-men, and has no political machinery (1.5 percent).

IPO said the respon-dents of the survey are those who can vote in 2016.

“They are mostly fe-male (74 percent), married (82 percent), aged 30-49 (50 percent). Half of the respondents are unem-ployed, 30 percent are into business, 12 percent are working on a contractual basis, and 7 percent have regular employment,” it added.

More than half have fin-ished high school, 21 per-cent reached college, and 9 percent obtained a college degree.

Most of the respon-dents belong to income class E (59 percent) with monthly income P5,000 and below, a quarter be-long to income class D

(P6,000 to P1,000), 6 per-cent belong to lower class C (P11,000 to P20,000), and 1 percent belong to income class B (P21,000 to P35,000), while 0.42 percent of the respondents belong to income class A.

IPO said it also asked the respondents who they would vote for as mayor in the event that Duterte runs for the presidency.

It found that 60 per-cent would vote for former Mayor Sara Duterte, while only 18 percent would vote for her brother, Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte. Eleven per-cent would vote for Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles.

As for the reason for voting for Duterte, IPO said 79 percent believe he would make a good leader.

Last September, Duterte met with former mayors and governors in an initial effort to revive calls for a federal form of government. The group, which called itself Mindanao Council of Lead-ers, made their position pub-lic after an informal caucus.

Present during the Sep-tember meeting were Bukid-non Governor Jose Maria Zubiri, former Cagayan de Oro Mayors Reuben Canoy and Vicente Emano, former Rep. Romeo Jalosjos from Zamboanga del Norte, and former Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez.

A month later, Duterte was in Cebu City and met with Cebu officials. The event was sponsored by the

Federal Movement for a Bet-ter Philippines and coincid-ed with the induction of its new set of officers held at the Sacred Heart Center in Cebu City.

In attendance were in-cumbent and former officials of Mindanao and the Visayas, including former governor Lito Osmeña, retired general Alex Bacalla, and Southern Leyte Governor Roger Mer-cado.

Duterte has many times said that federalism is the only solution that would ad-dress not just the problem on insurgency in Mindanao but also the long-deplored wealth sharing disparity be-tween Luzon and the Visayas and Mindanao.

He also said the creation of Bangsamoro entity in Mindanao could help in the Mindanao peace but added that for real development to come in, federal states must be created in other areas where other ethnic groups reside.

Earlier, Senator Teofis-to “TG” Guingona III said he will start working on Charter change to shift the country’s system of government to a federal form by 2016.

Guingona said the fed-eralist movement is the “unintended consequence” of the proposed creation of the Bangsamoro state, which became “a wake-up call to the Mindanaoans” while the negotiations about the Bang-

samoro Basic Laws (BBL) continues.

He said if the government can give to the Bangsamoro government an automatic 75 percent of the revenue from its natural resources, there is no reason the same cannot be done for other places in Mindanao outside the Bang-samoro state.

Guingona said under a federal government, the people of Mindanao can mold their own future themselves instead of hav-ing a central government do it for them.

He said he is hoping this will materialize by 2016 but added it could go beyond that year since 2016 is an election year. ABF

will be in charge of your se-curity. We will protect you,” he said.

He said the tight security will last up to January 1 next year.

Meanwhile, TFD opera-tions officer Major Boysen Gawiden said they assigned around 130 personnel daily to assist the police in provid-

ing security.“We are supporting the

PNP on the inner and outer layer of security in the city,” Gawiden said.

Gawiden said the secu-rity measures are already in place since the task force’s mandate is to prevent ter-rorism.

the preparation for city’s re-sponse to the Ebola virus.

Alejandre said the bud-get cut cannot go beyond P500,000, which means the committee could be working on a P9.1-million budget.

He said the new activi-ties will remain such as the

Tugtogan or battle of the band, Yugyugan sa pasko or the EDM (electronic dance music) light show, and the Pasko Fiesta sa empleyado which is the first time for the city government employees to have a Christmas activity. ABF

the construction of the pro-posed railway system starts, the city government will im-plement major reforms in the transportation system.

“The government is ex-pecting that the number of public utility vehicles includ-ing jeepneys among others will be lessened because we will have trains,” he said.

Monteverde said the jeepney and tricycle drivers would be the most affected sector. There are about 8,500 jeepney drivers and 14,000

tricycle drivers in the city.Monteverde, however,

said the city needs reforms in its transport system even though it will affect the live-lihood of many PUV drivers.

“Maybe by that time we can look on the possibility of having a public bus tran-sit system,” he said.

Last October, Mayor Duterte visited South Korea to meet the Korean inves-tors.

Last June, Duterte and KEC officials headed by

Seoul National Universi-ty Transportation Study Group chief research Pro-fessor Chae II Kwon signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) in Davao City.

In a study presented by KEC, the population of the city grows at a constant growth of 2.88 percent an-nually and may even reach 10 million by the year 2040. Traffic congestion is bound to happen if no sound trans-port system is created, the study showed.

KEC overseas manager Dae Kwon Jung presented two light railway transit (LRT) systems, specifical-ly from the Davao Gulf and Country Club in Toril to the Francisco Bangoy Interna-tional Airport.

In an earlier report, Jung said that both routes will pass through different stations in the city, with the first one having a length of 13 kilometers while the sec-ond being 17 kilometers. CRC

with the funds, the govern-ment was able to focus on ways to make coconut farms more productive.

Giving an example, he said inter-cropping has been introduced in coconut farms to increase the farmers’ har-vests.

“Kung magkakaroon po tayo ng fertilization, at dadagdagan ng saging ang sasakahin sa pamamagitan ng inter-cropping, tinataya ko aabot ng P129,000 ang kabuuang kita kada ektarya. Kung hahabulin nating ani-hin ang coco sap sugar, nang may fertilization at dagdag ding saging, aabot ang kita sa P185,900. Kung sa virgin coconut oil naman po, dag-

dag sa saging at kung may fertilization, ang dati pong P20,000 mula sa copra, aan-gat sa P250,320 sa kada ek-tarya kada taon. Kabilang nga po ito sa mga inisyatiba natin upang palakihin ang inyong kita,” said President Aquino.

The Chief Executive further said that the gov-ernment is strengthening coco-based farming enter-prises, such as those on co-co-sugar, coco coir, vinegar, and other coconut-based products.

It has also set up schol-arship programs to improve the skills of the next gen-eration of farmers, he said, emphasizing that all these

programs were funded by the national budget.

“Ang pondo para sa la-hat ng mga programang ito ay hindi nagmula o hiniram sa Coco Levy Fund, na hindi pa nga po natin magugol da-hil wala pang pasya sa ating motion. Mula po ito sa ating pambansang budget, na ta-laga pong itinututok natin sa mga sektor na sisigurong magaaruga sa bawat Pilipino, lalo na ang mga nasa laylayan ng lipunan,” he said.

The President stated that he is open to the sale of the government’s controlling stakes in the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB).

“Kung matutuloy po sa baka sakaling pagbeben-

tang ito, makakaasa tayo sa ‘di bababa sa P1.1 billion na maidaragdag sa pondong inilalaan sa inyong sector,” he said.

He has also directed gov-ernment agencies to study the best way to mobilize the Coco Levy Fund, once the High Tribunal has made a de-cision.

Coconut farmers will be consulted in the crafting of legislation that would aid the country’s coconut industry, he said, adding that Presi-dential Assistant for Food Se-curity and Agricultural Mod-ernization Francis Pangilinan has already held discussions with coconut farmers.

“Ibinahagi niya po sa akin

ang iba pang napagkasun-duan. Una: Bagaman mas ma-ganda kung mayroong batas, habang wala po ito, inaaral na rin po natin ang mungka-hi ninyong gumawa na muna ako ng isang Executive Order. Ikalawa: Na ang pondo ng Coco Levy Fund ay bukod pa sa pondong inilalaan natin sa

Philippine Coconut Authority, mula sa pambansang budget. Sang-ayon po tayo dito. Ikatlo: Sang-ayon din po ako na tang-ing interest income mula sa Coco Levy Fund ang ating gag-amitin, upang pati ang mga susunod na henerasyon ng magsasaka ay mapakinaban-gan ito,” he said. (PNA)


COMMUNITY SENSE

HOW much is your old, broken phone worth? Not much,

especially if you were going to throw it away anyway, but pool it with thousands of other broken phones and it could help build school buildings in typhoon Yolan-da-hit areas in Aklan.

Globe Telecom has committed to putting up at least 40 school buildings in seven municipalities in the province, and it is planning to build them out of mon-ey raised from old phones and other discarded mobile devices through Project 1 Phone, an e-waste recov-ery and recycling program that seeks to ensure that e-wastes such as mobile phones don’t end up in land-fills.

Under the project, Globe will collect old mo-bile devices and turn them over to TES-AMM, a Sin-gapore-based electronic waste recycler that takes responsibility for end-of-life products to ensure they are managed responsibly. TES-AMM will work on recov-ering precious metals and plastics from the recycled gadgets, and the proceeds will be used to help fund the construction of school buildings in Aklan.

Globe, with the help of Habitat for Humanity and Ayala Foundation, is build-ing in two phases. The first phase involves the construc-tion of seven “Noah’s Ark”-type classrooms that double as evacuation structures during calamities as they are equipped with three toi-let and bath facilities each as well as a kitchen. Each of these buildings costs about P1 million, and one will be built in each of the seven municipalities.

The second phase is comprised of more than 30 regular but “built back bet-ter” classrooms to be fund-ed from proceeds of Globe’s enterprise-wide waste man-agement program as well as from parent company Ayala Corporation. Each of these buildings costs about P300,000 to build.

So again, how much is your old, broken phone worth? According Globe Telecom Telecom corpo-rate social responsibility director Fernando Esguer-ra who is leading Project 1 Phone (along with project manager Carmela David), it takes about one kilogram of old mobile phones to make P1.60. That means (if I’m doing the math cor-rectly) it would take about 187,500 kilos of gadgets to build a regular building and 625,000 kilos of old gadgets to build a Noah’s ark.

That’s a lot of broken phones, but then again, Globe has a subscription base of 42 million that it

Old phones = new school buildingsBy JON JOAQUIN

ANATOMY OF A PHONE. Globe Telecommunications Project 1 Phone head Carmela David (right) shows the recyclable components of a mobile phone to reporters at a press briefing last Wednesday in Davao City. At left is Globe corporate social responsibility (CSR) director Fernando Esguerra. Lean Daval Jr.

plans to tap for the project. Globe has been collecting old gadgets from its own employees and in 2013 gathered around 38,000 ki-los, but Esguerra said the number will increase expo-nentially if all Globe sub-scribers get involved.

Esguerra said Project 1 Phone is a continuing pro-gram that will have an an-nual cycle. Globe touts it as “the biggest and most am-bitious recycling program in the country,” designed to create awareness on e-waste disposal and to pro-mote sustainability. Globe will actually accept other gadgets like PDAs (remem-ber those?), tablets, MP3 players, chargers, battery packs, and other mobile devices and accessories. Most of us have at least one of these lying around, so it makes sense to donate them so that they will at least do some good.

Besides, these gadgets – especially the older ones – contain toxic metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and beryllium that, if dis-posed of improperly (like being thrown in the trash bin to end up in the land-fills), are released into the air and seep into the ground and waterways.

You can do your share by donating your old phones and other gadgets at any of the participating Globe stores (Abreeza Mall, SM Lanang, and SM City Davao if you’re in Davao City. Click here and scroll to the bot-

A school construction site in Aklan. (Photo from Globe)

tom for a list of other par-ticipating stores). Again, all proceeds from recycling these old gadgets – as in 100 percent of it – will go to rebuilding schools in Aklan.

Oh, by the way, each do-nated device entitles you to one raffle entry. A monthly raffle draw will be held, and one lucky winner will get an iPad Air. So, as the cliché goes, what are you waiting for? Go find that old phone or tablet or Palm and do-nate it to Globe’s Project 1 Phone.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 184 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28 - 29, 201412 MOTORINGEDGE DAVAO

Call: 224-0733 • Tionko St., Davao City

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EDGEDAVAO

CLASSIFIEDSNOTICE OF LOSS

Notice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS CONSOLIDATED INC. That CERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT No.(s) 1005631 under LOYOLA PLAN Contract No.(s) 294229-4/NNN 13000 1872 issued to ELIZABETH M. RONQUILLO was lost. Any transaction entered into shall be null and void.

11/14/21/28

Traditional Theme Classic!! Reds and greens married with golds and silvers and some-times mixed with pris-tine whites! These are the traditional color schemes we have seen for so long. But for those of you who want to revamp tradition and give it an “oomph”, why not try replacing your Christmas green to apple or lime green or even em-erald green to add pop cre-ated by the brighter green tones. You can even put an addition of chevron printed ornaments as well as a great range of chevron

ribbons. Chevron print’s retro inspired pattern characterized by repeating inverted “V” shapes add an interesting little punch to the traditional tones through the use of burlap ribbons, as well as being a

INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 184 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, nOVEmbER 28 - 29, 2014

EDGEDAVAOHOME

ChRistmas is just around the cor-ner and while home decor trends change from year to year, we intend-ed to keep our home decors from

becoming boring. holiday decorations can provide impact and a dramatic and exciting change to your home, in turn reflect your personality. The following Christmas dec-orating ideas i will show you will give you some insights and new trends if you haven’t yet begun planning your holiday decor.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

great choice for strong red and white or black and white themes for the trees to create the ‘wow’ factor.

Frozen Theme

While little girls go gaga over Disney’s Frozen as themes for their birth-days, couples opt for Win-ter Wonderland for their weddings, why not join

the bandwagon and make your Christmas “frosted”? White has been growing popularity these days, but with the right addition of color schemes (ex. White

The Frozen theme brings to life a winter wonderland.

Red, green and gold liven up the Traditional Theme.

with turquoise, pale blue, light green or any other pastel color decorations), it creates a fun but also el-

TruE to their commitment of “making the best happen” for customers, BPI launched its 4th Installment Madness Exhibit at Abreeza Activity Center last November 19 and will run until the 30th. BPI launched their Annual Holiday Installment Madness exhibits in 3 different Ayala Malls: Centrio Activity Center (Nov 14-23), Abreeza Activity Center (Nov 19-30) and Glori-etta Activity Center (Nov 19-Dec 7). Aside from the ease and conve-nience of choos-ing from a wide array of appliance, computers and gadgets, furniture and more- quali-fied BPI Credit cardholders can enjoy as much as double of their credit limit on real 0% installment deals. BPI’s cardholders can also enjoy extended time to pay through Buy Now, Pay Later facility where their installment purchase’s first amor-tization will start 60 days from the date of purchase. BPI’s exhibit at Abreeza will showcase quality products from its partners- robinsons Appliance, Emcor, 8Telcom, Tekpone, DIMDI, Colours Fotos Camera Gadgets, Power-mac, Sony Centre by Metro Plaza, M. Tanoy Concepts, PC Gate and Octagon. The Installment Madness is also available exclusively for all existing BPI Credit cardholders in over 5,000 BPI accred-ited stores until January 31, 2015. Alongside the exhibit area, BPI also launched its 1st Cred-it Cards Expo where interested customers may apply for a BPI Credit card and enjoy special perks from its merchant partners that highlight the privileges of select BPI Credit card variants. For inquiries on BPI Express Credit cards, visit the BPI Credit card booth at Abreeza until November30, or any of the 800 BPI or BPI Family Savings Bank branch nearest you.

Marco Polo Davao presents the “Fabulous’ 50s” 2015 New Year Countdown. Step into our stylish club and dance to the beat of Davao’s Music Authority and rock and roll All-Stars. Ticket price is at Php 2, 888 net per person. Inclu-sions are: Dinner buffet for one at Café Marco or Lotus Court, free entrance to the New Year’s Eve party at the Grand Ballroom, four food and beverage coupons, party giveaways, and raffle ticket to the lucky draw. Children’s rate is at Php1, 444.00 net. Book now! The first 100 bookers will get a special rate of only Php2, 588 net per person. For reservations and inquiries, please call 082 2210888 local 7608.

A2 INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 184 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, nOVEmbER 28 - 29, 2014EDGEDAVAOuP AND ABOuT EVENT

BPI launches Instalment Madness Exhibit and Credit Cards Expo at Abreeza Mall

The Fabulous 50’s at the Marco Polo Davao’s New Year Countdown Party

GET READY To BE ENTERTAINED by this ventriloquist and Talentadong Pinoy Hall of Famer as he performs at the Abreeza Mall Activity Center on December 7 at 4pm!

MX3 wins big in 27th Global Excellence AwardsmX3 received an ac-colade as the Best health Organic sup-plement Beverage Product Brand in the recently concluded 27th Global Excel-lence 2014 awards at the meralco The-ater, in Ortigas, Pasig City. This prestigious corporate and prod-uct awards seal is given in recognition for mX3’s world-class excellence in the branding and trademark industry. This noble achievement is rooted in the aggressive-ness of Dmi medical sup-ply Co. inc. in producing high quality natural prod-ucts that meet internation-al standards. The company invested on clinical stud-ies by Us Based Research Provider: the NutraClini-cal inc. in san Diego, Cali-fornia which results were accepted and published last February 2014 at Jour-nal of aging Research & Clinical Practice (JaRC), Usa Volume 3, Number 2, 2014. moreover, the variant mX3 Capsule was granted a Certificate Of analysis by Nutrasource Diagnos-tics inc. in Ontario, Can-ada. Result confirmed that Xanthone content of the mX3 Capsule exceeded the international stan-dards. These scientific investi-gations and findings estab-lished the superior qual-ity of mX3 Products. The

Company is steadfast in its vision to be the dominant leader in the manufactur-ing and distribution of af-fordable, quality and po-

tent fruitaceutical organic products in the country and globally. This year’s also brought major awards for mX3

such as the Best Choice Natural Dietary supple-ment for mX3 Plus Cap-sule; Best Choice Dietary tea for mX3 tea variant; and Best Choice Premium Energy Booster Coffee Brand for mX3 Coffee in the Best Choice awards 2014 held at Crowne Pla-za Ortigas, Quezon City. mX3 was also accorded the seal Of Excellence awards last august 2014 at aFP Theater Camp aguinaldo, QC for the three variants- mX3 Cap-sule, mX3 tea and Coffee.These are just but few of the many awards of mX3 Products recognized both locally and nationally. more than business ex-cellence, mX3’s endless mission is to help people, give new hope, and pro-vide product that would build wellness.

DISCOVEr more dishes with a twist from Chef Boy Logro and Bet-tina Carlos as Idol sa Kusina invades Quezon this Sunday on GMA News TV. Set on scenic backdrops of Que-zon’s abundant coastal areas, lush coconut farms and the majestic Mt. Banahaw , Chef Boy and Bettina take viewers on a food trip of appetizing seafood and coconut milk dishes. Learn how to prepare Quezon’s

Sinantolan dish, Binangeng Tilapia sa Gata (Sinugno) and Pinais with Chef Boy’s personal twists. Find out the te-dious process behind the Pinoy-favor-ite Lambanog and get to visit the best places to find famous Lucban Long-ganisa, Pinagong Bread and other pasalubong treats. Enjoy another exciting food adven-ture with Chef Boy and Bettina this week in Idol sa Kusina, 7:15PM on GMA News TV.

GMA Pinoy TV brings its highly anticipated Kapu-song Pinoy Concert series to Singapore with Ka-puso artists Dennis Trillo, Jonalyn Viray and Betong Sumaya gearing up to delight Pinoy fans in the country on November 30. On the heels of its highly successful previ-ous installments in Los Angeles last September and Dubai this Novem-ber, the concert titled Kapusong Pinoy sa Sin-gapore will be held at the Kallang Theater, 1 Stadi-um Walk in Singapore. The much-awaited concert is headlined by Drama King Dennis Trillo, Fearless Diva Jonalyn Vi-ray and features actor-co-median Betong Sumaya as his beloved character Antonietta from the Phil-ippine’s longest running comedy program Bubble Gang. Dennis, whose “Tom-Den” album with fellow Kapuso actor and My

Husband’s Lover star Tom rodriguez has garnered a Platinum record Award, will delight the audience with his vocal prowess and charm. Cementing the inter-national success of his groundbreaking role in

the critically-acclaimed series My Husband’s Lover, the Kapuso lead-ing man has also gained recognition in the region with his nomination for the Best Actor category in the upcoming Asian Television Awards. The

awarding ceremony will take place this December in Singapore. Following a successful concert titled Fearless: The repeat, Kapuso sing-er Jonalyn Viray will take the stage once more in a powerful display of her vocal talents that have earned her the title, Fear-less Diva. The crowd can look forward to highly entertaining numbers that will showcase her wide vocal range and ex-ceptional talent.

INdulge! A3ENTErTAINMENT

VOL. 7 ISSUE 184 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, nOVEmbER 28 - 29, 2014 EDGEDAVAO

Dishes with a twist in ‘Idol sa Kusina‘ Quezon Special

Dennis Trillo leads GMA contingent to ‘Kapusong Pinoy sa Singapore’

Adding a fun element to the concert is Betong Sumaya as Antonietta. After entertaining a sold-out crowd in the Kapu-song Pinoy sa L.A. con-cert, Betong will surely keep the audience laugh-ing as they witness his comedic character live on stage. Kapusong Pinoy sa Singapore is sponsored by Camella, Pag Ibig Fund, Cebuana Lhuillier, Thunderbird, Debt Aid Consulting, The Generics Pharmacy, Jollibee Pada-la, Everest Aircondition, and Shakey’s. Gates open at 1:30PM.

Admission to the con-cert is FrEE. Tickets are available on a first come, first serve basis with a no ticket, no entry policy. For ticket reservations, please call +65 92778256 or email: [email protected]. Kapuso fans abroad may join in the fun and excitement by sharing their photos, tweets and status messages with the hashtag #KapusongPi-noySG. For more information on GMA’s international events and channels, visit the website www.gmanet-work.com/international.

IN adherence to their motto, “Love Serves”, San Pedro College through its Community Extension Services Office (CESO) and Committee on Healthcare Emergency and Disaster Preparedness (CHEDP) em-barks in a partnership with the New Bataan Parish in Compostela Valley province to support its post-disaster community building efforts.

The community of stu-dent leaderscomprising the SALIGAN Supreme Stu-dent Council, League of Clubs and Organizations (LCO), Student Congress (SC), National Service re-serve Corps (NSrC) and The rock: The Official Student Publication of San Pedro College have dedicated to raise funds through a choral concert for a cause on November 29, 2014 at CAP Auditorium, Anda St.,

San Pedro College Launches Concert for a CauseBy: Eric christian FaBian

Davao City.With the theme, “We

Are One: A Choral Experi-ence with Vocalismo Cho-ral Group and SPC Chorale”,

the internationally re-nowned Vocalismo Choral Group and San Pedro Col-lege’s resident choralewill perform classical and con-

temporary pieces. There will be a matinee perfor-mance at 2:30PM-4:30PM and a gala performance at 6:00PM-8:00PM.

GP

R 13/*R 16

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

R-16

THE HUNGER GAMES:MOCKINGJAY PART 1

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

OUTPOST 37 /*HORRIBLE BOSSES 2

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson

PAST TENSE

PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR

Kim Chiu, Aiai Delas Alas, Xian Lim

Tom McGrath, Chris Miller

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

Adrian Paul, Reiley McClendon / * Jason Bateman, Charlie Day

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

A4 INdulge!HOME

Shining and shimmering, that is the Bling Thing Theme.

Neutral tones dominate the Rustic Woodland Theme.

egant tranquility to your homes as well as achieve serenity if you put the right balance of conserva-tive amount of decors and colors to achieve the cool atmosphere. Plus, your Frozen-fanatic little girls (even grown-ups) will have their “Let it go!” moments and feel the real spirit of Christmas!

Tropical theme Think island paradise, think peacocks, think bold, vibrant and simply extravagantly beautiful! This is the year to let your creative minds explore to new and very festive possibilities by adding a touch of rich turquoise, deep purples, bright pinks, apple greens and other various deep, rich metal-lic finishes be displayed in your Christmas decors. With these decors, you will surely be basking in the tropical island breeze while sipping Pina Colada and cueing reggae music in your heads in your own abodes!

Bling thing theme anything that shim-mers and shines is the new trend for 2014. One of the 2014 home decor trends is taking a lot of bling into a new level in-

volving the collaboration of metallic accessories, stainless steels, lots of gold and silver (ex. oversized glistening bows, balls and ribbons on your Christ-mas trees) in your designs. Rhinestone style decora-tions in silver, champagne and gold give a lot of el-egance when paired with softer tones of champagne, naturals and bronze tones. and i believe this theme won’t be losing its appeal and gleam any time soon.

Rustic woodland themehome decor trends for

2014 involve the use of a lot of textures, natural ele-ments and applying earth tones to create visual inter-est into your homes. The use of natural elements such as burlap, wood ma-terials, vintage finds blend well with soft golds/cham-pagnes, cream tones and shades of browns which superimposes a log cabin feel. For the conserva-tives, this kind of theme is a sure winner as it exudes elegance and sophistica-tion because of its simplic-ity. as an architect, earth tones has been one of my personal favourite com-

binations which include taupe, bronze and cham-pagne colours. With this kind of theme, it makes you want to slouch in your favorite couch and sip freshly made hot choco while listening to your fa-vorite Christmas tunes.

Arch. Ninna Angela Ol-arte-Partoza is an architect by profession, a full-time mom and a breastfeeding advocate. To share your ideas, comments or help re-garding your architectural and interior design needs she can be reached at [email protected].

Pops of vibrant colors accentuate the Tropical Theme.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 184 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, nOVEmbER 28 - 29, 2014EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 184 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28 - 29, 2014 13THE ECONOMY

DEPARTMENT of Energy (DOE) Sec-retary Carlos Jeri-

cho Petilla has expressed concern that fuel supply to the Ninoy Aquino Inter-national Airport (NAIA) may be cut because of the forced eviction of oil com-panies in the Pandacan oil depot due to a Supreme Court decision.

“Actually my worry is not much on supply, it will be there. I have to ask, have they prepared for aviation fuel? The fuel supply is less than one day in NAIA,” Petilla told re-porters.

He noted that fuel tank-er trucks are used to load jet-fuel on the airplanes, which means a truck ban can be a problem if the tankers come from Bataan or Batangas. The two ar-eas house the refineries of many oil companies.

“The only problem is transportation, my wor-ry is Batangas, whether there will be congestion or a truck ban. If there is a

truck ban, they have to be smart on how to deploy all their trucks,” the energy chief said.

He noted that a traffic simulation must be done first, adding he will pro-pose to the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to lift the truck ban on the route.

For consumer con-cerned about gas and die-sel prices, Petilla gave as-surance that there will be no gasoline shortage and that there will be no in-crease in prices due to the heated competition.

“There will be no shortage, but the source will be far. It will not in-crease, because there’s competition,” he said.

The energy chief esti-mated the two remaining oil companies – Petron Corporation and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corpora-tion (PSPC) – can transfer their oil depot’s content within a month, if there will be no replenishment.

Chevron Philippines

Pandacan oil depot closure couldcause aviation fuel shortage: Petilla

Inc. has long ceased op-erations in the area since June.

Petilla said Petron has been in the process of moving for a long time to Batangas, while PSPC also has a plan, but expressed uncertainty whether it

will push through.Another factor being

considered by Petilla in the price movement due to Pandacan oil depot’s closing is that the facilities need not be moved.

“It doesn’t need to be moved, I’m here in Batan-

gas and the depot is gone. There will be no moving, the operations will just stop,” he said.

Another problem of oil companies, Petilla said, is that they have to secure approval from the host lo-cal government unit (LGU)

before relocating.“It’s hard to relocate in

other areas where you are not welcome,” he said.

The Pandacan oil de-pot, which uses barges for replenishment, sup-plies Metro Manila and its neighboring areas. (PNA)

VOL. 7 ISSUE 184 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28 - 29, 201414 SPORTS EDGEDAVAO

JUDELYN MIRANDA BUILDING A CHAMPION

[email protected]

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

FIRST is to just gain a passion for running. To love the morning, to love the trail, to love the pace on the track.

And if the kid gets really good at it, that’s where another story begins.

With that spin off a popular saying, Judelyn Miranda will be running in her seventh Milo Marathon National Finals on December 7 taking with her a luggage of experience and thrilled at the dawning of a chapter.

Unlike the first time she was in the most prestigious footrace in the country in 2006, the Tagum City native is no longer the

spring chicken greenhorn that she was. Now 29 and a mother of one, her

modest hope is to finish respectably and make her son proud.

Judelyn earned another ticket to the finals after she surprised everyone else with a strong finish

in the Davao qualifying race of the 38th Milo Marathon last

Sunday that recalled back the vintage form that

made her one of the winningest female

runners in the local running

circuit.She had

q u a l i f i e d in three times via

the Butuan City qualifying

and four times including this year

in Davao City. Her best finish in the National

Finals was fourth place among local runners in 2012

clocking 3 hours and 20 minutes in the 42.195-kilometer distance.

Bucking stomach cramps late in Sunday’s race, Judelyn summoned her

strength and all the inspiration she has from her son Jude Nathan—her no. 1 fan. She managed to cross the finish line all alone in one hour 33 minutes and 55 seconds—not bad from someone who had to cram during training given her daily eight-hour job as security personnel with

the Tagum City LGU.“Hindi ko inexpect ang ganitong result.

Hindi naman masyadong hard ang ensayo ko dahil sa trabaho ko. Masaya ako na naipanalo koi to,” a beaming Judelyn told Edge Davao at the winner’s tent moments after the race.

With her 7 am to 3 pm work shift, Judelyn had to make do with a two-hour workout every morning for six days, and spending a day of rest on Sundays. After work, she tends to mother duties and takes her son to the track oval at the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex in Mankilam, Tagum City.

“Marami na arin nagbago sa buhay ko. Ngayon nag-concentrate din ako sa anak ko. Gusto ko rin maging champion siya,” said the 5-foot-1 champion who is married to Jonathan Sopero who plays in bush leagues in the community.

Judelyn admits she has learned a lot from the values the annual Milo footrace have imparted on her. For that reason, she has invested her accomplishments and influence to build herself a champion she will later run side by side with.

The seven-year old Jude Nathan, a Grade 2 pupil at Apokon Elementary School in Tagum City, has started joining fun runs including last year’s Milo race where he was a 3-kilometer finisher.

Judelyn said she is now focusing on her son to become a champion someday.

“Syempre gusto kong maging champion din siya. Nahihilig na rin siya sa running at biking,” Judelyn said of her son, her face lighting up everytime the question shifts to the young boy. “Hindi pa naman ako magre-retire pero masaya ako at may papalit sa akin.”

If the morning sunrise Judelyn signifies her desire to keep herself in the competition now crowded with fast and fierce spring chicken greenhorns, the late afternoon’s sunset belongs to her son’s future. It meant Judelyn’s readiness to embrace the inevitable twilight of a fabled career.

At the break of day the next morning, she will look forward to see her son emerge from her shadows and continue a champion’s legacy.

At the break of day the next morning, she will look forward to see her son emerge from her shadows and continue a champion’s legacy.

ON A NEW MISSION. Ageless wonder Judelyn Miranda won a seventh trip tothe National Finals. More than winning races, she looks forward to passing the torch to her son. Boy Lim

THE TORCHBEARER. Jude Na-than Miranda Sopero, 7, hopes to be a champion like her mother. In this photo, she mimics her mom at podium ceremonies. Judelyn Miranda Facebook photo

VOL. 7 ISSUE 184 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28 - 29, 2014 15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO

WORLD boxing champion Manny Pacquiao resumed

his Philippine pro basket-ball career on Wednesday with a crushing defeat that extended his team’s losing streak to eight games.

Three days after domi-nating American Chris Al-gieri in the ring, Pacquiao suited up as coach of the Kia Sorento team but did not see action on the court.

Pacquiao’s team lost by eleven points to the more experienced and more pop-ular Purefoods Star Hot-shots after leading by as many as six points in the third quarter.

“I am here to support my team. I hope my presence boosts their morale,” Pac-quiao told AFP at his team’s dugout before the game, which was broadcast on na-tional television.

“I don’t feel any pain in my body from the fight (with Algieri),” said Pacquiao, who had a visible bruise under his left eye.

The 35-year-old told his team to improve on their rebounding in an animated pep talk that was preceded by a prayer session.

Pacquiao, the shortest player on the court that night at 1.69 metres (5’6”), wore a jacket over his red jersey with the words “head coach” emblazoned on its

back.The boxing champion

appeared to have boosted his team’s morale during the closely-fought first half up to the third quarter, where his team led by six points.

But a three-point fast-break by Purefoods and a turnover in the fourth quar-ter wiped out Kia’s lead and left Pacquiao scratching his head on the benches.

It was Pacquiao’s sec-ond time playing with the team, which is owned by a business friend. The boxing legend made a scoreless pro ball debut in October, before starting training for the Al-gieri fight.

Pacquiao knocked down Algieri six times during Sun-day’s fight in Macau, dealing the 30-year-old American his first defeat and convinc-ing fans that he is in shape to fight his arch-rival, Floyd Mayweather.

Negotiations are ongo-ing for a dream fight with Mayweather and Pacquiao is open to taking a smaller purse to make it happen, the Filipino’s business manager Eric Pineda said on Tuesday.

Pacquiao, a champion in an unprecedented eight weight divisions, is also an elected member of parlia-ment and has tried to ex-pand his brand to movies, music and television.

LEBRON James pro-duced game highs of 29 points, 10 rebounds

and eight assists Wednes-day to spark the Cleveland Cavaliers over Washington 113-87, avenging a loss to the Wizards five days earli-er.

James, a four-time NBA Most Valuable Player who rejoined Cleveland this sea-son after four years at Mi-ami, has struggled to pull the team’s talent together after only one month of the NBA season.

But after a four-game losing skid, the Cavaliers have improved to 7-7, 1.5

games behind Central divi-sion leader Chicago, while the Wizards, who lead the atlantic division, fell to 9-5.

Kevin Love added 21 points and guard Kyrie Ir-ving contributed 18 points for the Cavaliers, who also had 15 points off the bench from guard Dion Waiters.

Wizards reserve Rasual Butler led Washington with 23 points while Paul Pierce paced the starters with 15 points and Polish center Marcin Gortat added 12 points in a losing cause.

Meantime, assistant coach Ettore Messina guid-ed San Antonio over the

Indiana Pacers 106-100 Wednesday, becoming the first Italian to coach an NBA game while replacing Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

Popovich, the NBA’s lon-gest-tenured coach, missed the game with what the team called a minor medical procedure. The coach who guided the Spurs to last sea-son’s NBA title will miss an undisclosed period of time.

“He will be back soon,” said Messina, an Italian Bas-ketball Hall of Fame mem-ber and two-time Eurole-ague Coach of the Year.

French guard Tony Parker and forward Kawhi

Leonard each scored 21 points for San Antonio while Leonard also con-tributed 13 rebounds for the Spurs, who improved to 10-4.

Tim Duncan added 17 points for the Spurs, who were two games behind Southwest division leader Memphis.

Rodney Stuckey scored 22 points to lead Indiana, which also had 13 points from Luis Scola and 12 from reserve Chris Copeland.

The Pacers fell to 6-9, three games behind pace-settler Chicago in the Central division.

JAPAN have been suspend-ed from international basketball competitions

— including the Olympics — after failing to merge their two national leagues.

The International Bas-ketball Federation (FIBA), the sport’s global governing body, issued the ban in Swit-zerland on Wednesday, say-ing the Japan Basketball As-sociation (JBA), which over-sees the game domestically, had not met its requirements.

FIBA said the JBA had failed to come up with a plan to merge the commu-nity-based professional bj League and the National Bas-

ketball League comprising corporate-sponsored teams.

The ban from interna-tional competitions will be applied to both men’s and women’s national teams, and threatens to lock Japan out of next year’s qualifiers for the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olym-pics.

“FIBA regrets that the situation has reached such a point of no return,” FIBA Sec-retary General Patrick Bau-mann said in a statement at the conclusion of a two-day executive committee meeting in Mies, near Geneva.

“However, we are con-vinced that after so many

years of warning and strug-gle, and for the good of bas-ketball in Japan, it is absolute-ly time to make important changes to the structures of the JBA,” he said.

FIBA had set an October 31 deadline for a reply to its requests, local media report-ed.

The JBA, the NBL and the bj League all issued state-ments separately, pledging to make efforts to address the issues raised by the FIBA.

“JBA accepts the FIBA decision and will implement actions towards our organ-isational reform and lifting the sanctions in cooperation

with FIBA,” the JBA said in a statement.

Talks over the integration of the two men’s leagues have faced difficulties because of a divide between the NBL which hopes to keep corpo-rate team names and the bj League, which stresses ties with host communities, local media have reported.

The JBA had been urged by the Japanese Olympic Committee to avoid punish-ment at all costs, while Ja-pan’s minister in charge of sports Hakubun Shimomura said this month the govern-ment would intervene in the issue as a mediator.

Lebron flirts with triple double

FIBA bans Japan in international play

Manny tastes crushing defeat after Algieri win

IN YUR HANDS. A young boy holds on to his father as he takes baby steps towards becoming a future champion during the 38th Milo Marathon National Finals Davao leg last Sunday at Roxas Street. Lean Daval Jr.

16 VOL. 7 ISSUE 183 • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2014EDGEDAVAOSports

SONNY WAGDOS BUILT TO BE CHAMPION

TO be a champ, you have to believe in yourself when nobody else will.

These words still linger on the mind of Sonny Wagdos, three years after his father died in 2011 on a motorcycle accident back home in Agusan del Sur.

Sonny, who crowned himself the new king of the local running scene when he convincingly won the men’s title of the 38th Milo Marathon Davao leg last Sunday, was still in elementary when he discovered a passion for running. His playmates could hardly keep in stride with him in neighbor-hood games and races until he was discov-ered in school and became a track and field athlete.

Sonny admits he did not do it alone. He had someone with him every step of the way.

“He’s my first coach and my mentor. He was always there in every race,” said the 20-year old Marketing junior from the Universi-ty of Mindanao in Davao City.

The champion that he is now, Sonny is a product of a man who built his son to be-come a champion. Samson Wagdos patiently molded young Sonny into one impeccable running machine. Too bad, he did not live to see his son collect medals and trophies in dominating fashion and incredible con-sistency.

Interviewed by Edge Davao moments after winning his first ever 21-kilometer race, Sonny’s eyes welled as he recalls his father—the one person who influenced him to embrace a passion for excellence. He, too, was the first person to tell a budding Sonny that he is going to be a champion someday.

“Naniwala siya sa akin. Ang sabi niya kailangan ko lang magtiwala sa sarili ko at maniwala na kaya ko,” said Sonny. “Hindi lang sa pagtakbo, sabi niya ang buhay pa-rang karera din yan, dapat maging matatag sa isip at sa gawa.”

At the bark of gun last Sunday, Son-ny jumped off to a fast start matching his main rival Michael Jan Echalico step by step. Both men, fast emerging as archrivals

in Davao footraces, kept it close through seven kilome-ters maintaining a blistering pace that left the rest of the field falling behind by a mile.

“Inisip ko lang hanggang sa huling hakbang hindi ako bibigay,” Sonny said as he re-counted the race. To his sur-prise, Echalico slowly faded going into the eighth kilo-meter mark. He kept patient though, electing to keep his pace instead of getting overexcited. By the halfway mark, he had built an insurmountable lead.

Sonny went all out for the win on his way back from the turnaround point. With Echalico nowhere in his rear view mirror and the rest of the field not within sight, he glided through J.P. Laurel Avenue all by his lonesome. As he strode to the finish, flashes of his father egging him on to go all out to the finish crossed his mind.

“Alam ko nandiyan lang siya. Nanonood lang siya sa akin,” said Sonny who fondly shares many nights when he dreamt of his father. “Palagi naman niya akong dinadalaw. Palagi ko siyang napapanaginipan.”

When he crossed the arc in one hour 15 minutes and 39 seconds, he was seen point-ing his finger up to heavens. “It’s my way of acknowledging God and dedicating it to my father.”

With the win, Sonny added the Milo Mar-athon qualifiers in his growing trophy and medal collection. He had built a cabinet-full of accomplishments through all the hard-work he has put in passionately to the sport. Sonny is young and promising. The way it stands now, his collection of prizes will grow bigger than his father even imagined.

Beyond all the applause, however, Sonny knows even these trophies and medals will gather dust and lose its luster someday. But the memories and legacy of his father who built him to be a champion will last forever.

To be a champ, you have to believe in

yourself when nobody else will.

[email protected]

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

FOR GOD AND FOR FATHER. Sonny Wagdos points his finger up to heaven to acknowledge his source of strength and talent and the man who built him to become a champion. Boy Lim


Documents

Edge Davao 7 Issue 184