P 15.00 • 24 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

EDGEDAVAOSportsAguilas open ABL home games in Davao Oct. 29 P18

EVICT BY FORCERody orders police to remove UPMin illegal settlers

DAVAO City Mayor Ro-drigo R. Duterte or-dered the Davao City

Police Office (DCPO) to re-move the settlers in the area at the University of the Phil-ippines Mindanao (UP-Min) where the proposed Sports Complex will be established.

This after he learned of the incident last Monday morning in which some of the settlers fought with op-eratives of the Tugbok Police

Station who were respond-ing to a call for help by CLTG Builders, the contractor doing the road project for the sports complex.

The settlers allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at the contractor’s backhoe, which resulted in the heavy equipment catching fire.

“The police must clear the area. That is my order because that is government property where the sports

complex will be built for the young Filipinos,” Duterte said on Wednesday afternoon af-ter his speaking engagement at the Philippine Nurses As-sociation (PNA) conference at SMX Convention Center.

Duterte said the police should exercise force to let the settlers know that the rule of law should prevail.

He also said he does not any police officer to be hurt just as they enforce the law.

“If one of the settlers will be shot dead then I’m sorry. I do not want policemen to die there,” he said.

“Kaya kayong mga police huwag kayong magpakama-tay diyan (That is why you po-licemen should not risk your life there),” he added.

Duterte said the police can forcibly arrest the settlers without maximum tolerance if the latter begin throwing

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

FEVICT, 12

SELFIE FEST. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte is mobbed by participants of the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) National Convention on Wednesday afternoon. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 20152 EDGEDAVAO

NEWS

USED cooking oil right now is either thrown away in the sink, or ca-

nals, or fed to animals like pigs, or even domestic pets like dogs and cats. More than this being harmful to our health and the health of our animals, this oil is one of the primary causes of sludge in the drainage system that causes it to clog and flood especially in times of rain.

There is no apparent use right now for such fluid and only poses harm to our health and the environment.

Recently, however, the Japan International Cooper-ation Agency together with MyClimate Japan and Biomass Japan conducted a feasibility

study looking into the viability of used cooking oil to be con-verted into biodiesel, assistant city administrator Tristan Do-mingo said during the I-Speak Media Conference in the City of Hall of Davao.

The agencies built a re-fining machine that generates biodiesel from collected cook-ing oil, which can be used to power vehicles and genera-tors.

The Japanese agencies are slated to ship the technology here in Davao City, for free, but the undertaking of this project depends on local de-mand, which means that there is a possibility that this project won’t push through if locals

are not cooperative.Domingo said there is

already demand but “(cook-ing) oil is informally disposed right now through canals and garbage. But if it’s gathered, it largely helps the environ-ment.”

He further explained that the Japanese disposal model, as reported by Biomass Japan, operates through collection points situated in barangay halls where a container is provided for households and restaurant owners to throw and donate.

“Active na sila in proper waste and management so dili dugay pag-implement kay cooperative ang community,”

Domingo added.There is a specific day in a

week where collection trucks gather the disposed oil and bring them to the agencies that convert them to biodiesel.

Domingo said that three weeks ago, they already in-vited and discussed with 12 barangays and the Association of Hotels and Restaurants in Davao City regarding the ini-tiative.

Once the disposal system is in place and the refining machine functional in Davao, Domingo said biodiesel will be used to power govern-ment-used vehicles including CENRO and garbage trucks.

IN less than a year, the K-12 educational system will be fully operational and

there will be a large decline of students entering first year in college since current fourth year students will instead be enrolled for senior high school for the next two years.

On its fifth year of prepa-ration, Department of Educa-tion (DepEd) representative Lalaine Javing reported that 98 percent of existing public ju-nior high schools are prepared to offer senior high school next year and 68 percent of private junior high school will often senior high.

She said additional class-rooms will be ready by June of 2016. DepEd is monitoring the schools, making sure they have the necessary teaching items and learning materials for the opening of classes next year.

Even stand-alone educa-tional institutions and other college schools, Javing said, are asking for permits in or-der to offer senior high school

in preparation for the college freshmen drought they are ex-pecting.

According to its website and primer for K-12, DepEd is planning to establish 5,899 Se-nior High Schools nationwide. As of June 22, 2015, DepEd has issued provisional permits to 2,847 private schools expect-ed to offer Senior High School next year.

The DepEd is also tar-geting two kinds of teachers: those who will teach the core subjects, and those who will teach the specialized subjects per track.

DepEd will hire 37,000 teachers for Senior High School for 2016 alone.

The K to 12 curriculum will be standards- and compe-tence-based and is boasted to be inclusive and built around the learners’ needs as well as the community’s.

The curriculum is done and is available on the DepEd website to be made more ac-cessible to the public. Vanessa Kate Madrazo

CHILDREN are at a time of their lives when they’re supposed to be learning,

playing, and filled with love. But many children right now in Davao City do not experience a blissful childhood but are in-stead exposed to the realities of crime.

A total of 70 children at risk are admitted in reforma-tion programs, according to Julie Dayaday, central manag-er of Children’s Village Bahay Pag-asa, an intervention center for children in conflict with the law (CICL) and children at risk (CAR).

“There are 32 children aged below 15 years and above 12 while there are 38 children aged below 18 years and above 15,” Dayaday said during the I-Speak Media Conference in the City Hall of

Davao yesterday.Dayaday said most of the

children above 15 but below 18 were previously involved in drugs, murder, robbery, theft, frustrated murder, and frus-trated homicide. Those above 12 but below 15 were involved in rape, incest, homicide, and drugs.

This figure does not show the number of children who have been involved in criminal acts but were only reported to their parents and immediately returned to their respective communities, and those who have not yet been identified by authorities entirely.

Based on the Juvenile Jus-tice and Welfare Act (JJWA), children below 15, “for the crimes that they commit, have no criminal liability, but chil-

PRESIDENTIAL aspirant Senator Grace Poe-Lla-manzares will grace the

10th General Membership Meeting of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII) on Oc-tober 30 at the Grande Men Seng Hotel.

The senator will share to the business community her updates on the Freedom of In-formation Act. She will be also be discussing her campaign against dangerous drugs.

The forum will also allow members to know more of her personal advocacies and view-points on the current political and economic issues.

The meeting will focus on inclusive growth, global com-petitiveness, and open govern-

DIESEL FROM COOKING OIL. Davao City assistant administrator lawyer Tristan Dwight Domingo shows two plastic tubes with processed biodiesel fuel and used cooking oil during yesterday’s I-Speak media forum at City Hall.

He reiterated the city government’s plan to venture into a project that will convert used cooking oil into biodiesel fuel. Lean Daval Jr.

Japan to help City generatebiodiesel from used cooking oilBy VANESSA KATE MADRAZO

Davao City high schoolsready for K-12: DepEd

Sen. Poe to grace DCCCII meeting

70 young people admittedin reformation programs

FJAPAN, 12 F70 YOUNG, 12

ment.The DCCCII general mem-

bership meeting is a great op-portunity to renew business contacts among fellow cham-ber members and other partic-ipating stakeholders.

It is also a venue to know more about the chamber and its activities and events.

Senator Grace Poe-Llamanzares

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015 3EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015

THE Los Amigos Aqua Culture Producer’s Or-ganization, Inc. (LAAC-

PO) will spearhead the Pan-tatan Festival in Los Amigos, Tugbok District, Davao City on October 29 and 30, 2015 as a thanksgiving event of the small individual hito growers and to showcase the locals’ food products.

The festival also aims

to promote Tugbok as the agri-tourism destination for catfish or “hito” delicacies and increase the socio-economic aspect of the local fisher folks as their main source of liveli-hood. They intend to use the festival to increase their sales and market distribution in hopes of making the industry more sustainable and more developed.

It has been celebrated since 2004 and has since grown more popular to both Dabawenyos and people from other cities and provinces.

One of the main events of the festival is the Culinary Contest. “We want for contes-tants to innovate new dishes of hito for them to be includ-ed in the list of [known] Asian

NEWS4 EDGEDAVAO

THE Department of Health Region 12 (DOH-12) has issued

a health advisory regarding the haze that has been blan-keting large parts of Mind-anao for almost a week.

The haze, which orig-inates from forest fires in Indonesia, carry pollutants that may be harmful to hu-mans, according to Dr. Fran-cisco Mateo, DOH-12 assis-tant regional director.

He said asthma, serious coughs, and other respira-tory related illnesses can be acquired by inhaling the polluted air so the public is advised to wear masks to protect themselves.

However, Mateo said the haze is still “tolerable” and has advised the public to drink plenty of water and juice to maintain or improve resistance.

In its bulletin released at 11 a.m. Thursday, the De-partment of Environment and Natural Resources En-vironmental Management Bureau (DENR–EMB) in Koronadal City indicated

that “air quality descriptor is fair and zero health con-cerns.”

The DENR–EMB has been conducting air quali-ty monitoring in Mindanao since October 17, following the haze entry to the south-ern part of the Philippine territory.

With the prevailing ob-scure weather condition, Mateo reminded the public to take extra steps to avoid complications brought by the haze.

Persons who inhale haze, consciously or uncon-sciously, will suffer irritant effects on the nose, throat, airways, skin and eyes, Ma-teo said.

He said symptoms in-clude frequent sneezing, running nose, eye irritation, dry throat and dry cough brought about by pollutants.

Vulnerable to infections are persons, including chil-dren and elderly, with med-ical problems like asthma, chronic lung disease, chron-ic sinusitis and allergic skin conditions. (PNA)

A THREE-YEAR-OLD boy was wounded in an at-tack staged by the Abu

Sayyaf Group (ASG) in the hin-terlands of Sulu, a military offi-cial disclosed Thursday.

Brigadier General Alan Ar-rojado, Joint Task Group Sulu commander, identified the victim as Gasfer Suhudan, who suffered graze wound in the

forehead.Arrojado, who is also the

commander of the Army’s 501st Infantry Brigade, said the attack took place around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in Ba-rangay Sandah, Patikul, Sulu.

Arrojado said the ASG members led by Ninok Sapa-ri positioned themselves in Patikul Hill and opened fire

at members of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team (BPAT) in Sandah, Patikul.

Arrojado said the BPAT led by Sandah Barangay Chairman Jairulla Jawari fought back trig-gering a 15-minute firefight.

He said Sapari’s group fled towards west direction upon sensing the arrival of govern-

GOVERNMENT security forces arrested a rank-ing leader of the New

People’s Army (NPA)’s South-ern Mindanao Regional Com-mittee during operations in Barangay La Filipina, Tagum City on Wednesday afternoon.

Arrested by virtue of war-rant of arrest for kidnapping and serious illegal detention issued by Regional Trial Court 11, Branch 3, Nabunturan town, Compostela Valley was

Porferio D. Tuna, alias “Pinot/Ampong/Ricky.”

He was bagged by joint elements of 10th Infantry Division, Tagum City Police, and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Davao Del Norte.

Tuna is also known as Ka Simon Santiago, SMRC Spokesperson and Second Deputy Secretary.

He is the former Front Secretary of Guerilla Front 25

and the current head of the Regional Instructors Bureau.

Tuna will also be facing raps for murder with Crimi-nal Case Number 20502 filed at RTC, Branch 11 Judicial Re-gion Branch 1, Tagum City.

Major Rafael Valencia, 10th Infantry Division com-mander, commended the 10th Infantry Division and PNP personnel involved in this successful operations. (PNA)

DOH issues health advisoryvs haze effects on humans

JUVENILE JUSTICE. Lawyer Rochelle Marie Solis (left) of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and lawyer Lalaine G. Javing (right) of the Department of Education (DepEd) talk about the rights of children in conflict with the law

during yesterday’s I-Speak media forum at City Hall in time for the upcoming celebration of the Juvenile Justice Law week. Lean Daval Jr.

Tugbok to hold Pantatan FestivalBy VANESSA KATE MADRAZO

Boy injured in ASG attack in Sulu

Ranking NPA leader nabbed in Tagum City

FTUGBOK, 12

FBOY, 12

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015 5EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015

EIGHTY mothers in General Santos City were recently granted

opportunities to earn more via livelihood projects from the city government.

City Mayor Ronnel Ri-vera, with the Integrated Barangay Affairs (IBA) of the City Mayor’s Office, dis-tributed live chickens to the mother-beneficiaries through the program Kita Ni Nanay, Para Kay Nanay. Each received twenty 20 chickens.

One of the recipients,

Esther Rias, 65, of Barangay San Jose, said she was very thankful for the livelihood package, emphasizing her need for income.

“I am already old but I have still my grandchildren with me. My husband is a farmer but he does not have a stable income. Supporting my family financially is really hard,” Rias narrated in ver-nacular. “When I heard about this program in our baran-gay, I immediately asked if I

6

City Hall employeesto undergo drug test

GENERAL SANTOS

TAGUM CITY

COTABATO CITY

GENERAL SANTOS CITY

KORONADAL CITY

FOUR ON ONE. Cowboys wrestle with a bull during the carambola event of the Kaamulan rodeo competition in Malaybalay City on October 17, 2015. Min-daNews photo by H. Marcos C. Mordeno

EMPLOYEES of the Gen-eral Santos City govern-ment will be subjected

to random drug testing.This new policy has been

confirmed by City Mayor Ron-nel Rivera.

“We have been receiv-ing reports that some of our employees are involved in drugs—some are pushing and some are using. Recently, our police has nabbed some of our employees who were proven to be doing drugs, and I personally do not like the idea that drug users and pushers are among our ranks

in the public service,” Rivera said.

“It is very alarming that some of our local government employees are into drugs. This is really embarrassing on our part so we have to con-duct a random drug testing,” the mayor added.

Rivera said he has already given instructions to the Hu-man Resource Management and Development Office for the conduct of random drug testing.

Related agencies such as the Philippine Drug Enforce-ment Agency and the General

Santos City Police Office (GSC-PO) have already committed their support to this move of the local chief executive.

The mayor did not specify when the random drug test-ing would start. “It will be a surprise,” he said.

Rivera warned city em-ployees to stop using in drugs.

“It is really quite drastic that we have to come up with this but we cannot stain the reputation we are trying to build with the city govern-ment of Gensan. We want our employees to be role model and active citizens, not drug

users,” Mayor Rivera stressed.He emphasized that he

wants every employee of the local government unit to avoid using illegal drugs.

“Those who are into it now, you better stop, because once you are caught, you will be fully sanctioned and we will not give special favors to you just because you are a City Hall employee,” he said.

Rivera said he is satisfied with the intensive campaign of the GSCPO to combat illegal drug activities in General San-tos City. (IJLagare-Gensan CPIO/DEDoguiles-PIA12)

THE tribal communities in the province will hold the 2nd Tipanud Festival

on October 30 at the RDR Gym, Davao del Norte Sports Com-plex, Tagum City in celebra-tion of the Indigenous Peoples Month.

Indigenous Peoples Man-datory Representative to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Datu Victor Pandian said the word “Tipanud” is a common term to different tribes which means settlers.

Pandian also said the sev-en tribes of the province will showcase their own culture

and heritage through dances and songs during the festival.

The seven tribes are Kalag-an, Sama, Mansaka, Ata Mano-bo, Dibabawon, Mandaya, and Manguangan.

Pandian said on October 29, the League of the IPMR in the province will also federate the IP women and youth.

He said the organization of federations for the women and youth was the result of the discussion of the first provin-cial IPMR conference held on September 25 at the Bulwagan ng Lalawigan. (PIA11, Michael Uy)

A HOUSING project in M’lang, North Cotaba-to “brings honor to the

local government and its cit-izens,” M’lang Mayor Joselito Piñol said Monday.

Piñol refused to claim credit for the feat from the National Housing Authority (NHA) for which President Benigno Aquino III handed over the plaque of recogni-tion during the NFA anniver-sary program in Manila.

He said the successful im-plementation of the housing project for Indigenous Peo-ples was through the joint ef-forts of all stakeholders in the local government.

The housing projects for Blaan tribes people were funded by NHA with coun-terpart funding from the local government unit.

“This is a clear indication of true government service for less fortunate residents,” Piñol said in a radio inter-view.

Twenty five of the 50 housing projects have been completed and formally turned over to Blaan people in a three hectare lot in Sitio

Biao, Barangay New Esperan-za, Mlang, North Cotabato.

Construction for 25 other housing units is ongoing and expected to be completed by December.

Piñol said the funds from NHA came in a little late but with the joint efforts of con-cerned government agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Municipal Disaster Risk Re-duction and Managmene Council, and the town en-gineering office, the project was fast-tracked and com-pleted ahead of schedule.

He also announced that NHA has already download-ed the additional funds for the completion of another 25 housing units.

Piñol said the state-run University of South Mindanao in Kabacan, North Cotabato also contributed in the proj-ect by establishing a commu-nal garden area which caught the eye of NHA officials.

“The backyard garden was excellent that NHA made it a model for other housing projects in the country to em-ulate,” Piñol said. (PNA)

GOVERNMENT-RUN Sul-tan Kudarat State Univer-sity based in Tacurong

City is advancing the adoption of aerobic rice technology, a production system that is ap-propriate in areas with insuffi-cient water supply.

Aerobic rice, according to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), is “a produc-tion system where rice is grown in well-drained, non-puddled, and non-saturated soils. Water requirements can be lowered by reducing water losses due to seepage, percolation, and evap-oration.”

Dr. Ruby Hechanova, direc-tor for research and develop-ment of SKSU, told Philippine Information Agency that aero-bic rice technology “could help address the problems of farm-ers regarding climate change such as El Nino” because it

requires minimum amount of water.

“Unlike in conventional farming where rice paddies should be submerged in water, in aerobic rice technology rice can be grown even with only 10 percent soil moisture,” Hecha-nova said.

According to the Rice Knowledge Bank of IRRI, the farming system is suitable in “areas where the land is flat and where rainfall with or without supplemental irrigation is suf-ficient to frequently being the soil water close to field capac-ity.”

It is also fit in upper slopes or terraces in undulating, rain-fed lowland and water-short irrigated farms.

Hechanova added that aer-obic rice researches conducted in rice fields at the tail-end of irrigations systems in some

parts of Luzon showed positive results.

In 2014, she said, SKSU started testing the aerobic rice technology in the towns of Quirino and Lutayan and Tacu-rong City, all in Sultan Kudarat province.

“With appropriate man-agement, yield from aerobic rice is comparable to that from conventional farming,” she said.

Aerobic rice technology is highlighted in 3rd Aerobic Rice National Conference at the Sa-rangani Highlands in General Santos City from October 20 - 23.

The event highlights up-dates on aerobic rice technol-ogy and other potential wa-ter-saving technologies for rice production.

Paper presentations cover aerobic rice technology and related research and develop-

ment activities from leading institutions such as Bataan Peninsula State University, Bu-lacan Agricultural State College, International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Isabela State Univer-sity and others.

It is also an opportunity for sharing of good practices on aerobic rice production.

The 3rd Aerobic Rice Na-tional Conference is supported by IRRI, ICRISAT, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Ag-ricultural Research, Bureau of Soils and Water Management, Philippine Rice Research Insti-tute and the aforementioned state schools.

Participants include acade-micians, researchers, farmers, and representatives of govern-ment and nongovernment or-ganizations. (DEDoguiles-PIA 12)

State U, partners push aerobic rice farming

Davao Norte to hold2nd Tipanud Festival

NHA honors NorCot townfor IP housing projects

Gensan mothers receivelivelihood from city gov’t

EDGEDAVAO

SUBURBIA

FGENSAN, 12

EDGEDAVAO

One of our edges also is our food safety handling which

ensure that the quality of our food will not be compromised

Penong’s and its unlimitedrice, tasty chicken BBQ

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015

INdulge!

Penong’s Barbeque Seafood and Grill is known in Davao City for initiating the unlimited rice that became a hit and continues to satisfy every Dabawenyo and food lovers to date.

By Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

It has been almost 12 years when the first Penong’s was es-tablished in Davao City along Ilustre Street, near PTA Sports Complex which is now known as People’s Park in 2003.

After the first year, the company established two more branches in the city, along Sta. Ana Avenue and in Matina near NCCC Mall to be exact.

Eight years after, the com-pany ventured into franchis-ing which boosted the popu-larity of the barbeque house to the people. Their first fran-chise store was established in Matina near Matina Gallera in 2009.

The franchising also opens the door of Penong’s to reach other places in Min-danao and even in Visayas.

According to the firm’s marketing specialist Aljon Troy Requizo, there are al-ready eight Penong’s out-

side Davao City, two stores in Tagum City and in Cebu par-ticularly in Escario and Co-

PENONG’S A3

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INdulge! A3EDGEDAVAOVOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015

PG

R13 12:00 | 2:00 | 4:00 | 6:00 | 8:00 | 10:00 LFS

R-16

BLACK MASS

Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton

Benedict Cumberbatch, *Kevin Bacon

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

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 5:THE GHOST DIMENSION

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

GOOSEBUMPS

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

Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw

Katie Featherston

THE LAST WITCH HUNTER

Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie,

Elijah Wood

October 22-27, 2015

R13

R16

Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush

lon, General Santos City, Kidapawan City, Dipolog City and Zamoboanga.

As the company’s 12th  year in the business is fast approaching, Pe-nong’s is proud to intro-duce its 20th  branch in Barangay Sasa that will try to satisfy the appetite of the people in the area.

Penong’s marketing officer Ryan Julius Isla said their continuing ex-pansion only shows that many people are joining their success through the years.

Isla said their restau-rant is really doing their best to satisfy the palates of every customer patron-

izing their products.Requizo, for his part,

said their chicken bar-beque is their best sellers in which almost 50 per-cent of their monthly in-come is being generated by this.  He said with the best tasting chicken bar-beque that Penong’s has, a lot of awards were given to the company.

Among the awards are Golden Globe Awardee for Business Excellence as Best Barbeque House in 2013 and 2014; The Philip-pine Star Brand and Asian Star Brand Silver Award in 2008; The Philippine Quality Awards for Busi-ness Excellence in 2008;

PENONG’S A1

National Product Qual-ity Excellence Awards as Best Barbeque in Davao City from 2005 to 2008; National Shopper’s Choice Annual Awards as No. 1 Barbeque House in Davao City from 2004 to 2007 and the Philippine Market-ing Excellence Award as Most Outstanding Bar-beque House in Davao City from 2004 to 2007.

Requizo said aside from their tasty chicken barbeque, another edge going for them is their food safety handling.

“One of our edges also is our food safety handling which ensure that the quality of our food will not be compro-mised,” he said.  

He said most of their waiters are required to have their heads shaven to skinhead look to en-sure cleanliness.

“That (skinhead) is also the trademark of Penong’s,” Requizo said.

He also emphasized that all branches of Pe-nong’s have less com-plaints on food handling because of their strict implementation of poli-cies.

Isla said that before the year ends, there are four other Penong’s stores that open. Three of these will be estab-lished in Davao City and the one will be in Mati City.

Penong’s is eyeing for some places in Mind-anao for expansion par-ticularly in Pagadian, Iligan, Malaybalay, Va-lencia, Cagayan de Oro, Panabo City, Koronadal, Butuan and Surigao City.

Isla is also hoping they will double the number of stores by next year to fulfill their goals of having more Pe-nong’s in every place of the Philippines.

AVAILABLE ON OCTOBER 29, 2015

A4 INdulge! EDGEDAVAO VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015 7EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMY

SERVING REMOTE VILLAGES. This  4.929 km farm-to-market road in Tupi, South Cotabato is now serving the farmers in the remote villages of Crossing Rubber and Lunen.  The project amounting to P41.85 million is part of the P5.11 billion Mindanao portfolio.

THE provincial govern-ment of Davao Orien-tal is confident that with

the newly adopted Annual Investment Plan for 2016, it will be able to sustain and strengthen even more their award-winning good gover-nance programs and projects.

Governor Corazon Malanyaon has recently con-vened the Provincial Devel-opment Council which have deliberated, approved and ad-opted the Annual Investment Plan for 2016 to be funded under the twenty percent of the Local Government Devel-opment Fund (LGDF).

Malanyaon said the pro-grams and projects to be fund-ed under the LGDF will boost her administration’s five de-velopment agenda which are to defeat poverty, safeguard the environment, expand ac-cess to infrastructure, utilities and social services, sustaining public order and security and to strengthen effective gover-nance.

In conferring this year’s Seal of Good Local Governance award to Davao Oriental, the Department of Interior and Local Government has lauded Governor Malanyaon for being one of the best prime mov-ers of government programs deemed worthy of emulation and recognition.

“This package of pro-grams and projects that will be funded from our 20 per-cent IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) will be relevant, acceptable and valuable to all of us. As a strong advocate of convergence, I had made it as one of my development strat-egies in achieving peace. For it is my belief that there can be no peace without devel-opment and there can be no development without peace,” Malanyaon said during a re-cent Provincial Development Council meeting in her prov-ince attended by all top local government officials in the province.

“And this finds affirmation in the twin goals that we have remarkably attained through the Peace and Development Outreach Program or PDOP and how it work in harness-ing all relevant programs of various government agencies to provide integrated support not only to conflict-affected communities but also to those vulnerable areas, with the military and civilians coming together, working together, pursuing undertakings togeth-er, creating a synergy, sharing the same values and levels of commitment, same values and same timeliness,” she added.

The Internal Peace and Security Plan or Bayanihan program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines was piloted in Davao Oriental to great suc-cess, with government and the military cooperating in bring-

ing development projects to far-flung areas especially those called GIDAs or Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas which are far from vital government and private re-sources.

The government has de-fined GIDAs as communities with a marginalized popula-tion and physically and so-cio-economically separated from the mainstream society. They are physically isolated due to distance, adverse weath-er conditions, lack of transpor-tation (island, upland, lowland, landlocked, hard to reach and underserved communities), with high poverty incidence, presence of vulnerable sectors, and a community in or recov-ering from situations of crisis or armed conflict.

“We intend to continue to pour our support to include these conflict-affected and vulnerable areas by providing funds for the rehabilitation, construction, installation of potable water supply and sanitation projects and for the installation, maintenance of lighting system. And in addi-tion, we have extended cover-age of the rehabilitation, main-tenance and improvement of local roads, bridges and other public facilities in order to sus-tain the benefits of improved accessibility to these areas.

The same has to be im-plemented on a regular, year-round basis employing the counterparting scheme. Funds shall also be provided as coun-terpart for special-funded pro-grams under the Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP), Payapa at Masaga-nang Pamayanan (PAMANA), Davao Integrated Develop-ment Program (DIDP), and for debt servicing for loans incurred purposely for devel-opment projects,” says the gov-ernor.

“In retrospect, my admin-istration of nine years may seem to be long enough to have bestowed the palpable gains, yet I feel that the work is far from done. As it is, the prob-lem with time is that it eventu-ally runs out. And we know for a fact that there are still many development needs that have to be addressed. Yet, in a sense, the unfinished business, so to speak, will have to be car-ried over to the successor’s plan to address these needs,” Malanyaon said.

“It is in the light of these developments that we are en-joining the Provincial Planning and Development Office to spearhead the preparation of our successor Provincial De-velopment Plan 2017-2023. We can say that we have sus-tained our forward-looking paradigm and have developed our capacities to look ahead and to prepare for future chal-lenges,” the lady governor add-ed. (Ferdinand Zuasola)

Plan sustains DavOr good governance

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 20158 THE ECONOMY EDGEDAVAO

STAKEHOLDERS of the coffee industry in the Philippines are targeting

to plant one million seedlings of Robusta coffee variety in a 1,000-hectare area in Sulu starting July next year in a bid to increase the country’s an-nual coffee production.

“We are targeting to plant one million coffee trees of different varieties every year until we reach self sufficiency five to seven years from now,” Philippine Coffee Board, Inc. (PCB) chairperson and pres-ident Pacita U. Juan told re-porters at the sidelines of the 8th National Coffee Summit at the SMX Lanang Convention

Center.Juan said the Philippines

is a net importer of soluble or instant coffee coming from Vietnam and Indonesia. Of the 100,000 metric tons (MT) an-nual demand of the country, only 23,000 MT are met by the local production.

Juan said the planting of seedlings were targeted during the rainy season to en-sure and increase the survival rate of each hill.

The expansion of coffee production areas in Sulu and other parts of the country will be under the Ecotree program in partnership with other pri-vate organizations. In Pala-

wan, the board is targeting to plant coffee seedlings to some 5,000 hectares after expan-sion in Sulu.

Juan said the island, which is part of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), has existing coffee plantations of 250,000 hect-ares mostly planted with Ro-busta coffee. However, there are coffee varieties of Arabica in high elevated areas as well as Liberica and Excelsa.

“Every hectare has a ca-pacity of producing an average of 5,000 kilogram per hectare annually,” Juan said, adding that harvest season starts ev-ery October and last until all

green coffee beans turn red.The Tausug tribe in Sulu

was the pioneer in coffee pro-duction in the area.

More than 2,200 farmers or 334 families who are mem-bers of the People’s Alliance for Progress Multipurpose Cooperative in Sulu were the main producer of Kahawa Kubing, a term the cooperative drew from their own language which means coffee for kaha-wa and civet for kubing.

Juan said that Sulu and other parts of Mindanao have a huge potential in coffee pro-duction.

In fact, Mindanao contrib-utes more than 70 percent

of country’s total coffee pro-duction of 30,000 metric tons every year. Among the major production areas here are Sultan Kudarat, Cotabato and Davao region.

But, majority of Philip-pines’ coffee production goes for commercial processing. Only 10 percent are for spe-cialty coffee and coffee origin.

Juan said coffee produc-ers and farmers in Mindanao should change their mindset that their production should not only be limited to big coffee companies but also to other establishments like cof-fee shops that offer specialty coffee.

She said there’s a hype globally for specialty coffee and coffee origins.

“Farmers should focus on improving the quality of their beans and improving their farm management,” Juan said.

Consumers, she added, are now willing to pay higher for a cup of a specialty coffee.

Juan said the industry tar-gets to increase production by 10 to 20 percent three years from now.

“This is a conservative estimate,” she said, adding that there’s a need to further promote the industry since there is an increasing global demand.

Stakeholders aim to hike coffee yieldcrc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

THREE other member countries of the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia,

Malaysia and Philippine-East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EA-GA) will put their own respec-tive trade and promotion cen-ters, an official said.

This was after the Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia decid-ed during the recent meeting

of the BIMP-EAGA Trade and Investment Facilitation clus-ter at the Seda Hotel to adopt the strategy of the Philippines in establishing the Philippine Trade, Tourism, and Invest-ment Promotions Center.

“The plan will be final-ized by January next year,” BIMP-EAGA Small and Medi-um Enterprises Development

(SMED) Cluster secretariat Romeo L. told reporters yes-terday. Castañaga was part of the Philippine delegate during the BIMP-EAGA Trade and In-vestment Conference at the Marco Polo Davao earlier this month.

Castañaga said it was not finalized during the meeting the timeline of each country

and whether each center will have the same industries be-ing promoted in the Philippine Center.

“It was easy for the Philip-pine delegate to have the cen-ter that promotes three areas because trade and investment are both under the Depart-ment of Trade and Industry,”

BIMP-Eaga member countries seek to put up own trade centers

THE Davao Light and Power Co. (DLPC) will conduct two-day

30-minute power interrup-tions on October 24 and 26, both from 6:00 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., affecting customers con-nected to its Panacan Substa-tion.

“These service disrup-tions will be necessary to fa-cilitate the energization of the new Buhangin-Panacan 69 kilovolts (kV) line and the line stringing works along ERA 2 and DRA 2 lines,” DLPC assis-tant vice president for reputa-tion enhancement Rossano C. Luga said in a statement.

Luga said customers

affected by these power in-terruptions are those along diversion road from crossing Dumanlas-Buhangin going to Panacan and also in Sasa from PLDT office up to Ferros Steel in Ilang.

“Davao Light apologiz-es for the inconvenience of these scheduled power inter-ruptions,” he said. The power firm, however, said it will exert all efforts to restore electric service as scheduled or earlier.

But, Luga said there may be instances where resto-ration may extend beyond the schedule due to unavoidable circumstances. CHENEEN R. CAPON

Power interruptionsset Oct. 24 and 26

PROGRESSING well on tourist arrivals for the first half of the year, the

Northern Mindanao Region (Region X) sees significant growth of up to 12 percent to 3.2-million tourists by year-end.

Department of Tour-ism (DOT) Region X director Catalino Chan III said that in 2014, the region acquired 2.9-million tourist arrivals, 32 percent of which are foreign-ers.

Meanwhile, in the Jan-July period this year, the region has already recorded 2-million tourists.

“We got 2-million tourists this year up to July and we’re expecting more because major festivals are on the last quar-ter,” Chan told reporters in an interview.

He said that Camiguin’s Lansones Festival will be held in October, Misamis Oc-cidental’s Pasungko Festival in November and Christmas Symbols Festival in December. Bukidnon’s Kaamulan Festival will be held in February 2016.

“Basically these are the major festivals that’s getting crowds coming in. We be-lieve that to give good credits for Mindanao, we increase

strength on our festivals,” Chan said.

“It’s the best way for peo-ple to be entertained,” he add-ed.

Aside from festivals, Chan said that he also expects more of the region’s accommoda-tions to receive DOT-accred-itation. From 2,900 rooms in 2014, the region posed a 32 percent increase around 4,000 rooms this year.

He also plans to eventual-ly market the region as a top MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) destination.

When asked if the recent Samal kidnapping case in its neighbor region affected Northern Mindanao’s tourist arrivals, Chan said that there were hardly any booking can-cellations reported.

“We are one of the most peaceful places in the region,” the DOT official said, adding that the region was “very for-tunate” to sustain its arrivals.

At present, Chan said that the region is proposing for more direct flights to the re-gion particularly from Korean tourists. Investments on new hotels are also seen to attract more tourists to visit the re-gion. (PNA)

N. Mindanao targets 12% increase in tourist arrivals

THE Department of La-bor and Employment (DOLE) in Region 12

has stepped up its interven-tions to facilitate the tuna in-dustry players’ compliance with international labor stan-dards.

Ofelia Domingo, DOLE Re-gion 12 director, on Wednes-day said they have been close-ly monitoring the operations

of local tuna companies to en-sure that they properly adhere to the general labor standards and related regulations.

She said this move is in line with the ongoing assess-ment by the European Union (EU) on the compliance of tuna companies based in the city to the standards of its Gen-eralized System of Preferences Plus (GSP+).

Representatives from the EU delegation to the Philip-pines earlier inspected several local tuna companies as part of the GSP+ assessment, she said.

“We’re mainly assisting the tuna industry in complying with the labor-related stan-dards that were set under the GSP+,” Domingo said.

The EU parliament includ-

ed the Philippines in Decem-ber last year in its GSP+, which grants zero duty or tariff to over 6,000 eligible exports from the country to its mem-ber-states.

The GSP+ status covered processed and canned-tuna products caught by 100-per-cent Philippine-registered vessels.

Raising labor standards in tuna sector

CATFISH FEST. Los Amigos barangay captain Angelico Santander Jr. and Los Amigos Aqua Culture Producers’ Organization (LAACPO) chair Rebecca A. Limbaga promote the 11th Pantatan Festival to be held on October 29 and 30 in Los Amigos, Tugbok District. The two were guests in yesterday’s I-Speak media forum at City Hall. Lean Daval Jr.

FBIMP, 12

FRAISING, 12

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015 9EDGEDAVAO

AGRITRENDSSure ways of controlling golden kuholText and Photos by HENRYLITO D. TACIO

“EARN P60,000 a year!” Thus read the ad for yet another

get-rich-quick scheme: raising escargot, the freshwater snail known locally as golden kuhol or golden apple snail (Poma-cea canaliculata). “With min-imal effort, investment and space young and retired folks can propagate golden kuhol easily,” the ad went on to say.

Like the common rice field snail, the golden kuhol was then recognized as a delica-cy. Because it was good food and equally good alternative source of income, enterprising farmers started raising golden kuhol in their backyards.

Barely three years after its introduction to the Philip-pines, the snail which is said to have originated from the Am-azon River in South America was practically everywhere. The snail multiplies rapidly, a characteristic that trans-formed them from being a rare delicacy to a dreaded pest.

Golden apple snails feed on anything. They can live for two to six years. Adults mate any time of the day, usually among crowded plants where there is continuous water sup-ply throughout the year.

They are very prolific. A female snail lays 200 to 500 eggs at a time, and between 1,000 to 1,200 eggs during one month.

Very prolific, they prolif-erate rapidly as their eggs and hatchlings are transported by rivers and streams. They are dispersed to the rice fields through irrigation water. Sud-denly, rice farmers have a new nemesis. “Their fast growth and reproduction leads to population levels that can destroy entire rice crops,” de-plores the Rome-based United

Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

According to the Interna-tional Rice Research Institute (IRRI), golden apple snails eat young and emerging rice plants. They cut the rice stem at the base, destroying the whole plant. If there’s no control measure taken, they can completely destroy one square meter of field over-night. “This damage could lead to more than 50% yield loss,” IRRI points out.

IRRI says the critical time to manage golden apple snails is during land preparation and crop establishment or plant-ing; specifically, first 10 days after transplanting and during the first 21 days after direct wet-seeding.

Researchers from Philip-pine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) discovered that growing of azolla is an alterna-tive way to minimize the dam-ages caused by golden kuhol in transplanted rice.

Dindo King Donayre, who led the study, said that grow-ing azolla together with rice will divert the appetency of golden kuhol away from the newly-established rice. “The amount of missing seedlings is significantly reduced up to 89.2% per square meter with an average of 60 snails per square meter,” he said.

Through the course of the study, azolla was introduced on the rice field 10 days after transplanting. Golden kuhol were also placed at different population levels throughout the experiment area. Data on missing rice seedlings were gathered daily for 7 consecu-tive days.

“At varying water levels and golden apple snail pop-ulation per square meter, we

noted a significant decrease of missing seedlings,” Donayre explained. At 1-centimeter wa-ter level, the decrease ranged from 84.3%- 89.2%, and at 2-3 centimeters the rate of decrease ranged from 65.3% to 77.6%, all from 30-90 gold-en apple snail population per square meter.

“It is a natural way of gold-en apple snail management,” Donayre said.

Azolla is known for its ni-trogen-fixing capability and is widely used as a biofertilizer reducing farmers’ expenses on synthetic fertilizers. “Farmers who grow azolla are actually growing their own fertilizers,” says Roy Alimoane, the direc-tor of Mindanao Baptist Rural

Life Center in Bansalan, Davao del Sur. Azolla contains 4 per-cent nitrogen on a dry weight basis (dry weight is 5 percent of fresh weight); 0.5-0.9 per-cent phosphorus; and 2-4.5 percent potassium.

For only three hours, Al-imoane claims, a farmer can grow adequate azolla to in-crease yields equivalent to that produced by 30-60 kilo-grams of nitrogen fertilizer per hectare. Residual soil nitrogen is increased.

Azolla floats on the water between rice plants. When it dies and is incorporated into the soil, decomposition releas-es the nitrogen. “Azolla growth does not interfere with normal rice cultivation,” IRRI assures.

“In fact, it helps control weeds and improves soil texture.”

“Aside from being an al-ternative method to nutrient management, growing of azol-la is also an effective, econom-ical, and environment-friendly way of managing golden apple snail,” Donayre said.

In Malaysia, however, farmers control the snails simply by using rotten jack-fruit as bait. This method has proven to be “highly success-ful.” A paper presented during a workshop convened by the Taiwan-based Food and Fertil-izer Technology Center (FFTC) shares the following steps:

1. Rotten jackfruits to be used as bait are collected. Only those freshly rotted fruits

which have a strong smell should be selected.

2. A suitable spot is care-fully chosen where the baits are placed. The spot should be a place with running water, populated with golden apple snails, and not hard when it comes to collecting the snails. The bait should not be sub-merged into the water.

3. The baits are left over-night.

4. The spot is inspected in the morning. The snails that have gathered on and around the jackfruit are collected and destroyed (or they can be used as feed for ducks).

5. The rotten jackfruit is replaced, if and when neces-sary.

Azolla

Golden apple snail

Azolla grown along with rice (Photo by PhilRice)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 201510 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

EDITORIALUnattended excavations

TWO months ago, this paper checked with the Davao City Water District on the status of the dig-gings along Bacaca Road (now Dizon Road). The

DCWD spokesperson informed this paper that the repair will be done soon pending the bidding process for the road.

If you drive along that section which is the most con-venient way out of downtown heading West and North of the city, almost half of the road was damaged by the dig-gings and what used to be a smooth ride became a narrow rough patch slowing down the flow of traffic especially on rush hours.

It has been two months since we last checked and the same condition can be said of this road section. No re-pairs whatsoever.

This is not the only road affected. Everywhere in the city, diggings have been done and most of these have yet to be repaired.

With ample time for people’s patience, it is imperative upon the agency concerned, in this case the DCWD, to fast track the repairs of these road sections damaged by the diggings. While the excavations are meant to improve ser-vice, these projects also entail the responsibility to make prompt repairs in consideration of the general public.

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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PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTEthe national association of newspapers

REPORTS said 130 individuals have filed certificates of candidacy for president. One may find this news

amusing given that most of the aspirants are likely to be dismissed by the Com-mission on Elections as nuisance candi-dates. Yet aside from providing the pub-lic entertainment, such record-breaking – but by no means flattering – figure also points to the depth of the abyss to which Philippine politics has sunk into.

It wouldn’t have mattered had all, or at least a good number, of the aspirants have presented platforms that don’t sound insane – or something close to it. There is that fellow who claimed to be Kris Aquino’s real husband, and another one who wanted to institutionalize the four seasons in the country. The latter reminds of a pre-Martial Law era story of a lawmaker who reportedly filed a bill

prohibiting ty-phoons, earth-quakes and other disasters from occurring in the country.

But what has remained sane in this country in as far as politics is concerned? Each day finds us confronting inanities in various shades being peddled by poli-ticians, their spin masters, and of course, their image sanitizers in media. Expect the madness to worsen as we approach doomsday (read elections). If anything other than inflation and joblessness has gone up in this country, it is the level of dementia afflicting our body politic.

True, making preposterous marital claims holds no significance for the May 2016 political exercise and to our collec-tive future. Ms Kris has had lost count of marital problems that have come her way that another one thrown at her feet will no longer bother her or her legions of fans and bashers. And multiplying our seasons won’t make a dent either on the impact of climate change that has belea-guered us in recent years.

The tragedy, however, doesn’t end with the outlandish agenda of the so-called nuisance candidates; even the supposedly sane among those who wish to become president can hardly go be-yond parenthood declarations of what they intend to do. Indeed, it’s all been hot air, open-ended generalizations and enumeration of recycled promises that don’t sum up into a comprehensive and

coherent policy platform. The only edge these candidates have over the rest is the certainty that they would breeze through any psychiatric screening.

Beyond this, it is already difficult to spot the difference between the “sane” candidates and those whose statements dwell on the absurd. The latter promise us things that we know are impossible, the former things that we know they will forget once they get to sniff the ordure of power. The latter give us comic relief, the former promises that will be heard again in the next political season.

We laugh at the weirdness of it all not knowing we are looking at the image in the mirror before us. This is despera-tion. No, this is madness.

(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. H. Marcos C. Mordeno can be reached at hmcmordeno@gmail.com.)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015 VANTAGE POINTS 11EDGEDAVAO

IF you happen to visit Tagum City in Davao del Norte, one thing that will immediately catch your attention are

the palm trees that are planted along the highways. Even if you go inside the city, you can still see palm trees scattered throughout.

Every time I go to Tagum City, I am al-ways reminded of Florida when I visited Fort Lauderdale and even when we went to Miami. Yes, the Sunshine State is also a state of palms.

There are thousands of kinds of palms but the coconut palm is the most import-ant, economically speaking. Coconut is grown over the widest geographical area, has possibly the largest number of uses, and is most suitable for use in the widest variety of foods.

“While coconuts are not mentioned in the Bible, there is mention of them in literature of India and Ceylon as far back as 300 B.C.,” wrote Jasper Guy Woodroof, author of Coconuts: Production, Process-ing and Products. “Plantings of coconuts by Agrabodhi II date from 589 A.D. He is supposed to have been the first to intro-duce coconut cultivation in Ceylon.”

The coconut is the most important nut in the world and is grown for differ-ent purposes. Woodroof, who wrote the book in the 1970s yet, recorded: “In the Philippines, coconuts are grown as a sta-ble agricultural and industrial crop. Many of them consumed locally; and export of the various coconut products -- desiccat-ed coconut, copra, coconut oil and copra meal cake -- are major considerations in the national budget and international trade.”

Today, coconut still plays an import-ant role in our economy. Until 1995, the Philippines was the world’s top producer

of coconuts. But we were dislodged by Indonesia as our coconut productivity is only 75% that of our neigh-boring coun-try.

C o c o n u t is planted in 67 provinc-es. There are around 1.4 million coconut farms with an average nut yield of 4.4 metric tons per hectare per year. Our two main products -- copra and coconut oil -- earns about US$1 billion annually from exports. Un-fortunately, most of the 3.4 million farm-ers who plant coconut live below the pov-erty line.

The popularity of palm oil and rape-seed oil may further erode the viability of coconut in the international market. But all is not lost forever. After all, the coco-nut oil “has the lowest content of choles-terol among the commercially available vegetables, including soybean oil, corn oil, palm oil and canola oil,” wrote Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero III in his monthly col-umn, “Straight from the Farm.”

Coconut oil is considered the “healthi-est oil” as it contains 92% poly-saturated fatty acids, 6% mono-unsaturated fat-ty acids and 2% poly-unsaturated fatty acids. Here’s what Dr. Guerrero further wrote:

“The many health benefits of coco-nut oil are attributed to its high content of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), mainly lauric acid. MCFAs are directly ab-sorbed by the liver and immediately used

for energy and not stored as body fat. Co-conut fats do not increase ‘bad cholester-ol’ and can even reduce obesity.”

As for lauric acid, Dr. Guerrero noted: “Lauric acid has antimicrobial proper-ties. Research has showed it to be effec-tive against lipid-coated viruses, bacteria, fungi and protozoa.”

Another product from coconut that should be given attention by our farm-ers is coconut sap sugar or coco sugar. It deserves all the attention for a very good reason: coco sugar has been found to be a suitable alternative sweetener for dia-betics and non-diabetics due to its low glycemic index (GI).

GI refers to a numerical scale or rank-ing system of measuring the rate of blood glucose generation by a particular food item as compared to a reference item, such as glucose = 100. “GI ranks foods on how they affect the person’s blood glucose levels,” explains a fact sheet cir-culated by the Philippine Council for Ag-riculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD). “This index measures how much one’s blood glucose increases in two to three hours after eating.”

Intake of food with low GI level will not result in or trigger a sudden increase in blood glucose level of an individual. The result of a study made by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute showed coco sugar to have a GI of 35, which is classified as “low GI food.”

Coco sugar abounds with minerals and vitamins. It is a rich source of potas-sium, magnesium, iron and zinc. It also contains vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6. Chemically characterized as an “invert sugar,” it is a potential sweetener for the fast-growing pharmaceutical and food in-

dustries.Coco sugar is derived from freshly

harvested coconut sap or toddy, which we call as tuba. To prevent fermentation, the sap is collected every five hours. When enough sap is collected, it is transferred into big wok and placed over moderate heat to evaporate the water and concen-trate the sugar into syrup and finally into crystals and granules.

Another healthy product from coco-nut is its water. American nutritionist Jonny Bowden, author of The 150 Health-iest Foods on Earth, considers coco wa-ter to be a “perfectly good option” for people who want to stay hydrated. “It’s high in heart-healthy potassium, with most brands providing about 700 milli-grams in an 11-ounce serving – that’s lots more than you get in a banana,” he wrote. “It also has only about 60 calories per 11-ounce serving.”

One American health magazine hails coco water as “America’s healthiest bev-erage” for providing enhanced hydration, essential nutrition and all five essential electrolytes (calcium, potassium, magne-sium, phosphorous and sodium).

When compared with a popular sports drink per 100 milligrams, coco wa-ter has more potassium (294 milligrams versus 11.7 milligrams), less sodium (25 milligrams versus 41 milligrams), more chloride (118 milligrams versus 39 milli-grams), more magnesium (10 milligrams versus 7 milligrams), and less sugars (five milligrams versus six milligrams).

“Medically, the buko juice is one of the purest sources of energy in the world,” says Dr. Jose P. Naval, an occupational physician based in Davao. “It is consid-ered to be sterile because of its sealed enclosure in the nut shell.”

Going nuts over coco

130 faces of madness

Henrylito D. Taciohenrytacio@gmail.com

THINK ON THESE!

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 201512 EDGEDAVAONEWS

stones at them.The mayor said he has

been telling the settler to leave the area because the government will use the prop-erty for the general public.

“Why do they need to ob-struct? It is already 25 years in the making,” he said.

Duterte said he already told the settlers that he can provide them with a reloca-tion are if they just peacefully vacate the area.

Last Tuesday, Tugbok Po-lice Station filed cases against Bonnleey P. Pailan, 35; Mi-chael J. Rafuls, 30; Jayson R. Vedeflor, 33; Raul M. Galindo, 40; Cresencio N. Macarayo, 59; Jonathan C. Sudaria, 25; Andres I. Igbali, 51; Diosdao I. Igbali, 51; Allan C. Logronio, 41; Rodrigo M. Alaba Jr., 22; Floramea B. Carmina, 36; and Rosita T. Montilde, 48 before City Prosecution Office (CPO) on Tuesday afternoon.

The respondents, who are all residents of Purok 117 in the area, were submitted for inquest procedure before Prosecutor Stella Esparago-za-Camino for arson.

CPO records showed that

some of the suspects also face other cases. Sudaria, Galindo and Flor are facing direct assault while Carmi-na, Pailan, Rafuls, Macrayo, Igbalic, Logronio, Alaba, and Montilde are facing a case of disrespecting a person in au-thority.

Operatives recovered a “katana” (short sword), two bolos, a lighter, gasoline con-tainer, and a multicab from the crime scene.

The suspects and oth-er residents in the area had made a human barricade in the area and posted a tar-paulin stating “117 Bago Oshiro Farmers Association Davao City Ipaglaban namin ang karapatan sa lupa (We will fight for the right to this land).”

Police said the group was led by Logronio who said that the settlers said they will fight for their rights to the prop-erty in the area even though the City Council had already approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the city and UP Min for the establishment of the sports complex.

EVICT... FROM 12 Japan... FROM 2

Tugbok... FROM 4

Boy... FROM 4

PICPA... FROM 15

Gensan... FROM 6

70 young... FROM 2

BIMP... FROM 8

Raising... FROM 8

The size of the machine that will bed delivered, he said, will depend on the amount of oil that this city will be able to collect.

“The main goal of this project is to help the environ-ment. Added benefit na lang ang energy,” he said. There is, however, no current govern-ment-initiated incentive for cooperation.

Domingo said this project relies on people’s benevo-lence and concern for the en-

vironment.CENRO has set up two ho-

tlines for people to call if they want to inquire regarding the project or are interested in do-nating used cooking oil. The numbers are 227-2655 and 244-0094.

Japanese officials and re-searchers began this project in Davao City in November of last year and are expected to come here again on Novem-ber 16 to continue their stud-ies.

dren above 15 but below 18 are only arrested when they are proven to have discern-ment,” Commission of Human Rights (CHR) Region 11 rep-resentative Atty. Rochelle Solis said.

Solis said discernment is not just about the child’s awareness of whether the act committed was right or wrong but also about their awareness of the consequences of that ac-tion.

Solis explained that chil-dren need to be aware that they could be convicted for the crimes they commit.

Children who commit crimes are caught by the police are not arrested. Instead, there is initial contact with a social worker.

If the crime committed isn’t heinous, the child is re-turned to his or her family and community. If it was, the child is required to spend a minimum of one year in the intervention program in Bahay Pag-asa.

Children, Solis empha-sized, are given reformative justice instead of punitive jus-tice.

The law, she explained, also takes into account that many children are only tak-en advantage of by criminal minds who use and exploit their vulnerability.

The JJWA holds account-

able the people who exploit children and profit from their use, and who abuse their au-thority and confidence to ma-nipulate children.

It is these people who are given the maximum period of penalty for the crime that he or she is charged for.

The observance and in-tervention for juvenile delin-quents are also supported by educational institutions. “If it happens in schools, there’s a procedure especially for guid-ance councilors,” Department of Education (DepEd) repre-sentative Atty. Lalaine Javing said.

“First, there’s primary intervention which involves youth-oriented programs. In secondary interventions, chil-dren at risk are monitored by teachers and the family is in-formed,” Javing said.

She said the programs recognize that the children’s actuations are an effect of their environment.

On Friday, October 23, there will be simultaneous symposiums on the Juve-nile Justice and Welfare Act throughout the different ba-rangays in Davao City in com-memoration of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Conscious-ness Week with the theme, “Bata ay Gabayan; Batas sa Juvenile Justice bigyang daan.” Vanessa Kate Madrazo

am qualified and luckily I did. We went under trainings and seminars on how to properly raise a poultry business.”

“Now that I have these chickens, I am very hopeful that this will help our family. Of course, I am thankful to our city government, to our Mayor for giving mothers like me an opportunity to have a business,” Rias said.

The Kita Ni Nanay, Para Kay Nanay is a program launched by the IBA to eco-nomically empower indigent mothers.

“We want our mothers to be empowered through teaching them how to do business. Typically, we see our mothers and our women to be just housewives. I want to change that by making them proactive and equal partners of their husbands,” Rivera said.

“The city government allotted PhP1.2 million for the Kita Ni Nanay, Para Kay Nanay program. As of now, we are eyeing to distrib-ute chickens to at least 520 mothers in the city – 20 to each barangay,” he added.

Rivera said the program will be sustained to benefit more poor and deserving mothers in the city.

Sahara Cabreros, a stu-dent of Mindanao State Uni-versity College of Law Ex-tension, heads the IBA. Aside from the Kita Ni Nanay, Para Kay Nanay, the IBA currently runs other programs which targets different sectors in the city such as the youth and the elderly.

The Amigohanay sa Ba-rangay and Alay Kay Lolo

foods,” Los Amigos barangay captain Angelico Santander Jr. said during the I-Speak Media Conference at City Hall.

The highlight of the two-day event will be the “Sugbah-an sa Dalan” where there will be a kilometer-long grill along the Davao-Bukidnon highway in Los Amigos to accommo-date people coming from different places who want to taste grilled hito for free.

There will also be “Sub-astahan sa Pantatan” where members of LAACPO and hito retailers will exhibit and sell

their catfish products at grow-er’s price. This aims to pique the interest of small and medi-um enterprises in Davao City and neighboring provinces.

After 10 years of celebrat-ing the festival, the City Coun-cil two weeks ago declared the Pantatan Festival an official celebration every last week of October.

Santander said the com-munity is expecting local government officials and vice presidential candidate Sena-tor Alan Peter Cayetano to join the celebration.

ment troops.He said Suhudan was tak-

en to the headquarters of the Charlie Company, 35th Infan-try Battalion, for medical treat-ment.

He said the residents of Barangay Sandah earned the ire of Sapari since they favor

the concreting of the circum-ferential road linking the ba-rangays of Sandah and Tugas, Patikul.

He said Sapari opposes the concreting of the circum-ferential road as it will provide easy access to the government troops. (PNA)

said Castañaga, who also the current DTI provincial direc-tor for Davao del Norte.

However, this is not the same for the three other mem-ber countries, he said.

“They will need to coor-dinate with other offices that handle investment, trade and tourism,” he said.

Castañaga said it would be possible that each country will establish a trade center instead.

In the Philippines, the one-stop shop center called Ecofusion here is now located at the Abreeza Mall in Davao City which showcases various products from Mindanao and Palawan.

“The enterprises can eas-

ily access information like customs procedures and oth-er investment opportunities through the website,” DTI 11 regional director Ma. Belenda Q. Ambi earlier said, adding it would help both the local gov-ernment units and industry players.

Launched earlier this year, the Ecofusion is the DTI’s strategy in partnership with private sector in promoting trade, tourism, and invest-ment opportunities of Mind-anao and Palawan in gearing up gearing up for the Asean Economic Community (AEC), a single-based production center which will completely takes effect in December this year.

The brand name of the facility was coined form the word “eco” representing three major development principles of BIMP-EAGA commitments, which are the ecological bal-ance, eco-tourism and eco-nomic development. The word “fusion,” on the other hand, depicts the integration of ini-tiatives on trade, tourism and investments of the four mem-ber-countries.

“There are already enroll-ees from other regions. There are cubicles and stands where they can put in their products. This is not going to be that big but this is important that we have put up this kind of show-case for the local players,” she added. CHENEEN R. CAPON

During the inspection, Domingo said they hosted a roundtable discussion to tack-le issues and concerns regard-ing the industry’s compliance with GSP+ standards.

She said the gathering was joined by EU-GSP+ represen-tatives, civil society organiza-tions and industry players.

Among the issues tackled were the labor dispute be-tween union workers and the management of tuna firm Citra Mina, labor contractualization, and the impending implemen-tation of the proposed rules and regulations governing the working and living conditions in the fishing industry.

Domingo said the EU del-egation led by its GSP unit’s deputy head, Nikos Zaimis, stressed the need for continu-ing dialogues to address the pending labor issues within the industry.

“That’s what we’ve been doing right with the Citra Mina issue. There are ongoing talks under our single-entry ap-

proach to resolve the matter,” she said.

DOLE is currently crafting a proposed joint department order to lay down the govern-ment’s labor-related policies, programs and other interven-tions concerning fishing com-panies.

Domingo said the joint department order specifically sets the “rules and regulations governing the employment and working conditions of fishers employed in fishing vessels engaged in commer-cial fishing operation.”

“It aims to harmonize laws and regulations in giving de-cent work to fishermen and ease doing business with the fishing industry,” she said.

The city, which is home to six of the country’s tuna can-neries, is dubbed the “Tuna Capital of the Philippines.”

The industry generates annual export receipts of around US$ 350 million and directly employs about 20,000 workers. (MindaNews)

dards Applicable to Profes-sional Practice and Thematic 3 – Ethical Governance and Quality Principles,” Mascariñas said.

For information on reg-

istration, Certified Public Ac-countants may contact the PICPA-Davao Office and con-tact Liza or Inah at Telephone no. (082) 221-2300 or (082) 305-6081.

at Lola are among the pro-grams that the IBA handle. Its program Barangayan, on the other hand, brings government services like medical and legal ser-vices closer to the people. (IJLagare-Gensan CPIO/DEDoguiles-PIA12)

Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Transportation

and CommunicationLAND TRANSPORTATION

FRANCHISING AND REGULATORY BOARDRegional Office No. XI

Davao City

Petition for Approval of Sale and Transfer of a Certificate of Public Convenience to operate a PUJ-Dual Ordinary Regular Service

Case No.2015-XI-00939 (2011-XI-00650)

ERMELINDA P. ORILLANEDA,Petitioner-Vendee

x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - --x

NOTICE OF HEARING

Petitioners request au-thority for the Approval of Sale and Transfer executed by ER-MELINDA P. ORILLANEDA in favor of MEJARIE T. ALMANON of a Certificate of Public Conve-nience with Equipment issued in this case authorizing the op-eration of a PUJ DUAL Ordinary Regular service on the route ELENITA HEIGHTS VIA MINT-AL and for cargoes as dual service from said route to any point in Region XI with the use of ONE (1) unit, which Certifi-cate is still valid and subsisting to April 24, 2017.

NOTICE, is hereby giv-en that this petition will be heard by this Board on NO-VEMBER 4, 2015 at 09:30 a.m. at this office at the above address.

At least, TEN (10) days pri-or to the above date petitioner shall publish this Notice once in a one (1) daily newspaper of general circulation in Mind-anao

Parties opposed to the granting of the petition must file their written opposition supported by documentary ev-idence on or before the above date furnishing a copy of the same to the petitioner, and may if they so, desire appear on said date and time.

This petition will be acted upon by this Board on the ba-sis of its records and the doc-umentary evidence submitted by the parties, unless the Board deems it necessary to receive additional documentary and/or oral evidence.

WITNESS the Honorable BENJAMIN A. GO, CESO V, Re-gional Director, this 9th day of October 2015 at Davao City.

TERESITA DELA PEÑA-YÑIGUEZ

Chief Transportation Development Officer

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015 13EDGEDAVAO

COMPETITIVE EDGE

ALL ABOUT MICE. Meetings, Incentives Travel, Conventions, Events/Exhibits (MICE) Let’s Meet in Davao program handlers ink an agreement with partner airlines for special discounts and low fare rates for conventions and events happening in Davao. In photo are MICE Davao Execom chair Kennedy Kapulong and AirAsia Zest Head of Commercial Gerard F. Penaflor as they sign a Memorandum of Agreement during the opening of the ATOP National Convention last October 1. Davao City, the most urbanized city in Mindanao, has established itself as a MICE Destination in the

Philippines with its ready facilities, stable peace and order and strong private and public sector partnerships. Aside from airline partners, the dining/restaurant, wellness and spa, and shopping sectors of the city have been tapped to give special rates and discounts for convention and event participants during their stay in Davao. The MICE Execom is composed of private and public tourism sector representatives pushing for Davao as the MICE destination for event organizers, corporations, associations, and companies to hold their activities in the city. 

IN support of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council

(NDRRMC), Globe Telecom transmitted text messages warning customers of po-tential danger coming from Typhoon Lando. Only cus-tomers in areas affected by the typhoon were given the message.

The move is also in com-pliance with the Free Mobile Disaster Alerts Act or Repub-lic Act 10639, which requires all telecommunication ser-vice providers to send free mobile alerts before disasters such as typhoon happen.

“As mandated by law,

Globe is privileged to be a conduit of useful information beneficial in ensuring the safety and security of peo-ple. We hope that through dissemination of timely and relevant alerts, Globe is able to assist and contribute to the government’s objective of minimizing casualties,” Globe Senior Vice President for Cor-porate Communications Yoly Crisanto said.

The mobile alerts include critical information that af-fected communities can use to prepare for and respond to disasters. The disaster alerts sent by Globe through SMS messaging were directed to

customers in Aurora, Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Ecija, Nue-va Viscaya, Ifugao, Northern Quezon, Polilio Island.

Crisanto said Globe is also closely coordinating with NDRRMC for the im-mediate restoration of tele-communication services in areas affected by Typhoon Lando. Outages were caused mainly by power outages while strong winds brought by the typhoon also caused transmission issues. Out-ages were monitored in the provinces of Aurora, Benguet, Ifugao, Isabela, Kalinga, La Union, Mountain Province, Nueva Ecija, Quirino, Tarlac

and Zambales.Ongoing restoration ef-

forts are currently being focused in areas in Aurora, Quirino, Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Pampanga and other areas where storm signals have been downgraded.

Crisanto also said prepa-rations to assist residents in affected communities with their communication require-ments are ongoing. A Globe Libreng Charging service is now available in Quezon St, Barangay Suklayin in Baler, Aurora. Relief operations in certain areas in Aurora, Nue-va Ecija and Tarlac are also being considered.

PLDT HOME Fibr is introducing the country’s first

ever Gigabyte plan and the groundbreaking symmetrical speed fea-ture that entitles users to equal upload and down-load speeds.

PLDT HOME Fibr runs on fiber-optic tech-nology that is touted as the world standard for broadband, making it capable to deliver the country’s fastest plan. PLDT’s most robust and widest reach of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) facility spans to 100,000 kilome-ters nationwide enabling it to provide the digital lifestyle needs of Filipino homes.

Earlier this year, PLDT HOME Fibr also upgraded the speeds of all its plans from a min-imum speed of 8 Mbps to 20 Mbps, all the way up to the 100 Mbps plan which was boosted to 200 Mbps.

PLDT HOME VP and HOME Marketing Di-rector Gary Dujali said, “These massive speed boosts and the new sym-metrical speeds com-bined with our unparal-leled offers let our sub-scribers experience the ultimate digital lifestyle at the comforts of their home. As the country’s most powerful broad-

band, PLDT HOME Fibr stands firm on its com-mitment to provide to-pnotch services for its consumers, reinforcing the strongest connec-tions at home,”

The introduction of these game-changing ser-vices from PLDT HOME Fibr come at the heels of recent partnerships with global content providers; South East Asia’s biggest internet TV provider iflix and the region’s biggest broadcaster Fox Inter-national Channels (Fox), the country’s number one pay TV provider Cig-nal TV and the country’s award-winning music portal Spinnr. Access to all the world-class multi-media content from these partners come free with any Fibr subscription.

PLDT HOME Fibr de-livers powerful Internet speed of up to 1Gbps, allowing high-speed browsing of multiple websites, access to over 100 Cignal Digital TV channels and the coun-try’s first symmetrical speed service. With plans starting at P1, 899, Fibr is now available in over 1,600 Fibr-powered villages nationwide in-cluding Valle Verde 1-6, Forbes Park, Dasmari-nas Village and Ayala Alabang Village, among others.

SMART Communica-tions is one of only three finalists for

Best Mobile Operator at the World Communication Awards (WCA), an inter-national recognition pro-gram for innovation and outstanding performance in the telecommunications industry.

Smart is competing against Middle Eastern op-erator Ooredoo and Aus-tralian company Telstra in the invitation-only category. Smart was last year’s win-ner in the said category.

The Philippine operator is also in the running for Best Operator in an Emerg-ing Market, against the likes

of Orange and Ooredoo Myanmar.

Smart’s president and chief executive officer Na-poleon L. Nazareno was shortlisted for CEO of the Year, along with Timotheus Hoettges of Deutsche Tele-kom, Johan Dennelind of TeliaSonera, and nine oth-er finalists. Nazareno is the only CEO from Southeast Asia who made it to the final list of contenders.

The Smart Wireless Engi-neering Education Program (SWEEP) was named finalist for the WCA’s Social Contri-bution Award. Under this program, Smart partners with colleges and universi-ties to improve engineering

and Information Technology education in the Philippines, and to help schools produce industry-ready graduates or future technology entrepre-neurs.

Meanwhile, the Power-App service developed by Voyager Innovations, the digital innovations arm of PLDT and Smart, is in the running for the Innovation Award. PowerApp is a mo-bile application that dis-penses affordable bite-size mobile data access, enabling subscribers to pay only for the services that are rele-vant to them.

The WCA is organized annually by London-based industry publication Total

Telecom. Winners will be named during an awarding ceremony to be held in Lon-don on December 1.

Smart and fellow PLDT wireless unit Sun Cellular had 68.9 million subscribers by the end of the first half of 2015. The PLDT Group esti-mates capital expenditures to hit a record P43 billion this year, with allocations for network initiatives that will further strengthen the group’s capabilities of grow-ing its digital services.

Smart is offering a wide and growing array of music, video, and other digital con-tent and services to enable its subscribers to live the “Smart Life.”

Globe transmits disaster SMSalerts in support of NDRRMC

PLDT launches 1 Gbpsspeed broadband plan

Smart among world’s best mobile operators

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015

and his suc-cessor, Gen.

A r t h u r MacAr-

thur, Jr. In 1908 he became exec-utive secretary of the Philippine Commission, and he replaced Gen. John J Pershing as Moro Province governor, the first civil-ian and last American, on Dec. 15, 1913.

Douglas MacArthur, a US Army chief of staff during the 1930s, is widely honored as a

war hero. He earned the Med-al of Honor for his military service in the country, mak-ing him and his father Ar-thur, Jr., the first father and son to receive the medal. He was one of five men to earn the rank of General of the Army, and the only

man to become Philippine Army field marshal. A highway

that stretches from Gov. Generoso Bridge up to Bangkal, has been named in his honor.

Edward Robert C. Bolton, Davao’s first quasi-civil governor, was sent to the Philippines as part of the fabled 17th Infantry. His be-came civil governor under Act No. 787 due to his war exploits and military leadership. On June 6, 1906, he was by hacked to death by a Kulaman Manobo chief. In his memory, a small river near Mt. Halcon, in Oriental Mindoro, and a street (which has since been changed to Ponciano Bangoy Street) and a bridge were named in his honor.

Another American, Thomas Clifford, the ‘liberator of Davao’, is also recognized. He won his

Star Award in the New Guinea campaign in 1944 and his first Distinguished Service Cross and other medals in the famous Leyte battle. He was sent to Mindanao to reinforce the liberation of Min-danao but died in combat on June 24, 1945, during the mopping-up operations near Tamogan, Cali-nan, Davao City. He was honored locally with a town plaza and a theater.

(There is also a place known among old timers as Washing-ton, at the Bonifacio Monument junction of Recto and Pichon Sr. streets. It is not named after the first American president, but re-fers to an area near the old Davao River bank where local residents used to wash their clothes.)

14

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EDGEDAVAO

CULTURE & ARTSHISTORY OF DAVAOEsteemed colonists in city streets (10th of a Series)

BY ANTONIO FIGUEROA

HONORING colonizers in urban streets is not unique to Davao. In fact,

from the north to the south of the archipelago, familiar names we often meet in history books create nostalgia, and they are honored by different people for various reasons.

In fact, the streets of Davao used to host to the names of five Spanish conquistadors (Hernan Cortez, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, Fernando Magallanes, Simon de Anda, and Jose Oyanguren) and two governors-general (Simon de Anda and Narciso Claveria).

Hernan (Hernando) Cortes, conqueror of Mexico (1518-20), is known for bringing down the Aztec Empire (Peru) in 1521. Though not involved in the con-quest of the Philippines, he is honored with a few landmarks (i.e., a Bohol town and a street in Mandaue City) for his role in the Galleon Trade, the first intercon-tinental commercial link between Manila and Mexico. (Cortes Street was originally named after a cer-tain Escario but has since been shortened in length.)

Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, who founded Cebu in 1565, was the first Governor-General of Spanish East Indies, a territory that included the Philippines, Guam and the Marianas Islands. In 1571, he made Manila the Spanish East Indies. (The street named in his honor has been changed to Pantaleon Pelayo Sr. Street.)

On the other hand, Fer-nando Magallanes (Ferdinand Magellan), a former Portuguese navigator who transferred his loyalty to Spain, rediscovered Is-las de Filipinas in 1521. He led an expedition that failed after local hero Lapulapu killed him and sev-

eral of his soldiers in the Battle of Mactan. (The street in his honor has been renamed to Antonio Pichon Street.)

Jose Oyanguren (whose street was lat-er replaced to Ramon Magsaysay Street) is the last Spanish conquistador and is the ‘conqueror of Davao.’ He died in Davao and his remains buried in a local graveyard. Meanwhile, Simon de Anda, a judge in the Real Audien-cia of Manila, was lieutenant-gover-nor of Manila during the 1672 British Occupation; he established his base at Ba-color, Pampanga after governor and captain-general Archbishop Manuel Rojo, was captured. (The street named in his honor has since been changed to Feliciano Iñigo Street.)

Meanwhile, Narciso Clave-ria, the first Count of Manila, was the Spanish governor-general (1844-50) of the Philippines, when the infamous burning of trading vessel San Rufo took place in Davao Gulf, which sparked the conquest of Davao chieftain Datu Bago. He is best known for issuing the Catálogo alfabético de apelli-dos, a reference book of surnames for the Filipinos. (The street honoring him has since been re-named to C.M. Recto Street.)

The American colonists, too, have their share of recognition in city streets, including two gov-ernors. Frank W. Carpenter, a US Army personnel, was the former secretary of Maj. Gen. Elwell Otis, the country’s military governor,

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015 15

TAGUM Cooperative (TC) is assisting in the con-struction of a livelihood

center for persons with dis-abilities (PWDs) in Davao del Norte.

The cooperative ranks among the donors and part-ners of DavNor PWD Associa-tion in building the Livelihood Production Center for PWDs at Purok Baluno, Barangay San Isidro this city, in line with its thrust to continue reaching out to the marginalized sector of society.

TC officials led by TC Board of Directors (BOD) vice chair Monica Salido and gener-al manager Juris Perez joined the groundbreaking ceremony on October 06, 2015 attended by Davao del Norte and Tagum City local officials, national line agencies, and private entities.

Salido said the cooperative has initially donated P60,000 for the building of the liveli-hood center, adding that the gesture is part of its giving im-portance to PWDs.

“Ang Tagum Coop adunay dako nga kasingkasing alang sa mga PWDs. (Tagum Coopera-tive has a big heart for PWDs),” she said.

She recalled the cooper-ative extended its gift-giving spree to PWDs in Visayan Vil-lage during the 2014 Christ-mas season.

On top of this, Tagum Co-operative launched in August 2015 the “PWD—Asenso sa Negosyo” program designed to upgrade the livelihood skills of PWDs for them to earn a more substantial income.

Under this livelihood pro-gram, 10 PWDs were chosen to undergo a series of five-day training on management of mi-cro enterprises. Tagum Coop-erative granted them P5,000 each as start-up capital.

The Cooperative now has the capacity to spread its ser-vices beyond the sphere of its members, towards community folks needing utmost assis-tance, Salido bared.

Tagum Cooperative was recently bestowed the 1st Gal-ing Pook Mamamayani Award which recognizes the note-worthy community services of civic and non-government or-ganizations. The award was re-ceived by Chairperson Norma R. Pereyras last September 1 at SMX Convention Center, Pasay City. (TC Info Service)

SEARCH FOR EXCELLENCE. Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 12 regional director Bai Zorahaida T. Taha, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) 12 regional director Reynaldo M. Bungbung,

CESO IV, and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) 12 regional director Minda Cardos-Morante pose with representatives of Gawad Kalasag winning barangays, municipalities, and provinces at the Green Leaf Hotel in General Santos City.

Tagum Coop assistsPWDs in Davao Norte

IN all professional disci-plines, upholding account-ing ethical standards is

imperative. Investors and busi-ness leaders rely on accoun-tants for integrity and accuracy of financial information.

In the pursuit of attaining highest ethical standards in the Accounting practice, the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA)-Davao Chapter in coordination with the PICPA National Office will be holding an ethical stan-dards seminar.

The seminar, dubbed

“Seminar / Workshop on Vol-untary Quality Assurance Re-view (QAR) Program – Module for Practitioner,” will be held on October 26 and 27, 2015 at the PICPA House, Araullo Street, Davao City.

Local chapter president Jonas Mascariñas made this announcement during the or-ganization’s September Board of Directors’ meeting.

“By participating, Accoun-tants may earn 8 units each of Continuing Professional Devel-opment of Thematic 2 – Stan-

PICPA Davao Chapter holdsethical standards seminar

FPICPA, 12

EDGEDAVAO

COMMUNITY SENSE

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015

GENERAL SANTOS CITY MARKETING OFFICEEDMUND D. RENDONMarketing Specialist

Mobile: (Smart) 0909-424-7990

DAVAO CITY MAIN OFFICEJOCELYN S. PANES

Director of SalesDoor 14 ALCREJ Bldg.,

Quirino Ave., Davao CityTel: (082) 224-1413

Telefax: (082) 221-3601

MANILA MARKETING OFFICEANGELICA R. GARCIA

Marketing Manager97-1 Bayanbayanan Ave.,

Marikina Heights, Marikina City Tel: (02) 654-3509

16 EDGEDAVAOCLASSIFIED

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015 NEWS17EDGEDAVAO

UNNAMED FALLS. This waterfall in Iligan City is without a name yet, and a few meters above this is yet another still unnamed waterfall. A short distance downstream is Abaga Falls, sometimes known as Dodiongan Falls,

which is the more famous one. Trekkers like these guys, who visited this remote place Wednesday, have been discovering more and more cascades in The City of Waterfalls. MindaNews photo by Bobby Timonera

ENVIRONMENT groups and representatives from government

agencies and agri-business plantations will gather for a policy forum this October 27, 2015 at the Matina Episco-pal Mission Center in Davao City to discuss guidelines in adopting climate-mitigation standards in agri-plantations in Mindanao.

“The current state of cultivated slopes in Min-danao has degraded with the unbridled expansion of plantation crops. With global warming and the ex-treme weather patterns that it brings, this situation may worsen because plantations are also vulnerable to cli-mate change,” said Interface Development Interventions (IDIS) executive director Ann Fuertes.

IDIS, Davao City Water-shed Management Council (WMC), and the Davao City Water District (DCWD) are hosting the forum together with the Relief Internation-al- Enterprise Works World-wide, Phils (RI-EWWP), a Cagayan de Oro-based envi-ronment consultancy group.

“This forum is convened as a platform for advocating Climate Change-adaptive and sustainable agricultural practices as an island-wide strategy to resist the impacts

of abnormal climate patterns that have spawned profound consequences on agricultur-al productivity, energy sup-ply and human security,” said RI-EWWP Senior Consultant Raoul T. Geollegue.

In 2011, the Environ-mental Management Bureau had issued a memorandum circular mandating the inclu-sion of climate-proofing pro-visions in the Philippine Envi-ronmental Impact Statement (EIS) System. Memo Circular 2011-005 requires project proponents to climate proof their projects by adapting mitigating measures against climate change in their proj-ect operations and working environment.

“This forum is a culmi-nation of a long process of discussions and meetings be-tween government agencies, civil society groups, plan-tation industry stakehold-ers to come up with a set of guidelines for screening and evaluating climate-change adaptive and sustainable ag-ricultural practices in pine-apple plantations to augment the implementation of Memo Circular 2011-005 in Region 10,” said Geollegue.

Fuertes said that the forum organizers are hope-ful that these supplemental guidelines will become in-dispensable as a regulatory

Climate-proofing Mindanao plantationstool for EMB frontline offi-cers, multipartite monitoring teams, EIA review members and especially project propo-nents of development proj-ects.

“We hope that these

guidelines also become a starting point that can be enhanced further by oth-er stakeholders, especially those coming from the Davao region, so that it becomes relevant and applicable for

widespread use,“ she said.Around 60 participants

are expected to attend the forum. These include EMB officials from Regions 10, 11, 12 and the ARMM; LGUS and LGAs; representatives from

the academe and research in-stitutions, plantation indus-try stakeholders and environ-ment civil society networks; selected regulatory and de-velopment agencies; and the local media. (IDIS/PR)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 201518 EDGEDAVAOSports

THE ASEAN invasion officially begins on October 29 and as

fate would have it, Davao City will have a team to call its very own.

Make way for the Pac-quiao Powervit Pilipinas Aguilas who will be mak-ing Davao City as its own lair when it sets sail in the new ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) season.

The Pacquiao-Powervit Pilipinas Aguilas will be the lone Philippine repre-sentative in the Asean Bas-ketball League (ABL) with

a team to be backstopped by former PBA best import AZ Reid.

The Aguilas, co-owned by boxing superstar Man-ny Pacquiao and the Pilipi-nas Legends group led by Dick Balajadia and which also includes MX3, will be playing nine home games in Davao City and one in General Santos City and will be debuting on Octo-ber 29 at the University of Southeastern Philippine (USEP) Gym in Davao City against the Bangkok Mono Vampires.

T h e league is set to unfurl on October 26 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Aguilas will be coached by former PBA star Zaldy Realubit with Reid and former Univer-sity of the East big man Charles Mammie as im-ports.

The locals will be led by two-time PBA MVP Wil-lie Miller, Ali Austria, Nico Elorde, Adrian Salada, Car-

lo Sharma, and Fil-Am Jeremy King. The team will also parade for-mer Davao Eagle Jondan Salvador and Davao-born Sun-day Salvacion of the Rizal Memorial Colleges.

Team consultant and spokesman Randy Caluag said the Aguilas will be a team to contend with in the ABL. The Aguilas de-feated the Saigon Heat in a pre-season game on Wednesday.

HOME TEAMAll set for Oct. 29 Aguilas home game vs. Bangkok Mono Vampires

IMPORT. Two-time PBA Best Import awardee

Arizona Reed will lead the Aguilas in the ABL’s

new season which begins in Thailand on

October 26. The first home game will be on

October 29 in Davao City.

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 2015 19SPORTSEDGEDAVAO

STARS FALL THE Rain or Shine Elasto Painters used a scintil-lating fourth quarter to

down the Star Hotshots, 96-87, on the opening day of the PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.

The Elasto Painters big men delivered in this victory. Beau Belga finished with 11 points, eight of which came in the pivotal fourth quarter.

Raymond Almazan was also stellar all game long, do-ing the dirty work on defense while providing highlight put-back jams for nine points and nine rebounds.

Rain or Shine needed to climb back from 12 points down to get the win, with an explosive fourth quarter led by its bigs making up for the

team’s sluggish play for the first three quarters.

Behind the rejuvenated play of James Yap who finished with 13 points at the half, Star got off to a nice start and was able to create an early 25-14 lead in the opening quarter.

The Hotshots remained in control and padded their cush-ion to 12 points. Rain or Shine was able to stay close and keep themselves just within three, 27-24, but Star quickly recov-ered and maintained their cushion.

Star kept its lead through-out the game but Rain or Shine kept on fighting, hang-ing tough. The Elasto Painters finally got a taste of the lead when JR Quinahan’s basket gave them a 71-70 edge at the

start of the final frame.Rain or Shine then zoomed

to an 86-79 lead after a rousing run highlighted by an Almazan and-one and a Belga triple with over three minutes remaining.

A dunk by Gabe Norwood and a hook shot by Belga pushed Rain or Shine’s lead, 92-81, and sealed the win.

Jericho Cruz top-scored for the Elasto Painters with 15 points and five rebounds as he did a fine job filling the void left by Paul Lee who is sidelined for two months due to a knee injury.

Yap, Alex Mallari and Mark Barroca each finished with 15 points for Star as its rookie coach Jason Webb fell short of notching the first win of his coaching career.

ROS pulls away late to nip Star on PBA opening day

TRISTAN Thompson agreed to a new contract Wednes-day with the Cleveland

Cavaliers, ending the most sig-nificant player holdout just days before last season’s NBA run-ners-up open the 2015-16 cam-paign.

The Cavaliers, sparked by superstar LeBron James, agreed to a five-year deal worth $82 mil-lion for the 24-year-old Canadi-an power forward, according to multiple newspaper and televi-sion reports.

“It’s been a long summer of grinding and hard work but now it’s back to The Land to take

care of some unfinished busi-ness,” Thompson tweeted with the hashtags HappyToBeBack and ALLin, the latter being the Cavaliers’ catch phrase during last season’s drive to the Eastern Conference crown.

James had said signing Thompson to a long-term con-tract was a key priority of the team and the Cavaliers came through just six days ahead of the team’s opener against Chicago.

Thompson had been a starter for every game over two seasons until James arrived last season and brought a whirlwind of changes, including forward

Kevin Love and big man Timofey Mozgov. But after starting only 15 regular-season games, Thomp-son made 15 starts in the playoffs and played a vital role when Love went down with an injury.

The Cavaliers, as a result, will likely have the NBA’s highest pay-roll when the season begins next week at around $115 million.

Thompson rejected a con-tract extension for four years at just over $50 million before last season to test his value as a free agent, but his work through the season made him too valuable for a title-hungry club such as the Cavaliers to let escape.

TAB Baldwin welcomed the availability of what he be-lieves is the best available

talent for Gilas Pilipinas given the quality of competition awaiting the national team in next year’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Now if he can only have nat-uralized player Andray Blatche and potential national team play-er Jordan Clarkson with the team.

Unfortunately, the Gilas mentor could only talk about the case of Blatche at the moment as Clarkson’s situation remains hanging in the balance.

“We don’t know the status of Jordan’s inclusion. But we expect Andray to be there. We expect him to continue become a part of the program,” said Baldwin prior to the start of the PBA 41st sea-

son opening ceremony.“Jordan is still up in the air as

far as I know.”Baldwin was in the US for a

well-deserved rest when the PBA board relented to the request of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pil-ipinas (SBP) to make 17 players available to the Gilas national pool from which the 12-man ros-ter for next year’s Olympic quali-fier will be culled.

The 57-year-old Ameri-can-New Zealander appreciated the gesture of the league board, stressing the team will need the best talent it can have especially playing against some of the best basketball squads in the world.

“It’s the toughest tourna-ment that can ever be assembled because it has so few teams, so

few games. And the opportuni-ties to progress, you have to be at your best right from the start,” he said.

“If we do another Palestine, we’ll be out,” added Baldwin, referring to Gilas stunning 77-75 loss to Palestine to start its campaign in the recent Fiba-Asia Men’s Championship. “We have to avoid that, we have to be at our best from the start.”

Ranged against the best in the world during last year’s Fiba World Cup, Gilas proved it can be at par with basketball powers from Croatia, Greece, Argentina, and Puerto Rico by playing com-petitive against them.

But Baldwin said the Filipi-nos need to be more than just competitive this time.

FADEAWAY. Alex Mallari of Star Hotshots takes a jumper over the outstretched arms of Raymond Almazan of Rain Or Shine. PBA Images

VOLLEYBABES. Volleyball stars Rachel Anne Daquis and Alexa Micek are this year’s muses for San Miguel Beermen. PBA Images

GROUFIE. Asi Taulava leads the groufie shot for the Gilas 3 squad.

Thompson renews with Cavs

Gilas coach hopes Blatche, Clarkson will be on board

THE Mindanao Qualifying Leg of this year’s Batang Pinoy Games gets going

on Saturday in Koronadal City, South Cotabato.

“We’re now ready for it with 900 athletes as of today,” said project director Atty. Jay Alano of the organizing Phil-ippine Sports Commission (PSC).

The delegates from the different cities, provinces and municipalities of Mindanao have started to in Koronadal City since Monday.

“Security is good. They have covered all the billeting areas already and also the reg-istration center at Koronadal gym,” Alano said.

PSC Commission-er-in-charge Atty. Jose Luis Gomez is the keynote speak-er in the opening program on October 24 at 4:30 p.m. at the South Cotabato Sports Com-plex.

Koronadal City Mayor Pe-

dro Miguel will make the wel-come address while Romeo Magat of the Philippine Olym-pic Committee and Dr. Allan Farmazo of the Department of Education Region 12 will give their inspirational messages.

Two top athletes from Koronadal Kenneth Durem-des, a former PBA super-star, and Henry Dagmil, an ex-member of the national athletic team, will both make the lighting of the urn.

Also expected to attend are government officials from 50 participating local govern-ment units. Among them are Zamboanga City Mayor Beng Climaco and Malita Vice May-or Bradley Bautista.

A refresher’s course for all referees, judges, coaches and team managers will be con-ducted on October 23. There is also a solidarity meeting on October 24 at 10 a.m. at the Purok Villegas Covered Gym.

The winners will advance

to the National Finals set on November 27 to December 2 in Cebu City.

Batang Pinoy is an open tournament for children 15 years old and below that also serves as recruitment baser for sports specialization in-cluding training for other high level leagues, national tourna-ments and international com-petitions.

Among the games to be played in Koronadal are ath-letics, arnis, boxing, basketball, badminton, billiards, baseball, softball, sepak takraw, volley-ball, taekwondo, wrestling, wushu, table tennis and swim-ming.

Weightlifting, cheerlead-ing, handball, rugby football, triathlon, pencak silat and beach volleyball will all be played already in the National Finals in Cebu while gymnas-tics will only be played at the Rizal Memorial gymnasium in Manila. (PNA)

All set for BPinoy Minda Finals in Koronadal

VOL. 8 ISSUE 147 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 24, 201520 EDGEDAVAO