Edge Davao 8 Issue 181

P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 8 ISSUE 181 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015

RODY TO DCWD: PAY TAXES

Dabawenyo legless swimmer breaks ASEAN record, books ticket to 2016 Rio ParalympicsBY NEILWIN JOSEPH BRAVO

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO [email protected]

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

DAVAO City Mayor Rodri-go R. Duterte asked the Davao City Water Dis-

trict (DCWD) to pay its dues to the Bureau of Internal Rev-enue (BIR).

The mayor made his call

in his speech during the open-ing program of Pasko Fiesta sa Dabaw last Friday.

Duterte said an official from BIR 11 went to him on the afternoon of Friday after the Regional Peace and Order

Council (RPOC) meeting at the Grand Men Seng Hotel.

“Kung mag negosyo ka even if it is government mo bayad ka gyud, kumikita ka niyan (If you are into business even if it is with government

you need to pay it because you earn from it),” he said.

He said the DCWD has a total payable of P300 million to the BIR.

“Bakit pa natin guluhin,

ERNIE Gawilan, Davao’s legless swim-ming sensation, accomplished his Olympic dream on Sunday at

the 8th Asean Para Games in Singa-pore when he clocked a new meet record of 4 minutes 48.49 seconds in the men’s 400-meter freestyle S8 event.

The 23-year old Ernie Gawilan, who was born with underdeveloped extremities and or-phaned at an early age, won the gold medal in spectacu-lar fashion chopping off over four minutes

Poe respects SWS survey showing wide Duterte lead P3

INSIDE EDGE

FRODY, 14 FDABAWENYO, 14

OLYMPICS-BOUND. This videograb shows Ernie Gawilan of Davao City, representing Team Philippines, pumps his first after ruling the men’s 400-meter freestyle S8 event in the 8th Asean Para Games in a new meet record that made him eligible to swim in the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Jaineiro, Brazil. From Youtube

VOL. 8 ISSUE 181 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 20152 EDGEDAVAO

NEWS

THE Davao City Coun-cil yesterday approved on second reading an

amendment to the city’s Wa-tershed Code, paving the way for the construction of the bulk water facility of Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc. (APO Agua) to supply water to the city.

In yesterday’s regular ses-sion, the Council approved the ordinance amending Article 9 paragraphs A and X of the Watershed Protection, Con-

servation and Management Ordinance.

The Watershed Code pro-hibits the construction of any structure in conservation ar-eas. The amendment, howev-er, allows the City Council to approve such constructions as long as they are beneficial to the watershed areas.

The amendment was ap-proved on second reading under the committee on rules, privileges, laws and ordinanc-

es under councilor Bernard Al-ag.

APO Agua is a joint ven-ture agreement between Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) and J.V. Angeles Construction Corporation (JVACC) in Ta-mugan river, which is listed as a conservation area.

In its report, the commit-tee said the rapid develop-ment and rising population of the city necessitates a bigger supply of water.

“Problems are being an-ticipated because of over ex-traction and the insufficient water supply of the city,” the report said.

The report also said there is a need to ensure the long-term security of the city’s wa-ter supply.

In an interview after the deliberation, AboitizPower First Vice President Manuel Orig said with the amend-

THE petition to declare Martin Diño, former presidential candidate

of the PDP-Laban as nuisance candidate has been junked by the Commission on Elec-tion (Comelec) for being moot and academic since he already withdrew his Certifi-cate of Candidacy (CoC).

“With the foregoing de-velopment, the relief prayed for in the present petition has become moot and academic, that is, whatever judgment is reached can no longer have any practical legal effect or, in the nature of things, can no longer be enforced,” said the Comelec Second Division in a five-page decision.

Earlier, the Comelec Law

Department filed a moth proprio petition to Declare a Candidate as a Nuisance Can-didate against Dino.

The December 4 ruling added, “Wherefore, premis-es considered, the petition to declare Martin Dino as a nuisance candidate is here-by dismissed for being moot and academic.”

But, the Comelec Second Division noted that the deci-sion is without prejudice to questions on whether Dino’s CoC was validly filed last Oc-tober 16.

“(This is) without prej-udice to any future ruling on the validity of the said COC – formal or substantial

THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has raised a Red

Tide alert warning over sever-al coastal waters in six provinc-es in the Visayas and has pro-hibited the gathering, trading and consumption of shellfishes from these fishing grounds.

In its Shellfish Bulletin No. 34 issued last December 5, the BFAR said that based on the latest laboratory results, shell-fishes collected at Balite Bay in Mati, Davao Oriental; coast-al waters of Dauis in Bohol; coastal waters of Daram Island in Daram, Villareal, Maqueda, Irong-Irong and Cambatutay Bays in Western Samar; and Carigara Bay in Leyte are still

positive for paralytic shellfish poison that is beyond the reg-ulatory limit.

Also positive for red tide are the coastal waters of Pilar and Sapian Bays in Capiz; coastal waters of Al-tavas, Batan and Washington in Batan Bay, Aklan; coastal waters in Gigantes Islands in Carles, Iloilo; and the coastal waters Naval, Biliran Island Province.

In addition, the coastal waters of President Roxas in Capiz and the coastal waters of Leyte in Leyte are now pos-itive for red tide toxin.BFAR said that all types of shellfish and alamang gathered from

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER. A senior citizen writes her name on the attendance sheet before the start of the 14th Elderlympics held at the Annex of SM City Davao. Lean Daval Jr.

City Council paves way for bulk-water projectBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

[email protected]

Comelec junks petition to declare Diño as nuisance candidate

BFAR raises red tide alert over DavOr, 7 Visayas provinces

FCOMELEC, 14

FCITY, 14FBFAR, 14

GOV. RODOLFO DEL ROSARIO of Davao del Norte has withdrawn

from the mayoralty race in the Island Garden City of Sa-mal (IGaCoS).

This was learned from Serafin C. Ledesma Jr., con-fidant of both Governor del Rosario and former Rep. Antonio “Tonyboy” Floiren-do Jr.

“Upon doctor’s advice, RDR is bowing out of politics to undergo therapy,” Ledes-ma said in a text message to Edge Davao editor Antonio

M. Ajero.Del Rosario and Floiren-

do, also known as “TBF”, de-cided that the governor now in his early 80’s give way Vice Mayor Al David Uy.

The governor said that Al David Uy was his choice for vice mayor earlier but the latter decided to run for mayor.

IGaCoS will be in better hands of Al David, the gov-ernor was quoted as saying.

For his part, the young vice mayor he has always looked up to Governor del

Rosario and Congressman Tonyboy Floirendo as his mentors.

“I am humbled by his decision to choose me,” Uy, who is the grandson of for-mer Babak mayor David Uy, said “I will forever be grate-ful to these two political pil-lars who brought develop-ment and progress to Davao del Norte, most especially Samal Island.”

“To consolidate the de-velopment plans and efforts for Davao del Norte,” the vice mayor pledged all-out sup-

port for Rep. Anthony G. del Rosario for governor.

Rep. del Rosario, also known as AGR confirmed the withdrawal of his father from the mayoralty race in a text message to Edge Davao last night.

AGR is pitted against Vice Governor Victorio Suaybaguio.

The other candidate for IGaCos mayor is former mayor Rogelio P. Antalan, older brother of incumbent Mayor Aniano, who is run-ning for vice mayor. AMA

Del Rosario withdrawsfrom Samal mayor raceEndorses Vice Mayor Al David Uy

VOL. 8 ISSUE 181 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015 3EDGEDAVAO NEWS

SENATOR Grace Poe on Monday said she would respect and listen to the

voice of the people follow-ing a Social Weather Station (SWS) presidential survey she was dislodged by Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

”It is important that we listen and respect the sentiments of our country,” Poe told the media after de-livering speech during the National Convention of the Government Employees As-sociation of the Philippines

at the SMX Convention Cen-ter in Pasay City.

Poe said she is using sur-veys as guidance on how she will deliver the message and bring her platforms of gov-ernment to the people.

”All surveys can be used as guidance to deliver our message to the people. What important is that people will be assured of the govern-ment’s assistance,” Poe said.

Despite the new survey results and the Commission on Election (Comelec) Sec-

ond Division’s decision to disqualify her, Poe said she is not worried and “the fight will continue.”

”You know, if you are faint of heart, there is no place for you in this kind of battle. I will not give. I just have to be focus on my job,” Poe said.

Poe believed that the disqualification cases have affected her ranking in the surveys but “we will respect the law.”

Oil companies will im-plement a rollback on pump prices on Tues-

day.In separate advisories

Monday, Pilipinas Shell Pe-troleum Corp. (PSPC), Petron Corp., Phoenix Petroleum Philippines and Seaoil Phil-ippines Inc. said they will cut diesel prices by 50 centavos per liter and kerosene prices by 70 centavos per liter.

Petron and Seaoil will implement the price cuts at 12:01 a.m., Tuesday while Shell and Phoenix’s price roll-back will take effect at 6 a.m.

Eastern Petroleum Corp., on the other hand, said it will

slash diesel prices by 50 centa-vos per liter at 6 p.m., Monday.

Eastern Petroleum chair-man and chief executive officer Fernando Martinez said that analysts expect oil prices to fall further due to the loomed removal of the OPEC quota.

He added the “removal of the OPEC quota will leave the oil market in a more vulnera-ble position.”

On Monday, oil bench-marks fell as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) failed to agree on a target production output, mainly due to dis-agreements between Saudi Arabia and Iran. (PNA)

A TOTAL of 205 aspirants for national positions in the May 2016 polls have

been declared nuisance candi-dates by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

According to Comelec Chairman Juan Andres Bautis-ta, based on the decisions of the polls body’s First and Sec-ond Divisions, the moto pro-prio petitions filed by the Law Department against the Cer-tificates of Candidacy (CoCs) of 100 presidential, nine vice presidential and 96 senatorial aspirants have been granted.

However, he noted that these individuals may still file their respective motions for reconsideration, challenging the ruling of the Divisions be-fore the Commission en banc.

“They still have the chance to file a motion for reconsid-

eration with the Comelec en banc,” Bautista said in a press briefing.

Of the 130 CoCs submitted for president, 125 were filed petitions to be declared nui-sance candidates.

In the vice presidential post, 13 of the 19 aspirants were included in the petitions while 129 out of the 172 look-ing to run for senatorial seats also faced motu proprio peti-tions.

The poll body is set to come up with the final list of of-ficial candidates for next year’s elections by Dec. 15.

“I am asking the other members of the Commission to immediately decide on the cases since the deadline to come up with the final list of candidates is near,” the poll body chief said. (PNA)

WHAT are the top qualities of a pres-idential candidate

do Dabawenyos like most? What do they like the least, or hate the most?

Don’t look now, but a sur-vey of the Ateneo de Davao University conducted just last October 19 to 24, 2015 provides the answers to the above questions. The study, administered by the ADDU’s Social Research Training and Development Office (SRT-DO) with funding support from the University Research Council (URC), is the latest in a series of City Wide Social Surveys (CWSS).

The survey involved 630 adults in Davao City’s three congressional districts and 11 sub-districts interviewed face to face, with some questions shared by the prestigious Social Weather Stations (SWS) with the uni-versity.

Findings of the survey which covered more than a dozen issues were discussed by a team composed of Glen Depra, Dr. Christine S. Diaz, Ms Mildred M. Estanda and Ms Ma. Vanessa Amor E. So-brejuanite during a public research dissemination at

the Finster Auditorium on December 2.

In her welcome remarks, Ms Lourdesita S. Chan, URC chairperson, explained the rationale of the survey.

Personal traits they like When asked what per-

sonal qualities of a President do they prefer, 87.94 percent of the respondents said they like a President who is “sin-cere,” 79.05 percent said they want somebody who “treats people fairly,” 79.05 percent said “treats people equally,” 78.87 percent “has integrity,” 78.10 percent “has a deep concern for the poor and the oppressed,”

76.51 percent “can be easily approached by com-mon people,” 75.87 percent “benevolent,”

75.56 percent “credible,” 75.56 percent “has a sense of focus,” 73. 81 percent “has a clean reputation,” 71.27 per-cent “makes quick and sound decisions,” 69.68 percent “demonstrates outstanding professional record,” 63.02 percent “has a college de-gree,” 53.49 percent “has charisma,” 33.3 percent “has a pleasing personality,” 24.92 percent “belongs to a rich family,” 26.67 percent “con-

sistently seen in TV,” and 20. 95 percent “hugely popular.”

On the other hand, Dabawenyos surveyed also bared their “desired qualities of a President in terms of po-litical traits.”

The three top qualities that came out were “has a number of projects imple-mented” (87.78 percent), “strict and consistent in im-plementing laws” (87.14 per-cent) and “gender-sensitive” (86.51 percent).

The other traits men-tioned by the respondents were “tough in dealing with law violators” (83.81 per-cent), “supported a number of laws and ordinances” (73.33 percent), “present-ly assuming an incumbent position” (50.79 percent), “belongs to a political family or clan” (39.68 percent), “be-longs to respondent’s pre-ferred political party” (38.25 percent), and “endorsed by the outgoing Philippine pres-ident” (31.75 percent).

Without naming names, a presentor said that the sur-vey results suggest that it is not an asset for a presidential candidate to belong to a rich family and being endorsed by the outgoing President.

A TOTAL of 17 colorum vans and one bus were impounded by the Land

Transportation Office (LTO) 11 for operating in Davao City without franchise issued by the Land Transportation Fran-chise Board (LTFRB).

“Operators of each van will be paying P200,000 fines as penalty, while Davao del Norte Fighters, the operator of the bus, will be paying P1 million worth of fines,” LTO chief of operations Leonora Calderon told reporters during the

Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Annex.

Calderon said only two of the 17 van operators have been apprehended. “We’re still waiting for the owners of the other vans to present them-selves in our office this week,”

she said.

She said the negotiations with the drivers during their operations ran smoothly. “The drivers were cooperative with the authority,” she said.

[email protected] CHENEEN R. CAPON

ANTI-COLORUM DRIVE. Land Transportation Office (LTO) 11 operations chief Leonora Calderon (right) says the agency is currently focusing on the directive by Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte to apprehend colorum vehicles,

especially public utility vans. Calderon, together with City Tourism Office head Lisette Marques, graced yesterday’s Kapehan sa Dabaw at the Annex of SM City Davao. Lean Daval Jr.

17 colorum vans,1 bus impounded

Poe respects SWS survey with Duterte’s wide lead

205 aspirants declarednuisance candidates

Oil firms to cut pump prices anew today

Dabawenyos bare preferred presidential bets in survey

F17 COLORUM, 14

FPOE, 14

By ANTONIO M. AJERO


SUBURBIA

THE expanded edition of “Rido: Clan Feuding and Conflict Management

in Mindanao,” won the Na-tional Book Award for Social Sciences category in the 34th National Book Awards in cere-monies held Saturday night at the Old Senate Session Hall of the National Museum.

The National Book

Awards is given every year by the National Book Develop-ment Board (NDBD) and the Manila Critics Circle (MCC) to the best books written, de-signed, and published in the country.

“Rido,” edited by Wil-fredo Magno Torres III and published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press, was

IN answer to the plight of the indigenous people for higher education, a state

college in Panabo City will es-tablish an extension campus in Talaingod.

Davao del Norte State College (DNSC) Vice Presi-dent for Academic Affairs Dr. Marilou Junsay said the state college will open an exten-sion campus with first batch to start in June 2016 as per discussion with the munici-pality of Talaingod and Gov-ernor Rodolfo del Rosario.

Junsay said they have al-ready conducted visitation and study in the municipali-ty, which includes the identi-

fication of the location of the campus.

“But we still have to fi-nalize the area since we will have to create a campus de-velopment plan,” she said.

As to the courses that will be offered, Dr. Junsay said that they will start with Bachelor of Science in Com-munity Development.

“We anticipate that the said course will address the needs of the community, which will eventually ad-dress other areas of concerns that will be part of the curric-ulum,” she said.

Junsay said according to their survey, 50 residents

have already signified inter-est in enrolling in the course.

“But we expect that it will expand to 100; and they will be divided into two classes,” she said.

Junsay said packages of scholarship and students as-sistance will be offered to the enrollees.

“We know that there is an issue on finances so we will be generating student’s as-sistance from partner agen-cies to cover the tuition and other payments,” she said.

She added that since one of the issues raised is on the transportation, part of their

‘Rido’ wins National BookAward for Social Sciences

TAGUM City and New Corella were the big win-ners yesterday during

the Provincial Health Summit 2015 held at the Bulwagan ng Lalawigan.

Among the three com-ponent cities in the province, Tagum City emerged as the best local government unit in health service delivery based on the national scorecards on health.

Tagum got a grade of 13 indicators of 2016 National Objectives on Health (NOH), one indicator of 2006 National

Target and nine indicators be-low 2006 National Target.

Out of the 13 NOH, Tagum excelled on 10 indicators, which were Budget Allocat-ed to Health, Maintenance and Other Operating Expens-es Allocated to Health, Fully Immunized Child, Exclu-sive Breastfeeding up to six months, Facility Based Deliv-eries, Skilled Birth Attendants, Contraceptives, Community Health Teams, HIV AIDS Local Response, Access to Safe Water and Households with Sanitary Toilets.

Coming next to Tagum were Panabo City and Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS) respectively.

Meanwhile, New Corella edged out seven other munic-ipalities in the province in the delivery of health services.

New Corella obtained a grade of nine indicators of 2016 NOH, four indicators of 2006 National Target and ten indicators of below 2006 Na-tional Target.

Among the nine NOH, New Corella outshone on four indicators, which were Health

Expenditures, Diabetes Treat-ment, Tuberculosis Detection Rate, and Contraceptives.

Dujali and Carmen came in second and third to New Corel-la in the municipal category.

The national scorecards on health is rated based on achievement of the public health providers on 2016 NOH and 2006 national targets. Local government units who passed the 2016 NOH have high grades and those who fail the 2006 national targets got the lowest grade. (PIA11, Mi-chael Uy)

chosen along with winners in 27 other categories for books published in 2014.

The book contains cases studies from research find-ings on “rido” (clan conflict) by several Mindanawon schol-ars and scholars on Mindanao.

“The studies in this vol-ume dal with a type of violent conflict variously referred to as feuding, revenge killing, blood revenge, vendetta, in-tertribal war and clan con-flict,” Torres wrote in his In-troduction.

“Characterized by spo-radic outbursts of retaliatory violence between families and kinship groups as well as be-tween communities, this phe-nomenon frequently occurs in areas where government or a central authority is weak and in areas where there is a perceived lack of justice and security,” Torres, who is fin-ishing his PhD at George Ma-son University in the United States, said.

Torres’ sister, Ma. Teresa, accepted the award on his be-half.

The book’s first edition was published in 2007.

Dr. Steven Rood, Philip-pine Country Representative of The Asia Foundation wrote in his preface to the new edi-tion that “not only has the de-mand for the (first edition) ex-hausted our supply of books but considerable progress has been made in actually resolv-

ing cases of rido.” He said the expanded edition, which in-cludes a revised introduction and several additional chap-ters, “is meant to carry the story forward to the present.”

The book’s Part 1 features Jamail A. Kamlian’s “Survey of Feuding Families and Clans in Selected Provinces in Mindan-ao;” Abhoud Syed M. Lingga’s “Dynamics and Management of Rido in the Province of Maguindanao;” Moctar I. Mat-uan’s “Inventory of Existing Rido in Lanao del Sur (1994-2004);” “Management of Clan Conflict and Rido Among the Tausug, Magindanao, Maran-ao, Sama, and Yakan Tribes,” by Ofelia L. Durante, Norma T. Gomez, Ester O. Sevilla and Howard J. Manego; “Respons-es to Interkin Group Conflict in Northern Mindanao” by Er-linda Montillo-Burton, Moctar Matuan, Guimba Poingan and Jay Rey Alovera; “Understand-ing Inter-Ethnic Conflicts in North Cotabato and Bukid-non” by Guiamel Alim, Jose Bulao Jr., and Ismael G. Kulat; Monalinda Emperio Doro’s “Management and Resolution of Rido among Meranao in Baloi, Lanao del Norte; Case Studies;” Jose Jowel Canu-day’s “Big War, Small Wars; The Interplay of Larce-scale and Community Armed Con-flicts in Five Central Mindanao Communities;” “The Celebrat-ed Cases of Rido in Maguin-

Tagum, New Corella top health services delivery

CATCH A FISH. A man catches fish along the river in Barangay Camam-onan, Gigaquit town in Surigao del Norte. MindaNews photo by Roel N. Catoto

College campus to open in Talaingod in June ‘16

MORE than 18,000 housing units built for storm victims in

the hardest-hit towns of Bos-ton, Cateel and Baganga have already been turned over by Davao Oriental Governor Cora-zon Malanyaon to the residents who were affected by typhoon Pablo. Most of the new and decent houses are financed by the government, while the rest are funded by private and in-ternational donors.

The local government has made sure the new houses for storm victims are situated in much safer areas, far from disaster-prone places like in the coastlines. Malanyaon says they have already achieved 98

percent of their target to build 19,253 houses for the storm victims.

Davao Oriental’s march of progress faced a reversal of fortune in December 2012 as super typhoon Pablo cut a wide swathe of destruction so powerfully devastating it wiped out productive hect-ares from agriculture and destroyed the commerce of at least three municipalities. Thousands were driven from their homes and livelihoods, and thrown on the kindness of relatives and countrymen and on the solicitude of the state.

Instead of being paralyzed by the enormity of the calam-ity, the devastated people of Davao Oriental have sum-moned all their remaining strength to assist each other,

drawing inspiration from the courage and the selflessness of the many who helped their neighbors even as they lost their families.

Three years after Pablo, more than 18,000 new and de-cent permanent shelters built both by the government and generous private donors were already turned over to the typhoon victims. Livelihoods are returning as big-ticket in-vestments and infrastructure projects were built. Plentiful harvests are seen everywhere feeding entire communities and bringing much needed cash as residents continue to struggle to rebuild their lives.

Meanwhile, Davao Ori-

ental’s massive rehabilitation efforts have gained significant headway through the Davao Oriental’s Building Back Better Program—a term now adopt-ed by the national government in its rehabilitation efforts.

Being a consistent Gawad Kalasag awardee, however, Davao Oriental was being cited by the national government as a model for good practices on disaster risk reduction. Saying that every disaster is different and each one is a learning ex-perience, Governor Malanyaon wants her people to work dou-bly hard to refocus on the zero casualty target. To achieve zero casualties at the community level, the provincial govern-ment have put up early warn-ing system, a communication

Typhoon Pablo victimstriumph over adversity

FRIDO, 14

FCOLLEGE, 14

FTYPHOON, 14

Governor Corazon Malanyaon

VOL. 8 ISSUE 181 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015 5EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMY

‘TIS THE SEASON. A Maranao vendor displays Christmas decors for sale in Malaybalay City three weeks before the special day. MindaNews photo by H. Marcos C. Mordeno

More Indian tourists expected in DavaoTHE opening of the

Davao-Singapore route by a major local airline

is expected to bring in not just Singaporean tourists but Indian tourists as well.

“We are not only targeting Singaporean tourist but Indi-ans as well now that we have a direct flight to Singapore, an international hub,” Davao City tourism officer Lisette Marques said in yesterday’s Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Annex.

Marques said India has

been one of the biggest markets for tourism for Davao, and the direct flights will make it easier for them to visit because Sin-gapore has direct flights from Chennai, India.

“Many Indian students take their undergraduate courses as well as medicine here,” she said.

Many Indian students are studying medicine at the Davao Medical School Foundation (DMSF) and undergraduate courses in different colleges and universities like Broken-

shire Memorial College.Marques said Indian tour-

ists here have outnumbered Singaporean tourists in the past few years. The number of Indian tourist arrival here increased by 182 percent last year, giving India a huge leap from rank nine to rank six.

The top five tourists in Davao City are still South Kore-ans, Japanese, Chinese, Ameri-cans, and Australians.

Marques said aside from being an educational destina-

tion for education by Indians, Davao City is an eco-adventure destination for Singaporeans.

She said representatives from the Department of Tour-ism and from the private sec-tor had a chance to promote the region as a destination in a meeting with the business sec-tor and the media of Singapore last month.

For his part, DOT 11 region-al director Roberto Alabado III said more Singaporean tourists are expected to come to Davao

as the tourism agency positions the region as an eco-adventure destination.

“Most of the questions that arose during the presentation to the business tourism indus-try were the presence of bike and mountain trails as well as availability of fresh food and ag-riculture areas,” Alabado said.

The availability of Halal tourism-related establishments was also discussed during the presentation.

“Singapore is an interna-

tional hub. Some of the tourists there were from the Middle East,” he said.

Alabado said the opening of the Davao-Singapore route to be launched by a major bud-get airline here offers a big op-portunity to Davao’s tourism industry.

He also said some tour operators are considering cre-ating tour packages that will involve a three-day stay in Sin-gapore and a two-day stay in Davao.

[email protected] CHENEEN R. CAPON

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Davao Region is strength-

ening the skills of various busi-ness counselors and advisors assigned in Negosyo Centers in a bid to provide more rele-vant assistance to existing and would-be entrepreneurs in the region.

To achieve this, the agency recently conducted a five-day training on Comprehensive Small Business Consellors Course with experts from the University of the Philippines Institute of Small Scale Indus-tries (UPISSI) as the resource persons.

The week-long extensive

training was attended by 31 participants who are involved in running the Negosyo Cen-ters. Specifically, they are composed of DTI staff who are handling or directly involved in assisting the micro, small and medium enterprises; staff manning the Negosyo Centers; and Investment and Promo-tion Officers of local govern-ment units (LGUs).

DTI-Davao Regional Di-rector Maria Belenda Q. Ambi shared that the main objective of the course was really to en-hance the competence and effectiveness of the Negosyo Centers staff, whether DTI En-terprise Counselors or those

who are from the LGUs or ac-ademe, in providing manage-rial and technical assistance to their MSME clients.

She noted that it was deemed necessary as well in developing them, along with the other participants, into becoming well-rounded, con-fident and polished business counselors.

“This is one of the many strategies that DTI has been doing in order to fully equip our MSME counsellors as they get engaged with MSMEs who are in different stages of their business,” Ambi pointed out, while adding that provision of

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Region 12 launched on

Monday a new labor informa-tion and education initiative in partnership with local business establishments.

Ofelia Domingo, DOLE Region 12 director, said they signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the re-gion’s Industry Tripartite Coun-cils (ITC) to facilitate the show-ing of Labor and Employment Education Services (LEES) vid-eos in various establishments.

The signing of the agree-ment was among the highlights of the 2nd ITC Congress held on Monday at the KCC Mall Con-vention Center here.

The event, which focused on the theme: “Labor Educa-tion: Sustaining Productivity and Harmony in the Work-place,” was among the activities organized by DOLE-12 in cel-ebration of the agency’s 82nd anniversary.

Domingo said the ITCs mainly agreed to help the agen-cy expand the reach of its la-bor and employment services through the rollout of the LEES videos.

“They (LEES videos) will be played in malls, banks and other business establishments,” she said.

A project briefer said the new LEES initiative aims to “address the dynamic changes in labor relations, and the de-mands of the labor market and the economy as a whole, along with the limited number of

personnel delivering labor and employment education in nu-merous establishments.”

It is focused on increasing awareness and provide the public with proper knowledge on the rights and responsibil-ities of workers and employ-ers, work ethics, values, skills, among others.

“It also offers relevant in-formation that would enable them to become responsible partners in building harmo-nious labor-management re-lations and the attainment of decent and productive work, using appropriate and modern platforms,” Domingo said.

Through the modernized LEES, the official said the agen-cy adopted the use of commer-cial video clips as a strategy in marketing its programs and services as popularized by some businesses.

During the ITC congress, Domingo pushed for a review of the Voluntary Code of Good Practices of industries within the region’s four provinces and five cities.

She said the ITCs should also enhance and properly monitor the implementation and mainstreaming of the code’s provisions.

“This is to ensure that ef-ficiency and harmony will be sustained various work places,” she said.

The congress was joined by around 300 leaders and representatives from the man-agement and labor sector of the region’s ITCs. (PNA)

AMENDMENTS. AboitizPower First Vice President Manuel Orig reads some of the provisions amended in the Davao City Watershed Protection, Conservation and Management Ordinance while Davao City Water District

(DCWD) spokesperson Bernardo Delima and DCWD board member lawyer Charmalou Aldevera listen in yesterday’s regular City Council session. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

DOLE 12 links up with industrycouncils for labor education drive

DTI strengthens Negosyo Centers

FDTI, 14

IT’S still not a blackout-free week this week as the Davao Light and Power Co. (DLPC)

announced it will implement a maximum of 1.5 hour rotating blackouts in its franchise area due to unstable power supply in the Mindanao grid.

“We will be implement-ing rotating power blackouts until the power supply gets stable,”Rossano C. Luga, DLPC assistant vice president for reputation enhancement, said during the KapehansaDabaw

at SM City Annex.Luga said in a statement

that the National Grid Corpora-tion of the Philippines (NGCP) reduced the power supply al-location of Davao Light from 207MW, out of 273MW con-tracted supply to the National Power Corporation (NPC), to 176MW.

This was after the NGCP imposed a 100 MW Mindan-ao-wide deficiency affecting all electric distribution utili-ties in the island including the

DLPC around 9:30 a.m. yes-terday due to the emergency shutdown of one of the units of Agus HydroElectric power plant (HEP) and the current derated capacity of the Agus and Pulangi HEPs

To prevent total break-down of the Mindanao-grid, the NGCP will implement man-ual load dropping within the franchise once the demand for power exceeds with what is being supplied., he added. Hence, the implementation of

these rotating service disrup-tions.

Luga said the commis-sioning of the 150MW unit of Therma South Inc. (TSI) coal-fired power plant yesterday at 12:16 a.m. could have lifted the implementation of the rotating power interruption but the deficiency in the whole Min-danao grid opted DLPC to im-plement scheduled blackouts right away.

“The deficiency now trans-

Blackouts to continue this week, DLPC says

FBLACKOUTS, 14


BIGGER PICTURE

Honoring those who have excelled

LAST December 3, the Globe Media Excellence Awards (GMEA) was finally staged

at SMX Davao in Lanang. Now on its fourth year, GMEA is touted to be “the most anticipated premier award-giving body that gives recog-nition to excellence in journalism in Mindanao.

“Beyond the belief in media excellence in the daily coverage of developing events, Globe Telecom wants to further encourage media excellence in civic, investigative and explanatory journalism that would delve into such social concerns as freedom from ignorance, freedom from poverty and freedom from cor-ruption,” the telecommunications company said in a press statement.

As such, Globe Telecom “recog-nizes excellence in journalism from the best breed of scribes in Visayas and Mindanao, the awards gives recognition to print, broadcast, and digital media practitioners who have excelled in their respective fields.”

In a press release issued last October 30, about 58 entries -- of the 352 -- were shortlisted for var-ious categories in print, broadcast (television and radio) and digital media. Like in the previous years, the entries explore and promote ad-vocacies in business and entrepre-neurship, information and commu-nications technology, environment and disaster response, governance and social progress and youth and education.

“The number of entries that we received this year is a testament to the commitment of media practi-tioners to provide exemplary report-ing in their respective fields given the vital role of the press in effecting positive societal transformation and nation building,” said Yoly Crisanto, Globe Senior Vice President for Cor-porate Communications, in a press statement.

The entries came from various media organizations in Zamboanga, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro and Davao. There are nine award catego-ries in contention: Reporter of the Year for Print, Explanatory/Inves-

tigative Story of the Year for Print/Online, Columnist of the Year, Photo-journalist of the Year, Reporter of the Year for Television, Explanatory/ Investigative Story of the Year for Television, Reporter of the Year for Radio, Blogger of the Year, and Social Media Advocate of the Year.

All three nominees for the Ex-planatory or Investigative Story of the Year for Print/Online were from Davao: Joanna Paola Garado, “The woman warrior of Talaingod” (Newsdesk Asia), Jesse Pizaro Boga, “From the frying pan into another fryer” (Mindanao Times) and this writer for “Davao City: Before and After” (EDGE Davao). Fortunately, I won the first award given during the ceremony.

About 12 were shortlisted for Reporter of the Year for Print. Only three were from Davao: Mindanao Times’ Jesse Pizaro Boga for “The future lies in education,” Sun.Star Davao’s Arianne Caryl Casas for “Cy-berbullying” and this columnist for “HIV/AIDS cases in Davao growing” (EDGE Davao). Again, I was declared the winner.

Only 8 were nominated for Col-umnist of the Year. Davao is repre-sented by Stella Estremera (Sun.Star Davao) and Henrylito Tacio (EDGE Davao) who are both cited for their columns entitled “Because they’re crazy that way” and “Getting Worse,” respectively. The trophy, however, went Fred Lumba (Mindanao Bulle-tin), for his column entitled, “Feder-alism is good for the country.”

At least three photographers from Davao made it to the Photo-journalist of the Year: Seth delos Reyes (who won the award) and John Quineth Rodriguez, both from SunStar Davao for “Playground” and “A sack of gift,” respectively. EDGE Davao’s Lean Daval, Jr. also managed to get a nomination for his “School Bus.”

For broadcast media, winner for the Explanatory or Investigative Sto-ry of the Year for TV category was Ben Jason Tesiorna, of CNN Philip-pines, for “Davao City’s Best Water.” He was also adjudged as Reporter of

the Year for TV for “The man who thanked HIV for new life.”

Big Jay Lagang, of 105.9 Balita FM, was declared Re-porter of the Year for Radio for his piece, “Indigenous Student Education”.

For digital media, Olan Emboscado (The Travel Tell-er), won the Social Media Advocate of the Year for his article, “Into the heart of the Agusan Marsh”. The Blogger of the Year award went to

Ariel Lalisan (Living

in the South) “It’s hard to be a kid in Kiahe.”

According to the press statement, the judges’ deci-sions for print and broad-cast categories were the following: content (50%), adherence to truth and re-sponsible journalism as man-ifested in the accuracy, fair, and balanced presentation, and depth of reporting; style (25%) or the ability to com-municate clearly and effec-tively as shown by the writing style, clarity, logical presenta-

tion of issues, coherence, and fluidity of ideas; and social impact (25%) which involves the impact of the articles on effecting change.

But before the awarding, however, a forum for Mass Communication and Journal-ism students in Davao was held at the Ateneo de Davao University. The forum was Globe Telecom’s effort “to strengthen the media excel-lence” and “as a give-back to the community.” Some 200 students attended the forum.

Text and Photos by Henrylito D. Tacio

The 2015 winners of GMEAHaving fun after the awarding.

The two trophies won by the author.

The first award given during the awarding ceremony.

During the Students’ forum.



VANTAGE

EDITORIALNo to No-el

EVERY six years, it seems, the specter of “No-el” rears its ugly head apparently to set the stage for a possible cancelation of the coming presidential election. The benign-sounding

portmanteau stands for “no election,” and it gets casually thrown into the national conversation even on the slightest of pretexts. It was used to great effect during the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who had perhaps dreamt of staying in power indefinitely. But even the more trusted administration of President Benigno Aquino had hinted at the scenario when presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told reporters in a 2014 interview to wait for who the President would endorse “in case the 2016 elections push through.” For every administration, the easiest way to extend its power is simply to find a way to cancel an election.

Indeed, various excuses have been put forward to make this a reality. The most often used is the sad state of the country’s power service which up to now has been below par and has brought about power outages that literally threaten to shut down the electoral exercise. Mindanao is an especially convenient scapegoat in such a scenario: always suffering from a perennially low power supply, a power blackout on election day can wreak havoc on the entire electoral exercise. This was pointed to twice in the last few years: first in 2010 and then this year as the 2016 election comes up. In both instances, one of the solutions frequently put forward is simply

to do away with the political exercise.The fact that no national election in recent history has been

canceled or postponed doesn’t mean no one will try to do it again. This week, in fact, the threat comes from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) itself. Comelec chair Andres Bautista raised the No-el possibility after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the delisting of registered voters who have failed to have their biometrics taken. In an interview with a radio station, Bautista said the TRO will have a “material effect” on the preparations for next year’s polls, so much so that, in his own words, ““Maybe, we’ll have to postpone the election.”

But who benefits from a canceled election? Not the people, who will be deprived of their right to choose their own leaders. The only real beneficiary of No-el is the present administration, which gets to perpetuate itself in power and use more government resources to improve the chances of its candidate when — and if — the election pushes through at another date. With administration bet Mar Roxas trailing all other candidates save for Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago in recent surveys, Bautista’s comment suddenly takes on a very sinister air. Call it paranoia, but in this day and age one cannot afford to be complacent about how the powers-that-be handle the affairs of the state. Vigilance is still key to a vibrant and free democracy.

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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VOL. 8 ISSUE 181 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

Another mass shooting, another call for families

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” ― Mahatma Gandhi in All Men are Brothers: Autobi-ographical Reflections

***

“I HAVE forgiven him already.” That was what Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Dute-rte said of the priest who fondled him

and other students at one of the finest uni-versities in the city. It happened when he was still a high school freshman.

“Without forgiveness, life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retali-ation,” said Roberto Assagioli. After all, as Epictetus said, “Forgiveness is better than revenge, for forgiveness is the sign of a gen-tle nature, but revenge is the sign of a savage nature..” To which Isaac Friedmann added, “Forgiveness is the sweetest revenge.”

“He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass him-self; for every man has need to be forgiven,” said Thomas Fuller. These words came into my mind while remembering the book, The Seed and the Sower, a profound human drama written by African writer Laurens Van der Post. Actually, I have never read the book but I came across about it when I had the chance of getting a copy of The Freedom of Forgive-ness by Dr. David Augsburger.

Here’s the powerful story based from Dr. Augsburger’s account: “Once there were two brothers from a small South African village. The elder brother was a tall, handsome, in-telligent, an excellent athlete, a good student, and a natural leader. Sent away to a private school, he quickly made a name for himself.

As an admired campus leader and outstand-ing athlete, he was in his final year when his younger broth-er arrived to begin studies.”

The young-er brother was the exact oppo-site of the older brother. “The brother was not good-looking or athletic,” Augsburger wrote. “He was a hunchback. Since his childhood, his mother had sewed paddled jackets that concealed his spinal deformity. His sensitivity to his short, curved stature had grown through the years. None of the family spoke of it in respect for his shamed feelings. Yet, the boy had one great gift. He had a magnificent voice and could sing gloriously, like a nightingale on the veld.”

It was when this younger brother arrived that the story took its twist: “Soon after his arrival at the private school, the student held initiation ceremonials, which consisted of some public humiliation to extract proof of courage. Often one student would be sin-gled out to be especially hounded as a kind of scapegoat. On the eve of the initiation, the student body in a cruel mob action ganged up on the younger brother, carried him off to the water tank, and demanded that he sing. When he sang so frighteningly beautiful in his fear, they became all the more abusive, and tore off his shirt to reveal his never-be-

fore-seen hunchback to public ridicule.”Did the older brother help? No, he didn’t:

“The older brother was aware of what was happening; he could have gone and faced the sadistic mob. A word from him would have put a stop to the whole tragic scene. As a leader, he could have acknowledged the strange boy as his brother, but instead he busied himself in his work in the laboratory while the mob raged outside.

“The younger brother survived physical-ly, but his spirit was crushed. He withdrew into himself. He never sang again. At the end of the term, he returned to the family farm. Keeping to himself, he lived a lonely, reclusive life.

Meanwhile, “the older brother rose to successful prominence in the capital, and when World War II came was an officer sta-tioned in Palestine. One night, recovering from an injury, he lay under the stars and in a dream saw himself as Judas in the circle of disciples around Jesus Christ. ‘I am Judas; I had a brother once, and I betrayed him,’ he said. ‘Go to your brother,’ Christ replied.

“The journey from Palestine was in-credibly difficult. He arrived unannounced and found his brother watering plants in the parched garden. It was a time of long drought. He looked into his younger broth-er’s dark eyes, still imprisoned in the painful past. The moment of time arrested was visi-ble in his face as well as in his twisted form.

“‘I’ve come all this distance to spend a few hours with you,’ he said, and then went straight to the heart of the matter of his great wrong. When he had finished, both were in tears. The first rainstorm of the year was

breaking as the older brother walked back to the house and the younger brother turned off the irrigation water.

“Then, in the distance, the older brother heard the song of his younger brother in the garden, as he had not heard him sing since childhood. A song of his own writing in boy-hood, but now with a new verse.”

Yes, the younger brother never retaliat-ed at his older brother. Revenge never came into his mind. Instead he has forgiven him. Dr Augsburger wrote in his book, “Revenge not only lowers your enemy’s lowest level; what’s worse, it boomerangs. One who seeks revenge is like a fool who shoots himself in order to hit his enemy with the kick of the gun’s recoil.”

According to Dr. Augsburger, revenge is the most worthless weapon in the world. Why? “It ruins the avenger while confirming the enemy in the wrongdoing. It initiates an endless flight down the bottomless stairway of rancor, reprisals, and ruthless retaliation.”

American preacher Billy Graham also wrote: “If someone has harmed us by break-ing the law, we have the right to bring that person to justice, both for our good and the good of society. But hurting someone only because they have hurt is another matter. We can’t change the past; we can only seek God’s forgiveness for whatever it is we did wrong.”

Steve Maraboli, in his book, Unapologet-ically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience, said it well: “The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.”

LISTENING to stories of my grand-mother about the Jolo she knew grow-ing up in the 1930s, much talk often

revolves around the subject of juramenta-do. Often, a young man shaves his head and seeks a blessing to conduct the juramentado in the village. Naturally, my grandma’s par-ents admonished all of her siblings to rush inside the safety of the house. The juramen-tado knows no enemy, since all are fair game for the swish of his kris.

The shooting at San Bernardino in Cali-fornia reminds us of many a mass shooting taking place in the United States, a country already known for having the highest num-ber of kills from mass shootings in the world. Columbine, Virginia Tech, and many others have claimed casualties already running in the hundreds. Already, the term “mass shooting” has become synonymous with suburban America, the one place where things ought to be consistently safe and predictable. What is appalling is that these shootings are perpetrated not by organized armed thugs but by random personalities harboring some hidden violent desire. As such, we can call these mass shootings the

American jura-mentado.

W h a t makes a mass shooting, and what prompts a Juramenta-do? Is it a deep frustration, a response to a neurosis or psychosis? Is it a morbid kind of artistic expression seeking attention for a political or religious message? Such ques-tions need to be carefully and thoughtfully asked. I believe the answers lie buried deep in the American psyche.

No matter how thoughtfully President Obama tries to explain the situation and reassure the American public, a stagnant American economy and the prospect for further weakening will prove to be the fes-tering swamp within which the desire to kill ferments. Joblessness and other economic woes have already impacted the American family in many ways. Often, the inability to

cope with difficult situations prompts such reactions. Add to that the ease in obtaining firearms and you have a potent formula for ready violence, like a burp that needs to be let out. Moreover, the highly individualized nature of social organization and expression in America pits the individual against soci-ety, with little intermediation. Family is but a temporary transition from child to adult. Family is therefore useless to the Ameri-can adult, and with 50 percent of American marriages ending in divorce, it becomes even more superfluous, like a passing stage in one’s life that, in the individual’s subcon-scious, will inevitably end. So as the end seems to near, the family bond slowly disin-tegrates. Wife, husband, and children all go their own way after a few years, especially as the kids grow up, and the material basis of the unity becomes unnecessary. When all members can feed themselves, the family as a unit is reduced to a name.

It becomes important that these types of violent expressions to be assuaged. In the individualized culture of America, can the State effectively do that? With an alleged decline in government resources, can the

social service bureaucracy cope? When the State is unable to provide such relief and care that the presence of significant others in the lives of these individuals are able to provide the important emotional support to help uplift the sagging souls of the deprived, and help encourage participation in greater society to heal whatever psychological scars that give rise to violent tendencies. Often, this is provided by families and loved ones, where love and nurturing of spirits are en-gendered.

Needless to say, we need family more than we think, especially as our ages in-crease and our capability to survive declines, or as larger society is less accommodating, and less able to give the opportunity for the individual to thrive. The American State ap-paratus for providing human services will decline as the US economy weakens. No longer will their government be able to pro-vide the necessary social support as their citizens age. As such, the need to strengthen families as vanguards of their members well being becomes paramount. We need less Ju-ramentados and mass killers, we need more of family.

What’s better than revenge?

Henrylito D. [email protected]

THINK ON THESE!

John [email protected]

MY TWO CENTS’


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EDGEDAVAO

The National Museum of Singapore is also housed in a historical monument.

A diorama featuring the everyday life of Singaporeans.

Contemporary artworks are featured prominently at the Singapore Art Museum.

THERE ARE many ways to spend a va-cation. One can shop, eat or just sim-ply relax and take in the scenery. For me though, I make sure to visit a museum or two whenever I get to travel as muse-ums are a great way to learn more about the place one is visit-ing as well as an af-fordable way to have fun and there is no place that has a high-er concentration of museums per square kilometre than in Singapore. With its museum close-ly packed in its central civ-ic district as well as it won-derfully curated galleries, Singapore’s museums are some of the world’s best and offer some of the best collections of Southeast Asian antiquities as well as fine art. There are also oc-casional visiting exhibits of international masters. Here are some Singa-pore’s must visit museums:

National Museum of Singapore The oldest museum in Singapore dating back to 1887, the National Mu-seum of Singapore is a progressive showcase of the country’s 50 years of history and culture. Its permanent exhibition, the Singapore History and Living Galleries, give visi-tors a glimpse into the pre-colonial and colonial his-tory of Singapore as well as of the evolving lives of Singaporeans through the years. There is also a Cin-ematheque which regu-lar has documentary film screenings. The National Muse-um of Singapore can be reached via the Bras Basah or Dhoby Ghaut stations as well as via busses.

Singapore Art Museum The Singapore Art Mu-seum or SAM and its ex-tension the SAM at 8Q are both located at the Bras Basah district of Singapore and are just a stone’s throw away from the Singapore National Museum. The Singapore Art Museum focuses on contemporary interdisciplinary works art that includes video art,

INdulge!

West Asia. The exhibition halls takes visitors on a spectacular history lesson on Asia and its many peo-ples and different cultures. The Asian Civilisations Museum can be accessed via the City Hall MRT sta-tion or by bus.

National Gallery Singa-pore Housed in two national

monuments: Singapore’s former Supreme Court and City Hall buildings, newly opened National Gallery Singapore over-sees the largest collection of modern art in Singapore and Southeast Asia with over 8,000 works from the 19th and 10th centuries in all media, including painting, sculpture, print-making, photography and

video. The National Gallery Singapore can be accessed via the City Hall MRT sta-tion or by bus.

Art Science Museum Housed in a modern fu-turistic structure, the Art Science Museum at Mari-na Bay Sands fuses art and science to tell fascinating stories. A venue that con-stantly changes its exhib-its, it regularly collaborates with the American Muse-um of Natural History and

the Smithsonian Institute, bringing exhibits featuring some of the world’s best art masters as well as massive natural art installations such as a 18-meter long Aptasaurous dinosaur. The museum also fea-tures a permanent exhi-bition titled A Journey Through Creativity. It comprises three galleries called Curiosity, Inspira-tion and Expression, dis-playing objects and arte-

avant-garde installations, as well as cutting edge art expressions.

Asian Civilisations Mu-seum The Asian Civilisations Museum located in a for-mer court house right be-side the Singapore River houses a collection of ar-tefacts from China, South-east Asia, South Asia and URBANISSIMO A4

Artefacts from various Asian civilisations are housed in the Asian Civilisations Museum.

The author outside the Singapore Art Museum.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 181 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015

Singapore cultureLearning

THE heart of Davao City was alight in a golden glow as the Marco Polo Hotel Davao held its annual Christmas lighting ceremonies last De-cember 1. The official lighting ceremony was lead by the hotel’s dynamic general manager Dottie V. Wurgler-Cronin together with Marco Polo Hotel Davao’s director of sales and marketing Pearl Ma-clang, Halifax Hotel’s Francis Ledesma, and repre-sentatives of the Davao School and Rehabilitation Center for the Visually Impaired. With its trademark holiday greetings set atop the 18 floor edifice and flanked with stars, the Marco Polo Hotel Davao is once again the centre of Davao’s fast growing skyline. While the exterior of the hotel is shining and shimmering, the lobby of the hotel is stately and elegant with ecru and gold embellishments paired with native and eco-friend-ly materials. “This year, we decided to share or blessings with the less fortunate,” said Dottie “as hour cam-paign says, we are the heart of Davao and it is in the Christmas season where we remember happier times.” After the ceremonial light-off, the musical band composed of scholars of the Davao School and Rehabilitation Center for the Visually Impaired performed various Christmas songs which helped liven up the event some more. Also present during the ceremony were Depart-ment of Tourism Region XI director Robby Alaba-do, City Tourism Office officer Lisette Marquez, as well as some of the hotel’s VIPs and media friends. A cocktail party at the Eagle’s Bar followed where food and beverage manager Chel Galang intro-duced the newest drinks that are now available the hotel’s signature bar.

By Kenneth Irving Ong

A2 INdulge! EDGEDAVAOEVENT

Hearts and stars alightVOL. 8 ISSUE 181 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015

INdulge! A3EDGEDAVAO

BRING YOUR FAMILY and friends over at Felcris Centrale as we celebrate the Holiday Season with lots of fun and exciting events! Have you checked your Christmas shopping list yet? Now is the best time to visit Mercado de Centrale on December 10-13 Thursday to Sunday from 3pm-9pm at the Alfresco! Check out Saging Republik’s yummy cakes and desserts- a truly mabanana treat! Looking for something to pair with your yummy chips from The Chips Store? Visit Chef Angelos’ tasty spinach and salsa dips. How about Chef Annie’s Crepe Cakes for some sweet delight? And if you’re thirsting for something cool and refreshing, Tubo Juice fresh sugar cane is just perfect. We also have some yummy grillin’ with Tuna Express. And don’t forget to check out V Herbal for some gift items and if you’re looking for some cool artworks and Christmas gift ideas, we have Tabula Rasa Art Collective joining the fun! While checking out Mercado De Centrale, sit back and enjoy an afternoon of exciting events happening at the Alfresco. On December 10, 6pm Royeca School Of Ballet will be presenting excerpts from Don Quixote. Watch out for the launching of One Dream One Heart project on December 11, 5PM. And Calling all Trivia Fans out there! Join Felcris Centrale’s Trivia Fun Night on December 12- 6PM at the Alfresco. Come in as a group or as a brave soul! Registration is free, but we encourage a book donation for our Book Drive in partnership with Oomph Radio 97.1 lots of prizes awaits the top 3 winners, and if you feel like belting out a song, reading a poetry or doing an acoustic performance – Artists Night is just right for you, Drop by on December 13 Sunday at 4pm and register for free stage time at 4PM all for fun. And if that is not enough, we have the following activities for you and your friends. Feel the holiday season with a classic ballet showcase from Royeca School of Ballet as they present: The Nutcracker on December 16, 2015 5pm. Christmas will not be complete without our favorite Santa Claus and his friends! Say hello and have your pictures taken on December 23, 2015 from 3pm-7pm. These and a whole lot more! You can check out our facebook and instragam @felcriscentrale for additional events and updates.

Julie’s Bakeshop, the country’s number 1 neighborhood bakeshop, continues to innovate and puts a uniquely Filipino twist to an all-American favorite--the hotdog sandwich. Introducing, the new Julie’s Creamy Hotdog! A hearty and filling snack that is easy to take around and light on the pocket. Take it with you anywhere you go at any time of the day! It is a no mess, no fuss meal-on-the go for only Php 10.00 available at all Julie’s Bakeshop branches nationwide. Whether you are looking for a quick energy boost in the early morning rush to school or the office or an affordable yet filling mid-day lunch or afternoon snack, the Julie’s Creamy Hotdog is a perfect match! Savor the deliciously creamy bun with a meaty hotdog filling topped with mayonnaise and ketchup. Hurry, visit the Julie’s Bakeshop nearest you and try one today!

Felcris Centrale celebrates the Holiday season

Introducing the new Julie’s Creamy Hotdog

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*Allison Tolman, Toni Collette

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

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA

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

POINT BREAK

Teresa Palmer, Luke Bracey

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

Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy

A SECOND CHANCE

Bea Alonzo, John Lloyd Cruz

December 4-8, 2015

VOL. 8 ISSUE 181 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015

Get Fast and Affordable Internet and HD Cable TV bundle this Christmas withSKYbroadband’s Super Saver 1599When you feel like you want to know everything that’s happening around you in an instant, When you know you want the best for yourself and your family, When you know you deserve more this Christmas.

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A4 INdulge!TRAVEL

Inside the National Gallery of Singapore. Photo courtesy of STB

Outside the modern-looking Art Science Museum.

URBANISSIMO A1

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 8 ISSUE 181 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015

facts, such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Flying Machine, that attest to the artistic and scientific accomplish-ments of humankind through the ages.

*** For those who missed it earlier this month, SilkAir has extended their Holi-days with SilkAir and BPI promotion to December 20. They are also added more onward destina-tions in Europe, Australia, North America and New Zealand to the sale. Check out their website at www.silkair.com to book your tickets now.


COMPETITIVE EDGE

AirAsia gears up for 2016CERTIFIED FOOD SAFETY HANDLERS. Seda Abreeza’s hotel associates reap another achievement as they graduate from the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) Training for Food Safety last December 2. The training was conducted last August and is one of the projects lined up by Seda Abreeza under the grant award provided by

ADB, DOT, and the Canadian Government. The HACCP Training has been a relevant factor specially in the hospitality industry in terms of assuring food safety.

THE hype is building up for AirAsia in the Philippines with the consolidation of

its operation two years after its local unit, AirAsia Inc., signed a partnership agreement with home grown airline ZestAir in 2013.

“Efficient service to our guests and safety are at the

heart of everything we do in Philippines AirAsia. We are here to provide only the best value and world-class service that every Filipino deserves,” Philippines AirAsia CEO Joy Cañeba said in a statement.

Philippines AirAsia has re-placed the AirAsia Zest brand following the approval from

Philippine regulatory authori-ties in September by the Secu-rities and Exchange Commis-sion and in December by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) this year.

The airline has a total of 927 regular employees after

the transition to a single oper-ating certificate in September. Captain Dexter Commendador was also recently appointed Chief Operating Officer.

To celebrate the announce-ment, international and do-mestic flights to/from Manila, Davao, Cebu, Tagbilaran (Bo-hol), Puerto Princesa (Pala-

wan), Kalibo(Boracay), Taclo-ban, Hong Kong, Macau, Ma-laysia, and South Korea are on promotional sale from as low as P1,299, all-in and one-way only and available for book-ing at www.airasia.com from December 7 to December 13, 2015. The travel period for this promo will be for immediate

travels now until June 30, 2016. Guests may also opt to

complement their trip with Philippines AirAsia’s in-flight meals and get as much as 20% discount for pre-booked Ban-gus Sisig, Beef Caldererta, Ado-bo, Vegetarian Chickpea Curry and other ASEAN flavoured dishes.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 181 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 201512 EDGEDAVAOCLASSIFIEDS

VOL. 8 ISSUE 181 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015 13EDGEDAVAO CLASSIFIEDS

VOL. 8 ISSUE 181 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 201514 EDGEDAVAONEWSRody... FROM 1

Blackouts... FROM 5 City... FROM 2

Comelec... FROM 2

BFAR... FROM 2

Poe... FROM 3

College... FROM 4

Typhoon... FROM 4

Rido... FROM 4

DTI... FROM 5

17 colorum... FROM 3

kung ano yung nasa batas yun na yun (Why complicate it? If that is the law then it should be followed),” he said.

In an interview with EDGE Davao yesterday, DCWD spokesperson lawyer Bernar-do Delima admitted that the BIR charged DCWD with fran-chise tax.

Delima, however, said DCWD contested the tax and filed a case before the Court of Tax Appeals, saying the agency is not taxable since it is a gov-ernment office.

“If you are government

agency you are not taxable. No government agency is taxed except if you are a GOCC (Government Owned and Con-trolled Coporation) ,” he said.

Delima pointed to a 2005 Supreme Court ruling on the Manila International Airport versus City of Parañaque which stated that GOCCs should be a stock or non-stock corporation. He said according to this definition, the DCWD does not qualify as a GOCC.

“Stock corporations mean that there is a capital divid-ed into shares, but we do not

have that. We could not also considered as non-stock un-der the Constitution because non-stock are only limited to churches and religious organi-zations,” he said.

Delima said the DCWD falls into the category of gov-ernment agency with corpo-rate power since it is a govern-ment service utility.

He said if DCWD pays the tax, it will go bankrupt be-cause the BIR is computing the franchise tax from the year the agency started operations 42 years ago.

– that may be raised before the Commission,” the ruling said.

There is a pending pe-tition filed by Ruben Castor before the Comelec First Division asking to declare Dino’s CoC as invalid and therefore, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte cannot sub-stitute for Dino since the lat-ter applied to run for mayor

of Pasay City and "not for president."

On the other hand, Comelec Chairman Juan An-dres Bautista said that the Comelec First Division is set to hear Castor’s petition on December 16.

Duterte filed his CoC for president as a substitute for Diño last November 27. (PNA)

lates to another set of imple-mentation of rotating power interruptions with a maximum duration of 1.5 hours in the Davao Light franchise,” Luga added.

Luga said DLPC will be im-plementing two sets of rotat-ing blackouts in its franchise area during peak hours, which range from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and off-peak hours ranging from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. the following day.

DLPC, a subsidiary of AboitizPower, started to im-plement rotating power inter-ruptions in its franchise area, including Davao City and por-tions of Davao del Norte like Panabo City and municipalities of Dujali and Sto. Tomas, last November 23 with durations of 2.5 to 3 hours daily.

Luga said as of yesterday, DLPC is still not receiving in full its contracted power sup-ply from different independent power producers (IPPs) and the National Power Corpora-tion-Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (NPC-

PSALM).He said DLPC is only re-

ceiving a total of 176MWof the 273MW total combined con-tracted power of DLPC from the NPC-PSALM.

The power supply from other DLPC contracted IPPs like another Aboitiz-owned Therma South, Inc. (TSI), Ther-ma Marine, Inc., (TMI), Hedcor Hydro Electric Plant (HEP) Sibulan and in Talomo also de-creased.

With a demand rang-ing from 209MW to 325MW during off-peak hours and peaks hours, respectively, DLPC has to implement the 31.5MW Interruptible Load Program (ILP) and run the 30MW stand-by Bajada Diesel Plant.

Ideally, DLPC needs an ex-cess power reserve of 80MW to 150MW depending on the time of the day. However, the tight power situation in the grid and the low power supply from IPPs is forcing DLPC to play with its available power reserve. CHENEEN R. CAPON

ment, the proposed ordinance for the construction of the fa-cility will follow.

“The project itself is not yet approved and that will be discussed on December 14,” he said.

Orig said if the approval of the project is passed next week, the company will start securing the permit by Janu-ary next year.

“We should be able to start the process our permit by January of 2016 because our timetable is to finish the project by 2019,” he said.

The P10-billion bulk water facility will give unin-terrupted water supply es-pecially in the second district which experiencing low water pressure.

Earlier, Davao City Water District (DCWD) spokesper-son Bernardo Delima said the facility that will be built in Ta-mugan can provide the water requirements of the whole city for the next 30 years.

APO Agua will supply up to 300 million liters per day (MLD) of potable bulk water from the Tamugan River to DCWD, which will benefit the more than 1 million people of the city.

APO-Agua has a 70-30 ownership structure, with AEV owning 70 percent of the company and the remaining 30 percent JVACC.

The JVACC will be the en-gineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for the entire project.

the affected areas are not safe for human consumption.

Residents there are ad-vised not to sell, buy or con-sume shell fishes from these areas.

However fish, squid,

shrimp, and crabs caught there are safe for human con-sumption provided they are fresh and washed thoroughly and internal organs such as gills and intestines are re-moved before cooking. (PNA)

Calderon said the opera-tors have to submit necessary documents that will prove that their operation within the city is licensed and legal.

Most of these van opera-tors were from Region 12, Au-tonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and Cota-bato area.

“Some of the operators said they have already applied for franchise in their respective provinces,” she said. However, she said, the LTFRB here has no active application for fran-chise of provincial route for many years.

“They can apply before other regional offices of LTFRB with Davao City as the only point of loading and unload-ing,” she said.

Calderon said operators who have acquired franchise for provincial routes in other

regional offices of LTFRB can-not drop and load passengers at any terminal in Davao Re-gion.

“They are only allowed to operate in Davao City’s pub-lic and private terminals,” she added.

Calderon also appealed to private van terminals to report any operation of colurum vans here.

“Sadly, these private ter-minals here are allowing the operation of these illegal vans,” she said.

At present, private termi-nals here are located at the Gaisano Mall of Davao, Victo-ria Plaza, SM City Davao, and along Tulip Drive.

Calderon said the safety of riding passengers are at stake due to the operation of passen-gers vans and bus that have no franchise from LTFRB.

”But part of the process is to file an appeal and we believe that we have strong legal basis and we will stand by it,” Poe said.

Poe also appealed to her supporters to respect the law amid threats that the senator’s disqualification as presidential aspirant would end up on the streets.

”Although it’s one way to express our discontent, what important is we should re-spect the law and the senti-ment of everybody,” she said.

On Monday, Poe’s camp asked the Comelec en banc to reverse the decision of its Second Division ruling to cancel her certificate of can-didacy (COC).

Meanwhile, multi-sec-toral groups that supported the presidential bid of Poe’s

father the late Fernando Poe Jr. in 2004, hailed the deci-sion of the Comelec not to re-move the name of Poe from the election ballot.

The groups led by FPJPM and KBU are hoping that the Supreme Court will decide in favor of Poe once the dis-qualification case reaches the SC.

”We are hoping that the Supreme Court will come out with a decision similar to one when it allowed the people to decide on FPJ’s cit-izenship in 2004,” the groups said in a joint statement.

Based on the latest SWS survey, Duterte garnered 38 percent while Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay are tied in the second spot fol-lowed by Secretary Mar Rox-as with 15 points. (PNA)

resource generation is the establishment of a dormitory to house the students, with separate houses for the boys and the girls to consider cul-ture.

“We are also looking into their basic needs particularly the food, which we can work with the partners or funding agencies.”

Junsay also disclosed that based on the requirement of the Commission on Higher Education, there will be full time teachers, but the school is planning to invite practi-

tioners.She also emphasized that

the course will not follow the usual or the regular curricu-lum.

“We can start from formal (education) then combine it with field exposures or visits to different places then link application, so there would be laboratory.”

She illustrated, “so if the cognate subjects are on farming, so we can have labo-ratory on the proposed 1800 hectares communal farm.” (PIA11, Michael Uy)

protocol and evacuation pro-cedures.

The governor stressed that these procedures must already be in place prior to the occurrence of a disaster. “The key to saving lives and proper-ties in times of natural calam-ities like typhoons, floods or earthquakes is preparedness. So we must take a pro-active role in making our communi-ties safer and more resilient. We cannot prevent hazards from coming but definitely we can prevent disasters from happening,” Malanyaon said.

Malanyaon said her province now aims for a climate-proof and disas-ter-proof development, which means that disaster risk re-

duction and climate change actions are built-in of the central economic strategy, and not as a contingency plan. And these are backed up by policies. For instance, now, no developments in terms of infrastructure will be allowed in the danger zones, enabling the province to build safer areas for habitation and busi-ness. The governor strives to reach a high level of commu-nity preparation or social mo-bilization so they will be able to reduce significantly the risk especially to lives and prop-erty despite the presence of many disasters. The governor says safe development plus good governance is equal to shared economic growth.

danao and North Cotabato” by Samsodin C. Amella and Norhakay K. Sumalayan from United Youth for Peace and Development; and “A Person-al Reflection” by Samuel K. Tan.

Part 2 features Gerard Rixhon’s “Tausug and Corsi-can Clan Feuding: A compar-ative study;” Alber A. Husin’s “Kalis and Armalite: Symbols of Weapons and Meanings;” “Inclusive Peace in Muslim Mindanao: Revisiting the Dynamics of Conflict and Ex-clusion” by Francisco J. Lara Jr., and Phil Champain; Ha-midullah Atar’s “Clan Wars in Lanao: New Dynamics and Approaches for Conflict Res-olution and Management;” Norma V. Constantino’s “’The Other’ No More: My Story of a Peace(ful) Mediation;” and Haironesah M. Domado’s

“Oreo.”The book also features

Torres’ “Epilogue: Letting a Thousand Flowers Bloom: Rido Management and the Mitigation of Localized Con-flict.”

Other books written by Mindanawons that won the National Book Awards for the same category, Social Scienc-es, are “Tao Po! Tuloy: Isang Landas ng Pag-unawa sa Loob ng Tao” by Fr. Albert E. Alejo, SJ in 1990; “Fellow Traveler: Essays on Filipino Commu-nism” by Patricio N. Abinales in 2001; and “Bakwit: the Power of the Displaced,” by Jose Jowel Canuday in 2010.

“The Songs of Salanda and Other Stories of Sulu” by H. Arlo Nimmo also won under the same category in 1994. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)

proper and tailor-fit consul-tancy services is very critical for the growth of local entre-preneurs.

The Comprehensive Small Business Counselors Course was divided into three mod-ules.

The first module included a three-day lecture on The Role and Responsibilities of MSME Counselor; Effective Business Counselling; Business Plan-ning and Management; The Enterprise Assessment Plan;

Business Diagnosis; and Diag-nosing and Analyzing the Pro-duction, Marketing Functions of an Enterprise.

In the second module, an enterprise visit was done for the participants to do an actual business diagnosis.

As with the third module, the participants were asked to submit and present their En-terprise Assessment Reports which were then critiqued by the resource speakers and oth-er participants. DTI11/JMM

TIME FOR SHARING. SM City Davao supermarket manager Alex dela Peña encourages shoppers to be part of the mall’s Share a Toy promotion during Kapehan sa Dabaw at the Annex of SM City Davao yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 181 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015 15EDGEDAVAOSports

FRANCIS Gabriel Escandor broke free from his de-fense to scatter 34 points

leading Esdevco-Genesis 88 to a moral-boosting 96-55 win over DASIA in Game 2 of the Best of 3 Finals in the Es-candor Group of Companies Basketball Tournament at the Genesis 88 Gym.

The six-foot-one Escan-dor, limited to just 11 points in Game 1 after averaging over 30 points per game in the eliminations, found his range early and unshackled his way to scoring at will inside and connecting from the perime-ter.

Glenn Escandor back-

stopped with 8 points aside from dishing off nifty assists while Gio Binoya and Torreon added 10 apiece.

The series is now tied at 1-all and the deciding Game 4 is scheduled this Saturday at the Genesis Gym.

In the battle for third, APC defeated White House 86-80.

SWEET-SHOOTING guard Christopher “Bong” Go came out unstoppable

at behind arc to lead the City Mayors Office to a 116 - 96 rout of Police Regional Office -XI in their 2015 AFP-PNP Basketball Tournament en-counter at the Davao City Recreation Center Almendras Gym few days back.

Go, the trusted-aide of presidential candidate May-or Rodrigo Duterte, rained three pointers, hitting a total of 13, all the way to 47 points performance as the City Hall dribblers cruised to another

big win.Rodel Bantilan and JR

Walingan contributed 14 points each for the CMO that also drew a combined 22 points from its big men Weng Farochillena and Radaza.

PRO played a much more balanced attack with seven players finishing in double digits led by beanpole center/forward William Furuganan.

Furuganan made 14 points as Angelito Moral and Archie Zozobrado had 13 each for PRO which also got 12 from Dante Simbolas.

The Policemen battled

toe to toe with City Hall drib-blers in the early going of the match.

But Go’s onslaught at the stripes kept the Policemen at bay and eventually put the game away from them.

Go was playing his second game coming from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for three weeks.

On his returned few days back, Go put a familiar shoot-ing display to capped with crucial baskets down the stretch to lift CMO Past Re-gional Public Safety Batallion, 92 - 90. (Rico Biliran)

Go rains threes as CMO topples PRO

BREAKTHROUGH WIN. Ernie Gawilan of Davao City, representing Team Philippines, rceives his medal at the podium after ruling the men’s 400-meter

freestyle S8 event in the 8th Asean Para Games in a new meet record that made him eligible to swim in

the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Jaineiro, Brazil.

UNSTOPPABLE. Francis Gabriel Escandor scores on a layup in this bit of action in Game 2 of the Escandor Group of Companies Basketball Tournament Finals at the Genesis Gym. Lean Daval Jr.

from the previous record (5:03.09) in a swashbuckling performance that left the com-petition blown away in disbe-lief.

So fast was Ernie that even he himself was surprised of the outcome.

“Dili ko katoo na nakaya nako sir (I could not believe that I did it, sir),” Gawilan told Edge Davao in an online inter-view after his feat.

Gawilan went behind Toh We Soong of Singapore in the first two laps before taking over from his conqueror in the 100-meter freestyle event a day before in the 1:31 mark. He never looked back from there and swam the rest of the way like there was no tomor-row.

Gawilan left Toh behind by over 20 seconds at the end of the race which gave the Phil-ippines its second gold medal in the swimming competi-

tions. Toh would up second in 5:08.80 while Vietnam’s Dang Van Cong took the bronze in 6:01.27.

Another Pinoy swimmer Gary Bejino earlier won a gold in the 400-meter freestyle S7 event with a 5:58.26 clocking.

Gawilan thus booked a slot to the Rio Palalympics in 2016, the first Pinoy para swimmer to make it.

“Salamat lord for the first time nakapasok din time ko para sa paralympic. Matagal ko rin tong pinaghirapan at pinag-tiisan.nag qualify din sa wakas, Salamat sa mga taong subrang napaka bait sa amin during training period. dahil sa inyo gumanda po mga performance namin.Salamat din po sa mga coach namin coach Ral Rosa-rio,coach Tony Ong,at sa ka coach ko sa Davao City coach Jude Corpuz and coach Johanes Corpuz sa pag bibigay motiva-tion sa akin at sa teammates

ko at gumagabay sa amin at Salamat din po sa mga taong naniniwala sa akin at sa Our Lady Of Victory t-c. My home for many years. Salamat kaayo at maraming Salamat din po sa PSC-Philippine sports Com-mission at PHILSPADA-Philip-pine Sports Association Of Dif-ferent Abled Athlete. Salamat din po sa mga sponsors namin #SpeedoPhilippines #Herbal-life, #wengman at #trinspire-team maraming2x Salamat sa inyo God bless us all,” Gawilan wrote on his Facebook ac-count.

Gawilan’s personal best in the event was 4:53.67 and he needed to beat the Olympic qualifying time of 4:48.29.

“Almost four seconds ang dapat na kalasin ko sa time sir pero kayanin ko,” Gawilan told this writer 24 hours before the race.

He broke the news by go-ing to the chat thread with this

Esdevco-Genesis 88 evens series

writer with a message. “Naku-ha ko ang record sir.”

Gawilan earlier won a sil-ver medal in the 100-meter freestyle event finishing sec-ond to Toh Wei Soong of Sin-gapore. Toh clocked 1:05.46 beating Gawilan (1:05.77) by a hairline.

ERNIE’S STORY“When I am in the water, I

feel like I’m a normal person.” Like a fish in the water, Er-

nie Gawilan is a natural wheth-er in the pool or in the sea. He considers the water his second world.

But who is Ernie Gawilan and why does he think his world belongs to the water?

23-year old Ernie Gawilan was born with underdevel-oped extremities. He has no legs and his left arm is incom-plete. As if that’s not enough, he grew up without parents and a family to take care of him.

Ernie’s story is one tai-lored-fit for an episode on a television tearjerker. But this Manobo native is not one to live on the crying side of the world and forever sulk in mis-ery. He is determined to over-come the challenges that life has thrown on him.

Ernie’s mother tried to abort Ernie to conceal her pregnancy from another man. His father abandoned them when he discovered it. Luckily, Ernie survived the attempted abortion but he later lost his mother to cholera when he was only five months. He bare-ly survived with his grandfa-ther taking care of him.

“Swimmer na gyud siguro ko katong naa pa ko sa sabakan sa akong mama kay wala man gyud ko nadala pagpa-abort.

Nagsalom-salom ra ko (I must be a good swimmer even when I was in the womb of my moth-er because I survived the abor-tion. I just swam),” recalled Ernie.

When he was nine years old, the late farmer-business-man Vicente Ferrazzini saw young Ernie in a remote sitio in Buda, Marilog District. He pitied Ernie and talked to his grandfather on the prospects of sending Ernie to a training center for the handicapped in Davao City. The grandfather was prevailed upon to agree on the idea.

The next thing he knew, he was on his way to the city for the first time and brought to his new home at the Our Lady of Victory Training Center in Sasa ran by Maryknoll sisters of St. Dominic. The nuns of the center and the other handi-capped youth became his fam-ily.

A year after in 2000, Ernie was brought to Samal Island to be the housekeeper of a train-ing center set up by the nuns. While living in the island, Ernie had his first romance with the water.

In his free time, Ernie would go to the beach to take a dip. He fell in love with the water.

“Kung naa ko sa tubig, dili Makita akong kapansanan. Mura kog normal lang (If I am in te water my physical disabil-ity is covered. I look like a nor-mal person),” Ernie said.

He spent more time in the water even if he doesn’t know how to swim. “Magpalutaw lutaw ra ko sa tubig ug mag-salom salom murag iro (I just floated on water and swam like a dog),” he said. One day, Mark Jude Corpuz, a swimming

coach, saw Ernie struggling to swim. He probably saw a potential in Ernie that Corpuz came up and asked if he want-ed to learn how to swim prop-erly.

Soon enough, Ernie was swimming like a professional. Corpuz thought Ernie could make it to the PWD (persons with disability) team that he is handling. Corpuz trained Ernie at the Forest Hills resort pool which became his boot camp.

In 2008, Ernie competed for the first time in the Philip-pine Olympic Festival in Cagay-an de Oro City where he was pitted against some members of the national team for special athletes. Ernie was almost dis-qualified after he left his swim-ming trunks in Davao.

He begged to compete in his cargo pants and was lucki-ly given the green light by the officials. Swimming in heav-ily-pocketed cargoes, Ernie finished a strong second in his first ever competition. He nar-rowly lost to a national athlete from Iligan City who took him to Manila to join the national team.

“Sabi niya isasama daw niya ako sa national team. Di ako makapaniwala,” Ernie said.

Under the watchful eyes of national coaches, Ernie blos-somed as a swimmer. He went on to compete in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, India, Japan, New Zealand and Italy and compiled a total of 15 international medals.

In October last year, Ernie went to Incheon, South Korea to compete in the 2014 Asian Para Games. He became the most bemedalled athlete of the Philippine delegation with three bronze medals in swim-ming.

Dabawenyo legless swimmer breaks ASEAN record, books ticket to 2016 Rio Paralympics ... FROM 1


Documents

Edge Davao 8 Issue 181