P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

DUTERTE STARTSHISTORIC RUN

INdulge!

A1

DAVAO City Mayor Rodri-go Duterte began his his-toric journey yesterday

in one of the least likely places in the country: Tondo, Manila.

A crowd of around 10,000 gathered to witness the procla-mation of Duterte, who is run-ning for President along with running mate Senator Alan Peter Cayetano.

Duterte is the first serious candidate for President from Mindanao in 50 years. He brings with him his decades of experience in local govern-ment, having led Davao City from a violent past to one of the most peaceful and progres-sive cities in the country.

Tondo, in contrast, is where migrants from the Vi-sayas and Mindanao start their dream for a better life in seek-ing green pastures in the capi-tal upon arriving at the Port of Manila.

“Tondo has become their symbol for a hopeful journey for change. Unfortunately, Ton-do mirrors the squalor, the ne-glect by government, the dis-parity between rich and poor that characterize the state of our nation,” Duterte Media Group Head Peter Laviña said in a statement prior to the proclamation of Duterte and Cayetano.

“This is where we aim to

start a new beginning for our country and our people. This campaign is not just to seek mandates or to win votes, but most importantly, to empower our citizenry and bring back to our people the power and the capacity for change; to hope for a better life, a better Philip-pines,” Laviña said.

He said the campaign will be “very modest but creative consistent with our limited re-sources.”

“Our main goal is to reach out to the greatest number of our voters in the country and abroad utilizing all forms of mass media, social media and traditional communications,”

he said.During the rally, Duterte

and Cayetano presented their platform of government, in-corporating local situations and addressing these issues at different levels, at different sectors, at different regions.

These are anchored on ending crime and corruption, increasing social services, promoting economic growth through regional develop-ment, building peace, and re-engineering the govern-ment system to be responsive to the needs of the citizenry with equality before the law.

In Davao City, a local proc-F DUTERTE, 10

SOLID SUPPORTERS. Supporters of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte wave flags while chanting his name during a Duterte for President campaign rally along Ponciano Reyes Street yesterday. The mayor himself was in Tondo, Manila for his proclamation rally. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 20162 EDGEDAVAO

NEWS

ALL QUIET. The session hall of the Sangguniang Panlungsod is covered with silence due to the early adjournment of the regular session as the city councilors are scheduled to fly to Manila yesterday morning to attend the proclamation rally of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte in Tondo. Lean Daval Jr.

DAVAO City Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte yes-terday defended the

decision of the City Council to amend a provision of Compre-hensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) removing the additional 10 percent green space in housing subdivisions.

In his Facebook page, Paolo said the amendment does not mean that subdivi-sions will no longer have green spaces.

“The homeowners’ asso-ciations can devote 20 percent

of the existing 30 percent open space (to green space),” he said.

He said open spaces in real estate developments are usu-ally used by the homeowners’ associations not only for their clubhouses or open grounds but also for greening purposes.

Besides, he said, the cost of implementing the additional 10 percent of the total area for green space will be absorbed by future homeowners.

Paolo said he can assure environment groups that the

Council will not undermine environmental considerations “as we all know that the City is replete with ordinances which protect the environment.”

Paolo said the city needs to balance sustainable develop-ment and environment protec-tion for the people of the city.

Earlier, Ecoteneo director Mylai Santos said environment groups want Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to veto the amended ordinance due to procedural lapses since the Council did not follow the provision that

before any changes the Local Zoning Review Committee (LZRC) should be convened first.

She said environment groups in the city had already sent a letter to Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte requesting the may-or to veto the amendment.

Santos said the groups also want to explain to Duterte that the 10 percent green space is different from the 30 percent open space intended for road access, drainage outlets, and services.

ELECTION watchdog Kon-tra Daya-Southern Mind-anao urged the national

government to resolve the power problem in Mindanao before election day on May 9.

Speaking in last Mon-day’s Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Davao Annex, Kontra Daya-Southern Mindanao and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan spokesperson Sheena Duazo said the power situation in Mindanao is alarming because it could lead to failure of elec-

tion in the island.Duazo said based on the

report of the Department of Energy (DOE), around 18 transmission towers have been bombed since last month.

“Very timely na mo abu-tay na ang election (It’s very timely because the election is coming). It seems like they are creating a scenario for a failure of elections here in Mindanao,” she said.

Duazo said it appears that the current administration “is

maneuvering it just to stay in its power.”

“Dapat ma alarma ta ani (We should be alarmed about this),” she said.

Duazo said the people should pressure the govern-ment to fix the power crisis in Mindanao as soon as possible.

Earlier, NGCP spokesper-son lawyer Cynthia Alabanza said President Benigno Aqui-no gave a deadline to all con-cerned agencies especially in the power sector to solve the

problem on or before the elec-tion in May.

Alabanza said the NGCP is faced with a variety of prob-lems, including the bombings of towers since December, vegetation within the area, and the right of way (ROW) of the transmission lines.

During last week’s Princi-pals’ Meeting of the Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee (MPMC) held in Davao City, Energy Secretary Zenaida Y.

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Rodrigo Duterte and his vice presidential running

mate Alan Peter Cayetano surprised some residents of Binondo Tuesday dawn when the tandem made a quick stop-over to share some midnight snacks with them.

Over plates pancit canton, salted eggs and pan de sal, Duterte and Cayetano prom-ised to end the misery of Fil-ipinos living in conditions of poverty.

The stopover signaled the official start of the 90-day cam-paign.

“Magandang umaga ho sa inyong lahat (Good morning to all),” Duterte greeted the res-idents as he walked through an alley, shaking the hands of everyone around.

The tandem listened to

the complaints of the residents and discussed their political agenda with them. The lively exchange was followed by the hearty midnight snack.

A fish vendor, 52-year-old Rosalia Manalang, said she was happy with Duterte and Cayetano’s visit.

“Gusto talaga namin maki-ta si mayor at marinig kung ano ang plano nya para sa aming mga mahihirap,” said Manalang, who is from Maasin, Leyte, Duterte’s hometown. “Sobrang hirap ng buhay dito. Kahit na anong uri ng pagsu-sumikap, kahit na anong uri ng trabaho na ang sinubukan namin, hirap na hirap pa rin kami.”

Duterte’s proclamation rally was still hours away in an event scheduled at nearby

UNITS under the 10th In-fantry Division engaged New People’s Army reb-

els in Compostela Valley and Davao Occidental provinces over the weekend.

The weekend clashes fol-lowed a series of encounters between the military and the NPA in Compostela Valley last February 3 where three sol-diers were killed and three others were wounded, an Army official said.

In a text message to MindaNews, Capt. Rhyan B. Batchar, 10ID public affairs chief said the first encounter

happened at around 5 a.m. on Saturday and lasted 15 min-utes.

Batchar said Bravo Com-pany of the 73rd Infantry Bat-talion clashed with the NPA’s Guerrilla Front 71 in the Far South Mindanao Region cov-ering Jose Abad Santos town in Davao Occidental and Glan town in Sarangani Province.

On same day, another 15-minute encounter took place at 2:30 p.m. in Sitio Bino-taan, Brgy. Kingking, Pantukan in Compostela Valley when sol-diers chanced upon members

Paolo defends Councilon CLUP amendmentBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

Poll watchdog wants powerproblem solved before election

In Binondo, Duterte, Cayetano feastover pancit , pan de sal with residents

Encounters erupt anewin Southern Mindanao

F POLL, 10

F ENCOUNTERS, 10

F IN BINONDO, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016 3EDGEDAVAO NEWS

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

HAPPY NEW YEAR. Students perform the lion and dragon dance, a traditional Chinese dance which believed to drive away bad spirits, during the Chinese New Year celebration of The Royal Mandaya Hotel on Monday night. Lean Daval Jr.

OVERSIZED. A young boy tries to fit a pair of used running shoes while his mother takes a nap at a sidewalk along R. Magsaysay Avenue yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

THE Department of So-cial Welfare District (DSWD) 11 yesterday

said no candidates are al-lowed to use the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) for their political ad-vancement in this year’s na-tional and local election.

In an interview with EDGE Davao, DSWD 11 4Ps information officer Sheryll Fernandez said the beneficia-ries were told that no politi-

cians can remove their names from the list if they do not vote for a certain politician.

Fernandez also said no politicians can add names as beneficiaries if they win the election.

“Kung naa may mga pol-iticians, mga kandidato for public office na manghulga or manggamit sa programa... Kung mapamatud-an man naay mga ana na kaso mag-buhat kita og incident re-

ports para atong i-submit sa Comelec (Commission on Elec-tions) and also sa DILG (De-partment of Interior and Local Government) (If there are pol-iticians or candidates for pub-lic office who threaten or use the program... If we find that there is a case we will make an incident report and we will submit to Comelec and DILG),” she said.

She said the DSWD has assigned social workers in the

barangays and to the munici-palities who will monitor the program implementation.

“If the politician will use the program and its benefi-ciaries for his or her political advancement, sanctions will be slapped on them if found guilty,” she said.

She also assured the pub-lic that the program will not be used to manipulate voters even if the candidate is an in-

HAS the long dry spell or El Niño phenomenon affected even monkeys?

On Monday afternoon, some 20 monkeys that looked hungry were seen begging for food from motorists and locals on the highway of this town.

Among the motorists was a certain Mr. Aranias, a gov-ernment employee who was passing by aboard a motorcy-cle with his son and daughter.

They stopped for a while, pulled out some pandesal (bread), and gave it to the monkeys.

Other monkeys were seen on top of coconut trees har-vesting young fruits to eat.

“They come closer to peo-ple now, so we give them food and take photos of them,” Ara-nias said.

“Clearly, they are asking for food... they don’t attack hu-mans but we are careful, my children were glad to see them,

so rare at this time,” he said.Residents noted that the

sighting of the monkeys coin-cided with the Lunar New Year, the start of the Year of the Fire Monkey, according to Chinese belief.

But Aranias said he shared food not because he was ex-pecting something in return as New Year blessing but because “they are endangered species, it is rare to see them here. It’s up to the Almighty to bless us on what we do on earth.”

He said he hopes the gov-ernment would protect these animals.

“Lately they are seen on the highway. Before they stayed up there (mountains) and never came close to humans,” Kagi Ali, a resident nearby said.

The animals, including their offspring, were seen crisscrossing the highways un-mindful of speeding vehicles.

DSWD warns candidatesvs using 4Ps for own ends

Monkeys beg for foodon Maguindanao road

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Rodrigo Duterte is sad-dened by the untimely

demise of Rep. Roy Señeres who only last week backed out from the presidential race.

Duterte offered his condo-lences to the family of Señeres, who died of cardiac arrest Monday morning.

According to an official statement from his camp, Duterte said he is deeply sad-dened by the passing of a man “whose primary agenda was to protect the welfare of the over-seas Filipino workers and their families and to provide better working conditions for local

workers.”“I wish to extend my heart-

felt condolences to the family of Rep. Señeres as they mourn over his untimely death,” Dute-rte said. “We are with you in this time of grief and difficult time.”

Duterte and Señeres shared a common position against contractualization in the workplace, giving impor-tance on security in the labor sector.

Like Duterte, Señeres also went to San Beda College for his Bachelor of Laws. They also belong to the same fraternity, Lex Talionis Fraternitas.

VOLUNTEERS may soon receive finan-cial, medical and oth-

er non-pecuniary benefits during typhoon, earthquake, fire, and other disasters or calamity.

“Volunteer responders deserve to be rewarded by financial, medical and or oth-er non-pecuniary benefits as a way to retain them for such emergency, disaster or calamity services, natural or man-made,” Rep. Winston Castelo (2nd District, Quezon City) said.

Castelo cited the cases of volunteers who died and wounded while rescuing people during typhoons and fire.

He said the country is prone to disasters, calamities or emergencies that threaten limbs and lives of the people.

“When such phenome-non, man-made or natural, strikes, not few individuals or families are affected, become victims, get injured and suffer socio-economic dislocation which may be temporary or even permanent,” he said.

Castelo authored House Bill 5658 which grants incen-tives to the volunteers in rec-ognition of their unique role of providing timing and ac-tual services of saving people from harm or possible death from disasters, calamities and other emergencies.

He said the proposed Volunteer Responders Incen-tives Protection Act hopes to retain the services of the vol-unteers and encourage oth-ers to render selfless services to the country and the people in times of emergencies.

Rody saddenedby Seneres’ death

njb@edgedavao.net

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

Volunteers in calamityareas to get incentives

F DSWD, 10

F MONKEYS, 10

F VOLUNTEERS, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 20164 EDGEDAVAO

SUBURBIA

THE Department of La-bor and Employment in SOCCSKSARGEN Region

(DOLE 12) is offering emer-gency employment for farmers affected by El Niño.

DOLE 12 regional director Ofelia Domingo said the de-partment is collaborating with the National Irrigation Admin-istration (NIA) for the identifi-cation of farmers who are bad-ly hit by the ongoing dry spell.

These farmers will be giv-en temporary jobs under the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP),

“NIA has already provided a preliminary list of farmers who are most affected by the

El Nino. I have also ordered the DOLE provincial heads to coordinate with local govern-ment units that are hard-hit by the El Nino phenomenon for a possible partnership for implementation of emergency employment,” Domingo said.

Initially, 1,000 jobs are be-ing opened for El Niño victims in North Cotabato, including the municipalities of Mlang, Tulunan, and Kabacan, she said.

Domingo also announced that for the El Niño emergen-cy employment, DOLE 12 will shoulder 100 percent of the wages of the beneficiaries. In regular DILEEP partnerships, DOLE only pays 40 percent of

the salary. “We have already request-

ed the DOLE Central officer to exempt the LGUs from the sharing scheme considering the situations of these LGUs because of the El Nino,” she said.

Under the DILEEP collab-oration, LGUs are supposed to pay 60 percent of the wages of the workers. The LGU also de-termines the job.

In previous emergency employment activities, jobs included road repairs, cleanup of water canals, anti-dengue drives, and construction of day care centers.

Workers could work for at least 10 days and will be paid

P275 per day based on Wage Order XII-18 of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Produc-tivity Board.

Apart from the emergen-cy employment, DOLE 12, through the Technical Educa-tion and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) 12 has identified 46 El Niño victims who will undergo skills train-ing as scholars. They will be provided training allowance and kits to start their own live-lihood.

According to the Philip-pine Atmospheric, Geophysi-cal and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the dry spell could last until June. (DEDoguiles-PIA 12)

MONKEY BRIDGE. Tourists cross the monkey bridge for fun and adventure at the Aliwagwag Falls in Cateel, Davao Oriental. The trees surrounding the falls have recovered from the devastation wrought by super typhoon Pablo in December 2012. The area has been developed and is now a favorite tourist destination. MindaNews photo by GG BUENO

THE city government of Davao was named 2015 Regional Gawad

Listahanan winner by the De-partment of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) region-al office here.

As the department’s data sharing partner and advocate of targeting social protection beneficiaries, Davao City was recognized for its program of increasing access to reproduc-tive health services through the Listahanan database.

DSWD said through its City Health Office (CHO) and City Social Services and De-velopment Office (CSSDO), Davao City has aggressively embarked on No-Scalpel Va-sectomy (NSV) and Bi-Tubal Ligation (BTL) as permanent options in reproductive health and population control.

“We constantly advocate these programs during Family Development Sessions (FDS) of the parent beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program to popularize the programs and further enhance parents’ knowledge and skills in parenting,” City Population Division Officer Jeffrey Fuentes said.

Fuentes said Davao is the lone city that provides these programs regularly to Listah-anan-identified poor families, giving importance to Family Planning.

“With this, we were able to appreciate the potential of Listahanan data as reference in prioritizing individuals in the provision of health services specifically on reproductive health,” he said.

CHO covers the 382 baran-gays in Davao City and reaches out to other provinces and cit-

ies as part of its interprovincial and intercity partnership proj-ect.

For her part, CSSDO chief Ma. Luisa Bermudo said the provision of family planning services through tubal liga-tion and vasectomy “was en-visioned in 2009 using the Listahanan data by providing the users free services and fi-nancial assistance of P3,000 as a form of economic cost while they are recuperating for a number of days out of their work and household chores.”

“Listahanan data really helped us identify the right beneficiaries since the aim of these services is to help the poor and vulnerable families,” Bermudo added.

The award will be con-ferred during the DSWD 65th anniversary commemoration in Davao Region on February 16 under the PaNata Ko sa Bayan Awards which recogniz-es notable works of partners from civil society organiza-tions, Local Government Units, People’s Organizations, volun-teers, and donor institutions.

To date, DSWD Region 11 has 36 data users from LGUs, four from the national agen-cies (NGA), and one from the private sector.

Spearheaded by DSWD, Listahanan is an information management system that identifies who and where the poor are nationwide through family assessments. This sys-tem makes available to NGAs, LGUs and other social protec-tion stakeholders a database of poor families as a basis for identifying potential benefi-ciaries of their social protec-tion programs and services. (DSWD/Florame B. Espada)

ENVIRONMENTALISTS and concerned citizens have taken to the inter-

net in a bid to save green spac-es in Davao City which will be affected by the amendment to the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP).

Last January 26, the City Council passed on third and fi-nal reading an amendment to the CLUP which takes out the provision of a mandatory 10 percent green space imposed on housing developers. These spaces are earmarked specifi-cally for parks and gardens.

The amendment incor-porates the 10 percent green spaces to the 30 percent allo-cation for open spaces, which is set for roads, drainage and common facilities.

The Green Davao Coali-tion, a group of different en-

vironment groups and con-cerned citizens, launched a signature drive which aims to gather 10,000 signatories to move for the veto of the amendment.

The coalition has taken to the internet, particularly social media, to reach more signato-ries.

The petition is posted in Change.org and has reached 220 signatures so far. A peti-tion authored by Dabawenya science journalist and digital activist Julia Jasmine Sta. Ro-mana and posted at the Dakila website has about 394 signa-tures. Hard copy signatures have more than 1,000 signa-tories.

Sta. Romana cited tangible benefits the city would de-rive from these green spaces. “Trees planted in these spaces

would contribute to cleaner air which means healthier people… These spaces also act as catch basins for rains and natural windbreakers. Parks also provide avenues of so-cialization for people and also green spaces help raise prop-erty values,” she said.

“Just this week it was an-nounced that UNESCO has chosen Davao City to be the pilot site for sustainability sci-ence projects. And for the past few years Davao City has been experiencing the worst flood-ing and heat wave in decades. So it baffles my mind as to why the council decided to vote on cutting back on the creation of green spaces.” Sta. Romana wrote in her petition.

Meanwhile, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte said in a statement that the open

spaces used in real estate de-velopments are not only for clubhouses or open grounds but also for greening purposes.

“If we rub the enforcement of the additional 10 percent, its cost will be absorbed by the fu-ture homeowners themselves,” he said.

“The amendment to re-move the additional 10 per-cent does not mean that the development no longer has green spaces. The association can devote the 20 percent of the existing 30 percent open space. I can assure all of you that this measure, as decided by the Council as a body, does not undermine environmental considerations as we all know that the City is replete with ordinances which protect the environment,” he added. (PIA/RG Alama)

THE Mt. Diwata Mining Reservation Area is be-ing eyed as a tourism

spot.The National Task Force

Diwata (NTFD) has identified several potential tourist sites in the 8,100 hectare mineral reservation area popularly known as Diwalwal.

Alex Palero, focal person of the Program Monitoring Coordination Center (PMCC-NTFD), said developing the tourism aspect of the area is part of the masterplan by the Regional Development Council (RDC).

He said the area should not rely on mining alone as gold deposits are now found deep-er in the mountains, escalating the costs of extracting the gold for miners, many of whom are engaged in small-scale mining.

With decreasing gold production in Diwalwal, agri-culture and tourism are being eyed as alternative livelihood.

At 1,200 meters above sea level, the mountain area boasts of a cooler climate just like Ba-

guio. The presence of scenic waterfalls and small lakes in the area makes it a promising destination for tourists.

Hollywood actor Josh Hartnett, who shot a film in Di-walwal in 2007, described the place as “gorgeous.” He was enamored of the waterfalls he found in the area.

Palero said the waterfalls which Hartnett saw is planned as a future tourism site. How-ever, the dumping of mine tailings into the waters must be stopped. The falls is located below the mining sites.

As a start, NTFD is devel-oping a four-hectare site as a biodiversity area where var-ious species of trees will be planted, including the giant bamboo.

The plan to develop Mt. Diwata as a tourism site is not new. Six years ago the provin-cial government of Compostela Valley considered developing and promoting the mining in-dustry of Mt. Diwata to visitors similar to Australia’s mine site tourism. (PIA/RG Alama)

DOLE 12: Emergency jobsoffered victims of El Niño

Davao City bagsGawad Listahanan

Environmentalists webto save city’s green spaces

Diwalwal mining sitebeing eyed for tourism

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016 5EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMYCheaper flights to ASEANcities coming this yearFILIPINOS will soon enjoy

better access and broad-er flight options in trav-

elling to other Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) cities as President Benigno Aquino signed Protocols 5 and 6 of the ASEAN Multilat-eral Agreement in Air Services (MAAS) last February 3.

Under Protocols 5 and 6, Philippine air carriers will be allowed to fly unlimited fre-quencies to and beyond the capital cities of other ASE-AN nations, which will lead to better and more efficient connectivity and translate to more competitive fares and services.

“This will enhance re-gional trade and investment opportunities for Philippine businesses that are looking to expand their markets. It will also provide better access to Filipino individuals, such as professionals and students, who wish to explore job and educational opportunities in the ASEAN region,” said De-partment of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Jun Abaya.

“We expect it to benefit our local tourism and service industries, as the agreement allows foreign airlines to in-crease their flights to Manila and other cities as well. Just as it will encourage more vis-itors to come to the country, Filipinos will also enjoy a wid-

er array of flight options and ticket prices to the rest of the ASEAN,” he added.

The DOTC and the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) will now assist Philippine air car-riers in securing additional flight schedules with each of the nine other member States of the ASEAN. Government targets to have new flights op-erational within the next six months.

The MAAS is part of the ASEAN’s Roadmap for Integra-tion of Air Transportation Ser-vices, essentially laying down the foundation for the envi-sioned ASEAN Single Aviation Market, which would in turn foster seamless connectivity within the region.

The ratification of Pro-tocols 5 and 6 provides un-limited access to any point within the ASEAN area, more competitive and better air-line services, as well as lower fares and broader options for passengers. It highlights the Philippines’ commitment to

the realization of the Single Aviation Market, and in creat-ing a unified ASEAN Economic Community with an efficient and fully-integrated transport network.

Moreover, this develop-ment presents an opportuni-ty for growth of our aviation sector, which will compete directly with other ASEAN car-riers. It will encourage service upgrades among our airlines, which have thus far proved to be competitive players in the ASEAN and other regional markets.

To meet the expected im-pact of greater tourist and eco-nomic air activity, the DOTC continues to modernize the country’s airport infrastruc-ture. It already rehabilitated Terminal 1 and is fully oper-ating Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and has begun constructing world-class airport facilities in key business and tourist cen-ters such as Cebu, Bohol, and Puerto Princesa. (DOTC)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 20166

crc@edgedavao.netBy CHENEEN R. CAPON

Chamber leaves fateof Sasa port to city LGU

THE ECONOMY EDGEDAVAO

THE Davao City Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII)

will no longer pursue the fight against the controver-sial P19-billion Davao Sasa port modernization project but will leave the matter to the city government.

“It will be up to the city government if it will give the winning contractor the permit necessary to pursue the expansion and modern-ization of the port,” DCCCII newly-elected Bonifacio T. Tan told reporters in yester-day’s edition of Davao Busi-ness Forum at DermPath SM City Davao.

This after DCCCII and other business groups failed

to convince the Department of Transportation and Com-munication (DOTC) to stop and review the allegedly overpriced modernization project of Sasa port.

Tan said not even the backing of Senator Sergio Osmeña, who delivered a privilege speech against the project in the Senate, could convince the DOTC to stop the bidding.

“What’s important is that we voiced out our disapprov-al to the project,” he said.

Tan said the DCCCII op-posed the project because it will cause the cost of port services to skyrocket by up to 80 percent in the coming years. It will also worsen the

traffic congestion in the area, he said.

He also said the Depart-ment of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) itself does not support the proj-ect because of the inconve-nience it will cause in the area.

Tan said the high rate that will be imposed by the winning concessionaire will push other port operators in Mindanao to increase their stevedoring and port service rate.

When asked whether the DCCCII will bring the matter before the Supreme Court, Tan said doing so would en-tail a lot of cost.

He said since the DC-

CCII has no funds to file a case, it would leave the rest to the hands of the city gov-ernment, which has also expressed opposition to the project.

“The winning bidder might be able to operate the existing port but it will need to secure a permit from the local government to start the modernization,” he said.

Tan said the winning concessionaire is given only five years to finish all con-struction while the remain-ing 25 years will be for its op-eration to get back its return of investment (ROI).

The project comes as the first Public-Private-Part-nership (PPP) venture for

Mindanao and is projected for completion from 2017 to 2020. It will be implemented in three phases.

The modernization proj-ect involves the expansion and modernization of the ex-isting seaport, including the construction of a new quay and installation of cranes to address port traffic conges-tion that will greatly boost efficiency of the port, said DOTC in a release.

According to DOTC, the project will boost the port’s capacity to 1.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equiva-lent unit) upon the comple-tion of the infrastructure component in 2020 and will complement both existing

and future demands, along-side other major ports in the region, namely the Hijo Port and the Davao International Container Terminal.

At present, the bidding process for the port has been put on hold after Singapor-ean firm Portek Internation-al Pte. Ltd withdrew its intent last month with no official reason released to the public.

Earlier reports said the remaining bidders are Italy’s Obrascon Huarte Lain S.A., France’s Bollore S.A., and San Miguel Corporation (SMC).

Tan said the bidding will not be affected by the ban imposed during election. The result of the bidding is ex-pected to come out this year.

THE outlook of Davao City’s economy remains positive despite the ex-

pected effect of the upcoming election on the attitude of both local and foreign investors as well as the persisting El Niño phenomenon affecting the ag-riculture sector.

“It’s quite good,” newly elected Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc., (DCCCII) president Bonifacio T. Tan said during yesterday’s Davao Business Forum at the Dermpath in SM City Davao.

Tan said the improving power situation in Mindanao will surely bring investors to the city’s manufacturing sec-tor.

He said the city’s fast growing ICT sector, specifi-cally in the business process management (BPM), will fuel the city’s growth this year.

However, Tan said there is still a wide gap between the talent supply and the growing requirement for skilled talents from firms expanding their operations here.

“Only 10 to 15 percent of applicants are hired. Some these do not even pass the training program,” he said.

This was earlier con-firmed by ICT-Davao president lawyer Samuel Matunog, who said numerous business inqui-ries have been made but there are not enough talents here.

One of the efforts of the industry and the academe to address the lack of supply of industry-ready talents is the revision of the existing curric-ulum in schools.

Matunog said ICT-Davao has been extending technical assistance to universities and

ABOITIZ Equity Ventures (AEV) will allocate P58.4 billion in capital

expenditure (capex) in 2016 with high hopes of promising growth prospects.

In a statement, AEV said the bulk of the allocation will be used for power expansion projects.

“Each of our businesses has the potential for higher financial return and growth, as well as sufficient scale and capability to deliver long-term value for all our stakeholders,” AEV president and chief oper-ating officer Erramon Aboitiz said in the statement.

AEV said AboitizPower capex, which comprises about 75 percent of the group’s busi-ness, is pegged at P52 billion for the year.

It said it remains commit-ted, along with its partners, to increase total capacity to 4,000 MW by 2020.

AboitizPower aims to launch its first solar power project in San Carlos City, Ne-gros Occidental within the first quarter of 2016.

Last January, AboitizPow-er inaugurated the 300-MW Therma South, Inc. baseload plant in Davao, providing much-needed capacity to the

Mindanao Grid. Unit 1 started operations in September last year while Unit 2 started full commercial operations last Tuesday.

Other ongoing construc-tion projects include the 68-MW Manolo Fortich hy-dropower plant in Bukidnon, 8.5-MW hydropower plant in Isabela, 300-MW Therma Vi-sayas baseload plant in Cebu, and the 400-MW Pagbilao III expansion in Quezon Province.

AboitizPower also identi-fied roughly 200 MW of poten-tial run of river power projects located across the archipelago for the next five years.

Meanwhile, AEV’s banking and financial services com-panies will have a combined capex of P968 million – P871 million allocation for Union-Bank’s initiatives geared to push growth in customer businesses supported by loan expansion, P97 million for its newest remittance busi-ness PETNET for its branch network expansion, and full-blown execution of the loan origination program on behalf of CitySavings Bank.

The Group’s food unit Pilmico is expanding its cus-tomer reach in ASEAN while

Davao’s outlook positivedespite election, El Niño

AEV allots P58.4B in capex in 2016By CHENEEN R. CAPON and ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

INVESTMENTS soared to P6.5 billion in 2015 for the Autonomous Region in Mus-

lim Mindanao (ARMM), the best year for private business investments since its 26-year existence, the Regional Board of Investments (RBOI) said.

From January 2015 until January 2016, total invest-ments recorded a historic high of P7.8 billion after the RBOI registered Singapor-ean-owned Gintong Agri Cor-poration’s P1.3 billion invest-ment in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao last 15 Janu-ary 2016.

Of the recorded invest-ments, Maguindanao had the

largest share of 77 percent or P5.05 billion, followed by Tawi-Tawi with 20 percent or P1.3 billion and Lanao del Sur with 3 percent or P194 million.

According to RBOI, the top three investors for ARMM are located in Maguindanao, namely Al-Sahar Agri Ventures, Inc., Lamsan Power Corp. and Maguindanao Energy Farms, Inc.

It is projected that Maguin-danao will still get the biggest share of investments in 2016 as there are investments such as an oil depot, bulk water supply and an industrial waste treatment plants that are in the works. (DTI)

ARMM investmentssoar in 2015: RBOI

FDAVAO’S, 10

FAEV, 10

AT YOUR SERVICE. A vendor kneels to allow a customer choose from a batch of boiled bananas he sells along San Pedro Street yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016 7EDGEDAVAO

AGRITRENDS

Cacao:From bust

to boom(First of Three Parts)

MENTION Davao Region -- com-posed of Davao

del Sur, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Com-postela Valley, and Davao Occidental -- and what comes to mind? In terms of agricultural crops, the region is noted for banana, pomelo, durian, and mangosteen.

In recent years, Davao Region is also known for cacao. It contributes about 80 percent of the total cacao production from Mindanao. Data from the High Value Commercial Crops Devel-opment Program of the De-partment of Agriculture (DA) showed 90 percent of cacao produced in the country comes from Mindanao.

“Aside from banana and durian, we are prioritizing support to cacao industry so that we can position the region as the country’s ca-cao capital,” said Remelyn R. Recoter, DA regional director in Southern M i n d -anao.

Un-like abaca and pili nut, which are endemic in the Philip-pines, cacao is not a native crop of the country. It was first cultivated by the Mayas around the 7th century A.D. They carried the seed north from the tropical Amazon forests to what is now Mex-ico. In the 16th century, the Spanish planted cacao across South America, into Central America, and onto the Ca-ribbean Islands. In the 17th century, the Dutch transport-ed the cacao to other places around the globe like Java, Sumatra, Sri Lanka, New

Guinea, and the Philip-pines.

“In 1670, Spanish mariner Pedro Bravo de Lagunas planted the first cacao in San Jose, Batangas,” reports The Philippines Recom-

mends for Cacao. Af-ter that, cacao

growing flourished

in various parts of the country – until pod

rot wiped out plantations of it.

In the 1950’s, the impo-sition of Import Control Law resulted in efforts to revive the industry by inter-govern-mental agencies and by pri-vate sector for self-sufficien-cy and export. By the time the industry was blooming, pod borer infestation surfaced. Control of the disease was quite expensive. As a result, established plantations were again wiped out; others were abandoned.

This particularly hap-pened in Mindanao, where most of the cacao crops were grown. In 1990, about 18,388 hectares were planted to ca-cao, according to the agricul-ture department.

By 2006, the area de-clined to less than 10,000 hectares. During this period, production fell from 9,900 tons

to about

Text and Photos by HENRYLITO D. TACIO

5,400 tons, with two-thirds of the production coming from Davao region alone.

As cacao production in the country went down, de-mand for cacao continued to increase in the world market. “One thing is for sure, There is a shortage of cacao all over the world,” Dante Muyco, vice president of the Cacao Indus-try Development Association of Mindanao Inc. (CIDAMI), was quoted as saying by Davao media.

Recent studies have shown the world market needs 3.6 million tons of co-coa every year. The demand is growing annually by 90,000 tons. Most of the productions come from Africa (which sup-plies 68 percent of the global production). South America provides 14 percent of the to-tal production.

“Though the majority of cacao is consumed in North America and Europe, demand is growing more rapidly in Asia where strong economic growth, particularly in India and China, is resulting in more people being able to afford luxury foodstuffs such as choc-olate,” according to a position paper written by Adam Keatts and Christopher Root.

The Philippines contrib-utes a measly 0.16 percent to the global market. It is export-ing cacao to the United States, Singapore, New Zealand, and some parts of Europe.

Currently, the country manages to produce from 10,000 to 12,000 metric tons of dried cacao beans. And that’s not even enough to satis-fy the local demand of 30,000 metric tons.

“The problem of the (ca-cao) market is there’s not enough beans,” said Dr. Nico-las K. Richards, who helped revitalized the cacao industry in Mindanao as the chief of party of Agricultural Cooper-ative Development Interna-tional and Volunteers in Over-seas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA), an economic development organization that specializes in food secu-rity, agribusiness, community development, financial ser-vices, and enterprise develop-ment.

“This is really a fantastic situation,” said Richards. “It’s getting worse and worse. The world needs more and more (cocoa) beans. Productions (in the Philippines) can’t keep up with (increasing) demand.”

The country’s contribu-tion to the world market

was lamentable since the Philippines is

ideal for cacao g r o w i n g .

Mindanao, for in-

stance, is best f o r c a c a o p r o -

duction

– except those areas 1,400 meters above sea level like the higher places in Bukidnon.

Mindanao does not have typhoons and has good rain-fall and good soil, Richards ex-plained on why he singled out the country’s second largest island. Although “cacao would grow anywhere in the Philip-pines,” he added.

Actually, it was as early as 2004 that the country was try-ing to revive the cacao industry through the Success Alliance program of the United States Agency for International De-velopment (USAID). The prob-lem was projects were imple-mented in Luzon, according to Valente Turtur, CIDAMI execu-tive director.

In 2007, Davao Region became part of the program. Two years later, the United States Department of Agricul-ture (USDA) introduced the so-called CoCoPal (coconut, cocoa, and palayamanan) pro-gram.

“Cacao is highly suitable to intercropping and mixed farm-ing systems, and can add more than US$1,500 per hectare of income from 500 mature trees per year,” Richards pointed out.

However, if the country wants to significantly con-tribute to the current global market of cacao, it has to plant 150,000 hectares more to ca-cao. That’s according to the government projection.

Davao Region is helping to achieve that. “In just a matter of five years, we were able to double our cacao production,” Turtur said. “From 5,000 met-ric tons in 2011, it increased to 12,000 metric tons by 2015.”

As such, CIDAMI is urging more farmers to plant cacao in their farms. “Today, when the world is confronted with ca-cao supply shortage, is the best time for those who are already engaged into it to increase their areas,” Muyco was quoted as saying. (To be continued)

Dr. Nicholas Richards

Tablea

Cacao pods and beans

Cacao plant

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 20168 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

EDITORIAL

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

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PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTEthe national association of newspapers

Happiness an indicatorFEBRUARY is a good month to talk about the happiness or the lack of it,

being traditionally the month for love and people in love.About five years ago, in July 2011 to be exact, the United Nations

General Assembly approved resolution inviting its close to 200 member countries to measure the happiness of their people and use this to help guide their policies.

On April 2, 2011, the resolution was followed by the first UN High Level Meeting on “Happiness and Well-being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm.” It was led by Prime Minister Jigme Thinley of Bhutan, the first country to have officially adopted gross national happiness instead of gross domestic product (GDP) as the main development indicator.

As it happened, the first World Happiness Report came out a day before the historic meeting. The second report which came out in 2013 was based on the Gallup Report which used available data from 2005 to 2012 from more than 150 countries.

The 2013 ranking based on the 2010-12 surveys indicated that Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Austria, Iceland, and Australia are the top 10 happiest countries.

There was little change in the latest happiness report in 2015. What is unfortunate is that nowhere in the list of 85 countries was the Philippines included. That is the bad news. The good news is that the list is only partial, meaning that the Philippines could be somewhere in the remainder of the more than 150 countries included in the ranking.

Definitely, Filipinos have their way of measuring the level of their happiness. And occasionally we do hold surveys to gauge how people feel about their lives.

In Davao City, two institutions are doing that - the University Research Council (URC) of the Ateneo de Davao University and the Institute of Popular Opinion (IPO) of the University of Mindanao.

In its latest quarterly survey , the URC found that more than 95 percent of the Dabawenyos surveyed are happy, divided into 68.3 “moderately happy” and 27.3 percent “extremely happy.” Only 3.7 are “not totally happy” and .8 percent “not happy at all.”

Probing some more, the URC interviewers found that Dabawenyos’ reasons for being happy are relationship, 75.95 percent; health and wellness, 24.42 percent; financial stability, 11.11 percent and religion, 6.4 percent.

Those who are not happy, also were asked why and they gave the following reasons for their sadness: financial problem, 60.7 percent; health and wellness problem, 21.4 percent, and relationship problem 7.1 percent.

As can be gleaned from the findings, Dabawenyos are definitely normal, happy people. This is something we can be all happy about.

As we can see our country does not need to be ranked high in the level of happiness in the international scene. We can measure it ourselves.

We encourage our research institutions to continue gauging the level of happiness of our people as regularly as possible. This is a healthy exercise worthy of pursuing.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

“IF I had only known it was our last walk in the rain, I’d keep you out for hours in the storm. I would hold your hand, like

a lifeline to my heart and underneath the thun-der we’d be warm. If I had only known it was our last walk in the rain.”

Those famous lines were taken from “If I Had Only Known,” sung by Reba McEntire and featured in the movie, “8 Seconds.” Actually, the lyrics were from the pen of Jana Stanfield. “Since I didn’t know much about writing mel-odies yet, I took the unfinished lyrics to the most talented songwriter I knew, Craig Morris, and asked if he could craft something beautiful from my simple words,” Stanfield disclosed.

Oftentimes, there is always a story behind the song. So, why did Stanfield write the lyrics in the first place? Actually, the song was in re-membrance of her great-aunt Dorothy whom she considered her angel when she was 14.

In the United States, 15-year-old kids can get their own driver’s license if they have suc-cessfully completed Driver’s Education. Most of Stanfield’s 15-year-old friends got their driv-er’s license and she was looking forward for a summer riding with her friends.

But Mr. Stanfield would not let daugh-ter go with them unless their mothers drove them. Jana did not defy her father so she stayed home during the summer until her great-aunt Dorothy came into her rescue. Dorothy was a bookkeeper out at Doc Stewart Chevrolet in Texas and she asked Jana if she was interested to work with her.

Jana accepted the offer and she worked with her and the three secretaries of the com-pany. “Those women treated me so big,” she re-called. “Most mornings, they complimented me on my outfits, playfully saying they hated me because I could eat three chocolate donuts for breakfast and stay skinny. They talked with me

and asked what I thought about deep stuff like des-tiny, religion and politics. I learned all the important grown-up stuff, like how to curve your fingers when you reach down into a file, so you won’t drive a sta-ple under your fin-gernail.

“The best part of my job was that after I fin-ished my work, I could play on the typewriter, teaching myself how to type. Since I wanted to be a writer someday, my dad said typing would be important.”

By the end of the summer, Jana saved enough money to buy all her own clothes for school. “I started high school feeling different in a real good way – older and stronger and more confident,” she said. “The most amazing thing happened. For the first time in my life, I became popular at my school. I barely got my driver’s license before I got Homecoming Court, Stu-dent Council, and then the honor that meant so much to me after those lonely days, Class Favorite.”

Stanfield was already living in Nashville when she came to know that her aunt was dy-ing of cancer. Before she died, she talked with her over the phone. “I told her how much I loved her. I thanked her for reaching out to me when I needed somebody I thanked her for al-ways reaching out to me when I needed some-body. I thanked her for always seeing the best in everyone she cared about. I didn’t want to hang up. I wanted to hang on. I wanted that moment to last. I wanted to stop the clock and go back to

spend more time with her.”Here’s another memorable lines from the

song: “If I had only known it was my last night by your side, I’d pray a miracle would stop the dawn. And when you smiled at me, I would look into your eyes and make sure you know my love for you goes on and on. If I had only known, if I had only known.”

The song came humming into my mind as I read the farewell letter of Gabriel Garcia Mar-quez. He wrote the letter as his goodbye to his friends after he was diagnosed with a terminal cancer. A few of the people who read the letter cried. Read it and contemplate:

“If God, for a second, forgot what I have become and granted me a little bit more of life, I would use it to the best of my ability. I wouldn’t, possibly, say everything that is in my mind, but I would be more thoughtful of all I say. I would give merit to things not for what they are worth, but for what they mean to ex-press. I would sleep little, I would dream more, because I know that for every minute that we close our eyes, we waste 60 seconds of light. I would walk while others stop; I would awake while others sleep.

“If God would give me a little bit more of life, I would dress in a simple manner. I would place myself in front of the sun, leaving not only my body, but my soul naked at its mercy.

“To all men, I would say how mistaken they are when they think that they stop falling in love when they grow old, without knowing that they grow old when they stop falling in love. I would give wings to children, but I would leave it to them to learn how to fly by themselves. To old people I would say that death doesn’t arrive when they grow old, but with forgetfulness.

“I have learned so much with you all, I have learned that everybody wants to live on top of the mountain, without knowing that true hap-

piness is obtained in the journey taken and the form used to reach the top of the hill.

“I have learned that when a newborn baby holds, with its little hand, his father’s finger, it has trapped him for the rest of his life. I have learned that a man has the right and obligation to look down at another man, only when that man needs help to get up from the ground.

“Say always what you feel, not what you think. If I knew that today is the last time that I am going to see you asleep, I would hug you with all my strength and I would pray to the Lord to let me be the guardian angel of your soul. If I knew that these are the last moments to see you, I would say, ‘I love you.’

“There is always tomorrow, and life gives us another opportunity to do things right, but in case I am wrong, and today is all that is left to me, I would love to tell you how much I love you and that I will never forget you.

“Tomorrow is never guaranteed to anyone, young or old. Today could be the last time to see your loved ones, which is why you mustn’t wait; do it today, in case tomorrow never arrives. I am sure you will be sorry you wasted the opportu-nity today to give a smile, a hug, a kiss, and that you were too busy to grant them their last wish.

“Keep your loved ones near you; tell them in their ears and to their faces how much you need them and love them. Love them and treat them well; take your time to tell them ‘I am sorry,’ ‘for-give me,’ ‘please,’ ‘thank you,’ and all those loving words you know.

“Nobody will know you for your secret thought. Ask the Lord for wisdom and strength to express them. Show your friends and loved ones how important they are to you. Send this letter to those you love. If you don’t do it today, tomorrow will be like yesterday, and if you nev-er do it, it doesn’t matter either, the moment to do it is now.”

FLASHBACK to the Nacionalista Party (NP) Convention of 1965. As the Dios-dado Macapagal presidency geared up

for reelection, the Vice President Emmanuel Neri Pelaez of Misamis Oriental also sought to be Filipino Number 1. Pelaez, the political star of Mindanao, entered the Manila Hotel to pre-pare for what would be a fortuitous gathering that would see him fail to obtain the precious nomination to run against his President. In his stead, then Senate President Ferdinand Marcos would go on to win the NP nomina-tion, and eventually, the Philippine Presiden-cy. History will chronicle all other subsequent events or lend perspective to how Marcos took the nomination out of what would have been a sure clinch by Mindanao’s Pelaez, an affable lawyer known for his easy banter with rural folk, with a policy bias for the countryside de-velopment through grassroots efforts, and a vi-sion for Philippine foreign policy that stressed Southeast Asian solidarity, having been For-eign Affairs Secretary in the age that launched Maphilindo, precursor of today’s ASEAN. As most know and some lament, history wrote

itself differently after the initial hopes of 1965, both for Min-danao and the Philippines.

N o n e t h e -less, those events 50 years ago only stress that since then no candidate from Mindanao has ever risen to the national stage as a strong presidential contender. Mindanao has provided the coun-try with only seven nationally elected senators in the post-EDSA period: Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and III, Miguel Zubiri, Mamintal Tamano, Teofisto and TG Guingona, and Santanina Ra-sul. None of them ever aspired for the presi-dency, not even Vice President Guingona. More actors and their immediate relatives took Sen-ate seats than Mindanaoans.

While it may sound innocuous or trite

to say that Mindanao deserves to provide its share of national leaders, a closer look at the island forces us to pause and consider the fol-lowing facts: Mindanao is a food commodity supplier with the potential to easily feed the nation, but has the deepest and most per-sistent conflicts. It churns out the cheapest power notwithstanding the rise in coal-fired plants as an upcoming source. It is a region of the country still generally untouched by the frequent storms and weather related calami-ties that hosts the most number of poor Filipi-nos, and is the most culturally diverse region of the Philippines. If we can only imagine that these conflicts would resolve themselves, the vast lands and resources could be utilized to provide income for the poor, food for all, and raw materials to drive industry and job-filled economic growth. Would our national GDP number be higher and more inclusive with a strong Mindanao?

All other parts of the country do not have the same potential and the same constraints as the rest of the Philippines. By this alone, Mind-anao still continues to hold the promise for the

Philippines as a whole. Harness Mindanao’s full potential by addressing its shackles and you solve many problems of the Philippines.

Yet all governments after 1965 have only turned Mindanao into what it is today, whether we like it or not. Its sons and daughters taught to fight among themselves, whittling its talent and resources away in favor of the shortsight-ed, selfish interests of those who benefit from the status quo. Thus, its leaders learn to make do (and some make good) with less connec-tivity, support, and resources than their Luzon counterparts.

Had the Mindanaoan Pelaez taken Mala-cañang, 50 years ago, would history have been different?

As the first hour of February 9, 2016 marks the start of a new campaign period for the Philippine national elections, the Mindanaoan Rodrigo Duterte will kick off his campaign walking through the streets of Manila’s Tondo, ready to banter with folk only getting to know this storied man, who, after half a century, will be the first Mindanaoan to seek the Philippine presidency.

Never wait for tomorrow

After 50 years, a Mindanaoan bids for Malacañang

Henrylito D. Taciohenrytacio@gmail.com

THINK ON THESE!

John Triaecisouth@gmail.com

MY TWO CENTS’

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 201610NEWSDUTERTE... FROM 1

Poll... FROM 2

Encounters... FROM 2

DSWD... FROM 3

Monkeys... FROM 3

In Binondo... FROM 2 Volunteers... FROM 3

Davao’s... FROM 6

AEV... FROM 6

EDGEDAVAO

colleges offering ICT-related courses like computer science, information technology, and information management. These include the Universi-ty of Mindanao, Holy Cross of Davao, and University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP).

Meanwhile, Tan said the

city’s agriculture sector will be pulled down by the long drought season which is ex-pected to end by June.

The Department of Agri-culture here already reported damage in the rice and corn sector due to the drought which has been ongoing since last year. CHENEEN R. CAPON

diversifying operations in the country. To this end, it has al-located P2.3 billion for the year in support of various initiatives for its flour, feeds, and farms di-visions, as well as pursuing op-portunities in the region.

On the other hand, Aboiti-zLand is spending P 2.7 billion to acquire more industrial and residential land, as it continues to expand its business outside of Cebu, and onto the national arena.

lamation was held led by for-mer Mayor Sara Duterte, the mayor’s daughter.

“Nais po naming iparating ang mensahe ng pagbabago ng tambalan nila Mayor Duterte at Senador Cayetano. Makakaasa ang mga kapwa ko Dabawenyo na sa ilalim ng kanilang tan-dem, may matapang na solusy-on at mabilis na aksyon,” Sara

told the crowd.She relayed the tandem’s

proposals aimed at achieving a more inclusive growth through regional development and pro-moting equality under the law.

Aside from Tondo and Davao, a local launch was also held in Bacolod. Senator Pia Cayetano, Senator Alan’s sister, led the event. EDGE Davao

Monsada said the bombings and ROW issues delay and hin-der progress for the people of Mindanao.

Monsada said President Aquino created the Inter-Agen-cy Task Force for the Security of Energy Facilities (IATFSEF) to be spearheaded by the DOE.

The IATFSEF is composed of sub-task groups with stra-tegic heads that will focus on critical issues. The National

Transmission Corporation (TransCo) will handle the ROW problem, the Philippine Na-tional Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will handle security matters, the Department of Justice (DOJ) the legal aspect, the NGCP community relations, and DOE the information, ed-ucation and communication (IEC) campaign. ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

SO IT BEGINS. A motorcade of a senatorial candidate rolls around the Davao City’s main thoroughfare during the first day of election campaign for the national positions yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

of NPA Guerrilla Front 2 led by a certain Raden.

The third clash occurred in Sitio Logpaton, Brgy Kingking when rebels opened fire at sol-diers manning a checkpoint at 3 p.m. on Sunday resulting to a six-minute gun battle.

Batchar said no soldier was hurt. He claimed the reb-els suffered casualties.

He said the NPA has large formations in the two provinc-es based on their assessment but added the 1001st Brigade can address rebel presence in these areas.

“Soldiers of 46IB and 73IB are still conducting pursuit operations against the NPAs,” a press release from the 10ID dated Feb. 8 said.

Last Feb. 3, Army 1Lt. Ralph Pantonial, Pfc Eu-lezys Bantulo, and Pfc. Wil-liam Moreno were killed, while Pfc Jestoni Sabido, Cpl. Merlven Velunta, and a certain Herbert Aquino were injured in sepa-rate military operations.

In a press release Sun-day, the National Democratic Front-Southern Mindanao

claimed the Feb. 3 clashes re-sulted in 30 military casualties.

It said the NPA’s Comval Davao Gulf Subregional Com-mand ambushed the 46th IB in three separate incidents on Feb. 3 – at 12:30 p.m., 7:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

The first ambush occurred in Sapang Tin-aw, Brgy. Tiba-gon, Pantukan killing nine sol-diers including 2Lt. Garcia. Ten were wounded and one was rendered missing, the NDF press release said.

“At 7:30 pm, the Red fighters ambushed the Army, damaging the military’s truck in Brgy. Cabahian where two soldiers were killed, including Army officer Capt. Pantonial, and seven others were wound-ed. A Red fighter took a snip-er shot and killed Sgt. William Morenio of the 46th IB in Ba-rangay Biasong, Pantukan at 7:00pm,” the rebel group said.

It added the attacks were “meant to punish” the 46th IB for allegedly defending the interests of large-scale mining companies in Pantukan. (Anto-nio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)

Tondo, but he was on cam-paign mode early on with a visit to Barangay 286 in Binon-do. There, he vowed to end the misery of the people if elected.

Duterte and Cayetano said they will sustain the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the government’s poverty alle-viation program.

But Duterte has also been consistent about his plan of giving sustainable forms of livelihood and assistance to poor Filipinos so they need not depend on dole-outs from the government all their lives.

He said if he wins the pres-idency, he might even increase the cash grants to the pro-gram’s beneficiaries, the poor-est of the poor in the country.

Under the current 4Ps, also called the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), each beneficia-ry with at least three children can avail themselves of P1,400 per month or P15,000 a year.

For his part, Cayetano said the condition of the people in the area is exacerbated by a lack of national government support. The 4Ps program of the government is selective and does not really cover ev-eryone who deserves help, he

said.Because of this, the res-

idents are forced to borrow money from loan sharks through the scheme popularly called 5-6. Loan sharks, he said, take advantage of the people in slum areas across the country.

“Many residents here want to start up their own business, but because of lack of capital, they borrow from these loan sharks and are forced to do so despite extremely higher inter-est rates,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano recalled that he gave a P200,000 cash assis-tance to the members of Pritil Market Vendors Association and after two years, the seed money grew to as much as P800 ,000.

“Ang mga miyembro, nag-bayad sila, kaya lumaki ang pera nila,” he said.

Duterte warned those who engage in the 5-6 business to stop abusing the poor peo-ple. Loan sharks charge bor-rowers to as high as 20 percent interest rates, and typically do business under illegal condi-tions as they are unlicensed lenders.

“Stop it. Ako na nagsasabi sa inyo. Stop it,” Duterte said.

cumbent.Fernandez, however, said

politicians are welcome to show support for the pro-gram. “Our goal is to institu-tionalize the program. If the politician will support the program it will be good,” she said.

Earlier, Kontra Daya-Southern Mindanao

and Bagong Alyansang Mak-abayan spokesperson Sheena Duazo said her group has re-ceived reports from commu-nities that some politicians are using the 4Ps for their po-litical ends.

Duazo said the group wants to look into this be-cause it is a form of manipu-lation of the people.

“The reality is that vol-unteers who undertake the challenge to save and bring the lives of people to safety and away from harm become victims themselves of disas-ters, calamites or emergen-cies,” he said.

“Either they become in-jured in the process or at times they also become ca-sualties leaving behind their

families unable to carry on with their daily lives,” he add-ed.

Castelo said the govern-ment cannot turn deaf and blind to the now common-place fact that this area of vol-unteer emergency services must be aggressively tapped given that the growing chal-lenge that is facing it today is recruitment and retention.

Last year, two young mon-keys were seen lying dead just beside the highway after being hit by vehicles.

A monkey who survived was seen gently touching its dead companions as if in mourning.

Sports enthusiast and na-ture lover Vice Mayor Datu King Jhazzer Mangudadatu ex-pressed concern that the wild animals might become extinct.

He said will put a signage

with the warning “wild mon-key crossing area” to inform motorists that they must slow down along the curve of the highway in this town.

“We have to respect other creatures too, and I’m glad Ma-guindanaons had never hunt-ed or eaten these creatures un-like other places in the country where some people or natives tend to eat these mammals,” Mangudadatu said. (Ferdi-nandh Cabrera/MindaNews)

A PALACE official ad-vised the public to watch debates, read

newspapers and other infor-mation materials to know the personalities of those running for public office as the official campaign season starts today.

“Ang botante ang mamim-ili dahil pagdating sa panahon ng kampanya ‘yan ang pana-hon ng pagsusuri, pag-aaral, pagdedebate at pagtatalakay ng mga isyu na hinaharap

ng ating bayan at ng ating lipunan,” Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III said when asked to comment on the start of the campaign period.

President will lead the campaign kick-off of the Lib-eral Party today in the Visayas region. He vowed to campaign vigorously for Liberal Party bets whom he said will con-tinue his “Daang Matuwid” agenda.

Asked to comment on the

use of government money during the campaign, Quezon said: “I think we should be very aware of one thing na hindi naman ito parang chale-co or hat na pwede mong tanggalin tapos suotin, tapos tanggalin-suotin. The Presi-dent is the president wherev-er he goes and whatever he does.”

The President is cautious on spending government money and will not waste

resources on things that are not of public interest, Quezon said.

“In other words, you can be sure that public funds are not going to be used for par-tisan or political purposes of the party,” he noted.

“May sariling pondo ang partido, ang koalisyon ay may-roon sariling logistics, and the President will only use what is required for his position.” (president.gov.ph/AVS-PIA)

Palace reminds public to scrutinizecandidates running for gov’t positions

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016 11EDGEDAVAO

ICT HUB

GLOBE Telecom, through its International Busi-ness Group, has re-

newed its partnership with the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) of the Depart-ment of Tourism to promote the Philippines as one of Asia’s top tourist destinations via its Visit the Philippines Again (VPA) 2016 campaign.

With the partnership, Globe will once again offer its Globe Traveler SIM to mil-lions of tourists and returning OFWs for free for affordable and worry-free connectivity during their stay in the coun-try. Globe is TPB’s first Phil-ippine telco partner to offer affordable communication services to millions of foreign tourists and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) returning to the country with the Globe Traveler SIM, a local prepaid SIM that offers affordable lo-cal rates for mobile data, calls, and SMS services.

“Staying connected is a priority for the millions of travelers around the world and we are very happy to of-

fer our services to those who are visiting the Philippines through the Globe Traveler SIM, still available for free this 2016,” said Nikko Acos-ta, Senior Vice President for International Business Group at Globe. “We are privileged to once again partner with the TPB this year to help boost the travel experience with affordable call, text and data services, enabling them to stay in touch as well as share the beauty of the Philippines to the rest of the world through social media. With Globe, we ensure that even travelers get to live and embrace their digital lifestyle as their connectivity partner while in the country.”

Aside from supporting the Visit the Philippines Again 2016 campaign through the Traveler SIM, Globe is launching Relive Wonderful Philippines in parallel to the tourism campaign. Relive Wonderful Philippines is a video contest where inter-national visitors (Non-Phil-ippine residents and OFWs)

can submit a video showcas-ing why they love the Philip-pines and what they want to do in the country again. The winner of the best video will win a ticket to fly back to the Philippines with a compan-ion to their destination of choice complete with hotel accommodation and allow-ance from Globe. More details can be found at www.globe.com.ph/traveler-sim.

With the steady growth of international visitors and the increasing number of OFWs returning home, Globe partnered with the TPB in 2015 to offer the Globe Trav-eler SIM for free, giving tour-ists and balikbayans access to seamless connectivity at low-cost rates. Data on Globe Traveler SIM usage from Au-gust to November 2015 re-vealed that 90% of the Trav-eler SIM users came to the Philippines for vacation, and the top 3 countries with the most number of visitors were from Korea, China, and Sin-gapore. The same data also showcased that 97% of Trav-

eler SIM customer base used data and 85% for local calls.

To get a free Globe Trav-eler SIM, tourists and OFWs simply need to present their passport of OFW E-Card at the Globe booths in NAIA, Cebu, Davao, Kalibo, Iloilo, and Clark International Air-ports. They can also reserve via www.globe.com.ph/trav-eler-sim/reserve-now.

“This year will be another competitive year for Philip-pine tourism, as TPB intends to remain aggressive in se-curing its rightful share of the tourist market. Because of our competitive fire, we are confident that more for-eign travelers will choose to visit the Philippines over any other destination and more will be delighted to return to the country this year,” shares Domingo Ramon C. Enerio III, Chief Operating Officer of the Tourism Promotions Board.

He adds, “With our re-newed partnership with Globe, we at TPB are excited for tourists and balikbayans to enjoy fast, affordable and

reliable mobile connectivity through the Traveler SIM. It is one›s perfect companion to stay connected and updated in the Philippines are we are very happy that Globe is part of our commitment to make one›s stay in the country more fun and wonderful.»

According to a recent re-port by the Department of Tourism, the Philippines reg-istered a total of 2.6 million international visitors from January to June 2015 with total earnings amounting to P111.05 billion generated from various tourism activi-ties.

VPA2016 is a retail-based campaign to drive urgency and excitement among for-eign travelers to visit the Phil-ippines and return for more fun, friendship, feel-good adventures, and fabulous memories to cherish in 2016. Foreign travelers will be treat-ed to many new and exciting attractions and spectacular travel destinations that show-case the beauty of the Philip-pine islands and the warmth

of its people. Offering more fun that keeps foreign trav-elers coming back for more, returning visitors will also be given exclusive travel deals and special incentives. They can avail of special discounts on flights, hotel accommoda-tions and tour packages after simply presenting proof of previous visits.

With the Globe Traveler SIM, users can receive calls and texts from abroad for free and cut costs on mobile data by subscribing to TravelSurf, which allows them to surf the Internet on mobile for an affordable rate of US$11 for seven (7) days or US$23 for 30 days, giving them access to e-mails, social networking sites, apps, and travel blogs and reviews for a worry-free stay in the Philippines. Users can also call abroad for as low as US$0.40 per minute. Getting a local SIM will afford the user a more cost-efficient way to connect than using an international number which charges international call, text and browsing rates.

SEVERAL law firms are considering lawsuits against Apple follow-

ing news that the company disables iPhone 6 models that have third-party re-pairs that affect Touch ID, UK-based publication The Guardian has reported.

The “Error 53” con-troversy started last week when news circulated about customers who have had their iPhones disabled and rendered unusable by a mysterious “error 53” mes-sage.

It has turned out Ap-ple disables the iPhones of customers who have had unauthorized repairs on their devices. As explained in a thorough post from iFixit, a repair made by a third-party service using non-original components cannot pass a Touch ID validation check because mismatched parts don’t sync up properly.

According to an Apple spokesperson, when the iP-hone’s parts can’t be prop-erly validated because of a repair done to a component affecting the Touch ID sensor, the error message is trig-gered in an intentional effort to keep Touch ID and the secure enclave that stores fingerprint information safe. Damaged phones also have the potential to give the error.

“We protect fingerprint data using a secure enclave, which is uniquely paired to the touch ID sensor. When iPhone is serviced by an au-thorized Apple service pro-vider or Apple retail store for changes that affect the touch ID sensor, the pairing is re-validated. This check en-sures the device and the iOS features related to touch ID remain secure. Without this unique pairing, a malicious touch ID sensor could be substituted, thereby gaining access to the secure enclave. When iOS detects that the pairing fails, touch ID, includ-ing Apple Pay, is disabled so the device remains secure.”

In the UK, a barrister told

The Guardian that disabling iPhones “could potentially be viewed as an offense” un-der the Criminal Damage Act 1971, which covers the de-struction of property, and a Seattle-based law firm, PVCA said it wants to bring a class action lawsuit against Apple, calling on affected customers to get in contact.

PVCA is planning to rep-resent customers for free and has outlined the issue on its website, suggesting Apple is violating consumer laws by forcing customers to use Apple-sanctioned repair ser-vices.

Apple may be planning to proactively head off lawsuits and assuage customer out-

rage. MacRumors has heard from a retail source that certain Apple Stores have received the go ahead from Apple to replace third-party screens and other third-par-ty components to resolve the error 53 issue. The stan-dard out-of-warranty fee is charged for the repairs and the replacement of non-gen-uine parts with Apple parts is limited to those affected by the error.

It is not yet clear if all Apple Stores have been au-thorized to repair error 53 iPhones as Apple’s only of-ficial statement is that it’s a security measure required to prevent fraudulent Touch ID sensors from being installed.

GOOGLE will launch a new virtual reality headset for Android smartphones

later this year, according to re-ports.

The headset will be sturdi-er and more sophisticated than Google Cardboard, the $15 virtual reality headset that has shipped five million units since launching in 2014.

Unlike its flat-pack prede-cessor, Google’s new headset is set to have plastic casing as well as improved sensors and lenses, according to The Finan-cial Times. Google refused to comment on the reports.

The rumors provide fur-ther evidence that Google is taking the burgeoning virtual reality market seriously. Mag-ic Leap, an augmented reality firm that Google has heavily invested in, recently closed a round of funding that valued it at close to $3.7 billion.

Having set up a virtual re-

ality division in January 2016, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that beyond “early efforts” there would be “a lot more from us and our partners in 2016.” And, if reports are true, Google’s new headset could be similar to Samsung’s Gear VR.

While Google has con-tinued to focus on its budget Cardboard headset, others in the industry have developed more high-spec virtual and augmented reality technolo-gy. Facebook-owned Oculus Rift has announced its headset will cost $720, not including the high-end PC it depends on to run.

The VR market is becom-ing increasingly crowded, with Oculus, Samsung, and Google set to be joined by HTC Vive, Sony PlayStation VR and Mi-crosoft HoloLens. Apple has also ramped up its VR division, having acquired PrimeSense in 2013 and Metaio in 2015.

Globe boosts tourism with new TPB tie-up

Law firms consider lawsuitsagainst Apple over ‘Error 53’

Google to launch newVR headset this year?

The headset will be sturdier and more sophisticated than Google Cardboard (pictured)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 201612CLASSIFIEDS EDGEDAVAO

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

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Tel No. 082.221.3601/224.1413Email: edgedavao@gmail.com marketing@edgedavao.net

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“I grew up immersed in nature as there were no malls yet in Davao when I was a child,” Mia enthused. “On Saturdays, our family would head off to Paradise Island and on Sundays we heard mass at my grandmother’s church, the Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague. I do not remember most of my toys, except for my fa-

WOMEN

EDGEDAVAOINdulge!

METRO MOM A4

IT HAS BEEN LONG since Manila-based entrepreneur  Marian Kate Santos-Sison, better known as Mia, left her life in Davao City to pursue college. While marriage and family life has made life in the urban jungle meaningful and purposeful, Mia is not one to for-get beautiful memories of Davao --- the simplicity of life, its country charm, and natural wonders.

Sips and snipsvorite BMX bike, but I do remember playing  patint-ero, ‘cops and robbers’ as well as hide and seek with my cousins. We did not have access to most toys back then, so our parents had our toys created by a carpenter or we made do with what we had and im-mersed ourselves in the world of make believe.” By degree, Mia gradu-ated BS Civil Engineer-ing in UP Diliman.  Prior to being an entrepreneur, she practiced structural engineering for more than a year, and later on pur-sued a career in IT. She was sent by her Japanese employer to Japan to train for a year in Chiba, Tokyo where she learned how to speak and write in Ni-hongo and develop bridge design software using the C++ language. She also learned how to program in Java and became a busi-ness analyst in various IT companies.  After her return to Ma-nila, Mia settled into mar-ried life. “I married into

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016

A2 INdulge! EDGEDAVAOSTYLE

Here come the

NOMADSUnique pop-up store to feature Davao designed fashion pieces

NIñOFRANCO by Wilson Limon.

HABERDASHERY by Frances Tendencia.

AMANDA by Mandy Velasco.

Mandy Velasco, Jun Artajo, Jozel Ignes, Ian Manglicmot, and Bianca Sabellano.Wilson Limon, Denise Guirgen, Kethley Uy, Frances Tendencia, Joey Hambala, Andi Amora.

By Kenneth Irving OngDAVAO’S FASHION SCENE was given a fresh jolt of life last February 7 as a group of young designers formally opened Nomads Davao at the second level of SM Lanang Premier.

and boxy silhouettes, and neutral colors.

be.young.ca by Bianca Sabellano be.young.ca is a cloth-ing brand for the free spirit personalities who just want to be young and be themselves. Its prod-ucts are adaptable to dress up for work, play, travel or special occasions. Prod-ucts have clean lines, nice quality, and versatility.

Artickles by Denise Guirgen & Kethley Uy From the name itself, art that tickles is a brand for the young and care-free souls of the present time. Established in 2013, Artickles continually develops fresh and new designs to cater to clients who love custom-made products to satisfy their guilty pleasure.

artajó by Jun Artajo Artajó is a retail side of Jun Artajo’s experimental grunge and an opposite of his fit-formed aesthetic. Apart from his custom-made bridal, artajó is now born to cater to retail

buyers and visualize the experimental teens and professionals through a taste of European style of fashion with a taste of being a Filipino. The wardrobe style of artajó is mostly free fit, not con-formed with the body but aesthetically unique and purely stylish with mini-mal detail.

INPART by Joey Hambala INPART is a clothing line for fun, young wom-en of the tropics, care-free and playful.

The Skip by Ian Manglicmot The Skip is a retail brand that offers raw, urban clothing for both men and women. Materi-als range from 100% cot-ton, stone-washed/acid-washed/torned denim, to cow hide leather. Nomads Davao prom-ises to deliver fashion through a curated and unique, fresh, edgy per-spective and is positioned as the aspirational fashion destination for Dabawen-yo fashionistas.

different occasions. Andi Amora was inspired by Coco Chanel who said, “Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they re-member the woman.” Designing fashion that captures the essence of beauty that is demure and quietly elegant. Inspired by the rise of the Davao career woman, MURE designs for the ul-timate woman on the go. Uncomplicated and easy to put together basic piec-es, she aims for an effort-less, yet put-together look.

ZEL by Jozel Ignes ZEL creates street wear for both edgy and fash-ionable men and women. Its pieces are emblazoned with an interesting sil-houette such as Tetris bricks, insects, and some exotic creatures. They also feature playful cut-

outs and interesting con-trasts of colors that brings a modern sportswear vibe.

NIÑOFRANCO by Wilson Limon NIñOFRANCO Pret-a-porter features Con-temporary Ethnic pieces which reflect the rich cul-ture of the different eth-nic tribes in Mindanao carefully contemporar-ized through the use of technology, presenting a dying art form executed with a fresh pair of eyes. NIñOFRANCO also features contemporary modern designs as well as parody designs.

AMANDA by Mandy Velasco AMANDA is a local designer brand by Mandy Velasco. The current col-lection aims for the mini-malist; it consists of loose

A first-of-its-kinds life-style retail store, Nomads offers a wide range of clothes from menswear, women’s wear and ac-cessories, as well as both formal and casual seg-ments, all designed by lo-cal Davao designers.

HABERDASHERY by Frances Tendencia Haberdashery is a cre-ative clothing and acces-sories line, specializing in toddler, tween and moth-ers. Founded in 2016, it is recognized for its charm-

ing array of clothing and whimsical aesthetic. “We felt that a combination of worthwhile and dainty apparel would resonate with people. We hold a strong commitment to quality, exciting fabrics and prints and attention to detail. Our products reflect fun, fresh and re-finement for our clients.”

MÛRE by Andi Amora MÛRE is dedicated to understanding designs that accentuate feminin-ity and can be worn for

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016

INdulge! A3EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

GMA Network never fails to bring happier weekends to every Kapuso as it launches the first comedy anthology in the country with Dear Uge. It premieres on February 14 after Sunday Pinasaya.

PREMIERE FILIPINO-AMERICAN comedian Rex Navarette performs live in Boracay Island for a three-night show entitled “HEARTBURN – A Night of Food & Comedy” on February 23, 24 & 25 at Hoy, Panga! The San Francisco Bay Area comedian has become the most celebrated stand-up comic to

perform to multiple sold-out shows in Manila, Hong Kong and Singapore since 2002. Hoy Panga! Boracay brings him to the island for the first time alongside front act GB Labrador of Comedy Manila. Tickets are priced at Php 500 including dinner. Email hoypangaboracay@gmail.com for ticket reservations. Visit www.rexnavaratte.com to know more.

HIPHOP DUO Lucky Aces was declared the first-ever grand champion of talent-reality competition “Dance Kids” Sunday night after garnering the highest percentage of public votes in the show’s Final Showdown at the Newport Performing Arts Theater. The Filipino-Canadian duo received 42.69% of the votes, beating dubstep dancer Dhao Mac (29.62%) and dance sport duo Step Kids (27.69%). Lucky Aces, composed of 12-year-olds Lucky Ancheta and AC Bonifacio, won P2 million, a house and lot, a family trip to Hong Kong, a shopping spree worth P300,000, and a Star Magic

contract. AC, who teared up after they were announced the winner, said, “It feels amazing because we’ve always been dreaming to be recognized here in the Philippines. And now we have some of our best friends in ‘Dance Kids.’ It’s an amazing feeling.” “We’re just so happy after all these performances for ‘Dance

Kids,’ this was the last one, all this hard work. We’re just super happy,” shared Lucky. For their final performance, Lucky Aces took the stage with one of the show’s Dance Masters, Georcelle Dapat-Sy, and Enrique Gil on the first night of the Final Showdown last Saturday (Feb 6), and with hiphop group A-Team on Sunday. Second placer Dhao Mac, meanwhile, teamed up with Vhong Navarro and Rayver Cruz. Step Kids, on the other hand, performed with Andy Alviz and Maja Salvador. Dhao Mac and Step Kids both received P100,000 each. The two-night “Dance Kids” Final Showdown was hosted by Robi Domingo and Alex Gonzaga.

Eugene Domingo stars in ‘Dear Uge’

Rex Navarette live in Boracay at Hoy, Panga!

Lucky Aces named first-ever ‘Dance Kids’ grand champion

Dear Uge is hosted by no less than award-winning comedienne/actress and TV host Eugene Domingo, who is very thrilled about her latest show in the Kapuso Network. She is very happy and proud of the show’s concept. It’s one-of-a kind, amusing and will also bring “kilig” to Sunday afternoon TV viewers. “I believe it’s pioneering, this type of TV show. This time mas light ang topic and most definitely, funny side ng love ang ipapakita, so I think eto talaga yung pinakamasarap panoorin lalo na pag weekends kasi nagpapahinga ang mga tao. Perfect after Sunday Pinasaya, tuloy tuloy yung katatawanan

sa GMA.” In Dear Uge, the stories, characters and plot twists will be entertaining. Even Eugene’s hosting and narration will be comical and have an identity of its own. In the show, she is Urbana Genoveva Esperanza, a ‘variety store’ owner who hosts a web show called Dear Uge. She will also have a charming sidekick played by Divine Grace Aucina, a theatre actress from PETA. Making this show unique and exciting are Eugene’s cameo roles in each episode. Aside from the talented cast in lead roles, she will play various interesting characters that will have home viewers laughing out loud with

her comedic antics and hilarious performances. “Habang may binabasa akong sulat, lumalabas din ako sa kwento, taking up different roles every week. Ito rin yung unang unang nagustuhan ko sa concept, meron din akong iba’t ibang characters every episode, and I’ll be able to act with different actors na gustong-gusto ko, and also different directors in very light, nakakaaliw na episodes. Kaya I’m

very, very excited,” adds Eugene. Prepare to laugh and fall in love with the heart-warming and funny stories in Dear Uge beginning February 14 after Sunday Pinasaya on GMA 7. Get the latest updates about Dear Uge from the GMA Network website www.G M A N e t w o r k . c o m , from its official facebook page www.facebook.com/GMADearUge , and twitter account @GMADearUge

PG/*R13

G

R1312:40 | 3:00 | 5:20 | 7:40 | 10:00 LFS

PRIDE & PREJUDICE & ZOMBIES

Lily James, Sam Riley

R16 12:40 | 3:00 | 5:20 | 7:40 | 10:00 LFS

GIRLFRIEND FOR HIRE/*ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME

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

LOVE IS BLIND

Solenn Heussaff, Derek Ramsey, Kiray Celis

11:50 | 2:00 | 4:10 LFS / * 6:20 | 8:10 | 10:00 LFS

Andre Paras, Yassi Pressman /*Sarah Jessica Parker, Rosie Day

DEADPOOL

Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin

February 10, 2016

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016

A4 INdulge!WOMEN

METRO MOM A1my 30’s and my husband and I wanted a big family, so we quick-ly plunged into having kids right away.” Now a mom of three, Mia made a shift in career focus and sprung from a 10-year stint in the corporate world to investing in her own business and pas-sions. “My family is my priority, all my decisions revolve around them. At the same time, I find ways to make myself happy. I feel I am able to take care of them best when I take care of myself first. I want to also live a full life, nurturing my own passions while I care for my children and husband.”

JUICE HUT Aside from managing her own convenience store in Tagu-ig, Mia keeps herself occupied creating tropical sips, nut milks and cold-pressed veggie-fruit blends under the brand Juice Hut, a business she started out of the intention of promoting a healthy lifestyle.  “I am not a vegan, nor am I into Paleo. I am just an ordinary girl who strives to eat healthy and be active everyday. I love home-cooked meals and I’ve always loved to exercise – I love going to the gym, boxing, running and swimming! As I am a mother of three closely-spaced young kids, I am challenged to continuously nourish my body with the right nutrients so I can fulfill my du-ties as a wife, mother, daughter,

entrepreneur and more. After breastfeeding my second child for about six months, I began to notice that my milk supply was dwindling. Having committed to exclusively breastfeed all of my children for at least one year, I immediately started looking for ways to be healthier. Breastfeed-ing was increasingly challenging compared to my first child be-cause I have to keep up with an active toddler while nursing my newborn. My supply dwindled because of lack of sleep, poor diet and plain exhaustion. I felt that my reserves depleted and I was always dehydrated. Seeing my friends’ juicing and smooth-ie posts prompted me to first try making my own smoothies, then, eventually, my own juices!

Fast forward to this day when I do not only juice for myself, but for my clients, too. Juice Hut stands in the belief that juicing is beneficial to everyone – stay at home moms, career moms, stu-dents, office workers, health fa-natics, athletes, retirees, and yes, even kids. Juices can be taken to detoxify our bodies or simply to add more nutrients to our daily meals. Being Filipinos, I admit we all love to eat out, celebrate with food and even have an oc-casional drink or two. Hence, we offer the concept of juice cleanse to reset our system to healthy eating and balance out our occa-sional binges. Anything benefi-cial should also be accessible so, we, at Juice Hut, make sure we price our drinks affordably. We

do this by sourcing our ingre-dients and packaging materials well without sacrificing quality.”

CRAFT PARTY PH  Keeping attuned to her other passion, arts and crafts, Mia got together with fellow craft en-thusiast, Nica Cosio and started Craft Party PH. Mia first collab-orated with Nica for graphic de-sign services for Juice Hut. The two found a common ground in arts and crafts and naturally became friends in the long run.  “Craft Party PH started last May 2015 when Nica and I were discussing our plans for sum-mer, and she told me that she had some craft workshops lined up for kids. I loved the idea of gathering kids together for a morning of afternoon of crafts, so I thought, why not gather some moms or ladies, too? Our first Craft Party was born as a marketing event for Juice Hut. Nica suggest a 3-in-1 activ-ity: Rubber Stamping, Clay Plate Painting and Stationary Mak-ing. Nica created a poster and shared this to our social media right away. We immediately got several sign-ups and inquiries

within a few hours and we filled our minimum slots in less than a week. It was a huge success - the ladies loved the fun, relaxed learning environment and Nica’s passion for craft was infec-tious. From then on we’ve had monthly or bi-monthly Craft Parties, we’ve done brass jewelry making, rubber stamping with kids, memory-keeping work-shops, and more. We do private Craft Parties for special events like birthdays, graduation, etc. We’ve also had our first Craft Festival last November where we had live art demonstrations, selling booths and a workshop at UP Town Center, Quezon City. This year we are partnering with Isobelle of @mabbymakes as we venture into events and children party packages.” Clearly, Mia has well-defined work life balance. Her talents and skills have attracted a number of opportunities for her, and she is able to do work around a sched-ule that benefits both herself and her family. “I love being a mother and wife. I dedicate time for each and everyone in our home. I also want to stay to true to myself. I feel I am at my best as mom and partner when I am able to fulfill all my goals as an individual.” Learn more about Juice Hut by logging on to  www.juicehutma-nila.com  or @juicehut_manila on Instagram. Check out more Craft Party PH photos and their complete list of upcoming work-shops via  http://www.facebook.com/CraftPartyPH  or @craft-partyph on Instagram.

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016 13EDGEDAVAO NEWS

A leading distributor of Irrigation System, Agricultural Machinery, Generator and Heavy Equipment immediately needs sales personnel to complement its staff, with the following qualifications:

1. Licensed Agricultural Engineers or Licensed Mechanical Engineers;

2. Male or female, 24-35 years old;

3. Background knowledge or sales experience in agricultural machinery, irrigation system, generators or heavy equipment is an advantage;

4. Must be willing to travel within the island of Mindanao.

Interested applicants should submit application letter, bio-data and transcript of records to:

INTERNATIONAL HEAVY EQUIPMENT CORPORATION

Km. 7 McArthur Highway, Bangkal, Davao CityTel. Nos.: 285-0685; 297-5851

Fax No.: 2975849Email add: info@ihecdavao.com, info@ihec.com.ph

FOR IMMEDIATE HIRING

A CITY councilor mulled of crafting a law that will re-

quire land owners to plant El Nino resilient trees in the long run.

Councilor Marissa Abel-la, chair of the committee on environment said some of the headwater areas are privately owned and the only guarantee to sustain the flow of water from

these areas is planting of trees.

She said the proposed ordinance will compel landowners to plant and grow trees that can help in the absorption of water down to the aquifer.

“Trees are needed to ensure that the aquifer will be deposited with water,” Abella said.

Momentarily, she said

Law requiring landowners toplant trees in riverbanks needed

that the city government must assist the Department of Agriculture in pointing areas that have been hard-est hit by the long dry-spell.

She said the city gov-ernment needs to identify these areas and then re-lay the information to the DA which has the funds to handle cloud seeding oper-ations.

Abella said that one of the possibilities that the city government can do to cope with the El Nino phe-nomenon is the provision of water pumps from the rivers for distribution of water to the farmers.

She also suggested the need to study more heat-re-silient crops like the jack-fruit-like crop called culo, which can withstand the warm weather condition.

Abella said the crop tastes like banana when cooked.

“It can serve as alterna-tive for corn,” she said.

Abella also encouraged farmers to plant Abaca, the only commercial crop that can withstand the drought. (PIA 11-Joey Sem G. Da-lumpines)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 201614 EDGEDAVAO

MOTORINGReview:

2016NissanJukeAMONG all the cars the

revitalized Nissan has brought to market so far,

this is the one that’s nailed it dead on.

It’s certainly not the per-fect vehicle, but it’s young, hip, and different—the very adjec-tives that Nissan needs if they were to stand a chance against the Toyotas and Hondas of the world. Clearly, this has none of the staidness leftover from the beige leather and fake wood; this is styled to stand out.

At first glance, it’s hard what to make of the styling. Some people have referred

to the ROBIOTIC styling as outlandish or weird. I myself found the design to be a cross-breed between a Pokémon and a frog, only to be endeared to it after some time. Nissan says the radical front end is sup-posed to echo rally cars. What-ever, but I do admire them for this one-of-a-kind treatment. The rounded headlights are mounted low in the nose sup-plemented by high-mounted slash park lights and signal indicators higher on the hood edge. The rear-end is equally interesting with the boomer-ang-shaped taillights mount-

ed on the trailing edge. Less talked about, but no less in-teresting, the slopping rear roofline and bulging fenders give an unabashedly caricature appearance capped off with exaggerated-looking 17-inch wheels. When Nissan says they’re going bold with the Juke, they mean it.

The Juke is labeled as the “sports car of the B-segment crossover”, and the cabin re-lays that message well. Like most crossovers, you sit rela-tively higher, but the way the dashboard contours around the driver is unique to it. The

AS part of their commit-ment in being the “re-liable partner,” Isuzu

Philippines Corporation—the official local distributor of Japanese car maker for the country—has formally forged a new partnership with some of the top tier athletes in the country, this time, triathletes from the Visayan region.

IPC Executive Vice Presi-dent Takashi Tomita has for-mally announced the latest sponsorship deal between the Japanese carmaker and the Rider Omega Pro Tri Team at Robinsons Galleria Cebu con-

inciding with its the team’s grand launching vent and press conference.

Cebu-based Rider Omega Pro Tri Team is composed of both professional and bud-ding triathletes in training that is set to compete on both local and international races.

The Rider Omega Pro Tri Team is currently on its fourth year as a triathlon group but only started their campaign as a commercial unit. The team has a core of 28 outstanding members, Headed by Actor/Triathlete Paul Jake Castillo as the Team Manager, Tonyson

Luther Lee as Marketing Man-ager and Frederick Castañeda as Team Captain; other Age Grouper members composed of Mendel Lopez, Jeffrey Cod-ino, Lorhiz Echavez-Lopez, Christopher Capistrano, Rei-nier Englis, Allistair Patino, Joseph Larida, Alton, Enzo and Lorna Amor, Steve Cortez, En Torres, Rashell Cabrera, Sean Yu, Ryan Capuno, Jezryl Villar-ete, Rachel Rae Ngo and Jude Baguio, among others.

Beefing the group’s ros-ter are Filipino Elite’s Cianyl Jamae Gonzalez, Johnny Ferniz, Franz Baguio Welmar

Saavedra and former Alaska Tri-Aspire members Banjo Norte, Kristiane Lim and Paul Jumamil.

The first event that the team would be facing is the Tri United Series, a three-leg race set in Feb. 28, July 3 and Oct. 23 in Subic Bay, wherein they would be fielding a 15-man lineup.

Aside from participating in numerous events, the team is set to hold a grassroots clinic for triathlon starting summer this year. The train-ing camp would be for the less fortunate children which

possess high potentials in the sport.

For his part, IPC Execu-tive Vice President Takashi Tomita expressed firm belief that such skills being shown by these athletes are world-class, saying competition has become very stiff in triathlon.

He also vowed that IPC will support Rider Omega Pro Tri Team for the 2016 Triath-lon Season as part of their commitment to support Fili-pinos.

Such focus on sports is not new with Isuzu as the Japanese car company has

previously launched its own Isuzu D-MAX Cycling Team. Launched in 2010, the Isuzu D-MAX Cycling Team —made up of 11 avid riders who take part in various competitions around the country.

“The Rider Omega Pro Tri Team— like the Isuzu D-MAX Cycling Team—would surely embody the qualities that the brand displays. The vehicles and the athletes perfectly ex-ude toughness, excellence and competitiveness. We wish all the best for these top-caliber athletes as they go for the gold this year,” Tomita said.

Isuzu PH supports triathlon group

expansive front windshield and large side mirrors give excellent front visibility while the front seats offer good back and side support. The meaty three-spoke leather steering wheel adjusts only for tilt, but still falls nicely into hand while the pedals are positioned well. Though it sounds more like function over form, there are still some hints of wackiness like the gas tank-like center console and the floating instru-ment panel visor. Still, the look is somewhat subdued with the all black treatment broken up by the glossy dark gray metal-lic trimmings.

Personally, I love the unique Integrated Control Sys-tem or I-CON in the Juke. I-CON is a versatile, multi-colored system that allows the driver to change the drive and climate modes with a single touch. The control panel, made up of two rotary dials and six buttons, are shared but thanks to a spe-cial filter and two-color LED lamps, the selection switches between climate control and drive modes. It sounds gim-micky, but I find it very intui-tive and allows for the place-ment of larger controls that don’t sacrifice any legibility.

The Juke’s standout exte-rior and sporty interior does serve as the precursor to its biggest flaw: practicality or more specifically, the lack of it. When viewed from the eyes of a college kid or a regular at The Palace Pool Club, there’s noth-ing wrong with it. The space is good upfront and interestingly enough, despite the small foot-print, there’s a copious amount of cubby holes including a lit glove box. Unfortunately, as these kids turn to parents, the Juke loses its edge. Ingress and egress is particularly hard for those in the back not only because of the “hidden” door

handles and but because of the oddly cut rear doors and the roofline. The rear seat space it-self is extremely tight, offering cozy accommodations even for two adults. Plus, the luggage space isn’t too big—a gym bag and a laptop bag already occu-pying half of its quoted 251 li-ters of cargo space. Again, con-sidering its sports car labeling, I guess the rear seats and split-folding rear seats should be considered as bonuses?

So while it’s clear the Juke doesn’t score high on the prac-ticality scale, it does manage to score well in terms of driv-ing fun. The key here is the structure that underpins that sporty-looking body. Built to optimize rigidity and minimize weight, the Juke is the first one in its class to use a cradle-type sub-frame that dampens vi-bration and harshness while spreading chassis load over a wider area. Together with its nicely tuned suspension, it makes for one corner-loving crossover. Having the power served up solely on the front wheels doesn’t seem to hold the Juke back when it comes to dancing as it can negotiate through any piece of tarmac with little argument. What’s more, it’s quiet and comfort-able in doing so. The tall ride height and non-independent rear suspension does serve a bit of under steer and jitteri-ness over some ruts, but not enough to dampen the fun. The electric power steering is nice-ly tuned with a good, weighty response as are the brakes with good bite.

The Juke’s chassis is so well balanced that the moment the throttle is opened, I imme-diately felt it could use a lot more pep. Powering the Juke is a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine good for 116 horsepower and 154 Nm of torque. Relying on

atmospheric pressure (no tur-bo here), the Juke will almost always lose during stoplight duels. Most small cars rely on an initially strong pickup only to lose steam as the speeds goes up; the Juke is the oppo-site. Mash the throttle and it’ll barely chug along. Even with the drive mode set to ‘Normal’ or ‘Sport’, you’ll see just about any other motorized object overtake you. And let’s not even talk about ‘Eco’ which is simply dreadful. It’s only when the engine hits 3,300 rpm does the pace become decent enough. Surprisingly, after overcoming that initial sluggishness (thanks to its 1,332-kilogram curb weight), it’ll hit triple digit speeds easily. There’s also a missed opportu-nity to put in any form of man-ual override be it a gate on the shifter or flappy paddles since the Juke really, really needs them, especially on uphill overtakes. Still, treated purely as an urban crawler, it returns 9.34 km/L (average speed 15 km/h).

In the end, what I love about the Nissan Juke is that it’s not trying to be the cross-over for everyone. Instead, Nis-san grew balls and designed it to be a styling standout that’s individualistic and downright fun. It wears uniqueness on its sleeve and is totally un-ashamed of it. Sure, it doesn’t score high in practicality or straight-line pace, but it man-ages to be reasonably priced and well-loaded enough. In fact, I would say it’s the best choice so far in the B-segment crossover category. More than anything though, if it’s the Juke’s mission to get people to talk about Nissan, then it’s already comprised that. This is the sort of vehicle Nissan needs to get back on track. (carguide.ph)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016 15EDGEDAVAO SPORTS

LEBRON James came close to his 40th career tri-ple-double several times

this season.The four-time MVP got

there in three quarters Monday night.

James scored 21 points to go along with 10 assists and 10 rebounds for his first tri-ple-double of the season, lead-ing the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 120-100 win over the Sacra-mento Kings.

James pulled down his fi-nal rebound late in the third quarter, resulting in a loud cheer from the sellout crowd. He didn’t play the final period thanks to the big lead.

‘’I didn’t know until I sat down on the bench and I looked up at the scoreboard,’’ he said. ‘’Get over the hump, fi-nally. To do it in three quarters was even more impressive. It allowed me to get some rest.’’

Kyrie Irving matched his season high with 32 points and tied his career high with 12 as-

sists. Irving was 13 of 21 from the field and J.R. Smith hit six 3-pointers, finishing with 22 points.

Cleveland went ahead early in the game and steadily built its lead against the listless Kings, who have dropped eight of nine.

Rudy Gay and Omri Casspi led Sacramento with 16 points each.

Cavaliers forward Kevin Love, who passed the 9,000 ca-reer point mark in the second quarter, returned after missing a game because of a bruised left thigh and scored 11 points.

Irving converted a four-point play in the fourth quarter by hitting a 3-pointer in front of the Kings bench and being fouled by Rajon Rondo.

‘’I think health-wise, he’s great,’’ Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said of Irving, who missed the first 24 games after surgery for a fractured left kneecap. ‘’I still think he’s trying to get his legs back a little bit. He did a

great job tonight.’’Cleveland led 61-45 at half-

time. Three baskets by James, including a 3-pointer, and five points by Irving early in the third helped stretch the lead to 78-57. The biggest margin was 24 points in the fourth quarter.

Speculation about coach George Karl’s job status began after Friday’s loss in Brooklyn. The Kings followed that Sun-day in Boston by allowing 74 points in the first half, includ-ing 46 in the first quarter. Sac-ramento gave up 128 points in each game.

DeMarcus Cousins scored 14 points while Rondo had 16 assists.

Rondo expressed the frus-tration that’s hanging over the Kings.

‘’We can’t just keep laying down, we’ve got to fight,’’ he said. ‘’We’re all men. We’re all grown. You can’t want it more than the other person next to you does. We’ve got to stop making excuses.’’

LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers goes to the basket against Marco Belinelli of the Sacramento Kings on Monday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)

HAIL TO THE KING

C.J. McCollum struggled with his shooting until overtime when a trio of

field goals provided Portland with a winning boost.

McCollum had six of his 21 points in overtime, Damian Lillard scored 33 points and the Trail Blazers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 112-106 on Monday night.

‘’I wasn’t very good,’’ said McCollum, who was 7 of 19 from the field at the end of regulation. ‘’I fouled. I gave up some points to Mike Conley. Didn’t make shots. But I just had to stick with it. They need me to score. They need me to execute down the stretch and have the confidence to take and make good shots.’’

The game would not have reached overtime if not for a strange sequence at the close

of regulation.Memphis held a 102-100

lead after Tony Allen split a pair of free throws for the Griz-zlies with 7.6 seconds left.

On the ensuing possession, Lillard launched a 3-pointer that missed, McCollum tapped up the rebound, but that that was off the mark before anoth-er tip went through the net as the horn was sounding.

Allen Crabbe was given credit for the basket, but re-plays showed Memphis’ Jeff Green actually was the one with his hand on the tip that went through.

And after that, officials re-viewed the play to make sure of two things - that the shot was off in time, and there was no basket interference.

Eventually, they ruled the basket good, sending the game

to the extra period.‘’We got the rebound, we

got a tip-in, and I just saw all black jerseys down there,’’ Lillard said of the final play in regulation. ‘’There was a little bit over a second (left), and I thought: ‘We’ve got a chance to tip something.’’’

As for Crabbe, he said: ‘’I tried to make a play on the ball, and it went in. They gave me the two points, so I’m going to take credit for the tip-in.’’

Conley led Memphis with 27 points, while Zach Randolph added 26 points as Memphis lost its second straight overtime game.

Marc Gasol scored 11 points before leaving late in the first quarter with a right foot injury. He did not return. Mario Chalmers and Green had 12 apiece for Memphis.

FILIPINO gold medal winners in the 28th Singapore South-east Asian Games and their

Asean Para Games counterparts will be honored with citations for their exploits during the Annual Philippine Sportswriters Associa-tion (PSA) Awards Night presented by MILO and San Miguel Corp.

Trackster Eric Cray stood at the forefront of the country’s cam-paign last year by winning a dou-ble gold in athletics, including the 100-m century dash of which he became the first Filipino to win the

sport’s centerpiece event.In all, the Philippines won a

total of 29 gold medals.Meanwhile, veterans Ernie

Gawilan (swimming) and Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta (powerlifting) spearheaded the 11-gold medal performance the Filipinos bagged in the eighth edition of the Para Games also held in The Lion City.

Together, the gold winners make up the bulk of the long list of individuals and entities to be cited by the country’s oldest media orga-nization in the February 13 affair at

the Esplanade, with the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) serving as major sponsor.

Twenty eight others will also receive citations during the gala night starting at 7 p.m. and sup-ported by the Philippine Amuse-ment and Gaming Corp., Philippine Basketball Association, Globalport, Rain or Shine, One Esplanade, Na-tional University, Maynilad, Smart, MVP Sports Foundation, SM Prime Holdings, Sen. Chiz Escudero, and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Included on the list of citations are Olympian Michael Christian Martinez, the archery team of Ama-ya Paz-Cojuangco, Jennifer Chan, Andrea Robles, and Jose Ferdinand Adriano, marathoners Mary Joy Tabal and Rafael Poliquit, teenage cage sensation Kobe Paras, Batang Gilas, Perlas Pilipinas Dragon Boat team, karateka Kristina Charisse Santiago, riders Kenneth San An-dres and Milo Rivera, Ernesto ‘Judes’ Echaus of sailing, shooter Hagen Alexander Topacio, and the Petron volleyball team

LeBron triple-double leads Cavs over Kings

Lillard lifts Blazers over Grizzlies in OT

SEA Games gold medalists, Asean Para Games winners to be cited in PSA rites

Moralde, Duno stake unbeatenrecords in ‘Brawl at the Mall’STABLEMATES John Vincent

“Mulawin” Moralde and Romero “Ruthless” Duno of

Sanman Boxing Stable are out to keep their unblemished records as they face separate opponents in the Brawl at The Mall: Glory slated this Saturday, February 13 at 2 p.m. at the Gaisano Mall Atri-um in General Santos City.

Moralde has an immaculate record of 14-0 highlighted with seven knockouts. He will face dan-gerous Anthony “Zorro” Sabalde (10W-4L-0D,5KO) of Cebu for the vacant World Boxing Federation (WBF) International feather-weight title for 10 rounds in the main event.

Duno, on the other hand, has 8 wins spiked by seven knock-outs. He will face Jason “Siaton Boy” Egera (21W-6L-0D-10KOs) of Negros Oriental for the vacant Philippine Boxing Federation (PBF) super featherweight crown in the main supporting bout.

Moralde and Duno are both going for a knockout win.

Sanman Promotions Chief Executive Officer Jim Claude “JC” Manangquil said that Moralde and Duno are now in their best shape and are 100 percent ready to fight.

They both did their final

two rounds of sparring and four rounds of mitts last Monday af-ternoon at the Sanman Gym in Lagao. A light training this week will taper down their prepara-tions.

The official weigh-in is set on Friday at 11 a.m. also at the Gaisa-no Mall Atrium.

The 21-year old Moralde is just three pounds over the 126 lbs. limit while Duno is four pounds over the 130 lbs. division when they tipped the scales last Monday.

“That should not be a prob-lem for them. They still have four days to make the limit. OK lang,” said Manangquil.

Meanwhile, current PBF min-imumweight champion Ronnie “Ultimate Warrior” Tanallon of General Santos City will make his first title-defense against veteran Rodel “Hardworker” Tejares of Manila in the undercard.

The other exciting bouts are: Reymart Gaballo of Sanman against Bryan Samson of Cebu (8 rds.-118 lbs.), Jayson Daming of Sanman vs. Sadam Barambangan (6 rds.-108 lbs.); Robert Paradero vs. Jan-jan Santos (6 rds.-105 lbs.); Jayson Mama of Sanman vs. Mar-tin Paderogao (4 rds.- 108 lbs.); Lucas Bendiema vs. Ken Jordan (4 rds.-108 lbs.). PR

More Dabawenyos turn to ‘Laro’t Saya’MORE Dabawenyos

are making the La-ro’t Saya sa Parke

fitness program a regular habit.

A total of 1,347 physical fitness enthusiasts took part in last weekend’s Laro’t Saya sa Parke program at the Peo-ple’s Park in Davao City.

A summary of the par-

ticipants for the February 6 session saw 48 senior citi-zens joining the multi-event program sponsored by the City Government of Davao and the Philippine Sports Cmmission (PSC).

Zumba topped the most number of participants with 1,000, followed by badmin-ton with 58, volleyball with

51, sepak takraw 46, tae-kwondo 40, futsal 37, arnis 36, and rugby football 31.

The weekly health and wellness program is being held for free every Satur-days beginning at 6:00 a.m. Interested participants may only register at the venue for every session and choose an activity to be part of.

The breakdown:Senior Citizen 48Zumba 1000Arnis 36Badminton 58Futsal 37Rugby Football 31Sepak Takraw 46Taekwando 40Volleyball 51TOTAL 1,347

VOL. 8 ISSUE 228 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 201616

SAN Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Park-er says he has reached

an understanding with his pregnant wife that will allow him to take part in France’s Olympic qualifying tourna-ment this summer.

Parker had raised the possibility of missing the

tournament from July 4-10 and the Olympics — if France qualified — because of the expected birth of his second son in July.

But Parker told L’Equi-pe newspaper Monday that he will be available for both events, saying: “I will be at the Olympics if we qualify.”

Parker says his wife is making a “big sacrifice” by letting him go and has warned him he “should better bring a medal back home.”

The Olympic basketball tournament in Rio de Janei-ro will be held from Aug. 6-21.

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGHTougher task for Gilas in Olympic qualifying

as Parker makes self available for France

Earlier doubtful for the international stints, Tony Parker says he is now set to see action for the French squad. AP

EDGEDAVAOSports