The Davao City field office of the De-partment of Trade and Industry will no longer extend the issuance of free

Import Commodity Clearance stickers for the helmets of motorists who failed to beat the deadline on December 28, 2012.

Roberto Barlis, consumer welfare officer

and spokesperson of the DTI-Davao City said the public has been given ample time to avail of the ICC stickers since the mandatory certifi-cation was passed into law in 2009, and with the implementation of the helmet Law sup-posedly on August 1.

The Department of Transportation and

Communications ordered the Land Transpor-tation Office to hold the enforcement of the helmet Law until January, 2013 to give the DTI enough time to check if the existing hel-mets and those imported into the country had ICC stickers issued by the Bureau of Product

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is ready-ing charges against the organizers of last Mon-day’s barricade along the highway in Monte-

vista, Compostela Valley that disturbed the flow of vehicular traffic, including relief goods meant for victims of Typhoon Pablo.

The barricade was put up by an estimated 1,500 activists reportedly identified with Anakpawis,

Bayan Muna, Kadamay, Karapatan and Kilusang Uno and lasted from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Major Jacob Thaddeus Obligado, commanding

EDGEP 15.00 • 20 PAGES

www.edgedavao.netVOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013

Serving a seamless societyDAVAO

FPNP, 11

FNO, 11

Page 16Suburbia

Page 15

Page 3

Sports

Follow Us On

Page A1Indulge Page A4

Possible charges include alarm and scandal

PNP to file case vs barricade leaders

Hala ka!

No more extension on ICC helmet sticker issuance

By Che Palicte

SOPHISTICATED. University of the Philippines College of Engineering’s Dr. Eric Paringit, Dream LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) team leader, shows the sophisticated camera capable of capturing high quality images attached to a Cessna plane that his group will use in the aerial mapping of Compostela Valley Province in a press briefing at the old Davao City Airport in Sasa, Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013

In ComVal, DavOr

THE BIG NEWS2 EDGEDAVAO

FCENRO, 11

FINT’L, 11

SeN. Miriam Defen-sor Santiago was diagnosed as suffer-

ing from hypertension, causing some of the blood vessels in her right eye to burst, according to Dr. Ro-dolfo Chuanico, her oph-thalmologist.

According to elsie Gayo, a registered nurse who works in Santiago’s office, Santiago’s blood pressure was 190/115. The nurse was contacting Dr. esperanza Cabral, a cardiologist, who is Santi-ago’s personal physician.

According to Santi-ago’s office, Santiago’s right eye was noticeably red and with red blood clots around the pu-pil while having photos with television staff after appearing in the early morning TV show ‘head-start” Wednesday.

”Apparently, Santiago developed hypertension after appearing on (sic) the early morning TV show,” according to press statement from the lady senator’s office.

During the interview, described as “which was

very funny in part but sometimes very angry in part,” Santiago discussed her position that the Christmas gift from enrile of some P2 million in pub-lic funds to every senator was unconstitutional and unethical.

Santiago was visibly agitated when she ac-cused enrile of making personal attacks on her which, according to her, is not allowed in decent society.

Santiago has been ad-vised to rest the eye, and to continue with hyper-tensive medication.

enrile, 89 years old, recently accused Santiago of frequent illness.

Santiago admitted she has been absent for cer-tain periods because of hypothyroidism and later because of hypertension during the recent im-peachment trial.

her blood pressure was taken daily by the official Senate doctor and nurse during the im-peachment trial of then Chief Justice Renato Coro-na last year. [PNA]

Santiago sufferingfrom hypertension

PROPAGANDA. Major Jake Obligado, chief of the Civil Military Operations of the 10th Infantry Division (ext. right), calls the incident in Montevista, Compostela Valley Province where protesters barricaded major road a mere propaganda in the weekly Club 888 media forum at the Marco Polo Davao yesterday. With him are Superinten-

dent Filmore Escobal, officer-in charge of the Regional Police Community Relations Division (RPCRCD), ext. left, Jojo Reynaldo of the Mindanao Development Authority, 2nd from left, and Department of Social Welfare and Development XI regional director Priscilla Razon. Lean Daval Jr.

TOP officials from international donor communities com-

mended the early Recov-ery and Rehabilitation for Central Mindanao (eR-RCM) Programme for its successful facilitation of at least 65,000 internal-ly-displaced people (IDP)

in Central Mindanao, and hailed the program as a model for future relief and rehabilitation initia-tives in the country.

Toshihiro Tanaka, United Nations Develop-ment Program (UNDP) Country Director for the Philippines describes the

program as “exemplary,” citing the full commit-ment of its project imple-mentors.

“The converged ef-forts of the program’s stakeholders resulted in the success of the eRRCM Programme, which facili-tated the transition of the

IDPs from early recovery to full rehabilitation,” says Tanaka at a meeting held here Monday.

The european Union (eU) also lauds the ef-fective methodology of the program, which uti-lized the convergence

Int’l donor communities hail Mindanao IDP program as model for relief, rehab

The Aquino admin-istration expressed elation over the

reported success of the Department of Labor and employment (DOLe) in enhancing the services ex-tended by Phil-Job Net in providing at least 100,000 job vacancies at any given time, a Palace official said on Tuesday.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said that the admin-istration is looking for-ward to the continuing de-velopment of the Phil-Job Net website to be able to give assistance to the job seekers.

“We are pleased to share the report of Labor

and employment Secre-tary Rosalinda Baldoz to the President regarding Phil-Job Net (www.phil-job.net), the official job portal of the Philippine Government,” Valte said.

“For the first time in its history, the number of vacancies on the website has outpaced the number of applicants. As of today, there have been more than 264,000 vacancies posted by employers compared to a little over 117,000 applicants. The number of vacancies is also at an all-time high compared to only an average of 40,000 a month as of July 2010,” Valte said.

Since Secretary Baldoz

took over the helm of the DOLe, Valte said she en-hanced the services pro-vided by Phil-Job Net to include job postings from skilled workers as well as legitimate employers.

Under Baldoz’s stew-ardship, Valte said the DOLe has also expanded the website’s coverage to provide at least 100,000 job vacancies at any given time.

“We look forward to their continuing develop-ment of the Phil-Job Net website into an even more responsive and inclusive tool for both job seekers and job matching, which redounds to the benefit of our countrymen,” she said.

Aquino govt. elated over the successof DOLE in providing job vacancies

INSPIRATIONAL TALK. Senator Alan Peter S. Cayetano urges fellow lawyers to stay pragmatist and idealistic in an inspira-tional talk during the first day of the 40th Founding Anniversary

of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and the 14th National Lawyers’ Convention at SM Lanang Premier’s SMX Convention Center in Lanang, Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

The generator sets loaned by the Ateneo de Davao Univer-

sity to the communities in Davao Oriental and in Compostela Valley have alleviated the typhoon-af-fected communities’ need for power and water after the tragedy brought by Ty-phoon Pablo

“We initially wanted to help restore the electricity of the affected communi-ties but realized that the generators were also help-ful in charging up the water

pump stations,’ Atty Ro-meo Cabarde, chairperson of the Ateneo’s University Community engagement and Advocacy Council Cen-ter for Renewable energy and Alternative Technolo-gies (UCeAC) said.

Cabarde said Ateneo has provided six generator sets to the communities, benefitting an estimated 1,786 families and 8,930 individuals in the said provinces.

Three generators have been deployed to Com-

postela Valley specifically in Cogonoon, Magsaysay and Katipunan, while three generator sets have also been deployed in Davao Oriental.

“These generator sets have dual benefits, because do not only provide power but also water supply to the people,” he said. The generators are considered a good investment by the university considering that at an estimated value of P40,000 each, they will be to to good use, he said.

AdDU’s gensets help restore power, water

The Davao City envi-ronment and Natu-ral Resources Office

(Cenro) and Department of environment and Nat-ural Resources (DeNR) 11 are helping Liwanag World Festival attain their aim of being the first car-bon neutral major event in the Philippines.

In a press conference held at the eagles Bar of The Marco Polo Davao, Leonardo C. Avilla III, Liwanag World Festival consultant, said he and lawyer Joey Felizarta, OIC-Cenro initiated the carbon footprint compu-tation of the event (Liwa-

nag) and are also having discussions with Joselin e. Fragada, DeNR 11 re-gional director, to obtain more information on the carbon footprint observa-tion.

Avila said they will make this event carbon neutral by computing the carbon footprint in terms of emission and ener-gy use from February 9, 2012 to January 28, 2013 and “convert it into the volume of carbon dioxide the city had emitted in order to figure out how many trees should be planted in order to offset the emission done during

the duration of the prepa-ration and the program proper of the event.”

The Liwanag World Festival which will be held at the Philippine Women’s College campus, Davao City, on January 29 to February 2, 2013, is an event that will feature exhibits, seminars and other activities that will “promote the importance of creating a new nation on the basis of profound inner change.”

“This is what we need, a sustainable society for the future, not just ma-

Cenro, DENR 11 supportLiwanag World Festival

By EJ Dominic Fernandez

VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013

VISUALIzING ty-phoon “Pablo” as a giant who cursed the

people for failing to pro-tect Nature, the Mandaya tribe performed Monday a ritual to end the “curse” and reconcile with Magba-baya or the Creator.

The ritual, led by a fe-male balyan or spiritual leader, Masandak Silat, took place in what used to be the center of Barangay Andap, New Bataan, Com-postela Valley but which is now filled with boulders after the flashfloods and landslides brought by Pab-lo.

A male balyan (baylan in other tribes of Mindan-ao) also performed a ritual in support to his Mandaya counterpart, said Allan Delideli, executive direc-tor of SILDAP-Southeast-ern Mindanao, one of the groups supporting the event.

hundreds of Lumads and visitors gathered around the makeshift altar on the boulders to witness the ritual, which Datu Car-lito Maligamon Alejo of the Mangguwangan tribe said is now rarely performed.

The altar held a piece of bamboo whose twigs were tied with red rib-bons, a kilala plant which is sacred to the Lumads, and two bottles of bever-ages.

Alejo said the drink-ing of “biyais” or wine from “langkuas” or native ginger and sugar cane be-forehand was customary to ensure unity among different tribes in per-forming the ritual togeth-er.

During the ritual, the woman balyan danced to the beat of a drum and chanted while holding a bundle of rice stalks.

Bruno Kumnag, a 68-year old Mandaya, told MindaNews he under-stood what she was saying, which was in a language being used to communi-

cate with Magbabaya.“She was possessed by

the spirits who caused the typhoon Pablo,” he said, adding the tribal leaders were asking her not to send another typhoon.

Kumnag said the Cre-ator was angry over the en-vironmental destruction, and so sent the calamity

that killed hundreds and made several others miss-ing for the people to learn.

Alejo said the sacrifi-cial white native chicken symbolized the purity of the Lumads’ intentions and their vow to protect the environment and pre-serve their traditions.

he explained that a

white pig was killed us-ing “bangkaw” or spear, a traditional weapon, to end the curse as it symbolized the violations of the peo-ple.

he said Pablo served to remind the people of their violations against the en-vironment including the cutting of trees.

“The forest is a sacred place for the Lumads,” he said, adding that they used to perform rituals before cutting a tree.

“That’s why we are trying to bring back our customs and ask our peo-ple to protect Nature,” he stressed. [Lorie Ann Cas-caro/MindaNews]

Ritual to end curse of ‘Pablo’EDGEDAVAO 3SUBURBIA

RITUAL. Indigenous peoples hold a ritual before an altar that sits on rocks, at the site which used to be the center of Barangay Andap in New Bataan, Compostela Valley Province on Monday on the 41st day since

December 4, 2012, when typhoon Pablo hit across Mindanao and parts of the Visayas. New Bataan is one of the towns hardest hit by the typhoon. [MindaNews/Ruby Thursday More]

Tribes swear to protect environment

A contract to kill a journalist based in Kidapawan City af-

ter the May 13 elections hasreportedly been put out, the National Union of Journalists of the Phil-ippines (NUJP) said in a statement yesterday.

Details of the sup-posed plan to kill Joy Francisco were con-tained in text messages to Malu Manar, chair of the NUJP in Kidapawan, and another journalist on

Sunday, January 13.Francisco is the pub-

lisher and editor-in-chief of the weekly Southern Voice Journal.

The statement quoted Manar as saying the tex-ter identified himself as a member of a gun-for-hire group which is suspect-ed to be involved in the 2011 murder of Italian priest Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio.

“The texter further alleged that a staff of

a local politician had set up a meeting with a member of his group and has promised to pay P100,000.00 for the killing of Francisco. The texter said he chose to divulge the plan to kill Francisco after learning that the target is a wom-an,” it added.

Manar attempt-ed to call the number (+639214095902) but failed.

“It is unclear why the

text was sent to Manar and not directly to Fran-cisco,” the statement said.

Francisco said she has reported the matter to police authorities.

“Francisco has been critical of a particular pol-itician in North Cotabato in the past but said it is also possible other people may be taking advantage of her well-known tiff with the local politician to mislead her,” the NUJP said. [MindaNews]

Kidapawan scribe on hit list?

ACTING Regional Governor Mujiv S. hataman of the Au-

tonomous Region in Mus-lim Mindanao (ARMM) on Wednesday signed a multi-million peso in-frastructure project for the concreting of roads in Madamba and Bayang sections in Lanao del Sur province.

The road project has an approved contract budget of P23, 317,970.27 which would build the roads con-

necting Ganassi to Tubod and Masiu to Ganassi.

The deal estimates to cover at least one kilome-ter of the national road in the said province.

“This is the fourth con-tract inked with prior deals for vehicle and equipment generated from savings through our equipment Procurement Program,” engr. emil Sadain, secre-tary of the region’s Depart-ment of Public Works and highways (DPWh).

For his part, hataman has lauded DPWh for in-stituting reforms in their rank which have earned them the trust even at the national level.

“Because of DPWh’s reform program, savings were achieved enough to be used for other projects in the region. Since I as-sume office, DPWh has not given me headaches,” hat-aman said during the sign-ing ceremony in sheer ap-proval to the well-manned

regional agency.he further pushed

forth the challenge to carry on prudent fiscal manage-ment in precedence with the reform agenda institut-ed in the regional bureau-cracy.

“President Aquino’s mandate for us is clear. We should not compromise tu-wid na daan for politicking. If we are on the right track, we should not in anyway compromise anything,” ha-taman said. [PNA]

ARMM releases P23.2M for roadsThe number of reg-

istered voters in General Santos City

and nearby South Cotaba-to province has dropped by around 11 percent due to the “cleansing” of the area’s voter’s list in the last several months by the Commission on elections (Comelec).

Lawyer Jay Gerada, Comelec-South Cotabato election supervisor, said Wednesday the area’s to-tal registered voters so far reached 669,432, de-creasing by 69,971 when compared to the number of voters in the 2010 local and national elections.

Comelec-South Cota-bato’s operational and administrative coverage comprises this city and the province’s 10 towns and lone city.

Based on the Comelec’s data, South Co-tabato and this city have total established pre-cincts of 4,927 and 893 clustered precincts in 368 voting centers.

The official said the

decline in the area’s num-ber of voters was main-ly due to the purging of 75,606 voters in this city.

From the listed 309,543 registered voters in 2010, Gerada said the city’s number of voters for the upcoming May 13 midterm local and na-tional elections has gone down to 233,937.

But the number of voters in South Cotabato has increased to 435,495, which is 5,635 higher than the total voters for the previous polls, he said.

“(The decline) was mainly due to the exclu-sion of the multiple regis-trants, deceased persons and those who either failed to vote in the two previous elections or did not validate their registra-tions,” Gerada told PNA.

The official said they were able to weed out a significant number of mul-tiple registrants through the Comelec’s automated voter’s information data-base. [PNA]

Number of registered voters in GenSan, SoCot dropped

VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013

AN Australian re-searcher who dis-covered a new spe-

cies of flying frog near ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and named it after her mother said it was a rare find so close to such a big city.

helen’s Flying Frog was first discovered by Jodi Rowley, an amphibi-an expert from Sydney’s Australian Museum, in 2009 during a field trip to the forests fringing the city previously known as Saigon.

Rowley initially thought the tree-dwelling flying frog, so named for the huge webbed feet that allow it to glide or para-chute across the forest canopy, was a familiar spe-cies when she saw it sit-ting on a log beside a path.

It was not until a later trip, when she saw a spec-imen of the original type of frog in another part of Vietnam, that she realised her creature was some-thing quite different.

“The new species has a bright white belly and white whites of the eyes, whereas the species that I

thought it was -- its clos-est relative -- has a lemon yellow belly and yellow whites of the eyes,” Row-ley told AFP.

“There’s also differ-ences in the colour of the webbing, colour of the thighs, and we did look at body type as well so it does seem to be bigger than the other species.”

Molecular analysis confirmed Rowley’s sus-picions and she had the honour of naming the new species rhacophorus helenae or helen’s Flying Frog after her mother, who had recently been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

She said the “big, im-pressive” species, which is 10 centimetres (four inches) long was a sur-prising find in the low-ly-ing evergreen forest sur-rounded by rice paddies on the fringes of ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s most populous city.

“What’s rare about this discovery in particu-lar is the fact that I found the lone individual less than 90 kilometres from the middle of ho Chi Minh

City, one of the biggest cities in Southeast Asia,” said Rowley.

Researchers are now working to establish whether helen’s frog is endangered. Specimens

have only been seen in the lowland forests of south-ern Binh Thuan and Dong Nai provinces and Rowley said there were real fears for its survival.

“We are worried par-

ticularly because it is a lowland forest and it’s the same kind of forest (as where) the Javan rhinoc-eros went extinct in 2011 as well. habitat loss is a huge issue,” she said.

Rowley’s discovery, made with researchers from ho Chi Minh city’s University of Science, was published in the latest is-sue of the Journal of her-petology.

4 EDGEDAVAOSCIENCE/ENVIRONMENT

FLYING FROG. This handout picture taken by Jodi Rowley in 2009 and released by Australian Museum on January 15, 2013 shows Helen’s Flying Frog, a new species of flying frog near Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

New flying frog species discovered in Vietnam

The year 2012 was the ninth warmest of any year since

1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures, U.S. space agency NASA said Tues-day.

With the exception of 1998, the nine warm-est years in the 132-year record all have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the hottest years on record.

NASA’s Goddard In-stitute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, which monitors global surface temperatures on an on-going basis, released an updated analysis Tuesday that compares tempera-tures around the globe in 2012 to the average glob-al temperature from the

mid-20th century.The comparison

shows how earth contin-ues to experience warmer temperatures than sever-al decades ago.

The average tempera-ture in 2012 was about 58.3 degrees Fahrenheit (14.6 Celsius), which is 1.0 F (0.6 C) warmer than the mid-20th centu-ry baseline. The average global temperature has risen about 1.4 degrees F (0.8 C) since 1880, ac-cording to the new anal-ysis.

Scientists emphasize that weather patterns al-ways will cause fluctua-tions in average tempera-ture from year to year, but the continued increase in greenhouse gas levels in earth’s atmosphere as-

sures a long-term rise in global temperatures.

each successive year will not necessarily be warmer than the year be-fore, but on the current course of greenhouse gas increases, scientists ex-pect each successive de-cade to be warmer than the previous decade.

“One more year of numbers isn’t in itself sig-nificant,” GISS climatolo-gist Gavin Schmidt said. “What matters is this de-cade is warmer than the last decade, and that de-cade was warmer than the decade before.

“The planet is warm-ing. The reason it’s warming is because we are pumping increasing amounts of carbon diox-ide into the atmosphere.”

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that traps heat and largely controls earth’s climate. It occurs naturally and also is emit-ted by the burning of fos-sil fuels for energy. Driven by increasing man-made emissions, the level of carbon dioxide in earth’s atmosphere has been ris-ing consistently for de-cades.

The carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere was about 285 parts per million in 1880, the first year in the GISS tempera-ture record.

By 1960, the atmo-spheric carbon dioxide concentration was about 315 parts per million. Today, that measurement exceeds 390 parts per million. [PNA/Xinhua]

2012 ninth warmest year since 1880

FORT Magsaysay, the country’s biggest army training camp

located in Palayan City, Nueva ecija, is girding for a more formidable ene-my which some call the “mother of all wars,” -- cli-mate change.

Brig. Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr., com-mander of the 7th Infan-try (“Kaugnay”) Division, said the army’s new ap-proach is combating the more deadly enemy, the climate change, wherein the collateral damage of which was most evident in the devastation caused by typhoons and floods that

claimed over 10,000 lives in Mindanao last year and in Luzon a couple of years ago.

Drawing parallel from the recent fatalities and the 30,000 deaths that re-sulted in the war waged against insurgency prob-lem, Catapang said the latter figure could even be surpassed unless the country delved more se-riously on combating the impact of climate change.

The new role for the Army takes on a new light, considering the responsi-bility for fighting the New People’s Army in areas declared insurgency-free

has been turned over to the respective peace and order councils in Central Luzon and the Ilocos.

Noting the “role of the soldier as the protector of the people,” Catapang said, “then it is appropriate to engage them in helping the people against the im-pact of climate change.”

he also said the sol-diers during “peace-time” would be a big asset in their new role as their services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In this connection, Catapang challenged the leadership of the National

Democratic Front of the Philippines, the Commu-nist Party of the Philip-pines, and the NPA to join hands with the military in combating climate change, which to him poses a grave concern to mankind and their “common enemy.”

how may the military and the NPA serve a com-mon front in this present day problem? Simply by joining together in sav-ing lives, building disas-ter-proof schools that can be converted to evacua-tion centers, and conduct joint activities to help the victims of this deadlier war, he added. [PNA]

Army troops gird for war on climate change issues SeNATOR Loren Le-

garda, chair person of the Senate Com-

mittee on Climate Change, underscored the impor-tance of disaster pre-paredness during a public hearing at the Sison Audi-torium in Pangasinan on the Use and Implementa-tion of Geohazard Maps.

“It takes preparedness for us to avoid natural hazards from coming di-sasters. Senator Legarda said, “ adding that billions of pesos in agriculture, including lives, are be-ing lost yearly for lack of preparedness in times of disaster.

She cited what hap-pened in the provinces of Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental last year during the wrath of Ty-phoon Pablo when hun-dreds of lives were lost due to worst flooding.

Thus, she urged ev-eryone to take part in her environmental ad-vocacy seeking to save Mother earth, particular-ly through information dissemination of present laws, emphasizing that “we have the best laws in place” which was even ac-knowledged by the Unit-ed Nations.

“Our local officials need to have the valuable, life-saving information regarding risks present in their communities, all of which can be found in the geohazard maps. These maps show where it is

safe and unsafe to reside or to build infrastructure,” Legarda explained earlier.

On the same occasion, Carlos A. Tayag, region-al director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Region I enlight-ened the public on the use of geohazard maps.

These maps, with elements such as title, scale, compass and leg-end, identify the geohaz-ard-prone areas where people must avoid in or-der to reduce the risks and effects of natural ca-lamities.

Tayag also announced that a province-wide workshop to educate ba-rangay officials will soon be undertaken.

The Senator turned over copies of the geo-hazard maps as well as Disaster Risk Reduc-tion books to the provin-cial government through Vice Governor Jose Fer-dinand Calimlim Jr. and Provincial Administrator Rafael Baraan who repre-sented Governor Amado T. espino Jr.

A number of local offi-cials and representatives from the Department of education, Department of Public Works and highways, Department of environment and Natural Resources and other con-cerned agencies attended the event which is part of the National Geohazard Mapping and Assessment Programme. [PNA]

Legarda cites importance of disaster preparedness

VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013

The export Path-ways Program (ePP) of the De-

partment of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the Davao Region fared well last year and even con-tributed more than a quarter of the entire ex-ports figure generated from the agency’s initi-ated interventions.

The ePP was piloted by DTI-Davao Region in 2006 in a bid to provide a package of tailored-fit assistance for a specific micro, small and medi-um enterprise (MSMe) at a given stage of their business. With the pro-gram’s success in the re-gion, the head Office of DTI adopted it and had it implemented in other regions.

Based on the agen-cy’s report, its initiatives on market promotion and facilitation resulted to total export sales of US$81.86 million from January to November 2012. Of the said total export sales, 36 percent was contributed by the ePP.

The same report re-

vealed that the accom-plishment is 34 percent beyond the annual tar-get of US$61 million, and 52 percent higher than the same period of last year’s achievement.

Furthermore, the ePP also augured P149 million worth of invest-ments, generated 9,049 jobs, developed 15 new exporters, and enlisted a total of 31 enrolees.

DTI-Davao Regional Director Marizon S. Lo-reto said the program has really been very helpful for the agency to hit its targets, not just in exports.

“The ePP has been one of DTI-Davao Re-gion’s successful strat-egies. Well, it couldn’t have been adopted for implementation in other regions if it has not been a helpful mechanism in Davao,” she said.

Since ePP started out, it has already assisted 346 MSMes. Of the said figure, 57 have moved to the fifth step which is the Market entry Stage while six are already in the ex-port Sustainability Stage.

“With this, we can gauge that the MSMes that we are nurturing are indeed advancing to a higher level, from just

focusing on the domes-tic market to exploring the international trading arena,” she said.

For this year, DTI-

Davao Region is optimis-tic about raking in more benefits from the ePP.

“We are likewise finding some other strat-

egies that will comple-ment the ePP so that we can maximize its bene-fits,” she said. [DTI11/JenMendoza]

5EDGEDAVAO THE ECONOMY

PERFUMES. A wide array of different scents of perfume draws the attention of a girl at the atrium of SM Lanang Premier yesterday. Nowadays, perfume buyers won’t have a hard time finding the right scent for them as cheap and knock off perfumes flood the market. Lean Daval Jr.

DTI-Davao’s export programcontributes 36% of total exports

VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013

The Philippine Amuse-ment & Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) targets a

P44.15 billion income this year, eight percent higher than its P40.88 billion revenues in 2012.

PAGCOR Chairman and CeO Cristino Naguiat Jr., in a briefing Tuesday, is positive of attaining their target due to the sched-uled opening of the casino and hotel business of Bloomberry Resorts Corp.

Bulk of the income at P29.53 billion is expected to come from the corporation’s gaming operations and winnings. This is higher than the P28.3 billion registered last year.

Revenues from licensed ca-sinos are expected to increase to P7.14 billion this year from P6.22 billion in 2012.

The third major income source would be the commer-cial bingo operations at P3.82 billion from P3.54 billion last year.

The others are the e-games/internet gaming, P2.02 bil-lion, up from the P1.76 billion in 2012; Other Income, P1.56 billion from P830 million last year; and poker operations, P80 million, lower than year-ago’s P830 million.

Listed firm Bloomberry Re-sorts Corp. is expected to open

Solaire Resorts & Casino in the eight square kilometer gaming and entertainment hub dubbed entertainment City in Paran-aque City in the first quarter of this year.

Bloomberry will be the first tenant in the reclaimed area that is targeted to be Asia’s gaming and entertainment hub

similar to that of Las Vegas.The other operators that

are scheduled to put their own casinos and hotels in the area include the tie-up of Sy-led Belle Corp. and Melco Crown and the group of Robinson Land Corp. and the Universal entertainment Group, owned by Japanese billionaire Kazuo

Okada.Naguiat said the Philippines

“will be complementing” the casino operations of Macau and Singapore in the next few years.

“But the Philippines have so much to offer because we will be offering complete package for tourists and not just casi-nos,” he added. [PNA]

6 EDGEDAVAOTHE ECONOMY

MONTHLY AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATE (January 2009 - December 2011)

Month 2012 2011 2010

Average 43.31 45.11December 43.64 43.95November 43.27 43.49October 43.45 43.44

September 43.02 44.31August 42.42 45.18

July 42.81 46.32June 43.37 46.30May 42.85 43.13 45.60April 42.70 43.24 44.63

March 42.86 43.52 45.74February 42.66 43.70 46.31January 43.62 44.17 46.03

Stat Watch5.8%

1st Qtr 2012

6.4 %1st Qtr 2012

USD 4,931million

May 2012USD 4,770

millionApr 2012USD -135

millionApr 2012USD -209

millionMar 2012

P 4,580,674 million

Apr 2012

4.1 %May 2012P131,403

millionMay 2012

P 5,075 billion

Apr 2012

P 42.78Jun 2012

5,091.2May 2012

130.1 Jun 2012

2.8 Jun 2012

3.7 Jun 2012

349,779Apr 2012

18.8 %Jan 2012

7.2 %Jan 2012

1. Gross National IncomeGrowth Rate(At Constant 2000 Prices)

2. Gross Domestic ProductGrowth Rate(At Constant 2000 Prices)

3. Exports 1/

4. Imports 1/

5. Trade Balance

6. Balance of Payments 2/

7. Broad Money Liabilities

8. Interest Rates 4/

9. National Government Revenues

10. National government outstanding debt

11. Peso per US $ 5/

12. Stocks Composite Index 6/

13. Consumer Price Index 2006=100

14. Headline Inflation Rate 2006=100

15. Core Inflation Rate 2006=100

16. Visitor Arrivals

17. Underemployment Rate 7/

18. Unemployment Rate 7/

Cebu Pacific Daily 5J961 / 5J962 5:45 Manila-Davao-Manila 6:15Zest Air Daily Z2390 / Z2390 5:45 Manila-Davao-Manila 6:25Cebu Pacific Daily 5J593 / 5J348 6:00 Cebu-Davao-Iloilo 6:30Philippine Airlines Daily PR809 / PR810 6:10 Manila-Davao-Manila 7:00Philippine Airlines Daily PR819 / PR820 7:50 Manila-Davao-Manila 8:50Cebu Pacific Daily 5J394 / 5J393 7:50 Zamboanga-Davao-Zamboanga 8:10Cebu Pacific Daily 5J599 / 5J594 8:00 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 8:30Cebu Pacific Daily 5J347 / 5J596 9:10 Iloilo-Davao-Cebu 9:40Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri/Sun 5J963 / 5J964 9:40 Manila-Davao-Manila 10:10Philippine Airlines Daily PR811 / PR812 11:30 Manila-Davao-Manila 12:20Cebu Pacific Daily 5J595 / 5J966 12:00 Cebu-Davao-Manila 12:30Silk Air Mon/Sat MI588 12:55 Davao-Cebu-Singapore 09:05Cebu Pacific Thu 5J965 / 5J968 12:55 Manila-Davao-Manila 13:25Cebu Pacific Tue/Wed//Sat 5J965 / 5J968 13:35 Manila-Davao-Manila 14:05

Silk Air Mon/Sat MI588 / MI588 18:55 Davao-Singapore 13:35 Silk Air Wed/Sun MI566 / MI566 18:55 Davao-Singapore 15:20Silk Air Thurs MI551 / MI551 15:45 Davao-Singapore 12:05Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Wed/Fri 5J507 / 5J598 15:00 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 15:30Philippine Airlines August 15:55 Mani2Mani 16:50Zest Air Daily Z2524 / Z2525 16:05 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 16:45Cebu Pacific Daily 5J967 / 5J600 16:35 Manila-Davao-Cebu 17:05Philippines Airlines Daily PR813 / PR814 16:55 Manila-Davao-Manila 17:45Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Thu/Sat 5J215 / 5J216 18:00 Cagayan de Oro-Davao-Cagayan de Oro 18:20Cebu Pacific Daily 5971 / 5J970 18:40 Manila-Davao-Manila 19:10Cebu Pacific Tue/Sat/Sun 5J973 / 5J974 20:00 Manila-Davao-Manila 20:30Cebu Pacific Daily 5J969 / 5J972 20:30 Manila-Davao-Manila 21:00Airphil Express Daily 2P987 / 2P988 20:30 Manila-Davao-Manila 21:00Philippine Airlines Daily except Sunday PR821 / PR822 21:20 Manila-Davao-Manila 21:50Philippine Airlines Sunday PR821 / PR822 22:20 Manila-Davao-Manila 22:50

as of august 2010

STRANDED. A Heavy downpour forces public utility vehicle drivers to tem-porarily stop plying flooded streets leaving many passengers stranded in different parts of Davao City Monday night. It also causes the decline in prof-

it of businesses operating during night time such as resto bars and videoke houses. Lean Daval Jr.

PAGCOR sets P44.15 B revenues target this year

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) last year gener-

ated P128.57 million in sales of 86 properties, including acquired assets and assets of banks closed by the Monetary Board.

Of the properties sold, 14 were corporate assets, while 72 were assets of closed banks. These consisted of 57 real and other properties acquired (ROPA) and 15 vehicles.

Combined sale pro-ceeds from corporate assets amounted to P108.11 million, a premium of P5.93 million from the aggregate minimum disposal price of P102.18 mil-lion.

Meanwhile, proceeds from bidding of closed bank assets accounted for P20.46 million, a premium of P4.18 million from the combined disposal

price of P16.28 million.As Liquidator of closed

banks’ assets, the PDIC is tasked to sell and resolve the assets of closed banks to con-vert these to cash to facilitate payment to creditors includ-ing the PDIC and other gov-ernment agencies, as well as the depositors

The PDIC announces pub-lic biddings through its web-site, www.pdic.gov.ph, as well as in broadsheet newspapers. After the public biddings, as-sets not sold are disposed through negotiated sale. The Corporation has a Property Finder in its website, where interested buyers could browse properties for sale. Prospective buyers may also call the Asset Management and Disposal Group (02) 841-4650 for inquiries on assets for sale. [PNA]

PDIC raises P128.57million thru sale of acquired assets

The awaited free seats pro-motion from Philippines’ AirAsia is back, revealing

a brand new travel period which will extend into year 2014, with promo seats to exciting destina-tions up for grabs starting January 15 viawww.airasia.com.

“We are ringing in the year of the snake with free seats to our domestic and international destinations up for grabs and to make it more exciting, we are extending the travel period for this promo to 2014,” Freddy herrera, AirAsia Inc. Commercial head, said.

To avail of the promo fares, guests can begin booking from 0001hrs (GMT+8) of 15 Janu-ary until 2359hrs (GMT+8) of 20 January 2013 at www.airasia.com. Travel period is open from 20 August 2013 to 9 February 2014.

“Those who have been plan-ning trips or holidays for this year-end and early 2014 will be happy to finally be able to book their flights, and enjoy free seats too!

We know that many have been an-ticipating this AirAsia Free Seats campaign, and what better way to start off the year but with promo seats for everyone,” herrera add-ed.

Aside from free seats, Philip-pines’ AirAsia is also offering big sale promo fares to hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur with all-in fares starting from only P899.

“With our promo fares, more and more people are benefiting from AirAsia’s extensive route net-work which covers 20 countries and 80 destinations,” he said.

high traffic into the AirAsia website is expected and guests are advised to be patient while booking their promo seats, or al-ternatively they can also book the promo seats via AirAsia’s new and improved mobile apps which are available for download at Apple’s App Store for iPhone, Google’s Play Store for Android phones, or at mobile.airasia.com for WAP enabled phones.

Philippines’ AirAsia welcomes 2013 with free seats promo

VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013

ChINA’S population of Internet users grew by 50.9 mil-

lion people in 2012 to 564 million, official data showed Tuesday, with mobile devices the main means of online access.

The China Internet Network Information Center announced the fig-

ures on its website. The total population numbers 1.3 billion people.

The centre last year reported that the number of Internet users surged past the 500 million mark in 2011 for the first time.

Tuesday’s figures showed that the number of people accessing the

Internet via mobile devic-es in 2012 increased 18.1 percent to 420 million.

The use of micro-blog-ging services -- similar to Twitter -- also surged, the report said, with the total number of users increas-ing by 58.73 million to 309 million.

Internet use has

steadily increased despite strict censorship via what is known as The Great Firewall -- the country’s system of online limits and restrictions.

Online shoppers in the world’s second larg-est economy, meanwhile, rose 24.8 percent to 242 million. [AFP]

ICT HUB 7EDGEDAVAO

China Internet users hit 564 million in 2012

The new music-fo-cused version of the social network

Myspace has just opened to the public after having only been accessible to a few thousand invited guests. Under the guid-ance of its new co-owner Justin Timberlake, the site has been revamped and is offering new content.

As Facebook and Twit-ter got more successful

over the years, Myspace became dated. It has now been given a facelift and a new tone, its relaunch coinciding with the un-veiling of Justin Timber-lake’s new track “Suit & Tie (feat. Jay z).”

New functions such as creating playlists to share or the possibility of discovering new art-ists and events have been developed. But the first

noteworthy difference is the site’s new look, some-where between Pinterest in the way frames are displayed and Windows 8 for its horizontal navi-gation.

Apart from a com-pletely new layout, the new Myspace has not been conceived as a closed network. You can sign up from your Face-book or Twitter accounts

and share content from these networks.

Myspace was sold for the modest sum of 35 million dollars to Specific Media Group and Justin Timberlake in 2011 af-ter being purchased for about 580 million dollars by Rupert Murdoch six years earlier.

Discover the new Myspace: new.myspace.com[AFP]

The new Myspace showcases the new track by its co-owner, Justin Timberlake.

New Myspace opened to public with Justin Timberlake’s help

FACeBOOK launched a search engine Tuesday for shared

content as a way to find out more about friends on the huge social network in a potential challenge to Google and other Internet firms.

“We look at Facebook as a big social database,” chief executive Mark zuck-erberg said in announc-ing the so-called “graph search” function. “Just like any database, you should be able to query it.” The search engine aims to help members better nav-igate the vast amount of information on Facebook, which is not available on Web search engines such as Google.

Facebook emphasized that the new effort is not Web search, but can help find certain information archived within the net-work and in the content of friends. “every piece of content on Facebook has its own audience, and most content isn’t pub-lic,” a Facebook statement said.

“We’ve built Graph Search from the start with privacy in mind, and it respects the privacy and audience of each piece of content on Facebook. It makes finding new things much easier, but you can only see what you could already view elsewhere on Facebook.”

zuckerberg said that

Facebook will also use its partnership with Micro-soft’s Bing search engine for the new effort and to find content housed out-side the social network.

“I don’t necessarily think a lot of people will be coming to Facebook to do Web search because of this, but it is a very good search engine,” he said.

he said Facebook had discussed working with Google but that “Microsoft was just more willing to do things that were specific to Facebook.”

The social network of-fered examples of graph search queries including “friends who live in my city,” “people from my hometown who like hik-ing,” “friends of friends who have been to Yosemite National Park,” “software engineers who live in San Francisco and like skiing,” “people who like things I like,” or “people who like tennis and live nearby.”

zuckerberg said the tool is aimed at “giving the people the power and tools to take any cut of the graph (of data) they want and make any query they want.”

he added that “We are not indexing the Web here, we are indexing our map of the graph.”

The company said the new function goes back to its original goals of helping people make connections. [AFP]

Facebook launches search engine for friends’ contentChina Internet users hit 564 M

SAMSUNG electronics Co Ltd has urged a U.S. appeals court to stand

by its denial of Apple Inc’s request to ban sales of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone while Apple challenges its patent, according to a doc-ument filed late last week.

In October, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit blocked Ap-ple’s bid for a pretrial sales ban. Apple has asked all nine active Federal Circuit judges to reconsider that decision, a process known as “en banc” review.

The October ruling by the Washington D.C.-based appeals court raised the bar for potentially mar-ket crippling injunctions on product sales based on narrow patents for phone features. The legal prec-edent puts Samsung in a much stronger position by allowing its products to remain on store shelves while it fights a global pat-ent battle against Apple over smartphone technol-ogy.

Several legal experts believe Apple faces long odds in trying to persuade the appeals court to revisit its decision.

Samsung’s hot-sell-

ing Galaxy smartphones and tablets phones run on Google Inc’s Android op-erating system, so Apple’s litigation against Samsung has been viewed as a proxy for Apple’s fight with Goo-gle. The appeals court de-cision involves patented search technology which Apple argues is critical to the iPhone’s commercial success.

In its court filing last Friday, Samsung argued that en banc review was unnecessary because Ap-ple did not have enough evidence to show a “causal nexus” between its patent-ed search capability and iPhone sales to justify a ban on sales of the Galaxy Nexus.

The Federal Circuit’s panel ruling against Apple used “well established” reasoning that does not conflict with U.S. Supreme Court precedent, Samsung argued.

Representatives for Ap-ple and Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

The two companies are scheduled to go to trial in federal court in San Jose, California in March 2014. [AFP]

Samsung urges court to keep allowing Galaxy phone sales

VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013

When advertorial bites back

8 EDGEDAVAO

EDGEDAVAOProviding solutions to a seamless global village.

ANTONIO M. AJEROEditor in Chief

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

JADE C. ZALDIVAR • VICky BERDINA M. DE GuZMAN ANTHONy S. ALLADA • AQuILES Z. ZONIO

Staff Writers

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

LEANDRO S. DAVAL JR. • JOSEPH LAWRENCE P. GARCIAPhotography

ARLENE D. PASAJECartoons

kENNETH IRVING k. ONGCreative Solutions

NEILWIN L. BRAVOSports and MotoringPrinted by Zion Accuprint Publishing Inc.

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

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

editorial@edgedavao.netmarketing@edgedavao.net

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

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

ALBERTO DALILANManaging

GREGORIO G. DELIGEROAssociate

RAMON M. MAXEyConsultant

JOCELyN S. PANESDirector of Sales

RICHARD C. EBONAAdvertising Specialist

AGuSTIN V. MIAGAN JRCirculation

SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

JANE E. CAROMarketing Assistant

VANTAGE POINTS

( 1st of two parts )

By Jack ShaferCOMMENTARY

EDITORIAL

Sacked or relieved

ON front page yesterday was the report that Po-lice Chief Supt. James

Melad and four other ranking police officials were relieved from their posts over the death of a suspected hit man linked to slain Victor Siman, alleged “jueteng” lord, one of the 13 people killled in the Atimonan (Quezon) carnage.

The news title used a stron-ger word –sacked—which ac-tually means “dismissed from employment.” Relief is actual-ly the more appropriate term since the five PNP officers were merely “taken out of a position of command.”

Whatever, most people frown at “sacking” and “relieving” be-cause such a practice seems not enough to instill discipline in the military and police service.

In the sixties there was much ado about rogue cops -- police-

men who were involved in ex-tortion and other criminal ac-tivities and those who acted as goons and hired guns of politi-cians. The problem was believed addressed with the creation of the National Police Commission and later, the professionaliza-tion of the police force by mak-ing it a national organization, away from the stranglehold of local warlords, including the institutionalization of police education with the creation of the Philippine National Police Academy.

however, nothing seems to work anymore as evidenced by the almost daily fare of news on high crimes involving police personalities.

This suggests strongly that there is a need to revisit all laws pertaining to police reforms and rewrite them to address present-day realities.

AT about noon today, the At-lantic put on a very snug hair shirt, issuing a statement of

apology and regret for having posted on its website Church of Scientology “Sponsor Content” yesterday.

The Scientology advertisement, composed by tone-deaf propagan-dists unable to write a sentence about the church’s alleged world-wide expansion without including a superlative – “unparalleled,” “unre-lenting,” “unprecedented” (twice) – was taken down just before midnight after being up for about 11 hours. (See erik Wemple’s tick-tock.)

A cached version of the Scientol-ogy advertorial is preserved on freiz.it, but be forewarned that there isn’t much there to interest you unless you’re an admirer of the church and love to read nice but bland things about it, or you detest Scientology and enjoy nothing better than to have a good laugh at the church’s expense and that of its “ecclesiastical leader,” David Miscavige. It’s really that lame.

The Atlantic‘s rambling apology, which admits to having “screwed up,” “made a mistake,” “failed to up-date … policies,” etc., and promises to “put things right,” concerns itself mostly with errors of process with-out going into what the company’s existing advertising policies might be. But as instant apologies go, it covers the company’s ass for the time being.

Setting aside the substance of the Atlantic‘s advertising policies, the Scientology advertorial illus-trates a dual break-down. First, the church misserved itself by produc-ing such a dorky exercise in propa-ganda. Can its executives and adver-tising department be so oblivious about how media works that they didn’t know the ad would subject them to ridicule from non-church members and a yawn from the faith-ful? If I ran the church, I’d be dis-patching its copywriters to “The hole,” Scientology’s alleged reedu-cation camp in the California desert.

If I ran the Atlantic‘s advertising department – the most frightening thought I’ve had all day! – I’d not have allowed the Church of Scientol-ogy to run that ad in the first place. If an ad director decides to accept a customer’s advertising, he doesn’t want one-off business. he wants re-peat ads, from the beginning of time to the end, and he therefore looks out for the customer’s interests. Assuming that ad dollars from the Church of Scientology can, in good conscience, be accepted – a view I hold – the Atlantic‘s ad director was remiss in not taking the church aside and saying, “Look, I know you’re suf-fering a public-relations beating out there with the publication of Law-rence Wright’s expose, Going Clear. But the North Korean quality of this advertorial singing a song of praise to David Miscavige is unwise, and in your best interests I reject it. Let’s see if you can do better.”

VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013

CO N -G R e S S h a s

passed a bill that would give indemnifica-tion to some 10,000 victims of the Martial Law regime of Ferdinand e. Marcos. The bill is now being finalized at the bicameral conference committee.

Unfortunately, it has hit snags with the insistence of Senator Joker Arroyo and Akbayan Rep. Walden Bel-lo to exclude as victims those who took up arms against Marcos even if they too suffered rights abuses. I find this personally revolting.

Arroyo’s and Bello’s position im-plies two things: [1] the victims deserved the death, torture and oth-er indignities committed against them by the Marcos dictatorship sim-ply because they had resorted – or are believed to have resorted – to vi-olent means; and [2] since a good number of the victims had belonged to this category, excluding them would be tantamount to exculpat-ing the late strongman of the grave crimes he committed while in power.

It is unthinkable, if not down-right absurd, that Arroyo, a human rights lawyer during Martial Law, and Bello, a prominent foreign-based activist then, are now leading the campaign to ostracize the victims who had suffered much in those dark days.

As a lawyer, Arroyo is fully aware that even suspects of ordinary crimes are entitled to the protec-tion of their rights once they are under government custody. how much more political activists who had opted to risk their lives to get rid of a dictatorship? even former First Lady Imeldific Marcos, Sena-tor Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and the rest of their family must be wondering what has crept into the supposedly brilliant minds of the two lawmakers, i.e. if they have no hand in this thing.

Ruling on a class suit filed by the victims, the court in hawaii had said years ago that Marcos was guilty of human rights violations during his 20-year rule, 14 years of it under Martial Law. But Arroyo and Bello are now seeking to under-mine such decision and deny justice to the victims, and in effect, absolve the Marcoses.

This is a classic case of legisla-tive double-cross, where the very lawmakers who are least expected to oppose the approved Senate and house versions of the indemnifi-cation bill are the ones guilty of a planned rubout.

Is Bello in particular just trying to put one over Akbayan’s political rivals?

Arroyo and Bello have nothing to lose if the indemnification bill gets approved by the President without revisions that would exclude those who actually joined the armed strug-gle against Marcos or are believed to have done so. If this is so, then maybe they stand to gain from blocking its approval?

Just thinking aloud. [MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. h. Marcos C. Mordeno can be reached at hmcmordeno@gmail.com]

AS a young cadet at the Philippine Mil-itary Academy in 1977, the future Lt. Gen. emmanuel T. Bautista was visi-

bly in anguish over his father’s death.The father, Army Brig. Gen. Teodulfo

Bautista, and 35 of his men were massa-cred in Patikul, Sulu during a supposed di-alogue with rebels led by then Usman Sali that ended up in bloodshed and death.

The rebel invitation to the dialogue, on Oct 10, 1977, suggested the Muslim rebels in the Moro National Liberation Front were already willing to join the government side. Nearly 36 years later, the erstwhile young cadet is scheduled to become chief of the country’s Armed Forces, in charge of the country’s defense and security.

As a cadet at the PMA, the young Bau-tista had thoughts about a soldier’s life. But what happened to his father was off those thoughts -- the unarmed father and his men falling simultaneously or one after the other in split seconds from blazing traitors’ guns.

Despite the tragedy that strangled his family, Bautista continued his studies with more fervor and resolve, graduating sev-enth among 161 graduates of PMA Class 1981.

For this achievement, Bautista was the recipient of the Commanding General Phil-ippine Army Award, the Joint United States Military Adviser Group Saber Award and

Distinguished Cadet Award (Starman).Following the footsteps of his father, the

young Bautista distinguished himself as a well-rounded combat officer, having been assigned in insurgency-infested areas out-side of the capital.

Before he was named by President Be-nigno S. Aquino III as the new AFP chief of staff to replace Gen. Jessie D. Dellosa who has reached the military retirement age of 56, Bautista was the concurrent command-ing general of the Army.

As Army chief, Bautista implement-ed with more vigor the IPSP “Bayanihan” through programs and activities to sustain the momentum in “Winning the Peace.”

Parallel to this, he pursued the Army Transformation Roadmap to address the most crucial concerns in the Army -- to en-hance the soldier’s capability, morale and welfare in carrying out his mandated tasks and, most importantly to intensify opera-tional capabilities of frontline units to fulfil the mission of the AFP.

With the ATR and IPSP as guideposts, he ensured that Army personnel and units would be provided with responsive train-ing programs through the conduct of IPSP

mission essential trainings (10 Mission Planning, 10 Stakeholders engagement, and 10 Bayanihan Team Activities Train-ings) in all infantry divisions.

These programs are reinforced by ac-tivities intended to enhance units’ appre-ciation of human Rights, International hu-manitarian Law, and Rule of Law.

To hone frontline units, he directed sev-en unit trainings of five battalions under Battalion of excellence Program. Also, there were 12 company sustainment trainings, 105 platoon sustainment trainings and 430 squad sustainment trainings under his watch.

Complementing these were training programs to improve leadership qualities of ground commanders composed of one Senior Leader’s Conference, five Battalion Commanders symposiums, 33 Platoon Leader’s Combat Proficiency Workshop, and five Senior NCO Leadership Sympo-siums.

In pursuit of the development of the Ar-my’s force structure, Bautista initiated the crafting of the Army’s Table of Organization and equipment to make the units more rel-evant and responsive.

he put premium on the welfare of sol-diers by activating 10 Forward Support Medical Companies in all infantry divisions and 76 medical platoons in all infantry bat-talions.

STARK POLITICAL ReALITY IN A PhILIPPINe SeTTING – Since the late 50s Philippine elections had

already been marred with electoral vi-olence. Several years later, violence has become prevalent to the country’s politi-cal exercises, which prompted the govern-ment to impose a gun ban months before holding elections. The years that followed witnessed the emergence of hard-nosed politicians who established their politi-cal and economic base, which were being reinforced with armed personnel and the scheme continues to this day.

For the next six months starting Jan-uary 13, an election gun ban will be en-forced across the country as a prepara-tion for the upcoming May midterm polls. Nonetheless, President Benigno Aquino III made clear his opposition to a total gun ban despite growing clamor by advocates for a gun-free society. Some concerned groups say that a total gun ban may be a welcome reprieve from the rash of killings, but others notably the responsible and li-censed gun owners thought otherwise.

“Is the enforcement of a total gun ban, the ultimate solution to the worsening crime situation and to avoid election-re-lated violence, it might be asked?” Not by a long shot, says some gun enthusiasts like President PNoy. A stark example of how the Comelec directive has been consistent-ly violated despite strict enforcement is the apprehension of many people who still has the temerity to carry firearms – mostly unregistered. Authorities probably could strictly monitor and regulate the carrying of firearms by responsible and licensed gun owners, but how about the private armed groups with their loose firearms?

The Marcos era saw the coun-try’s election-re-lated violence continued to rise at accelerating pace. elections remained vio-lent even during the later years especially in vi-olence-wracked provinces. Sad to say, of course, the government effectively lost control over callous and cunning poli-ticians, some so affluent and powerful they became known as “warlords.” It came as no surprise that many political pretenders hardly shied away from using brute force to win electoral races often recruiting the armed goons for the job.

Nowadays, the prohibition to car-ry firearms is just, because the election draws near, not only from the spate of killings involving the use of guns both unregistered or not by irresponsible gun holders. To many people’s astonish-ment, aside from his objection to a total gun ban, President PNoy likewise stat-ed that government will find alternative solutions to the problem and deems im-posing a total gun ban as just trying to be cute. Is that so, Mr. President? But as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forc-es, PNoy is inevitably exempted from the election-imposed gun ban.

Aside from PNoy, others exempted from the Comelec directive are Vice Pres-ident Jejomar Binay, senators who are not seeking reelection and members of the Cabinet. Regular officers, members and

agents of government performing law en-forcement and security functions are also granted exemptions. Indeed, politicians of all colors and stripes, senators running for reelection in particular, are expected to storm the Comelec to apply for exemp-tion. And those not exempted will use all probable ways available in order for them to be granted immunity.

Meanwhile, authorities and advocates for a gun-free society noted that the big-gest stumbling block to the election-im-posed gun ban is the existence of private armed groups allegedly being maintained by some thick-faced politicians who are in cahoots with greedy and dubious busi-nessmen. It has always been the case that private armies were being maintained in preparation for any political exercises. Still and all, the poll body had already approved a resolution reiterating that violence, intimidation and harassment with the use of firearms as grounds for disqualification. It also made disqualifi-cation procedures summary and at the same time created the presumption that the act of a follower is the act of a certain candidate for purpose of disqualification.

With deceiving and discerning politi-cians who will surely be granted gun ex-emptions and private armed groups fully armed with sophisticated loose firearms still a stark political reality in a Philippine setting, a violence-free elections this May and beyond are believed unlikely. Unless the poll body regains strength and politi-cal will to enforce the directive stringently to the letter, many thick-faced and hard-nosed candidates will continue to be cou-rageous enough to take the electoral race one step too far.

Bello the beltVANTAGE POINTSEDGEDAVAO 9

Not by a long shot

AFP’s Bautista, author of the ‘Bayanihan’ security plan ( 1st of two parts )

By Ben calSPECIAl FEATURE

VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013

The Philippines’ larg-est gold miner will pay a record fine of

1.034 billion pesos ($25.2 million) for a waste spill after the government re-fused a petition to waive the penalty, officials said on Wednesday.

Philex Mining will also work with the official Mines and Geosciences Bu-reau to clean up the spill so

that the mine concerned can resume operations by the second half of this year, a Philex official said.

The company’s main mining site in the northern mountain district of Pad-cal suffered a spill of mine waste or “tailings” in Au-gust after the area was hit by two powerful typhoons. The mine’s operations have since been suspend-

ed.The company had

asked the bureau waive the charge, saying it had not been remiss in main-taining the pond that held the tailings. But the mining bureau on Tuesday turned down their request.

Philex spokesman Mike Toledo said the company would now pay the fine, which will be used to re-

generate the areas dam-aged by the spill and com-pensate those affected.

“We will cooperate with the MGB and pay 1.034 billion and submit a workplan and budget es-timate for the rehabilita-tion,” he told AFP.

“We will always comply with our obligations under the law. We want to show that responsible mining is possible in the Philip-pines.”

he said that once this penalty is paid and the rehabilitation is complet-ed, the suspension can be lifted and the mine can re-sume operations. A mining bureau spokesman said the company had until Feb-ruary 19 to pay. The agency will then work with Philex in the rehabilitation.

“For now, we are talking about rehabilita-tion. So they pay the pen-alty first and set up rehab facilities,” he said. The min-ing bureau said the tailings consisted of a huge volume of powdered sediment that was not extremely toxic but polluted and silted up nearby waterways. [AFP]

DeMOCRACY around the world was in decline in 2012 for

the seventh year in a row as the Arab Spring led ner-vous autocratic leaders to clamp down on any stir-rings of dissent, a study said Wednesday.

The annual report by the Freedom house non-governmental organi-zation found 90 countries now enjoyed full freedom, up from 87 nations in 2011, but 27 places saw new restrictions on rights of assembly, expression, and the media.

There “is a critical need for leadership from the United States and other democracies,” the “Freedom in the World 2013” report said, argu-ing in favor of a greater US engagement with civil so-ciety in oppressed nations.

Some three billion people, or 43 percent of the global population, enjoyed full political rights and civil liberties, while 1.6 billion resided in partly free countries, where there is only lim-ited respect for freedoms in place.

Some 34 percent of the world’s population, or 2.3 billion people, how-ever lived in countries deemed to be not free.

Russia, Iran, which stepped up its repres-sion of journalists and bloggers, and Venezuela -- where President hugo

Chavez was re-elected against a backdrop of a “badly skewed” electoral playing field -- were sin-gled out by the report.

“Our findings point to the growing sophis-tication of modern au-thoritarians,” said Arch Puddington, Freedom house vice president for research.

“They are flexible, they distort and abuse the legal framework, they are adept at the techniques of modern propaganda,” he added in a statement.

“But especially since the Arab Spring, they are nervous, which accounts for their intensified per-

secution of popular move-ments for change.”

Authoritarian regimes moved to weaken “the elements of democratic governance that pose the most serious threats to repressive and corrupt rule: independent civil so-ciety groups, a free press, and the rule of law,” the report said.

There were some suc-cesses for democracy, with the most dramatic improvements since 2008 seen in Libya, Tunisia and Myanmar. egypt, zimba-bwe, Moldova and Ivory Coast were also among those countries where re-pressive restrictions were

eased.But Mali, where rebel

soldiers ousted the elect-ed government last year, topped the list of nations in which the most free-doms were lost, suffering “one of the greatest sin-gle-year declines in the history of Freedom in the World,” said the report, which has been drawn up annually since 1972.

“Nigeria, another country plagued by Isla-mist militants, suffered a less dramatic decline, as did the Central African Republic, which at year’s end risked being con-quered by a rebel group.” [AFP]

NATION/WORlD10 EDGEDAVAONATION BRIEFS

Recalled

After being de-prived of ad-ditional funds,

Senate Minority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cay-etano on Wednesday bared that some of his and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s staff are being recalled by the Senate allegedly with-out explanation.

“We received a memo that ang staff namin ni Sen. Trillanes that belong to the [Sen-ate] secretariat are being recalled, walang reason na nakalagay,” Cayetano told report-ers at the sidelines of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines’ (IBP) Convention in Davao City.

Conferred

The Philippine gov-ernment has con-ferred the Legion

of honor on outgoing US Secretary of State hillary Clinton for her steadfast support to the Philippines and com-mitment to strengthen ties between Manila and Washington.

Foreign Affairs Sec-retary Albert del Ro-sario bestowed the recognition on Clinton on behalf of President Benigno S. Aquino III in simple ceremonies at the US State Depart-ment in Washington D.C. on Tuesday.

Support

The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs

(DFA) expressed yes-terday its support for Brunei’s move to pur-sue a code of conduct among claimants to the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) as the sultanate assumed the chairmanship of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) this January.

Assistant Secretary Raul hernandez, the DFA spokesman, de-scribed the Philippines’ stance as “hopeful” about the prospects for negotiations among nations with conflicting claims to the territo-ries, specifically China.

Business bills

Philippine and for-eign businessmen have urged legis-

lators to fast-track the passage of key econom-ic and business bills be-fore the 15th Congress goes on break for the mid-term elections.

The groups led by the Joint Foreign Cham-bers of the Philippines “urge Congress to sup-port this momentum by accomplishing a final effort by passing most of these measures when it resumes for a three-week session on January 21 before en-tering the election cam-paign period.”

Speaking before lawyers all over the country, Senator edgar-do Angara said it was about time that the Phil-ippines opens its doors to foreign law practi-tioners. In his speech delivered before mem-bers of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) in Davao City, An-gara said the Supreme Court should revise the Rules of Court to allow foreign lawyers to do limited practice in the country.

he explained that the current policy of only allowing Filipi-no lawyers to practice in the country is pre-venting the Philippines from entering into tie-ups with foreign law schools and getting experts in mergers and acquisition.

WORLD TODAYTo stay

France will end its in-tervention in Mali only once stability has

returned to the West Afri-can country, French Pres-ident Francois hollande said on Tuesday, raising the prospects of a cost-ly, drawn-out operation against al Qaeda-linked rebels.

Paris has poured hun-dreds of soldiers into Mali and carried out air raids since Friday in the north-ern half of the country, which Western and region-al states fear could become a base for attacks by Isla-mist militants in Africa and europe.

Grounded

Japan’s two leading air-lines grounded their fleets of Boeing 787s

on Wednesday after one of the Dreamliner passen-ger jets made an emergen-cy landing, the latest and most serious in a series of incidents to heighten safe-ty concerns over a plane many see as the future of commercial aviation.

All Nippon Airways Co said instruments aboard a domestic flight indicated a battery error, triggering emergency warnings to the pilots. It said the battery in the forward cargo hold was the same lithium-ion type as one involved in a fire on another Dreamliner at a U.S. airport last week.

Laid to rest

The remains of Aus-tralia’s most famous outlaw, Ned Kelly, are

finally to be laid to rest, 132 years after he was hanged for murder.

Kelly’s descen-dants, who received the bushranger’s remains after they were exhumed from a mass prison grave, said on Wednesday they will hold a private church memorial service on Friday before the burial in an unmarked grave on Sunday

Uncertain

In a matter of days, hil-lary Clinton will leave the State Department

behind and become a pri-vate citizen for the first time in 34 years. But her next big decision will be a very public one: whether to run for U.S. president in 2016.

Many factors would weigh in her favor should she decide to run. She leaves her Secretary of State job as the most pop-ular member of Obama’s Cabinet and the country’s most admired woman - rated far ahead of even first lady Michelle Obama, according to a Gallup poll of Americans.

Protest

The Pakistani army said on Wednesday it will protest to India

over the killing of a Paki-stani soldier in Kashmir, the fifth fatality in hostil-ities between the nucle-ar-armed neighbours this year.

Indian troops shot dead the soldier at a posi-tion called Kundi during firing from the Indian side of the Line of Control in the disputed himalayan terri-tory, Pakistan’s army said in a statement. The Indian defence ministry declined to comment.

DECLINE OF DEMOCRACY. Activists from Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres- RSF) protest in front of an Iran Air agency in Paris, on July 10, 2012. Democracy around

the world was in decline in 2012 for the seventh year in a row as the Arab Spring led nervous autocratic leaders to clamp down on any stirrings of dissent, a study said Wednesday.

Democracy in decline around the world

This file photo shows mine tailing treatment pond at the ore milling plant of Philex Mining Corp., in Itogon, northern Benguet province, pictured on May 27, 2006. Philex Mining will pay a record fine of P1.034 billion ($25.2 million) for a waste spill after the government refused a petition to waive the penalty, officials said on Wednesday.

Gold mine to pay huge fine for spill

VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013 11EDGEDAVAO COMMUNITY SENSE

FFROM 1

FFROM 1 FFROM 2

FFROM 2

PNP...

No.. Int’l..

Cenro..

officer of the 10th Civil Military Operations Bat-talion, said in a press con-ference yesterday at The Marco Polo Davao that the barricade caused a monu-mental traffic jam 25 kilo-meters long.

“It was mere propa-ganda by people who are kulang sa pansin (want to be noticed,” Obligado said, adding that it was spearheaded by “Barog sa Katawhan” and support-ed by activist groups.

“It’s not that they re-ally want relief opera-tions stopped but purely political so that they can be heard and recognized. Ang nakaka lungkot lang nadadamay yung mga tao sa kagagawan nila,” Ob-ligado went on.

According to Obligado, some of the members of the organization went to the houses of residents in Montevista telling them that Manny Pacquiao and Vice Mayor Rodrigo Dute-rte of Davao City would be distributing relief goods to them. “They deceived people in order to get their attention,” he added.

Obligado said that since Day One after the typhoon struck, the whole government entity had been helping the victims through relief operations and “it’s clear that the ac-tivists want to disrupt the smooth flow of the deliv-ery of relief goods to the people.”

Superintendent Film-ore escobal, head of Po-lice Community Relations PRO 11, said that upon hearing about the bar-icade his team went to Montevista to talk with the group leaders but practiced maximum tol-erance in favor of negoti-ation.

“The PNP will conduct an investigation and file a case against the group leaders for hampering and delaying relief oper-ations done by hardwork-ing volunteers,” escobal said.

Possible cases, accord-ing to the police, include alarm and scandal.

Meanwhile, relief and recovery effort by govern-ment in disaster affect-ed areas will continue to ensure that all survivors of typhoon Pablo receive assistance and their lives return to normalcy, ac-cording to a top official of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Davao Region.

Priscilla Razon, re-gional director of DSWD 11 said their agency will maintain its relief distri-bution system, despite the claim of progressive organizations that the goods do not reach the far-flung areas.

She said that while Secretary Corazon “Din-ky” Soliman of the DSWD recognizes the plea of the people who rallied at

the junction of the Agu-san-Davao highway in Montevista, Composte-la Valley for more relief goods is legitimate, the means to air their com-plaint was illegal.

“It violated many rules like the obstruction of traffic,” Razon said.

She observed that most of the people who participated in the barri-cade were herded from other places towards that point given the eleven buses and three jeeps that took them there.

Razon said the barri-cade blocked the access of people for 12 hours since all forms of transporta-tion were not allowed to pass to their destination.

She explained that the government effort is now addressing the recovery phase, where food assis-tance and the provision of shelters go side by side.

“We will be visible and will make all resources available for the affected families,” Razon said.

She stressed that as-sistance will be given to all people regardless of their political color, lean-ings, and economic status.

Razon said assistance can be extended not only to the ordinary residents, but also to the rebels, pro-vided they are on the list of the survivors.

She said that current-ly, the Inter-agency Re-lief Operation Center has

plenty of relief goods but lack of personnel to do the repacking.

“That’s why we con-tinue to call on for more volunteers,” Razon said.

She said the IROC has a goal of repacking 20,000 of goods a day for the 233,000 families in the provinces of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley.

Razon said the based on the distribution plan of the DSWD; a food pack will last for ten days given the ten kilos of rice as pri-mary assistance.

“The distribution is monitored through the Disaster Family Access Card, where receipt of assistance is indicated whenever food assistance is given to every affected family,” she said.

Razon said they are all wondering on the claim that relief goods did not reach the beneficiaries in far-flung barangays.

“The relief operation has run for more than a month and it is impos-sible to think that there are still recipients who do not receive any assis-tance. We just saw the complainants in the area yesterday, while we have been in the disaster areas for more than a month now,” she said.

Razon said those who might fail to receive as-sistance for more than a month, could have been

very hungry by now.Obligado said that the

groups behind the barri-cade in Compostela Valley Tuesday exploited the dire situation of the ty-phoon survivors to gain attention.

he said it is clear that the organizations behind the barricade only want-ed to disrupt the relief distribution system of government.

“Since Day 1, the gov-ernment through a whole of nation approach had been there helping the survivors with the count-less and nameless vol-unteers and donors who extended assistance just to mitigate the impact of typhoon Pablo. Those who organized the rally were not there. They sim-ply destroyed the order of halting the traffic, conse-quently affecting 25 kilo-meters of transportation for 12 hours,” Obligado said.

he said many were duped to join the rally since they were promised that goods would be given by prominent personali-ties.

escobal said the or-ganizers who exploited the plight of the typhoon survivors want to attract attention by disturbing the established order in the distribution of relief goods.

“We will file alarm and scandal charges as we

investigate on other pos-sible crimes committed during the rally,” escobal said.

As of 12:00 am Wednesday, the provin-cial government of Com-postela Valley facilitated the distribution of 1,877 food packs to the partic-ipants of the rally at the intersection of the Agu-san-Davao highway in Compostela town.

One hundred sacks of rice were also given to the protesters.

During a negotiation Tuesday, Secretary So-liman stressed that the protesters will comply nine point conditions for the distribution of relief goods in the countryside like the provision of dis-tribution plan which in-clude place and time, list of recipients and their address, name of respon-sible person who will guarantee safe distribu-tion, barangay/ purok of distribution, presence of representatives from the DSWD and local govern-ment unit during distri-bution, release of rice at the DSWD Regional Office Depot, acknowledgement that the goods are from the DSWD and provin-cial government, render report after distribution and to ensure proper storage of rice following safety standards. [With PIA 11/Joey Sem G. Da-lumpines]

Standards.he said that with the

extension, consequently, motorcycle owners were given ample time to have their helmets inspected and validated by the DTI, to ensure its integrity as a protective gear for its us-ers.

“The issue here is the driver’s safety. We want to make sure that the helmet can really protect and pre-vent head injuries in case of accident,” Barlis pointed out.

he disclosed that for Davao City alone, the DTI inspected 20,000 helmets and were issued corre-sponding ICC stickers.

Barlis also said that based on the records from

the Land Transportation Office XI, Davao City had a more than 60,000 regis-tered motorcycles based on the 2011 data.

he said given that there is no longer an extension, motorists who failed to get the ICC stickers for their helmet may purchase a new one from the duly-cer-tified sellers of rider’s hel-met.

Barlis said the Bureau of Product Standards pro-vided their agency the list of corresponding stickers that were released to the market as reference in case any tampering of ICC would happen.

he also pointed out that the ICC sticker stands alone during the inspec-

tion conducted by the Land Transportation Office.

“You do not need to bring the ICC certificate issued by the BPS for the corresponding ICC sticker on your helmet. The ICC sticker can stand alone for inspection,” Barlis said.

Republic Act No. 10054 which mandate all mo-torcycle riders to wear standard protective hel-mets while driving im-poses fines for violators at Php1,500 for the first offense; Php3,000 for the second offense, Php5,000 for the thirds offense and Php10,000 plus confisca-tion of driver’s license for the fourth and succeeding offenses. [PIA 11/Joey Sem G. Dalumpines]

approach in achieving its key results.

The convergence approach employs in-ter-agency complemen-tation efforts during the implementation phase of the project. Different agencies strategically match socio-economic initiatives to achieve tar-gets and anticipated re-sults.

Caroline Maningo, eU Philippines Program Officer says eU is cur-rently working with the Departments of Agricul-ture, Social Welfare and Development, and en-vironment and Natural Resources in expanding its on-going project to eRRCM sites.

“This will ensure sus-tainability of the eRRCM livelihood projects,” she adds.

The Autonomous Re-gion in Muslim Mindan-ao (ARMM) regional gov-ernment also plans to adopt the same strategy in implementing various programs and projects in the region.

“Our approach now is convergence, and we will try to adopt the learning experience of the eR-RCM Programme,” says Mujiv hataman, ARMM OIC Regional Governor.

The eRRCM Pro-gramme formed part of government efforts to fa-cilitate the resettlement and early recovery of populations displaced by armed conflict in 2008.

Implemented by the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) and the ARMM regional government with fund-ing support from eU and UNDP, the eRRCM Programme construct-ed 1,793 homes and equipped IDP resettle-ment areas with more than 120 water systems and sanitation facilities. Access to basic social services in the reset-tlement areas was en-hanced through the con-struction of 28 barangay health stations, 30 Bot-ika ng Barangay or vil-lage pharmacies and 30 classroom buildings.

eRRCM also helped build the capacities of host local governments in disaster risk reduc-tion and management and in conflict resolution - key factors in ensuring coordinated response during disasters and re-covery period.

Kadiguia zambaga, 37, a mother of four, ex-presses happiness for her family who now has a decent home after liv-ing with five other fami-lies at an evacuation site for the past three years in Brgy. Pamalian in Pik-it, North Cotabato.

“Life is a lot better now. At night we could sleep well and feel se-cure,” says zambaga.

“MinDA shall contin-ue its efforts in making the government felt by the people especially in

conflict-affected areas,” says Secretary Luwal-hati Antonino, MinDA chairperson and eRRCM Programme National Di-rector.

She adds that MinDA in partnership with the ARMM regional govern-ment has been in the forefront of facilitating programs and projects designed for the early recovery and rehabilita-tion of conflict-affected communities in Mindan-ao since 2003.

“The eRRCM Pro-gramme experience and similar other successful programs that pushed for sustainable peace in the island-region are man-ifestations that peace efforts in Mindanao are moving forward being re-inforced by the signing of the Framework of Agree-ment on Bangsamoro,” adds Antonino

A Mindanao Devel-opment Forum aimed to provide platforms for dialogue and public dis-course on priority issues and policy agenda on Mindanao will be held in Davao City on February 1. The event will also tackle the emerging and evolving issues in Min-danao and will enhance further the existing con-sultative processes de-signed to facilitate sub-stantive policy dialogue among stakeholders of island-region’s develop-ment and peace-building agenda. [MinDA]

terialism and extraction, we must also give back,” Avila said, adding “This is exactly the focus of Liwa-nag, to use creativity to further sustainability in society.”

he also announced in the forum that the bi-cycle pilgrimage called “Padjak Tungo sa Liwa-nag” which commenced January 1 from Aparri, Northern Luzon will ar-rive in Davao City on the 26th where the Liwanag Committee will be orga-

nizing a welcome group for the bikers. This is one of the events of Liwan-ag which is “a conscious effort to string beads of light (Liwanag) all over the nation.”

Avila also expressed his gratitude to the pub-lic and private sector for actively participating in the Liwanag World Festival, saying that the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry has agreed in a meet-ing to support Liwanag

by encouraging all of its (Chamber of Commerce) to participate in the event while the Association of Regional executives of National Agencies ARe-NA 11 also endorsed Li-wanag by requiring all of its 100 members to have at least five participants joining the festival.

Avila said, “It is very encouraging to know that the government sector is fully supporting Liwan-ag together with the city government of Davao.”

VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013ClASSIFIEDS ADS12 EDGEDAVAO

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

There’s abetter wayto getattention.

Advertise with

EDGEDAVAO

ClASSIFIEDS

RealtyFOR SALE:

1) 1-hectare commercial lot at P10,000/sq m, along national highway, facing east, beside nccc Panacan, Davao city. 2) 17,940sq m commercial lot at P2,500/sq m, along Matina Diversion road. 3) 3,831 sq m lot along Matina Diversion road. 4) 41,408 sq m commercial/industrial lot at P800/sq m along the national highway, Bunawan. 5) 7,056 sq m at P1,200/sq m commercial/residential lot along Indangan road, Buhangin District. 6) 27,411 sq m commercial/industrial lot along the national highway in Bincungan, Tagum city. 7) 116.15 to 245.92 sq meters , at P5.5M to P12.3M commercial/office condo units in Bajada, Davao city. 8) 699 to 1,117 sq m at P4,100/sq m commercial lots at Josefina Town center, along the national highway, Dumoy, Toril. 9) ready-for-Occupancy residential Properties: 4Br/3T&B in a 240 sq m lot with 177.31sqm floor area (2-storey) at P4.8M in an exclusive beachfront community in Dumoy, Toril.; 3Br 2-storey in a 71.25 sq m 2-storey in a 143sq m lot in an exclusive flower village in Maa, Davao city; 180 sq m lots with 71.25sqm to 126.42 sq m floor areas, priced at P3.751M to P5.773M in an exclusive mountain resort community along Matina, Diversion road. 10) 1Br/2Br residential condo units located in Bolton, Maa, Obrero, Davao city. 11) fOr aSSUMe (rUSh): 1Br res’l condo unit in Palmetto, Maa. P600k negotiable. note: Items 1-9 can be paid in cash, in-house or bank financing. If interested, please call Jay (Prc reB lic. 8237) at 0922-851-5337 (Sun), 0908-883-8832 (Smart) or send email to propertiesindavao@yahoo.com.

RATES FORLINE ADS

P150.00 per column inch; P55.00 first three lines; P10.00 on succeeding lines

3 + 2 bonusFULL COLOR ADS + 35% color surcharge

RATES FOR BOx ADSBLACK AND WHITE

SIZE

Full PageHalf Page1/4 Page1/8 Page1/16 Pageper col. cm.

10,000.005,000.002,500.001,250.00

650.0055.00

Classified Page

South Osmeña, General Santos City Cell No. 09999923588Tel. No. (083) 552-3297

We offer Pasta, Pizza and all Filipino foodsand international cuisine

Coffee Shop

PRIME PROPERTYFOR SALE

ROBINSONS HIGH LANDS, 173 sq. meters,1.5 M, Direct Buyers onlyContact: 0926-305-1555 0942-966-2444

PROPERTYFOR SALE

IDEAL FOR INDUSTRIAL / MANUFACTURING PLANT, 3 hectares, Santa Cruz along the National Highway, Direct Buyers onlyContact: 0927-706-2510

LOT FOR SALE180 sq. meter, Farland Subd., Dumoy, Toril, P 350,000 only

Contact: 0927-706-2510 Account Executives (2)- Male / Female, not more than 30 years old- Candidate must posses a Bachelor/ College Degree in any Business field.- Willing to work under pressure, flexible, persuasive, can speak fluently and computer literate- A team player- With Basic Salary, Transportation, Communication, allowance + Commission

HR DepartmentEDGEDavaoDoors 13 & 14 Alcrej B;dg., Quirino Ave., Davao CityTel. No. (082) 221-3601 Email: edgedavao@gmail.com

For interested applicants, you may send your resume to:

EDGE DavaoServing a seamless society

VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013 SPORTS 13EDGEDAVAO

LOS ANGeLeS — Kobe Bryant played relentless defense,

spurring his fellow Los Angeles Lakers to do the same. Dwight howard dominated the paint, scoring easy baskets and blocking shots against the bewildered Bucks.

Over the last two games, the Lakers have resembled the power-house everybody envi-sioned before their tu-multuous season began.

They’re about to find out whether they got it together in time to com-pete with the Miami heat.

howard had 31 points and 16 rebounds, Bryant also scored 31 points and the Lakers beat Mil-waukee 104-88 Tuesday night (Wednesday, Ma-

nila time) for their sec-ond straight win after a six-game skid.

Metta World Peace added 12 points as the Lakers prepared for Thursday’s visit from the NBA champion heat with an impressive effort featuring 30-point games for both Bryant and how-ard for the second time in their brief tenure togeth-er. After a similar effort against Cleveland two days earlier, the Lakers are cautiously optimis-tic they’ve solved a few problems.

“It’s been great,” how-ard said. “When we play the way we played these last two games, I don’t see anybody beating us. The problem is we have to do it on a consistent

basis and not have any lapses during the game. We’re learning, but stuff like that takes time. The biggest thing, we’ve just got to stick together. We can’t let nothing on the outside tear us apart.”

howard again played with an obvious spark in his second game back from a three-game ab-sence with a torn labrum in his shoulder, blocking four shots and goaltend-ing a couple more when he wasn’t busy overpow-ering the Bucks on of-fense. Bryant and Steve Nash, who had 11 assists, focused on getting the ball to howard close to the rim, and the six-time All-Star center capital-ized against Milwaukee’s skinny post players.

INDONeSIA’S Fil-Am im-port Richard Smith was fined by the Asean Bas-

ketball League (ABL) for shoving another half-Fil-ipino Asi Taulava of San Miguel.

The league cracked the whip on the Indonesia Warriors’ big man, penaliz-ing him for instigating in an endgame altercation with Taulava during the opening game ushering the ABL’s fourth season last week in Jakarta.

The exact fine wasn’t disclosed, but the ABL posted about the decision on its website.

Smith, a Fil-American born in Subic Bay, shoved Taulava shortly after the Beermen’s victory over the defending champions

that was caught by eSPN during its live coverage of the game.

Cooler heads inter-vened and prevented a full-blown altercation between the two.

According to the ABL, Smith will be slapped with a one-game suspension if he doesn’t pay the fine.

The Warriors will not appeal the decision.

Smith’s act has obvi-ously irked Taulava, a for-mer PBA Most Valuable Player, calling it a ‘cheap shot.’

“I’m the wrong guy to mess with. he has that to sign out when he gets here. Good luck to him. Richard should learn to read be-tween the lines,” Taulava warned.

Kobe Bryant falls down the floor against Milwaukee but the Lakers are on a roll with a second straight win.

According to the ABL, Indonesia Warriors big man Richard Smith will have to pay the undisclosed fine or risk a one-game suspension.

TWO IN A ROWIs this going to be a Lakers streak?

Fil-Am fined for shoving Asi

VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013SPORTS14 EDGEDAVAO

A TeAM on the up-swing is always a dangerous foe for

an undefeated squad hop-ing to keep its clean sheet.

That is the situation league-leading Ateneo de Davao University is facing when they take on next the momentum-riding Ford Academy side in the 1st emilio D. escandor Cup basketball tournament at the RMC Gym.

The Blue Knights will have a week to prepare for that though. For now,

they need to fine-tune their running game and shake off the rust of a long layoff.

The Ateneo-Ford match is set on January 26 at 10:30 a.m.

For Academy is riding high on a three-game win-ning streak to catch up the unbeaten Ateneo (3-0) in the Passerelle Division of this three-divisional tour-nament sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol sa Pilipinas (SBP) and orga-nized by the Royal Man-

daya hotel in honor of the late RMh patriarch.

Another team hot-ly in pursuit of the lead, holy Child, is at second place in the standings with a 2-0 slate and will be watching keenly from the sidelines in the Ate-neo-Ford setto as they play the Blue Knights the next day. If Ateneo wins over Ford, it will go for win no. 5 against its bit-ter rivals who are seek-ing to keep their own streak intact.

Before that, the Reds will play a doubleheader on January 26, hoping to chalk up two more wins to move abreast Ateneo. They take on Assumption College of Davao (1-2) at 9:00 a.m. and come back at 1:30 pm on January 26 to play cellar dweller Daniel R. Aguinaldo Na-tional high School (0-4).

In the lone Mini Divi-sion match on that day, Assumption College of Davao (1-2) meets UIC (1-1) at 12:00 noon.

1ST EMILIO D. ESCANDOR CUP

JuniorsDivision Bracket A W L HCSD 2 0 ACD 2 1 Ford 1 1 JMC 0 3

Bracket B

ADDU 3 0 Agro 2 1 DCDNHS 1 2 Emar 0 3

Passerelle Division

ADDU 3 0 HCSD 2 0 Ford 3 1 Emar 2 3 ACD 1 3 DRANHS 0 4

Mini Division

ADDU 3 0 HCSD 2 1 UIC 1 1 ACD 1 2 PISD 0 3

Schedule of Games:January 26, 2013 Saturday Venue: RMC Gym 9:00am ACD vs HCSD (pass) 10:30am ADDU vs Ford (pass) 12:00nn ACD vs UIC (mini) 1:30pm HCSD vs DRANHS (pass) January 27, 2013 Sunday Venue: RMC Gym 9:00am HCSD vs Ford (Jrs) 10:30am ADDU vs HCSD (pass) 12:00nn HCSD vs UIC (mini) 1:30pm ADDU vs PISD (mini)

The Philippine national men’s football team is

expected to field its best lineup in the upcom-ing 2014 Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup qualifiers on March after the tournament has been moved to interna-tional match dates set by FIFA.

The matches for the qualifiers have been moved to March 22 to March 26 from the ear-lier schedule of March 2 to March 6, according to the latest fixtures on the FIFA website. That means that the Azkals have a big chance to lure their best players who play abroad

such as goalkeeper Neil etheridge and midfield-ers Stephan Schrock, Dennis Cagara and Jerry Lucena, among others.

When national team matches fall on interna-tional match dates, clubs are obliged to release their players called up from the preparations until the matches itself.

In recent years, the Azkals have had difficul-ty securing the release of their foreign-based players, preventing them to play with their best roster. The ASeAN Foot-ball Federation Suzuki Cup last year, where they fell to eventual champion Singapore in the semifi-

nals, saw them failing to field some of their top players as the tourna-ment didn’t fall on inter-national match dates.

The Azkals will play Brunei Darussalam on March 22, Cambodia on March 24 and Turkmen-istan on March 26 in Group e of the Challenge Cup qualifiers at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadi-um.

The Philippines needs to top the group or become one of the two of the best second-placed squads in the 20-team qualifiers to be played across Asia to qualify for the 2014 Challenge Cup proper in Maldives.

PhILIPPINe Sports Commission chair-man Richie Garcia

said remittances from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation to the government’s sports arm has dropped and could further dip with the influx of private casinos in the country.

The strong economic growth in the Southeast Asian region has helped lure international gaming companies to Manila, but Garcia noted that it means competition for the state-run gaming firm - and less remittances from Pagcor to the PSC.

Garcia said that the PSC experienced a drop in its Pagcor remittances last year, and sees the trend to stay the same.

The PSC receives a share from Pagcor’s in-come as per Republic Act 6847. The amount received is placed in a National Sports Development Fund used to augment the needs of the national athletes.

“’Yung mga private ca-sino, hindi sila nagbibigay ng share,” Garcia said. “Mas maraming nagsusugal sa mga bagong casino which will deprive PSC of our pri-vate share.”

The casino business in the country now has some new and big players includ-ing recent Resorts World of Genting hong Kong and property magnate Andrew Tan, and the soon-to-open Solaire Manila of ports ty-coon enrique Razon.

Garcia said the month-ly remittance from Pagcor dropped in December.

“It’s only P40 million (last month) from a high of P60 million. hindi okay ’yun. That will affect us by more than a hundred million a year. Mahina ang income nila and if that con-tinues, mahirapan tayo,” Garcia said.

“It will drop about P10 million a month, P120 million a year. We already dropped by almost P15 million,” he added.

1st ESCANDOR CUP

Ateneo seeks 4th win vs FordBy Neil Bravo

AFC CHALLENGE CUP QUALIFIERSAzkals to field best line-up

Pagcor share for PSC down

AZKALS mainstays Jerry Lucena (left), who plays pro football in the Danish League, and Stephan Schrock (right), who plays in Germany’s Bundesliga, could suit up for the Philippines in the AFC Challenge Cup.

TEAM STANDINGS

Recognising the need for formal culinary train-ing and expertise in Davao City, the MOST Insti-tute opened its door at its original site along the busy street of R. Magsaysay in Chinatown. It was there where the seeds of excel-lence were planted, lead-ing to over 53 culinary school batches and over 500 graduates to date who are now business owners, working in the city’s top restaurants and hotels, or on the many cruise ships and international hotel chains around the world. As time passed, the management decided to

move to school to a better address as they saw a need to upgrade the schools fa-cilities, and they did just that last January 14 as they transferred the school to the third floor of the Vet-eran’s Bank Building along C.M. Recto Avenue. Gone was the low ceil-ing and and cramped quarters of the old school, replaced now by brightly-lit rooms and spacious kitchens with high ceil-ings. Although the new school occupies a smaller floor area, everything is located on just one floor making the space alloca-tion more efficient.

By Kenneth Irving Ong

TheRe is a food revolution taking over Davao City. It is a revolution of new restau-rants, hotels, and eateries, and fuelling the revolution are the arrival of new cooks and chefs into the scene thanks to the many cu-linary schools that not call Davao City their home. One such school is the MOST Insti-tute by Islacare.

INdulge! VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013

EDGEDAVAOFOOD

The MOST Culinary Institute moves up to a better address

Cutting the ribbon of the new sChool. Councilor louie John bonguyan Jr., louie bonguyan sr, Dr. rosalie reyes of islacare, Dr. Mercedes onagan Most Manila, Judina Jimanez islacare-Most Davao school Administrator.

Cooking demonstration. Chef instructor ramon abalos Jr. prepares seared tuna for the guests.One of the two new kitchens at the new school.

Chef instructors, Alexander Bumanlag and Jaime Marquez.Dr. Mercedes Onagan MOST Manila.Dr. Rosalie Reyes of Islacare.Marco Polo Davao’s executive chef Ed Tuazon.

Dr. Rosalie Reyes of Islacare believes the new address will mean that the school will be more acces-sible to the students while providing a more condu-cive learning environment for the students to learn culinary in. The school now also offers lifestyle classes in baking and short courses on different cui-sines for individuals who want to further their cook-ing knowledge. The art of cookery has come a long way from just self learning and experi-ence to a science, where knife skills, ingredient knowledge, and cook-ing know-how need to be learned and mastered, changing the way Da-bawenyos eat and appreci-ate the food they eat.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) dis-closed the 4th quarter 2012 results of the Quality of Service (QoS) Benchmarking Tests on the telco industry networks within sixteen cities and one municipality of the NCR. “Both Smart and Globe got passing marks in these tests conducted last December, involving postpaid subscribers” NTC Commis-sioner Gamaliel Cordoba said. “The gains of our network modernization are now being felt more than ever by our customers – this is paramount for us and we are happy with this development,” Globe Telecom CeO ernest Cu observed. Through the last three quarters of the NTC-initiated tests, Globe has demonstrated enhanced performance resulting in progressively improving scores. Citing the rapid advancement of the telco’s modernization program, now close to completion of the first phase at 84%, the Globe CeO sees “that full equipment replacement and systems overhaul will increasingly bring about greater and better-than-standards performance and along with it, a dif-ferentiating customer experience”. The latest results already show that Globe is surpassing NTC benchmarks such as its 2% rating for Blocked Calls or Grade of Service, which more than met the less-than-4%-perfor-mance-standard. In other categories, the dropped call rate of Globe at 1.2% is much better versus the lower-than-2%-standard. While its Average Receive Signal Level, referring to signal strength, at -71.78dBm, is better than the -85dBm standard, its Average Signal Quality, on the other hand, improved to 0.94, now much closer to the optimal 0 standard. Call Set-Up Time of Globe at 11.98 is better than the 14 second-standard for a called number to ring from the time a subscriber finished dialing the number. “Key cities nationwide are now enjoying our enhanced net-work with 3G and 4G hSPA+; but over and beyond NTC’s quar-terly benchmarking, we at Globe keep personally checking and validating our network performance all over the country, do speed tests and get feedback from our customers,” Cu em-phasizes, “after all, committing to ensuring the quality of our service to the public as NTC exhorts the industry to do so, is our core mission in the first place.”

SUN BROADBAND, the wireless broadband service of Sun Cellular, has announced its exciting partnership with MCA Music, Inc. that will provide subscribers free original music content online through its new product, Sun Broadband en-tertainment Stick. This partnership will also help address the growing online piracy business in the Philippines. A first-of-its-kind, Sun Broadband entertainment Stick is a Sun-powered broadband modem which comes with 20 record-breaking songs from MCA Music Inc.’s “hottest hits… ever!” album and lets users download 10 songs of their choice per month for free! “We are thrilled and honored to partner with MCA Music Inc. to offer our subscribers a revolutionary product that not only gives consistent, fast and reliable internet in one power-ful package but also special access to the newest songs every month for free. Sun Broadband entertainment Stick guaran-tees our subscribers that they only get the freshest and hot-test music from a legitimate source,” said Ricky Peňa, Sun Cel-lular Senior Vice President for Marketing. he added, “This product is ideal for our subscribers who are also music enthusiasts. And on top of free music, subscribers can expect more exciting surprises and deals from us in the future, such as exclusive web content.” MCA Music Inc. is the Philippine division of Universal Mu-sic Group which is the world’s largest music company. Cris hermosisima, Business Development Manager of MCA Music Inc., shared “Sun Broadband entertainment Stick is the per-fect tool to go online. With this product, subscribers can be assured that quality music is just one click away”. Under this partnership, Sun Broadband and MCA Music Inc. have also launched the “Sun Broadband Quest” – a battle of broad music styles among university bands all over the coun-try. This competition is open to all unsigned and amateur col-lege bands composed of 3 to 5 members between 16 to 25 years old. The winning band will receive P150, 000 cash prize, record deal, guaranteed gigs plus their own music video. For more information about Sun Broadband entertain-ment Stick, visit www.sunbroadband.ph/downloads. For more information about Sun Broadband Quest, visit www.sunbroadband.ph/bandquest.

A2 INdulge! VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT FOOD

Globe posts strong gains in 4Q 2012 NTC test

Sun Broadband announces exciting partnership with MCA Music Inc.

RAIDInG the pan-try after the holidays has been one of my many favorites. I love cleaning thus I always end up doing that tedious but out-most rewarding task every single time – especially after the holidays. I see op-portunities and my imagination begins to wander. My taste buds are in a crav-ing frenzy whilst my eyes are also yearn-ing to be satisfied. My senses begin to wake up as I imagine the endless dishes I could create from the ingredients I have. From easy to make breakfast staples to intricately flavored dishes, everything is possible when you let yourself let loose with everything that you have in your pantry. To begin the 2013, I would be dedicating the first month to homegrown recipes and dishes that are by-products of anything and everything inside the pantry. Food dibbles that are from last year’s menu given a brand new look and flavor would be the foremost star for January! Let us do something easy. For this issue, let us make use of those boxed and premixed pancake mixes stored in our pantry. Indeed, there are count-less of recipes that could be made from one box and let me add more to your loot. More so, I am making use of the left over “malag-kit” and making my own version of our “kakanin” staple, the “biko”. What are you waiting for? Get prepped and start steam-ing. Langka-Flavored Puto Cheese Langka (jackfruit) and cheese in one soft steamed puto paired with coffee straight from the pot is one great way to take your hol-iday burnout away. What-ever flavor you might want to add to your puto is all up to you and your imagi-nation. Thus, if you want a kaleidoscope looking puto then go make some now!

Ingredients: 1 200g pancake mix 2/3 cup tepid water1 tbsp langka flavor 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract2 tbsp oilCheese stripsMinced langka

Method: In a bowl, combine all ingredients except cheese strips. Blend well until all is incorporated. Make sure there are no lumps. Spray vegetable oil over muffin tray (or you can line them with cupcake paper) and pour mixture on each cup about 2/3 full. Top with cheese strips. Re-peat until done. Steam for about 30 min-utes. Test by inserting a toothpick in the middle of the puto. When it comes clean, it is done. Once done, set aside and serve hot. Coffee Flavored Muffin This is one tasty treat that my yaya simply adores. She was gobbling on the whole piece even while it was hot. Try adding your preferred toppings and enjoy.

Ingredients:3 tablespoons maple syrup1 10g instant coffee2 tablespoon pact raw sugar3 tablespoon tepid water1 large egg1 tablespoon oil½ tablespoon cinnamon powderA dash of nutmeg 1 200g pancake mixGrated cheese

Method: In a large bowl, combine syrup, instant coffee, raw sugar, cinnamon powder, nutmeg and tepid water. Blend well. Slowly add the egg, oil and pancake mix. Blend

well until there are no more lumps. Grease muffin pan (I used the big size pan) with oil and pour batter onto greased pans until ¾ full. Bake in an oven toaster for 10-15 minutes. Brush with melted butter and top with grated cheese before serving.

Biko ala Kalabasa Our family makes sure that we have something sticky during the turn of the year. Aside from the fact that I have a certain knack for “kakanin”, I love hot the biko interplays with my palate and satis-fies my craving for some-thing sticky. More so, I used some leftover squash (kalabasa) to make it inter-estingly delicious.

Ingredients:1 ½ kilo malagkit6 cups water3 cups coconut milk½ kilo raw sugar¼ Mascuvado sugar 1 cup grated boiled and mashed kalabasa

For the topping:1 bar unsalted butter

1 cup raw sugarLatik

Method: Line rectangular pan with foil. Set aside. Wash malagkit and place in rice cooker. Add water. Cook In a pan over medium heat, dissolve the raw sug-ar, mascuvado in coconut milk. Stir and blend well. Let boil until it thickens. Add cooked malagkit and mix thoroughly. Make sure all is incorporated. Pour mixture over lined pan. Spread evenly.

For the topping: In a bowl over low heat, combine butter and sugar. Melt sugar completely. Stir constantly. Pour caramel sauce over malagkit and top with la-tik. Do you want to be a part of Davao’s Thursday habit? Send me your recipes, ques-tions, suggestions and com-ments and be featured. If you are interested, then email me at leebai@che-froyale.com or visit www.chefroyale.com for more recipes. Happy Cooking!

Langka Puto Cheese

Coffee Flavored Muffin

From the pantry to the plate

KATe MIDDLe-TON is a working mom-to-be. (Well...for a relative value of “working.”) And she’s not stopping anytime soon. While the British media was awash this morning with news that Prince William’s missus was rel-egated to a kind of bed rest and would not be undertaking any official public engagements for the next month, a palace rep has now denied those reports to e! News. This is one english rose that’s not wilting from the spotlight anytime soon. “The duchess, health permitting, will continue to undertake engage-ments in the near future,” the rep told e! News, add-ing that no timeframe for the continued perfor-mance of Kate’s public

duties has been set. The news comes in the wake of supposed con-firmation by St. James’s Palace today that the ex-pectant royal was taking the time off. Glad to know our Mid-dleton mania won’t be

lagging anytime soon. Meanwhile, we can most likely expect a pared-down public schedule come July, which, ac-cording to the official an-nouncement yesterday, is when Kate is due to give birth to the royal heir.

Pregnant Kate Middleton not taking time off from royal duties just yet

MeGAN FOx is not leaving any room for misinterpretation. The blue-eyed bomb-shell, who looked sexy as ever on this month’s es-quire magazine, took to Facebook to clarify a comment where she compared Lindsay Lo-han to Marilyn Mon-roe during an interview for the mag. Yeah, it doesn’t sound so bad, but it didn’t come off very positive in print. “In the newly released article that I did for es-quire, there is a reference that is made to Lindsay Lohan that I would like to clarify before it snowballs into something silly,” Fox wrote. “The journalist and I were discussing why I was removing my Mari-lyn Monroe tattoo, espe-cially since in his opinion, Marilyn was such a pow-erful and iconic figure for women. I attempted to draw parallels between Lindsay and Marilyn in or-der to illustrate my point that while Marilyn may be an icon now, sadly she was not respected and taken seriously while she was still living,” she added. Fox continued, “Both women were gifted ac-tresses, whose natural talent was lost amongst the chaos and incessant media scrutiny surround-

ing their lifestyles and their difficulties adhering to studio schedules etc. I intended for this to be a factual comparison of two women with similar ex-periences in hollywood. Unfortunately it turned into me offering up what is really much more of an uneducated opinion. It was most definitely not my intention to criticize or degrade Lindsay. I would never want her to feel bullied, as she does not deserve that. I was not al-ways speaking eloquently during this interview and this miscommunication is

my fault.” In the magazine, the ac-tress’ comments read as, “I started reading about her and realized that her life was incredibly difficult. It’s like when you visualize something for your future. I didn’t want to visualize something so negative. “She wasn’t powerful at the time. She was sort of like Lindsay. She was an actress who wasn’t reli-able, who almost wasn’t insurable...She had all the potential in the world, and it was squandered. I’m not interested in following those footsteps.”

INdulge! A3VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013EDGEDAVAOeNTeRTAINMeNT

Megan Fox clarifies Lindsay Lohan-Marilyn Monroe comparison in Esquire

Of course what is a cali-bration without friends to join the celebration plus great food from Carmina, and of course the many interestingly named des-serts (coconut macaroons names Coco Chanel, a rum and Belgian chocolate truffle tiramisu named Lu-cretia Borgia, and my fa-vourite chocolate cupcake topped with fresh straw-berries named Queen eliz-abeth Paquiao) from the one and only Osvaldo’s. Wine, vodka, and whis-key flowed, and the plus side to partying at Fourth and Tay became apparent as the night progressed.

There was never a lack of something to drink and thanks to the DJing powers of Jen and Rodney, there was never a dull moment on the make-shift dance floor. happy 30th Jayp!

A4 INdulge! VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013EDGEDAVAOeVeNTS

John Paul XXXeVeRy milestone is a celebration in itself. A baby when he or she reaches one, a girl celebrating her 18th, and a man’s milestone is when he reaches the age of thirty and my friend, travel buddy, and fellow foodie (since he works for the food industry), John Paul did just that last January 12 at Fourth and Tay.

VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013

Me L B O U R N e , Australia (AP) -- For someone

with precious little match ‘’toughness’’ heading into the Australian Open, Ma-ria Sharapova didn’t look overly concerned Wednes-day.

The second-seeded Russian beat Japan’s Mi-saki Doi 6-0, 6-0 in just 47 minutes, her second consecutive match at Mel-bourne Park in which her opponent failed to win a game. Doi won only 15 points.

Sharapova, last year’s Australian Open run-ner-up, pulled out of the Brisbane International with a right collarbone in-

jury two weeks ago and had not played a compet-itive match this year until her 6-0, 6-0 win over fel-low Russian Olga Puchkova in the first round Monday.

She is the first woman to post consecutive ‘’dou-ble bagels’’ at a Grand Slam since Wendy Turnbull at the Australian Open in 1985.

‘’I’ve been playing real-ly aggressive and doing the right things,’’ Sharapova said. ‘’It’s not easy to be up so much because you can have a few letdowns. You just have to try to concen-trate. My job is to make it as easy as possible.’’

Sharapova might find the competition tougher

in the next round, where she could meet Venus Wil-liams. The older of Wil-liams sister was scheduled to play her second-round match later Wednesday at Rod Laver Arena, followed by top-seeded and de-fending champion Novak Djokovic’s second-round-er against American Ryan harrison.

The final match of Wednesday’s session on the center court was dis-appointing, though not wholly unexpected, for the home crowd and Austra-lia’s top-ranked woman player.

Ninth-seeded Saman-tha Stosur, who has spoken of her anxiety over playing

in front of her home fans, served twice for the match but double-faulted on match point in a 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 loss to China’s zheng Jie.

‘’It was a bit of a choke,’’ Stosur admitted. ‘’Obvious-ly it’s a hard one to take when you get yourself into a winning position and you lose five games straight.’’

Stosur, who had nine double-faults and 56 un-forced errors, has never gone beyond the fourth round at her home Grand Slam, lost in the first round last year and also lost in her first matches at warm-up tournaments this year in Brisbane and Sydney.

‘’I needed to keep fight-

ing and enjoy the match,’’ zheng said. ‘’It’s amazing I came back.’’

earlier, fourth-seed-ed Agnieszka Radwank-sa extended the year’s best winning streak to 11 matches. She eased into the third round with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu and re-mains unbeaten this year, including titles at warm-up tournaments this month at Auckland and Sydney.

‘’I can play even better,’’ said Radwanska, who lost last year’s Wimbledon fi-nal to Serena Williams. ‘’I didn’t really expect I could win that many matches in a row, and hopefully I can keep going.’’

her last two trips to the Australian Open have end-ed in quarterfinal losses to the eventual champion - Kim Clijsters in 2011 and Victoria Azarenka last year.

With top-ranked Aza-renka and Serena Williams on the other half of the draw, Radwanska’s main obstacles to reaching the final are 2011 French Open champion Li Na, who beat Olga Goortsova of Belarus 6-2, 7-5 to reach the third round, and potential semi-final rivals Sharapova or No. 5 Angelique Kerber, who advanced with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Lucie hradec-ka.

Williams hurt her ankle in her opening victory on Tuesday, putting her bid for a third consecutive major title in jeopardy. She has only lost one match since her first-round exit at the French Open last year. Wil-liams canceled an outdoor practice session and moved it indoors.

In other women’s sec-ond-round matches, No. 11

Marion Bartoli beat Serbi-an qualifier Vesna Dolonc 7-5, 6-0, No. 18 Julia Gorges beat Romina Oprandi 6-3, 6-2, Russian qualifier Vale-ria Savinykh upset No. 15 Dominika Cibulkova 7-6 (6), 6-4 and Kirsten Flip-kens of Belgium beat No. 23 Klara zakopalova 6-1, 6-0.

American wild-card Madison Keys beat No. 30 Tamira Paszek of Austria 6-2, 6-1.

On the men’s side, No. 4-ranked David Ferrer needed five match points before clinching a 6-0, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win over American Tim Smyczek, who got into the main draw as a lucky loser from qualifying.

Fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych beat Guillaume Rufin of France 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, and No. 10 Nicolas Almagro and No. 16-ranked Kei Ni-shikori also moved on. No. 24 Jerzy Janowicz of Poland rallied from two sets down to overpower India’s Som-dev Devvarman 6-7 (10), 3-6, 6-1, 6-0, 7-5.

No. 20 Sam Querrey ad-vanced when fellow Amer-ican Brian Baker retired in the second set with a right knee injury and next plays No. 15 Stanislas Wawrinka.

Baker, who returned to the tour last year after miss-ing almost six seasons with a variety of injuries, won a first-set tiebreaker and was level at 1-1 on serve in the second. he was later pushed from Court 6 in a wheelchair.

Tournament organizers said that Baker had a torn meniscus and is expected to be out about four months.

‘’Yeah, he’s the last per-son that deserves anything like that with his five or six surgeries already,’’ Querrey said.

SPORTS 15EDGEDAVAO

Former world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark also breezed through the next round.

Ana Ivanovic of Serbia shows her emotions in her second round match against Yung-Jan Chan of Taipei during day three of the 2013 Australian Open at Melbourne Park.

Maria Sharapova of Russia shows great form in winning her second round match against Misaki Doi of Japan during day three of the 2013 Australian Open at Melbourne Park.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

She comes•Sharapova scores second double bagel

•Azarenka marches through 3rd round

•Li Na, Federer advance

VOL.5 ISSUE 226 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013

ALASKA Aces rook-ie Calvin Abueva is in hot water after

reports surfaced that he played in a small-time league in Sta. Maria, Bu-lacan without the knowl-

edge, much less approval, of the organization.

A source even fur-nished sports online net-work Spin.ph a copy of the video showing Abueva performing some dunks

and dangerously attack-ing the basket while play-ing in a cement court and wearing the unfamiliar dark green jersey of a St. Joseph team.

The No. 2 pick overall

of the last rookie draft has been a regular in the ‘ligang labas’ circuit even before he turned pro.

however, the PBA’s uniform players’ contract explicitly disallows play-ers from suiting up in oth-er leagues, except when given consent by their mother ballclub.

“(In such cases), team na ang bahalang mag-parusa sa kanila. Kasi players nila ‘yun eh. Pwe-deng fine yan, pwedeng suspension,” said PBA media bureau chief Willy Marcial.

A number of players have been fined and sus-pended by their teams for such infractions. The last publicized incident hap-pened two years ago when Khasim Mirza was given a scolding by Air21 express coach Franz Pumaren for playing in a barangay league in Marikina.

An official from the Aces organization who asked not to be identified was fuming mad upon learning about Abueva’s escapade in a game that was also marred by a near brawl among local players.

16 EDGEDAVAOSPORTS

POWeRhOUSe Davao City dominated 18 of the completed

events of the 2013 South-ern Mindanao Regional PRISAA Meet staged at the spanking new Davao del Norte Sports Complex and other venues in nearby Tagum City.

Save for the medal-rich athletics and swimming events, Davao City topped 18 of the 25 events com-pleted to virtually retain the overall title according

to PRISAA XI executive Di-rector Joaquin P. Sarabia.

Davao City is powered by University of Mindanao, Davao Merchant Marine Academyy, University of te Immaculate Conception, Jose Maria College, Mind-anao Aeronautical Techni-cal School and Davao Doc-tors College.

In an official email to eDGe Davao, the results showed Davao City win-ning the following events: volleyball men (DMMA),

volleyball women (UM), taekwondo women (UM), table tennis men (UM), softball women (UM), lawn tennis men (UM), lawn tennis women (UM), karatedo men (UM), kara-tedo women (UM), foot-ball (UM), dancesport Latin (DDC), dancesport Modern (UIC), chess men (JMC), chess women (UM), basketball men (UM), basketball women (UM), baseball (UM) and bad-minton men (MATS).

host Davao del Norte trailed Davao City after they ruled their favorite beach volleyball event with UM-Tagum win-ning both the men’s and women’s titles. They also won boxing (UM-Panabo) and sepak takraw (UM-Tagum).

Davao del Sur is next after winning women’s badminton, women’s ta-ble tennis and men’s tae-kwondo through Cor Jesu College.(Neil Bravo)

Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland has a little flair than just fine form. Radwanska advanced to the third round of the Australian Open. More Australian Open results on page 15.

ABUEVA. No secret can be kept.

PRISAA REGIONAL MEETDavao City bets rule 18 eventsBy Neil Bravo

Abueva caught playing in small-time league