Edge Davao 6 Issue 104

No FPIC, no mining - NCIP

INSIDE:

237 soldiers wounded

in ambush

15Chot: ‘We just needto find a way’

FBOC,10

FPRESIDENT,10

[email protected]

[email protected]

By ANTONIO M. AJERO

By EJ DOMINIC FERNANDEZ

KADAYAWAN IN PERIL

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAOVOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013 P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.net

FOR the nth time, the District Port of Davao of the Bureau of Customs surpassed its monthly collection

target in July.This was bared by acting District

Collector Edward James A. Dy Buco, who has jurisdiction over the ports of Davao, General Santos City, Parang and Mati City.

Lawyer Dy Buco reported that the district notched a total collection of

P573.462 million from July 1-31, sur-passing by P74.425 million or 15 per-cent it target for the month of P499 mil-lion. He said the bulk of the collection of P501.1 million was contributed by the Port of Davao, followed by General Santos with P72.27 million. Davao’s col-lection in July surpassed target by 11 percent, but General Santos surpassed its goal by 52 percent, Dy Buco bared.

DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Dute-rte would order the cancellation of the Kadayawan Festival set to

open this Friday if he sees that there is an imminent danger to public security after the recent series of bombings in Mindan-ao that as of this writing killed 16 people and injured dozens of others in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Cotabato.

Speaking to members of the media at the Yellow Fin restaurant in Ecoland yesterday, Duterte said he that he would come up with a decision to cancel or push through with the festival on August 13.

“If I feel in my gut that there is dan-ger, I will scrub the whole festival,” he said, adding that they are assessing and reevaluating the various intelligence re-ports collated.

He said he will consult the police and the military to rate the safety and securi-ty of the festival from 1 to 10, and if the rating will be below 7.5, then he would

cancel the Kadayawan.If ever a bomb explodes during the

festival, then he would run the city the marshal law way.

“I have no power to do that, but I will put the city under a very tight watch,” he said.

He said the United States of America, Australia and Canada are in a better posi-tion to validate terrorist threats.

They released a travel advisory re-minding their nationals not to go to Zam-boanga, Cotabato and Davao City, and indeed bombs exploded in Mindanao, he said.

He believes that the bombings in Cagayan de Oro and Cotabato City are connected, done by terrorist entities, and are not politically motivated.

He said that if he is forced to cancel the Ladayawan, “it would not be because I am afraid, but because I would not want to put people’s lives in peril.”

Rody may cancel Kadayawan, ‘if’….PRESIDENT Aquino and 12 cabinet

secretaries are slated to attend this morning opening of the 22nd

Mindanao Business Conference, the big-gest gathering of business leaders and organizations in the island-region to date.

“We are really excited of the Presi-dent and the cabinet secretaries’ partic-

ipation in the conference,” said Daniel Lim, president of the hosting Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII).

Malacanang’s “powerhouse” partic-ipation in the event indicates the strong commitment of the national government to push for the Mindanao agenda and

President here for MinBizCon

BOC-Davao exceeds target anew

BONDING. A 3-month old tiger cub compassionately stares at its trainer at the Davao Crocodile Park yes-terday. The Serbian-Ben-gal cross-bred tiger cub is one of three under the care of the park. Lean Daval jr.

2 EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS VOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

FROXAS, 10

INTERIOR and Local Government Secre-tary Manuel Roxas II

on Wednesday identified one of the suspects in the July 26 Cagayan de Oro City bombing that killed eight people and wounded more than 40 others.

Roxas, during a Senate hearing, named a certain Usman Hapids as one of the perpetrators of the bomb attack at the Kyla’s Bistro in Cagayan de Oro City.

The DILG chief said that authorities are also trying to establish the identities of the other per-petrators in the bombing that killed eight people.

Criminal charges, Rox-as said, were being read-ied by the police against the perpetrators of the

deadly bombing.The identification of

Hapids was based on the computerized facial com-posite which was pro-duced following accounts of the witnesses who de-scribed the man who sup-posedly seen leaving a bag at the bistro minutes be-fore the explosion shortly before midnight on July 26.

Operations are still on-going to capture the per-petrators.

3 Cotabato bombing suspects arrested

In Cotabato City, three persons believed to have carried out the Monday bombing here which left eight people dead and more than 30 others wounded have been ar-

THE Davao City Po-lice Office (DCPO) and Public Safety

and Security Command Center (PSSCC) are pre-pared to make Kaday-awan 2013 (August 9-18) safe and secure against any threat from terrorists.

Some 2,500 police and military personnel will be deployed in the city, according to a report from the DCPO and PSS-CC.

“Yes, we are ready,” DCPO chief Ronald dela Rosa confirmed to Edge Davao yesterday.

PSSCC chief Francisco Villaroman, on the other hand, told Edge, “we are trying to secure Davao

City, as best as we can,” adding that they are co-ordinating well with the DCPO.

Last July 27, eight people were killed when a car bomb exploded in Cagayan de Oro City and August 5, eight more peo-ple died while 30 others were injured in another explosion in Cotabato city.

These bombings hap-pened after the United States of America, Cana-da and Australia, issued a travel advisory remind-ing their nationals not to go to certain cities in Mindanao, including Co-tabato, Zamboanga and Davao City.’ EJF

AS long as the Na-tional Commis-sion on Indige-

nous Peoples (NCIP) has not issued a Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), Alber-to Gold Corporation’s and Penson Corpora-tion’s applications for permit to explore will not be approved by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).

NCIP chief adminis-trative officer Geroncio Aguio told Edge Davao that MBG 11 has not endorsed any memo-randum of agreement (MOA) or any docu-

ment that proves that the indigenous people (IPs) of Paquibato have allowed the mining companies to explore thereat.

In Tuesday’s city council session, NCIP provincial officer of Davao Cristito Ingay said, “it’s one thing that MGB missed, there was no official endorse-ment.”

Aguio said once the NCIP receives a docu-ment showing that the IPs of Paquibato would allow the mining com-panies to explore, then the NCIP will conduct

an inquiry in the IP community in the area to confirm that the IPs understand what they approved.

If NCIP finds out that the IP community approves of the pro-posed mining activity, it would issue an FPIC, which is one of the re-quirements the MGB needs from mining companies applying to mine an area.

If mining companies do not have an FPIC the MGB can’t issue a permit to them since it is among the require-ments, and they would

just return the en-dorsement to the local level, said Aguio.

He said, ”Our (NCIP) main concern is wheth-er the IP community would allow the mining activity or not, if they allow it, then there is nothing we can do, as long as they under-stand what they are permitting. But as of now, our office has not yet received any en-dorsement showing that the IP community has given its consent to the exploration or any mining activity,” he said.

Roxas names suspect in CDO bombing

No FPIC, no mining - NCIP DCPO, PSSCC to make Kadayawan safe, secure

[email protected]

By EJ DOMINIC FERNANDEZ

POSSIBLE POSTPONEMENT. Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte announces the possibility of postponing some Kadayawan Festival highlights if security threats worsen. The mayor met the press yesterday to discuss the recent

bomb attacks in other key cities of Mindanao, at Yellow Fin Restaurant along Quimpo Blvd., Davao City. Lean Daval Jr.

KADAYAWAN MATTERS. Acting City Tourism head Lisette Marques consults Oca Casaysay before the start of the final Kadayawan Festival executive committee meeting yesterday at the Davao City Hall. Lean Daval Jr.

NO CAUSE FOR PANIC. Davao City Police Office (DCPO) chief Ronald Dela Rosa talks to the per-sonnel of Gaisano South Mall along Ilustre Street

after a water pipe inside the establishment blast-ed which caused panic in the area yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

3EDGEDAVAO

SUBURBIAVOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

COTABATO CITY

SEVEN soldiers from 12th Mechanized Company were hurt

when a roadside bomb reportedly exploded in crossing Datu Kilay-Datu Bakal, Brgy. Nabundas, Shariff Saydona Mustapha Maguindanao at around 9:35am this morning.

But Abu Misry Mama, spokesperson of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) claimed responsibility for the attack and said they did not use a road-side bomb but M-79 gre-nade launchers and a vol-ley of gunfire.

He said he received reports that at least five soldiers were killed and two others were wound-ed in the ambush they initiated.

Col. Dickson Hermo-so, spokesperson of the Army’s 6th Infantry Di-vision, said the soldiers are all safe and sustained

only slight wounds.Major Jocelyn Man-

gadlao, spokesperson of 1st Mechanized brigade said the troops were moving from Rajah Buay-an where the soldiers were stationed, en route to their headquarters in Shariff Aguak in a convoy of V-150 armored per-sonnel carrier and KM vehicle when the bomb went off on the side of the road.

The BIFF broke away from the Moro Is-lamic Liberation Front (MILF) around March 2010, three months after Ustadz Amiril Umra Kato tendered his resignation as commander of the 105th Base Command of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF). Kato, however, suffered a stroke in No-vember 2011. [Ferdi-nandh B. Cabrera / Min-daNews]

7 soldiers wounded in ambush

APPRECIATION. Monkayo Mayor Joselito B. Brillantes awards a Certificate of Appreciation to Director Priscilla N. Razon of DSWD for the department’s support to the Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan Farmers’ Training Program, a project of SM Foundation in partnership with Harbest Agribusiness Corp., Depart-

ment of Agriculture, Monkayo LGU and DSWD. Some 154 professional and non-professional farmer-beneficiaries and Typhoon Pablo victims from 10 barangays in Monkayo recently graduated from the training. [DSWD/Car-mela Cadigal-Duron]

BIFF admits responsibility

IT is business as usual for the anti-corruption arm of the Department

of Finance, as it confronts a Customs official for his failure to account for several assets and busi-ness interest in his sworn Statements of Assets, Li-abilities, and Net Worth (SALNs).

The Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS) initiated administrative and criminal complaints with the Office of the Om-budsman on August 2, 2013 against Liling Do-mato Comayog, currently assigned as Assistant Cus-toms Operations Officer at the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) Mindanao Interna-tional Container Terminal (MICT), Cargo Control Section, who failed to re-port his real properties, private vehicles, a fire-arm, and his taxi service business, in violation of Section 7, Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act; Section 8 of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Stan-dards of Public Officials and Employees; and Fal-sification of Official Docu-ments and Perjury under the Revised Penal Code.

An examination of Co-mayog’s SALNs filed for the years 2004 to 2010 revealed that he consis-tently reported a house and lot located in Cagayan De Oro City. However, in the course of the investi-gation, it was established that Comayog only de-clared for tax purposes a two-story residential building located at Block 3, Lot 9, Barra,Macabalan, Cagayan De Oro City, since the lot upon which the house was erected was

owned by the National Housing Authority (NHA), as evidenced by a tax dec-laration and certification from the City Assessor’s Office of the said locality.

“Hence, respondent has falsely declared that he owns a parcel of land in Cagayan de Oro City when no such real property is declared under his name for taxation purposes. Worse, respondent failed to declare the two-story residential building in his SALN for 2011,” RIPS sta-tedin its complaint.

On the other hand, Comayog’s house and lot in Johndorf, Barra, Opol, Misamis Oriental was discovered to have been owned by Comayog since 2008 but which was only declared in his SALN filed for 2011. Supporting doc-uments obtained from the Municipal Assessor of Opol confirmed that the same residential property was previously registered to the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) but which was conveyed to Comayog by virtue of a 2008 Deed of Absolute Sale.

Said RIPS in its com-plaint, “Considering that said residential land and building were sold to respondent in 2008, he should have declared them in his SALNs for 2008 to 2011.”

Aside from undeclared real properties, Comayog likewise made it appear in his 2009 to 2011 SALNs that he only owned a Hon-da CRV worth P700,000, when it was discovered that there were six oth-er motor vehicles which were registered under

his name and his spouse, Sonaya A. Comayog, com-prising of four units of Toyota Vios, a Honda CRV, and a Toyota Hilux, based on the official records from the Land Transpor-tation Office (LTO), and all of which were not duly reported in his SALNs in the said years.

Incidentally, as borne from the LTO records, four Toyota Vios sedans which belonged to Co-mayog were classified “for hire”. As RIPS ob-served in its complaint,

“Undoubtedly, respon-dent and his wife, who is the registered owner of said motor vehicles, are engaged in thebusiness of common carriage. Hence, respondent should have also declared it as a busi-ness interest and financial connection in his SALNs and disclosed therein when they acquired the same.” There was nary an indication that Comayog’s taxi service was declared as business interest in his SALNs.

Comayog also failed to

declare in his SALNs a cal-iber .45 BRSA Mini Thun-der DT pistol which was verified to be his on the basis of a certification is-sued by the Firearms and Explosives Office of the Philippine National Police (PNP-FEO).

Comayog is facing ad-ditional administrative charges for Grave Mis-conduct and Dishonesty under pertinent Civil Ser-vice Rules for the same offenses.

Considerably, the Of-fice of the Ombudsman

may place Comayog un-der preventive suspen-sion without pay pending investigation of the ad-ministrative and criminal cases against the latter pursuant to Section 24, Republic Act 6770, or the Ombudsman Act of 1989.

As mandated by Ex-ecutive Order No. 259, series of 2003, RIPS, at present, has initiated 143 graft and lifestyle cases against 186 personalities and 62 suspensions from office and 22 dismissals from the service. (PNA)

4 EDGEDAVAO

NATION/WORLD VOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

TAX REVIEW. Senator Antonio ‘Sonny’ Trillanes IV (left) calls for the review of the taxes and expenses passed-on to consumers by Maynilad and Ma-nila Water in a privilege speech he delivered on Tuesday (Aug. 6, 2013) at

the Senate Session Hall. Meanwhile, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile (right) asks Trillanes about who has the franchise to distribute water in Metro Manila and other related questions. (PNA photos by Jess Escaros Jr.)

DOF files raps against Mindanao Customs officer

AUTHORITIES are exhausting all means to identify

the culprits in the spate of deadly bombings in several areas in Mindan-ao where at least 10 per-sons have died and scores injured for the past two weeks, a Palace official as-sured Wednesday.

Presidential Spokes-person Edwin Lacierda said authorities are on top of the situation and that the government has intensified intelligence gathering to identify the perpetrators in the dead-ly attacks in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Co-tabato two weeks ago and Wednesday’s explosions in Midsayap, North Cota-bato and Maguindanao.

“Kahit saan mangyari ‘yon, we’ve always men-tioned na we’ve intensi-fied intelligence gather-ing. We’re looking into all situations (It does not matter where the explo-sion occurs, we’ve always mentioned that we’ve in-

tensified intelligence gath-ering.We’re looking into all situations),” Lacierda told reporters in a media briefing.

On Tuesday, Pres. Aquino met with the Cabi-net security cluster to dis-cuss the situation in Mind-anao but Lacierda failed to give details of the meeting.

“Di pa namin masa-bi ngayon kung ano na-pag-usapan sa meeting ng security cluster but the government is well aware of the incidents, (I still can-not say what were talked about during the meeting of the security cluster but the government is well aware of the incidents),” he said.

The first explosion in Midsayap occurred around 3:30 a.m. Wednes-day and caused no casual-ties but suspected Bang-samoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF)set off an-other improvised explo-sive device in Maguindan-ao that left seven soldiers wounded. (PNA)

Palace assures probe on Mindanao bombings ongoing

TWO Visayan law-makers yesterday expressed deep

concern on the integrity of the country’s national defense and security in-frastructure which may have been compromised amid the raging contro-versy over spying claims against China’s electron-ics and communication firms Huwaie and ZTE.

According to Samar Congressman Mel Senen Sarmiento, there might be a need to conduct a through inventory on the country’s defense and security-related assets and equipment which may have components that can be exploited for espionage, sabotage and other activities that may undermine the country’s national security.

“These revelations made by former Cen-tral Intelligence Agency chief Michael Hayden that telecoms giant Hu-waei has been spying in Western countries on be-half of China should also concern us. Our present

territorial dispute with China makes us primary target for espionage or even sabotage. As early as now, we should be able to identify and isolate de-fense assets and equip-ment that use Chinese components,” Sarmiento said.

Sarmiento however stressed that such inven-tory should only involve electronics and commu-nication equipment that can have an impact on the country’s security and defense as he noted that there is no reason for the Department of Education (DepEd) to be pulling out computer donations that are only intended for ed-ucational purposes.

DepEd Undersecre-tary Mario Deriquito has indicated that DepEd might reject a donation of cloud-based comput-ers from telecoms gi-ant Huawei because of Hayden’s spying claims.

“I think that this pro-posed inventory should only involve security-re-lated electronics, com-

munication, computers and other gadgets which may impact on our de-fense capabilities. A sin-gle GPS (global position-ing system) device that goes haywire due to sab-otage can cost the lives of our soldiers in the field,” Sarmiento said as he noted that the coun-try’s special forces units are already using GPS during long-range com-bat patrols and in calling artillery support during combat operations.

Iloilo City Congress-man Jerry Trenas on the other hand revealed that most if not all of the equipment used by the country’s telecommu-nication companies are made by Huwaie, ZTE and other China-made electronic and communi-cation firms.

He said that only re-cently, telecommunica-tions giant Globe Tele-coms underwent a ma-jor upgrade on all of its equipment and is now using Huwaie for all of its major communication

components, from its a base transceiver stations (BTS) and Base Station Controls (BSC) up to its Mobile Switching Centers for its 3G core network elements, down to its transport components such as microwave and fiber optic cables.

“They were using Nokia before but decid-ed to replace them with Huwaie. I was told that this this is one of the rea-sons why Globe has all sorts of problems now-adays but what really concerns me now is the fact that Globe’s network security may have been compromised because of this migration to Huwaie equipment,” Trenas said.

As a major telecom-munications compa-ny and a recipient of a congressional franchise, Trenas said that it is Globe’s responsibility to ensure not only the pri-vacy of its subscribers but is its also its obliga-tion to protect the coun-try’s defense and securi-ty,” Trenas said.

MANILA

Solons alarmed over spying claims against Chinese firmsSays PHL could also be a target

5EDGEDAVAO

THE ECONOMYVOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

THERE is actually no place for mining operations in the

largely mountainous dis-trict of Paquibato, based on the land use capability classification embodied in the comprehensive land use plan (CLUP) and the corresponding amended comprehensive zoning ordinance of Davao City enacted by the city coun-cil last June 24.

Paquibato’s total land area is 65,240 hectares, but 96.88 percent of the area cannot be utilized for other purposes other than non-tillage agricul-ture, forest and conserva-tion use.

CLUP defines agricul-tural non-tillage as areas that should not be tilled due to environmental constraints and signif-icance to adjacent ar-eas. These areas should at best be developed as agro-forest areas.

Lands delineated as conservation areas are also characterized with “serious environmen-tal constraints and their extreme importance to maintaining environmen-tal balance.” These areas are either highly prone to mass movements, im-portant to maintaining surface water supply, or are important recharge areas for groundwater.

According to CLUP, agriculture practices, es-

pecially agri-forestry and non-tillage agriculture, will be allowed in 41,327 hectares of Paquibato while the conservation areas where develop-ment is not allowed cover 12,894 hectares. Another 9,030 hectares are devot-ed to forest use.

In all, only 2,034 hect-ares are left for other pur-poses.

On June 30, 2011, the regional office of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) endorsed for favorable action of its central office the applica-tions for exploration per-mits of Pensons Mining Corporation and Alberto Mining Corporation in ba-rangays Lumiad, Mapula, Salapawan and Tapak in Paquibato district cover-ing a total of 16,867 hect-ares.

Penson Mining covers 8,391 hectares while Al-berto Mining applied for 8,475 hectares.

MGB’s favorable rec-ommendation stemmed from information that the proposed mining projects appear to be acceptable to the indigenous cultur-al communities as evi-denced by the memoran-dum of agreement (MoA) with indigenous cultural communities.

The National Com-mission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has issued Certificate of Ancestral

Domain Title (CADT) to indigenous communities, mostly Ata, in Paquibato covering 59,578 hect-ares. Of the total, 36,383 hectares are classified as agricultural while 12,604 hectares are classified for conservation. Another 8,785 hectares are classi-fied as forest zone.

Under the CLUP, Paquibato is designated as center for communi-ty-based agro-forestry development and upland agricultural development.

“The district with its potential as a major agri-culture production area will serve as the supplier of food and agricultural products for processing plants in Bunawan and Toril. Fresh produce from the district will be con-solidated in Toril as well as in warehouses of the Agdao district. As in the Marilog area, permanent crops like rubber, durian, cacao, coffee and banana will be prioritized as agri forestry crops,” it said.

According to the plan, road systems that will connect Paquibato to Calinan and Buhangin districts will be built so that farm produce can be transported directly to lo-cal markets.

At present, the lack of all-weather roads in the district makes it difficult for the transport of farm produce to the markets

[email protected]

By GREGORIO G. DELIGERO

Under new zoning and land use plan:

No room for mining in Paquibato

FEED safety and its impact on livestock productivity will be

the main highlight of LIVE-STOCK PHILIPPINES 2013, the country’s official livestock and feed expo which is set to take place on August 7-9, 2013 at the SMX Convention Cen-tre in Pasay City. Over 200 exhibitors from 20 coun-tries have confirmed par-ticipation. The expo will be opened by President Benigno S. Aquino III and attended by no less than 5000 professionals from the livestock, feed, meat processing, and veteri-narians not only from the Philippines but through-out ASEAN.

As its initial staging in 2011 gained much prominence in the global agribusiness community, LIVESTOCK PHILIPPINES 2013 will have interna-tional pavilions that will

gather major stakehold-ers from Singapore, main-land China, Taiwan, South Korea and the UK. With the theme “Food Securi-ty through Feeds Safety”, LIVESTOCK PHILIPPINES 2013 will focus on the daily struggles of farm-ers in providing cost-ef-ficient healthy feeds for their swine, poultry and ruminants. Moreover, the show’s business-to-busi-ness ambiance will be an ideal venue in sealing business transactions be-tween existing and poten-tial trade partners.

Co-located with the event is FEED EXPO 2013 where all aspects of feed management such as feed quality control, manu-facturing and processing will be emphasized. FEED EXPO 2013 will also take the spotlight on distin-guished organizations with the FEED EXPO IN-

DUSTRY RECOGNITION where companies and personalities will be giv-en recognition for their contribution to the de-velopment of the Philip-pine feed industry. The three-day event will sure-ly delight industry pro-fessionals with the broad showcase of advanced machinery and equip-ment to accommodate the evolving needs of the livestock sector.

Endorsed and sup-ported by the Department of Agriculture, LIVESTOCK PHILIPPINES 2013 is or-ganized by UBM Exhibi-tions Philippines, a sub-sidiary of UBM PLC Com-pany. To know more of LIVESTOCK PHILIPPINES 2013, visit www.livestock-philippines.com or con-tact Michael Blancas at +632-8860348, 8860333, email: [email protected]

Feed safety, efficient livestock production to highlight Livestock Philippines 2013

ETHNIC. A lady who belongs to the B’laan tribe is seen behind the ethnic products she sells at the Davao Crocodile Park in Ma-a, Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

of Davao City. More of-ten, farmers market their products to Panabo City since it is more accessible.

As Davao City relies primarily on agriculture for food, feeds and raw materials for agricultural industries and other in-

dustries, the CLUP said “it is encouraged to opti-mize the viability of the agriculture sector by pro-tecting the agricultural areas from incompatible uses that would adverse-ly affect the long-term economic viability of the

area.”Among the declared

policies is to prevent in-compatible activity by ap-plying stricter controls to forms of development not directly related to agricul-ture production or its val-ue-adding activities.

VOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

MALACAÑANG wel-comed the latest Stan-dard and Poor’s report

saying the Philippines is now the ‘leader’ among Southeast Asian nations in terms of eco-nomic growth.

“If you compare the econo-my to a pie, we recognize that the pie has grown. Mahalaga ‘yon. Lumalaki ang pie, lumala-ki ang ekonomiya,” Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told a media briefing.

Lacierda said the Aquino administration would contin-ue to improve the economy to ensure that the gains are felt by the poor.

“But what’s important for us is that more people get a slice of

the pie. That’s inclusive growth as stated by the President in his State of the Nation Address,” he said.

In his SONA, Pres. Aquino vowed to focus on improving the lives of the poor as it works toward achieving inclusive growth.

“Our strategy is to maximize opportunities for all, especial-ly for those most in need. We are not content to wait for the trickle-down effect,” Aquino said in his SONA last month.

In May, the S&P upgraded the Philippines to investment grade from “BB+” to “BBB-” and assigned a stable outlook on the country’s new rating.

In terms of gross domes-tic product (GDP), the country grew by 7.8 percent in the first half of the year, the highest re-corded economic expansion in Asean.

The Philippines is also pro-jected to grow at 6.9 percent for 2013, 6.1 percent for next year and 6.5 percent for 2015.

This is faster than the pro-jected ASEAN growth of 5.5 per-cent, 5.6 percent and 5.4 percent during similar periods. [PNA]

6

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 12:30Cebu Pacific Thu 5J965 / 5J968 12:55 Manila-Davao-Manila 13:25

Cebu Pacific Tue/Wed//Sat 5J965 / 5J968 13:35 Manila-Davao-Manila 14:05Silk Air Mon/Sat MI588 / MI588 13:35 Davao-Singapore 18:55 Silk Air Wed/Sun MI566 / MI566 15:20 Davao-Singapore 18:55Silk Air Thurs MI551 / MI551 12:05 Davao-Singapore 15:45Cebu 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 16:45

as of May 2013

MONTHLY AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATE (January 2012-April 2013)

Month 2013 2012 2011

Average 42.23 43.31December 41.01 43.64November 41.12 43.27October 41.45 43.45

September 41.75 43.02August 42.04 42.42

July 41.91 42.81June 42.78 43.37May 42.85 43.13April 42.70 43.24

March 42.86 43.52February 40.67 42.66 43.70January 40.73 43.62 44.17

Stat Watch7.1

1st Qtr 2013

7.8 1st Qtr 2013

USD 3,741 million

Feb 2013USD 4,708

million Feb 2013USD -967

million Feb 2013USD -640

millionDec 2012

P 4,964,560 million

Feb 2013

2.4 % Mar 2013P113,609

million Mar 2013

P 5,281 billion

Mar 2013

P 41.14 Apr 2013

6,847.5 Mar 2013

132.8 Apr 2013

2.6 Apr 2013

3.1 Apr 2013

418,108 Feb 2013

20.9% Jan 2013

7.1% Jan 2013

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/

BY THE NUMBERSData from the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed

July inflation eased to

2.5% the lowest since September 2009, when inflation stood at 2.3%.

SOURCE: CITY NSO

THE ECONOMY EDGEDAVAO

OUTDOOR PARLOR. An enterprising beautician at the park trims a woman’s eyebrow in front of Sangguniang Panlungsod along San Pedro Street in Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

Palace welcomes S&P report on PH economic status

THE Japanese government is committed to continu-ously help the Philippine

small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Japan International Coop-eration Agency (JICA) Phil-ippines Chief Representative Takahiro Sasaki said JICA is de-termined to provide assistance on the gaps being experienced and identified by the local SMEs by sharing its expertise through various programs it is implementing with different organizations.

In the case of the Depart-ment of Trade and Industry (DTI), JICA is extending some assistance to SMEs through the National Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement Project (NICCEP).

The NICCEP, which is a three-year technical coopera-tion funded by JICA and start-ed last year, strives to enhance the capacity of selected indus-try clusters throughout the country to plan, implement, facilitate service delivery, eval-uate projects, and improve industry competitiveness and business environment.

The priority industry clus-ters are: milkfish, dairy, coffee, bamboo, tourism, information and communications technol-ogy (ICT), health and wellness, and wearables and homestyles for Luzon; gifts, decors, and housewares (GDH), tourism, ICT, and health and wellness for Visayas; and, banana, man-

go, coconut, seaweeds, wood, mining, tourism, ICT, rubber, poultry, tuna, and palm oil for Mindanao.

Sasaki recognized the NICCEP for its contribution to the country’s economic devel-opment as it generates income and jobs for the middle class business sector.

Among the project’s major contributions are the gener-ation of 97,000 jobs and P2.6 billion worth of investments.

Meanwhile, DTI 11 Region-al Director Marizon S. Loreto said she’s optimistic that JICA’s commitment will bring about positive results in the econom-ic performance of the country, especially in Davao Region.

“Most of the identified pri-ority industry clusters under NICCEP are vastly produced in the region. Therefore, we already have the opportunity for these industries to further capture success, especially economically speaking,” she said.

The Davao Industry Clus-ter Capacity Enhancement Project (DICCEP), which is the predecessor of NICCEP and implemented from 2008 un-til 2010, was able to facilitate the preparation of 69 action plans/project implementa-tion plans, reaching out about 4,700 beneficiaries upon im-plementation.

Some of the projects im-plemented under DICCEP be-came showcase of collabora-

tive action and innovation. For instance, the pilot projects for the enhancement of banana industry cluster in Sto. To-mas, Davao del Norte, model cooperative seaweeds farming of the Island Garden City of Samal, mango dwarfing (reju-venation) project of Southern Philippines Agri-Business and

Marine and Aquatic School of Technology (SPAMAST), and tourism databank and web-marketing were consid-ered showcases that can be replicated. Many practitioners, researchers, investors and in-dustry players visited these projects. [DTI 11/JenMendo-za]

Japan commits to help SMEs

7EDGEDAVAO

PROPERTYVOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

INVESTING in real es-tate has never been this easy with Northpoint’s

limited edition condo rush. For this month only, select-ed Liverpool two-bedroom units are offered at a special promotion that investors and homebuyers alike will find very hard to resist.

Buyers of some Liver-pool two-bedroom units will be given huge outright discounts that can reach as high as P750,000. Also available are flexible financ-ing schemes that will make buying a Liverpool unit a breeze.

Regular down payment of 15 percent can be made in 34 months, making it easy on the pocket of home-buyers, even those on a budget.

More discounts are given to those who opt to make a spot payment, and that’s on top of outright dis-counts already given. Add it all up and homebuyers will realize they have al-ready incurred substantial savings even at the time of purchase.

That’s an unbeatable proposition for homebuy-ers and investors out to make the best value for their money. And with Liv-erpool’s unique features, the deal is even sweeter.

Liverpool is North-point’s fourth and tallest tower at 15 storeys high and its greenest building so far. Designed to principles of green architecture, Liv-erpool has the least impact to the environment and its inhabitants.

The building is designed

to harness natural light and breeze, making the struc-ture energy efficient as it needs less artificial lighting and air-conditioning.

It will have Sky Gardens, a feature unique to Liv-erpool, that are openings within the building that will allow it to breathe. The gar-dens will have natural, live plants that will emit fresh oxygen, provide a pleasant place for some downtime, and bring the green out-door inside the building.

Which is not to say that the Liverpool needs to en-hance its greenery. Planted across Northpoint’s un-dulating grounds are hun-dreds of imported Caribbe-an pine trees that emit the refreshingly sweet scent of pine.

These can grow to al-most a hundred feet high, providing cooling shade and a natural barrier for nature’s elements such as strong winds, heavy rains, and fierce sunlight.

Liverpool also enjoys the prestige of sharing Northpoint’s premier ad-dress. Located at the junc-tion of Buhangin and JP Laurel Avenue in Bajada, it is a stone’s throw away from everything its unit owners might want and need.

Liverpool residents will also have the privilege to enjoy Northpoint’s world-class facilities, such as a fitness gym, multi-purpose hall, grill pits, cabanas, and

a salinated wellness pool and kiddie splash pool, all housed inside its majestic clubhouse, Wakefield Man-or.

It has a jogging track, playground, nature park, pocket gardens, 24/7 se-curity with CCTV, and even a shuttle service to ferry homeowners around the property.

With all these fea-tures, Liverpool is the best thing that will happen to homebuyers and investors

looking to buy real estate. Whether they choose to live in or rent out their Liver-pool unit, they are assured of a making a wise and profitable investment for the future.

More details on the Liv-erpool promo is available at the Camella offices at Delgar Bldg., JP Laurel Avenue, Ba-jada, telephone 295-3973, http://www.camella.com.ph/. Like “Camella Official” on Facebook and follow “@CamellaOfficial” on Twitter.

Northpoint’s limited edition 2BR units up for huge discounts

STRONG demand for residential proper-ties in Metro Manila

fringe areas shows that the residential market still hasn’t reached its full potential. The residential market in regions outside the Metro has been over-looked for quite some time, but demand in these areas, particularly for sin-gle-detached houses, is continuously growing.

The average monthly take-up of horizontal resi-dential properties exclud-ing socialized housing for 2012 is 816 units for Central Luzon (Region III) and 1,914 units for Cala-barzon (Region IV). The growth potential in Metro fringe areas remains high, given the stellar take-up in these regions, driven predominantly by over-seas workers. Economic developments priced at around P400,000 to P1.25 million are the most pop-

ular in Region IV, while units priced above P4.0 million are more saleable in Region III. Region IV had the most number of units given license to sell by HLURB, with a large portion of supply in 2011 and 2012 from economic housing developments.

Data from HUDCC (Housing and Urban Coor-dinating Council) shows that the total housing needs in 2013 amounts to 646,128, where 57 percent will come from new households who can afford to own/lease a residential property. This number will balloon to 7.5 million in 2016.

The growing number of OFWs and BPO employ-ees will drive the demand for horizontal develop-ments, particularly for the economic housing devel-opments. BPO full-time employees alone grow by approximately 30,000 ev-

ery year. Jan Custodio, head of

CBRE Global Research & Consultancy, shared during the latest brief-ing that, “Metro Manila’s fringes continue to pres-ent a viable opportunity for quality residential de-velopments.” Rick Santos, CBRE Philippines chair-man and founder, shared that there is a sustainable demand in the residential market. “This is the best property market we had in the past 20 years. The democratization of the housing sector, brought about by low interest rates and affordable pay-ment schemes, is con-verting more Filipinos from renters to owners. Solid macroeconomic fundamentals, investor confidence, sound fiscal policies and record low interest rates will sustain demand in the property market.”

CBRE Philippines: Residential units in Metro Manila periphery growing

HONG KONG -- With its pounding con-struction sites and

constant roar of traffic, Hong Kong is a cacopho-ny of noise with experts and residents calling on authorities to keep a lid on the din for the sake of public health.

In a densely packed city with a shortage of housing, older buildings are frequently torn down and replaced as develop-ers snap up prime real estate.

On the roads the bat-tle between buses, trams and cars is won by the piercing drone of contin-uous car horns.

For banker Ken-ny Chen, 35, the last 15 months have been a nightmare as the area around his apartment block in the upmarket central Mid-Levels neigh-

borhood has surrendered to juddering construction sites.

“To lay the founda-tions they have to pound steel into the ground which happens twice a day -- the noise and the vi-brations are really affect-ing us,” he told AFP, saying that as one construction project finished, another two began.

“My wife had twins a month ago -- she was on maternity leave at home but because of all the noise she became very anxious and possibly the babies did too. She ended up giving birth two and a half months early.”

His neighbor Debra Rull, a 60-year-old home-maker from Hong Kong who has lived in the city for 50 years, says the noise has got markedly worse in the last decade.

“The construction and roadworks are getting quite something to put up with -- it’s continuous. I think the government is concentrating too much on urban renewal.”

Hong Kong may boast some of the world’s most expensive apartments, but rapid growth in the past 30 years means residents live cheek by jowl even on the outskirts of the city be-side busy main roads.

While air pollution continues to be a major concern in the city, noise is also affecting lifestyles. “Noise is a major environ-mental problem -- it’s an important aspect of our quality of life that is being compromised,” TW Wong, a research professor spe-cializing in public health at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told AFP. [AFP]

Noise and the city

HK’s struggle for quiet

8 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

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

Printed by Zion Accuprint Publishing Inc. Door 14 ALCREJ Building,

Quirino Avenue, 8000, Davao City, PhilippinesTel: (082) 301-6235

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

[email protected]@edgedavao.net

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

RICHARD C. EBONAAdvertising Specialist

SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

EDGEDAVAOProviding solutions to a seamless global village.

ANTONIO M. AJEROEditor in Chief

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

Columnists: CARLOS MUNDA • MA. TERESA L. UNGSON • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • AURELIO A. PEÑA • MARY ANN “ADI” C. QUISIDO • LEANDRO B. DAVAL SR., • NICASIO ANGELO AGUSTIN • VIDA MIA VALVERDE • Economic Analysts: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG • JONALLIER M. PEREZ • Lifestyle Columnists: BAI FAUZIAH FATIMA SINSUAT AMBOLODTO • MEGHANN STA. INES • NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN

LEANDRO S. DAVAL JR. • JOSEPH LAWRENCE P. GARCIA Photography Contributing Photographer

ARLENE D. PASAJECartoons

KENNETH IRVING K. ONGCreative SolutionsPrinted by Zion Accuprint Publishing Inc.

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

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

[email protected]@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

NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVOManaging Editor

GREGORIO G. DELIGEROAssociate Editor

RAMON M. MAXEYConsultant

RICHARD C. EBONAMarketing Supervisor

SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

AQUILES Z. ZONIOCorrespondent

EJ DOMINIC C. FERNANDEZReporter

JOCELYN S. PANESDirector of Sales

KRISTINE D. BORJAMarkerting Specialist

AGUSTIN V. MIAGAN JRCirculation

EDITORIALMayor Rody knows

SAFETY first before celebration.Mayor Rodrigo Duterte knows danger like

the back of his hand. After the recent string of three bombings that hit Cagayan de Oro, Cota-bato City and Midsayap within a span of 12 days, the mayor yesterday pushed the alert button just ahead of the formal opening on Friday of this year’s edition of the annual Kadayawan Festival.

Duterte told members of the media that he may have to order the cancellation of the popular event if the police and military cannot assure a safety rating above a grade of 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 as the most ideal score).

The spate of bombings in Mindanao which has already claimed 16 lives and injured dozens of others came on the heels of an earlier advisory cautioning against travel to key Mindanao cities, including Davao, due to threats of terrorism. Al-though there is no apparent link to that adviso-ry of the three bombings, still the mayor is not throwing away caution to the wind. The segurista

that he is, Mayor Rody will decide on August 13, the day of reckoning: whether or not the 28th cel-ebration of the Kadayawan should push through.

For now, that’s the word.The Kadayawan is set to formally open virtually

at a time when the two-day 22nd Mindanao Busi-ness Conference (Minbizcon), the biggest gather-ing of Mindanao businessmen which opens today is coming to a close on Friday. President Aquino is gracing the event. If at all, that is a statement that it is safe to travel to Davao City. If the President thinks that it is safe to come here, anyone should feel safe, too, including the 1,000 or so business-men attending the Minbizcon.

Kadayawan or not, it’s still business as usual in Davao City. Whatever the decision on the Kaday-awan will be, it will for sure be in the best inter-est of the public. After all, that old adage “better safe than sorry” is still the most reliable rule of thumb given the circumstances.

Mayor Rody knows best.



THE movie business is melting down. The film theater is dying. It’s a terri-ble time to be a movie studio.

But it’s a great time to be a movie view-er.

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, on a panel in June, predicted this is just the beginning. Soon there will be no more classy movies in theaters. Except for the most mega of blockbusters, we will watch everything on home screens. Film tick-ets soon will cost as much as a Broadway show, anywhere from $50 to $150. Then last week, Spike Lee announced a Kick-starter campaign for his next film, an un-titled gore-fest of some stripe. Lee’s $1.25 million crowd-fund-raising enterprise quickly incited critics wondering why one of America’s more famous directors was going to fans for money. And a string of the most expensive films of this summer all flopped. These were clearly apocalyptic signs. The end of traditional moviemaking, financing and viewing is underway.

But this future is something to cele-brate rather than bemoan. For starters, consumers won’t need to go to sticky-floored, ad-laden multiplexes to watch films. Suddenly, a range of new distribu-tion channels — neither television nor ca-ble — are upon us. Spielberg championed the streaming company Netflix as the true wave of the future of moviemaking. And it’s true that we can now count Netflix as a first-rate creator and distributor of con-tent. Consider Netflix’s new series Orange is the New Black, about inmates in a min-imum-security prison. The 13-part series prominently features a very complex and honorable trans-female inmate, Sophia Burset, played by a real-life trans-woman, Laverne Cox, and a cast of predominantly black, Latino and gay female characters. The show easily bested most indepen-dent films and cable television shows in

both quality and political freshness. (And House of Cards, while not as innovative, was as competent as any of the nasty Usu-al Suspects-era indie film that usually starred Kevin Spacey, anyway.)

As for bootstrapping, in the indepen-dent film world it makes total sense. In recent years money offers for films shown at festivals have hit new lows; at festivals some distribution companies don’t pur-chase anything. While a theatrical market for independent films still exists, it suffers, like the rest of the film market, from the rise of other kinds of technology: over the past decade, the specialty film divisions Picturehouse, Warner Independent Pic-tures, and Paramount Vantage shuttered their offices or reduced their budgets to slivers.

For years independent filmmakers have struggled to raise their money from foundations and wealthy suckers — I mean friends. It’s just that in the past they weren’t audacious enough to ask the crowd for a million bucks, as Spike Lee did. Certainly, Lee’s Kickstarter campaign — to which Steven Soderbergh contribut-ed $10,000 – may seem a little gauche. It begs the question: Who are these Goliaths in David-drag? But don’t write the rest of the Kickstarter-ites and Indiegogos as the self-indulgent fallen famous or the useless bedroom auteurs. Those using Kickstarter also include great independent filmmak-ers who have never had a large budget, directors like Andrew Bujalski. His most recent film is the deeply clever Computer Chess, set at a 1980 chess competition that was shot with cameras of the period, a new kind of effect in a “history” film. (The

Chilean film No!, also proudly technolog-ically primordial with its ugly imagery via old school video cameras, is another recent example). Bujalski crowd-sourced his funding: His friends were asked to help pay for a film set to start shooting a month after the request was sent out. They were offered tax deductions, “goofy prizes at different price breaks including, most rel-evantly, a DVD of the finished film.” The result was something good and distinct, better than a film that would have depend-ed on the green light of the old mini-major “indie” film studios like Miramax back in the 1990s.

“There’s not a lot of room in the main-stream for much I’d be interested in,” Bu-jalski told me when I interviewed him a few years ago, back when he was raising funds for the film. Bujalski had made three terrific films previously and is considered the founder and the most talented of the so-called Mumblecore film movement, a rough-hewn hipster-verite trend popular in the ‘00s. Like most of the people I inter-viewed for Republic of Outsiders, Bujalski thinks of the established framework — in his case, Hollywood — as “a broken mod-el.”

This has long been the refrain of the truly independent, of course. It’s just that Lucas and Spielberg, the ultimate insiders, now concur. According to Lucas, it’s good-bye DreamWorks: hello DreamControl. “The next step is to be able to control your dreams,” Lucas said at the end-of-cinema panel. “You’re going to put a hat on or plug into the computer and create your own world.” First, we’ll watch flicks in kooky, immersive film environments (a giant padded cell of screens). Then, as Lucas predicts, our dreams will be invaded by film technology.

First, let’s stay true to the dream of fine, disruptive content.

FDIS REINVIGORATE THE BUSINESS CLI-MATE – The country’s economic relations with foreign investors have been resilient

for quite some time that any renewed conces-sions can be considered significant. The Philip-pine government is now reasonably confident that foreign investors aren’t about to abandon their basic position in the domestic market. Government economists and financial manag-ers say the big factor in strengthening econom-ic relations, which had given the country guar-antees that foreign entrepreneurs will stick to their previous commitments is that more have interest in the Philippine’s economic environ-ment.

Helping to reinvigorate the country’s economic activities were the commitment of some foreign investors and their governments to pour in more capital for infrastructure de-velopment, information technology, manufac-turing and agricultural expansion. Still, the re-newed investment guarantee was an achieve-ment. Lead by the U.S., British Virgin Island, Japan, Netherlands and Australia, the country will benefit from a combined foreign invest-ment worth P300 billion. Any fresh business negotiations are seen by the Aquino adminis-tration as very encouraging because foreign capitalists don’t seem to care about what the rabid critics and political detractors say about the country’s present socio-economic and po-litical situation.

However, other private economists are pessimistic still, and they are not so sure about the country’s recent economic improve-ment. For one, they noted that in terms of for-eign direct investments (FDI), the country still lagged behind its neighboring regional econo-mies. Maybe, but their observation has some basis. Here are the numbers: what the country obtained from FDI is still not substantial. It’s actually a pittance compared to what Singa-

pore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indo-nesia, and other countries in the ASEAN region acquired. Singa-pore, for exam-ple, received a significant por-tion of the FDI amounting to staggering $56 billion while the Philippines only got a tiny slice of the investment pie amounting to just $2.6 billion. What a difference!

Of late, though, government was focus-ing too much on the trading floor and forgot about the rest, say some inquisitive economic experts. Foreign investors are interested in fast-growing sector. Aside from infrastructure and agricultural development, information technology and electronics manufacturing are two sectors that global fund managers understand. Both sectors are hungry for capi-tal. Elsewhere, foreign investors are pumping their money into energy development and consumer-based stocks while others find some ways around investing heavily in mod-ern agricultural technology and mass food production not to mention mine and oil ex-plorations. But among nations, economic ex-pansions mostly FDI dependents continued to endure.

The country presently is facing minor eco-nomic difficulties, but the currency remained relatively stable, the GDP growth rate consis-tently looks sound and government’s overall performance has impressed somewhat. Well, the corporate outlook may not look so good and the economy may be slowing down a bit,

but that’s only temporary. The long-term eco-nomic viewpoint for the country is superb. In-deed, foreign investors persist and expectant that our national leaders, President Benigno Aquino III above all, have the political will and determination to carry out reforms and solve the country’s slackening economic fundamen-tals. The most encouraging development is that FDI poured in into the country although not as substantial compared to those of Sin-gapore and other regional economies are po-sitioned primarily as income and job-generat-ing endeavor.

Though official government forecasts call for modest economic growth in the remaining two quarters, confidence was high that FDI would continue to stream in. FDI are key el-ements that fuel a country’s economy and the potential benefits and impact of capital inflow may lead to permanent upsurge in econom-ic growth. The most important thing, noted some reputable economists was that govern-ment is now able to disseminate information about FDI on a real-time basis. With up-to-the-minute progress, foreign investors are more eager to pour in more capital.

Nevertheless, in any relationship, people express diverse views and some are negative. Some prefer to think that foreign capitalists have a commitment to invest in all emerging markets in the region not just because it’s a developing country like the Philippines. Their question particularly for the government is how it can make sure the economic pursuits it undertake are actually adding a bit of value to the lives of the marginal sector. The FDI is something that we are to be proud of, but only adds little comfort to the “built-in” critics and political adversaries of the present leadership. And for the country to fully emerge economi-cally with FDI, it has to first address theirs and the people’s priority concerns.

VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

AQUILES Z. ZONIOCorrespondent

Washington Post buyer knows how

to deliver

BY ALISSA QUARTOPINION

BY JACK SHAFERCOMMENTARY

Improving foreign economic relations

Long live the movie business!

(1st of two parts)

AS the American newspaper business began its red-ink slide in the late 2000s, I fully

expected a billionaire to rescue the financially struggling Washington Post. But I never thought its sav-ior would be Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who recently purchased the paper for $250 million.

I put my money on Michael R. Bloomberg’s money, in a July 2012 column titled “How Bloomberg can still run Washington” because he seemed like such a logical buyer. Unlike Bezos, Bloomberg already owned a media empire comprised of a news service, a cable channel, a weekly magazine, and more. Un-like Bezos, Bloomberg had toyed in semi-public with the idea of buy-ing either the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, or the Financial Times. Unlike the 49-year-old Bezos, who has been building spaceships and an eternal clock with his mad money, the aging (71 years old) Bloomberg seemed to need one last great gesture in his career before called to paradise. He wasn’t ever going to be president, a campaign he had gamed out. As for running the World Bank, a job Bloomberg was reportedly shopped to fill, well, that would be a step down from Emperor of New York City.

My matchmaking ploy failed. Washington Post Co. CEO Donald E. Graham, whose family owns a controlling interest in the company that owns the paper, humorously re-buffed my proposal in a tart email. Bloomberg didn’t knock on my door offering to pay me a finder’s fee. My idea was completely forgotten — even by me! — until today.

How could I have missed Bezos as a candidate for ownership?

Bezos has the means. He is worth $25.2 billion to Michael Bloomberg’s $27 billion. Buying and operating the money-losing Post – its newspaper division lost $49.3 million in the first six months of this year — wouldn’t scare him. To para-phrase Charles Foster Kane, Bezos could absorb $100 million a year losses for 250 years before going broke. Bezos’s politics aren’t that dif-ferent from Graham’s. To cherry-pick a conceit from my summer 2012 column, Graham and Bloomberg are “beyondists,” David Brooks’s clever term for people whose politics ap-pear to be centrist but strive to occu-py a political space beyond left and right. Bezos’s non-doctrinaire, flu-id politics make him a kind of West Coast beyondist, and as such an ac-ceptable owner for Graham, who has resisted political labeling through-out his career. Although the libertar-ian movement claims Bezos as one of its own and he runs his company as free of government influence as he can, the political donations made by the Amazon PAC mark Bezos as a very practical beyondist: He contrib-utes to both parties almost equally.


address issues of the is-land-region’s key sectors such as agriculture, ener-gy, information and tech-nology, tourism, small and medium enterprises, lo-gistics and infrastructure, skills development, and natural resource manage-ment, Lim said.

“This is by far the big-gest event that will take place in Mindanao,” said Lim, adding that never have been in the histo-ry of the MinBizCon that it gathered such a large number of national cabi-net secretaries.

“We already received

more than 400 confirmed pre-registrations a day before the event and we are expecting this num-ber to more than dou-ble when the conference opens today,” he added.

Lim said that the strong interest of Mind-anao’s business sector to participate in the confer-ence signifies the crucial role of the region’s micro and small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in shaping Mindanao’s busi-ness climate.

He added that Mind-anao’s MSMEs provide the backbone of the country’s

economy and that their participation in this event is a step towards achiev-ing inclusive growth in the island-region.

Prior to the confer-ence, a team from DCCCII and the Mindanao Devel-opment Authority (Min-DA) travelled around the six regions of Mindanao and consulted nearly 250 businessmen and organi-zations to gather issues, concerns, and recommen-dations.

“The recommenda-tions became the bases for crafting the Mindanao business policy agenda

that will be presented to the President and his sec-retaries,” he said.

The need for the gov-ernment and private sec-tors to work together in preparation for the great-er ASEAN Integration is also among the key items included in the policy agenda that will be sub-mitted to the President and to his cabinet secre-taries during the two-day event.

“We anticipate that the President and his cabinet secretaries will respond to these policy agenda and provide us

guidance in preparing the island-region for the 2015 ASEAN integration,” said Lim.

About 1,000 senior business leaders, mem-bers of the chambers of commerce, government policymakers, investors and foreign trading part-ners, and international delegates are expected to participate in the confer-ence.

This year’s MinBizCon is hosted by DCCCII with the cooperation of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and MinDA.

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From page 1..

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10 EDGEDAVAO

Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Transportation

and CommunicationsLAND TRANSPORTATION

FRANCHISING ANDREGULATORY BOARDRegional Office No. XI

Davao City

Petition for Renewal of a Certif-icate of Public Convenience to operate a SCHOOL TRANSPORT Service

ALICIA C. JALANDOON, Petitioner

Case No.2008-XI-00454

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

NOTICE OF HEARING

Petitioner is a grantee of a Cer-tificate of Public Convenience is-sued in this case authorizing the operation of a SCHOOL TRANS-PORT service exclusively for the transportation of Students/Pupils from their respective residences to Ateneo de Davao University, Matina Campus, Davao City and vice versa with the use of ONE (1) unit, which Certificate will expire on Oc-tober 27, 2013. In the petition filed on June 24, 2013, petition-er requests authority to extend the validity of said certificate to operate along the same route with the use of the same unit previously authorized. NOTICE, is hereby given that this petition will be heard by this Board on AUGUST 19, 2013 at 09:50 a.m. at this office at the above address.

At least, TEN (10) days prior to the above date petitioner shall publish this Notice once in a one (1) daily newspaper of general circulation in Mindanao

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

This petition will be acted upon by this Board on the basis of its records and the documentary evidence submitted by the par-ties, unless the Board deems it necessary to receive additional documentary and/or oral evi-dence.

WITNESS the Honorable BENJA-MIN A. GO, CESO V, Regional Di-rector, this 24th day of July 2013 at Davao City.

TERESITA DELA PEÑA-YÑIGUEZChief Transport

Development Officer

July’s collection was an improvement on its June take of P506.1 mil-lion or 2 percent over its target of P486.5 million.

The Davao district has consistently overshot its monthly and annual tar-gets, the Customs official said, adding that this was the reason the district received a special award from Customs Commis-sioner Rozzano Rufino B. Biazon during the BOC’s 111th founding anniver-sary “in recognition of the port’s commendable performance for con-sistently exceeding its assigned target continu-ously for the past five (5) years from calendar year 2008 to 2012.”

Dy Buco attributed the port district’s im-pressive performance to the “vibrant economy of Davao City in particu-lar, and of the regions of Davao and Cotabato in general.”

“Imports come be-cause businessmen have trust in the leadership in the area,” he added, say-ing that “special recog-nition must be given to Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and the city officials for this.”

Dy Buco also said that his fellow workers in the Bureau “have been collecting the correct duties and taxes on im-portations, otherwise we wouldn’t be surpassing our targets consistently.”

The third reason cred-ited by Dy Buco for the performance is their be-ing “very vigilant against the entry of smuggled goods.”

Awards/RewardHe said the dis-

trict has been receiving awards and citations ev-ery year, but he consid-ers the special award of the bureau last February and a resolution of com-mendation passed by the

Davao City Council, also this year, for their perfor-mance.

Aside from awards and citations, Dy Buco said the port of Davao passed the Civil Service Commission evaluation with an impressive grade of 85.6 percent while the BOC’s own Internal Com-pliance of Civil Service (ICCS) committee gave it a perfect 10, the highest in the country.

For its performance, the district was given a reward in the form of a P20-million extension building which is bigger that its original customs house in Sasa, he bared.

ChallengesDy Buco said he and

his men are confident that for as long as the economy of the region remains vibrant, if not more so, collections by the district will continue to exceed targets.

“In Davao City alone,

one can see malls, new hotels and other evi-dence of its rising sky-line. Because of these and other indications of a dynamic investment climate, importations will increase and with it our collections in the dis-trict,” Dy Buco said.

He made special men-tion of Phoenix Petro-leum, the region’s No. 1 importer, the coal power plant in Davao City and the hydro electric proj-ect of Aboitiz in Sta. Cruz, the one in Malita, Davao del Sur of San Miguel and other big ticket projects in South Cotabato, Saran-gani and General Santos which will contribute to the overall economy.

He considers as seri-ous challenges “the con-tinued attempts of un-scrupulous individuals to avoid payment of cor-rect duties through vari-ous schemes of technical smuggling and attempts

to bring in items not al-lowed for importation.”

“We are likewise aware that the low re-gard of the public to-ward the bureau in gen-eral is one of the biggest challenges that we em-ployees face, which we try to overcome through a massive information drive and compliance with the requirements of the Civil Service Com-mission on the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA),” Dy Buco said.

BOC Davao surpassescollection target anew

Consistently for 5 years

President, 12 cabinet secretaries here for Minbizcon

MORE ENFORCERS NEEDED. Traffic Management Center (TMC) chief Dionisio Abude says that he will propose the hiring of addi-tional traffic enforcers as vehicles

in Davao City now number 136,000 units. Abude was guest during last Monday’s Kapehan sa Dabaw at the Annex of SM City Davao. Lean Daval Jr.

rested and undergoing interrogation by police authorities, Mayor Japal Guiani Jr said on Tuesday.

Guiani refused to iden-tify the three male persons captured on close circuit TV cameras (CCTV) of one of the business establish-ments near the blast site along Sinsuat Avenue, Co-tabato City.

He said the suspects are now in the custody of the Criminal Investiga-

tion and Detection Group (CIDG).

The mayor who claimed he and his sister lawyer Cynthia Guiani Sayadi were the targets of the car bomb attack said police authorities are in possession of documents containing conversations, calls and text messages of personalities who have planned and carried out the bomb attack and pre-vious violent incidents in

the city.The mayor said he

would make public the personalities behind the bomb attack once charges had been filed against them.

Earlier, he hinted that the attack could be an act of retaliation on his ad-ministration’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Sr. Supt. Rolen Balquin, city police director, said drugs were one of the

many angles police inves-tigators were looking into, including politics and ter-rorism.

But Balquin said the attack was more of a per-sonal vendetta by those affected by the implemen-tation of law and order in the city.

Guiani, since becoming the city’s chief executive, had been receiving death threats when he started cleansing the city govern-

ment with misfits.The most recent was

his directive, and carried by his sister Guiani-Saya-di, to clear the tributaries and water ways in the city clogged by informal set-tlers.

Illegal structures in canals and tributaries criss-crossing the city con-tributed to the frequent floods that displaced thou-sands of families in low-ly-ing barangays. (PNA)

Sec. Roxas names suspect in CDO bombing

ACDI/VOCA, a nonprofit orga-nization focused

on agricultural ini-tiatives in Mindanao, released a total of 12 mechanical shredders to key Mindanao areas in Davao, Compostella Valley, and Zamboanga regions.

The said organiza-tion launched their Co-CoPal project last 2009. CoCoPal stands for Co-coa, Coconut and Pa-layamanan, which puts rice-based integrated farming on center stag-es. Establishment of or-ganic input facilities are one of the major com-ponents of ACDI/VO-CA’s CoCoPal. Through this, ACDI/VOCA pro-motes the use of agri-cultural waste as input for the Palayamanan systems, which provide greater environmental protection, reduce the costs associated with

petroleum-based and imported inputs, and create microenterprise opportunities.

The organization was also able to launch organic fertilizer/pesti-cide operations. Groups of farmers, farmers in cooperatives, and lo-cal government units (LGUs) were targeted for technical assistance, training and materials to set up and operate village-level, farm-waste organic fertilizer facilities.

This year, as 1st week of August rolled out, a total of eleven (11) mechanical shred-ders were ordered and distributed by the or-ganization to different cooperators composed of farmer associations, cooperatives and the academe in Southern Mindanao and Western Mindanao. These coop-erators are the follow-

ing: Highlander Ararian Reform Beneficiaries MPC (HARBEMPCO) in ComVal, Technical Education Skills and Development Author-ity – Davao Nation-al Agriculture School (TESDA-DNAS) in ComVal, Linoan Farm-ers Integrated Cooper-ative (LIFICO) in Com-Val, TESDA – Wangan National Agriculture School (TESDA- WNAS) in Calinan, Davao City, Pangi Women’s Asso-ciation (Zamboanga Sibugay), Dacanay Up-land Farmers Associ-ation (Zamboanga Si-bugay), Mandih Indig-enous People’s Organi-zation (Zamboanga del Norte), Mutia National High School (Zam-boanga del Norte), Bacuyong Farmers As-sociation (Zamboanga del Norte), Rebokon Agricultural Vocational High School (Zamboan-

ga del Sur) and Bugloka CoCoPal Growers As-sociation (Zamboanga del Sur). One cooper-ator, Women’s Sunrise MPC (Davao del Norte) is also in line for the turning over of the 12th shredder.

Along with the dis-tribution, hands-on training was also con-ducted during the same time frame at the facili-ty of Davao Technocraft Corporation in Nabun-turan, Compostela Val-ley, Philippines. ACDI/VOCA representatives Janoz Laquihon (Train-ing and Extension Coor-dinator) and Emmanuel Quisol (Agri-Enterprise Development Coordi-nator) were present in the activity to oversee the preparation of the equipment and the re-iteration on the quality standards for release and operation. [Karla Singson]

11VOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

EDGEDAVAO

COMMUNITY SENSE

ACDI/VODCA donates mechanical shredders to Mindanao areasA dozen of mechanical shredders, all lined up for inspection.

CONCERNED Davao City Water District customers are wor-

ried about their water being sometimes cloudy, milky, hazy and foamy. According to their ob-servation, the cloudiness actually disappears when the water is left to set-tle for more or less than a minute. Much of their concern is with regards to the safety of the water as most of them believe that the cloudiness is caused by too much chlorine presence, a notion which DCWD affirms to be false.

DCWD’s Quality Con-trol Division manager Hy-die R. Maspiñas explained that there is no reason to be alarmed when they observe cloudiness in their tap water as this is just caused by millions of dissolved tiny oxygen air bubbles.

Maspiñas said that DCWD makes sure that the water that reaches its customers has been treated to ensure safety. DCWD uses gas chlorine of varying dosage to treat its water. According to her, chlorine dosage depends on the quality of water source being treated. Malagos, being a surface water source, gets higher dosage compared to the extracted ground water source of Dumoy. Differ-ent dosage also applies to other water sources such as in Panacan and Caban-tian, among others.

DCWD also conducts hourly monitoring of chlorine residual with-in the 0.3 to 1.5 mg/L range which is the allow-able limit of the Philip-pine National Standards for Drinking Water. This

level is safe for human consumption. Chlorine residual is the “amount of chlorine remaining in wa-ter at the end of a specific contact period following disinfection”.

This monitoring is done through the use of state-of-the-art equip-ment, namely, chlorine residual analyzers to read chlorine residual in the water as it passes through DCWD’s facilities and auto valves to automat-ically regulate chlorine residual within the pre-scribed dosage.

Furthermore, the wa-ter utility conducts daily and bi-monthly microbio-logical testing to regularly monitor the water quality of 262 identified sampling points in DCWD’s differ-ent water systems. Re-sults of the tests will help DCWD assess the cleanli-ness of water even when it has flowed through the pipes towards the service connections. These sam-pling points are situated in areas with high pop-ulation concentration or those that experience low water pressure.

To confirm, the DCWD management assures cus-tomers that cloudiness in water that disappear more or less than a min-ute is potable and thus safe for drinking and any domestic uses. Further, they are also advised to contact DCWD’s 24-hour call center thru con-tact numbers 221-9412, 0927-7988966, 0908-441-0653 and 0925-511-3293 for queries regard-ing water quality or any matters related to DCWD services. (Jovana T. Du-haylungsod)

DCWD explains cloudy water

FLAG carrier Philip-pine Airlines is set to ramp up hiring

of new staff as part of an ongoing expansion that will see it open more do-mestic and international routes and take delivery of new aircraft. On Au-gust 17, PAL will hold a job fair for PAL cabin crew at the San Miguel Corporation head office complex in Ortigas Cen-ter, Mandaluyong City. Registration and screen-ing of applicants will start at 8 am.

Processing of appli-cations will go on until 5 pm. Applicants must be Filipino citizens, not more than 27 years old, and hold a college de-gree. They should be able to communicate well both in English and Filipino. Female appli-cants must be single and

at least 5’3” in height while male applicants should preferably be single and at least 5’6” tall. Weight should be proportionate to height.

Applicants must also have perfect vision (20/20) or wear con-tact lenses (not beyond 20/30). Physical charac-teristics such as having a good set of teeth and clear complexion are also part of the criteria. Interested parties are advised to come in busi-ness attire and bring their updated resumes with close-up and full-body photos.

PAL will also be hiring PAL Ambassa-dors, Customer Service Agents, Sales and Ser-vice Agents, Customer Relations Officers, and Premiere Guest Ser-vices Frontliners. The

flag carrier is likewise looking for applicants to fill up airport ground staff positions such as Work Scheduler, Ground Equipment Operator,

Ramp Equipment Oper-ator, Ramp Services Su-pervisor, Baggage Mas-ter, Load Controller, and Statistics Clerk.

The PAL recruitment

tour will move to the Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu City on August 24. For more information, log on to www.philip-pineairlines.com/ca-

reers or www.flypalex-press.com/careers. You may also visit and like them at facebook.com/flyPAL or follow them on twitter.com/flyPAL.

PAL hiring more cabin crew, ground staff

VOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013 EDGEDAVAO12Health and Wellness

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EDGEDavao Gensan Partners

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 [email protected].

CLASSIFIEDS

There’s abetter wayto getattention.

EDGEDavao Davao Partners

NOTICE OF LOSSNotice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS CONSOLIDATED INC. that CERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT No(s) under LOYOLA PLAN issued to the following planholders, to wit;

PH NAME CFP NO. CONTRACT NO.

1. MANZO, MARILYN Y. 21040175 192832-3/UUU4004235662. MANZO, MARILYN Y. 21040176 192833-4/UUU400423570

were lost. Any transaction entered into shall be null and void.

8/ 8, 15, 22

VOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013 13EDGEDAVAO CLASSIFIEDS

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITYPRIME LOCATIONS:

Lot 2 – Cugman – 28,206sqmLot 7 – Cugman – 32,662sqmFS Catanico – Gusa – 3,013sqm

– Gusa – 25,201sqm

Perfec t fo r Development

LOT FOR SALE

Email Address:[email protected]

Contact Mobile No.: 09269128630;09061005776 09272485996; 09168966433

VOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 201314 EDGEDAVAO

INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

EDGEDAVAOFOOD

A fusion of flavors at Al-Sultan ZabadaniBROUGHT to you by the same people who introduced the Medi-terranean gastronomical flare to the palates of Davao, Al-Sultan Zabadani is like an accessory that completes an outfit. This intri-cately, detailed designed restaurant transports your senses into the crests and folds of your own castle in never, never land.

Unlike its predecessor, Zabadani at the Gaisano Mall, The Peak, this res-taurant opts to ‘Filipinize’ its already savory Arabic and Mediterranean dishes that we all have grown to crave and love. Not only are we tasting a specific flavor, we get more than the best of both worlds – literally. The moment you step in and read their exhaus-tive and gustatory enticing menu, you will be treated to an array of dishes that conveys freshness, flavor and satisfaction all to-

gether. From the menu alone, you already are able to foresee and imagine the taste of the dishes because of the description provid-ed -- even more building

the anticipation. Personally, I am a fan of their soft and chewy naan bread. Whether on its own or with a generous spread of hummus, this is just something that you should try when dining in. Have it while it is hot and savor every crumbs of it trickle its way into your mouth. Another is their uber-flavorful biryani rice cooked al dente – if there is such a thing. The mix-ture of flavors enables you to savor the high quality herbs and spices used to

come up with a sensory invigorating and exquisite flavor that is truly deli-cious. Have it with chick-en, beef or lamb and see your plate cleaned in just minutes. Their juicy Persian chicken drumsticks are truly tender and bursting with flavor. At first, you’d think they are your typical fried chicken but as you prick and bite into it, you’d be treated to a scrump-tious medley of flavors that takes your breath and senses to a journey to the edge. Also, try their Ma-lookhia (jute and meat soup), Bamia (lady fingers in stock), Salonah (beans, peas and lentils) and Makboos (rice toppings) and you will surely have your seconds without you knowing. Explore your un-touched palate and mer-cilessly undergo a trip to the world of flavors and let Al-Sultan Zabadani show you how. As one of the pioneer-ing Halal restaurants in the city, you are assured of nothing but quality on everything that comes out of their kitchen. More so, they are donors for Habi-tat for Humanity and sev-eral other basic housing and education projects for IP communities with the University of the Philip-pines.

What are you wait-ing for? Invite your fam-ily, friends and significant other and have one ma-jestic dining experience at Al-Sultan Zabadani at the 3rd Floor, Roof Gar-den, Abreeza Mall, Davao City. Visit and like their facebook fanpage (www.facebook.com/alsultan.abreezamall) for upcom-

ing events and dishes. Do you want to be a part of Davao’s Thurs-day habit? Send me your recipes, questions, sug-gestions and comments and be featured. If you are interested, then email me at [email protected] or visit www.chefroyale.com for more recipes. Happy Cooking!

The Persian Vibe at the Al-Sultan Zabadani

From the outside of Al-sultan Zabadani.

Persian Chicken Drumsticks at Al-Sultan Zabadani.

A rendering of the vibrant interiors of the restaurant.

Soft, chewy naan bread is best eaten hot plain or dipped with any sauce.

Savory Biryani Rice is a staple in Mediterranean dish served fragrant and spicy.

gain the initial lead but with KFC also matching of the sandwich down to the last centavo, the battle now shifts to taste. Winner: TieRound 2: The Bun The bread bun of the Zinger used to disinte-grate in the hands of din-ers making a mess of the dining experience but have now since been fixed. But the lightly toasted bread of the McSpicy had a slight better texture and taste. It also helped that the bread had a nice soft texture as compared to the Zinger’s bun. Winner: McSpicyRound 3: The Fillet The Zinger’s chicken fil-let is made from boneless chicken thigh that is bat-tered and pressure fried. A dab of mayonnaise, lettuce and a hint of chilli sauce adds a spicy kick that en-deared the sandwich to the hearts of many a fried chicken fan. The McSpicy on-the-other-hand uses a chicken fillet that is battered in Mc-Donald’s crispy batter and also pressure fried. It is also served with a dab of may-onnaise and lots of greens. For this test, both sand-wiches score high on the crispiness factor although, the McSpicy lags a bit on the spicy part. It helped that the fillet was well-

seasoned and was full fla-voured in every bite. I also noticed that the Zinger was slightly more juicier than the McSpicy and be-cause of that, I give this round to the Zinger. Win-ner: ZingerThe verdict Although each sand-wich had its own strong and weak points, every-thing actually evened out for me making it hard for me to decide on a winner.

I loved the full-on savoury kick of the Zinger, while the McSpicy had a crispy bite with a hint of heat in every bite. I guess it just all boils down to your in-dividual preferences and where you want to eat. How would you have scored the sandwiches? Who would have won in your own taste test? Sound it out on my Twitter page or on Instagram @kenneth-kingong.

WINNERS of Suzuki Scooters capped off SM City General Santos’ 3-Days Sale where up to 70% discount mall wide was given to shoppers and mall hours were extended from 10am to 10pm last August 2-4, 2013. The mechanics for the raffle draw were easy. For every P500 single or accumulated purchase from any mall tenants during the 3-Days Sale gives you a chance to win one of the two (2) Suzuki NEX 115 Scooters. Additional 3 coupons will be issued if SM Supermalls Global Pinoy Card is shown. On August 4, 2013 at 9:45 in the evening, Asst. Mall Man-ager Engr. Hermon L. Hernandez, with the presence of a DTI representative, picked the lucky winners namely Leizl Labuga from Polomolok, South Cotabato and Faith Libas from Gen-eral Santos City. Winners will have to wait for an official notification letter and call from SM City General Santos on how to claim their prizes. This raffle draw is per DTI NCR-Permit No. 0764, Series of 2013. For inquiries, call Marketing Department at (083) 878-0667.

CELEBRATING its strong presence in the region, Globe Tele-com is extending a special and exclusive offer to its subscrib-ers in Davao as part of the Kadayawan Festival, Davao’s biggest annual festival that celebrates life, culture and thanksgiving. From August 1 to 15, 2013, all Davaoenos who avail of a Cloudfone 352g and Cloudpad bundle FREE at Plan 499 with the Best-Ever mySUPERPLAN will get a chance to win an ex-clusive Meet and Greet session with one of today’s hottest heartthrobs and Cloudfone endorser Xian Lim. Apart from the phone and tablet bundle, subscribers can choose from other Cloudfone handsets bundled with a Globe postpaid plan. All a subscriber needs to do is to go to any of the participating Globe Davao Stores in Ayala Abreeza, SM City Davao, SM Lanang Premier or Gaisano Mall Davao, apply for a Best-Ever mySUPERPLAN with a Cloudfone of his/her choice, and wait for the approval of the postpaid plan application. Each approved postpaid ap-plication will allow the subscriber to pick a prize such as the Meet and Greet Session with Xian Lim as grand prize, Xian Lim’s auto-graphed “It’s So You” CDs as ma-jor prizes, and Globe premium items as minor prizes. Eighty grand prize winners or twenty winners per partici-pating Globe Store will have the privilege to meet Xian up close and personal. Meanwhile, there will be forty (40) win-ners of the limited edition autographed CDs and one hun-dred winners of Globe premium items. The popular actor, singer and model will fly to Davao on August 18, 2013 to celebrate the Kadayawan Festival with Da-baowenyos and will visit the four participating Globe Stores in the region to meet the lucky winners of the promo. “Davao will always be an important market for Globe so we’re very excited to offer this exclusive promo to our sub-scribers in the region in celebration of the Kadayawan Festi-val,” said Raul Macatangay, Head of Globe Postpaid. “We invite all Davaoenos to take advantage of this special offer and avail of the Cloudfone bundle or any Cloudfone handset with the Best-Ever mySUPERPLAN, and get the chance to meet Xian Lim up close and personal or bring home premium items from Globe.” Globe Best-Ever mySUPERPLAN is a next-generation post-paid plan with fully-customizable plan components, a plan value almost twice the value of prepaid load, and more con-tract periods to choose from, ranging from 6, 12, 18, to 24 months. With the Best-Ever mySUPERPLAN, subscribers get the ultimate flexibility in creating a postpaid plan that best fits their needs, lifestyle, and budget. To know more about the Best-Ever mySUPERPLAN, visit www.globe.com.ph/postpaid or call 730-1010.

A2 INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT FOOD

Suzuki Scooters wrapped off SM City General Santos’ 3-Day Sale

Get a chance to meet Xian Lim when you get a Globe

Cloudfone bundle KFC’s Zinger versus McDonald’s McSpicy.

The Zinger

The McSpicy

The spicy chicken sandwich shootoutWHO does not love fried chicken? The crispy texture of chicken skin paired with tender and juicy chicken meat never fails to serve as a comforting meal for every tired ur-ban soul, more so if the chicken is served wedged in a toasted bun with a hint of spice for good mea-sure. For over a decade, KFC’s Zinger was THE the spicy chicken sandwich to eat. I remember when it was introduced back when I was in college and my first taste of the sandwich was, to say the least, quite satisfying and truly com-forting. Fast forward to today and there is a new chal-lenger in the arena. En-ter McDonald’s McSpicy. With a lower introductory price compared to that of the Zinger and following the Zinger’s sandwich for-mat, the big M hopes to sway some of the Colonel’s followings over to their side. So how do the two sandwiches stack up? I managed to purchase both sandwiches from the mall to do a comparison of the two. Just a disclaimer, I do not endorse either of the two sandwiches and these are just my own humble opinions. The KFC Zinger The original chicken sandwich, the KFC zinger is the first chicken fillet sandwich with a crispy and spicy kick. First intro-duced in the Philippines in the mid 90’s, the juicy and filling sandwich instantly became a staple comfort food for KFC fans.The McSpicy Firing the initial volley in the chicken sandwich war, the McSpicy is Mc-Donald’s latest offering. Also utilising a chicken fillet, fried crisp and and also with a spicy bite, the McSpicy seems like a clone of KFC’s sandwich but of course there are differ-ences.Round 1: Price The McSpicy was in-troduced at a much lower price point compared to the Zinger with made it

ABS-CBN’s undisputed drama anthology “Maa-laala Mo Kaya” contin-ues to rule weekend primetime TV as prov-en by its recent episode last Saturday (August 3) that featured the

“MMK” debut of return-ing Kapamilya actress-host Alex Gonzaga. Based on the weekend data from Kantar Media, the Don Cuaresma-directed heavy drama episode gar-nered an impressive 38.6% national TV ratings, or more

than twice the viewers who watched its rival

drama anthology in GMA “Mag-

p a k a i l a n -m a n ” w h i c h o n l y scored

1 7 . 1 % . In the story,

Alex portrayed Pinky, a loving daughter who endured all the

maltreatment of her foster sister just to

ensure that she would finish her studies through the help of her adoptive parents. Meanwhile, new Ka-pamilya actress Meg Impe-

rial will star in the upcoming “MMK” episode this Satur-day (August 10). Meg will play the role of Brenda, a hardworking lady who grew up with a lot of insecurities. Her view of self ever got worse when her first boy-friend cheated on her, mak-ing her believe that no one will truly love her. Together with Meg in the upcoming “MMK” episode are Brenna Garcia, Bryan Santos, Angeli Gonzales, Melanie Marquez, William Martinez, and KitKat. It was researched by Akeem Jor-dan del Rosario, written by Mark Duane Angos, and di-rected by Dado Lumibao. Don’t miss the longest-running drama anthology in Asia, “Maalaala Mo Kaya” (MMK), Saturday nighs, after “Wansapanataym” on ABS-CBN. For more updates, log on to www.mmk.abs-cbn.com, follow MMKOfficial on Twitter, and “like” www.face-book.com/ MMKOfficial.

THE SEARCH for hu-mans with extraordi-nary abilities continues on “Stan Lee’s Superhu-mans” this Friday night on GMA News TV. Norwegian Eskil Ron-ningsbakken appears to have a superhuman ability to switch off fear, enabling him to over-ride the innate reactions our brain would normally have in the face of deadly heights. He is a bal-ance artist who devises his own balances at extreme heights, as he says, “without limits”. Daniel Browning-Smith witnesses an incred-ible demonstration as Eskil balances upside down on three chairs, inches from a 1,000 ft. drop, with no safety net. Like the Marvel comic character Hellion, Miroslaw Magola, originally from Poland and now living in Germany, claims to be able to harness the power of

psycho kinesis to lift objects off the floor, transport them through the air and force them to stick to his body – using only the power of his mind. To see if he’s a genu-ine superhuman, Daniel investigates what’s going on in his brain while he per-forms these amazing men-tal feats. Feared for their aggres-sion and territoriality, wolf packs can take down an ani-mal ten times their size. But,

unbelievably, it’s rumored that Shaun Ellis, from the UK, has become wolf-like by living, sleeping, bathing and feeding with a deadly pack of wolves. Daniel wit-nesses this affinity first hand as Shaun takes a fifty pound calf carcass into a den full of hungry, snarling wolves. Dubbed in Filipino, this episode of “Stan Lee’s Su-perhumans” airs this Friday, August 9, at 8PM on GMA News TV Channel 11.

INdulge! A3VOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013 EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

Alex Gonzaga’s “MMK” debut, PH most-watched weekend TV show

Super balance In Stan Lee’s Superhumans

“BOTTOMLINE” EXPOSES THE STORY BEHIND THE P10-B PORK BARREL SCAM. Fashion designer Eddie Baddeo will bravely take the spotlight in “The Bottomline With Boy Abunda” this Saturday (August 10) to share what he knows about the controversial alleged mastermind of the P10-billion pork barrel scam Janet Lim-Napoles. Being Napoles’ former agent, what made Baddeo decide to testify against her? Is it true that he only wants to ruin his former friend’s reputation because of a serious conflict? With the revelation of the Napoles family’s illegal transactions, how will the Aquino administration stop the misuse of the government’s fund? Don’t miss the 2013 USTv Awards Best Public Affairs Talk Show “The Bottomline with Boy Abunda” this Saturday, 11:30 pm after “Banana Split.” For more updates, log on to www.abs-cbn.com or follow @abscbndotcom on Twitter.

GP

PG 13

R13/

*PG13

PG 13 12:40 | 3:00 | 5:20 | 7:40 | 10:00 LFS

R-16

RED 2 / *THE WOLVERINE 2D

12:00 | 2:20 / * 5:00 | 7:30 | 10:00 LFS

BAKIT HINDI KA CRUSH NG CRUSH MO? 2D

12:00 | 2:00 | 4:00 | 6:00 | 7:00 | 10:00 LFS

PERCY JACKSON SEA OF MONSTERS 2DLogan Lerman, Brandon Jackson

Bruce Willis/ *Hugh Jackman

12:00 | 2:00 | 4:00 | 6:00 | 7:00 | 10:00 LFS

THE SMURFS 2 2D

Hank Azaria Neil, Patrick Harris

Kim Chiu, Xian Lim

A4 INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013EDGEDAVAOFOOD

Davao City then comes alive with sights and sounds so colorful and delightful that draw crowds from near and far to take part in the much-anticipated Kaday-awan festivity. The Kadayawan spirit takes dancers to the streets beating to the rich bass sound of the Agung and the indigenous music of Davao City’s ethnic diversity Kadayawan colors beau-tifully leap into one’s eyes in a joyful prayer of offering to the gods for a continued harvest of blessings for the Dabawenyos. And this August, The White House Fusion Cui-sine and Wine Lounge joins in the month-long festivity with a food festival so special that would make Kadayawan sa Dabaw more memorable both for visi-tors and locals alike. Aside from its delectable degustation, ala carte and even Bento Boxes menu, The White House Fusion Cuisine and Wine Lounge has been known for, this time it treats diners to an array of sumptuous and delicious Filipino fare that would make one want for more for its Kadayawan sa Dabaw Feast offering. Ms. Cathy Binag, co-owner of The White House Fuision Cuisine and Wine Lounge, says diners could delighfully sink their teeth into the wonderful taste of the “Real Kare-Kare” made with sautéed roasted rice, Ox tail, Ox tripe, with separate peanut sauce and steamed vegetables. “It is not your every day Kare-Kare as it is home-cooked and made from scratch. The process is too tedious and time-con-suming but it is, of course, cooked with so much pas-sion and love so that you would really taste the dif-ference of a Kare-Kare that is traditional and authen-tic,” says Ms. Binag. Then there is the ‘not your usual abodo’ fare as

The White House Fuision Cuisine and Wine Lounge presents the ‘Twice-Cooked Adobo ala TBF’ which consists of Pork Pata Front with Pork Belly and Mashed Liver. Davao City has been known for its Tuna Ki-nilaw but at The White House Fusion Cuisine and Wine Lounge, the Kini-law comes with a beautiful twist and an aromatic kick as it is known as ‘The White House Kinilaw. Taste also The White House Fuision Cuisine’s All Veggie Fried Lumpia in Pinakurat Vinegar, which is good for those who want a fill of their vegetables. Ms. Binag said the Daing Na Bangus Belly with Salt-ed Egg is also another win-ner as it best brings out the flavour and taste of Bangus that is also produced here in Southern Mindanao. The White House Fu-sion Cuisine and Wine Lounge likewise offers din-ers this Kadayawan month the Classic Binagoongang Baboy that tastes like no other. Diners would also be in for a delightful surprise with the desserts that The White House Fuision Cui-sine and Wine Lounge has for the Kadayawan month of August aside from its fa-mous Cheesecake, French Toast and Banoffee Tart that Chef Justin Sison cre-atively prepares. Come and celebrate Ka-dayawan Festival at The White House Fusion Cui-sine and Wine Lounge lo-cated at North Point along J.P. Laurel Avenue. For inquiries and res-ervation please contact The White House Fusion Cuisine and Wine Lounge through telephone num-bers (082) 2824540 or 09154483601 or visit The White House Fusion Cui-sine and Wine Lounge Facebook Page (www.face-book.com/thewhitehouse-cuisine).

THE Kadayawan sa Dabaw Festival is definitely a feast of the senses as Dabawenyos thank the gods for nature’s bountiful harvest of the land and the seas which happens every month of Au-gust.

The White House Fusion Cuisine’s Kadayawan sa

Dabaw Feast

EDGEDavao Davao Partners

VOL. 6 ISSUE 104 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013 15EDGEDAVAO SPORTS

IRAN continued to showcase dominant form in the FIBA Asia

Championship, complet-ing its group campaign with an easy 85-53 vic-tory over Kazakhstan on Wednesday.

Hamed Haddadi fin-ished with 16 points and nine rebounds for Iran, which went undefeated in the first two rounds of the tournament to top Group F. The two-time Asian champions have not won by less than 11 points in its six wins in the compe-tition.

Naturalized point guard Jerry Johnson sat the game out for Kazakh-stan, which had just little more than 12 hours of rest since the conclusion of its last match against South Korea.

The Persians will head into the knockout stag-es on Friday brimming with confidence against fourth-seed Jordan from Group E.

The two nations have a long history of rivalry, having battled each other in the playofs in the last two editions of the tour-nament.

In 2009, Iran defeated Jordan in the semifinals.

Two years after that, Jordan pulled off the big-gest upset of the tourna-ment by knocking Iran out of the quarterfinals.

After sweeping the preliminaries, Kazakh-stan lost its third straight assignment in the second round to finish fourth in its group. It will await the top team from Group E, with Chinese Taipei, Qa-tar, and the Philippines still in the running for the first seed.

The knockout stages of the tournament begin on Friday.

Jordan books last tick-et

Jordan booked the last ticket to the knockout stages in Group E with a 65-56 victory over Japan on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Naturalized swingman Jimmy Baxter paced Jor-dan with 16 points, while Mohammed Hussein had the game of his life, finish-ing with 15 points and 19 rebounds off the bench.

Jordan finished the group stages with a 2-4 record, which was good enough to give them fourth place and a seat in the crossover quarterfi-nals.

THE Philippine na-tional men’s bas-ketball team still

went all out on Tuesday night against Qatar, even though a win made it like-ly that the team could face perennial Asian power-house China in the knock-out quarterfinals.

“Pending a miracle, I think we just arranged a date against China in the quarterfinals. So we were fully aware of this but there was no way we weren’t coming out with our best tonight. Not with all those people in the stands with all the expec-tations,” said Gilas Pili-pinas coach Chot Reyes after his team’s 80-70 vic-tory.

With the win, the Phil-ippines will finish second in its group if Qatar loses its final assignment on Wednesday against Chi-nese Taipei. If the Qataris want to avoid a knock-out date with China, they could just drop the game and finish third in the group.

China may end up fin-

ishing third in its group by virtue of losses to South Korea and Iran in the opening round of the tournament. The Chi-nese have struggled in the competition, but are expected to get back star player Yi Jianlian in the playoffs.

“You know if it so hap-pens that we play China in the quarterfinals then so be it. We just have to find a way to come out and play a game like this to give us a chance,” said Reyes.

For the second straight game, Gilas displayed a gallant defensive stand, forcing the bigger Qataris to struggle from the field.

The Philippines will have one more battle against lightweight Hong Kong on Wednesday, but Reyes said the team is al-ready looking forward to its date in the playoffs.

“Now we gotta pre-pare and prepare hard for what is going to be the biggest battle of our tour-nament. The quarterfinal match,” he said.

Chot: ‘We just need to find a way’

FIBA ASIA ROUNDUP

Iran completes sweep

Coach Chot Reyes

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‘I’M OK.’ The Philippines’ center

Marcus Douthit lim

ps in the match

against Qatar but he says he is alright and is ready for the tough grind ahead.

AGAINST THE GREAT WALL

Gilas could be playing China in quartersW

ITH just one gam

e left in its second round schedule, Chi-na seem

s destined to finish in third place in Group F to loom

as a likely quarterfinal opponent of the Philippine national m

en’s basketball team in the

FIBA Asia Championship.

Third place is not quite the situ-ation

expected of

defending

champion China, but their coach Panag-

iotis Giannakis is satisfied with how

his players are perform

ing so far, especially w

ith the injuries plaguing his team.

“We’re getting better. W

e’re wait-

ing for two players. H

ow m

any teams

are playing without tw

o of their good players in their roster?

We

control the situation u

ntil

now,” said Giannakis, w

hose team is still

missing form

er NBA player Yi Jianlian

and point guard Liu Xiaoyu, who w

as injured in their gam

e against Ka-zakhstan.

Despite the low

fin-ish in their group af-ter to losses to Iran and Korea in the

first round, China’s coach is looking at things positively heading into the knockout rounds.

“I

wa

nt

to tell m

y

players to feel comfortable w

ith their skills, w

ith their talent and to play strong until the last second. To m

e, this is im

portant,” he said.“W

ith a clear mind, and a clear view

of the situation w

hich you are in, you take the best result.”

The coach said his team’s goal

in the preliminaries w

as to qual-

ify for the knockout rounds and to learn w

hich players can be a help to them

moving forw

ard, and he feels content that the Chinese team

did that.“Even if you w

in all the games (in the

group phase), still you h

av

e to face the knockout gam

es.” (AKTV)

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Edge Davao 6 Issue 104