KMU slams DOLE

EDGE Serving a seamless society

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Passionate Cuisine

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Smile, aneverlasting smile...

POSTER BOYS. Traffic en-forcers settle on a shaded sidewalk to escape yester-day’s blistering summer heat along Palma Gil Street in Davao City. Lean Daval Jr.

IF SMILES COULD SELL. This kitemaker flashes his toothsome smile while peddling colorful kites at the junction of E. Quirino Avenue and Jacinto extension in Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

The militant Kilusang Mayo Uno ((KMU) in Davao slammed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in region 11 for what it calls a cheap trick in announcing that it is con-sidering giving workers non-wage benefits to counter the demand for a new round of wage hike in the region.

DOLE and the National Wages and Produc-tivity Commission (NWPC) have announced that they are studying the possibility of giving workers non-wage benefits instead of a wage hike on Labor Day.

The benefits would include the granting of assistance for affordable housing via PAG-IBIG and DOLE; a P20,000 educational loan per semester from the Social Security System or SSS; and a broader coverage by Philhealth.

By Che Palicte

ThE yearly celebration of Labor Day manifests a divided cause as to who truly represents the interests and welfare of ordinary workers and

laborers. This year was no different.

FKMU SLAMS DOLE, 10

VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 20132 EDGEDAVAO

FNAGKAISA, 10

FCOUNCIL, 10

THE BIG NEWS

DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS. Left, a young person with disability (PWD) enjoys a moment with his brother who willingly pushes his wheelchair at the Annex of SM City Davao. Right, an elderly woman uses a monobloc chair as walker as she crosses a street while a lady passes by not minding her condition at all. Lean Daval Jr.

REELECTIONIST Rep. Karlo Nograles is leading over Luis

Bonguyan in the first dis-trict congressional race while Mylene Garcia has a slim lead in the second dis-trict against Joji Ilagan Bian in the Institute for Popular Opinion of the University of Mindanao (IPO-UM) sur-vey two weeks ahead of the 2013 elections.

The survey was con-ducted from April 15 to 24 with 1,200 randomly chosen respondents with a three percent margin of error and 95 percent confi-dence level.

Team PNoy bets Loren Legarda, Chiz Escudero, and Peter Cayetano topped the survey on senators.

IPO-UM director, Ma, Linda Arquiza reported yesterday in the business forum at Seda Abreeza that the senators who topped their survey gained advan-tage from the controver-sies swirling around them with 65percent for Legar-da, 64 pecent for Escudero, and 63 percent for Cayeta-

no. In the first district of

Davao City, Nograles has 67 percent, more than twice of Bonguyan’s 29 percent.

According to Arquiza, one of the possible reasons for this is that the first dis-trict welcomes the pres-ence of the camp that is op-posed to Davao City’s seat of power and discourages monopoly of rule.

In the second district, the report showed Garcia leading the congressio-nal race with 49 percent against her opponent Bian, who has 41 percent.

Meanwhile, 74 percent will vote for the unopposed Isidro Ungab for congress in the third district, accord-ing to the report.

The rest of the senato-rial candidates who made it to the magic 12 are Grace Poe with 60 percent, Nan-cy Binay 58 percent, Juan Ponce Enrile Jr. 57 percent, Benigno “Bam” Aquino 56 percent, JV Ejercito-Estra-da 56 percent, Jamby Mad-rigal 47 percent, Antonio Trillanes 43 percent, Koko

Pimentel 43 percent while Migs Zubiri and Lisa honti-veros are tied with 40 per-cent.

Those who did not make it were Edgardo An-gara, 37 percent, Cynthia Villar, 36 percent and Bro. Eddie Villanueva, 29 per-cent.

According to UM-IPO specialist on economic, government and political issues, Adrian Tamayo, a lot of senatorial candi-dates made it in the na-tional surveys but were not chosen by Dabawen-yos and there were some (senatorial candidates) who did not make it in the national surveys but made it in Davao’s survey, “may-be because the Dabawen-yo’s psyche vie for the un-derdog.”

According to UM-IPO specialist on culture and peace Rey Cuizon, the survey they conducted also measures the voters’ psyche in how they chose their candidates on four dimensions: personality factor, achievement factor,

physical factor, and the communication factor.

For the personality factor, the characteris-tics that voters look for in a candidate are being principled, easily visible, accommodating, cordial, service-oriented, intelli-gent, humble, pro-poor, merciful, future-oriented, fair, honest, takes care of the government’s wealth, has concern for the en-vironment, is family-ori-ented, religious, has high degree of education, has talent, is rich and member of a political family.

Voters want candi-dates who have received many awards, being sup-ported by his or her family, and have good reputation. Dabawenyos also want candidates who are phys-ically-fit and good looking.

For the communica-tion factor, voters want candidates who are elo-quent, stand courageously, and able to articulate his/her position or opinion even if it is against popu-lar views.

IN line with the 110th celebration of Labor Day today, a labor union

group dubbed “Nagkaisa” is calling for the abolition of the 10-year contractual-ization license designed by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

DOLE Department Order No. 18-A series of 2011, also known as “Rules Implementing Articles 106 to 109 of the Labor Code, was made public on De-cember 4, 2011.

The department or-der seeks to differentiate

“legitimate” from “non-le-gitimate” contractors and subcontractors and lays down requirements for le-gitimate ones.

Among the require-ments to be a “legitimate” contractor and subcontrac-tor are: owning a distinct and independent business; readiness to take full re-sponsibility for perform-ing a job, work or service; has substantial capital or investment; commitment to comply with labor laws; and registered with DOLE

A candidate for councilor in Ban-isilan, North

Cotabato was shot dead Sunday night after a campaign rally in the town center, a police official said.

Senior Supt. Dani-lo Peralta, provincial police director of this province identified the victim as Gaspar Omar, who ran under the United Nationalist Alli-ance.

Peralta said they have witnesses who pointed to a 14-year old boy as

the assailant.“he was fixing some of

their paraphernalia and equipment and was about to board his vehicle when the suspect opened fire behind him. he died immediately,” he said.

Chief Inspector Ritc-zel Alucilja, the town police chief said it was the third attempt to kill the victim.

“The first was in 2008, followed in 2010 but on Sunday night he didn’t escape death”, he said.

The official said three

UM SURVEY:

Wide lead for Karlo, slim for MyleneBy EJ Dominic Fernandez

‘Nagkaisa’ nixes contractualizationBy Che Palicte

Council bet killed in North Cotabato

VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2013

ThE Department of Social Welfare and Development

(DSWD) and the Depart-ment of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will be signing a Mem-orandum of Agreement

(MOA) with Compostela Valley Governor Arturo T. Uy today, May 2, 2013. The MOA signing will be for the pilot testing of the enhancement of the pro-vincial local government unit (PLGU) engagement

in Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehen-sive and Integrated De-livery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS).

Kalahi-CIDSS is one of the three core poverty alleviation programs of

the DSWD. It utilizes the community-driven devel-opment (CDD) approach, a strategy that gives citi-zens the opportunity and responsibility to analyze their poverty-related problems, generate solu-

tions, and prioritize and implement their projects.

The results of the pilot testing, which is expect-ed to run for 20 months, is meant to provide in-formation on how to en-hance the involvement of the PLGUs in the Na-tional Community-Driven Development Program (NCDDP).

The NCDDP, which is the scaling up of Kala-hi-CIDSS, will increase the current coverage of the program from 367 to 900 municipalities. This expands the current cov-erage from from 50% to 100% of the poorest mu-nicipalities in the country.

Compostela Valley is among the PLGUs that have demonstrated inno-vations in adopting the CDD approach in the past through their implemen-tation of Kalahi-CIDSS. In 2010 to 2011, it imple-mented the Assistance Towards Unity for Prog-ress thru Empowerment, Accountability, Coop-eration, and Efficiency (ATU-PEACE) initiative, which was based on Kala-hi-CIDSS and uses CDD in implementing small-scale projects, with financial support from the PLGU.

According to Governor Uy, Kalahi-CIDSS is one of

the best programs of the national government be-cause it addresses the ac-tual needs of the commu-nities. “It is not only what the barangay officials or what the barangay cap-tains need or want,” he said, citing that the CDD implementation prevents politicians from dictating what subprojects will be implemented, thereby al-lowing residents to have direct control over their community decisions and resources.

he added, “If it is the whole community that de-cides the project, it must be the priority of that community. That is why I adopted the Kalahi-CIDSS concept.” By utilizing the CDD approach through ATU-PEACE, he said that the PLGU was able to pri-oritize which subprojects were truly needed by the communities.

Compostela Valley is also a recipient of the Seal of Good housekeeping from the DILG.

Aside from Compos-tela Valley, Albay was also chosen as one of the pilot sites for the PLGU engagement. The MOA signing with Albay Gover-nor Joey Salceda was held on March 24 in Legazpi City. [DSWD]

EDGEDAVAO 3SUBURBIA

DISPLACED. Davao del Norte Gov. Rodolfo del Rosa-rio addresses over a hundred indigenous women of the Mandaya tribe in a gathering held Tuesday that was organized to clarify issues pertaining to the land they are currently occupying. They are originally from

Davao Oriental but are now residing in Tagum City with 300 more households due to typhoon Pablo. In response to their concerns, the governor directed the provincial social welfare office to extend technical as-sistance.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front Chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, Luiza Carvalho, resident coordinator of United Nations and Ousmane Dione of World Bank in a ceremonial exchange of letters to launch the Facility for Advisory Support for Transition Capacities (FASTRAC) on April 29, 2013 at Camp Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao. Mindanews photo by Toto Lozano

ThE Department of Social Welfare and Develop-

ment (DSWD) in Region 12 is working for the implementation of vari-ous support interventions in preparation for the conclusion of the na-tional government’s con-ditional cash transfer program in three munici-palities in the region.

Gemma Rivera, DSWD Region 12 assistant di-rector, said they are presently assisting the crafting of munici-pal transition plans to properly prepare the local governments and beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pili-pino Program or 4Ps once its support eventually ends.

She said the im-plementation of the 4Ps, which is part of the national government’s three-pronged anti-pov-erty strategy, will finally wind up in December in the towns of Maasim and Malapa-tan in Sarangani and on April 2014 in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato.

“This is to make sure

that the local government units (LGUs) concerned will be able to sustain the program’s impact and help further improve the current socio-eco-nomic condition of the beneficiaries,” Rivera said in a statement.

The official said they initially held a series of consultations with officials of the three municipalities to dis-cuss the details of the transition plans.

She said they are helping the LGUs come up with plans that would indicate or reflect ef-forts that will help sustain the program’s support and interven-tions.

“We need to ensure that there will be conti-nuity in terms of support to the beneficiaries so they will not re-vert to their previous socio-economic status,” Rivera said.

She said the munic-ipal transition plans will be integrated in an inter-agency plan that will help synchronize var-ious poverty reduction efforts in the area. [Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews]

ThE City Government of Tagum togeth-er with the City of

Tagum Tourism Council has lined up several ac-tivities in time for sum-mer ranging from arts to sports, making the City of Palms as a prime destina-tion this time of the year.

Dubbed as Tagum City’s Summer Trio Events, the said line-up of activi-ties aims to celebrate the arts, rekindle the tradition of fiestas and to showcase the value of sportsman-ship and camaraderie.

headlining these events is the 5th Earthfest Summer Workshop, which offers workshops for kids and teens in theater, mu-

sic, visual and dance art forms. The workshop’s grand recital is scheduled on May 5, Sunday, 4 P.M. at the Gaisano Grand Mall of Tagum.

In line with the festi-val’s advocacy of caring, preservation and rehabili-tation of the environment, the participants of the said festival will conduct a tree planting activity in the LGU-developed accretion area in Barangay Magdum on May 5.

As the month of May kicks off, the 5th install-ment of the Flores de Tagumeño also rolls in, seeking to revive the Ro-man Catholic tradition of fiestas introduced during

the Spanish era. Opening ceremonies on said events will be on May 4, Saturday, 5 P.M. at Parish Christ the Eucharistic King ground, Rizal St.

This will feature the Flores de Maria, which will teach children and youth to embrace the Catechetical teachings of the Church, offer flowers and sing songs of praise to Mother Mary and recite the holy Rosary. A chamber choir concert-competition with a solo performance aptly dubbed, as “harana Kay Birhen Maria” shall also unfold on May 24 at the Rotary Park-Open Space.

highlighting the month-long festivity on

May 25 is the Santacruzan de Tagumeño, which is a procession of 26 Sagalas along the city’s major thor-oughfares.

Come May 17-26, 2013, the heat of sports compe-tition coincides with the heat of the summer sun in the 7th Edition of Summer Sports Festival.

Sports enthusiasts from all over Mindanao will converge in the city to land a sweet spot of victo-ry in the following events: arnis, badminton, beach volleyball, 6-men volley-ball, chess, dart, dog agility, football, lawn tennis, sepak takraw, softball, table ten-nis and taekwondo. [Louie Lapat/CIO Tagum]

DILG, DSWD to sign MOA with ComValKalahi-CIDSS

Tagum offers triple treat this summerDSWD 12 gears for end of 4Ps

VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2013

TEAM PNoy sena-torial candidate Risa hontiveros

filed a letter complaint yesterday in the De-partment of Justice against the New Peo-ple’s Army for commit-ting election offenses, saying that the rebel group’s use of election violence and extortion is reminiscent of Mar-cos’ martial law hooli-ganism.

“The checkpoints, the extortion through the so-called per-mit-to-campaign and permit-to-win, and the use of violence remind me of the machinery of coercion that Marcos established to subvert the will of the people, the same violent tool deployed by the Am-patuans to kill and bury their enemies,” honti-veros said.

“Whether it is Pal-paran, Ampatuan, or the NPA, election vio-lence should have no space in our democra-cy. We should reject co-ercion from NPA with the same intensity as our condemnation of military abuse. Kung ayaw natin ng pangon-gotong ng abusadong pulis, dapat ayaw din natin ng pangongotong ng NPA,” hontiveros said.

In her letter com-

plaint, hontiveros said that the NPA’s extortion activities and use of vi-olence violate election laws.

“These acts are clear violations of our elec-tion laws, which pro-hibit the use of threats, intimidation, terror-ism and other coercive

tools to influence the conduct and the result of elections,” honti-veros explained, as she urged Justice Secretary De Lima to investigate these incidents.

She said that the at-tack against Guingoog City Mayor Ruthie Gu-ingona and the NPA’s

collection of ‘fees’ from candidates mani-fest a pattern of abuse and gangsterism that threatens the chance to effect social change through democrat-ic, peaceful and clean elections. “We have encountered cases of human rights abuses

committed by the NPA against civilians who engage in peaceful and democratic approach-es to achieve change,” hontiveros pointed out.

“We have to de-mand accountability from the NPA for their human rights abus-es, and correcting

human rights abuses should be universally applied,” hontiveros added. “Civilians who engage in electoral politics should be pro-tected from all forms of threats and coercion, whether they’re from state or non-state ac-tors such as the NPA.”

4 EDGEDAVAO

WITh her first term as dis-trict repre-

sentative about to end and her second looming large in the horizon, Compostela Valley Rep. Maria Car-men Zamora bared what she termed as her “humble contri-bution to lawmaking” in the 15th Congress.

“We may not be as vocal as other legis-lators in pushing for our advocacies and priorities but, in our modest reckoning, we have sufficiently and diligently done our sworn duties and re-sponsibilities as the representative of our people,” she said.

Among the many bills and resolutions she authored and co-authored in the house of Represen-

tatives, the following stand out for having been adopted by the legislature or signed by the President into law:

1. Republic Act (RA) No. 10445 na-tionalizing the Bango high School in

Barangay Ngan, Compostela;

2. RA No. 10252 creating two addi-tional Regional Trial Court branches for

Compostela Valley Province to be sta-tioned in the munici-palities of Mabini

and Compostela;3. RA Nos. 10147,

10155 and 10352 or the General Appro-priations Acts for FY

2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively;

4. RA No. 10149 or the Govern-ment-Owned and

-Controlled Corpora-tions

Governance Act of 2011;

5. RA No. 10156 conferring civil ser-vice eligibility to Members of the Sanggunian Bayan, Panlungsod and Pan-lalawigan under cer-tain circumstances;

6. RA No. 10361 or the Kasambahay Law;

7. RA No. 1015 or the Mandatory Kin-dergarten Education Act;

8. RA No. 10354 or the Reproductive health Law;

9. RA No. 10351 or the new law on Excise Taxes governing alco-hol and tobacco prod-ucts; and

10. house Concur-rent Resolution No. 22 urging the Presi-dent to create a

Presidential Task Force for Typhoon Pablo victims.

The lady lawmak-er is optimistic that other proposals she pushed for, including the establishment of the Compostela Val-ley State College, cre-ation of the ComVal Department of Ed-ucation Schools Di-vision, the new K to 12 Basic Education Program, universal Philhealth cover-age—all of which are either pending with the Office of the Pres-ident for signature or awaiting enrolment for executive action—will also be passed into law before the adjournment of the 15th Congress.

Ms Zamora is unopposed in her re-election bid.

WE all seek to preserve, not destroy life, by

making it less difficult for the poor, our women, and their children to ac-cess health services.

This was the state-ment of reelectionist Sen. Loren Legarda as she thanked the Purple Ribbon for Rh for en-dorsing her candidacy along with selected sen-atorial candidates.

“Experience has shown that we cannot always agree on every issue. That is part of a thriving democracy. I am certain, however, that as Filipinos, we all share the desire to make democracy work in favor of those who have lesser in life,” Legarda said.

She said she remains committed to the cause

of women’s rights, in-cluding freedom from violence, quality health-care, education, and ac-cess to jobs. “I look for-ward to continue work-ing with you on these issues,” she added.

Legarda is credited with passing laws to pro-tect the rights of women and promote their wel-fare such as the Anti-Vi-olence Against Women and Children Act, the Magna Carta of Women, and the Expanded An-ti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

Purple Ribbon for Rh is made up of supporters of the Rh law, including NGOs, civil groups, busi-ness groups, former gov-ernment officials, pri-vate institutions, youth, writers, artists, and ce-lebrities.

ABSENTEE VOTER. An absentee voter signs before casting a vote during the absentee voting for teachers at Kapt. Tomas Monteverde Sr. Elementary School along Ponciano Reyes Street in Davao City Monday afternoon. Lean Daval Jr.

Investigate NPA’s election abuses, Hontiveros asks DOJ

Rep. Zamora bares Congress scorecard Legarda: We shall thrive in democracy

ThE construction of the Aboitiz-Power’s 300-MW

24/7 baseload coal power plant in Davao

City logged its first one million hours of acci-dent-free work, taking it closer to its 2015 com-pletion date.

The achievement was reached by contrac-tor First Balfour Inc., one of the major contractors working on the project,

which aims to bring a long-term solution to the ongoing Mindanao power crisis, Benjamin A. Cariaso, Jr., Pres. and

COO of Aboitiz Pow-er subsidiary Therma South Inc., said.

“Safety is of para-mount importance to AboitizPower and with the help of our contrac-tors like First Balfour, we have shown that we can build a world class pow-er plant in Davao City and Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur,” Cariaso said.

The 1-million hour mark without total lost time due to injury (TLI) is the first ever achieve-ment by any construc-tion project in the Davao region according to the Department of Labor and Employment.

The power plant, which will utilize the lat-est circulating fluidized bed technology, is tar-geted for completion in 2015 an will add much needed relief to the hard up Mindanao grid. As of Wednesday shortage in the Mindanao grid hov-ered around 150 MW.

More than half of the power plant’s capaci-ty had been signed up by distribution utilities and electric coopera-tives in Mindanao. The

power supply contracts will be submitted to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for review.

Manuel M. Orig, Therma South first vice president for govern-ment and community relations, said the mile-stone reflects the hard work and dedication of the whole construction team.

AboitizPower is in-vesting more than P35 billion to add more than 300 MW of power to the Mindanao grid. Subsidiary hedcor has started construction of its Tudaya 1 and 2 hy-dro power project in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur to add 13 MW by 2014. hedcor also recently received approval from host communities for its 52-MW hydro proj-ect in Manolo Fortich in Bukidnon.

In the short term, subsidiary Therma Ma-rine supplies 200-MW of power to 23 electric cooperatives and distri-bution utilities to cush-ion the effects of the power shortage.[PNA]

5EDGEDAVAO

THE ECONOMYVOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2013

SOLD. A man unties a recently sold goat he just sold outside the Sta. Ana Wharf along R. Magsaysay Avenue, Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

Aboitiz Power logs 1M safe working hours

VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2013

GLOBE Telecom’s rollout of its 4G LTE (long-term evolution)- hSPA+ ser-

vice, which caters to the expect-ed growth in mobile data usage, is expected to support revenue growth this year.

“We are rolling out addi-tional fiber optic capacity in or-der to support our growing 4G LTE-hSPA+ service. Thus, we can easily cater to more mobile data traffic when demand is there. We expect this endeavor

to help generate revenue sup-port this year,” Globe Telecom President and CEO Ernest Cu said, noting that priority areas include Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao.

According to Cu, revenue in-

crease from mobile data usage will be driven by customers’ growing bandwidth require-ment as more and more people are engaged in social network-ing even when they are on the go.

The company’s rollout of more LTE and hSPA+ sites also bodes well with projections that the number of smartphone users in the country will ac-celerate over the next sever-al years. Projections indicate smartphone penetration could reach 50% over the next three years, from latest estimate of 18% as of last year, Cu said.

he said the projected up-surge in smartphone penetra-tion will be fuelled by more at-tractively priced smartphones and changing consumer usage of mobile phones as network coverage becomes more perva-sive.

“The growing preference for smartphones will increase the use of mobile internet which, in turn, will help fuel our revenue growth,” Cu said, noting growth in demand for mobile data ser-vices, ranging from prepaid daily variants to postpaid un-limited mobile browsing.

WORTH of jewelry collection of Rep. Imelda R. Marcos, former first lady of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, which the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) plans to be put on display this year.

THE Supreme Court has dismissed four Cebu City judges and several Court administrative personnel accused of involvement in civil marriage solemnization rackets and irregularities. Dismissed were judges Anatalio Necessario, Gil Acosta, Rosabella Tormis and Edgemelio Rosales of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Branches 2, 3, 4 and 8.

HONDA Cars Philippines Inc. (HCPI) on Thursday said it is recalling 9,743 units of Honda Civic 2001 to 2002, and CR-V 2002 models because of a faulty inflation device for the front passenger airbag. BusinessMirror, April 12-13, 2013

MISS KRIS AQUINO, youngest sister of President Noynoy Aquino, paid P49.8 million in income tax, making her the No.1 top individual taxpayer in the country, as against the richest Filipino businessmen listed in Forbes magazine.

15 4 9,743 49.8It figures

MONTHLY AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATE (January 2012-February 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 Watch5.4

4th Qtr 2012

6.8 4th Qtr 2012

USD 3,969.51 million

Dec 2012USD 5,135.46

million Nov 2012

USD -1,585 million

Nov 2012USD -209

millionMar 2012

P 5,171,689  million

Dec 2012

3.6 % Jan 2013P155,308

million Nov 2012

P 5,381 billion 

Nov 2012

P 40.67 Feb 2013

6,242.7 Jan 2013

132.4 Feb 2013

3.4 Feb 2013

3.8 Feb 2013

352,438 Nov 2012

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/

6

DavaO by thE nUMbErsThe total number of

employed persons in Davao Region reached

1.85 millionthis year,

21.1 percent

of whom have expressed desire for additional job or

longer working hours.Source: BLeS

THE ECONOMY EDGEDAVAO

SUMMER FUN. Department of Tourism 11 Director Art Boncato flashes the thumbs up sign to the guests of yesterday’s One Summer Fun Davao launching at the Seda Hotel along J.P. Laurel Avenue, Davao City. Lean Daval Jr.

A locally-developed appli-cation for mobile inter-net users on a budget has

been downloaded more than one million times already, marking the first time that a homegrown app has breached and moved past the one-million-user level.

This was learned from Smart Communication executives who said in an email sent on Tuesday that the app, called SmartNet, only two years since its first de-ployment, has gained the admi-ration of more than a million mo-bile internet users in the country.

The SmartNet app allows budget conscious Filipinos to surf the internet and explore its many potentials safely and at a price that executives said is truly affordable.”This is a major mile-stone in our efforts to promote mobile internet usage in the country,” Orlando B. Vea, Smart’s chief wireless advisor, said.

According to Vea, the mobile app is available on Android, iOs and Windows operating systems and works very well for Filipi-nos who love to surf the internet knowing that the service would not cost an arm and a leg for the user.

he said the app was intro-duced only in 2011 but has prov-en popular among the budget

conscious because the platform incorporates such widely used applications as Twitter, Face-book, Facebook chat and Yahoo! Messenger for free.

It also allows users to browse Smart’s news aggre-gator service headlines, and use Yahoo! search and email services on their mobile phone without added data charges, Vea quickly added.

A key innovative feature of SmartNet is a widget called Safe Zone, which serves as the plat-form’s anti-bill shock solution.

By simply pressing the wid-get’s “Internet button,” users can turn “off” all applications outside of the SmartNet suite of applications.

“By giving subscribers full control of their internet usage, SmartNet gives them greater confidence to actually use more web-based services,” Vea ex-plained.

Smart developed this mobile application platform to over-come a major obstacle standing in the way of more people being able to use mobile internet ser-vices.

The average monthly reve-nue per subscriber in the Philip-pines is below US$ 5, providing little headroom for Filipinos to

spend on mobile internet ser-vices.

“We developed SmartNet to address the unique needs of Filipinos. Pinoys are a social media-savvy people – there are 30 million of us on Facebook and 10 million on Twitter – but many of us are hesitant to use mobile internet for fear of bill shock. Through SmartNet, we are making the internet and so-

cial media more accessible to Filipinos,” Michael Padua, Smart head for internet product man-agement, said.

SmartNet can be download-ed for free from Google Play, Ap-ple iTunes, and Windows Mar-ketplace. It is also available via mobile web (http://m.smart-net.ph) for feature phones and mobile browsers, and via PC Web (www.smartnet.ph). [PNA]

Smart mobile internet app hits 1 million users

Globe Telecom 4G LTE-HSPA+ rollout to help support revenue growth

VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2013

KIDS like to taunt each other with the cry, “Last one

there is a rotten egg!” In Earth’s case, that might be more true of the first ones there, according to a new study suggesting that millions of years ago, the planet emanated such a stench.

The research, pub-lished this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds fossil evi-dence of microbes snack-ing on other microbes, a form of feeding called heterotrophy. hetero-trophs can’t make their own organic nutrients, so they have to eat other life forms. This is in contrast with autotrophs (think plants), which can syn-thesize their own food from sunlight or inorgan-ic chemicals.

Researchers sus-pected that organisms have been eating oth-er organisms for a very long time — about 3.5 billion years, said study researcher Martin Brasi-er, a professor at Oxford University’s department of earth sciences. The new study clarifies the process about 1.9 million years ago. [Extreme Life on Earth: 8 Bizarre Crea-tures]

“In this study, for the first time, we identify how it was happening and ‘who was eating who,’” Brasier said in a statement. “In fact, we’ve all experienced modern bacteria feeding this way, as that’s where that ‘rot-ten egg’ whiff of hydro-gen sulfide comes from in a blocked drain.”

Early Earth may also have been purple, according to a 2007 study that found that an-cient microbes may have shone a purplish hue.

Brasier and his col-leagues analyzed fos-sils of a bacterium called Gunflintia. These fossils measured just 3 to 15 microns in diameter; in comparison, the eye of a needle is about 1,230 microns across. Com-pared with other bacte-rial fossils, the tubular outer sheath of Gunflint-ia were more likely to show perforations, a sign that other bacteria had been snacking on them.

Another clue that early Earth was a bacte-ria-eat-bacteria world was the discovery of iron sulfide replacing some segments of the Gun-flintia sheaths. Iron sul-fide, the compound that makes up fool’s gold, is a waste product of cer-

tain heterotrophic bac-teria that breathe sulfate. These sulfate-reducing bacteria, which ultimate-ly produce sulfides, date back 3.5 billion years, according to previously researched fossils.

“Whilst the Gunflint-

ia fossils are only about half as old, they confirm that such bacteria were indeed flourishing by 1,900 million years ago,” researcher David Wacey, a postdoctoral research-er at the University of Western Australia, said

in a statement, referring to the fossils from this study. “And that they were also highly par-ticular about what they chose to eat.”

The sulfate-breath-ers may not have been the only ones chowing

down. The research-ers also found clusters of 1-micron-sized rod and sphere bacteria in the Gunflintia fossils that may have died while in the process of consum-ing the larger microbes. [LiveScience.com]

7EDGEDAVAO SCIENCE/ENVIRONMENT

EarthClose-up of 1.9 billion-year-old Gunflint chert, which contain tiny fossilized evidence of microbes consuming other microbes in the black zones. [Live-Science.com]

Eww!

Earth smelled like rotten eggs

ThE growth in de-mand for metals, which could see

needs rise by almost ten times current levels, calls for a rethink of recycling practices in order to ad-dress negative environ-mental impacts, according to two reports released today by the UNEP-host-ed International Resource Panel.

Launched during a high-level dialogue on Re-source Efficiency and Sus-tainable Management of Metals in Berlin,Environ-mental Risks and Challeng-es of Anthropogenic Metals

Flows and Cycles provides an overview of the envi-ronmental challenges of metals and the potential contribution of recycling to mitigate them. Metal Recy-cling - Opportunities, Lim-its, Infrastructure outlines improvements required to metal recycling systems in the 21st century.

“As populations in emerging economies adopt similar technologies and lifestyles to those current-ly used in OECD countries, global metal needs will be three to nine times larger than all the metals current-ly used in the world,” said

UN Under-Secretary-Gen-eral and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

“A far more sophisti-cated approach is urgent-ly needed to address the challenges of recycling complex products, which contain a broad variety of interlinked metals and ma-terials,” he added. “Product designers need to ensure that materials such as rare earth metals in products ranging from solar panels and wind turbine magnets to mobile phones can still be recovered easily when they reach the end of their life.”

Metals are an essential part of the global economy as core raw materials for infrastructure. Demand is expected to remain strong in the future: in developing countries because of rapid industrialization, and in de-veloped countries because of modern technologies. While renewable energy technologies-as part of the transition to an inclusive green economy-cut green-house gas emissions from metals production, they are likely to increase demand as they are more metal-in-tensive than fossil-fuel en-ergy sources. [UNEP]

Opportunities exist for tackling environmental challenges through increased recycling of metals from old products.[UNEP]

Soaring demand for metals calls for rethink of recycling practices Asia Pacific has sur-

passed the rest of the world in its consumption of materials and will con-tinue to dominate world material flows, according to a new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report released today.

The region’s trade bal-ance indicates that the current rate of exploitation of its resource base is no longer sufficient to support the region’s fast-growing economies and changing lifestyles. From 1970-2008, consumption of construc-tion minerals increased 13.4 times, metal ores and industrial minerals con-sumption 8.6, fossil fuels 5.4, and biomass 2.7 times.

The data indicates that, at this rate, the region will be increasingly dependent on imports and unable to sustain its economies and lifestyles. The current rate of consumption is also hav-ing a negative impact on the environment.

The report, Recent Trends in Material Flows and Resource Productiv-ity in Asia and the Pacific, presents an insight of the 2011 Resource Efficiency: Economics and Outlook for Asia and the Pacific (REEO) report on material

flows and resource produc-tivity in Asia and the Pacific. It brings together data ex-tending the latest reported year up to 2008 and thus includes the onset of the global financial crisis.

The report highlights the region’s material inten-sity - consumption of mate-rials per dollar of Gross Do-mestic Product (GDP) - as an area of serious concern, as this will increase pres-sures on the environment and exceed the region’s rap-id growth. Currently, mate-rial intensity for Asia Pacific is three times the rest of the world.

“Each dollar of GDP re-quires increasing amount of materials,” said Dr. Park Young-Woo, Regional Di-rector of UNEP Regional Of-fice for Asia and the Pacific. “The findings do not give signs of decoupling materi-al consumption and natural resource use from econom-ic growth in the region.”

“Resource efficiency needs to increase rapidly to offset material growth in the Asia Pacific region, which needs systems in-novations in urban areas, transportation modes, en-ergy production and eco-nomic structure,” he added. [UNEP]

Asia overtakes rest of the world in consumption of materials

VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2013VANTAGE POINTS EDGEDAVAO8

SO unique, that’s the way Dabawen-yos are choosing their candidates.

A few insights which surfaced from the two recent surveys in Davao tell us that the more controversial the can-didate, the more they attract votes and that the ‘underdog factor’ is still very much alive.

The ‘controversy factor’ is reportedly working for Chiz Escudero who surged consistently to second place of the sur-veys after being mired in a controver-sy involving his romance with celebrity heart Evangelista. Dabawenyos must be too cheesy when it comes to Romeo-Ju-liet love affair that they gave Chiz a re-sounding preference.

In the local front, the ‘balancing factor’ gave re-electionist Karlo Nograles the overwhelming lead over Louie Bonguy-an, the anointed candidate of Vice May-or Rody Duterte. Dabawenyos prefer a sort of balance in the political landscape according to the University of Mindan-ao’s Institute for Popular Opinion, hence their preference for more players in the political front.

The IPO-UM survey also supported

the view that voters want candidates who have received many awards, being supported by his or her family, and have good reputation. Dabawenyos also judge candidates by their appearance from be-ing physically-fit to being good looking.

It’s a different story in the heated fight over at the second district where the survey shows a slim edge by incum-bent Mylene Garcia over Joji Ilagan-Bian. Again, the ‘balancing factor’ is taking its toll plus the growing clamor for a change in the leadership over in District 2. The Garcias have been in power for decades and it did not help that the current torch-bearer of the Garcia family is not the most eloquent and most visible member of the household.

The UM survey did not differ from the survey made by Ateneo de Davao Univer-sity which also revealed a similar trend.

Both surveys show that political backers of candidates do not necessari-ly translate to votes. In the final reckon-ing, Dabawenyos are so unique because they vote according to the true worth of candidates, not on who is backing up whom.

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

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EDITORIAL

Voting factors

AQUILES Z. ZONIOStaff Writer

EJ DOMINIC C. FERNANDEZ • CHERRY MAE D. PALICTEReporters

JOCELYN S. PANESDirector of Sales

AGUSTIN V. MIAGAN JRCirculation

(1st of two parts)

Are shareholder bonuses incentives

or bribes?

By John C. Coffee, Jr.ANAlYSIS

ThIS is the heyday of institutional investor activism in proxy contests. Insurgents are running more slates

and targeting larger companies. They are also enjoying a higher rate of success: 66 percent of proxy contests this year have been at least partially successful. The reason is probably the support that activists have received from the principal proxy advisors: Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis & Co. According to a recent New York Times Dealbook survey, ISS has backed the insurgent slate in 73 percent of the cases so far in 2013.

All this may be well and good. Shareholders certainly have the right to throw the incumbents out at underperforming companies. But there may also be a dark side to this new activism.

This year, two activist investors, Elliott Management Corp. and Jana Partners, have run minority slates of directors for the boards of hess Corp. and Agrium Inc., respectively, and each has offered to pay special bonuses to its nominees (and no one else). Elliott will pay bonuses to its five nominees measured by each 1 percent that hess shares outperform the total rate of return over the next three years on a control group of large oil industry companies. A ceiling limits the maximum payment to a nominee director to $9 million. In the case of the Agrium proxy fight, which Jana narrowly just lost, Jana offered to pay its four nominees a percentage of any profits that the hedge fund itself earned within a three-year period on its Agrium shares.

Both hess and Agrium have objected that these bonuses are intended to incentivize these nominees to sell the company or promote some other extraordinary transaction in the short run. The activists and their defenders respond that there is no conflict because all shareholders will benefit if the new directors cause each company to outperform its peers.

This claim that incentive compensation aligns the nominees’ interests with those of the shareholders ignores much. First, there are timing conflicts. Two years from today, a bidder might offer a 50 percent premium ($60 for a $40 stock). But for these bonuses, the directors might all believe it was better to decline this offer, because the company’s long-term value in two or three more years was expected to exceed the current premium. Second, there may be disagreements over risk: Leveraging the company up to its eyeballs may raise the short-term stock price, but also expose the company to failure in the next economic downturn. Finally, special bonuses may balkanize the board, creating suspicion and tension.

Among academics, the currently trendy theory is that activist investors are the true champions of shareholders and should not be limited in the tactics by which they seek to maximize value. Unquestionably, share ownership has re-concentrated over the last two decades. Today few if any barriers remain to the ability of institutional investors to enforce their will. Staggered boards are being eliminated and poison pills redeemed across the face of Corporate America. Yet, given their new power, activists do not need the additional ability to bribe their nominees into compliance with their wishes. Rather, with greater power should come greater responsibility and a decent sense of restraint.

VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2013

ThIS week, various political lumi-naries gathered in Dallas, Texas, to celebrate the presidency of George

W. Bush, who presided over one of the most tumultuous periods in modern American history. Among liberals, Bush is considered a uniquely awful presi-dent, having led the United States into the ill-fated invasion and occupation of Iraq and having passed into law deep tax cuts that contributed to America’s pres-ent-day fiscal crunch.

Conservatives are more conflicted. Some dismiss him as a big-government conservative who failed to heed the wis-dom of Goldwater and Reagan. Others, including many who served in the Bush administration, believe that as time pass-es, he will be lauded for his achievements. The complicated truth is that for all his flaws, George W. Bush had a better under-standing of the challenges facing Republi-cans than most Obama-era conservatives. his rocky tenure is best understood as a testament to how difficult it will be to modernize the GOP.

Many hero-worshipped Bush during the early days of the war on terror, see-ing him as a humble Christian leader who was always willing to take the hard road rather than the easy one. But as the pub-lic turned against the Iraq War, and as his efforts on behalf of Social Security reform and immigration reform engendered a fierce political backlash, a growing num-ber of conservatives came to see Bush as

an apostate who expanded Medicare and the federal role in education while failing to roll back the growth of government. The Bush administration’s response to the 2008 financial crisis alienated con-servatives even further, as the ominous-ly named Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), engineered by Treasury Sec-retary hank Paulson, struck many as a hardly-any-strings-attached Wall Street bailout. The Tea Party movement arose in no small part as a repudiation of Bush and his fitful efforts to transform the GOP.

Bush administration veterans, mean-while, remain convinced that their president has gotten a bum rap. Keith hennessey, who served as director of the National Economic Council during Bush’s second term, recently described Bush’s keen intelligence, and in doing so worked the former president’s liberal de-tractors into a frenzy. Among my friends and acquaintances who served in the Bush White house, the general view is that while Bush had solidly conservative instincts on domestic policy matters, he was hemmed in by the demands of the war on terror and the recalcitrance of Republican lawmakers. When the admin-

istration pressed for reform of Medicaid and, later on, changes in the way employ-er-sponsored health insurance would be treated in the tax code, congressional Republicans hardly ever gave him in inch. President Bush had little leverage, as he needed congressional Republicans to ap-prove military spending and to defend his administration in the endless controver-sies over enemy combatants and surveil-lance that sapped its strength.

One of the ironies of the Bush pres-idency is that for all its failures, it was rooted in a clear-eyed diagnosis of the challenges facing Republicans. The end of the Cold War and the success of the Clinton-era Democrats’ centrism had badly undermined the GOP, which by the late 1990s risked irrelevance. Newt Ging-rich’s efforts to shrink government were successfully countered by President Bill Clinton’s protean progressive centrism, and so George W. Bush, as governor of Texas, identified an alternative way for-ward.

During his first presidential run, Bush famously lambasted congressional Re-publicans for “balancing their budget on the backs of the poor,” and he touted his various efforts to raise literacy and math scores for black and Latino students in Texas. Bush recognized that Republicans needed to be seen not as opponents of government but rather as its reformers, and his moderation was essential to his razor-thin, hotly contested 2000 victory.

YU Naisheng loves taking pho-tos of landscapes. After mov-ing to Bama, a mountainous

county in south China, he now has the opportunity to take photos of landscape sunsets as often as he wants.

“It is precious for me as I am from a city full of high-rises,” said the 33-year-old, who runs a small fam-ily hotel in Bama, known for having the most centenarians in China.

his life was totally different two years ago.

Yu was operating a factory in Shenzhen, an industrial city north of hong Kong. “I was stuck in a traf-fic jam every day, and my temper got worse and worse,” he recalled.

In 2011, Yu went on a road trip. One day, he went to Bama in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Re-gion and loved the beautiful lake, clean air and the vibrantly-healthy local people.

“I talked to my wife over the phone, and we decided to move here,” he said.

Yu, like many Chinese people, was tired of the fast-paced life af-ter years of worshipping speed and efficiency, which has taken China to second place in the global economy.

“In Tibet and Yunnan, there are many people like me. Most of the small hotel owners have had similar experiences,” said Yu.

Tibet and Yunnan are both well known for beautiful natural scenery.

Every morning in Bama, Yu has a big breakfast of locally-produced sweet potatoes, corn and congee.

“When I was in Shenzhen, I often missed breakfast.”

Unlike Yu, many Chinese people lack the bravery to move or simply cannot afford to completely leave their city life behind. In order to re-lax and take a break from their busy lives many travel or develop hob-bies.

Ma Lei, 33, a public servant with the Ministry of Culture, often goes hiking.

Over the past five years, she and her husband have travelled to al-most all of China’s provinces.

“We often hike 20 kilometers a day. Even though we are very tired, our minds are relaxed,” said Ma.

“As long as you can forget about work, it does not matter if you are sunbathing on the beach or hiking in the mountains, you are slowing down,” said Ma.

Yang Shiyu, 30, a father of a one-year-old girl in Shenyang City of northeastern China’s Liaoning Province, took up wood carving as a hobby.

“Every evening after my daugh-ter goes to sleep, I will take out the wood and work with it for a while.”

Yang makes knife handles. “I spend three nights carving. Then I spend another two nights polishing them with sandpaper. When I am working with the wood I feel so re-laxed and forget about all the frus-trations of being a new father.”

Yang purchased his wood from the Nanyueju shop on Taobao, Chi-na’s biggest online shopping web-site.

The shop sells wood scraps from furniture factories. The number of sales at the store has reached 1,864 in the last 30 days. Other customers have also taken up wood carving, making bracelets, combs and pen holders among other things, accord-ing to the shop.

It seems Chinese people are turning to either exercise or creativ-ity to slow down from the speed of everyday city life.

Gao Guoxi, a professor with Fu-dan University, said a slower-paced life involves patience, care and de-liberation, which will help relieve stress and tension.

“Besides, a relaxed mind will help nurture more creative ideas. You may find better ways to tack-le problems in work and life after slowing down for a while.” [PNA/Xinhua]

VANTAGE POINTSEDGEDAVAO 9

Market euphoria misreads the

signals

A prophetic President Bush

Chinese crave slow living

FINANCIAL markets, which bal-ance judgments from some of the world’s most highly paid and

best-informed analysts, are often un-cannily right in anticipating unpredict-able events, ranging from economic booms and busts to elections and ter-rorist attacks. But markets can some-times can be spectacularly wrong, espe-cially when it comes to politics. A classic case was the slump on Wall Street after last November’s election in the United States. This week’s market action in Eu-rope may offer an even clearer example of market confusion about two fascinat-ing but byzantine political entities – the Italian government and the European Central Bank.

European stock markets have re-bounded strongly this week in the face of deteriorating economic and financial fundamentals from across Europe on the basis of two political events: the reluctant agreement by Italy’s 87-year-old president. Giorgio Napolitano, to serve another seven-year term because nobody else could be found to do the job; and hints from ECB council mem-bers that they might vote to cut interest rates from 0.75 percent to 0.5 percent next Thursday.

Neither of these events remotely jus-tified investors’ euphoria. The ECB case is straightforward. First, the ECB may well disappoint next week, since sever-al influential decision makers oppose a rate cut. Second, even if the ECB does act, a quarter-point cut will do nothing for growth. Third and most important-ly, such a tiny rate cut, if it happens, will simply underline the ECB’s refusal to follow the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank in expanding the money supply or taking other “un-conventional” measures that could po-tentially have a much greater financial impact than any marginal fiddling with interest rates. So much, then, for the sil-ly idea in Europe that “bad news is good news” because economic weakness will force the ECB to cut rates.

Italian politics is, as ever, more in-teresting and convoluted. The apparent winners from this week’s events were the strongly pro-euro President Na-politano and his new center-left prime minister, Enrico Letta. In fact, they were the losers. The real winner was Silvio Berlusconi, the nemesis of Napolitano and other responsible Italian politi-cians and a totemic hate figure for Ger-man Chancellor Angela Merkel, along with most other respectable European leaders.

To understand this counterintuitive conclusion, which is widely shared by the financiers and business leaders I met in Italy this week as the election drama unfolded, let us begin with what most investors and responsible politi-cians across Europe interpreted as this week’s good news. Napolitano’s re-elec-tion, denounced by comedian Beppe Grillo’s populist Five Star movement as an “elite coup d’etat,” has allowed the aging president to appoint a politician from the center-left Democratic Party (PD), which secured the largest share of votes in last February’s election, to head a pro-euro technocratic administration likely to be modeled on the outgoing government of Mario Monti. Thus, Italy will now have a functioning democratic government, and one that will stick to most of the Monti policies approved by Brussels and Berlin. Moreover, this gov-ernment is likely to be stable for at least the next six months, since all the estab-lished parties have agreed that a new electoral law must be prepared before the next election to prevent a repeat of the present chaos and to try to block Grillo’s advance.

(1st of two parts)

(1st of two parts)

By AnAtole KAletSKyCOMMENTARY

By reihAn SAlAmCOMMENTARY

By hAn QiAoSPECIAl FEATURE

VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 201310 EDGEDAVAO

FFROM 1 FFROM 2

FFROM 2

KMU slams DOLE... Nagkaisa...

Council...

Popular Opinion of the University of Mindanao (IPO-UM) 2013 Election Survey

2013 Senatorial Candidates

Senatorial Candidate % Ranking (+/-3)

Legarda, Loren (Independent) 65 1

Escudero, Chiz(Independent)

64 1

Cayetano, Peter (Team Pnoy)

63 1

Poe, Grace (Independent) 60 2

Binay, Nancy (UNA) 58 2

Enrile, Juan Ponce Jr (UNA)

57 3

Aquino, Benigno (Team Pnoy)

56 3

Ejercito Estrada, JV (UNA)

56 3

Madrigal, Jamby (Team Pnoy)

47 4

Trillanes, Antonio (Team Pnoy)

43 5

Pimentel, Koko (Team Pnoy)

43 5

Zubiri, Migs (UNA) 40 6

hontiveros, Risa (Team Pnoy)

40 6

Angara, Edgardo (Team Pnoy)

37 7

Villar, Cynthia (Team Pnoy)

36 7

Villanueva, Bro. Eddie (BangonPilipinas)

29 8

But for Elmer “Bong” Labog, chairperson of KMU, the non-wage bene-fits being bragged about by DOLE are welcome but are not enough to give workers the needed immediate re-lief from their current mis-erable situation.

KMU recently called on the government for an increase in wages to help the country’s workers who have been suffering from meager wages and high prices for years.

“The granting of these benefits is a desperate attempt of the Aquino government to pacify workers’ outrage over its policy of cutting and freezing wages,” Labog said.

he added that the gov-ernment cannot fool work-ers with non-wage benefits that have “in fact been de-nied us for so long” which are actually basic benefits that are mandated by law and should really be given to workers.

Every May 1, the coun-try’s premier labor agency, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), boosts of programs, proj-ects and wage increases intended to benefit ordi-nary workers while some groups signify support of such claims and assertions.

On one hand is a labor organization, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) that con-tradicts the assertions of DOLE, particularly on the state of the Philippine’s la-bor sector. The KMU says it fights for the interests of Philippine labor.

Data released by KMU disclosed that the average daily wage in the Philip-pines is P317.44 or rough-ly $8 dollars a day, a pay which is less than 1/3 of the estimated family living wage at P1, 033 per day.

KMU said that workers in the agriculture sector continue to suffer most as an ordinary agricultural worker only receives an average of P156.81 per day and the fisher folk P178.43 daily.

Worst of all, KMU stressed, the Aquino gov-ernment continues to push for the implementation of the Two-Tiered Wage System, a scheme that is geared to further press down wages by introduc-ing a floor wage, that is usually lower than the ex-isting minimum wage, and institutionalizing produc-tivity-based pay in compa-nies.

KMU has been press-ing for a P125 across-the-board wage increase na-tionwide but the same has consistently been rejected by the Aquino government, Labog stressed.

The government has been entertaining the idea of massive layoffs and infla-tion once the big capitalists accept the proposed P125 across-the-board increase.

Such impression runs

contrary to the results of the study in April of 2012 conducted by independent think-tank Ibon Founda-tion that said the P125 across-the-board wage hike only amounts to 12 percent reduction in capi-talists’ profits.

As Labor Day comes today, May 1, KMU said, “We are confronted by the following figures in terms of labor and employment situation in our country; unemployment has re-mained above 7 percent; the number of unemployed grew by at least 200,000 from July 2010 to January 2013 despite the claimed inclusive growth by the government, the highest in Southeast Asia;

Further, KMU added, more than half of new jobs generated from 2010 to 2013 are in the non-pro-ductive segments of the service sector such as real estate, business process outsourcing, wholesale and retail trade while jobs in the agricultural sector shrunk by 6.27 percent.

The number of un-deremployed Filipinos, or those looking for addi-tional work, rose to 7.92 million in January 2013 from 6.5 million in July of 2012; the current under-employment rate is at 20.9 percent, a figure signifying that 1 of every 5 Filipino workers are looking for ad-ditional work due to insuf-ficient compensation in the face of rising cost of living.

The group stressed that holding job fairs on Labor Day is a bad move of the Aquino administra-tion because they continue to pit employment against wages by saying that Filipi-nos need jobs more than a significant wage hike.

Instead, the group calls for a significant wage in-crease that will bring the current wage levels closer to the living wage; an end to contractualization and the upholding of workers’ security of tenure; the de-fense of workers’ rights to form unions, strike and collectively bargain; safer wo+rking conditions for the country’s workers by ensuring that standards on occupational health and safety are observed in workplaces; and the full provision of social protec-tion of workers and the complete granting of bene-fits specified by law.

KMU also urges the government to generate decent jobs through the crafting and implemen-tation of a program for national industrialization and land reform; end the policies of privatization, deregulation and liber-alization; the increase in government spending for social services; the upholding of the urban poor’s rights to housing and livelihood; and the promotion of women workers’ rights.

regional offices.Jojo Ibanez, head of Al-

liance of Progressive La-bor, Sentro ng mga Pro-gresibong Manggagawa (APL-SENTRO), told me-dia yesterday at a press briefing at the Trade Union Congress Party (TUCP) office on Roxas Boulevard, Davao City, that contractualization includes giving workers a three to five month work contract, even in jobs that are considered as essen-tial to a company’s nature

of business and not just the janitorial or mainte-nance services.

“The tens of thousands of contractual workers employed in big compa-nies are reportedly work-ing on contractual and not on regular basis. hindi ito makatao at hindi makata-rungan,” he explained.

he added that the la-bor department’s order only allows employers to implement labor-only contracting once they are granted registration as

job contractors. Randy Ponteras,

spokesperson of Anak-bayan, said that they are pushing what is due to the workers and they will fight for the worker’s rights.

“Contractualization has made it easy for just about any firm to be reg-istered as a job contrac-tor. Other companies, meanwhile, resort to “outsourcing” or forming third party companies that hire contractuals for

them,” he said.Alfredo Punay Jr.,

board director of Sama Coke Union bared that the contractualization scheme does not give as-surance to employees for it only discriminates for workers who have the skills and qualified to be regular workers.

The group is hopeful that the current adminis-tration would somehow grant their request and also respond to the cry of the workers.

political groups held rallies in the town that night and his he had no enough personnel to provide security to all candidates.

he said that while they conducted patrols at the rally sites the assailant may have taken advantage of the brown-out.

The whole province has been experiencing frequent power outages.

Local police said ei-ther politics or rido (clan feud) could be the

motive behind the killing.Alucilja said the elec-

tion has made politicians who have unresolved conflicts with other clans vulnerable to attacks because they tend to be more exposed to the public.

The killing was not the first election-related incident in this town this year.

On March 30, the of-ficial start of the cam-paign for local positions, town councilor Bobby Rajamuda and his army

escort Sergeant Bernie Jornillo were wound-ed in an ambush on their way to a sortie in Barangay Busaon.

Peralta identified the suspects behind the am-bush as Bacbac Sultan and Tanda Kedong.

Peralta said rido was also seen as the root of conflict.

On January 15, vil-lage chair Sonny Kadil of Barangay Pantar was wounded while his two companions, Takanada Mamukao and Muslimen

Ampuan, died in an am-bush in Midsayap town.

The attackers were linked to Kumander Faron of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front Ku-mander Faron.

The victims said they and Faron have a long-standing land feud and leadership dispute.

The Commission on Elections has not declared Banisilan as an area of immediate concern in the coming polls. (Ferdi-nandh Cabrera/MindaN-ews)

VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2013

ARAB states ap-peared to soften their 2002 peace

plan on Monday when a top Qatari official said Is-rael and the Palestinians could trade land rather than conform exactly to their 1967 borders.

Sheikh hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and for-eign minister, made the comment after he and a group of Arab officials met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to dis-cuss how to promote Is-raeli-Palestinian peace.

Speaking on behalf of an Arab League delega-tion, Sheikh hamad ap-peared to make a conces-sion to Israel by explicitly raising the possibility of land swaps, although it has long been assumed that these would be part of any peace agreement.

“This news is very positive,” Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni told Army Radio on Tuesday. “In the tumultuous world around ... it could allow the Palestinians to enter the room and make the needed compromises and it sends a message to the Israeli public that this

is not just about us and the Palestinians.”

Kerry has made no se-cret of his hope to revive peace talks, which broke down in 2010, but it re-mains unclear whether U.S. President Barack Obama will decide to back a major U.S. effort.

In convening the group, Kerry is trying to ensure that a new peace process would have the backing of the Arab states, who, if they were to offer Israel a compre-hensive peace, hold a powerful card that could provide an incentive for Israeli compromises.

“The Arab League delegation affirmed that agreement should be based on the two-state solution on the basis of the 4th of June 1967 line, with the (possibility) of comparable and mutual agreed minor swap of the land,” he told report-ers after the meeting at the Blair house, the U.S. president’s guest house.

Monday’s talks in-cluded the Bahraini, Egyptian, Jordanian and Qatari foreign ministers as well as officials from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia,

the Palestinian Authori-ty and the Arab League. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden also attended part of the meeting.

The Arab League pro-posal offered full Arab recognition of Israel if it gave up land seized in a

1967 war and accepted a “just solution” for Pales-tinian refugees.

Rejected by Israel when it was original-ly proposed at a Beirut summit in 2002, the plan has major obstacles to overcome.

Israel objects to key points, including a re-turn to 1967 borders, the inclusion of Arab East Je-rusalem in a Palestinian state and the return of Palestinian refugees to what is now Israel.

The core issues that

need to be settled in the more than six-decade dispute include borders, the fate of Palestinian refugees, the future of Jewish settlements on the West Bank and the status of Jerusalem. [AFP]

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III was the easiest Filipino to

spot in Time Magazine’s latest list of the world’s 100 most influential peo-ple.

But there was one other Filipino in the high-ly celebrated list, lauded

for her work that led to a breakthrough in human immunodeficiency virus (hIV) treatment.

Katherine Luzuriaga, who was born to a Filipi-no father, was among the three female doctors ac-knowledged for the first “functional cure” in an

hIV-infected baby.Luzuriaga, a professor

of pediatrics and medicine at the University of Massa-chusetts Medical School, headed laboratory investi-gators on the discovery.

The cured baby was born to an hIV-infect-ed mother and received

treatment beginning 30 hours after birth.

Series of tests showed decreasing hIV presence in the infant’s blood until it became undetectale 39 days after birth.

This is seen as a “func-tional cure” which meant that the baby need not undergo anti-retroviral medication for a lifetime, unlike most hIV patients.

Also in the Time 100 was the report’s lead au-thor, John hopkins Chil-dren’s Center virologist Deborah Persaud, and University of Mussissippi Medical Center associate professor of pediatrics hannah Gay, who admin-istered treatment to the baby.

“We are honored and humbled that our work has been considered in-fluential,” Luzuriaga was quoted in the University of Massachusetts Medical School website as saying.

“Our hope is that this will help to communicate the power and potential of scientific investigation for optimizing health out-comes for children,” she added. [Yahoo!]

11EDGEDAVAO NATION/WORlD

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheik Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani. [AFP]

Arab League seems to soften Israeli-Palestinian peace plan

MOST INFLUENTIAL. Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom - Katherine Luzuriaga, who was born to a Filipino father, was also among Time Magazine’s list of 100 most influ-

ential people in the world in 2013. [Photo from the Uni-versity of Massachusetts Medical School website]

The other Filipino in Time’s 100 most influential Secretary-Gener-

AL of Association of South East Asian

Nations (ASEAN) Le Lu-ong Minh said that for-eign ministers of ASEAN member countries will have a meeting with their Chinese counterpart in Beijing to further discuss peaceful settlement on territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

“The meeting between ASEAN foreign affairs min-isters and Chinese foreign affairs minister has been scheduled in August or September this year in Beijing,” Minh told Xinhua on the sidelines of a me-dia briefing on the results of the recent high-pro-file ASEAN Summit held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.

he said that during the summit, all ASEAN members agreed to assign their foreign ministries to continue to work actively with China on the way for-ward for early conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) on the basis of consensus.

In his briefing, Minh said that ASEAN leaders

reaffirmed the impor-tance of peace, stability and maritime security in the region. They also un-derscored the importance of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), ASEAN’s six-point Princi-ples on the South China Sea and the Joint State-ment of the 10th anniver-sary of the DOC.

“In this regard, we reaf-firmed the collective com-mitments under the DOC to ensuring the peaceful resolution of dispute in accordance with univer-sally recognized princi-ples of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea without re-sorting to the threat or use of force, while exercising self-restraint in the con-duct of activities,” Minh said in the briefing.

he added that ASEAN is looking forward to con-tinued engagement with China in implementing the DOC in a full and effective manner, including through mutually agreed joint co-operative activities and projects. [PNA/Xinhua]

ASEAN, Chinese FMs to discuss territorial disputes

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VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2013

ThE General San-tos City gov-ernment has

delivered a total of 790 personal computer (PC) sets to local public schools in the last 20

months as part of the implementation of its expanded school com-puterization program.

Percival Pasue-lo, information and communication tech-

nology division head of the city may-or’s office, said Tues-day the new PCs were distributed by the lo-cal government to 58 speech and computer

laboratories that it upgraded and estab-lished in various public elementary and second-ary schools in the city from July 2011 and until last month.

“Each of these labora-tories was provided with 10 to 20 PCs, depending on the school’s popula-tion,” he said in a state-ment.

Under the program, Pasuelo said schools with over 1,000 students received 20 PCs while those with less than 1,000 students got 10 PC units.

Aside from the comput-ers, he said they provid-ed the recipient-schools and students with the necessary software, ref-erence materials and trainings through the city’s enhanced S h E E P - C o m p u t -er Literacy Program (CLP).

he said they also es-tablished electronic li-braries or e-Libraries in all public elementary and secondary schools within the city’s 26 barangays to provide students and teachers with wider access to various educational refer-ences and related learn-ing materials.

ShEEP stands for Social Transforma-

tion, human Empow-erment, Economic Diversification, En-vironment Security and Regeneration and Participatory Gover-nance and Transparency, which are the city’s main development thrusts.

The city government earlier launched the CLP as a major component of the ShEEP program’s education-related initia-tives.

Pasuelo said the city’s school computerization program started in 1999 with Labangal National high School as initial ben-eficiary.

Labangal National high School, which serves students belonging to the “poorest of the poor,” was prioritized then for the first 20 PC units delivered by the city gov-ernment, he said.

In 2000, he said the local government expand-ed the initiative to 16 public high schools, with each getting 20 PCs. The program covered elementary schools by 2001. [Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews]

13EDGEDAVAO COMMUNITY SENSE

CLEAN UP. Construction workers remove debris and unused soil away from a street where a new concrete pavement will be constructed along Porras Street in Bo. Obrero, Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

GenSan public schools get PC units from LGU

VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 201314 EDGEDAVAOSPORTS

LOS ANGELES – Dwight howard took an early exit on

Sunday in the final chap-ter of the Los Angeles Lakers season. With 9:51 remaining in the third quarter of Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs, howard was ejected fol-lowing his second techni-cal foul. As howard slow-ly walked off the floor at Staples Center, he slapped his teammates’ hands, offered some words as he walked by general manager Mitch Kupchak and headed to the locker room in perhaps his last moments in a Laker uni-form.

“It’s like a nightmare,” howard said after Los An-geles suffered a 103-82 defeat that swept it out of Round 1 of the playoffs. “It’s like a bad dream and we couldn’t wake up out of it. That’s what it felt like.

“It seemed like noth-ing could go right, right from the start, injuries and all that stuff. We get an opportunity to get some rest for guys who are injured. A chance to rehab and think about what we can all do to bet-ter ourselves.”

When asked if the last part of that statement re-flected optimism toward returning, howard said: “You’re reading too much into it.”

howard will be an un-restricted free agent this summer. The Lakers can pay him more than any-one else with a five-year, maximum $117.9 million contract. By departing to the likes of the houston Rockets, Atlanta hawks or Dallas Mavericks, which have the salary cap space, howard would take a pay cut with a four-year, $87.6 million max deal. howard is just 27 years old and could potentially make up a lost $30 million of his contract down the road. But who walks away from $30 million, especially someone still recovering from major back surgery?

“I’m going to step away from everything for a couple of weeks,” how-ard said. “I’m going to clear my head before I do or talk about anything as far as next season. I think I deserve that and that’s what I’m going to do.”

howard averaged 17.1 points per game this season, his lowest aver-age in five years, but led the league with 12.4 re-

bounds in 35.8 minutes per game. Even with how-ard’s injury concerns, the Lakers can’t afford to lose him for nothing.

“Coming back super early from a major sur-gery was tough,” howard said. “I tried to give ev-erything I had and leave it on the floor. I was in pain for the whole season. I just wanted to try to play through it, fight through it. Even though I’m hurt-ing, I’m still standing and I’m just going to keep fighting.”

The Lakers have nu-merous roster decisions to make and an amnesty clause to use, if needed. Uncertainty is at every corner, and that’s as-suming Bryant is back healthy from an Achilles tendon injury. Pau Gasol, no stranger to trade dis-cussions, could’ve played his last game as a Laker, too. he was given a stand-ing ovation Sunday when he came out for good in Game 4.

howard is expected to exercise his due diligence in free agency in large part due to the uncertain-ty with the Lakers’ roster, said an NBA source close to the situation.

“he’s going to sign a long-term deal,” the source said. “It has to be the right spot, the right commitment. There is no clear choice. The Lak-ers choice has longev-ity. They’ve won a lot of championships. But at the same time, that’s not where they’re at any more.”

Other factors in how-ard’s decision are wheth-er he can co-exist with Bryant and coach Mike D’Antoni’s up-tempo sys-tem.

howard and Bryant aren’t best friends, but they don’t hate each other either. The two All-Stars have grown to respect each other after enduring this horrible campaign and appear to have be-come closer since Bryant suffered his injury.

“We had a pretty good relationship before I got here,” howard said about Bryant. “I think a lot of people have twisted a lot of things. The fake fights. Arguments we supposed-ly had. We’ve maintained a pretty good relation-ship. I want to continue to be there for him through-out the process he has to go through recovering from his Achilles.

Is Howard leaving the Lakers?

GOODBYE? Dwight Howard will be a free agent this summer.

platter just in case anyone needed more roast meat. In typical lauriat fash-ion, the entrees arrived one after the other. From prawns all the way to crabs and garoupa, everything served was a delight to the palate. The dishes that stood out for me that evening were the crisp crystal shrimp and broccoli, and

the Szechuan style chicken that was spicy and served over ho-fan noodles and century eggs. The flavour of the chicken was en-hanced by the sauce of the dish as well as the savouri-ness of the century eggs. I also loved the tofu hotpot which was a wel-come break from all the rich and heavy dishes that preceded it.

The dinner ended with some fresh tropical fruits and a bowl of cold Taro Sago Soup which was lightly sweet but not too sweet as to overpower the natural flavour of the taro. Follow me on Instagram or of Twitter @kenneth-kingong for more travel pics, foodie finds and hap-penings in, around and be-yond Durianburg.

VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2013

EDGEDAVAOFOOD

PaSSIon as defined by the dictionary, is a term applied to a very strong feeling about a person or thing. In my case, my passion is all about dis-covering something new, experiencing things that are different, and of course eating.

The main dining area of Passions. Pork face and asparagus.

Szechuan-style chicken. Cantonese-style crystal shrimp. Fujian-style braised tofu in a hotpot.

Taro sago cold soup.

Roast chicken.

Different roast meats in the window.Appetiser platter.

Passions are what make a person unique and stand out. Much like King Mon-gkut from the musical King and I, Passions, the Chinese restaurant locat-ed at Maxims at Resorts World Manila, stood out from the crowd. Featuring an array of Chinese cuisines from Szechuan to Canton-ese styles of cooking, the restaurant clearly stands out from the crowd as Passions is like a slice of China all crammed into a corner of Manila’s only integrated lifestyle and en-tertainment hub. For starters we had an appetiser plate that was crammed full of Chinese

Cuisine more passionate

roast meats and pickles. as always, I attacked the jelly-fish, but the winner of the platter was the delicious and fatty roast duck. The skin was crisp, with a layer of duck fat and the meat was tender and moist. a tender roast chicken fol-lowed after the decadent

INdulge!

i-Witness celebrates 14th year, releases new DVD

Globe sets all-time high,employee satisfaction index

A2 INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2013EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT

Mobile phone operator Sun Cellular furthers its on-going efforts for social development as it backed the recent Autism Spectrum Integrated Play Group Seminar attended by special education profession-als and individuals who relate to children with au-tism and other developmental disorders. Initiated by the Occupational Therapy Associa-tion of the Phil-ippines and the Ateneo de Ma-nila University’s Fr. Bulatao Psy-chological Cen-ter, this seminar tapped industry experts and in-ternational techniques in the hopes of addressing common communication and socialization needs of children with dis-orders and of their affected families. “Given the already challenging nature of molding young minds, we take this opportunity to spark further develop-ments in the field and create a specialized dialogue which will address current issues of our child psychologists, special education teachers and parents of children diagnosed with autism,” says Anthony Grecia, President of the Occupational Therapy Association of the Philippines. As its brand continues to stand for unlimited services and customer empowerment, Sun Cellular extends its services to helping various academic and developmental institutions achieve their operational goals through project tie-ups and through its provisioning of best-value mobile solutions. “Beyond our usual offerings, we also make it a point to fulfil our bigger role in bridging distances through reliable com-munications and in fuelling up community building through our strategic partnerships with civic organizations for devel-opmental causes,” relays Reuben Pangan, Sun Cellular’s Of-ficial Spokesperson and Vice President for Customer Service Operations of Sun Cellular. Sun Cellular is a member of the PLDT Group.

The White house Fusion Cuisine and Wine Lounge introduces new and affordable box sets featuring your favourite Japanese dishes and delectable side dishes. Take a bite of our Chicken Teriyaki Bento served with Cali-fornia Rolls, Yasai Itame, Sushi Garai and Apple Tempura for only Php280 net or go for crispy and tender with our Tonkat-su Bento with a choice between Chicken or Pork Tonkatsu, Kani Salad, Takwan, Steamed Japanese Rice and Pineapple Mango Tart for only Php360 net. Go surf and turf! Tempura lovers will love the Tempura Bento with ebi Tempura, Yasai Itame, Takwan, Steamed Jap-anese Rice and Fresh Pineapple for Php435 net while steak aficionados will love the Steak Bento featuring our famous hanging Tender Steak, Mixed Salad Greens, hijiki, Steamed Rice and Apple Tempura for only Php500 net. All bento boxes are available all day long for dine-in or you can have your bento box delivered right to your doorstep for just a Php50 delivery charge. Call The White house Fusion Cuisine now at 2824540.

Sun Cellular backs specialized seminar for special ed professionals

Bento boxes now at The White House

The country’s most awarded and longest-running documentary program, I-Witness, celebrates its 14th an-niversary with the re-lease of “The Best of I-Witness Volume 6.” The DVD compilation includes eight documen-taries from four of the country’s top documenta-rists – Kara David, Jay Ta-ruc, Sandra aguinaldo and howie Severino. howie travels to some of the poorest rural areas in the country and walks barefoot with children who can’t even afford to buy new slippers in Saplot; while in Daloy, howie and his team join a kayak journey tra-versing the water trail from the rapids of Pagsanjan to Manila Bay. The documentary Gin-tong Putik, recipient of the 2011 Golden Screen TV awards for outstanding Documentary Program, features Kara’s search for a boy she met ten years ago in the mining town of Par-

acale in Camarines norte. In Liwanag sa Dilim, hope lights up for the Mangyans as Kara journeys back to Si-tio Dyangdang in Bansud, oriental Mindoro to help provide solar energy. Jay unveils the poignant stories of burn victims ago-

nizing over long-healing wounds at the Mindanao Burn Center in Lapnos, winner of the Silver World Medal for Documentary at the 2012 new York Festi-vals. and in ahon, he revis-its Cagayan de oro during the aftermath of Typhoon

Sendong to witness inspir-ing tales of survival even in the darkest of storms. In Pasan-Pasan, San-dra shares the stories of families who redefine the word “burden” in a tale of unconditional love and dedication to their physi-cally-challenged children. The documentary was rec-ognized as the outstand-ing Televised Feature on Youth and education in the 2011 Lasallian Scholarum awards and as the Best ed-ucational Program in the 2011 Catholic Mass Media awards. In Kalam, Sandra gets to experience how it is to go hungry as she lives for three days with one of the poorest families in Western Samar. Manufactured by GMa Records and GMa Mar-keting and Productions Inc., “I-Witness Volume 6”—with english subtitles– is available in all odyssey, SM Music and Video, as-trovision, and astroplus branches nationwide at P550 per copy.

eMPLoYee satisfac-tion index at Globe Telecom jumped to an all-time high in 2012 following the leading telecommunications company’s endeavors to provide the most satisfying work experi-ence for its employees. Globe employee satis-faction index (eSI) rose by three-percentage points to 75.3% in 2012 vs 2011 amid company programs to honor and recognize its most prized asset—the employees. The company has been conducting an annual employee satisfac-tion survey since 2009. among all employee en-gagement drivers mea-sured in 2012, highest sat-isfaction ratings were in work relationships, vision, clarity and alignment, and job enrichment. at the same time, the employee response rate jumped to 97.1%, a two-percentage point improvement from a year earlier. This dem-onstrates employees’ heightened involvement in expressing his/her satisfac-tion in working at Globe. “The Globe culture is not simply making things

possible for customers but also for our employees,” Globe Telecom President and Chief executive er-nest Cu said. While the company pushes its em-ployees towards common goals, the company en-

sures it does not forget to recognize the hard work, loyalty and exemplary per-formance of its employees, he said. high level of employee satisfaction come on the heels of the company‘s net-work and IT moderniza-tion program. “It’s a bold move but we could not have done it if we did not believe in the people who will be execut-ing this transformation. one of the things we pride ourselves at Globe is that we work as a team. Truly, what makes this company special is the people,” Cu said. “our growth and the success of our transforma-

tion would not be possible without all of the people at Globe,” he said, referring to all-time high revenues, record-breaking subscrib-er acquisitions and vari-ous accolades bestowed on the company. “one of my

proudest moments is our ability to attract and retain good talent,” he said. as part of its goal of building a culture of hap-piness at work, fun activi-ties and gatherings are or-ganized by the company, guided by “work-life bal-ance and fun environ-ment.” Such activities are aimed at improving the personal growth and well-being of Globe employees, including the retirees and extending up to family members. Following the imple-mentation of this program, a total of 90.46% of Globe employees agree that Globe is a fun and enjoy-able company to work for.

In 2012 alone, Globe had 22 employee programs which improved the per-sonal growth and well-being of all employees with an objective to build a cul-ture of happiness at work. Its annual Globe excel-lence awards was crafted to recognize exemplary exhibition in the categories of leadership, customer service and outstanding achievement. also, Spot Recognition Program was institutional-ized across the entire orga-nization with customized implementation at group level following common criteria and guidelines an-chored on the Globe Way, which is the company’s values and ideals. Fur-ther, the Globe Longevity awards Program gives rec-ognition to employees who have served an appreciated period of time in the com-pany or for a period of at least five years. “at Globe, we strive to continuously work to-wards a more transparent, collaborative and par-ticipative environment to make employees happier and more productive at work,” Cu added.

The Spice Girls taught us two things: (1) If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends (we’re still not positive what that means exactly); and (2) friendship never ends. The latter of which was clear when emma Bun-ton and Melanie C. reunited for comedian Leigh Francis’ 40th birthday party dressed as Baby Spice and Sporty Spice, respectively. “Baby and sporty are back!!!!” emma tweet-ed alongside the above photo, showing Sporty in a soccer jersey that she actu-ally wore during her Spice Girls days and Baby rocking her signature pigtails. The costumes were so on

point that even former girl bander Geri halliwell was confused. She said so herself: “Con-fused ?is this u now?!” she asked. Geri attended the same party, but opted out of her Union Jack dress and red go-go boots.

Instead, she dressed as German Spice. No sign of Victoria Beck-ham, who has basically transformed Posh Spice into her everyday persona, or Mel B, who was prob-ably waiting at home in her cheetah one-piece waiting for her invitation.

IT looks like the stage-to-film trend isn’t stopping with last year’s Les Mi-sérables. Michael Fassbender is set to star in the upcoming film adaptation of Macbeth, ac-cording to reports. The latest version of the famous Shakespeare play will be spoken in the origi-nal Scottish language and

will feature a “visceral” Fass-bender. While no casting an-nouncements have been announced for Macbeth’s costar, it will undoubtedly be an A-list hollywood ac-tress. Production is set to begin later this year and will be di-rected by Justin Kurzel. Do you think Fassbender will make a good Macbeth?

ThANKS to Neil Pat-rick harris, Instagram just got a whole lot better. The how I Met Your Moth-er star officially joined the social media site just four days ago and has already amassed nearly 39,000 fol-lowers with just three pho-tos, proving the page is equally as awesome as his Twitter. Of course, the funnyman put the spotlight on his

adorable twins in his sec-ond official shot, posting a sweet pic of son Gideon and daughter harper, who kill us with cuteness as they hold hands and smile for the camera. Neil also posted a re-cent pic with partner Da-vid Burtka in full Sherlock holmes and Dr. Watson garb after the pair attended a pal’s nuptials, “At our great friends, Becky Baeling & Kris Lythgoe’s murder mystery

wedding. The game, as they say, is afoot,” he captioned the silly shot. NPh is no stranger to so-cial media—he has nearly 6 million Twitter followers and is very active on the micro-blogging page. You can follow him @instagranph, where his bio reads, “Welcome to the world as seen through my eye holes.” Which, inevitably means more kiddie pics. Can’t wait!

Michael Fassbender to star in Macbeth film

Neil Patrick Harris joins Instagram

Spice Girls reunion! Emma Bunton and Melanie C. dress as Baby Spice and Sporty Spice for costume party

INdulge! A3VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2013 EDGEDAVAOeNTeRTAINMeNT

APRIL 25, 2013

11:45 2:45 5:45 8:45

11:00 2:00 5:00 8:00

11:30 2:40 5:50 9:00

11:00 2:05 5:10 8:15

12:15 3:15 6:15 9:15

IRON MAN 3 2D (GP)

IRON MAN 3 2D (GP)

IRON MAN 3 2D (GP)

11:45 2:45 5:45 8:45

IRON MAN 3 3D (GP)

12:00 3:00 6:00 9:00

IRON MAN 3 2D

(GP)

IRON MAN 3 2D (GP)

IRON MAN 3 2D (GP)

GP

GP

GP

GP

Robert Downey, Jr. , Gwyneth Paltrow

12:50 | 3:20 | 5:50 | 8:20 LFS

11:40 | 2:15 | 4:50 | 7:25 | 10:00 LFS

R-16

IRON MAN 3

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

IRON MAN 3

01:40 | 4:10 | 6:40 | 09:10 LFS

IRON MAN 3 -3D

IRON MAN 3

Robert Downey, Jr. , Gwyneth Paltrow

Robert Downey, Jr. , Gwyneth Paltrow

Robert Downey, Jr. , Gwyneth Paltrow

A4 INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2013EDGEDAVAOFOOD

YeS, I am a proud daughter of Cotabato City. I have always taken pride of that and will forever be proud of being one. Despite the negative connotations that sur-round my hometown, I am one to believe that people who have not stepped within the bounds of the City will never understand and discover the truth behind the façade. Going home has always been one of my most an-ticipated trips. amidst the fact that I have lived in Davao for more than a decade, I always am one to get all giddy and ex-cited whenever I am back home. Well, yes, I still feel the homesickness despite the fact that I get to talk to my parents everyday and of course, my yaya has always been by my side – grumpiness and all. It is not a secret but I have a family that appreci-ates a good eat. We love to cook – my dad is Gordon Ramsay and my mom is Jamie oliver in the kitch-en. Traditional cooking is what they are good at while I opt for experimen-tal recipes and dishes. My last trip back home was for the graduation of my nephews and cousins. Imagine having to attend parties after another with sleep as your only get-away? Despite the week-end turned gastronomical feast, my parents decided to bring me to one of the newest café/restaurant in the city. Quaint as a boutique (I found out from my Mom that it used to be a boutique), it sits quietly alongside the main road towered by the buildings that surrounds it. Though small, it is not easily missed – with a giant red and yellow signage, you are surely to see it. With its name alone, you will not wonder of its house specialty, right? over and above, they serve dishes over a sizzling hot plate. Yes, they have everything served in a hot plate – from meat dishes to seafood fixes, you are sure to find what your tummy is craving for. Straight from the menu, my Dad had their Sizzling Tuna with freshly cracked egg and pieces of minced onion. he was feasting on it as soon as the waiter served it. It had a balanced taste to it – not to salty and

peppery. It was just right. I personally love the gas-tronomical feel in my pal-ate – the tuna pieces made a medley of sea goodness with every bite. on the other hand, my mom opted for their Siz-zling T-Bone Steak which she recalls as soft and tender to the bite. She be-ing picky on her ‘steaks’, was pleased of how it was served. The gravy added a notch higher to the al-ready sumptuous steak. More so, the steak was meat filled and not boned to the core. You see, T-Bone steaks tend to be all bones and less meat, but this one, it was all meaty and less bone. on my end, I ordered

their Sizzling Boneless Chicken Breast with a generous amount of gravy. Being a chicken lover (yes I am), I was surprised in how tender and juicy the chicken was. We all know that a chicken breast could get all dried up, this one, was an exception. Despite the drying up of the gravy, it was still juicy and you could certainly see the juices oozing out with ev-ery slice. Paired with their creamy and fruity mango shake, the mean was all together one of the best I have had in my home-town. Serving more than siz-zling plates, they offer a wider variety of choices

that could fill in every nook of your hungry tum-my. Try their noodle and vegetables dishes and you will surely end up craving for more. one tip though, get there early as the place tends to get all packed. So, when you are in Co-tabato City, do not miss hoT PLaTe and Caterer along Parang Road, Co-tabato City (few meters away from McDonalds). Do you want to be a part of Davao’s Thursday habit? Send me your recipes, ques-tions, suggestions and com-ments and be featured. If you are interested, then email me at leebai@che-froyale.com or visit www.chefroyale.com for more recipes. Happy Cooking!

Discovering Hot Plate

VOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2013 15EDGEDAVAO SPORTS

hOUSTON (AP) -- The houston Rock-ets escaped playoff

elimination with a 105-103 win over the Oklaho-ma City Thunder on Mon-day night.

Chandler Parsons scored 27 points and Pat-rick Beverley added 16 points with point guard Jeremy Lin out with a bruised chest muscle. houston avoided a four-game sweep in the best-of-seven series.

The Rockets led in the fourth quarter of each of the last two games only to end up losing. And it al-most happened again Mon-day.

Kevin Durant scored five quick points to cut the Rockets’ lead to two. James harden missed two shots for houston after that and the Thunder had a last chance.

Reggie Jackson missed a jump shot and Serge Iba-ka grabbed the rebound, but missed a layup at the buzzer.

A stunned Ibaka fell to the court after the miss and covered his face with his hands.

Durant scored 38 points in Oklahoma City’s second game without in-jured All-Star guard Russell Westbrook.

The victory kept hous-ton from being swept in the playoffs for the first time since 1996. Game 5 is Wednesday in Oklahoma City.

harden scored 15 points, but also had 10

turnovers. he had two chances to extend hous-ton’s lead with less than a minute left, but missed both of them, including shooting an air ball.

he picked up his fifth foul with about seven min-utes remaining, sending him to the bench. A dunk by Jackson seconds later cut houston’s lead to 98-94.

Jackson got the Thun-der within 100-98 with a 3-pointer a couple of min-utes later. his 3-point at-tempt on the next trip down the floor rattled in and out of the basket.

houston scored four quick points to extend the lead to 104-98 before hard-en returned to the game with about three minutes left.

Derek Fisher made a 3-pointer to cut houston’s lead to 104-101 with less than three minutes re-maining. It was reviewed a few seconds later and the points were taken away be-cause replays showed the shot clock had expired.

Jackson finished with 18 points in his second start in place of Westbrook, and Kevin Martin added 16.

houston got 17 points from Omer Asik and 13 from Carlos Delfino.

Oklahoma City’s DeAn-dre Liggins received a tech-nical foul with :07 left in the third quarter for arguing the call on a jump ball. Delfi-no made the free throw, but Durant hit a jump shot at the buzzer to get the Thun-der within 91-84 entering the fourth quarter.

Not OK at OKC

NEW YORK (AP) -- Flourishing instead of fading in the

fourth quarter, the Nets extended their first sea-son in Brooklyn.

They need one more victory to set up the big-gest game here yet.

Brook Lopez had 28 points and 10 re-bounds, Deron Wil-liams added 23 points and 10 assists, and the Nets beat Chicago 110-91 on Monday night, cutting the Bulls’ lead to 3-2 in their first-round playoff series.

Recovering from a collapse two days earlier that sent them home on the brink of elimination instead of tied, the Nets battered the Bulls on the boards and forced Chi-cago into being the team

that wilted down the stretch.

‘’We came out very ag-gressive, as we have the past few games. I think the difference was just we sustained it for essentially a full 48 minutes tonight,’’ Lopez said.

Andray Blatche scored 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter and Gerald Wallace had consecutive baskets in the finishing surge as the Nets final-ly pulled away in a game they led most of the way, but never by too much.

Two days after rallying for a 142-134 triple-over-time victory, the Bulls were outscored 15-1 at the finish and failed to set up a second-round se-ries with Miami. Instead they will host Game 6 on Thursday.

‘’It was just a lot of mental mistakes. A lot of mental mistakes,’’ Bulls center Joakim Noah said. ‘’I feel like we had our chanc-es. We beat ourselves. They played well. You’ve got to give credit when credit is due and now it’s on us to come back and be ready for Game 6.’’

If the Nets win that one, they would host Game 7 on Saturday.

Nate Robinson had 20 points and eight assists starting in place of point guard Kirk hinrich, who bruised his left calf in Sat-urday’s game.

‘’For us, I knew it was going to be tough; it was going to be a challenge,’’ Robinson said. ‘’At the same time, we’ve been here before playing with a guy short. It’s something

we’ve got to do. We’ve just got to muster something and bring that energy and continue to play like we’ve been playing.’’

Only eight NBA teams have overcome a 3-1 defi-cit, but the Nets remained confident after Saturday’s collapse, feeling they had outplayed the Bulls for long stretches during the series. They have led by double digits in four of the five games.

‘’I believed that we would respond,’’ Nets in-terim coach P.J. Carlesi-mo said. ‘’We’ve bounced back all year too well, and as disheartening a loss as that was on Saturday, there’s still been enough good minutes in this se-ries. Neither of us are getting away from each other.’’KOREAN BEAUTY. Na Yeon Choi is fast emerging in the LPGA Tour as one of

the pretty maidens of golf.

BLOCK. Houston Rockets’ James Harden (13) shoots as Oklahoma City Thun-der’s Serge Ibaka defends during the first quarter of Game 4 in their first-

round NBA basketball playoff series Monday (Tuesday PHL Time), April 29, 2013, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Nets cut Bulls lead 3-2

16 EDGEDAVAOVOL. 6 ISSUE 34 • THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2013

DIGOS City in Davao del Sur rolls out its red

carpet for the biggest show in town—the 2013 PBA All-Star Weekend which of-ficially began on Wednesday.

The All-Stars presscon launch will be held this after-noon followed by the tree planting activity at the Davao del Sur Coliseum grounds, a hospital visit at the Davao del Sur Pro-vincial hospital and a mall tour at Gaisano Mall Digos.

A referees clinic will be held tomor-row with some 50 pre-picked partici-pants.

The much-awaited slam dunk competi-tion featuring the pro league’s most vicious rim-rattlers will be contested among top favorites Arwin Santos of Petron and rookies Calvin Abue-va of Alaska and Chris Ellis of Ginebra. Also joining them are Cliff hodge of Meralco, JC Intal of Barako Bull, Rey Guevarra of Mer-alco, and Elmer Es-piritu of Ginebra.

In the 3-point shootout, James Yap of San Mig Coffee will lead the marksmen with stiff opposition from Mark Caguioa of Ginebra, Nino Canale-ta of Air 21, JV Casio of Alaska, Marcio Las-siter of Petron, Willie Miller of Globalport, Ronjay Buenafe of Meralco, Chris Tiu of Barako Bull and Mark Macapagal of Meral-

co.In the Skills Chal-

lenge, Chris Ellis of Ginebra will lead the contenders with JV Casio, Jonas Villan-ueva of Barako Bull, Simon Atkins of Air 21, Willie Miller, Ron-jay Buenafe, Ronald Tubid of Petron, Paul Lee of Rain or Shine, Mark Barroca of San Mig, and Pamboy Raymudo of Talk N Text.

The big night on Saturday will fea-ture the PBA Stal-warts against the PBA Greats in the aperitif before the main game featuring the PBA All-Stars playing against the Smart Gilas Pilipi-nas national team.

The Stalwarts will rely on active play-ers Buenafe, Tubid, Tiu, Intal, Sol Merca-do and Jervey Cruz, and former PBA stars Glen Capacio, Dicki Bachmann, Kenneth Duremdes, Art dela Cruz, Topex Robin-son and Benjie Pa-ras. The Greats will be bannered by Don-don hontiveros, Mark Cardona, Mike Cor-tez, Josh Urbiztondo, Peter June Simon, Joe Devance, Noli Loc-sin, Johnedel Cardel, Rodney Santos, Vince hizon, Jerry Codinera and Bong hawkins.

Playing for the All-Stars are Yap, Cagu-ioa, Abueva, Santos, Ellis, Canaleta, Alex Cabagnot, Jay Wash-ington, Cyrus Baguio, Casio, Lassiter and Beau Belga.

The Gilas, men-tored by Chot

Reyes, will pa- r a d e Sonny Thoss, Ryan Reyes, LA Tenorio, Larry Fonacier,

G a r y D a v i d ,

Jared Dillinger, Japeth Aguilar, Ranidel de Ocampo, June Mar Fa-jardo, Jimmy Alapag, Gabe Norwood, Kelly Williams, Jeff Chan, Marc Pingris, and Ja-son Castro.

Tickets for the All-Star Saturday are pegged at P500 for Upper Box, P1,000 for Lower Box, and P1,500 for Courtside.

PBA ALL-STARS IN DIGOS

Starry, starry nightBy Neil Bravo

THE STARS ARE COMING. Chris Ellis (top) of Ginebra and Calvin Abueva (below) of Alaska will be show-ing their wares on Saturday in Digos City for the 2013 PBA All Stars.