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EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

FI’LL STAND BY YOU, 10

cdp@edgedavao.net

By CHERRY MAE PALICTE

Wife of abducted man runs to Rody for help

INSIDE:

26

16

NEDA: Electronics exportsto rise due to global demandSabillo passes firsttest to stardom

‘I’ll stand

by you’

THROUGH thick and thin, Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, will stand by Davao’s gritty

bunch of police officers.In the aftermath of charges of abuse

by the Commission on Human Rights and a stern warning from Malacañang, Mayor Duterte said he is willing to spend time with policemen in jail if they are proven guilty of murdering kidnappers in Thurs-day’s daring rescue of a kidnap victim at a bank in Davao City.

Duterte gave the statement to the media yesterday at the Grand Men Seng

Hotel in reference to charges that Com-mission on Human Rights (CHR) chair-person Loretta Ann P. Rosales is contem-plating against the cops involved in the bloody incident. Three of the suspects died in the incident.

The mayor said that what the Davao policemen did against the gang was le-gal and proper in their attempt to rescue 52-year-old businesswoman Sally Chua of Metro Manila, from their clutches at the Allied Bank in the city last Thursday.

Rody assures cops he is willing to go to jail with them

BRING HIM BACK ALIVE. Frescilieta Armada shows a photo of her husband, Rosalino, who was abducted by the New Peo-ple’s Army (NPA) on May 24, 2013. Armada surfaced yesterday

to seek the help of Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte for the release of her husband. Lean Daval Jr.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte gestures to media that he will join Davao City policemen in jail if Com-mission on Human Rights (CHR) files a

case against them for killing three kid-napping suspects in a shootout during the rescue of businesswoman Sally Chua last week. Lean Daval Jr.

2

FPICPA, 10

FDENR 11, 10

EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013

DISCOUNT. A mall-goer browses a bin full of discounted trek bags in an adventure store at the Annex of SM City Davao yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE. Department of Environment and Natu-ral Resources (DENR) 11 director Joselin Marcus Fragada (right) boastfully announces that DENR 11 will be the first in the country to utilize an un-manned aerial vehicle (UAV) to monitor illegal logging hotspots in the re-

gion during yesterday’s Kapehan sa Dabaw at the Annex of SM City Davao. Also in the photo is Forest Management Bureau (FMB) 11 chief Lourdes Wagan. Lean Daval Jr.

DEPARTMENT of E n v i r o n m e n t and Natural

Resources Region 11 will be the first in the country to utilize an unmanned aerial vehi-cle (UAV) to monitor illegal logging hotspots in the region.

DENR 11 director Joselin Marcus Fraga-da, speaking at the Kapehan sa Davao in SM Annex, Ecoland yesterday, said illegal logging hotspots in the area in the region have decreased to 16 baran-gays this year from 66 in 2012,

He said he would have initial talks this week with Sky Eye, a UAV service provider

in the Philippines, to discuss a pilot program on using drones to monitor illegal logging hotspots in the region, especially those areas difficult to monitor by land.

Region 11 was cho-sen by the National DENR for this pilot program after Fragada requested it himself.

He said, “having a UAV would be a good augmentation, since it can definitely see ille-gal logging activities, and the drone will not lie.”

They have no idea how much such a pro-gram will cost, but Fragada said, the DENR

WITH a bustling business comes the need for

more bookkeepers.The Philippine Insti-

tute of Certified Public Accountants-Davao chap-ter (PICPA-Davao) yester-day said Davao City needs more certified public ac-countants (CPAs), accord-ing to its president Harry G. Cacdac in yesterday’s Kapehan sa Dabaw in SM Annex, Ecoland.

Cacdac said more stu-dents here should take up accounting courses as there is a dearth of pro-fessionals in this particu-lar field.

Cacdac is promoting July 14 to 20 as Accoun-tancy Week. He added, “three to four years ago we felt the shortage of students taking up ac-countancy courses be-cause there were a lot of our clients from the com-merce and industry sector were in need of CPAs, but only very few applied.”

CPAs are needed in such sectors as education, government, public prac-tice, and commerce and industry.

Cacdac said PIC-PA-Davao has 3,000 members, but currently

A woman whose husband was ab-ducted last May

24 by suspected mem-bers of the New Peo-ple’s Army (NPA) in Monkayo, Compostela Valley yesterday ran to Davao City Mayor Rody Duterte for help to ob-tain his release.

Frescilieta Arma-da, 62, after talking to the mayor at the Grand Men Seng Hotel yes-terday, recounted her

story to the media that she and her husband, Rosalino, also 62, were abducted by the NPA in barangay Nabok, Monkayo, but she was released after a couple of hours directing her to deliver to them two ‘baby’ armalites, medi-cines and rations in ex-change for Rosalino’s release.

Instead of what the abductors had de-manded of her, she

gave them P200,000, but have not released her husband. She came to ask the mayor’s help, believing that he would be able to deliv-er results.

Her husband is a businessman engaged in buy-and-sell of wood products.

“They (NPA) told me to wait and that they would deliver my husband to me, but it’s been two months and

there is still no sign of my husband,” she said. “That’s why I final-ly approached Mayor Duterte for help,” she said.

The mayor has been instrumental in nego-tiating with rebels in past incidents of ab-duction in the Davao Region. Mayor Rody is also working on the release of five soldiers abducted last month in Paquibato District.

MILLIONAIRE busi-nessman Enrico Salgado Luga, 46, ,

was shot dead in front of his house on Doña Carmen St., Dacoville Subd. Dumoy, at around 11:45 pm last Sat-urday.

Marife Luga, wife of the victim, who owns Green Technology Oil, said that around 11:20 pm she was instructed by the victim in a text message to open their gate as he was approaching their house while aboard his car, a Nissan Sentra. Minutes later she saw her husband’s car arriving and she went out to open the gate.

It was then that Mar-ife saw two motorcycles driven by unidentified men wearing helmets stop in front of their house and one

of the men pulled out a gun and shot her husband who was still at the wheel of his car.

The victim sustained gunshot wound on his left cheek which caused his in-stantaneous death and the gunmen immediately fled towards Talomo.

Police Superinten-dent Julius Silagan, chief of the Talomo police station, told Edge Davao that pos-sible motives for the killing could be grudge or business rivalry.

“We are investigating, we already have a theory to solve the case,” he ex-plained.

Luga is the tenth victim of mysterious killings by unidentified gunmen on motorcycle in Davao City since July 2.

DENR 11 to utilize droneto monitor illegal logging

Wife of abducted man runs to Rody for help

ejf@edgedavao.net

cdp@edgedavao.net

By EJ DOMINIC FERNANDEZ

By CHERRY MAE PALICTE

PICPA: Davao City needs more CPAs

Gunmen kill trader

VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013 3EDGEDAVAO

4 VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013

EDGEDAVAO

NATION

READY. Young girls, members of the families living along the esteros in Phase 8, North Fairview in Quezon City, on Sunday excitedly hop on the bus provided by the Quezon City government which will take them to their new homes in a relocation site in Bocaue, Bulacan. Mothers with their young children happily wait for the buses and trucks which

will carry them and their belongings to the resettlement area. The Quezon City government has started relocation effort on July 11 and will continue until August. (PNA photos by Oliver Marquez)

ALTHOUGH Presi-dent Aquino is not keen on support-

ing moves for a charter change, Liberal Party stal-wart and Iloilo City Con-gressman Jerry Trenas today said that Congress can still tackle the issue, particularly calls to revise the economic provisions of the Constitution.

“I can understand the sentiment of the Pres-ident. However, under our fundamental law, it is Congress that is vested the power to craft national policies,” Trenas pointed out.

“Once he sees that Con-gress is only intested in revising serious flaws on the Constitution’s econom-ic provisions and nothing else, I think that the sup-port of the president would soon follow,” he added.

Trenas pointed out that there is nothing wrong with allowing a free and comprehensive dis-cussion of the fundamen-tal law to see what can be

updated to suit the trends of the times.

He said reviewing the Constitution is to keep our basic law attuned to the changing world,, adding that a national debate, es-pecially within the halls of Congress, could afford the people a venue to shape a better future for the coun-try.

“ Things are changing so fast because of tech-nology. Even the way we transact business nowa-days is changing rapidly and I think that there is nothing wrong if we dis-cuss this issue based on merits and without any partisan considerations.Our constitution may look enough for now but what about ten or twenty years from now? ” Trenas said.

The lawmaker also dismissed fears that any move to revise the Con-stitution could open the floodgates to unnecessary revisions that may only serve the interests of po-litical powers.

“GOVERNMENT reform should happen from

the ground up.”Sen. Alan Cayetano,

in a national radio inter-view, called for reforms to further enhance the capabilities of the ba-rangay – the most basic unit of government – if the barangays are to be expected to effective-ly fulfill their mandate in addressing the basic needs of their respective communities.

“Barangays are at the forefront of public ser-vice. However, it is un-fortunate that they are still the most neglected sector in government. Many still lack the neces-sary funds and resources to make them responsive and productive,” said the senator.

In his consultations

with many barangay of-ficials around the coun-try during the campaign period through his PTK Listening Tours, he said many have complained of the severe lack of re-sources to improve their capabilities to serve the basic needs of its constit-uents.

“For instance, baran-gay officials alone are not provided the necessary benefits such as health insurance and proper compensation. Our ba-rangay tanods risk their lives on a daily basis in order to maintain peace and order without as-surance of financial sup-port in case of injuries or worse, death,” said the senator stressing that government must pro-vide them with increased benefits as incentives for accomplishing their du-

ties properly. “Then, barangay day

care workers in some provinces receive less than P1,500 as honorar-ia for their services ren-dered. This amount is not even sufficient to main-tain a decent standard of living. In addition, they are expected to shell out some of their own per-sonal resources to fund the operations of their respective offices be-cause of lack of funding,” he added.

The senator also urged Congress to work for policy reforms that will strengthen the capa-bilities of barangay units as front liners in public service, safety, and peace and order. “By exercising our oversight functions on the local government code, we can identify provisions that must be

amended,” he said.Cayetano said that ba-

sic services such as med-ical and legal assistance as well as livelihood and financial management seminars for poor fami-lies may be provided in the barangay level.

He also pointed out that by strengthening the people’s court, reso-lutions to domestic con-flicts can immediately be reached and thereby free our national police or the higher courts from added workload.

“More importantly,” he said, “with the baran-gay as the effective front line unit, the whole gov-ernment bureaucracy will be in a better posi-tion to deliver reforms addressing grassroot problems related to pre-syo, trabaho, kita (PTK)” he said.

AFTER successfully coming to terms on the revenue gener-

ation and wealth sharing annex of the Framework Agreement on the Bang-samoro, members of the Government of the Re-public of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Lib-eration Front peace pan-els now set their sights on agreeing on the last two remaining annexes of the FAB – power sharing and normalization.

Together with revenue generation and wealth sharing that was signed early Sunday (July 14),

the other FAB annex is on transitional arrange-ments and modalities that was signed last February.

In a press briefing in Malacanang on Monday (July 15), Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secre-tary Teresita Deles said that the same “extreme rigor” used by the parties to finally come to terms and agree on the first two annexes would be em-ployed once again in or-der to hurdle any obstacle in achieving peace.

“This has been a truly very difficult time in the

negotiations but we come away with the affirmation, with the real strong sense and proof that indeed things can be as difficult, as we know they will, that the next annexes will also be difficult,” Deles said.

“But, as has been shown—and we have the proof now—that it can be difficult: we go to the table, we talk about it; we, together, look for solutions where there are problems. We don’t find our solutions in the bat-tlefield. We find it on the table,” she added

Philippine peace

panel chair Miriam Cor-onel-Ferrer, who joined Deles to brief reporters in Malacanang, said that although this was one of the “toughest” rounds in the exploratory talks, perseverance and clarity of purpose of both pan-els made the signing of the wealth sharing annex possible.

“It was one of the toughest rounds that we have been through since we signed the Frame-work Agreement on the Bangsamoro last October. It was a close call. Both sides made difficult but

also constructive deci-sions. With perseverance and clarity of purpose, we returned home with the signed annex on revenue generation and wealth sharing,” Ferrer said.

Comprised of eight pages, the wealth shar-ing annex has 12 sections detailing the: taxation; other sources of revenue; fees, and charges; grants and donations; fund transfers from central government; contracting of loans and overseas development assistance; natural resources; ad-ditional fiscal powers;

auditing body; intergov-ernmental fiscal poli-cy board; Bangsamoro development plan; and, gender development.

Ferrer said that “un-der the taxing powers, the parties have agreed that 25 percent of the central government tax-es, fees, and charges col-lected in the Bangsam-oro, except for tariff and custom duties, will go to the central government while 75 percent of it, in-cluding the shares of the local government units, will go the Bangsamoro government.” (PNA)

MANILA

Panels set sights on final annexes

Another LP solon supports revisiting of Constitution

Cayetano pushes for barangay reforms

5VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013

EDGEDAVAO

SUBURBIA

GOVERNOR Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Re-

gion in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) commended the government (GPH) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace pan-els for finally signing the Annex on Revenue Gener-ation and Wealth Sharing and reiterated his pledge to “step aside to make way for a new political setup meant to take the Bang-samoro to greater heights.”

Hataman, OIC ARMM Governor from December 22, 2011 until his assump-tion as elected ARMM Gov-ernor on June 30, 2013, said the signing is “anoth-er breakthrough that will keep us moving towards achieving lasting peace in Mindanao.”

In a press statement issued Sunday, Hataman reiterated their support to the peace process, adding they are “ready to take the necessary sacrifice to ac-commodate the outcome of the ongoing peace nego-tiation.”

Hataman, his vice-gov-

ernor Haroun Alrashid Lucman and 23 members of the Regional Legislative Assembly (the 24th died last week), were aware when they ran for their elective posts that their three-year term could be cut short because under the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) signed by the peace pan-els on October 15, 2012, the ARMM will be deemed abolished when the Bang-samoro Basic Law is rati-fied and the Bangsamoro Transition Authority takes over.

He said they remain firm in their pledge and would step aside to make way for a new political set-up intended to bring the Bangsamoro to greater heights.

In Lanao del Norte, peace groups working to raise the consciousness of the people on the GPH-MILF Peace Process, laud-ed the peace panels for their “hard work and sac-rifice” towards signing the Annex.

In a statement, the

Lanao Peace Partnership (LPP), composed of the GIZ-Civil Peace Service partner organizations Eco-systems Work for Essential Benefits (EcoWEB), MSU-IIT Institute for Peace and Development in Mindanao (IPDM), and Pailig Devel-opment Foundation, Inc. (PDFI), said that given the panels’ perseverance in reaching an agreement, it is “but fitting to applaud their tenacity, which we are sure is founded on an unflinching commitment to bring lasting peace in Mindanao.”

The statement, signed by Regina Salvador-Ante-quisa, Executive Director, EcoWEB; Prof. Juvanni Caballero, Acting Direc-tor, MSU-IIT IPDM; and Roberto M. Quijano, Man-aging Director, PDFI, said the wealth-sharing annex “embodies the true spir-it of partnership of the peace panels.”

“With this, we look forward with confidence on the completion of the remaining Annexes to the FAB, and eventual-

ly, the comprehensive agreement which every peace-loving (person) in Mindanao awaits.”

Mary Ann Arnado, se-cetary-general of the Min-danao Peoples’ Caucus noted in a statement that in the long years of MPC’s “accompaniment and ad-vocacy” for the GPH-MILF peace talks, “it is only now that we can say with much confidence that a peace agreement is finally at hand.”

“We thank the men and women in the frontline of the negotiations for your patience, hard work and commitment to take the process further especially during its lowest, darkest and hopeless periods. The wealth sharing annex is the key to the signing of a comprehensive compact. To the peace panels con-gratulations for heeding the clarion call of the CSOs to bring home a break-through for the Bangsam-oro,” Arnado said.

Gus Miclat, Executive Director of the Davao City-based Initiatives for In-

ternational Dialogue and secretary-general of the Mindanao Peace Weavers, said the signing of the An-nex is “a testament to the resolve and sincerity of the two parties to achieve a just, genuine and lasting peace in Mindanao.”

“Despite the seeming insurmountable hurdles in this last round includ-ing attempts by spoilers, naysayers and cynics to derail, nay, scuttle the talks-- reason, compro-mise and respect for each other prevailed. The par-ties reflected the deepest aspirations of our peoples and may have listened to the urgent call of civil soci-ety that time was running out.”

“Kudos and salute to the panels and to our peo-ple who stayed the course. Lasting peace should be at hand. But we need to be vigilant, closely guard and comprehensively support the process as more hard work lies ahead. Even then, we count our bless-ings,” he said.

In Cotabato City, Fr.

Eliseo Mercado, Jr., of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG), said President Aquino’s State of the Nation Ad-dress (SONA) on July 22 “would NOW be embel-lished by the consensus point reached on the wealth sharing.”

On Friday, Mercado wrote in his Facebook ac-count that “the goal is to sign or even initial one of the two important annex-es for (inclusion in the) SONA (State of the Nation Address).”

“Would the MILF oblige…? Abangan! In a Tango dance… it takes two… !,” he said.

Later in the afternoon, upon hearing that the talks were extended anew, Mercado wrote: “Talks extended for yet another day.. until Saturday… The interest seems to be the SONA.. Ganoon na lang…?

The President will de-liver his annual SONA at the opening of the 16th Congress on July 22. (Car-olyn O. Arguillas/MindaN-ews)

THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) did not get

everything that it pro-posed to the Philippine government’s (GPH) peace panel on the issue of wealth-sharing and rev-enue generation but MILF peace panel chair Mohagh-er Iqbal said they secured for the future Bangsamoro government “much more than the ARMM (Auton-omous Region in Muslim Mindanao).”

Iqbal told MindaNews in a text message Sunday

morning that what the MILF got in the Annex on Revenue Generation and Wealth Sharing in terms of taxing powers, shares in revenues, natural re-sources and block grant “strengthen the ancestral domain doctrine.”

But does the signed annex reflect a major shift from the “status quo” and correct the power rela-tions between the Bang-samoro and the national government? Does it rep-resent what Iqbal referred to in his opening state-

ment in Kuala Lumpur on July 8, as “a major shake-up of the status quo?”

“The best way to know the difference is to make comparisons,” he told MindaNews.

Government peace panel chair Miriam Cor-onel-Ferrer said the per-sistence and goodwill of both parties “bore fruit. “We have a good package, one that we believe would make fiscal autonomy in the Bangsamoro a reali-ty,” Ferrer was quoted in a press statement issued

by the Office of the Pres-idential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) on Sunday afternoon. The Annex, the second of four annexes to the FAB that would complete the comprehensive peace pact, “seeks to fulfill the aspirations for meaning-ful autonomy for Muslim Mindanao that was en-visioned in the Constitu-tion” and “will correct the flaws in the current fiscal system in the ARMM,” she said. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)

“BU I L D I N G an Inclu-sive and

N o n - H a n d i c a p p i n g Environment for Per-sons with Disability” is this year’s theme as the country observes the National Disabil-ity Prevention and Rehabilitation Week (NDPR) from July 17-23.

In Davao Region, lo-cal government units through the provin-cial/municipal/city councils on Disability Affairs spearhead the annual celebration in coordination with DSWD, NGOs, National Council on Disability Affairs, PWD Self-Help organizations and the private sector.

The Davao City cel-ebration kicks off on July 15 with the Flag Raising Ceremonies at City Hall followed by a Motorcade. Oth-er activities lined up include a Thanksgiv-ing Mass at San Pablo Parish, Zumba Dance

Exercise for PWDs at SM City Annex, Islamic DAWA’H Symposium, I-Speak Press Confer-ence, Radio Guesting at DXOW and DXRP, Forum on RA 9442 at DSWD, Pag-asa Games, VIP Children Swim-ming Clinic, PARM M.O.V.E. RUN, Diabetic Counselling and Cho-lesterol Screening, Issuance of PWD Cer-tificates and Discount Cards, and PWDs Got Talent.

Appealing to the public, Cynthia N. Umbana, DSWD focal person on PWD said, “Through all these ef-forts and more, we aim to continue advanc-ing and enforcing the rights and privileges of our persons with disability (PWDs), hence we strongly en-courage participation and support of the public in these en-deavors and in other PWD advocacy initia-tives.” DSWD/Carmela Cadigal-Duron

A suspected Abu Sayyaf bandit was killed Saturday in a

clash preceded by an am-bush of a rubber planta-tion cooperative delivery truck in Basilan, a military official disclosed Sunday.

Lt. Col. Leonardo Dacumos, commander of the Army’s 64th Infantry Battalion, said his person-nel, backed by militiamen, were escorting the truck when a group of Abu Sayyaf bandits opened

fire around 4:30 p.m. at Sitio Manican, Barangay Sapah Bulak, Sumisip town.

Dacumos said the truck, which belongs to the Tumahubong Agrar-ian Reform Beneficiaries Integrated Development Cooperative (TARBIDC), was on the way back to Barangay Tumahubong in Sumisip from Isabela City when ambushed.

He said the escorting troops returned fire and

engaged the bandits in a firefight that lasted for about 10 minutes that resulted to the death of a suspected Abu Sayyaf member.

Dacumos identified the fatality as Omar Akbar Suwaire. Recovered from his possession was an M-16 Armalite rifle with attached M-203 grenade launcher.

The military official said that a 30-minute firefight ensued an hour

after the first clash in the same place when another group of suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits attacked the soldiers and tried to recover the remains of their slain comrade.

He said the attackers fled upon sensing the ar-rival of government rein-forcements.

No one among the troops were either killed or injured during the two separate clashes, Dacu-mos said. (MindaNews)

ARMM

ARMM

ZAMBOANGA CITY

Hataman reiterates stepping down for Bangsamoro, if..

Iqbal says MILF got much more than the ARMM

Suspected Abu Sayyaf bandit killed in Basilan clash

July 17-23 is Nat’l Disability Week

6 EDGEDAVAO

THE ECONOMY VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013

THE National Eco-nomic and Devel-opment Authority

(NEDA) said that export of semiconductors will likely improve in the remaining months of the year due to the anticipated increase in global demand.

This statement came after the National Statis-tics Office (NSO) reported last Wednesday a lower value of exports in May 2013 compared with a year ago. Exports of goods and services declined by 0.8 percent amounting to US$4.89 billion.

“Prospects for semi-conductor exports may improve as global demand for electronics is anticipat-ed to increase in the near term.

Industry sources have projected a moderate growth for semiconduc-tor industry in 2013,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Bal-isacan.

The Cabinet official explained that this pros-pect is consistent with the higher global sales of semiconductors in May

2013 due to the expect-ed expansion in demand, mostly for memory and logic products.

Balisacan said that the almost-flat exports growth in May 2013 was due to the performance of man-ufactured goods, whose earnings were reduced by 11.3 percent compared to the same month in 2012. Outward shipment of elec-tronics, which are under manufactured goods, was also lower by 9.3 percent for the same period.

“After posting a year-on-year increase in April 2013, the value of export receipts from semiconduc-tors dropped in May 2013, due to reduced shipments to Hong Kong, China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Ma-laysia. These Asian neigh-bors accounted for 45 per-cent of our semiconductor export revenues during the period,” he said.

In a keynote speech for the 35th Annual Scientif-ic Meeting of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) held also last Wednesday, Bali-sacan emphasized the im-

portance of increasing in-vestments for science and technology (S&T) in im-proving the exports sector.

“At present, high-tech-nology exports in manu-facturing are largely con-centrated in three product

groups, namely electronics, garments, and machinery and transport equipment. Thus, we need to harness

appropriate S&T to ad-dress the constraints and challenges facing the sec-tor,” he said.

NEDA: electronics exportsto rise due to global demand

Strong export earnings from other minerals, bananas, petroleum in May 2013

PICPA WEEK. Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) – Davao chapter president Harry Cacdac (left) and officers Pie Eralino and Beverly Montebon enjoy a light moment after promoting the upcoming

PICPA Week 2013 celebration slated on July 14-20, 2013 during yesterday’s Kapehan sa Dabaw at the Annex of SM City Davao. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) calls on banks to heed the

Senior Citizens’ Law.BSP deputy governor

Nestor Espenilla Jr. said the central bank’s pol-icy-making Monetary Board (MB) has approved a policy requiring the banks to have priority lanes for people 60 years old and above.

“This is to comply with the law. Basically it is a circular for banks to com-ply with the law to give proper affinity for senior citizens,” he said.

Section 2 of the Expand-

ed Senior Citizens Act of 2003 explains that the law for the elderly aims “to recognize the important role of the private sector in the improvement of the welfare of senior citizens and to actively seek their partnership.”

Among the benefits that the law identified for the senior citizens are the grant of 20 percent dis-count and exception from the value-added tax (VAT) for the purchase of goods and services in all estab-lishments and the exemp-tion from the payment of individual income taxes

for those who are consid-ered to be minimum wage earners.

Also, they are given a minimum of five percent discount on their water and electricity bill that are “supplied by the public utilities.”

This discount, however, will be enforced if these utilities are registered under the name of the se-nior citizen, if the month-ly electricity consump-tion does not exceed 100 kilowatts per hour (kWh) while the water consump-tion is not over 30 cubic meters and the discount is

given on a per household basis regardless of the number of senior citizens in that household.

The Law explains that these privileges should be given due partly to “rec-ognize the rights of se-nior citizens to take their proper place in society and make it a concern of the family, community and government” and “to moti-vate and encourage the se-nior citizens to contribute to nation building.”

Violators of the law will be slapped with a penalty of not less than P50,000 and imprisonment. (PNA)

7THE ECONOMY

MONTHLY AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATE (January 2012-April 2013)

Month 2013 2012 2011

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

September 41.75 43.02August 42.04 42.42

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

March 42.86 43.52February 40.67 42.66 43.70January 40.73 43.62 44.17

Stat Watch7.1

1st Qtr 2013

7.8 1st Qtr 2013

USD 3,741 million

Feb 2013USD 4,708

million Feb 2013USD -967

million Feb 2013USD -640

millionDec 2012

P 4,964,560  million

Feb 2013

2.4 % Mar 2013P113,609

million Mar 2013

P 5,281 billion 

Mar 2013

P 41.14 Apr 2013

6,847.5 Mar 2013

132.8 Apr 2013

2.6 Apr 2013

3.1 Apr 2013

418,108 Feb 2013

20.9% Jan 2013

7.1% Jan 2013

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

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

3. Exports 1/

4. Imports 1/

5. Trade Balance

6. Balance of Payments 2/

7. Broad Money Liabilities

8. Interest Rates 4/

9. National Government Revenues

10. National government outstanding debt

11. Peso per US $ 5/

12. Stocks Composite Index 6/

13. Consumer Price Index 2006=100

14. Headline Inflation Rate 2006=100

15. Core Inflation Rate 2006=100

16. Visitor Arrivals

17. Underemployment Rate 7/

18. Unemployment Rate 7/

It figures

202 million dollar 20.4 million dollar 91 percent 374.4 million pesos

Amount of foreign direct invest-ments in April 2013, higher by 61.6% relative to last year’s $125 million.

Percentage of the increase in the country’s monthly factory output. This growth is much faster than the revised 8.7% expansion post-ed in April 2013, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).

Percentage of new teaching po-sitions in public schools that have been filled as of July 11, 2013, according to the Department of Education. Since 2010, a total of 102,603 new teaching positions have been created.

Amount released for the resettlement program for informal sector families (ISFs) living in identified priority water-ways in Metro Manila, as part of the government’s broader flood control and management plan for the met-ro and its surrounding areas.

EDGEDAVAO

BSP requires senior citizen lanes in banks

“MINDANAO has a fighting chance to improve the

lives of its people.”Thus said WB Vice Pres-

ident for East Asia and the Pacific Axel van Trotsenburg in his recent visit to Mindan-ao.

He said it was his first time to visit Philippines and immediately went to Min-danao considering that the island has a lot of challenges in terms of peace and devel-opment.

Among the objectives of his visit in the country is to share with the country’s leaders the World Bank Group’s new twin goals of reducing poverty globally by 2030 and building shared prosperity for the bottom 40 percent of the population in every country.

“We have to define our new strategies with the Phil-ippines and see how Mind-anao can catch up with other areas in the Philippines,” van Trotsenburg said.

One of the projects visit-ed by van Trotsenburg and his team was the 14.8-kilo-meter farm-to-market road in Carmen, North Cotabato.

The said project was es-tablished under the Min-danao Rural Development Program (MRDP). The MRDP is a long-term poverty allevi-

ation initiative implemented under the Department of Ag-riculture (DA) with funding assistance from the World Bank.

MRDP deputy program director Arnel De Mesa said the rehabilitation of 14.8 kilometer farm-to-market road in barangays Kibudtun-gan and Misupa has reduced

travel time and transport of agricultural produce.

“It has also reduced post-harvest losses and helped in-creased farmers income,” De Mesa said.

Noting how WB funded road project in Carmen was implemented, van Trotsen-burg said it has not only cre-ated access for farmers to

sell their produce but also generated jobs in rural com-munities.

“I think we can do a lot more to make this area more prosperous. The World Bank has the passion to help you. And we are prepared to help you in terms of financing,” he said. (Noel T. Provido/DA-MRDP)

WORLD BANK VISIT. World Bank (WB) Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Region Axel van Trotsenburg ( 2nd L ) exchange views with officials officials: North Cotabato Governor Emmylou Mendoza (1st R) and Carmen Mayor Roger Talino (center). Also in photo (L-

R) are: MRDP deputy director Arnel De Mesa, DA regional director Amalia Datukan, WB country director Motoo Konishi, and WB sec-tor manager for sustainable development Usmane Dion. (Photo by: Sherwin B. Manual)

WB top official says Mindanao has fighting chance for development

8

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EDITORIALAn unflattering record

THE Regional Epidemiology Surveillance of the De-partment of Health (DOH) in Region 11 shows that dengue cases in the region increased by 26 percent

during the first 27 weeks of the year ending July 8, com-pared to the same period last year. There were 5,806 cas-es this year while there were only 4,587 during the same period in 2012.

The disturbing news is that Davao City tops all cities and towns in the region in the number of dengue cases, DOH Regional Director Abdullah B. Dumama told Edge Davao in an exclusive interview last week.

The statistics should alarm Dabawenyos considering the usual factors that lead to the rise in dengue cases. An area with the most dengue cases can be considered to have the poorest sanitation since dengue comes from generally a unclean surroundings.

Indeed, this is not flattering to Dabawenyos and their leaders.

The negative report should be considered a wake-up call for the local government to strengthen its resolve against the growing problem.

In all honesty, however, the blame should not be the city government’s alone. The barangay leaders down to the purok level, should share in the blame for what is happening. Keeping the surroundings clean, specifically getting rid of all damp and watery places which are the favorite breeding area of aedesaegypti, the mosquito vec-tor which spreads the disease through their bites should be done without letup.

If the barangay captains, kagawads and purok leaders can only replicate their industry and dynamism during the last elections (for whatever reasons), it would be eas-ier to achieve a reduction in dengue cases.

If we could have our way, barangay captains and kaga-wads in areas with a poor record in the fight against den-gue should suffer repudiation in the barangay elections in October. Failure to inspire or provide leadership on such a simple matter like removing breeding places for dengue mosquito vectors through maintenance of clean surroundings shows how undeserving a re-electionist is.

If they fall victim to dengue, that would be poetic jus-tice.

EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013

VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013

IN a further display of twisted reason-ing, they cite statistics on the youth’s low voter turnout as proof of their

“waning interest” in SK elections—using the information to further justify their abolitionist proposal. It doesn’t occur to them to find out why there’s little youth interest in SK elections. They don’t even allow for the possibility that the corrup-tion and corrupt practices they cite may be the very reasons that deaden interest and participation.

Is it possible that corruption or cor-rupt practices turn off decent elements in the youth sector just as much as they turn off decent adults?

So who’s to blame?In all fairness, in the same way that

juvenile delinquency cannot be sum-marily pinned on the youth, the SK’s poor performance cannot be ascribed solely to its members. The greater part of the blame would have to fall on the government, the civil society, the insti-tutions that claim to be concerned with good governance, and not least, the par-ents and elders whose responsibility it is to mentor and guide the youth.

In the first place, no appropriate training or orientation was conduct-ed to introduce the nature of the SK—

or the government of the barangay, for that matter—at the time the Local Government Code came into effect. There were briefings or seminars to elected officials, but the constituents received nothing of the sort. So is it to-day, wherein elected officials are treat-ed to seminars (expensive ones at that, in hotels and resorts!) while not even a briefing takes place to inform baran-gay constituents on their duties and powers and resources. They’re the only ones that can hold the officials honest and responsible, the only hope for good governance to arise!

The failure to inform, involve, or mo-bilize the constituency of every baran-gay in implementing the Local Govern-ment Code doomed its chances of insti-tutionalizing autonomy or the Principle of Subsidiarity from the grassroots.

In other words, the Code’s imple-mentation and the New Order it was

to have established suffered from an in-bred weakness from the start. Both the barangay government and its SK component came into existence with a serious handicap: everyone (officials and constituents alike) lacked informa-tion or understanding of the nature of its governance and its processes. Both lacked a clear vision, a well-defined mission, and a purposeful operating system.

In their state of ignorance about the new Code’s provisions, the barangay polity had no choice but turn to the tra-ditional politicians (trapos). The trapos of course were about the only people after Martial Law who knew the ways of politics and government, except that what they knew were outdated and contrary to the system ordained by to-day’s Local Government Code.

And that is the reason why, instead of getting better, governance in this country only sinks deeper in the morass of ignorance, corruption, and incompe-tence. [MindaViews is the opinion sec-tion of MindaNews. Manny Valdehuesa is the president and national convenor of Gising Barangay Movement Inc. He can be reached at valdehuesa@gmail.com.]

PROMOTING THE CAUSE OF AGRI-CULTURE – It is unpleasant knowl-edge that the country’s agriculture

has not always been handled and man-aged appropriately to benefit the farm-ers and the rural communities. To say it bluntly, the government’s much-flaunted agricultural development program has miserably failed to be the flagship indus-try being an agriculture-based country when it could have been. For the past decades the agricultural advancement and land distribution system under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Pro-gram have been badly screwed and were squeezed by rapacious and thick-face officials that left the poor farmers even poorer.

Nowadays official rattling about agri-culture as the Philippines’ lead industry is not enough. What the people actually want to see are tangible results. They’re fed up with all the hullabaloos. The pres-ent dispensation therefore must be sen-sible of agriculture as a significant sec-tor. It’s the key to national economy. The economy in most countries in Asia and the ASEAN Growth Triangle area that has been leading their market is agriculture. Their governments pride themselves with the increase in production and ex-panding the markets of their agricultural products notably rice, corn and tropical fruits, thereby promoting the cause of ag-riculture.

There’s another step to stimulate the country’s agricultural development pro-gram. The country’s top officials and con-cerned government agencies most nota-bly the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its line agencies should adopt a move advocating fair trade. In opening up mar-

kets and liber-alizing trade the country can really gain from open markets espe-cially if they are that smart. Our neighbor-ing nations most particu-larly Thailand are benefitting immensely from open markets because they’re competitive and their govern-ments are supportive of their industries especially agriculture. By applying sim-ilar procedures, there is no reason why the millions of our farmers across the country should be among the poorest.

But us, as if we’re killing our indus-tries and we are only not supportive, but for years we even help our competitors by allowing their products to enter free-ly our market and we don’t even demand reciprocal gesture from them, China in particular. From China, we buy several millions US dollar worth of their agri-cultural products – rice, corn grits, meat, poultry and sea produce, dairy products, condiments, even vegetables while they buy just a fraction of our agricultural items.

And the most pathetic situation hap-pened when China deliberately closed their market to our tropical fruits where we have competitive advantage like our mangoes, pineapple and specifically world-class Cavendish bananas. How did they do that? Chinese authorities use the stringent quarantine requirements and other strict barriers effectively banning

the importation of bananas produced in the Philippines. After the imposition of the ban, perhaps they are taking their sweet time and maybe it will take a bit longer be-fore they will again allow Philippine-pro-duced bananas to enter their market.

Consequently government should im-mediately correct policy and regulation biases and to strongly fight for fair trade competition. If possible, it should never bargain with China over the purposeful ban of Philippine bananas, but instead fight against the entry of “sub-standard, disposable and chemically-laced” China products ranging from agricultural pro-duce, foodstuff, canned goods, cosmetics, toys, electronic gadgets and accessories, which are killing slowly but gradually the production of the local industry.

Maybe it will take months or maybe even years for the Chinese authorities to decide to allow Philippine bananas into their market, but not until our govern-ment acts swiftly by also issuing strict di-rectives to reduce in large quantities the importation of China-made products. As a reminder, under the World Trade Orga-nization (WTO) policies and guidelines, we also have the right to use special safe-guards. Some well-developed countries including China are mouthing free trade but only as far as developing nations like the Philippines are opening their markets to them. But the sad part is that they are overprotective of their own market by set-ting up harsh barriers and other punitive requirements. In the meantime, the res-olution of the ban on Philippine bananas and other agricultural products similar to the diplomatic stand-off between our country and China over the islands in the West Philippine Sea seemed look distant.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY– Partial reports from Kuala Lumpur on the 39th Exploratory Talk

of Government and Moro Lslamic Liberation Front don’t augur well for Bangsamoro, the political enti-ty agreed to solve the Bangsamoro Question. Set to adjourn last Thurs-day, July 11, the talk was extended for a day to try to reconcile what looked like immovable positions of the Parties on the Wealth-Sharing Annex. As of last night, latest online media reports were clueless about any agreement.

“We’re heading for an impasse,” MILF Panel Chair Mohagher Iqbal told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (July 12, 2013). MILF cannot accept the 50-50 wealth sharing offered by Government, down from the 75-25 already agreed in the initialed doc-ument. However, it is not clear from the reports whether the 50-50 refers to the sharing in general or only to energy sources or strategic minerals.

“We seem to be caught up in the trees and missing the forest,” GPH Panel Chair Miriam Coronel-Fer-rer said (Inquirer Mindanao, July 12: Bangsamoro talks extended by one day). She clarified her analogy in another July 12 Inquirer report. She said: “What I can say is that the government’s offer is fair, it’s very good, it’s much better than what oth-er autonomous regions or states are enjoying. I think that’s the kind of appreciation that we hope the MILF will understand.”

Iqbal and Ferrer are viewing the “50-50” issue differently. The mis-understanding is mutual. It’s bad to be “caught up in the trees” and “fail to appreciate the forest” – to recast the phrase; but it’s worse to be en-rapt in appreciation of the forest and lose sight of the much-needed tree or trees.

Iqbal sees an impasse. That will put to a standstill the FAB roadmap. As time ticks by, the 36 months left of Aquino’s presidency will inevitably fade out. And by the FAB, the Bang-samoro has to be entrenched before Aquino steps down on June 30, 2016. Either there will be no Bangsamoro entrenched or there will be one — Bangsamoro in name but not as MILF has envisioned.

Ferrer’s justification of the “50-50” sharing lets out the true thinking of Government: As long as what Gov-ernment gives Government deems better than what ARMM or “other autonomous regions or states” have, that is best for the Bangsamoro. Hence, for whatever Bangsamoro is established, MILF must be grate-ful to the Aquino Government. That Bangsamoro, even if not as MILF has envisioned, should solve the Bang-samoro Question.

The Philippine panel chairs, then Marvic Leonen (now Supreme Court Justice) and now Ferrer, have im-printed in media this rhetoric: The Aquino Government can commit only what it can give; it will give what it commits. Obviously, Ferrer com-

VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

AQUILES Z. ZONIOCorrespondent

Key to national economy

Abolish SK for being corrupt? How about the corruptors?

Don’t Augur Well

BY PATRICIO P. DIAZ MIND DA NEWS

BY MANNY VALDEHUESA WORM’S EYE VIEW

(1st of two parts)

(Conclusion)

VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013 EDGEDAVAO10

FFROM 16

FFROM 1

FFROM 2

FFROM 2

Sabillo..

I’ll stand by you..

DENR 11..

PICPA..

nal blow—a bomb of a punch to the midsection that boomed like thunder. Next came the oohs of the 1,500 crowd as the Co-lombian slumped to the canvas clutching his right ribcage and spitting out his mouthguard. He didn’t look good in the eyes of referee Raul Caiz, Jr. who without finishing the count, waived his hands to end the fight.

Although ALA Promo-tions did not reveal how much Sabillo earned for the night, it was a huge leap from the days he earned a thousand bucks fighting for wagers in the streets of Bacolod. More importantly, he has re-stored boxing pride in the country after the spate of losses of the bigger stars like Manny Pacquiao, No-nito Donaire and Bryan Viloria.

Significantly, Sabillo has also proved he can carry a big ticket fight card and pack a high-priced venue. His record now stands at 23-0 with 12 knockouts while Estra-da dropped to 17-7 with 6 inside-the-distance wins.

“Sinunod ko lang ang gameplan namin. Alam naming na mahina a bo-dega kaya tinira ko na siya doon,” Sabillo said after the match.

ALA Promotions pres-ident and CEO Michael Al-deguer said Sabillo could be up for an October date in Dubai for a voluntary defense.

Three other Pinoy boxers scored wins against foreign foes. King Arthur Villanueva add-ed the WBO Asia Pacific sperflyweight champion-ship to his OPBF title with a fourth round TKO win

over tough Mexican Artu-ro Badillo, comebacking AJ Banal scored a quick second round TKO of an-other Mexican hombre in Abraham Gonzales while undefeated prospect Prince Pagara stopped Thailand’s Khunkiri Wor Wisaruth in the second round.

Jessel Maggsayo, an-other bright young pros-pect from ALA’s growing stable, looked impressive with a first round KO win over Jamjam Ungon. Dio-ver Mangaya-ay broke the string of wins by ALA boxers when he eked out a split decision win over Elmo Traya while Vic Saludar debuted with a flourish beating up for good Juanito Hundante in only 52 seconds. Bri-an Lobitania and William Amora fought to a slit draw.

“They (policemen) will have my assistance and protection since I am the one who ordered them to kill those crim-inals (kidnappers),” he said.

Duterte reiterated that he is the supervising officer of the policemen and he gives orders for the benefit and safety of everybody.

“Please give due con-sideration to the police, if the kidnappers were able to pull a gun, yung mga pulis ang kawawa,” he explained. “The law is ap-plied to everybody, yung mga pulis nga na lumal-abag ng batas dito nama-matay din.”

He added that the kid-nappers chose to die here since they entered the city with a lot of high powered firearms. “Gusto nyo tal-aga ng gyera if you come here with those guns,” the

mayor explained.“The police know the

parameters and they also know how to follow legal orders,” he said, adding that, “I don’t see anything wrong with what they did for I have been lecturing criminal law and crimi-nal procedures for a long time and I certainly know that all they (policemen) did was legitimate.”

Duterte said that he would not argue with Rosales and presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte for it would not do any good for him.

“Ayoko nalang patulan sila kasi nakokornihan ako and I don’t want to be in the national limelight,” he said.

He merely wants to stress to the ladies (Valte and Rosales) that police-men of Davao City are not stupid. “We might be talking for a year but we

still cannot agree on a sin-gle word,” he said.

“All I know is that, a shoot to-kill order does not translate to murder,” Duterte added.

Meanwhile, lawyer Salvador Panelo shared his personal views on the alleged video which allegedly made the CHR accuse Davao policemen of murder. “Nothing in the video showed an illegal act on the part of the po-licemen,” he said.

“Everybody should remember that the law allows self-defense and counter assault,” he ex-plained. “Remember that these were criminals and they had high powered firearms,” he added.

Panelo was engaged by Duterte as his legal counsel against possible charges that the CHR may file stemming from what the agency saw on video.

will be paying for the services of the UAV on an hourly rate, and that he is yet to discuss matters with execu-tives from Sky Eye this week.

He said the 66 ille-gal logging hotspots in 2012 were most-ly in Davao Oriental

and Compostela Val-ley, with only a few in Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur.

Fragada said the main reason for the decrease in the num-ber of illegal logging hotspots is because of the strong stand of President Aquino

against it, especially with the issuance of executive order No. 23 last February 2011, re-ferring to a moratori-um on the cutting and harvesting of timber in natural and residu-al forests and creating the anti-illegal logging task-force. EJF

GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- South Cotaba-to officials are push-

ing for the development of various new and emerging tourist attractions as it moves for the establish-ment of the area as Region 12’s banner tourist desti-nation.

South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes said the local government is currently working on the entry of new investments in tourism facilities and other support infrastruc-ture to enhance the devel-opment as tourist desti-nations of several natural attractions and related re-sources in the province.

She said these tourist attractions are mainly lo-cated in the municipalities of Lake Sebu, Tupi, T’boli and Banga.

“These are alternative attractions that have po-tentials becoming big to emerge as top tourist des-tinations when properly developed,” the governor said.

In Lake Sebu town, the

provincial tourism office has been pushing for the inclusion of the Kofnit Cave in Sitio Lambila of Baran-gay Lamfugon and the bird watching area of Sitio Kan-co in Barangay Lamlahak into the province’s tourism circuit.

The two areas are among the sites within the Allah Valley Protected Wa-tershed that are being de-veloped by as eco-tourism attractions by the Allah Valley Landscape Develop-ment Alliance (AVLDA).

AVLDA, which is an environmental body es-tablished by the local gov-ernments of South Cota-bato and Sultan Kudarat, spearheads the protection, conservation and manage-ment of the critical Allah River and its immediate environs.

The alliance had re-ceived separate grants from the national govern-ment and the Canadian In-ternational Development Agency (CIDA) to facilitate the development of the two eco-tourism sites.

“Lake Sebu is our fo-cal area because of its uniqueness and it has al-ready been established as a tourism center not only in South Cotabato but even abroad. It has name recall and brand when it comes to tourism promotion,” Fuentes said.

In T’boli town, the gov-ernor said they are devel-oping crater-lake Holon (formerly Maughan) as an adventure site.

She said they are also establishing a “mining route” for tourism in T’boli featuring the mining villag-es of Kematu and Desawo.

“We already started with jewelry making and we’re planning to expand this route further,” Fuentes said in a press conference.

For Tupi town, she said the provincial government is enhancing the tourism potentials of the tarsier sanctuary in Barangay Linan by developing the ar-ea’s road networks.

The governor said she has initially discussed with officials of Banga town for

the establishment of an ad-venture river cruise along the Banga River.

She said they are ini-tially looking at putting up floating restaurants and

boating facilities in a dam within the river. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)

South Cotabato pushes fordev’t of new tourist sites

HIKE FOR A CAUSE. Tom Macintosh announces his up-coming hike for a cause to raise awareness and funds for Filipino missions in Mindanao during yesterday’s

Kapehan sa Dabaw at the Annex of SM City Davao. The 300-kilometer walk will start on July 20, 2013 in Davao City to end in Cagayan de Oro City. Lean Daval Jr.

only 950 are members in good standing (referring to those who are paying their monthly member-ship fees).

He added that the shortage of CPAs in Davao City may be attributed to the big number of these professionals who have opted for employment in business process out-sourcing (BPO) compa-

nies as back office ser-vice providers for clients abroad.

He said that accoun-tants can see opportu-nities in everything, and working in BPOs can prepare CPAs to work abroad.

“It is very easy for CPAs to find employment because accountancy practice in the Philip-

pines adheres to the same international stan-dards followed in foreign countries.

The accountancy week is an avenue where CPAs, people in finance and business, and even students converge in the theme: Accountability Credibility and Transpar-ency Now (ACT-NOW). EJF

SENATOR Loren Legarda today echoed the call of

the World Bank to al-locate more funds for climate change adapta-tion.

“We must invest in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation not only to reduce the loss of lives and damage to prop-erty but also to signifi-cantly decrease expen-ditures on post-disas-ter needs,” said Legar-da, the United Nations Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Cli-mate Change Adapta-tion for Asia-Pacific.

The World Bank said that nations should allocate at least two percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) for programs on climate change mitiga-tion.

However, the Phil-ippines Climate Public Expenditure and Insti-tutional Review (PH-

CPEIR) revealed that the country spends only 0.3 percent of its GDP for the same, or only P18.94 billion out of the Philippines’ P6.31-trillion GDP in 2012.

“The World Bank es-timates that for every dollar invested in disas-ter reduction measures saves seven to ten dol-lars in losses from nat-ural disasters. We must ensure that all the ef-forts of the government on the development and progress of our nation and our people would not go to waste because we have not made them disaster-re-silient,” said Legarda.

She added that di-sasters cause damages to housing, service in-frastructure, savings, productive assets and human losses.

“We have to reduce livelihood vulnerabil-ity to natural hazards so that we can eradi-

cate income poverty, improve food securi-ty, and reduce hunger. We will never tire of

reiterating our call for heightened action on disaster risk reduction and climate change ad-

aptation because we have to free ourselves from the exhausting and costly cycle of re-

building our communi-ties every single time a natural hazard occurs,” Legarda concluded.

11VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013

EDGEDAVAO

SCIENCE/ENVIRONMENT

ANTI-DENGUE DRIVE. The Department of Health–NCR includes the Phil-ippines News Agency central office at the PIA bldg. in Quezon City during its weekend anti-dengue spray and disinfection drive Saturday. Officials say

the follow-up activity is done to ascertain the effectiveness and elimination of mosquitoes in the area. It will be repeated after two weeks to ensure that no new mosquitoes will return. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resourc-

es (DENR) has called for awareness on the deplet-ing biodiversity in the country, particularly coral reefs and mangrove coast-al resources.

A recent DENR’s as-sessment showed that of the 24 percent of the total 44,000 square-kilometers of coral reefs still in good condition in the country, only two percent remain in excellent condition.

Mussaendra Tee, Bio-diversity Conservation and Management Section chief of the Protected Ar-eas Wildlife Coastal Zone Management (PAWCZMS) for Zamboanga Peninsula, also said that only 149,000 hectares of the original 450,000 hectares of man-grove forests in the coun-try remain untouched.

However, Tee added that these mangrove ar-eas were further reduced to only 117,000 hectares based on the 1995 statis-

tics of the DENR.Tee further said that

more than half of the country’s wetlands of international impor-tance covering 14,000 square-kilometers are threatened.

“The country had an estimated 17 million hectares of forest lands in 1935, but now only six million remain intact and only 800,000 hectares of these are old growth,” she said.

She said that the Phil-

ippines is one of the 18 countries in the world identified as contain-ing 60-70 percent of the world’s biodiversity next only to Brazil, Columbia and Indonesia.

She said the people should be alerted of the depletion of coral reefs and mangrove areas to ar-rest its destruction.

Efforts like replant-ing mangrove areas will help sustain the viability of these areas to support marine life. (PNA)

DENR warns of depleting biodiversity in the PHL

PUERTO PRINC-ESA CITY-- Raw reports com-

ing from the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) at the wharf of Sitio Sabang, Barangay Cabayugan claimed a grenade-like explosive device det-onated around 8:20 a.m. Monday morning.

As precautionary measure and to avoid getting anyone hurt, the PPUR Manage-ment has cancelled all travels inside the sub-terranean river until police authorities have “cleared” the area.

City Police Office (CPO) chief Sr. Supt. Abad Osit is currently on his way to Cabayu-gan to personally take over the investigation of the said bomb ex-plosion.

New park manager Elizabeth Maclang, in a brief interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA), cannot fully give details of the explosion incident pending police inves-tigation.

However, she said “no one was hurt” where it detonated at the wharf. She said it

appears like someone just wanted to “scare” them and the visitors of the PPUR.

“Everything is okay; no one was hurt. It looks like this is a scare tactic,” she said. Maclang can’t talk long enough on the phone as she was receiving calls from concerned stakeholders of the PPUR.

A woman who was selling beach hats at the wharf said in a ra-dio interview that she personally held in her hand what looks like a round object that

was placed in a plastic with other fruits.

When she checked it, she said her com-panion told her that it looks like a “bom-ba” or grenade. They immediately left the place and reported their discovery to au-thorities.

Vaguely, the source also said the it ap-pears like it was the police that detonated the bomb after they reported it, but Osit said they are verifying the reports and could not give exact com-ments as of yet. (PNA)

Explosion rocks Puerto Princesa Underground River

Legarda back bigger budgetfor climate adaptation

ALTHOUGH already banned in the US and Europe for

safety standards, chil-dren’s play chairs which contained toxic chem-icals were found to be sold in bargain shops in Metro Manila.

The brandless chairs were spotted at 11/88 Shopping Mall, 168 Shopping Mall, 999 Shopping Mall, Lucky Chinatown Mall and ad-jacent discount stores in Divisoria, according to environmental group, EcoWaste Coalition.

After buying some chairs last July 12 and 13, the group imme-diately identified that these chairs resembled those recalled by the US and Bulgaria on sale for P90 to P160 each.

It was found out that the chairs’ metal tube frames were coated with leaded paint which might be swallowed by children through their usual hand to mouth ac-tivities, increasing the risk of exposure.

Based on the analysis made by the group, the chairs and stools, had 14,100 parts per million (ppm) and 13,100 ppm of lead, respectively, on

their yellow painted metal tube frames.

The group had ear-lier sent samples of children’s chairs akin to those recalled in Bulgar-ia to Intertek, a govern-ment accredited labora-tory for analysis.

EcoWaste Coalition’s Project Protect Coordi-nator, Thony Dizon said in a statement that he appeals to health au-thorities to order im-mediate recall of these products.

“(The) Philippines is not a dumpsite for toys rejected in other coun-tries on safety grounds,” Dizon said.

“If these play chairs were deemed unsafe for American and Bulgarian children to use, they are, beyond question, unsafe for Filipino children, too,” he added.

The group has al-ready notified the gov-ernment through the Food and Drugs Admin-istration, the agency in charge of regulating children’s toys, about its findings.

As stated by the WHO, lead is classified as among the ten chem-icals of major public health concern. (PNA)

US, Europe-ban toxic kid chairs found sold in PHL

VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013

WHEN the courts have to figure compensation

for people aboard Asiana Airlines Flight 214, the po-tential payouts will proba-bly be vastly different for Americans and passen-gers from other countries, even if they were seated side by side as the jetliner crash-landed.

An international trea-ty governs compensation to passengers harmed by international air travel — from damaged luggage to crippling injuries and death. The pact is likely to close U.S. courts to many foreigners and force them to pursue their claims in Asia and elsewhere, where lawsuits are rarer, harder to win and offer smaller payouts.

Some passengers have already contacted lawyers.

“If you are a U.S. citizen, there will be no problem getting into U.S. courts. The other people are go-ing to have a fight on their hands,” said Northern California attorney Frank Pitre, who represents two Americans who were aboard the plane.

Federal law bars law-yers from soliciting vic-tims of air disasters for the first 45 days after the crash. Pitre said his clients called him.

Congress enacted that law in 1996 amid public anger over lawyers who solicited clients in the days immediately following the ValuJet Flight 592 crash in

the Florida Everglades and the crash of TWA Flight 800 off the New York coast.

National Transporta-tion Safety Board attorney Benjamin Allen reminded attorneys of the rules in a mass email sent Thursday.

“We are closely mon-itoring the activities of attorneys following this accident, and will imme-diately notify state bar ethics officials and other appropriate authorities if impermissible activity is suspected,” the message said.

The flight that broke apart recently at the San Francisco airport was carrying 141 Chinese, 77 South Koreans, 64 Amer-icans, three Canadians, three Indians, one Japa-nese, one Vietnamese and one person from France when it approached the runway too low and too slow. The Boeing 777 hit a seawall before skitter-ing across the tarmac and catching fire.

Three girls from China were killed and 182 peo-ple injured, most not seri-ously.

Two girls, Ye Mengyu-an and Wang Linjia, both 16, died right away. It is unclear, however, wheth-er Ye Mengyuan died in the crash or in the chaotic aftermath. Both girls’ par-ents appeared at a vigil Saturday near the airport, and thanked, through a translator, the more than 100 people in attendance

for their support, KGO-TV reported. The other victim killed, 15-year-old Liu Yipeng, died Friday at a hospital where she had been in critical condition since the July 6 crash.

The dozens who were seriously injured — espe-cially the few who were paralyzed — can expect to win multimillion-dollar legal settlements, as long as their claims are filed in U.S. courts, legal experts said.

Northern California at-torney Mike Danko, who is consulting with several lawyers from Asia about the disaster, said any pas-senger who was left a quadriplegic can expect settlements close to $10 million if the case is filed in the United States. Deaths of children, meanwhile,

may fetch in the neigh-borhood of $5 million to $10 million depending on the circumstances in U.S. courts.

In other countries, he explained, the same claims could be worth far less.

In 2001, a South Ko-rean court ordered Kore-an Air Lines to pay a total of $510,000 to a woman whose daughter, son-in-law and three grandsons were killed in a 1997 crash in the U.S. territory of Guam that killed 228 people.

Broken bones in plane accidents usually mean $1 million settlements in the Unites States and in the low five-figure range over-seas, Danko said.

In 2011, the Federal Aviation Administration put the value of a human

life at $6 million when it was contemplating the cost-benefit of a new “cockpit resource man-agement” regulation. But again, Danko said, that estimate applies only in U.S. courts. Foreign courts can be expected to pay far smaller settlements.

In all, the South Korean government agency that regulates that country’s insurance industry ex-pects Asiana’s insurers to pay out about $175.5 mil-lion total — $131 million to replace the plane and another $44.5 million to passengers and the city of San Francisco for damage to the airport. Suh Chang-suk, an official at Financial Supervisory Service, de-clined to discuss how the watchdog agency calculat-ed its estimate.

The international trea-ty is commonly referred to as the Montreal Con-vention because of the Canadian city where it was drafted. It offers inter-national passengers five options for where to seek compensation: where they live, their final des-tination, where the ticket was issued, where the air carrier is based and the air carrier’s principal place of business.

Foreign passengers who had roundtrip tick-ets to final destinations beyond the U.S. face stiff legal challenges to pur-sue their claims against the airline in the United States, where courts are more receptive to lawsuits and the payouts larger than in the courts of most other nations.

EDGEDAVAO12 EDGEDAVAO

WORLD

WRECKAGE. This July 6, 2013 file photo shows the ill-fated Asiana Flight 214 after it crashed at the San Francisco International Airport.

Court will treat Asiana passengers differently

U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday is-

sued a statement on the acquittal of George Zimmerman, calling for calm as well as efforts to curb gun violence.

Obama said in the statement that the death of Trayvon Mar-tin, who was killed by Zimmerman, was a tragedy. Noting that “this case has elicit-ed strong passions,” Obama said those pas-sions may be running even higher in the wake of the verdict.

However, the pres-ident added, the jury has spoken and made its verdict. He called on “every American to re-spect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son.”

“We should ask our-selves if we’re doing all we can to widen the circle of compassion and understanding in our own communities,” said Obama, adding “we should ask our-selves if we’re doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis.”

“We should ask our-selves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this,” said Obama.

A Jury in Florida on Saturday night ac-quitted Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed African American teenager Martin last year. (PNA/Xinhua)

Obama calls for calm after Zimmerman acquittal

SYRIA’S state media said Sunday that the army has found

chemical materials in a factory of Joubar, country-side of the capital Damas-cus, which is used by the armed rebels for making chemical weapons.

“A unit of the armed forces discovered the fac-tory to manufacture and store the toxic chemical weapons inside a terror-ists’ den in the area sur-rounding al-Manashir

roundabout in Joubar,” the state-run SANA news agency said.

Quoting an official source, SANA said that the Syrian army has seized a number of toxic chemi-cal materials, in addition to chlorine substances in containers, some of which are foreign-made.

The source added that the army also seized weapons and dozens of mortar shells which were prepared to be filled with

chemical materials.The Syrian govern-

ment and the armed reb-els have been trading ac-cusations over the use of chemical weapons in the country’s deadly conflict.

Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Bashar Ja’afari, an-nounced on July 8 that Syria has invited the UN chemical weapons in-vestigator and the UN high representative for disarmament to visit

Damascus following the discovery of rebel-held chemical weapons which are enough to “destroy a whole country.”

UN officials have ac-cepted on July 11 the Syr-ian invitation.

At least 25 people were killed and 130 oth-ers wounded on March 19 when armed men fired a rocket stuffed with chem-ical materials at Khan al-Asal, according to local media. (PNA/Xinhua)

Syria claims discovery of chemical materials belonging to rebels

TU-95MS strate-gic bombers will be engaged in pa-

trolling skies within the framework of the large-scale snap drills test-ing combat readiness of Russia’s Eastern Military District and Central Mili-tary District, the Defense

Ministry’s press service said.

The aviation base of the Long-Range Aviation deployed in Belogorsk, the Amur region, takes part in the snap drills.

“The personnel of the aviation base prepared Tu-95MS bombers for

their strategic deter-rence mission in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk,” the press ser-vice said.

“Seven Su-7SM fight-ers deployed at air-fields in Dzemgi (Kom-somolsk-on-Amur), in Sokolovka (Ussuriysk)

and Elizovo (the Kam-chatka Peninsula) will be engaged to escort Tu-95MS.”

Crews plan to mas-ter their cooperation, flight preparation and long-distance flights over a featureless area. (PNA/Itar-Tass)

Russian bombers to patrol skies during snap drills

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VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013EDGEDAVAO 13

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One of the new places here in Davao that serves Mid-western and South-ern American cuisine is Clawdaddy’s Great American Picnic located at the ground level of SM Lanang Premier. Veer-ing away from the typical burger and fries culture,

Clawdaddy’s focuses on delicious ribs and great American style seafood. And what is better than ribs and crabs you ask me? It is when you can have all the ribs and crabs that you want all for only P499 on every Saturday and Sun-day of the week. I had to

INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013

EDGEDAVAOFOOD

OFTENTIMES, when someone says American cuisine, images of burgers normally pop into mind. But to generalise American cui-sine to just one sandwich I believe, is not really giving justice to the many different cuisines of the different regions of the world’s fourth largest country.

A buffet trip down to New Orleans

Grilled Parrot Fish. Clams and Mashed Potatos.

Salted-egg crab.

Kasas City Ribs.

Serving the Kansas City Ribs.

do a double take and read the numbers again. And yes! Just for P499, one can have all the ribs and crabs that you want to eat. Of course the buffet is not limited to just ribs and crabs like the Kansas City Ribs and Salted Egg Crabs that I love, as Clawdaddy’s Ribs and Crabs Buffet also features delicious appetis-ers, a pasta station as well as various desserts. Families with kids will also love Clawdaddy as kids below three feet can eat free of charge while kids 12 years and below can eat at half-price. Follow me on Instagram or on Twitter at @kenneth-kingong for foodie finds, travel tips and happenings in and around Durianburg

Bacon and Spinach Croquettes. Singaporean Chili Crabs. Ginger and Lemongrass Jelly.

GONE are the days when uniforms have to be boring and traditional. Enter premiere resortwear designer Charina Sarte who has defied that per-ception when she forayed into uniform design, making us see the traditional work wear in a totally new light. Customers and bystanders alike coming in at the Globe Store in Boracay will surely feel the island vibe with the ac-commodating and friendly staff garbed in Charina Sarte-de-signed uniforms. With graceful designs, beautiful fabric selec-tions, and exquisite craftsmanship, each piece of the uniform ensemble makes it truly unique and special. “The uniforms were 50’s inspired. I made shirt dresses for the ladies which I thought were the perfect silhouette for a resort uniform. Then I chose a vibrant print to bring to life the minimalist and modern look of the Globe Store,” Sarte explains. “The men’s uniform, on the other hand, is all about comfort and style, so I made short-sleeved polo shirts paired with knee-length shorts. Both uniforms are designed to blend with the relaxed atmosphere of the Store and the is-land as a whole.” This is the first time that Sarte, well known for her sophisticated and elegant resortwear line has ven-tured into uniform design-ing. “I’ve always wanted to explore the uniform pro-duction side of my fashion design business. So when I was given the opportunity to design the Globe Store uniforms, I immediately grabbed it. The Store being based in Boracay was also a big plus because of my re-

sortwear design experience,” Sarte said. Sarte’s resortwear line already has a huge following among local and international fashion icons and celebrities and is even carried by leading department stores and boutiques, which includes a store in Mallorca, Spain. According to Globe Retail Transformation and Manage-ment Head Joe Caliro, the uniforms of the Globe Boracay retail staff were a big help in creating a friendly and cozy at-mosphere among locals and tourists visiting and transacting with the Store. “Since the Store is located in Boracay, one of the best is-land destinations in the world, customers in their beachwear or swimwear can come in without feeling intimidated since the people they’re dealing with are dressed almost the same way. This establishes quick connection and rapport among customers and our staff, which is part and parcel of our thrust on superior customer experience,” Caliro said. The Globe Store is located at D’Mall in Station 2 in Boracay and is a one-stop telecommunications shop offering top-of-the-line gadgets and accessories, as well as superior cus-tomer service and after-sales support. Like the other Globe concept stores, the Boracay Store offers live demo units of the latest smartphones that customers can try. Customers are also able to do various transactions in the Store such as account opening, account management, payments, top ups, and GCASH transactions. The Store also has a self-help area for customers who want immediate answers or who need a copy of their billing state-ments. In addition, friendly and courteous store retail special-ists are on-hand from 10am to 7pm to serve customers, pro-vide consultations, and answer product or technical-related queries.

A2 INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT EVENTS

Charina Sarte reinvents the way people look at uniformsThe premiere resortwear designer shares her inspiration on designing uniforms of

Globe Store staff in Boracay

Saturday sound sketch LIEU Online Maga-zine held a launching party for its fourth issue at Sales Bar Tekanplor, dubbed Davao City’s melting pot of original rock music, last Saturday, July 6, 2013. The launch featured vi-sual artists Kevin Becira, whose intricate illustra-tions are dabbed with a dis-tinct mixture of traditional and non-traditional meth-ods with a strong feminine touch; Alduane Maño whose playful cartoon-like graphic illustrations boast a color palette with an im-peccable, muted feel; and lastly, Paolo Ramirez with digital paintings swaying between surrealist and re-alist portraits that display his skill in mimicry and artistic vision. These art-ists have been recognized by many factions in the art industry such as the recent Behance Portfolio Review, a much coveted recognition by an inter-nationally-acclaimed net-work of artists, which they now have under their belts. LIEU had their artworks displayed inside Sales Bar which were even up for sale. The trio have certain-ly made their way into the list of artists to watch for. It’s no wonder why LIEU chose to feature not one but three deserving visual artists in its fourth issue. Alongside the artists, the event featured four bands that offered both fresh talent and seasoned musicians. Lucas, the first band on stage, put out their seamless original compositions reminiscent of British indie rock while budding cover bands Baby Boomers, All Mixed and

Escape Plan Juliet captivat-ed the crowd with familiar tunes.

Patrons of LIEU’s launching parties have been well-accustomed to

the hip, fast-paced and party hardy celebrations it throws. The fourth is-sue launching of LIEU was the very depiction of an unembellished party in all its glory – raw emotions, industry standard techni-cal difficulties and appre-ciative, alcohol-induced cheers. On that night, it was all about the artists. While the rest are fast asleep, on that night, Sales Bar was alive and kick-ing and pulsating with the artistic passion of sound waves and sketches. LIEU Magazine is a Davao-based online maga-zine that caters to artistic culture, incorporating the call of the youth and the voices of those who live to create. To grace its covers in the past are Mei Bastes, Al-exandre Le Neindre and Jad Montenegro.

JULY 4, 2013

N O W S H O W I N G

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LEAD stars of GMA-7’s My Husband’s Lover - the country’s most talked about prime-time series today - Dennis Trillo and Carla Abellana, and Kapuso actress Michelle Madri-gal are Vietnam-bound this July 18 to attend Vietnam Today TV’s 5th Anniversary Celebra-tion. A member of Viet-nam’s Joint Media Cor-poration (IMC), Today TV is one of the first Viet-namese TV stations to air Filipino drama series like Marimar, Stairway to Heaven, Beauty Queen, The Good Daughter and Kung Aagawin Mo Ang Langit (Losing Heaven). These dramas quickly be-came a hit among Viet-namese viewers paving the way for the airing of more Filipino dramas on Vietnam TV. Dennis, Carla and Mi-chelle have all appeared in several GMA dramas that have gained a huge following in Vietnam namely Kung Aagawin Mo Ang Langit (Losing Heaven) for Carla, Sinner or Saint and Legacy for Dennis, and First Time,

Kung Aagawin Mo Ang Langit (Losing Heaven) and Faithfully for Mi-chelle. Aside from grac-ing Today TV’s anniver-sary celebration, they will also give their Vietnam-ese fans the chance to see them up close in the grand fans day arranged for them by the former. Commenting on the warm reception for Ka-puso dramas by Viet-namese viewers, Ms. Roxanne Barcelona - Vice President for GMA World-wide, Inc. (GWI) the pro-gram syndication and acquisition arm of GMA Network said that “inter-est for Kapuso dramas has never been as strong as it has been this year.” As such, the rest of

2013 will see more GMA dramas on Today TV with deals for the launch of Sana Ay Ikaw Na Nga (It Might Be You), Makapil-ing Kang Muli (Together Again), Dyesebel, Luna Blanca, One True Love and Temptation of Wife already in place. Barcelona continues, “We look forward to bringing more of our programs and artists not only to Vietnam but to other countries within and beyond Asia. As we now have a better un-derstanding of our inter-national audience, we are confident that our new line-up will appeal to them as much, if not more than what we of-fered them in the past.”

CORY MONTEITH was always a hit on the red carpet, but the Glee star was looking particularly handsome on June 8 at the Chrysalis Ball. It was the late actor’s first red carpet after his recent stint in rehab. He wore a slim grey Calvin Klein suit, a white shirt with polka dots and a skinny tie. In what appears to be his last interview before his untimely death yes-terday, Monteith told E! News that he was look-ing forward to getting back to work on Glee. “I’m just happy to be on the show,” Monteith said. “I’m really, really happy to be coming back. It’s re-ally good.” Monteith was found dead yesterday at age 31 alone in a Vancouver ho-tel room. According to lo-cal police, there are no in-dications of foul play and they are not discussing what was found in the room. The cause of death was not immediately ap-parent.

At Chrysalis, Monte-ith smiled when asked about upcoming sum-mer vacation plans with girlfriend Lea Michele. “I’m not sure yet,” he said. “We’re playing it by ear.” It appears the last get-away the two enjoyed was a trip shortly after rehab to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. They were later seen in Victoria, British Columbia, having fish and chips with Cory’s mom, Ann. Even when she wasn’t with Monteith, Michele always had her beau close to her heart. At Be-yoncé’s July 1 concert at Staples Center in L.A.,

she proudly pointed out to friends that she was wearing her “Cory” nameplate necklace. At Chrysalis, Monteith talked about how impor-tant the non-profit was for helping homeless and low-income individ-uals gain employment. “Chrysalis is empow-erment,” Monteith said. “It’s not just a handout. It’s empowerment. It’s taking people who just need a help up. Not a handout. A help up. It’s helping people do what they already can do.” Looking at Monteith on the carpet, Michele cooed, “I think he looks great, doesn’t he? He’s the best.” Monteith’s suit matched Michele’s Val-entino dress perfectly. He laughed, “I guess we should have called each other first.” Earlier today, a source told E! News that Mon-teith was committed to getting sober. The source said, “He would say this was his last chance.” E! News

INdulge! A3VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013 EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

Dennis, Carla and Michelle attend Vietnam Today’s 5th Anniversary Celebration

Cory Monteith’s Last Interview:He was ‘happy’ to be getting

back to work on Glee

PG 13

PG 13

PG 13

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

R-16

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DESPICABLE ME 2 2D

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Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx

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Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba

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A4 INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

Seldom could you find these days bou-tiques and commer-cial outlets that can truly satisfy one’s fancy for treasures and memorabilia crafted out of the creative imagination and expert hands of artists and talented souls.

Usually, devotees of such ageless items will need to travel around the country, and even abroad, just to satisfy their passion for finding everlasting pieces to add to their col-lection.

Local collectors from this city also go into self-satisfying but time-con-suming journeys just to find everlasting jewels and precious pieces.

Among those who plunge into such expedi-tions to feed her hunger for collecting beautiful home pieces is Adelfa, a collector of classic pieces, items and articles.

She conceptualized

Adelfa’s Treasures, a bou-tique that shines in the midst of the hectic day-to-day business dealings at Km. 6, JP Laurel Avenue, Lanang, Davao City.

“It all started as a hobby of collecting classic pieces made out of brass and cop-per,” Adelfa admitted with modesty.

Since she is based in Manila, she persuaded her brother, Francis, to man-age and operate Adelfa’s Treasures in Davao.

The store opened on October 26 last year.

Those who are fond of beautiful things for their home are invited to visit Adelfa’s Treasures and per-sonally see for themselves and appreciate the array of beautiful, precious and specially-crafted pieces that are offered for sale at reasonable prices.

Items for house de-cor consisting of modern and old furniture, crystal chandeliers, paintings, wooden figures/figurines, unique home decors and antique pieces can all be found at Adelfa’s Trea-sures.

Even the works of dif-ferent award-winning Filipino artists based in Manila are displayed in the store, including Asian furniture and home de-

cors, crystals and bohe-mian glasses from Italy and USA.

Adelfa is calling on all collectors of classic, mod-ern and antique pieces in Davao City and the region to visit the place (as stated earlier) and see their ex-hibits.

One can contact the place via telephone num-ber (082) 2220058 and Mobile phone number 09237458504.

cdp@edgedavao.net

By CHERRY MAE PALICTE

Treasures to cherish on display at Adelfa’s

VOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013EDGEDAVAO 15SPORTS

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EDGE Davao’s Ro-drigo “Ody” Gajitos humbled his young-

er rivals to win one of the individual titles in the 68th Indonesia Indepen-dence Day Table Tennis Tournament held over the weekend here

Gajitos, the 73-year old contributor, whipped 60-year old radioman Ne-rio Guimte, 4-2 in their best of seven champion-ship match in the Men’s Singles for Media and In-donesian Consulate Staff category.

Gajitos, who writes the “Lamandiwa” column and “Krusalita” original Filipino crossword puzzle since 1986 in the defunct Ang Peryodiko Dabaw then later on with many daily and weekly news-papers in Davao City, re-ceived P6,000 cash plus a trophy awarded by Con-sul General Eko Hartono.

Gajitos, a founding member of the Tabak media group, also had a column entitled “Punchit Canton” in the weekly newspaper Mindanao Punch of the late publish-er Bong Saberon. He is the father of former national

player Tarhata Gajitos.“Sana naka encourage

sa lahat ng players na at my age puwede pa silang makapaglaro at manalo sa paligsahan,” said Gaji-tos, the first principal of the Sta. Ana High School in 1969.

Gajitos, also a former table tennis coach of the Ateneo de Davao Univer-sity, is a member of the Mindanao Creative Writ-ers Association and was the public information officer for 20 years of the Philippine Port Authority.

Gajitos is also the au-thor of the books “Katha-mpili” and “Lamandiwa” approved by the Depart-ment of Education for col-lege and high school stu-dents. His column “Odyto-rial” also came out in the Mindanao Daily Monitor, Daily San Pedro Express, Daily Star, Mindanao Times and Insider.

“Magaling pa rin tal-aga si Ody,” said Guimte, who pocketed P5,000 cash and a trophy.

Consulate’s Stanley William Pinonton and M. Wasis shared the sec-ond runner-up prize of P4,000.

Edge Davao bet rulesIndon ID tablenetfest

THE pair of Chi-koy Saavedra and Vincent Gumapac

pieced together an aggre-gate 74 to win the Class A division of the Apo Golf- Emcor Am-Am Golf Tour-nament held July 13-14 at the Apo Golf and Country Club here.

Saavedra and Guma-pac won by one stroke over the team of Karloz Alba and Toffee Tionko (75) in the one ball, two-some competition spon-sored by Emcor, Kawasaki, Samsung and Panasonic. Gumapac also paired with Patrick Tan for a 76 to place second runner-up. In Class B, Benjie Lepar-to and Choi Eun Young beat the duo of EJ Casin-tahan and Robert Te Siong in a sudden death

playoff to win the title. They were first tied at 78 all after 18 holes. Second runner-up was Al Rey Ce-niza and Alejandro So with a 79.

The other results: Class C - champion - Doc Sala/Shin Bokawachi (83), 2nd - Egang Cabre-ra/Edwin Cayamanda (85), 3rd - Jun Horfil-la/Richard Matus (86). Seniors - champion - Boy Latayan/Ben Gaite (82), 2nd - Celso Villegas/Manny Nitorreda (84), 3rd - Larry Pasquil/Bobby Wee (84). Ladies - champion - Michelle Kuwahara/Melanne Kuwa-hara (85), 2nd - Gendel dela Cerna/Felisa Weckler (90). The fabulous prizes were awarded by Celso Villegas, Gene Arcena and Boy Arri-ba on Sunday.

Saavedra-Gumapac tops Emcor Golf

CHAMPS. Chikoy Saavedra and Vince Gumapac receive their trophies from Gene Arcena (left) and Celso Villegas, president and CEO of Emcor. Boy Lim

FIGHTING under the bright spotlights in-side the country’s

newest high-class casino resort, television camer-as for the waiting world to ogle at, and a parade of stars in show business in attendance, Merlito Sabil-lo parlayed the grand set-ting into his own coming out party.

The former street fighter from Bacolod City stopped challenger Jorle Estrada of Colombia with a breath-stopping left to the ribcage that dra-matically punctuated the first defense of his World Boxing Organization min-imumweight title after nine rounds of boxing at the posh Solaire Casino and Resort inside the new Manila Entertainment City.

The bitter end came at 1:09 of the ninth for the skinny Colombian who brought with him the ob-session of avenging the loss of countryman Luis Dela Rosa in March in their homecountry. That obsession came with the delusion of bringing Sa-billo down in the seventh.

That mirage from

Estrada’s mind turned into a final fantasy once the Filipino champion, nicknamed “Tiger”, final-ly found his range after discarding a frantic start and shifting into prowling mode.

Actually, the 29-year old champion never had Estrada at hello. Admit-ting he was tense with all the celebrities from the movies and television watching him like it was his debut movie, Sabillo looked like a lead star on audition. Eager to score a knockout and impress the crowd, the Tiger swung haymakers to the ducking and weaving Colombian.

Told by his corner not to be too eager beaver, Sabillo had the reed-thin Colmbian’s midsection on his rifle scope from round 2 and when he started connecting on that lean target, the Colombian sensed that the champi-on is beginning to get him tenderized for dinner. From then on, it was just a matter of time.

The southpaw Sabil-lo tagged Estrada with thudding lefts to the body and at one sequence in

the fourth round snapped hooks after hooks while moving out safely from the ropes.

The Colombian, other than displaying a decent dance step, did not have anything in his arse-nal. Those hands which milked dairy cows in San Pelayo, Colombia on days

when he is out of the ring, didn’t appear like it was made for boxing. Every so often, Sabillo would smile exposing his red mouth-guard like he was tickled pink by Estrada’s com-binations which came as rare as his country’s em-eralds.

In the ninth, Sabillo

read the script to end his debut as lead actor of ALA Promotions 21st install-ment of what is now the country’s most success-ful boxing series in part-nership with ABS-CBN Sports. The mega-tele-vision network brought in its celebrities like Bea Alonzo, Bangs Garcia, Jake

Cuenca and Zanjoe Maru-do converting the first ever championship card in Solaire like a red-car-pet film festival awards night.

To the delight of the fans and celebrities in-side the Grand Ballroom, Sabillo delivered his fi-

16 EDGEDAVAOSportsVOL. 6 ISSUE 87 • TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013

njb@edgedavao.net

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

Sabillo passes first test to stardom

TIGER. Merlito “Tiger” Sabillo gets his hands raised by referee Raul Caiz, Jr. and trainer Edito Villamor.

FSABILLO, 10