P 15.00 • 22 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014

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

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

‘TY’ SLAY SUSPECTS CHARGEDRobbery with homicide charges filed, case ‘solved’

Charged were Ariel John J. Liawan, 25, and Daisy Joy Cachapero, 27, over the death of Garcia, owner of the famous Nanay Bebeng Restaurant and a former newspaper columnist with Sunstar Davao and Mind-anao Times.

Based on the record of the City Prosecution Office, the two suspects were submitted for inquest procedure be-fore Prosecutor Faizal Padate around 10:00 a.m yesterday.

After the two were arrest-ed in Sulop, Davao del Sur last Friday, the case was consid-ered “solved” by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who attributed the swift arrest to the state-of-the-art high-defi-nition closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance technolo-

gy around the city. A review of the CCTV foot-

age from the Apo View Hotel recorded from late Thursday to the footage in CCTV cam-eras along the checkpoints in the Davao City-Davao del Sur highway along with informa-tion taken from the Facebook account of Cachapero led to the possible location of the suspects.

The two suspects were presented in Sunday’s “Gikan sa Masa Para sa Masa” televi-sion program of Mayor Dute-rte.

According to police ac-counts, Liawan allegedly killed the victim after he saw his girl-friend board the victim’s car early morning Friday.

CANDY FLAG. Mall-goers marvel at the 8” x 12” Philippine flag made up of 25,000 pieces of Durian, Jackfruit and Mangosteen flavored candies on display in the atrium at the Annex of SM City Davao in time for the 116th commemoration of the Philippine Independence Day on June 12. Lean Daval Jr.

CHARGED. Daisy Joy Cachapero, one of the two suspects in the killing of prominent businessman Ramon Teodoro Y. Garcia, is escorted by a police operative after she was presented to Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte last Saturday night. Cachapero and her boyfriend, Ariel John J. Liawan, were charged with robbery with homicide yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

ThE Talomo Police Precinct in Davao City filed charges of robbery with homicide yesterday against the two suspects in the

killing of businessman Ramon Teodoro “TY” Y. Garcia.

F’TY’, 10

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 20142

WEATHER FORECAST

EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS BACK TO THEIR OWNERS. A driver looks at his unit from a pile of confiscat-ed “payong-payong” trike at the Traffic Management Center (TMC) in Ecoland, Davao City yesterday. Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte ordered TMC chief Rhodelio Poliquit to release the “payong-payong” units to the owners after they submit-ted the pertinent requirements. Lean Daval Jr.

AFTER experiencing almost two months of power outages, the

National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) de-clared Davao City as ‘brown-out- free.”

Lawyer Milfrance Capu-long, NGCP regional corpo-rate communication officer said that the power supply in the Mindanao grid is back to normal as the Steag State Inc.’s 210 megawatts coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental resumed its opera-tion.

“For the franchise area of Davao Light Power Company (DLPC), brownout-free na tayo,” Capulong said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Annex yesterday.

The franchise area of DLPC stretches from Davao City to Panabo City and mu-nicipalities of Carmen, Sto Tomas, and Dujali.

Capulong said that Davao City has the biggest demand in Mindanao accounting a to-tal of 280 MW.

However, some provinces

THREE members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIFF)

were reported killed and another one was wounded in fresh attacks by the rebel group on military outposts in Maguindanao.

A civilian and an Army soldier were also wounded during the attacks, according to a report from 6th Infantry Division spokesperson Col. Dickson Hermoso .

The BIFF first targeted a detachment of the 61st Divi-sion Recon Company in Baran-gay Ganta, Shariff Saydona Mu-stapha town on Sunday night resulting in a firefight that last-ed an hour, Hermoso said.

Around 12:05am today,

the BIFF also attacked a com-munity security base of Moro National Liberation Front in Barangay Damabalas, Datu Pi-ang town.

The MNLF base was manned by Commander Quai-po Dalandas and Leki Angas who managed to fire back at the attackers, the military said.

But the BIFF vehemently denied attacking the MNLF base.

BIFF Abu Misry Mama said they only targeted military outposts when they attacked Barangay Ganta in Shariff Say-dona Mustapha and Barangay Damabalas in Datu Piang.

He said the attacks were led by their ground command-ers identified as OB-Ten and

Saga. Hermoso said three BIFF

rebels were killed and one Army soldier was wounded in the attack.

A civilian identified as Bai Saida Lakim, of Barangay Dam-abalas was also wounded by a stray bullet.

But the BIFF denied they suffered casualties, although they admitted three of their fighters including OB-Ten were wounded.

Some 60 families had evacuated from the two ba-rangays, according to the De-partment of Social Welfare and Development provincial office.

On Thursday last week, a member of the 45th Infantry Battalion was killed and three

others were wounded when an improvised explosive de-vice hit a military vehicle in Barangay Maitumaig, Datu Unsay Ampatuan town in Ma-guindanao.

Maguindanao police said the incident occurred as sol-diers belonging to the 45th Infantry Battalion were on the way back to their headquar-ters after escorting a group of Teduray evacuees to Mount Feles in Datu Unsay Ampatu-an.

The BIFF broke away from the Moro Islamic Libera-tion Front over disagreements on the conduct of the peace negotiation with government. [Ferdinandh Cabrera/Min-daNews]

POLICE authorities have not yet identified any suspect over the death

of lawyer Emmanuel “Em-man” Ledesma Acuña Jr. last month.

Sasa Police Precinct commander Sr. Insp. Paulino Zaulga Jr. said they are still on the process of gathering evi-dences to come up with spe-cific angle to pursue.

He told Edge Davao in a telephone interview that the appearance of businessman

Francis Gerald Ang last week to clear his name has “no bearing on the case.”

Zaulga said Ang has the right to clear his name, saying the businessman is not yet considered a primary sus-pect.

He said that they are ask-ing the footage of Close Cir-cuit Television (CCTV) cam-era of Bank of the Philippine Islands in Lanang but a copy has not yet provided to the police as bank officials are

still asking for the clearance from their national office.

The love triangle theo-ry on the death of Acuña is among the angles initially be-ing looked into based on the testimonies of eyewitnesses.

Zaulga said that the tes-timony of an eyewitness closely coincides with that of a young lady, said to be the girlfriend of Acuña.

He said that an eyewit-ness whose identity is with-held allegedly saw a man

wearing a white shirt ran af-ter and shot Acuña.

The gunman allegedly then rode a black pick-up vehicle parked nearby. The eyewitness’ narration coin-cided with the testimony of the slain lawyer’s girlfriend who was earlier interviewed by investigators.

Acuña was reportedly gunned down by an uniden-tified assailant between 8:50 and 9:30 p.m. on May 30 in Lanang.

3 BIFF rebs killed in Maguindanao attacks – AFP

PNP: No suspect yet in killing of lawyerBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

Davao City declaredas ‘brownout-free’

crc@edgedavao.net

By ChENEEN R. CAPON

FDAVAO, 10

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014 3NEWS

FUMING RODY. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte stares at Ariel John J. Liawan, suspect in the killing of restaurant-chain owner Ramon “TY” Garcia, during his presentation to the mayor last Saturday night. Liawan together with his girlfriend Daisy Joy Cachapero were charged with robbery with homicide yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

NO MORE BROWNOUTS. National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) regional corporate communication officer Milfrance “Bambi” Capulong assures reporters in an interview that Davao City will be brownout-free as the power supply from Mindanao grid is now stable. Lean Daval Jr.

THE Department of Social Welfare and Develop-ment (DSWD) said on

Monday that a special valida-tion of existing social pension beneficiaries is being under-taken nationwide in accor-dance with the provision of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2014.

According to DSWD, the 2014 GAA provides that only indigent Senior Citizens en-rolled in the DSWD Listahanan will continue to receive the So-cial Pension of P500 monthly to augment their daily subsis-tence and medical needs.

DSWD Secretary Corazon J. Soliman explained that the special validation will ensure that only the rightful beneficia-ries get the assistance.

The special validation also upholds Listahanan’s objective of ensuring that all potential-ly poor families are assessed

and included in the database which is the basis in identify-ing recipients of social protec-tion programs of the national government.

Aside from being included in the Listahanan profile, social pensioners must be 77 years old and above, frail, sickly and disabled, without a regular source of income and/or sup-port from any member of the family, and not receiving other pension benefits from govern-ment and private agencies.

The validation targets are 150,169 social pension bene-ficiaries nationwide, including 12,788 from Region XI.

The DSWD Listahanan, formerly known as National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), is an information man-agement system that identifies who and where the poor are. [PNA]

SENATE Majority Lead-er Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday urged the

Supreme Court (SC) to allow live media coverage on the plunder trial of the P10-bil-lion pork scam involving three senators at the Sandigan-bayan.

Cayetano said the live cov-erage will allow the Filipino people to render their own judgment on government of-ficials including Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada

and Ramon Revilla Jr. impli-cated in the scam.

”If it will be covered live, the people can make their own conclusion,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano supported the request of Ombudsman Con-chita Carpio-Morales for the SC to designate at least two special divisions in the San-diganbayan to exclusively try the pork barrel cases.

He noted the magnitude of the pork scam trial consid-

ering that only three senators, Janet Lim-Napoles, and five other personalities have so far been accused of plunder be-fore the Sandiganbayan.

Cayetano said that the pork scam controversy should be considered case closed within 500 days before the change of administration in 2016.

Cayetano stressed that a swift trial would also benefit his three colleagues who all claimed innocence and had

nothing to do with the plun-der of the people’s money.

The Ombudsman has al-ready filed the plunder and graft charges against the three senators and several other in-dividuals, including business-woman Janet Lim Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the pork scam.

The Senate has conducted nine inquiries into the pork scam, in aid of legislation, all enjoyed full media coverage. [PNA]

FOLLOWING the official turnover of dividends and remittances col-

lected by government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) to the National Gov-ernment, Budget and Man-agement Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad on Monday said that part of the GOCC earnings -- which amounted to P32.3 billion this year -- will help widen the country’s budget-ary legroom for social and economic services, especially those related to post-calamity aid.

GOCC earnings this year posted a notable increase over 2013 levels, which amounted to P27.9 billion.

The Department of Bud-get and Management (DBM) also confirmed that the GOCC

dividends can be used to boost the government’s “un-programmed fund”, which can in turn support rehabilita-tion efforts in super typhoon Yolanda-affected areas.

“Restoring normalcy in Yolanda-stricken communi-ties is still a priority for the Aquino administration, one that this year’s GOCC divi-dends can very well address,” said Abad in a statement.

“It’s not just a matter of ensuring the continued stabil-ity of the country’s economy of preserving the soundness of our fiscal management strategy. It all comes down to bringing Yolanda’s victims back to their feet and help-ing them rebuild the lives and communities that the ty-

THE heavy traffic conges-tion resulting from the repair and rehabilitation

of Gov. Generoso Bridge II is expected to last until October this year according to an of-ficial of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 11.

“We are closing the right side of the bridge for vehicles entering Davao City for major maintenance and repair,” en-gineer Alvin Cabuenas, DPWH project engineer said yester-day during a press conference.

The repair is expected to finish on October 5, 2014.

“Originally, the plan is to finish the maintenance routine

by June 8 before the start of classes but the relocation issue of illegal settlers living under the bridge caused delay,” he said, adding that the original plan was to start the repair as early as December last year.

Cabuenas said the repair needs to be immediately un-dertaken as the foundation of the bridge is already exposed to scouring, making the bridge dangerous not only to vehicles but also to illegal settlers.

“Kung hindi yan irerepair ngayon darating ang panahon na hindi na yan makakayanan ng tulay at bibigay rin yan,” he said.

Existing social pension beneficiaries validated

SC urged to allow live ‘pork’ trial coverage

P32.3-B GOCC earnings to buoy post-calamity aid

Repair of bridge finished in October

crc@edgedavao.net

By ChENEEN R. CAPON

FP32.3-B, 10

FBRIDGE, 10

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014

THE draft Bangsamoro Basic Law submitted by the Bangsamoro

Transition Commission to Malacanang on April 22 has not been submitted to Con-gress because it is still un-dergoing a “thorough pro-cess of review” by the Office of the President to ensure Congress gets a “more re-fined and strengthened” draft, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresi-ta Quintos-Deles told an in-ternational inter-religious and inter-cultural confer-ence in Cotabato City.

Congress adjourns on June 11 and will reopen on July 28 with President Benigno Simeon Aquino III delivering his State of the Nation Address (SONA). In last year’s SONA, he urged Congress to pass the Bang-samoro Basic Law before end of 2014 to allow more time for the transition from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to the Bangasmoro, a new autonomous political entity with a ministerial form of governance.

Senate President Frank-lin Drilon, in a message read for him by Cardinal Orlando Quevedo during the open-ing Friday night of the two-day International Confer-ence of Cotabato, assured the Senate’s support to the peace process and their

commitment to pass what he refers to as “unifying and integrating” Basic Law.

Drilon said they “will ensure that the Bangsam-oro law falls within the four corners of the Constitution and that it can withstand ju-dicial scrutiny.”

He vowed to pass the law “as early as possible.”

Deles urged hundreds of participants gathered

at the Notre Dame Univer-sity gymnasium to “look at what’s going on from a

glass-half-full perspective.” “A few more days, if not

weeks”“We have waited 17

long years for a mutual-ly binding and acceptable peace process with the MILF; and yet that has been achieved within three years of this administration. We can be bold in taking a few more days, if not weeks, to ensure a more refined and strengthened draft BBL (Bangsamoro Basic Law) to be stewarded by the leader-ship of both Houses of Con-gress through the legislative process and thereafter for ratification through plebi-scite,” Deles said.

The International Con-ference of Cotabato was organized by the Archdio-cese of Cotabato and two of the non-state members of the International Con-tact Group in the GPH-MILF

peace process: the Com-munity of Sant’ Egidio and Muhammadiyah, with the theme “Peace is Living To-gether: Religions and Cul-tures in Dialogue for Peace and Reconciliation in Mind-anao.”

Deles did not say in her

speech if the draft bill will be submitted to Congress before it adjourns on June 11 or wait until President Benigno Simeon Aquino III delivers his SONA on July 28 but she told MindaNews after the opening program that “an announcement will

be made next week.”The “more refined and

strengthened” or “unify-ing and integrating” draft, however, will likely not be submitted before Congress adjourns.

Like Deles, Mohagh-er Iqbal, chair of the Moro

Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) peace panel and concurrent chair of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), de-clined to say if the draft will be submitted before Con-gress adjourns. [Carolyn O. Arguillas/ MindaNews]

4COTABATO CITY

GENERAL SANTOS CITY GENERAL SANTOS CITY

EDGEDAVAO

SUBURBIA

Twenty three people’s organizations based in coastal or fishing

communities in Region 12 are set to receive livelihood grants under the Depart-ment of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) sustainable coral reef eco-system management pro-gram (SCREMP).

Hadja Didaw Pi-ang-Brahim, DENR-12’s regional technical direc-tor for Protected Areas, Wildlife and Coastal Zone Management Service, said the 23 POs comprise the program’s initial beneficia-ries in the region this year with the full rollout of the SCREMP’s sustainable live-lihood component.

She said they are cur-rently working on signing separate memorandum of agreements with the ben-eficiaries to facilitate the release of the livelihood grants.

The forging of the

MOAs will formalize the ties between the DENR and the POs once the require-ments for the livelihood proposals are properly complied, she said.

SCREMP is a national program for the rehabili-tation of coral reef ecosys-tems through a strategic, sustainable and ecosys-tems-based approach.

The initiative, which runs until the year 2020, is mainly implemented by the Coastal and Marine Management Office of the DENR’s Biodiversity Man-agement Bureau (formerly the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau).

Part of the program’s components are sustain-able livelihood interven-tions, which centers on the “identification and development of commu-nity-centered, communi-ty-driven, practical, sus-tainable and environmen-tally friendly livelihood

projects directed towards the improvement of the socio-economic welfare of local communities in order to obtain public support in the conservation and pro-tection of the coastal and marine environment.”

“The program mainly aims to uplift the lives of residents in our coastal communities so they can also properly support our conservation and protec-tion for our critical coast-al and marine resources,” Brahim said.

She said the livelihood projects proposed by the 23 POs will be implement-ed in various coastal com-munities in this city and in the municipalities of Glan, Maasim, Maitum and Ala-bel in Sarangani Province.

She said two of the beneficiary-organizations are based in this city, eight in Glan, seven in Maasim, four in Maitum and two in Alabel.

The proposed projects include a sari-sari store, mangrove nursery, fish processing, goat raising, poultry raising, sea turtle hatchery, mangrove plant-ing, rice milling operation, buy-and-sell business, rice/fish store, mud crab fattening facility, mobile rice mill and rattan crafts production.

The official said the livelihood ventures un-derwent final review late last month through the SCREMP’s 11-man re-gional technical working group.

Brahim said the re-view focused on the viabil-ity of the ventures and the capability of the beneficia-ries in terms of sustaining them.

“Our main consider-ation is to make sure that these projects will have long term impact on peo-ple’s lives,” she added. [MindaNews]

23 POs to receive livelihood grants from DENRTHE Department of

Tourism (DOT) in Re-gion 12 is pushing for

the development this year of more tour packages featur-ing the area’s top attractions in partnership with local travel and tour operators.

Nelly Nita Dillera. DOT Region 12 director, said the agency is currently assisting several travel and tour oper-ators based in this city and other parts of the region in coming up with viable tour packages as well as promo-tion and marketing strategies for various ecotourism desti-nations.

“We’re looking at devel-oping local tour packages that we can market widely to both domestic and foreign tourists,” she said.

Despite being endowed with various world-class tourist attractions, Dillera earlier acknowledged that the region lacks marketable local tour packages.

She said most travel and tour operators based in the area are concentrated in promoting outbound tour

packages, especially foreign destinations.

Region 12, which is also known as the Soccsksar-gen Region, comprises the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotabato and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato.

To address the problem, the agency facilitated the training late last month of an initial 30 local tour operators on basic and advanced tour operations.

She said the training mainly empowered the participants in terms of the development and costing of tour packages that can be sold during travel fairs or di-rectly to tourists.

The tour operators were given knowledge and tech-niques on linking up with other players and tourism es-tablishments like accommo-dation facilities, destinations, transportation, tour guides and “pasalubong” product producers and retailers, she said. [MindaNews]

DOT pushes for tour packages

HISTORICAL CONTEXT. Ghazali Jaafar, vice chair for political affairs of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front gives a historical context of the Bangsamoro struggle in his opening remarks at the two-day International Conference of Cotabato at Notre Dame University Gymnasium in this photo taken on June 6, 2014. [Min-daNews photo by Toto Lozano] 

‘More refined and strengthened’ draft Bangsamoro Basic Law

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014

The Employees’ Com-pensation Commission (ECC) announced re-

cently the increased benefits for both public and private em-ployees.

President Benig-no S. Aquino approved on May 26, 2014 the increase of Employees’ Compensation (EC) Funeral Benefit from P10,000 to P20,000 for both the employees in the private and public sectors and 10% across-the-board increase in EC pension for all EC permanent partial disability, permanent total disability and survivorship pension in the private sector.

An attached agency of the Department of Labor and Em-ployment (DOLE), ECC is man-dated to provide meaningful and appropriate compensa-tion to workers in the event of work-related contingencies.

Labor and Employ-ment Secretary and Chair of the ECC Board Rosalin-da Dimapilis-Baldoz said that Executive Order No. 167 as approved by President Aquino is based on the ac-

tuarial studies conducted by the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System.

“The increase in bene-

fits will not have a significant effect on the SSS-managed and GSIS-managed State Insurance Fund,” she said.

“The EC SIF (State In-surance Fund) has the ca-pability to finance the in-crease in funeral benefits for employees in both the pri-vate and public sectors from P10,000 to P20,000 even with-out corresponding increase in the EC contributions from the employers, both private and public,” Baldoz explained.

Executive Director Stella Zipagan-Banawis said that ECC is continuously reviewing policies to improve its bene-fits.

“The funeral benefits for employees both in pub-lic and private sectors was worth P3,000 since 1975. It was increased to P10,000 in 1993 and 2013 for private and public sector, respective-ly,” said Banawis.

In addition to the increase

of funeral benefits, a 10% across-the-board increase in the EC pension for all EC per-manent partial disability, per-

manent total disability and survivorship pension starting in September 2013 for the pri-vate sector has also been ap-

proved by the President. The funeral benefit given

by ECP is in addition to the funeral benefit given by the

SSS provided that the cause of death of the covered employ-ee is work-connected. [ECC REU 11]

5EDGEDAVAO

THE ECONOMY

EMPLOYEES BENEFITS. DOLE Davao Region Director Joffrey M. Suyao in a recent Press Conference announces the increased of benefits under the Employees Compensation Program. [Leandro P. Carr] 

Increased benefits for public, private employees approved

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 20146 EDGEDAVAO

PROPERTY

IN its efforts to sustain the livability of Camella Cerri-tos as an ideal and thriving

community, Camella Davao has initiated a link up with the local water district to serve this Italian-Mediterranean-in-spired subdivision along Mint-al, Davao City.

“We are currently facilitat-ing the turnover of the water service to the Davao City Wa-ter District to allow them to supply Camella Cerritos with its water needs,” said Marlon B. Escalicas, Camella Davao GM.

Once the turnover process has been completed, the water supply at Camella Cerritos will then fully rely on the efficien-cy level of DCWD. The turn-over was initiated by Camella Davao to grant the wishes of its homeowners to source their water supply from the water district.

“We have decided to give what homeowners requested in the interest of maintaining the quality of life in the com-munity,” added Escalicas.

At present, Camella Cer-ritos has 200 homes, 195 of

which are already lived in. It has a homeowners’ associa-tion that keeps the community thriving, assisted by a profes-sional property management team from Globaland in man-aging subdivision affairs to ensure homeowners enjoy a good quality of life.

Apart from the water ser-vice, other amenities that Ca-mella Cerritos homeowners enjoy are the round-the-clock

security and the services of Globaland in maintaining good community relations and en-suring the subdivision’s prop-er maintenance and upkeep.

The basketball court is now fully functional and club-house will soon start construc-tion within the year, to be fol-lowed by the swimming pool, interactive playground, and garden parks.

Camella Cerritos also has an expansion project called Cerritos Trails, located within a quiet area towards the back of the subdivision. It is currently taking shape as massive devel-opment is in full swing, giving homebuyers another viable option of an idyllic home base within a lush environment.

Although Camella Cerritos has a quiet and relaxing at-mosphere being located away from the city’s hurly-burly, it is only less than 20 minutes away from downtown, making it proximate to all modern con-veniences and daily essentials.

Soon, however, Camella Cerritos homeowners will no longer have to drive or com-

mute to the city if they seek more lifestyle options as Camella will soon under-take a commercial devel-opment that will rise right across the subdivision.

This lifestyle center will feature a Starmall, one of the popular malls in Luzon, and will provide shopping and recreational oppor-tunities to Camella Cerri-tos homeowners and the

neighboring communities.Camella Davao has

made it easier to acquire a home in Camella Cerritos with their exciting promos and special packages. To know more, visit Camella Davao at 2/F Delgar Build-ing, J.P. Laurel Ave., Davao City, or contact them at 2953973, vismin@camella.com.ph (email) and www.camella.com.ph.

Camella Davao enhances amenities in Camella Cerritos

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014

ASK any elementary pu-pil if he knows what the country’s national

tree is and he will reply, “Nar-ra.” But ask him again how narra looks like and he will never say a word. The reason: most children these days don’t see any narra tree.

In fact, narra is on the brink of extinction and only the most determined and relentless conservation cam-paign will preserve it. “Today, the Philippines has only small, scattered and endangered re-mainders of the tree,” laments Roy C. Alimoane, director of Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC) Foundation Inc. based in Kinuskusan, Ban-salan, Davao del Sur.

In other parts of Asia where the tree grows, narra is facing the same distinc-tion. While it is recorded as “vulnerable” in the Philip-pines, narra is “threatened” in Indonesia and “endangered” in India. It is probably now extinct in Peninsular Malaysia because of exploitation – of its few known stands. Narra has been extinct for 300 years in the wild of Vietnam.

In Singapore, narra is a symbol of the country’s garden city planting program. This attractive tree graced many Singaporean avenues. In Chon-buri and Phuket in Thailand, narra is the provincial tree. In Malaysia, narra has been plant-ed as a shade tree for at least 200 years.

As narra is fast disappear-ing in this part of the world, the MBRLC is urging for its mass production. In its refor-estation projects, narra is one of the recommended trees for planting. “This nitrogen-fixing tree can grow to a height of 33 meters and a diameter of 2 meters,” Alimoane says.

Narra is adapted to flat, coastal plains behind man-grove swamps, sites along streams in the low hills near the coasts or inland valleys, and primary and secondary forests. It is generally found growing in calcareous soils or soils not deficient in calcium. It prefers mist sandy loam or clay loam soils.

Narra belong to the plant family called Legumi-nosae. There are about 20 species in the world but only four can be found in the Phil-ippines. Except for botanists and foresters, the species are difficult to distinguish from each other.

Narra is called a variety of names in the country: naga, nalu, antagan, apalit, asana, bitali, dungon, lagcr, hagad, sagat, tagga, tagka, agana, ba-launing, bital, daitanag, kamar-ag, udiao, and vitali. The four Philippine species of narra are:

  •  Narra  (Pterocarpus in-dicus). This is the tree that produces the wood under

which the other species usually come and are marketed. It grows in almost all parts of the country. The seed pods are smooth and with spines or hairs;

  •  Prickly  narra  (P. vida-lianus). This is found in many parts of Luzon, Mindoro, Leyte, and Palawan. It is fairly abundant in Cagayan and Northern Luzon. Its seeds have short, soft spines, hence the name;

  • Hairy-leaf  narra  (P. pu-besceus). Found only in the Mountain Province, it is almost similar to the other species in features, except for its soft hairy covering on the leaves; and

  •  Blanco  narra  (P. blan-coi). This is found in La Union, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, and Rizal. It is distinguished from the others by its fruits, which are larger than those of P. in-dicus.

Like many trees, narra has three limitations: It has ten-dency to fork; it is susceptible to fire injury (this is due to its thick bark but it recuperates well); and its branches may break in strong winds.

T.E. Hensleigh and B.K. Holaway, editors of Agroforest-ry Species for the Philippines, say that narra seeds are widely

available during the months of January in Nueva Ecija, Leyte, and Zamboanga; February in La Union; March in Ilocos; April in Masbate, Benguet, Quezon, and Surigao; May in Ticao; June in Bulacan, Agusan, and Sorsogon; July in Tarlac and Cagayan; July and August in Laguna; September in Rizal, Capiz, and Mindoro; and Octo-ber in Tablas, Negros.

The narra seeds can be picked up from the ground underneath the trees and stored in open containers for a year or more. One kilogram of narra fruits has about 1,200 to 1,300 seeds or 140 seeds per liter.

“We should be proud that narra is our national tree be-cause it has many fine quali-ties,” says MBRLC’s Alimoane.

Narra is very attractive because of its flowers. “The flowers are yellow, fragrant, and borne in large axillary panicles. When flowering, the buds do not open in daily se-quence. Instead, as the buds come to full size, they are kept waiting to be triggered into opening. The opened flowers last for one day. After that, several days may pass before another batch of buds opens,” the Hawaii-based Ni-trogen-fixing Tree Association

said. The nature of the trig-

ger is unknown. It is widely planted as a roadside, park, and car-park tree. In the Philippines, narra trees bear profuse bright yellow and fra-grant flowers from March to April.

The narra fruit is disc-shaped and has a winged margin. Each fruit, which has one to three seeds, takes four months to mature. But un-like most legumes, of which narra is one, the narra fruit is indehiscent and dispersed by wind. It also floats in water and can be water dispersed.

Narra is highly esteemed because of its timber. “It (tim-ber) is moderately hard and heavy, easy to work, pleasant-ly rose-scented, takes a fine polish, develops a range of rich colors from yellow to red, and has conspicuous growth rings, which impart a fine fig-ure to the wood.”

Regarding the strength properties of narra, the Wood-workers Source said that the bending strength of air-dried wood of narra is similar to that of teak, which is consid-ered to be strong. Strength in compression parallel to grain is in the high range. Other spe-cies in this range include teak,

white oak and hard maple. It is moderately hard and resis-tant to wearing and marring. It is a heavy wood. The wood is high in density.”

As furniture, one author commented: “In durability, in beauty of its grain, and in the beautiful finish it takes, nar-ra ranks with the best cabi-net woods in the world.” It is used in the manufacture of high-quality furniture, peels and veneers, paneling, and parquet-floors. The narra wood, if it is available, is also preferred for the manufacture of inlays, musical instruments, clocks, piece-works, billiard tables, piano cases, and sculp-tures.

In 1987, the Philippine government prohibited the felling down of narra trees and its collection in natural stands. However, the for-est-cultivation for industrial purposes was excluded from this regulation. Today, the re-mainders of narra trees can only be found at the coast of Isabela, in Bicol, in Mindanao and in the forests of Cagayan.

But apart from its aes-thetic values, the narra has other significant service to humanity. Little is known that narra has a purpose in the health and well being of man;

it has a unique healing powers waiting to be tapped by man.

In the past, narra is used to combat tumors. This property might be due to an acidic polypeptide found in its leaves that inhibited growth of cancer cells by disruption of cell and nuclear mem-branes. During the 16th and 18th centuries, narra was val-ued as a diuretic in Europe.

Since the old days, tea prepared from the narra leaves had been a remedy against boils and diarrhea in traditional medicine. In re-cent years, the extracts of the narra as remedy for some dis-eases are discovered again by modern medicine.

Unknowingly, the nar-ra flower is used as a honey source while leaf infusions are used as shampoos. Both flow-ers and leaves were said to be eaten. The leaves are suppos-edly good for waxing and pol-ishing brass and copper.

As narra is on the brink of extinction, Filipinos must do their patriotic duty to save it. As Governor General Frank Murphy said in his February 1, 1934 proclamation, narra deserved the honor “because of its popularity, aesthetic value, hardiness, rapidity of growth, nativity, and history.

7EDGEDAVAO

ENVIRONMENT

Save our national tree!By GERRY T. EsTRERA

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 20148 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

Food security

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

Columnists: MA. TERESA L. UNGSON • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • AURELIO A. PEñA • ZHAUN ORTEGA • BERNADETTE “ADDIE” B. BORBON • MARY ANN “ADI” C. QUISIDO • LEANDRO B. DAVAL SR., • NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN • NICASIO ANGELO AGUSTIN • EMILY ZEN CHUA • CARLOS MUNDA Economic Analyst: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG • JONALLIER M. PEREZ

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EDITORIAL

IT WOULD seem premature, but for Dabawen-yos who care, it is heartening to note that Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) has recent-

ly expanded its feeds business and entered the Vietnamese market by acquiring an aqua feeds producer for $28 million.

The acquisition by AEV made it owner of 70 percent equity stake in Vinh Hoan Corp (VHC), the Vietnamese company.

Incorporated in 1989, AEV is involved in a lot of ventures, such as power generation and distribution, banking and financial service and real estate development. Almost unheralded is it involvement in food manufacturing, the seg-ment engaged in the manufacture of and sale of wheat flour and its by-products under the brands Sun Moon Star, Sunshine, Glowing Sun, Kutitap, Gold Star and Megastar. It also produc-

es cake flour under the Wooden Spoon brand as well as animal feeds and breed swine.

It’s nice to hear that a business firm more known as power provider also participates in providing food security to the populace.

The strength of Aboitiz as a conglomerate should be felt more in the effort to see to it that the country will not go hungry. AEV’s ca-pability to provide food for the Filipinos is further enhanced as it goes international in its operation.

Really it is our hope that other bigtime com-panies, especially in Mindanao, will be more involved in food production. By food we mean the staple food like rice , corn, vegetables and other cops needed for the people’s day-to-day needs, not necessarily cash crops intended for export to foreign markets.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014

AQUILES Z. ZONIOCorrespondent

VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

By H. MarcoS c. Mordeno

SOMEONE ELSE’S WINDOWS

By aveen acuna-Gulo

PEACETALK

Remarkable resilience

To the indigenous eye, the forest is the resource

CRIMINALS DON’T CARE A HOOT ABOUT HUMAN LIVES – People in the city see the reality of the crime situation. The crime

index is real; authorities therefore must address it firmly. Local perceptions reflect the circum-stances: crime has become the Achilles heel of whoever is in power – without exception.

That’s the irony of it all. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who has been a crimebuster all his life as a politician is facing a similar dilemma. However, there is little or no doubt at all among core believers that the feisty mayor will be able pull through the rough patch.

While the crime incidents are clearly un-avoidable especially in a bustling metropolis like Davao City, authorities can handle them in manner that does not further shake public con-fidence. Sustaining a good image and public rap-port does not mean denying it with a smile and alibi, that there are problems when the crime level is high. It means acknowledging them, as the mayor’s wont, then offering potential solu-tions.

Despite the prevailing high incidence of crime, Mayor Duterte stays on the course. At this point, more city residents are still satisfied with the mayor’s dealing with the crime situ-ation. In the past, far worse criminal activities have repeatedly underscored his remarkable resilience. What he did was to mount special effort by utilizing a more collaborative arrange-ment among various law enforcement agencies with the support of the concerned public.

The effort has been going on for many years and the drive against all forms of criminal acts continues without letup. The mayor laid

down the policy that at a certain point, in order to cushion the impact of law-less undertak-ings, authorities are prepared to confront the problems head-on. The biggest problem – and has existed for years, is the matter of coordination, but has al-ready been addressed by all those involved in an all-out war against criminality.

As a matter of fact, the fervor and fast prog-ress of the resolution of the brutal murder of businessman-writer and sports enthusiast Ra-mon TY Garcia and the in-depth investigation surrounding the killing of a noted lawyer were as responsible as anything for the coordinated effort. But some city residents, perhaps impa-tiently, had expected to see tangible results and the victims’ relatives, just as impatiently, had likewise expected law authorities to immedi-ately arrest the perpetrators of other heinous crimes.

With the aid of modern technology such as the CCTV and other communication gad-gets that were able to provide concrete and complimenting evidence, Mayor Duterte and the police considered the Garcia murder as a closed case. The suspects, an out-of-town live-in couple is now behind bars and facing rob-bery-homicide charges. All law enforcement

units involved in the pursuit operation deserve commendations and pat in the shoulder.

Solving the Garcia murder case posthaste is extremely significant, but it does not mean authorities can now relax and think everything is safe. We have to make it clear that more pending gruesome cases of murder, rape, rob-bery-holdup, drugs, home invasion and crime of passion still await answers and solution.

For one thing, hardened criminals are get-ting bolder and daring every day and they don’t care a hoot about human lives. Perhaps, city officials, Mayor Duterte above all, and various law enforcement agencies continue to work on all fronts – coordinate and cooperate with the possibility of lessening if not totally stamping out criminal activities in the city.

SHORT POLITICAL CHATTER – In general, qualification alone are no guarantee for even an entry into the Philippine political arena. In most if not all places across the country, elec-tions have always been the domain of the local elite and their trusted allies and legion of sup-porters.

The only way to become a “winnable” can-didate is to seek the blessings of dominant po-litical clans in their localities and ride on their influence, money and machinery – an explosive political combination.

But you still cannot ignore that intelligence, functional literacy and managing skills are also a plus factor. Political aspirants will also do well especially in local positions as long as they have “common sense and a sense of fairness.” After all, politics in a Philippine setting is a game of chickens.

(Author’s presentation at the International Conference of Cotabato’s Session 5 on Economic Development and Peacebuilding in Mindanao, on June 7 at the Notre Dame University in Cota-bato City)

IF we were to put a monetary value to each fully grown tree, which can absorb 50,000 gallons of water every rainfall; shed tons of

leaves that are converted to rich fertilizer that nourishes plants that nourish other life forms; cools our surroundings at the equivalent of 40 air conditioners at full blast; and multiply that by the number of trees in one square kilometre; and multiply that further by the number of years that we human beings get for free – would it ever be equal to the amount of money the number of board feet we will earn after say, five-ten-fifty years of relentless logging, environmental deg-radation?

Add to that the monetary value of food, dress, dances, rituals, weather forecasting (eth-nometeorology), governance and justice sys-tems, flora, fauna, sacred places, lore and history.

Deduct from that the same amount of mon-ey we spend on flood victims, landslide victims, health problems, rehabilitation and disease that result from lack of nutritious food and fresh air that forests would have readily provided. Would the equation or the sum or the dividend or the difference be all worth it? Do we even have the numbers right now in our heads?

With that value that is mind-boggling to compute, one researcher said, “No government can afford to lose its own cultures.”

****The journey for Lumad recognition in the

ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Min-danao) did not start yesterday, last year nor in the last decade. Like many of its fellow Lumads in Mindanao, it has suffered, in the words of re-searchers – minoritization – with the entry of settlers and their different versions of develop-

ment.Many policies, mostly conflicting ones, have

been passed but remain wanting to be fully im-plemented, because they have been conflicting in the first place.

Many days are celebrated in honor and in the name of the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) – World IP Day, IPRA Day, UNDRIP Day – almost something to celebrate any day.

But there are glimmers of hope. Twenty-sev-en years after EDSA Revolution, sixteen years after the passing of IPRA (Indigenous Peoples Rights Act), ten years after Resolution 269, five years after Muslim Mindanao Act 241 – it was pronounced by the ARMM Government in Janu-ary of 2013 that there are no legal impediments in implementing the IPRA in the ARMM.

Moreover, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) now has a Min-danawon chair, an IP, a lawyer and a lady at that, and brings with her an awareness and con-sciousness level unique to our context.

In January this year, the NCIP issued an En Banc Resolution reiterating their commitment to implement their mandate under the IPRA and things are cranking off to a relatively good start.

Though long in coming, these two develop-ments provide a glimmer of hope in the jour-ney of the Lumads. It is hoped that the endless passing around of the Lumads in the ARMM, marginalized as they are, would finally come to a stop.

The ongoing theme for World IP Day is: “In-digenous Peoples Building Alliances: Honour-ing Treaties, Agreements and other Construc-tive Arrangements.”

We support the call of the Lumads in the

ARMM for all of us to look at IPRA again as the government’s peace agreement with the Indig-enous Peoples. As pacts and agreements were forged orally in the ways of our forefathers, manifestation of this Word of Honor is the is-suance of the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) and the full implementation of the law.

In many of our roundtable discussions someone asked why the IP development agen-da is not highlighted. The answer may be just lying around and we who are in the main-stream may have yet to see it. For many of us, the resources that we can make millions from are individual trees; cubic meters of rock, grav-el and sand; ores of gold, copper, manganese; vast tracks of forested land that can be levelled for pineapples, bananas and African palm that are actually foreigners to local soil. But to the indigenous eye, the forest is the resource.

It’s the same forest that protects us from warm weather, the same forest that protects us from flooding, landslides, disease. How can we just eradicate forests whose services we have always had for free? Only a mind with distorted mathematics would justify sense and logic in such an equation.

The Lumads in the ARMM – Teduray, Lam-bangian, Dulangan Manobo and Higaonon – need all the support they can get. From us who are in privileged positions, let this be a call. Re-member that we, too, at certain points in our respective histories, also suffered oppression from the powerful and the mighty. Let us not be the oppressors of today by depriving the Lumads of what are rightfully theirs. As one IP leader said it, “You can consult us anytime on sustainable development. We have been doing it for thousands of years.” [Aveen Acuña-Gulo is Project Manager of IPDEV, a project empower-ing indigenous peoples in the Autonomous Re-gion in Muslim Mindana]

IF the US considers the Pacific Ocean an Amer-ican Lake, China is also in a frenzy trying to convert the South China Sea (including the

portion we call the West Philippine Sea) into its own sphere of control. Undoubtedly, this is part of the plan to dominate Asia by grabbing re-source-rich isles that are also being claimed by the Philippines and other Southeast Asian coun-tries and, in effect, controlling strategic sea lanes that serve as China’s lifeline to energy supply from the Middle East.

The fortification at Mischief Reef and Scar-borough Shoal and reclamation of some reefs possibly for airstrips for both economic and mil-itary purposes points to a serious effort to estab-lish Chinese hegemony in the region. China may have the biggest army in the world, but it cannot hope to assert its will without naval facilities that can keep rivals at bay.

There is only one explanation for Chinese aggression. With its economy going into over-drive, China, like the US and European powers did in their own time, is responding to the urge to expand its reach. Only by securing its access to resources – and flexing its muscle against its neighbors to the south – can China prevent its local economy from overheating, a scenario that could lead to social unrest despite the country’s totalitarian system.

The Us factorMilitarily, China faces no serious challenge

from the Philippines, other ASEAN countries and even from affluent Japan whose constitution bans a military buildup. China’s annexation of Philip-pine territories in the disputed Spratly Islands and attempts to do the same to Japanese-held is-lands proved Beijing’s determination to embark on what Chairman Mao accused the former Sovi-et Union of doing: social imperialism.

Alarmed by – and helpless against – Chinese aggression in the disputed territories, the Philip-pines has been hoping for the US to undertake bolder moves in the South China Sea. This has not happened so far. Except for nuanced statements like telling China that the US was concerned over the future of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, Washington has appeared reluctant to confront Beijing head-on at this stage of a crisis in the making.

During his visit to Manila this year, President Obama, answering a question by reporters on how the US will respond in a war between the Philippines and China, said: “My job as command-er-in-chief is to deploy military force as a last re-sort, and to deploy it wisely. And frankly, most of the foreign policy commentators that have questioned our policies would go headlong into a bunch of military adventures that the American people have no interest in participating in and would not advance our core security interests.”

Such response implied at least three things: [1] the US will not automatically come to our side in a war with China, [2] American public opinion will influence, if not dictate, the US government’s response in the event of such a war, and more importantly, [3] the US will either fight with us or leave us to the mercy of China depending on which option will serve American interests bet-ter.

This does not mean however that the US will tolerate Chinese hegemony in Asia. The conduct of joint military exercises at the West Philippine Sea, visits of warships and submarines, and lately, the signing of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the Philippines and the US can only be interpreted as clear warnings that Washington is willing to match Beijing’s buildup in the region.

For its part, China viewed these moves as part of US encirclement efforts in preparation of possible hostilities. China remains undeterred though. It has built an oil rig inside Vietnam’s Ex-clusive Economic Zone. How the US will respond to this latest act of adventurism will either em-bolden China or hold it back – at least for the time being.

If China opts to push its luck further, it will be interesting to see how alliances would unfold vis-à-vis the multilateral disputes in the South China Sea. And, in case tensions erupt into a full-blown war, it will be more interesting to know if the US can hold on to its superpower status or if we will see the rise of yet another Leviathan. [Minda-Views is the opinion section of MindaNews. H. Mar-cos C. Mordeno can be reached at hmcmordeno@gmail.com]

China Rising

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 201410 NEWS‘TY’...

Davao...

FFROM 1

FFROM 2

General Santos Drive, Koronadal City, South Cotabato 9506Tel. No. 083-228-2511 ; Fax No. 083-228-2654

WANTED FOR IMMEDIATE HIRING!

BUS DRIVER

Qualifications:

1. Male, 28 – 40 years old2. At least high school graduate3. With 5 years driving experience (bus, trucks)

Requirements:

1. Driver’s License with Official Receipt2. 2 x 2 I.D. picture (2 pcs.)3. Certificate of Employment or clearance from previous employment

May apply in person at Human Resource Department, YBLI Office, General Santos Drive, Koronadal City.

General Santos Drive, Koronadal City, South Cotabato 9506

Tel. No. 083-228-2511 ; Fax No. 083-228-2654

WANTED FOR IMMEDIATE HIRING!

BUS DRIVER

Qualifications:

1. Male, 28 – 40 years old2. At least high school graduate3. With 5 years driving experience (bus, trucks)

Requirements:1. Driver’s License with Official Receipt2. 2 x 2 I.D. picture (2 pcs.)3. Certificate of Employment or clearance from

May apply in person at Human Resource Department, YBLI Office, General Santos Drive, Koronadal City.

LEGAL NOTICE FOR CANCELLATION AND

REVOCATION OF CONTRACT FOR QUARRY

Notice is hereby given that CONTRACT FOR QUARRY,involving a parcel of land covered by Original Certificate of Title No. P-2216, registered in the name of TAGWALAN PANGARAWAN ,containing an area of 159,574 square meters, more or less with JAYMINI T. hERNANDEZ, which was referred in the said contract as the sECOND PARTY, has been CANCELLED and/ or REVOKED, per Doc. No.415; Page No. 83;

Book No.X; series of 2014 of the NOTARY PUBLIC MARIANO APAO JR.;CPA

6/10,17,24

NOTICE OF AUCTION sALEAll unredeemed items pawned during the month of June 2014,if not redeemed/renewed on October 30, 2014 will be put on Auction Sale November 3, 2014 at 9:00 A. M. to 5:00 P.M.

Pahibalo nga ang tanang wala malukat nga prenda sa bulan Hunyo 2014,kung dili malukat sa Oktobre 30,2014 isubasta sa bulan sa Nobyembre 3, 2014 sa alas 9:00 sa buntag hangtud sa alas 5:00 sa hapon.

DAVAO HELEN’S PAWNSHOP CORPORATIONDavao City:252 San Pedro St., 167 San Pedro St., CVA Bldg., C. M. Recto St., G/F Victoria Plaza Bajada, 120-B Lapu-lapu St., Agdao, 75C R. Magsaysay Ave., 2nd Level Gaisano Mall Bajada, G/F NCCC Bldg., R. Magsaysay Ave., Centerpoint Plaza Matina, Fronting San Pedro College Guerrero St., Carlson Bldg., Lapu-lapu St.,Agdao, NCCC Mall Matina, Saavedra St., Toril, Gaisano South Citimall, Ilustre St., Km. 11 Sasa, Km. 13 Panacan, Boulevard, Buhangin, Cabantian, BankerohanCalinan, Davao del Norte, Gaisano Mall, Panabo Davao del Norte, Gaisano Grand Mall of Tagum, Tagum City, Gaisano Mall of Tagum, Tagum City, Purok Marilag 11, Quezon St.,Tagum City, Davao del Sur, Gaisano Grand Mall of Digos , Quezon St., Digos City

DAVAO hELEN’s PAWNshOP CORP.De Guzman St., Davao City • Telefax (082)225-4473

LEGAL NOTICENotice is hereby given

that the estate of the late TAGWALAN PANGARAWAN and AYRAN LINDONGAN PANGARAWAN has been the subject of an EXTRA-JUDICIAL sETTLEMENT executed among their heirs per Doc. No.179; Page No. 36; Book No. IV; series of 2011 of the NOTARY PUBLIC MARIANO APAO JR.,CPA

6/10/17/24

TRAFFIC WOES. Engr. Alvin Cabuenas, project engineer of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 11, announces during Kapehan sa Dabaw at the Annex of SM City Davao yesterday that Dabawenyos should

brace for a heavier traffic along Matina area in the next four months as DPWH will implement the full closure of Governor Generoso Bridge 2 starting this week to speed up the repair and rehabilitation project. Lean Daval Jr.

Garcia and Cachapero, who dabbles as an umbrella girl in local golf courses, were last seen at a bar in Apo View Hotel last Thursday evening.

Garcia reportedly offered a ride home to Cachapero. The suspect, who was then infu-riated when he saw the two at Sparrow Street in Ecoland, was able to enter Garcia’s vehi-cle where he stabbed him and killed.

Liawan has reportedly admitted to the police having stabbed Garcia “accidental-ly” when a tricycle passed by the car. The couple then de-cided to dispose the body of

the victim. The suspects then brought Garcia to Sitio in Ba-rangay Nagpan, Malungon, Sa-rangani Province where they dumped the body in a cliff and later torched the vehicle in Da-langdang, Barangay Nagpan, Malungon in Sarangani.

The suspects were arrest-ed by the local police in Sulop, Davao del Sur last Friday night and were turned over to the Davao City Police Saturday morning. Pieces of evidence were also found in the pos-session of Cachapero while jewelries pawned by Liawan in a Davao City pawnshop were also traced.

in Mindanao still suffer from long rotating power inter-ruption.

Yesterday, the power de-ficiency in the Mindanao grid reached negative 115 MW af-fecting power supply in Mus-lim-populated areas specifi-cally Lanao del Sur, Tawi-tawi and Maguindanao

“We were advised by National Power Corporation (Napocor) na may deficien-cy pa rin because of reduced capability of some of their plants,” she said.

Meanwhile, the second substation of NGCP in the city is expected to be completed by the second quarter of the year. It is the 6th substation of NGCP.

The substation in Toril

will cater the new capacity

of the Aboitiz Power’s 300 MW Therma South Inc. (TSI) which is targeted to be online in the Mindanao grid by the first quarter of next year.

The construction of the NGCP’s transmission facility in Toril started late last year.

The substation will breakdown the high voltage power produced by genera-tion utilities (GUs) before its transmission to electric co-operatives and distribution utilities (DUs).

It has an initial capacity of 100 megavolt ampere (MVA).

Other substations of NGCP are located in Maco and Nabunturan, Compostela Valley; Matanao, Davao del Sur; Kidapawan and one ex-isting in Davao City.

phoon did so much damage to,” he added.

Abad also lauded the country’s GOCCs for consis-tently improving their perfor-mance, adding that efforts by the Governance Commission on GOCCs (GCG) helped boost transparency and account-ability in GOCC operations.

“GOCCs have been track-ing remarkable earnings since 2011, thanks to their focused efforts at enhancing their

productivity and good gov-ernance practices. The GCG has likewise played a central role in ensuring greater trans-parency, accountability, and openness among government corporations,” he said.

Such governance reforms, Abad said, “have made a huge and positive difference in the way our GOCCs work, and that’s a legacy that the Aquino administration hopes to sus-tain beyond its term.” [PNA]

P32.3-B...

Bridge...

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He said that repair in-volved the construction of board filling, a technology that will strengthen the foundation of the bridge. It is stronger compared to concrete filling.

Posts that served founda-tions will be also repaired to prevent further degradation due to flooding and scouring.

“We are planning to de-molish one of the three and create two others posts,” he said.

Cabuenas said the bridge has an original allowable gross load weight of 50 tons but was reduced 15 tons due damages stemmed from heavy flooding.

He said DPWH is also plan-ning to coordinate with the city government of Davao to ensure that the area under the bridge will not be re-occupied by illegal settlers once the proj-ect is finished.

“We are coordinating with the National Housing Author-ity for relocation but naa man gud housing si mayor sa una,” he said.

“Dapat maprevent ang settlers under the bridge kasi yung magluto-luto nila can cause excessive heat na pagdu-mampi sa concrete may cause expansion. It will make the concrete brittle,” he said.

SPEAKER Feliciano Bel-monte Jr. on Monday said he favors “house” arrest

to former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile separated from his other two accused senator in a plunder case.

Belmonte said that Enrile, who is now 90 years old, and a former Senate President should be given the courte-sy by not putting him behind bars.

“Yeah, I think so. As ev-

erybody ought to be treated the same, even the law allows some leniency in the case of persons already of advanced age like myself for instance, but more so like him, and definite-ly I’m in favor of that,” Belmon-te told reporters in a chance interview.

He clarified that he is also favoring a big place aside from house arrest which should not look like an ordinary jail to give him the courtesy.

”At least not the usual thing (ordinary jail), where they con-fine you in an enclosure facility. Let him move around, even if he is inside the camp or some-thing, basta ‘wag ikukulong and let him feel in his twilight years,” he explained.

Asked by reporters what to do with Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla be-ing Enrile’s co-accused in the plunder case, the Speaker said the “two lawmakers are young and can stand the heat.”

“Definitely, malalakas naman yung mga bata (Estra-da and Revilla), they are stron-gest,” he pointed out.

“We have forge good re-lationship over the years par-

ticularly when both heads of the chambers of Congress,” he added.

Enrile, Estrada and Revilla were charged last Friday be-fore the Sandiganbayan by the Office of the Ombudsman of plunder, together with several individuals linked to the P10 billion pork barrel scam.

Aside from the three sena-tors, also charged with plunder or graft and corruption were Janet Lim Napoles, Jessica Reyes, Ronald John Lim, John Raymund de Asis, Pauline La-bayen, John de Asis and Rich-ard Cambe.

Warrant of arrests against the accused is expected to be out within the week. [PNA]

‘House’ arrest for Enrile favored

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014 11EDGEDAVAO

AGRITRENDS

MANY forestry experts predict that by 2025, the country will be

devoid of its primary or virgin forests.

Non-believers scoff at this, saying it is an exaggera-tion. But the figures cannot go wrong. The UN Food and Ag-riculture Organization (FAO) said that, in 1934, 57 percent of the country’s total land area of 30 million hectares were covered with forests, with al-most half of that to virgin for-ests.

In a span of 50 years, al-most two thirds of the forests were lost to deforestation as indicated in a study by Frances Korten of the Ford Foundation in 1990. “Where have all our forests gone?” environmental-ists decried.

FAO said that deforesta-tions results to flooding, soil erosion and degradation pegged at 100,000 tons of soil yearly, loss of species diversity and genetic material, and loss of human lives and properties.

Most of the remaining for-ests in the country are located in the uplands. In the Philip-pine context, the uplands are rolling to steep lands, with slopes ranging upward from 18 percent. About 60 percent of the country’s total land area of 30 million hectares is up-land.

To save the remaining forest cover from further de-nudation in the uplands and to encourage Filipinos to plant trees, the Aquino government launched the National Green Program (NGP) on May 13, 2011.

Although the government is on the right track on this, some experts believe that to make the program a con-tinuing success, agroforestry should be included. “The key element in NGP is to plant an equal number of forest trees and multi-purpose trees like fruit and plantation crops,” pointed out Dr. Calixto Prota-cio, a professor of the Univer-sity of the Philippines at Los Baños, in a paper.

This can be achieved through agroforestry. The World Agroforestry Center de-fines agroforestry as “a collec-tive name for land use systems and practices in which woody perennials are deliberately integrated with crops and/or animals on the same land man-agement unit.”

In agroforestry systems, trees or shrubs are intention-ally used within agricultural systems, or non-timber forest products are cultured in forest settings. Knowledge, careful selection of species and good management of trees and crops are needed to optimize the production and positive ef-fects within the system and to minimize negative competitive effects.

Dr. Protacio, who is the chairman of the Initiative for

Farm Advocacy and Resource Management (IFARM), ex-plained “that it takes a long time for forest trees to be eco-nomically useful while fruit and plantation crops can al-ready yield fruits and nuts in a few years depending on the species planted.”

That is why he is batting for agroforestry. Forest trees, he said, can occupy areas with higher elevations while areas with lower elevations and gen-tler slopes can be devoted to a mixture of perennial trees and agricultural crops.

“Upland dwellers have to support themselves somehow on a daily basis and this is the reason they tend to plant ag-ricultural food crops,” said Dr. Protacio, who has undertaken research on the agroecology.

“Unfortunately, while try-ing to feed themselves and eke out a living from the often mar-ginal soils of the uplands, they also unwittingly contribute to soil erosion and other envi-ronmental degradation. They also cut existing trees for fuel. People in the uplands need to support themselves in terms of food, shelter, and livelihood. Their life depends on the bi-ological resources available to them,” the UPLB professor stressed.

Uplanders are referred to as the “poorest of the poor” in the Philippine society since they survive below the pov-erty line level. The impover-ished situation is reflected in their houses made of bamboo, tree bark, and cogon thatch roofing. Their sources of water are either mountain springs or streams.

In terms of education, the upland farmer rarely fin-ishes grade school. Studies show that he either drops out after the third grade or does not even attempt to enter school. His wife, like himself, fares no better.

Dr. Protacio believed those people living in the uplands are central to the success of the NGP. “They could be employed to implement agroforestry bet-ter,” he said, adding that tree planting will be done only in tenured government land un-der the NGP, referring to the Community-Based Forestry Management areas.

“The occupants here have forestry stewardship contracts for 25 years, renewable for another 25 years,” he pointed out. “Legally, they are enti-tled to the products of what they plant via an approved Resource Utilization Permit, which is why it is presumed that they will take good care of the trees to be planted under NGP.”

Moreover, while the fruit, latex, or nut tree crops are not yet bearing, the government will give these forest stewards financial assistance to take care of and protect (against stray animals and fire) the

trees planted. In his paper, Dr. Protacio

cited some perennial crops that can be planted together or as intercropped. He explained that agroforestry can yield bet-ter dividends if cash crops and coconuts are cultivated.

“Coconut is not only good for its oil but a source of co-co-sugar with low glycemic in-dex for diabetics and coco wa-ter is now a rage worldwide,” he said. “Its trunk is used as lumber while coco coir is in de-mand among automobile mak-ers. The nuts are harvested from 45 to 60 days, supplying the grower with cash for his daily needs.”

Coffee, which the presi-dent mentioned in his recent State of the National Address (SONA), is a high- value crop suited to the uplands. It re-quires minimal crop protec-tion. It also promotes biodi-versity as it provides food for the civet cat or alamid, giving rise to the expensive “alamid coffee.”

The deep-rooted Li-berica and Excelsa varieties (commonly known as kapeng barako) are adapted to the forest-like environment, giving commensurate yield. These two varieties can also tolerate six months of dry conditions, where most crops will not

thrive, making them suitable for regions with drier cli-mate. Good news: Global cof-fee prices have risen recently.

Rubber trees are excellent since tapping for latex is done every other day except for two months of the year when “wintering” – or leaf fall and regeneration – occurs. Rubber can be planted in areas where abundant rainfall occurs and typhoons are absent as in Min-danao although there are now plantings in Luzon and the Vi-sayas.

Abaca is a perennial in-digenous crop producing fiber whose trade the Philippines dominates. It is a crop that in-digenous people use for cloth-ing, like the t’nalak among the T’boli and cordage. So it is also culturally valuable and social-ly acceptable. It is naturally grown as an agroforestry crop. Currently, 65 percent of abaca produced is used industrially for pulp and paper while the rest is shared by handicrafts and cordage.

Another crop mentioned by President Aquino in his re-cent SONA, is cacao. The do-mestic grinders require at least 30,000 tons of dried fermented cacao beans every year. In ad-dition, there is a ready market waiting to be tapped in Sin-gapore, Malaysia, Japan and

China. These countries need at least 100,000 metric tons of dried beans annually.

“Cacao will thrive in an agroforestry system where several crops or biodiversi-ty exists rather than under a monoculture type of produc-tion which gives rise to serious pest and disease problems,” Dr. Protacio said.

Like abaca, pili is also in-digenous in the country. “Pili stands out as an ideal agrofor-estry crop because it is fast- growing and able to with-stand the strongest typhoons,” Dr. Protacio said. “It is a good windbreak tree to protect other crops, requires mini-mal care and has the highest establishment percentage in an agroforestry setting among different fruit crops on Mt. Makiling’s slopes.”

Other crops Dr. Protacio mentioned in his paper were:

 • Jackfruit is a good fruit crop as it bears fruits year-round and contributes to food security as well. It is a sustainable crop as crop pro-tection needs is negligible ex-cept for bagging the fruits. Its seeds are a good carbohydrate source.

  •  Banana,  especially  the Saba variety, is good for the uplands as it meets the NGP

objectives of food security, year-round income source and biodiversity conserva-tion. The Philippines has a wealth of banana varieties. The stem can help feed hogs in the farm. Banana is also amenable to processing like in banana chips.

  • Cashew will do well  in the uplands especially in the regions with drier climate. The nuts are non-perishable and needs little processing. The fleshy fruit can be con-verted into wine and other products.

 • Tamarind should always be included in the mix of fruit trees as it is leguminous, thus supplying much needed nitro-gen and environmental stabil-ity to the agroforestry system. Its fruits can be sold fresh, as candy or as a souring agent.

“All of the above rate a score of 3 on a scale of 1 to 5 in terms of fulfilling the goals of NGP but with coconut scor-ing a 5. Other fruit crops like citrus, guyabano, lanzones, mango, santol, durian, man-gosteen and rambutan may be planted for variety but they are mostly cash crops and sea-sonal or require expensive ex-ternal inputs like mango. They are also perishable with poor post-harvest characteristics,” Dr. Protacio concluded.

Answer to disappearing treesAGROFORESTRY:

TEXT and PhOTOs By GERRY T. EsTRERA

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 201412CLASSIFIED

INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014

EDGEDAVAOEVENT

The Philippines’ 116th Independence day is just a couple of days away and exhibits as well as events are popping up all around Durianburg leading up to the main celebra-tion. One such event is the recently launched T’nalak and barong tagalog exhibit at the Atrium of SM Lanang Premier.

Celebrating Philippine Independence with fashion

Organized in partner-ship with Tagum Agricul-tural Development Cor-poration, Inc. (TADECO), the exhibit called ‘Pinoy Fashion: The T’nalak Bar-ong Exhibit’ will feature the T’nalak Barong col-lections of Davao-based architect Michael Ebro Dakudao and fashion de-signer Emi Englis. It aims to showcase the Philip-pine national costume and impart appreciation for the T’nalak cloth, the traditional tapestry made by indigenous peoples in Mindanao. At the center of the ex-hibit is a 4x8 T’nalak in-stallation piece inspired by the Philippine flag. The piece was woven by T’boli weavers in Lake Sebu but sewn in Davao. It is the first T’nalak piece of its kind that has been styl-ized, taking inspiration from the Philippine flag. Present for the unveil-ing were Atty. Gil Norman

Ciudadano, Atty. IV of the City Legal Office rep-resenting Atty. Melchor Quitain, Hon. Koichi Iba-ra, Consul General, Con-sulate of Japan in Davao City, Hon. Abdullah Za-wawi Tahir the Consul General, Consulate Gen-eral of Malaysia, and Chief of Staff, Ms. Loujane Mor-deno Bulaclac represent-ing Councilor Ma. Belen Acosta. The Pinoy Fashion: The T’nalak Barong Exhibit runs until Independence Day, June 12, 2014.

As the digital brand for the youth, Globe Telecom is bringing Na-tional Best Friend’s Day to the Philippines this sunday, June 8, along-side the launch of its new offer GoUNLI20 for prepaid subscribers. “We are excited to offer to our prepaid customers our newest calling and surfing combo GoUNLI20 which al-lows them to keep in touch with their best friends at a price that’s within their easy reach. We understand that calling makes conver-sations more meaningful and personal, so we give

them a promo that enriches their relationships anytime, anywhere. A real friend calls and with GoUNLI20, we give everyone the opportunity to be a real friend by calling all you want to make your presence felt all the time,” shared Issa Cabreira, VP for Globe Prepaid Business. GoUNLI20 is an all-in-one prepaid promo perfect for best friends and pals to stay connected with each other at an affordable price. For only P20 a day, Globe cus-tomers can enjoy unlimited calls to Globe/TM, 15MB of surfing, and 20 texts to all networks, allowing them to

keep their bonds and con-nections intact may it be via call, a text message, or a so-cial media post. This June 8, Globe cel-ebrates a day of friend-ship with the National Best Friend’s Day, where best friends visiting sM North EDsA, sM Mall of Asia, sM Baguio, sM Megamall, Ayala Fairview Terraces and Ayala Cebu to spend the week-end can enjoy exciting ac-tivities, freebies and prizes. special “Best Friends” cards with Globe Prepaid sIM will be distributed to those who will be at the Globe Best Friend’s Day

event on sunday. Globe Prepaid customers can also enjoy the new GoUNLI20 for free this National Best Friend’s Day. To be in the loop this National Best Friend’s Day, Globe invites netizens to share their wonderful mo-ments and experiences with their BFFs on social media using the official hash tag #TheBestFriendE-ver. To register to GoUNLI20, dial *143# for free or text GoUNLI20 to 8888. To know more about GoUNLI20, visit www.globe.com.ph/pre-paid/gounli20.

AsUs today announced Zenbook NX500, the stunning new flagship of the multiple-award-winning Zenbook Ultrabook™ range. Echoing the timeless, classic design of Zenbook, NX500 introduces a new sleek and elegant all-aluminum chassis housing state-of-the-art components for ultimate performance. NX500 premieres the incred-ible new AsUs VisualMaster display technology, and has the world’s first 15.6-inch 4K/UHD (ultra-high-definition) touchscreen using 3M™ QDEF (quantum dot enhancement film) technology for unbelievably natural and vivid color reproduction. NX500 uses a powerful 4th-generation Intel Core i7 pro-cessor, teamed with the latest NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M graphics for seamless multitasking, smooth 4K/UHD video playback and responsive gameplay. Zenbook NX500 is the proud recipient of a prestigious 2014 IF Design award, which is recognized worldwide as seal of quality for products that excel in specific criteria in-cluding design quality, degree of innovation, functionality, ergonomics and more. Zenbook NX500 is the first AsUs product to feature the new AsUs VisualMaster display technology, which ensures

incredible detail, clar-ity, accu-racy and v i b r a n t lifelike col-or. The Vi-sualMaster display on NX500 is a 15.6 -inch IPs touch-s c r e e n ,

with a 4K/UHD resolution for stunningly detailed images. It is the world’s first 15.6-inch laptop display to feature 3M QDEF technology, which uses quantum dots to enable an ultra-wide color gamut of 100% NTsC, 108% Adobe RGB and 146% sRGB. This means that NX500 can display an un-precedented range of colors and hues, making all images richer and more vivid. With wide 178-degree viewing angles, AsUs TruVivid di-rect-bonding technology to minimize reflections, factory-calibrated color temperature, and a pixel density sufficient to make individual pixels effectively invisible from a normal viewing distance, NX500’s display is simply the best you can find on a laptop, anywhere. For the ultimate touch experience, NX500 uses high-fidelity touchscreen actuators that are twice as sensitive as the industry standard, for smooth, intuitive and accurate 10-point multi-touch input. Evoking the classic, timeless Zenbook design, NX500 has a refined new slim shape featuring the Zenbook signature spun-metal finish on the lid. Crafted from a single block of aluminum, and tapering to remarkably slim edges, NX500 is supremely elegant and portable. Every detail of NX500 is carefully crafted for style and practicality, including the chiclet keyboard with its one-piece frameless construction and backlighting controlled by an ambient-light sensor, which gives perfect key illumination under all lighting con-ditions. As with any Zenbook, NX500 is not only incredibly styl-ish, but also has power to spare for any computing task, thanks to its powerful Intel Core i7 quad-core processor and discrete NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M graphics with 2GB of GDDR5 video memory. With either a state-of-the-art 512GB PCI Express (PCIe) x4 solid-state-disk (ssD), or up to two sATA 3 ssDs (configurable as a RAID 0 array) for ultra-responsive data transfers and quick application loads, NX500 will never keep the user waiting. The three UsB 3.0 ports provide 10-times fast data transfers than UsB 2.0, and the next-generation Broadcom dual-band three-stream 802.11ac Wi-Fi gives speeds up to 3 times faster than 802.11n with compatible routers. Integrated Bluetooth 4.0 allows connections to the latest high-speed peripherals. The stereo speaker grilles on NX500 feature a laser-engraved ripple-effect design detailing that gives a visual hint of the incredible sonicMaster Premium audio, incor-porating ICEpower, Bang & Olufsen technology. This gives NX500 rich, deep bass and crystal-clear vocals, with a wider frequency range and higher volume levels than ordinary laptops. MaxxAudio Master by Waves, recipient of a Tech-nical GRAMMY Award, brings professional-level sound pro-cessing to NX500 for an enhanced listening experience.

A2 INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT EVENT

ASUS launches Zenbook NX500 flagship model

Globe leads National Best Friend’s Day in the Philippines

Finding Prestige perks in GenSan

POwEr shopping does have its perks thanks to SM’s pres-tige lounge which is made for the elite individual. This ben-efit is extended to SM advantage card hold-ers who shopped for at least Php300,000 worth of merchan-dise across all SM re-tail branches during their two-year mem-bership and takes shopping to a whole new level. Last June 06, 2014, marked the blessing of the lounge at SM City General Santos (SMGS), and it was attended by The SM Store Gensan’s executive wilson Bangayan, Assistant VP Mindanao operations Ar-thur Valenzuela, prestige membership management Mitzi Tronqued, and Deb-bie Go, SM’s Assistant Vice President for Operation-Mindanao.

Mark Cyril Katada, the Assistant Branch Manager of The SM Store at SMGS, gave the opening remarks, followed by an AVP pre-sented by Marketing Con-vergence Inc. (MCI)  Senior Assistant Vice Ppresident, Cristy Schneck. I was amazed with the perks of having a Pres-tige membership, you get priorities at the SM store and fitting rooms, SM Supermarket, SM Hyper-market, and Savemore Market; concierge services including gift wrapping, bill payment assistance,

plus perks and discounts from hundreds of Prestige Lifestyle Partners, which ranges from restaurants, hotels & resorts, spas & fit-ness centers, boutiques and specialty establishments, and the best yet, unlimited access to the SM Prestige Lounge, that has a pow-der-cum-fitting rooms, a courtesy package coun-ter, diaper-changing area, tasteful amenities, unlim-ited  refreshments, mobile phone charging stations and complementary wi-Fi connection. Truly, one card rules

them all. You can visit SM Prestige Lounges at branches of the SM Store at Mall of Asia, Maka-ti, Cubao, North Edsa, Southmall, Pampanga, Megamall, Iloilo, Lanang Premier, Clark, Aura, Ba-colod, Bacoor, Fairview and now at General Santos. Visit www.smadvantage.com.ph for more informa-tion. Follow me on Twitter or Instagram, @kyriekoutre for more adventures in and around my wonderland that is Gensan, Tuna Capi-tal of the Philippines.

sHE may be busy preparing for Marian, her upcoming dance show in GMA Net-work set to air this month, but Kapuso Primetime Queen Marian Rivera still managed to find time to ful-fill her duties as an Ambas-sador for Women and Chil-dren with Disabilities. Through the help of GMA Regional TV, the actress went to General santos City on June 1, to be with her fans via a Kapuso Outreach Activity and a Kapuso Fans’ Day. Marian paid a visit to the City social Welfare and Development Office in Gensan, inspiring a total of 48 physically challenged women and children from different barangays namely Lagao, Dadiangas North, Dadiangas East, Dadian-gas West, Bula, Baluan, san Isidro, and Mabuhay. Aside from giving out re-lief goods, school supplies, and some GMA memorabil-ia, Marian also treated them to exciting games with priz-es. Adding fun to the event was Kapuso comedian Boobay, who, most of the time, clowned around with the actress, lighting up the atmosphere all the more. Also present during the

outreach activity were AVP and Head of the Integrated Marketing services Division of GMA Regional TV Oliver

Amoroso, GMA TV southern Mindanao station Manager Mariles Puentevella and Department Head of City

social Welfare and Develop-ment Rebecca Magante. As an ambassador, Mari-an said she does not want to make promises. Instead, she is focused on helping and reaching out in any way she can. “Malaking bagay para sa akin ang maging inspira-syon sa mga may kapansan-an kaya naman hangga’t may pagkakataon, gagawa at gagawa ako ng paraan para makatulong. Thankful din ako sa GMA Network na nagsisilbing tulay upang maipaabot ko ang pagma-

AT FIFTEEN, GMA Artist Cen-ter talent Miguel Tanfelix still carries that good boy charm that endeared him to the au-dience of starstruck Kids ten years ago. His sweet visage still radiates on screen – but with a tinge of maturity this time. After being dubbed as starstruck Kids’ First Prince and playing minor roles in a slew of drama series, a lot has changed in Miguel. Miguel’s portrayal of his eponymous role in GMA Telebabad’s Niño is a testa-ment to this; and Miguel’s friend Bianca Umali bears witness. “Ibang Miguel ‘yung nakatrabaho ko ngayon eh. Of course in a good way,” muses Bianca. “Mas focused siya sa bawat eksena, at pa-rang may pinaghuhugutan talaga.” Before Niño, Miguel and Bianca have worked togeth-er in Paroa: Ang Kwento ni Mariposa and Mga Basang sisiw. “Nakaka-proud lang si Miguel, at the same time, I’m really happy na magkatraba-

ho ulit kami,” shares Bianca. While Miguel enjoys the praises he gets, he is taking the compliments in stride. He says his lead role as a mentally challenged boy is not the easiest he has por-trayed, but he’s taking it as a challenge. “’I’m really blessed to have been given a break like this. Matagal din po akong naghintay na bumida sa isang drama series. Iniisip ko po noon, may perfect timing

naman sa mga pangarap ko, kaya tiyaga-tiyaga lang.” “Bonus pa po ‘yung mag-kasama kami ni Bianca sa Niño. siyempre mas masaya, may long-time friend at fa-miliar face. Kumbaga, at ease po ako lalo na kapag mag-kasama kami sa eksena,” adds the starstruck alum. Niño, a family-oriented drama revolves around a mentally challenged boy who becomes his town’s source of inspiration. Upon

meeting a boy named Tu-kayo, who is an incarnate of sto. Niño, (played by Kapuso child star David Remo), Niño will prove that nothing is im-possible as long as faith and hope are kept alive. For Miguel’s role as Niño, he took inspiration from his portrayal of Boyito, a special child featured on GMA’s sine Novela titled Tinik sa Dibdib. He also immersed himself in workshops, diligently mas-tering his craft. “I always remind myself po to not take this opportu-nity for granted, kaya ganito na lang ‘yung effort ko. I am really thankful sa anumang opportunity na ibinibigay sa akin,” says Miguel. He’s also driven to hone his acting skills, especially now that he’s working alongside veteran actors such as Gloria Romero, Dante Rivero, and Angelu de Leon to name a few. Catch Miguel as he takes on the role of Niño, week-nights, after 24 Oras on GMA Telebabad.

INdulge! A3VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

Miguel Tanfelix lands his most challenging role in Niño

Marian Rivera inspires women and children with disabilities in GenSan

mahal para sa ating mga kababayan,” shared Marian. Meanwhile, Marian, to-gether with Boobay, also went to sM City General santos and mingled with her supporters in a Fans’ Day—an event that was met with so much excitement as about 5,000 eagerly party-ing fans packed the event’s venue thatsunday after-

noon. supporters were left in awe of Marian’s cheerful performances as she gave the crowd a sample of what they’re going to expect in her upcoming dance show. To know more about the latest updates on the Net-work’s regional events, fol-low GMA Regional TV on Twitter via www.twitter.com/GMARegionalTV.

GP

PG 13 /

*GP

PG 1312:40 | 3:00 | 5:20 | 7:40 | 10:00 LFS

R-16

EDGE OF TOMORROW 2D

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

MALEFICENT 2D

Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt

Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning

PG 1312:00 | 2:30 | 5:00 | 7:30 | 10:00 LFS

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS 2D

Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort

12:40 | 3:00 LFS / * 5:20 | 7:40 | 10:00 LFS

MAYBE THIS TIME 2D / *HOW TO TRAIN

YOUR DRAGON 2 2D (sneak preview)

Sarah Geronimo, Coco Martin / *Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler

A4 INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014EDGEDAVAOEVENT

Alaxan FR’s Court of Inspiration:Inspiring the youth of Tagum

AFTEr a successful year of honing basketball talents from Luzon, Alaxan Fr continues its Court of Inspiration cam-paign by constructing basketball courts in barangays in Vi-sayas and Mindanao, including General Santos, Bohol, Ba-colod, roxas, Ozamis, with the latest one unveiled at Purok Bayanihan, Barangay Magugpo, west Tagum City last June 7, 2014. with the courts’ construction, Alaxan Fr recognizes the resilient heart of Filipinos and lets them achieve more by

By Kenneth Irving Ong

enabling them to conquer body pain: “The Filipino

courageous spirit and per-severance are some of the things Alaxan Fr supports. However the strong heart of the Filipino to overcome challenges of life needs the strength of the body, and that’s where Alaxan Fr comes in,” said Missy Cheah, Assistant Brand Manager of Alaxan. “Ang pinoy, palaban ang puso nyan. Hindi basta basta sumusuko. Buong ta-pang niyang hinaharap ang anumang pagsubok. Ngunit may pagkakataon, kahit pal-aban ang puso, ang katawan nanghihina sa laban. Dyan papasok ang Alaxan. Ang katawang Alaxan, di sumu-suko sa sakit, sumasabay sa pusong palaban ng Pilipino,” she added. The courts also serve as a beacon for people’s dreams: “we want to empower the people of the communities we reach out to who work hard to achieve their dreams, and one way of achieving that is through the Filipino quality of the bayanihan spirit. Our Courts of Inspi-ration firmly believes in this Filipino quality and it is its reason for being,” she adds. The Court of Inspiration slowly molded a new lifestyle in the communities where the basketball courts were previously built, turning them into not just athletic centers but landmarks and venues for community ac-tivities. Two years ago, Alaxan Fr jump-started an endeavor to help build basketball courts

and provide a backbone against pain for the strong will of potential basketball stars in the country. Starting off in its first year in the Vi-sayas and Mindanao regions, the Court of Inspiration be-came a herald of hope and unity. After pre-selecting the towns to build the bas-ketball courts on, Alaxan Fr provided the necessary con-struction materials, securing a partnership with the local government to mobilize the townspeople in constructing the play centers. On its sec-ond year, Alaxan Fr added 10 more Courts of Inspira-tion in Luzon.Present for the Court of In-spiration Tagum’s turnover ceremonies were PBA Leg-ends, Jerry Cordiñera and Alvin Patrimonio who were more than eager to impart their wisdom and experience to the basketball fans and the community. A basketball training workshop was held

as well an a spirited exhibi-tion game with the PBA cag-ers leading their own teams composed of basket players from Barangay Magugpo.Construction of the courts take an estimated 21 days, including excavation, lay-ing the concrete, installation of the basketball rings and painting the court marks. Current Courts of Inspira-tion are located in Cebu, Cagayan De Oro, Tacloban, Zamboanga, Bacolod, Iloilo, Dumaguete, Butuan, Saran-gani and Davao in the Vi-

sayas-Mindanao area. Luzon likewise also has ten courts in Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pan-gasinan, Batangas, Tugueg-arao, Cauayan, Vigan, Lao-ag, Naga and Legaspi.The Court of Inspiration does not stop with their con-struction. Alaxan Fr has a vision, of constructing a Court of Inspiration for each major city nationwide in the years to come. It hopes to continue as well discovering and developing the basket-ball talents of our fellow Fili-pinos through this project.

EDGEDavao Davao Partners

Address: Tionko Street, Davao City

Call: 09178739767

Catering services for all occassions

Service Offered:

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014 13

The Davao Light and Power Co., an Aboitiz-Power subsidiary,

reaches out to residents even in the off grid areas.

Last March 1, 2014, Davao Light completed the installation of a solar charging station at Gawad Kalinga Village in Sitio Sto. Tomas, Brgy. Malabog, Paqui-bato District.

This project initially ben-efited 30 households in the said area as they were recipi-ents of free batteries donated by the electric distribution utility. Residents in nearby communities will benefit from this project as well.

With the solar charging station nearby, residents will no longer have to travel far to charge their batteries.

This saves them at least P80 for a back and forth jeepney travel fare plus meals they would have to in-cur while in Malabog proper. They also no longer need to leave from work every time there is a need to charge their batteries.

Moreover, Davao Light also provided training in the technical expertise of some local residents who will be tasked to maintain the solar charging facility as well as

the household installation.“We are very thankful

that electricity came upon us and this boosts our mo-rale. Despite the 70 km. distance from downtown, Davao Light was able to reach out to us to extend their service by putting up a solar charging facility and battery units for free. This project also fostered good relationships among com-munity members through Bayanihan. We just couldn’t thank Davao Light enough for this worthy project.”, said Antonio Managuit, president of Gawad Kalinga (GK) Sto. Tomas De Villanueva.

This project is part of Davao Light’s corporate so-cial responsibility program which main goal is to help organized associations in partnership with Gawad Ka-linga to conduct skills train-ing for men, values-forma-tion teach-ins and livelihood seminars.

Its own personnel, com-posed of managers, supervi-sors and linemen, also went the extra mile to support the project by doing the inter-nal house electrical wiring and installation. The team is composed of Edgar Orilla and Nelson Gumba+ of Dis-

tribution Services Depart-ment; Daniel Cabigon, Sev-erino Ando, Rolando Recto, Jonnel Padillo, and Pjay Ti-zon of Streetlights and Pole Utilities Department; Allan Jaca of Billing and Collection Department; Rey Garde, Ed-die Libre, Albert Fil Tuble

and Gibson Yarte of Distri-bution Network Depart-ment; and Rogelio Adlawan of Power Metering Depart-ment.

“We envision to light up all households even those in the farthest-flung areas by providing solar powered

battery charging facilities. This may not be that easy but with the help of our ded-icated employees who are always willing to help in this kind of projects, all things are possible.” said Arturo Milan, Davao Light COO and EVP.

The electric utility tar-gets at least two far-flung areas for this solar charging station every year.

As to date, solar charging facility in Sitio Sto, Tomas is the 81st station established within the Davao Light fran-chise.

EDGEDAVAO

COMMUNITY SENSELight is no longer a dream in Brgy. Malabog

Beneficiaries pose for photo op with Davao Light employees at the solar charging station in Gawad Kalinga Village in Sitio Sto. Tomas, Brgy. Malabog, Paqui-bato District.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 201414 SPORTS

The two SM Supermalls in Davao City spearhead an ‘SM to SM Run’ on June 15

to raise funds for the survivors of typhoon Yolanda.

SM City Davao and SM La-nang Premier, along with its partners, will stage the city’s first color fun run on Sunday at 4 am, which will start and end in SM City Davao Parking C, with the 21k turnaround point in SM Lanang Premier.

Runners can choose to join from among 3 categories: 21-ki-lometer with a registration fee of P500, 5-kilometer and 3-kilome-ter at P250.

From SM City Davao, the 21k run will pass through Quim-po Boulevard, Sandawa, Quezon Boulevard, Cabaguio Avenue,

and J.P. Laurel, then turn-around at SM Lanang Premier and Da-kudao Loop back to SM City Davao. The 3k run will have a U-turn at Quimpo Boulevard-Ga-sera while the 5k run will make a U-turn at Quimpo Boulevard before LTO. Gun start schedules will be at 5 am for the 21k, 5:30 am for the 5k and 5:40 am for the 3k.

Runners are required to wear white shirts at the start of the race as they will be doused from head to toe in different hues of body paint, colored pow-der and neon glow paint for ev-ery leg of the race and finish in color. They are also required to wear shorts or tights, protective eye gears and comfortable run-ning shoes during the event.

Up to P75,000 worth of priz-es will be given away to the par-ticipants. Special prizes for fun categories will be awarded to the following: (1) Most number of family members joining the run; (2) Couples; (3) Pet dog and masters; (4) Masked Hero Cos-tume; and (5) Father and child.

Registration booths are lo-cated at the ground floor of SM City Davao and the upper ground level of SM Lanang Premier.

The SM to SM Color Fun Run is supported by Sun Star, Edge Davao, Mindanao Times, Coca-Cola, Park Inn by Radisson Davao, ABS-CBN, Happy Lemon, M Magazine, Power Mac Center, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Lapanday, and LBC.

All proceeds of the event

will be donated to the SM Cares Yolanda Housing Project, which is part of SM Foundation Inc. and SM Cares’ recovery and rehabil-itation program for the victims of the typhoon. Last December, SM committed to building ty-phoon-resilient houses for 1,000 affected families. The houses are designed with concrete ceilings and proper ventilation and com-posed of 5,000 psi pre-cast walls to accelerate the conventional building method. These are ex-pected to withstand any kind of typhoon with maximum wind velocity of 250kph without ma-jor damages.

For more information, visit SM City Davao and SM Lanang Premier on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

BARANGAY Talomo pulled off a come-from-behind victory over Bucana, 53-

49 to win the Tanduay 5-on-5 Paliga Battle of Champions bas-ketball tournament held Satur-day at Almendras gym.

PBA draft bound Gryan Men-doza made 20 points, nine in the third quarter that ignited a 19-10 run for Talomo to take the lead, 44-40 going to the final canto.

Mendoza added four points in the fourth quarter but it was JP Juegos and Darrel Culawag who sealed the victory with back-to-back shots.

The Revilla brothers Mark Houn and Lester each chipped in eight points while Benito Dignos had seven.

Roldan Amatosa led Bucana with 16 points while his brother Jericho added 12. Spitfire Dong Ruiz suffered leg cramps in the final half and never recovered to only score nine points.

Bucana had a strong start with a 20-11 blast to take the halftime lead by five, 30-25. Talo-mo, however, came back with a balance attack in the third with

the Revillas (Mark John and Les-ter) and Juegos (JP and Jan) join-ing Mendoza in the offensive.

Mendoza,who formerly played for the University of Min-danao and Far Eastern Univer-sity,was voted as the Most Valu-able Player. He was joined in the Mythical Five by his teammate Lester Revilla and Bucana’s Jer-icho Amatosa, Alvin Calatayod and Dong Ruiz.

Barangay Captain Artemio Jimenez and Talomo head coach Emot Revilla received the P7,000 cash prize, trophy and giveaways awarded by Tanduay Distillers general manager Gerald Alan Co.

Talomo and Bucana ad-vanced into the finals after eliminating Maa (50-48) and Buhangin A (53-48), respec-tively in the semi-finals. Talomo also beat Panacan, 59-51 while Bucana nipped Buhangin B, 50-48 in the knockout elimination round.

The two-month league, organized by Rael Diaz, was participated by the different ba-rangays in the First and Second districts of Davao City.

THE Alaxan FR complet-ed its latest Court of Inspiration here in Min-

danao by unveiling the basket-ball court last Saturday at the Barangay Magugpo West in Tagum City.

PBA legends Alvin Patri-monio and Jerry Cordillera, who are now San Mig Coffee team manager and Arellano University head coach, respec-tively, graced the formal turn-over rites. They also played against each other for an exhi-bition game between two sep-arate barangay selected teams led by Barangay Chairman Nino Cutin.

Patrimonio and Cordillera also gave a basketball clinic to the young kids of the barangay at the newly-completed bas-ketball court, which will not only be just an athletic center but a landmark and a venue for community activities.

Alaxan FR brand man-ager Toby Manlapat led the unveiling of the marker at-tended also by barangay offi-cials and hundreds of jubilant residents.

Manlapat said the next Alaxan FR’s Courts of Inspira-tion will be completed in Ba-colod on June 21, Roxas (June 28) and Ozamis (July 5). The other courts in Visayas and Mindanao were also made in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Ta-cloban, Zamboanga, Bacolod, Iloilo, Dumaguete, Butuan, Sarangani and Davao City.

Luzon, likewise has also 10 courts in Nueva Ecija, Tar-lac, Pangasinan, Batangas, Tuguegarao, Cauayan, Vigan, Laoag, Naga and Legaspi.

“Alaxan FR has a vision of constructing a Court of In-spiration for each major city nationwide in the years to come,” Manlapat said.

FILIPINO southpaw Mark Gil Melligen (19-4-1, 10 KO’s) of Bacolod City, Ne-

gros Occidental, impressively punished and stopped tough Thailand fighter Petchsamuthr Duanaaymukdahan (8-3, 1 KO) to capture the vacant WBO

Oriental featherweight (126 lbs) belt Saturday night at the Expo Garden in Kunming City, Southwestern China. Official time of the TKO was at the 2:00 minutes mark in in round 4.

The 26-year-old Melli-gen - now fighting under the

management of Japanese pro-moter Kashimi - scored his 4th consecutive knockout in overseas rings: three succes-sive wins by stoppage in Japan plus another one tonight in China... and the glory-hungry Filipino wants the much more

scalps. As a reward, Melligen has

not just become the Oriental Champion, but has very like-ly earned a slot in the WBO featherweight world rankings, a division where the world ti-tle is currently vacant.

Alaxan FR builds Court of Inspiration in Tagum

Talomo wins Tanduay 5-on-5 Paliga

SM holds run for ‘Yolanda’ survivors

Melligen wins WBO Orient crown in China

TANDUAY PALIGA. Players from Barangay Talomo (dark) and Barangay 76-A (light) in action during the finals of the Tandua 5 on 5 Paliga last Saturday at the Davao City Recre-ation Center. Barangay Talomo won the title. Boy Lim SM City Davao assistant mall manager Engr. Nick D. Santos (center), together with PR officer Apple Legario (left) and SM Lanang Premier PR manager Acey

Puno, promotes SM to SM Color Fun Run slated this Sunday during Kapehan sa Davao at the Annex of SM City Davao. Lean Daval Jr.

LEGENDS. Basketball legends Jerry Codiñera and Alvin Patrimonio during the ceremonial jump as part of the inauguration of the Alaxan FR Court of Inspi-ration in Tagum City. Boy Lim

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014 15SPORTS

SAN ANTONIO – The air conditioning was blow-ing, LeBron James’ mus-

cles were firing and that was all the Miami Heat needed to even the 2014 NBA Finals. Well, that and a timely 3-point-er from Chris Bosh.

James scored 35 points – 22 in the second half – and found Bosh in the right corner for a 3-pointer with 1:18 left to put the Heat ahead to stay in a 98-96 victory that squared the Finals at a game apiece.

The series now shifts to Miami for the next two games. Game 3 is Tuesday night.

“He has an incredible way to put his fingerprints on a game in a lot of different areas,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of James.

The two-time defending champion Heat once again showed their resilience, win-ning for an NBA-record 13th straight time following a loss in the playoffs. They haven’t dropped consecutive games in the postseason since the 2012 Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics.

With the AT&T Center’s air conditioning repaired follow-ing the Game 1 malfunction that sent courtside tempera-tures near 90 degrees and forced James to the bench with cramps, the Heat turned up their defense – a huge differ-ence from three days earlier when they collapsed under a barrage of late Spurs’ 3-point-ers. The Spurs missed three straight shots and committed a turnover in the final 99 sec-onds, nearly going scoreless in that stretch until a meaning-less 3-pointer by Manu Ginobi-li at the buzzer.

Spurs coach Gregg Popo-vich lamented his team’s poor ball movement down the stretch.

“We didn’t do it as a group,” Popovich said. “We tried to do it individually and we’re not good enough to do that.”

James had something to do with that. Miami’s defense cra-tered in the fourth quarter of Game 1 when the Spurs made 14 of 16 shots. James watched much of that from the bench when he had to be carried off

the court in the final four min-utes because of cramps. That earned him a healthy dose of mockery across the Twitter-sphere and made his response in Game 2 all the more critical for the Heat’s push to extend their championship reign. His legs looked fine on Sunday, evident when he drove for a first-quarter dunk, but he didn’t truly impose himself on the game until the second quarter.

By then, the Spurs had al-ready run out to an 11-point lead. James returned and was much more aggressive, especially in the third quar-ter when he made his first six shots of the second half. He peppered the Spurs with pull-up jumpers, buried a cou-ple of 3-pointers over their heads and looked ready to single-handedly take over the game. A pair of 3-pointers by Patty Mills helped San Antonio gain some traction, but it was clear if the Spurs were going to beat Miami again, it wouldn’t be with James watching from the bench.

PARIS (AP) — With red clay still staining her shoes and socks, Maria Sharapova

is already getting ready for the toughest transition in tennis.

Sharapova won her second French Open title in three years on Saturday, beating Simona Ha-lep 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4 in the final at Roland Garros. It’s her fifth Grand Slam title overall and it comes 10 years after her first, which she won on the grass of Wimbledon.

“Doesn’t matter,” Sharapova said, already thinking ahead to the next few weeks. “Wimble-don is right around the corner, and that’s what I’ll be working

for.”Clay is the slowest surface

on the tennis circuit, and the one that used to give Sharapo-va the most trouble. Before her shoulder surgery in 2008, she had won each of the other three major titles once, but she strug-gled on the clay in Paris, once famously referring to herself as a “cow on ice” when playing on the surface.

But now 27 and the owner of two French Open titles, those days are behind her. Sharapova is 20-1 over the last three years at Roland Garros, and has won 20 straight three-set matches on the surface.

None of that matters now, though, because it’s time to turn her attention to Wimbledon, the site of her first major title and the focus of her hopes for a sixth.

“I don’t care what my re-sults were in the past. You start from a clean slate,” Sharapova said, looking ahead to the tour-nament that starts on June 23 at the All England Club in south-west London.

“That’s how I go into a Grand Slam. I don’t think that I’ve won it before, because when you have the mentality that you’ve won it, then it gets boring. You have to go out there hungry and want to compete for more.”

PARIS (AP) -- Trying to beat Rafael Nadal at the French Open is, without

a doubt, the toughest task in tennis. Indeed, must be among the greatest challenges in all of sports.

The pressure he ap-plies, from set to set, game to game, point to point, shot to shot. That bullwhip of a high-bouncing, topspin lefty forehand. Those quick-reflex returns that help him break an opponent’s serve - and his will.

Doing what he does so well on the red clay of Roland Garros, a surface and site he

dominates so completely, the No. 1-seeded Nadal wore down No. 2 Novak Djokovic 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 in a muggy final Sunday to win his ninth French Open championship and fifth in a row, both records.

‘’For me,’’ Nadal said, ‘’playing here in Roland Garros is just unforgettable, forever.’’

It is also his 14th Grand Slam title overall, tying the 28-year-old Spaniard with Pete Sampras for the second most by a man, behind only Roger Federer’s 17.

That includes Nadal’s two trophies apiece at Wimbledon

and the U.S. Open, along with one from the Australian Open, proving he can beat the best on grass and hard courts, too. But it’s on the clay of Paris where Nadal reigns supreme: He has won 66 of 67 career French Open matches.

Since the only loss, against Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009, Nadal has won 35 consecutive matches at Ro-land Garros.

No other man has won more than seven titles at any of tennis’ four majors.

‘’It’s not impossible, but it’s very, very difficult to

stay with Rafa in this court, throughout the whole match, on the highest level of perfor-mance,’’ said Djokovic, who was broken in the final game of each set, including with an anticlimactic double-fault on match point.

Nadal ensured that he, not Djokovic, will be ranked No. 1 on Monday. In the process, Na-dal once again prevented six-time major champion Djokov-ic from completing a career Grand Slam.

‘’He deserves to win this tournament,’’ Nadal said. ‘’I am sure he will do it in the future.’’

Sharapova eyes Wimby next

NO CRAMPS, NO PROBJames, Miami bounce back in Game 2

PRETTY IN PARIS. Russia’s Maria Sharapova poses with the trophy in front of the Eiffel Tower, one day after defeating Romania’s Simona Halep in the women’s final of the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, France.

NINTH CUP. Spain’s Rafael Nadal kisses the trophy after winning the final of the French Open tennis tournament against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic at the Roland Garros stadium, in Paris, France on Sunday (Monday PHL Time). Nadal won in four sets 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

RAFANICENTNadal wins 9th French Open title

GETTING EVEN. Lebron James of the Miami Heat fired 35 points to lead the Heat level the NBA Finals with the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 201416 EDGEDAVAOSports

DAVAO City’s AAK-Davao squad captured five gold medals on top of two sil-

vers and 2 bronzes to emerge as the best performing foreign contingent in the 15th Malaysian Open Milo Karatedo Open Cham-pionships at the Cheras Indoor Stadium in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend.

Gabriel Quiñones, Carme-la Marie Estarija, Pavel Jervis Bacayo and Josh Worsley won individual golds in the tough 11-nation meet while the trio of Quiñones, Estarija and Julian Ambrose Ramirez gave the team its fifth gold in the team compe-titions.

Quiñones, a 15-year old mainstay of Brokenshire College, gave AAK-Davao its first gold medal when he took the Cadets Boys 57-kilogram kumite gold. He followed it up with a silver medal in the kata competitions of the same class before taking his second gold in the mixed team kata competitions.

The three-medal conquest of Quiñones gave him the tour-nament’s Boys Best Player award. Estarija also copped the same award in the girls side to complete the dominance of the Dabawenyos.

Estarija, a standout from Stella Maris Academy, won the gold in the girls individual kata while Bacayo took the gold in the juniors below 76-kilogram kumite for the team’s three gold medals right in the first day of action.

On day 2, the Davao con-tingent continued its romp with Worsley, a 7-year old Fil-Briton

from St. Paul College-Davao Cam-pus, taking his second straight international gold medal after topping the boys 6-7 years old kumite. JP Ponce won the silver medal in the 8-9 boys kumite and the bronze in the 8-9 boys kata while Ramirez added a bronze in the 12-13 boys kumite.

The Davao squad, whose participation is backed up by the Philippine Sports Commission, officially represented the Philip-pines in the two-day tournament which attracted competitors from Uzbekistan, Thailand, Indo-nesia, Singapore, Brunei, Sri Lan-ka, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, and host Malaysia. There were a total of 17 interna-tional teams and 48 Malaysian teams.

“It was a wonderful expe-rience for the team because all of the players were able to win medals for the country and Davao City,” said Rommel Tan, head coach and head of AAK-Davao.

Tan, in a message to Edge Davao, thanked team sponsors Zoofari, Outback Grill, Mr. and Mrs, Pauldag Bacayo, Calvin Man-gubat, Alvin Mangubat, Jennifer Chua, Jacq To, Rex Estrada, Ghia and Jonas Pineda, Tess Marce-lo, Lenore Bernardo and Jarno Buenaobra, Edgar and Maethel Ponce, Robert and Jovita Qui-nones, Jay and Joanne Ramirez, Andrew and Anne Worsley, Ma-hugany Security and Investigat-ing Agency.

“Without them we will not be able to compete in the said event,” Tan said.

The team is expected to be back in Davao on Monday.

Davao bets win 5 golds

PHL-AAK Davao karatekas rule Malaysia Open

njb@edgedavao.net

By NEILWIN JOsEPh L. BRAVO

YOUNG WINNERS. AAK Davao’s Jam Ramirez, JP Ponce and Josh Worsley.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 61 • TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014

MEDALS IN MALAYSIA. AAK Davao’s Rommel Tan (ex-treme left) with his wards Jam Ramirez, JP Ponce, Josh Worsley, Ella Estarija, Gab Quiñes, and Pavel Jervis Ba-cayo pose during the awarding ceremonies of the 15th Malaysian Milo Open Karatedo Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. AAK Photo