Edge Davao 7 Issue 112

P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO [email protected]

F’PERSONA NON GRATA’, 10

‘PERSONA NON GRATA’

THE BIG NEWS Page 2

SPORTS page 15

TRMH-CMO AMBUSHED IN

KADAYAWAN HOOPS

SWAT TRAININGFOR DAVAO COPS, TFD

Comedian gets ‘unwelcome’ tag over ‘hipon’ comment

NATIVE CRAFTS. A young boy not only makes quick cash but also showcases his culture to tourists by peddling native bracelets around Davao City two days after the Ka-dayawan sa Dabaw Festival. Lean Daval Jr.

In yesterday’s regular session, the city council passed “a resolution declar-ing Ramon Bautista as persona non grata in Davao City.”

The resolution stated that there is a need to let the world know and those who employ Bautista that he is an ex-tremely corrupt influence to the youth.

“His abusive behavior should not be

tolerated,” the resolution said.It is stated that Bautista must under-

stand that as a visitor of place he should be mindful of decency and propriety.

It is stipulated that the actions of the comedian defined in the Women Devel-opment Code of the Davao City as other forms of sexual harassment.

INSIDE EDGE THE boiling ‘hipon’ comment turned into a permanent stamp

of dishonor for comedian Ramon Bautista after the Davao City Council declared him as ‘persona non grata’ (an unwelcome per-

son).

VOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014 2

FFOREIGN, 10

F2 BUSTED, 10 FDOLE, 10

EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS

THE City Govern-ment of Davao has allocated a total of

P750, 000 for the anti-ter-rorism and anti-criminal-ity training of the Spe-cial Weapon and Tactics (SWAT) unit of the local police and Task Force Davao.

Davao City Police Of-fice(DCPO) director Sr. Supt. Vicente D. Danao told reporters in an in-terview last Monday that cops and military per-

sonnel will start their training by the end of the month.

Danao said that train-ers will come from the SWAT Unit of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“The training is in-tended to enhance the capability of our person-nel in the anti-criminality and anti-terrorism cam-paign,” he said.

The city police direc-tor said that the city is in full-support in the advo-

cacy of lowering and pre-venting crimes and ter-rorist activities in the city.

In fact, Davao City Ro-drigo R. Duterte initiated the turn-over ceremony of about 66 motorcycles, four mobile patrol vehi-cles, base and handheld radio and three base radio to different local agencies in the city last August 14, during the for-mal opening of the 2014 Kadayawan Festival.

DCPO- Traffic Group,

Police Highway Patrol Group 11, Land Trans-portation Office (LTO) 11 received seven units of motorcycles each while the Traffic Management Center received 45 new motorcycles, four mobile patrol vehicles, 200 units of handheld radio and three units of base radio.

“DCPO has at least 54 running mobile police units that were from the local government unit,” Danao said.

THE Department of Labor and Em-ployment (DOLE)

will find ways to avert retrenchment of college professors once the K-12 curriculum will be fully implemented in 2016.

Lawyer Benjo Santos M. Benavidez, director of DOLE Bureau of Labor Re-lations, told reporters in yesterday’s press briefing

at Grand Men Seng Hotel that they conducted con-sultations on the affected sectors on how the gov-ernment will intervene in relation to the full imple-mentation of K-12.

“As part of the inter-vention of the govern-ment is the action plan. Part of the action plan is assistance given to HEIs (Higher Education Insti-

tutions), to teaching and non-teaching personnel,” Benvidez said.

Benavidez said that part of their action plan is an advocacy or research work for the impact of K-12 program.

“But, the major in-tervention that the TWG (Technical Work-ing Group) composed of DOLE DepEd (Depart-

ment of Education), CHED (Commission on Higher Education) and TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Ad-ministration) is the enact-ment of what we so called ‘tertiary education transi-tion fund,’ ” he said.

He said that the ter-tiary education transition fund is an allocation in

DAVAO City Invest-ment and Pro-motion Center

(DCIPC) officer Ivan C. Cortez said that a total of three local and foreign firms are interested to de-velop the fire-razed Isla Verde.

“Either of the three firms are willing to pour billions of pesos for the development of the area,” Cortez said in the Kape-han sa Dabaw at SM City Annex last Monday.

Cortez said that the Malaysian firm is interest-ed in the mixed-used de-velopment of the 8.8 hect-ares April 4 fire-stricken

area while another one of the three is interested to develop the waterfront starting from the old Sta. Ana Port to Matina near Times Beach.

The investment officer said that all firm are inter-ested to develop the area both for residential and commercial use.

He also added that the interested investors are planning to build build-ings for the tenement of the residents who might be affected by the pro-posed rehabilitation of the coastal area.

Cortez said that affect-

TWO suspected illegal drug ped-dlers were arrest-

ed in two separate oper-ations in Davao City and nearby Tagum City last Monday.

Elements of Bun-awan Police Station identified the first sus-pect as Arnie M. Bana-tan, 24, single, miner, and resident of Purok 5, A. Apokon, Tagum City.

Initial investigation disclosed that Banatan

was put on hold during inspection by a person-nel of the responding police station after he received a tip from an officer of Task Force Davao who was assigned in a fixed checkpoint at Km. 26, Licanan, Davao City.

Recovered from his possession was a sa-chet of suspected shabu with a street value of P 1,000.

PAHALIPAY NI RODY. Davao City Mayor Ro-

drigo R. Duterte chats with his executive

assistant, Christopher “Bong” Go, and rap

artist Andrew E. just before the start of

“Pahalipay concert ni Mayor Rody and Vice Mayor Pulong Duter-

te” at Rizal Park along San Pedro Street over

the weekend.Lean Daval Jr.

[email protected]

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO [email protected]

3 companies wantto develop fire site

2 arrested forpeddling drugs

SWAT given P750T for men’s training

DOLE to avert adverse effects of K-12


FDOJ, 10

FNHA, 10

NEWSEDGEDAVAO

INSTEAD of filing a for-mal complaint against the controversial

Davao City Police Office director Vicente D. Dan-ao, Gabriela – Southern Mindanao Region (SMR) will instead support his estranged wife in her own complaint against the high ranking police offi-cial.

“We agreed that we will just support the direc-

tor’s wife who allegedly filed earlier a case against Danao,” Gabriela-SMR spokesperson May Anne Sapar told Edge Davao in a phone interview. Sapar did not disclose the name of the wife.

Sapar said that dif-ferent women groups in Davao City, along with the office of councilor Leah Librado-Yap and Integrat-ed Gender Development

Division (IGDD) met yes-terday to talk on the vid-eo containing the alleged abusive behavior of Dan-ao towards his wife.

Sapar said that the wife of Danao allegedly filed a case against the city director this year. She said that the direc-tor is allegedly violating the Republic Act 9262 or the Anti-violence Against Women and their Chil-

dren (VAWC).“I supposed the video

uploaded in Youtube is just used to support the claim of the wife that she is abused by his husband,” Sapar said.

However, she said that they’re still requesting for the copy of the alleged formal complaint of the wife.

Earlier, Danao said in an interview that his

wife has not filed any case against him.

“Kung desidido tal-aga sya dapat noon pa sya nagsampa ng kaso,” he said, adding that the video was taken years ago and his wife and two children are now based in United States.

Danao said that the main motive of the poster of the video is to remove him from service and his

position as city police di-rector.

He said that he has no plan to conduct an inves-tigation that will trace the true identity of the video poster.

“I knew who is the poster (sic) even before it was uploaded to Youtube because I’ve been receiv-ing from that person a month before it was post-ed,” Danao added.

THE Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday an-

nounced that the Criminal Code Committee (CCC) has completed Book 2 of the new Criminal Code on Crimes and Penalties af-ter three years of drafting work.

The CCC was estab-lished on April 20, 2011 to study, assess and con-solidate a simple, updated and modern criminal law to provide clarity in law

enforcement and to im-prove the administration of justice.

This was geared to-wards increased access to justice especially for the marginalized sectors.

“We responded to the call of the President (Benigno S. Aquino III) to undertake a codifica-tion project and for the first time in our history, we have a draft criminal code developed by jus-

THE Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday or-dered the Bureau of

Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Department of Fi-nance (DOF) to comment on the petition filed by government workers ques-tioning the imposition of tax on their allowance and fringe benefits.

In a press conference, SC Public Information Office (PIO) Chief and Spokesman Atty. Theodore O. Te said that the SC gave

the BIR and the DOF a pe-riod of 10 days from notice within which to submit their respective comments.

In the petition for cer-tiorari and mandamus filed by various groups of government workers, they asked the SC to stop the implementation of BIR Revenue Memorandum Order 23-2014 because it allegedly infringes upon the power of the Congress to pass a law.

The petitioners argued

that the respondents have no power to impose tax unless they are authorized by law.

They further argued that to deduct tax from their allowance is illegal, hence, the assailed BIR memorandum should be nullified.

They added that the DOF and the BIR should be mandated to increase the Php 30,000 “ceiling” as provided for in the memo-randum. (PNA)

THE National Hous-ing Authority has released an initial

P1.8 million to set off the development of the P12-million resettlement project in Sto. Nino town in South Cotabato.

Vice President Je-jomar Binay, who chairs the Housing and Urban

Development Coordi-nating Council (HUDCC), personally delivered the financial grant to the mu-nicipal government of Sto. Nino in a brief stop at the South Cotabato provincial capitol in Koronadal City late Monday afternoon.

“This is part of the national government’s

commitment to address the basic needs of our poor, especially in terms of housing facilities,” he said during the turnover ceremony.

The Vice President said the NHA will work closely with the munic-ipal government of Sto.

[email protected]

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

BOOMING INDUSTRY. Construction workers are seen working at a high-rise building construction site along Quimpo Blvd. in Davao City yesterday. Davao City is cur-

rently enjoying a construction boom which is expected to continue for at least 10 more years. Lean Daval Jr.

SIESTA TIME. The feet of a napping vendor peek between the religious items he is selling at San Pedro Cathedral compound in Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

Gabriela backs Danao’s wife

DOJ completes draft amendment for new Criminal CodeBy PERFECTO T. RAYMUNDO JR.

SC orders BIR, DOF to comment on state workers’ petition vs perks’ tax

NHA starts development of SoCot resettlement projectBy ALLEN ESTABILLO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014 4COTABATO CITY

EDGEDAVAO

SUBURBIA

VICE President Je-jomar Binay has expressed support

to the creation of the Bangsamoro government during a two-day swing in Maguindanao province and in this city.

Heavily guarded by the police and the mili-tary and backed up by an aerial security reconnais-sance, Binay denied his visits here and to various towns in Maguindanao were part of the early campaign trail for his presidential bid in 2016.

Both local opposition and administration polit-ical leaders warmly wel-comed Binay during his visit on Sunday and Mon-day.

Binay expressed his support to the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) on Monday in Sultan Kudarat town as it celebrated its 67th foun-dation anniversary.

Once passed by Con-gress and ratified by the constituents, the BBL will entrench the Bangsamoro government to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The creation of the Bangsamoro government was envisioned by the Comprehensive Agree-ment on the Bangsamoro, the final peace agreement

of the government and the Moro Islamic Libera-tion Front (MILF) signed last March 27.

Binay chanted Takbir thrice in expressing sup-port to the passage of the BBL, which the crowd ex-uberantly responded with “Allahu Akbar” (God is the greatest).

Datu Tucao Mastu-ra, former Sultan Kuda-rat town mayor and the provincial stalwart of the United Nationalist Alliance, Binay’s politi-cal party, lauded the vice president’s support to the BBL.

It is an “expression of giving importance to the dream of the Bangsamoro people,” Mastura said.

Also in attendance during Sultan Kudarat town’s foundation anni-versary were ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, 6th Infan-try Division commander Brig. Gen. Edmundo Pan-gilinan, top ARMM police officials, and several local government officials of the province.

‘Not an early cam-paign trail’

In Datu Odin Sinsuat town on Sunday, Magu-indanao Vice Governor Datu Lester Sinsuat, a Lib-eral Party stalwart, intro-duced Binay as “the next President of the Republic of the Philippines.”

Binay thanked him for the “endorsement,” and later “denied that he was in the province to cam-paign early for his 2016 presidential bid.”

He said he was in the province “to visit projects and to attend to invita-tions.”

Binay led the launch-ing of a new senior citi-zens’ building his office

funded for P500,000 and distributed wheelchairs to differently-abled per-sons during his visit in Datu Odin Sinsuat.

Binay was joined by former Tarlac Governor Margarita “Ting-Ting” Cojuangco, Paranaque Rep. Gustavo Tambunting and Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian in his trips.

He and his party also visited the Mindanao State University, also in Datu Odin Sinsuat.

In Cotabato City, Binay met with local officials and leaders of the Archdi-ocese of Cotabato, attend-ed mass, and had dinner with his Alpha Phi Omega fraternity brothers and sisters.

Binay and his party

also visited on Monday Datu Abdullah Sangki town, which also cele-brated its foundation anniversary, on the invi-tation of Mayor Mariam Mangudadatu.

Noticeably, Binay’s entourage was wearing all along T-shirts printed with the word “Binay.” (Ferdinandh Cabrera/MindaNews)

EARLY CAMPAIGN? Vice President Jejomar Binay (center) graces the 67thfoundation anniversary of Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao on Monday. Joining him on stage are (from left) Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian,

Mayor Shameem Mastura, ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman, and UNA pro-vincial Chair Datu Tucao Mastura. MindaNews photo by Ferdinandh Cabrera

Binay backs Bangsamoro,denies early campaigning

A total of 1,047 more housing units were turned over to ty-

phoon Pablo-affected fam-ilies in Boston, Cateel, and Baganga last week.

Implemented under the Modified Shelter As-sistance Program (MSAP), the massive construction of houses is a joint effort between the Department of Social Welfare and De-velopment (DSWD) which funds the construction cost, and the provincial government which subsi-dizes the cost for resettle-

ment sites.“My heart swells with

joy. We never expected we would be given a house for free,” said one hous-ing beneficiary who lost his house when typhoon Pablo ravaged their town in 2012.

DSWD regional direc-tor Priscilla Razon said this milestone would not have been possible with-out the provincial govern-ment’s active. “They paved the way so that we could execute our interventions a lot easier,” she said.

Razon also stressed the importance of conver-gence and partnership in putting the massive hous-ing program to reality.

Noting the province’s remarkable development from being a badly dev-astated wasteland into a progressing haven, Razon said she is in awe of how the people recovered de-spite the huge devastation they had faced.

To date, a total of 3,218 houses have already been completed and turned over. This includes the re-

cently turned-over hous-ing units constructed by the Philippine Army’s 544th Engineer Construc-tion Battalion in Barangay Ban-ao in Baganga and Ba-rangay Alegria in Cateel.

Based on DSWD re-ports, 1,568 units were completed in Cateel, 1,218 in Baganga, and 432 in Boston, which ac-counts for about 16 per-cent of the total target of 19,880.

Governor Corazon Malanyaon said delays in the construction were due

to the Low Pressure Areas and typhoon Agaton earli-er this year, which caused massive damage to roads and bridges that delayed the transport of equip-ment and materials.

The governor, howev-er, is hopeful that 70 per-cent of the total target will be completed and turned over before the second anniversary of Typhoon Pablo in December.

DSWD gave assurance that the housing proj-ect would not be the last of its assistance to the

province as it will be en-gaging in more livelihood programs, particularly on agri-based production and micro-enterprising strategies programs.

Malanyaon lauded the DSWD for keeping its commitment to the province despite the fact that the agency had been stretching its coffers to meet the needs of the province and other areas that were recently hit by disasters. (PIO with re-ports from Van Jorain O. Rufin)

THE National Hous-ing Authority (NHA) has released an ini-

tial P1.8 million to set off the development of the P12-million resettlement project in Sto. Niño town in South Cotabato.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, who chairs the Hous-ing and Urban Develop-ment Coordinating Council

(HUDCC), personally deliv-ered the financial grant to the municipal government of Sto. Niño in a brief stop at the South Cotabato pro-vincial capitol in Koronadal City late Monday afternoon.

“This is part of the na-tional government’s com-mitment to address the basic needs of our poor, es-pecially in terms of housing

facilities,” he said during the turnover ceremony.

Binay said the NHA will work closely with the mu-nicipal government of Sto. Niño for the development of the resettlement project, which will benefit around 100 informal settlers in the area.

The project will be implemented within the

2.5-hectare unfinished BLISS housing village in Po-blacion Sto. Niño.

Engineer Samson Es-partero, Sto. Niño munici-pal engineer, said the reset-tlement site was first devel-oped during the early 80s under the Bagong Lipunan Improvement of Sites and Services (BLISS) housing project of the late President

Ferdinand Marcos.He said the municipal

government was able to construct six housing units before the project was shelved following the 1986 people power revolt.

“We will be construct-ing 50 duplex housing units to complete the re-settlement project,” he told PNA.

Espartero said they are targeting to begin the con-struction of the housing units, which would accom-modate two families each, within the fourth quarter of the year.

He said the initial P1.8 million grant will be uti-lized for the mobilization and initial site develop-ment of the project. (PNA)

More families get new houses in DavOr’s typhoon-hit towns

NHA starts dev’t of SoCot resettlement projectBy ALLEN ESTABILLO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014 5EDGEDAVAO

THE ECONOMY

THE Davao City Invest-ment and Promotion Center (DCIPC) is re-

ceiving numerous queries on power generation in-vestments, particularly on solar power.

DCIPC head Ivan Cor-tez said the queries are referred either to Davao Light and Power Compa-ny (DLPC) which supplies the city’s power or to the

Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) which is hosting a one-stop-shop on generating investments in power.

For his part, MinDA di-rector for investments and public communications Assistant Secretary Romeo Montenegro said Davao City in particular and Min-danao in general must prepare to fill the gap of

the power supply require-ments five or 10 years from now.

“There is a need for new investors,” he said.

At present, there are several power projects that will be available start-ing next year, he added.

Montenegro, however, said the power supply in the coming years will not be enough because of the

fast economic growth of Davao City.

He enumerated sever-al capacities that will be commissioned soon, like the 300 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant of AboitizPower, 200 MW of the Alcantara group, and 405 MW by Filinvest.

Montenegro said there is also a plan to increase the 600 MW of San Mi-

guel Corporation to 1,000 MW, and another 540 MW project by GN Power in Kauswagan by the Ayala Group.

“This will provide Min-danao with a reliable pow-er supply starting next year,” he said.

Montenegro said Min-DA is working closely with the Department of Ener-gy (DOE) to promote the

coming in of new capaci-ties to address the power supply problem in Mind-anao.

He said MinDA is also promoting alternative sources of energy “and hopefully by 2025 there will be shift on the mix capacities where renew-able energy dominates the provider of power here.” (PNA)

THE Aquino admin-istration has final-ly come up with

a consolidated version of the fiscal incentives rationalization bill and will submit this to Con-gress this week.

This was the assur-ance given by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisi-ma during the hearing for the proposed P2.606 trillion 2015 national budget at the Senate

yesterday.”We’ve reached an

agreement with DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), final-ly. We will submit this week the revised ver-sion (of the bill),” Puri-sima told Senate Pres-ident Franklin Drilon when the latter asked about it.

The bill hopes to provide further trans-parency in the incen-

tives being extended by the various government agencies to ensure that sectors that provide large benefit to the peo-ple are given a big boost.

Rationalizing tax in-centives is also target-ed to ensure that gov-ernment is not wasting money, which should instead be used for the necessary infrastruc-ture and social protec-tion programs. (PNA)

THE growing perva-siveness of Globe Telecom’s 3G and

4G coverage as well as the proliferation of com-petitively-priced smart-phones led over 90 per-cent of the company’s mobile data customers to subscribe to bulk data plans to meet their grow-ing requirement for inter-

net connectivity.And as the telecom-

munications provider expects to equip 100 per-cent of network with4G HSPA+ technology by the end of third quarter, more and more mobile custom-ers are seen subscribing to bulk data plans.

“More than ever, cus-tomers see the benefits

of staying connected wherever they area. With the prevalence of smart-phones and other mobile devices, people are able to make phone calls, but also perform a myriad of tasks even when they are away from their homes and offices,” Globe Chief Operating Advisor Peter Bithos said.

DCIPC receiving more querieson power generation projectsBy DIGNA D. BANZON

DOF to submit revised fiscalincentives rationalization bill

Robust Globe network boosts subscription to bulk data plans

Over 90% of customers now on Globe GoSURF

VOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014 6 THE ECONOMY EDGEDAVAO

Foreign tourists check out a collection of festival masks peddled along C.M. Recto Avenue in Davao City during the 29th Kadayawan sa Dabaw Festival’s Floral Float Parade last Sunday. Lean Daval Jr.

RISKS to the Phil-ippines’ banking system remain but

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) believes the risk trend is “stable.”

In a statement, the debt watcher said the country’s economic path is also “stable,” buoyed by the improving external profile, moderating infla-tion, and improved exter-nal debt position.

”We view the industry risk trend as stable. We believe banks’ well-estab-lished domestic franchise will continue to help do-mestic banks to sustain a strong, stable, and diver-sified customer deposit profile,” it said.

The credit rating agency also expects the industry’s risk appetite “to remain manageable because they mainly of-fer simple and traditional products.”

It said regulatory stan-dards are “broadly in line with international stan-dards” and even pointed out that the standards, in some instances, are “more stringent.”

On the other hand, S&P noted that inade-quate legislation and legal protection for superviso-ry staff “weaken the reg-ulator’s ability to imple-ment prudent measures.”

”The government’s at-tempts to amend the leg-islation have so far been protracted,” it said.

Despite the situa-tion, S&P classifies the government’s stance on the banking industry as “highly supportive.”

This, it noted, reflects its expectation of “timely financial support from the government to en-sure the stability of the financial system, if need-ed.” (PNA)

S&P: PHL banking system risk trend ‘stable’

AS Davao City’s economy contin-ues to grow, the

Davao City Investment Promotion Center (DIPC) sees the need to catch up in responding to the needs of industry loca-tors, particularly in es-tablishing an economic zone complex.

“The economic growth can’t be denied,”

DCIPC chief Ivan Cortez said.

Cortez said the ser-vices sector remains the engine of growth of the city, with the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA)11re-porting that the sector grew by over six percent.

The NEDA report also showed that the econom-ic growth is also reflected

on the passengers ac-commodated at theFran-cisco Bangoy Interna-tional Airport or Davao International Airport, which reached 2.8 mil-lion or 25 percent with 12,687 flights in 2013.

Cortez, however, said big players in the man-ufacturing sector that have wanted to locate in the city have put off their

plans because there is no economic zone here.

“They are really ask-ing for an economic zone where they can locate their industries,” Cortez said in an interview with reporters.

“The city will have to work double-time in ra-tionalizing the growth being experienced during the past years,” he said.

Cortez said while the city is trying to respond to the needs of the inves-tors, the establishment of an economic zone com-plex lies heavily on the private sector.

He said the country has 90 processing zones, of which only two are run by the government.

He said the city has an economic zone com-

plex but only for Busi-ness Process Outsourcing (BPO).

A 40-hectare econom-ic zone complex with a total investment of P4 million is being put up in the north side of the city but Cortez said he is not at liberty to talk about it. The complex can accom-modate about four big in-dustries. (PNA)

Davao needs an economic zone to host big industriesBy LILIAN C. MELLEJOR

COTABATO CITY – The Department of Labor and Em-

ployment (DOLE) 12 and its attached agencies are recognizing outstanding Overseas Filipino Work-ers (OFW) in Region 12, making it possible for them to lead better lives.

Among the beneficia-ries of the program im-plemented by DOLE 12, National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO), and the Overseas Work-ers Welfare Administra-tion (OWWA) was Jeny Lyn Osano, who worked as household service worker (HSW) in Kuwait and Hong Kong.

Under the “Balik Pinay Balik Hanapbu-hay” program, Osano, who comes from a poor family in Barangay Ti-nongcop, Tantangan, South Cotabato, de-cided to change direc-tion through the help of DOLE 12 to give her family a comfortable life.

Osano, who was di-

agnosed with Discoid (Cutaneous) Lupus while working in Hong Kong, decided to end her contract in 2010 and come home for good.

Undaunted by her illness, Osano never gave up and immedi-ately sought the help of OWWA Region 12 and through the P10,000 Balik Pinay Hanapbu-hay Program.

The rest is history.Osano said after re-

ceiving her Kabuhayan Starter Kit in 2011, her life had changed for good.

Her starter kit from DOLE included a sewing machine with which she started her small busi-ness sewing curtains, throw pillows, pillow cases, mats, and rice sacks.

“I really owed ev-erything to DOLE-NR-CO and OWWA. If it wasn’t for the program for returning OFWs I wouldn’t have the kind

of life my family is ex-periencing right now,” Osano said.

”My business grew and we continue to do all efforts to be success-ful,” she said.

The former HSW’s sewing and pottery making business is now flourishing, enabling her to sustain her life-time medication.

Osano said she now earns P15,000 to P20,000 monthly from her sewed rice sacks and P10,000 from her pots.

She also bought an Elf truck from her earn-ings to ensure that her business expansion in other provinces of Re-gion 12 will succeed.

Osano appealed to fellow Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) to make their families their own inspiration to strive hard and succeed.

She also urged OFWs to avail themselves of government programs as possible. (PNA)

DOLE-12 program changes OFW’s life

DEPARTMENT of Budget and Man-agement (DBM)

Secretary Florencio Abad yesterday said the pro-posed P2.606 trillion na-tional budget for 2015 will intensify the govern-ment’s journey to achieve inclusive and sustained economic growth and to sustain irreversible good governance reforms.

”Certainly our work is not yet done,” Abad told the Senate finance com-mittee members during the briefing of the Devel-opment Budget Coordi-nating Council (DBCC) on the 2015 National Expen-diture Program.

Abad said sustaining the economic growth and to making it truly felt by the people is one of the two major challenges that the administration of President Benigno Aquino is aiming to ad-dress in its two remain-ing years.

”The second challenge is how do we sustain and intensify the reforms we have already rolled out,” Abad said.

He said remarkable growth must translate into real and tangible benefits for the people, especially the poor.

”We have to ensure that public funds go not only to our priority pro-grams for poverty re-duction and economic expansion but also on priority localities where the poor are and where we must create more op-portunities,” he said.

Abad told the Senate panel that poverty inci-dence has been reduced to 24.9 percent in the first semester of 2013 from 28.6 percent in the same period in 2009.

Abad gave assurance that the 2015 nation-al budget will be spent “within its means on the right priorities and with

measurable results.””Moreover, the in-

crease in public clamor for reforms only tells us that we should continue empowering citizens to increase transparency and accountability and most of all wider avenues for their participation in the budget process,” he said.

Abad said under the proposed 2015 national budget, the government intends to take the per-formance informed bud-get “a notch higher” to make sure every peso of the people’s money will be spent for the benefit of everybody.

”At the end of the day, no matter how well we designed our interven-tion and how sharp we target our beneficiaries, this would be meaning-less if these are not felt by our people in an im-mediate and meaningful manner,” he said. (PNA)

2015 budget to intensify journeytowards inclusive growth: Abad

VOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014 7EDGEDAVAO

HEALTH

IS there an army of ants parading in your re-stroom? Chances are

you or someone in your family has diabetes. Ants in the bathroom, most physicians claim, are an effective diabetes indica-tor.

There are about four million diabetics in the country today, three mil-lion of whom do not know they have the disease. “Many people still do not know that they have dia-betes,” says Dr. Tommy Ty Wiling, president of Dia-betes Philippines.

The Department of Health lists diabetes as the ninth leading cause of death among Filipinos to-day. In 20 years, the Phil-ippines is expected to be among the top 10 coun-tries in the world with the highest number of people with diabetes.

Considered a “disease of affluence,” diabetes is taking its place as one of the main threats to hu-man health in the 21st century. “Diabetes is go-ing to be the biggest epi-demic in human history,” warns Dr. Paul Zimmet, director of the Interna-tional Diabetes Institute in Victoria, Australia.

The Geneva-based World Health Organiza-tion (WHO) thinks so, too. By 2030, the world will be home to 366 mil-lion people with diabetes. Most of those diabetics will be from developing countries. In the Philip-pines, some 500 Filipinos are being diagnosed with the condition every day.

“Diabetes has no cure,” says Dr. Ricardo Fernando of the Institute for Stud-ies and Diabetes Foun-dation in the Philippines. “What doctors can do is just minimize the compli-cations or push its onset a little later because the disease is more manage-able among older people.”

Like most diseases, diabetes mellitus – doc-tors use this term to dis-tinguish it from diabetes insipidus, a relatively rare disease – has symptoms. Among the most common signs are excessive urina-tion and abnormal thirst. “I was always thirsty,” recalls former Health Secretary Juan M. Flavier on how he discovered he had diabetes. “I had to go to the toilet frequently at night, and my urinal al-ways had ants.”

Other symptoms in-clude unusual hunger, rapid loss of weight or excessive weight, nausea and vomiting, blurred vi-sion, drowsiness, itchy skin and skin disorders, cramps or numbness in the limbs, and abdominal pain.

Those who are expe-riencing any of the above symptoms but do not be-lieve they have diabetes are gambling with their health. Augusto D. Liton-

jua, founding president of the Philippine Society of Endocrinology, says complications that arise from diabetes include blindness, heart diseases or stroke, kidney trouble, impotence, renal failure, and gangrene that could lead to amputation.

“Blindness can occur 25 times more in diabet-ics than non-diabetics,” Dr. Litonjua says. “They are also twice as prone to heart attacks and strokes, 17 times more prone to kidney disease, and five times more prone to gan-grene. About 50 percent of men with long duration of diabetes are impotent.”

And here’s a bad news for pregnant wom-en: studies showed birth defects occur in 5 to 10 percent to women with diabetes, four times high-er than in women without diabetes.

Health experts say the number of deaths from diabetes in the country cannot be ascertained yet since death certificates only indicate the main cause of death. This means a person who dies of heart attack will be listed as a casualty of cardiovascu-lar disease, even though it could be a complication caused by diabetes.

In the past, diabetes was considered a formida-ble disease. Its diagnosis in a young child was a notice of premature death. Its discovery in a man or a woman in the prime of life meant a complete change in the way of living, and a

greatly reduced expecta-tion of life.

But it all changed when, in 1921, Canadian surgeon Frederick Grant Banting and his collabo-rator, Dr. Charles Herbert Best, succeeded in extract-ing an effective substance from the pancreas of an-imals, and it was tried on dogs. The amount of sug-ar or glucose in the dog’s blood decreased. The sub-stance was called insulin.

On January 11, 1922, a 14-year-old Canadian boy lay in a deep coma caused by diabetes. The boy was the first patient in the world to be given an injec-tion of insulin. The glucose in his blood dropped. He regained consciousness and his strength returned.

Since that day, insulin has saved the lives of mil-lions of people. But it was soon recognized that there were cases of diabetes that did not respond to insulin. Research was intensified into the types of the dis-ease, its mechanisms, and into insulin itself.

The first step in treat-ing diabetes is identifying the diabetic type. There are two types: the juve-nile and adult-onset. Both types are characterized by high levels of blood sugar. Both also share the same crippling or fatal long-term complications caused by excess sugar spilling over into sensitive tissues. But the similari-ties end there.

Elizabeth Hiser, a jour-nalist who writes for The New York Times and suf-

fers from type 1 (juvenile) diabetes, knows it: “The pancreas stops producing insulin, the hormone that allows the glucose in the blood to be moved into cells where it can be used as energy. Not surprising-ly, the symptoms are se-vere, and without regular injections to make up for the lack of insulin, the af-flicted patient risks coma and death.”

Singer and actor Gary Valenciano has also this type of diabetes. His wife, Angeli, has saved the life of her husband several times already. “She has revived me a number of times, preventing me from falling into a diabetic coma,” he reveals.

On the other hand, someone with type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes starts out with abnormal-ly high levels of insulin and can go for years – even decades – without know-ing he has the disease, because no immediate, life-altering symptoms oc-cur.

“The predisposition for developing type 2 dia-betes is inherited,” writes Hiser, “and there are three factors that cause the disease to surface: being overweight, inactivity, and advancing age.”

Having too much body fat (and too little mus-cle mass) decreases the body’s ability to use insu-lin, a condition called in-sulin resistance because cells literally become re-sistant to insulin’s effects.

Health experts say

that carbohydrates, after a meal, are broken down to glucose, or single sugar units, which are absorbed and cause blood sugar levels to rise. Normally, over the next two or three hours, insulin efficiently clears blood sugar back to fasting levels.

When insulin does a poor job, blood sugar stays high between meals, even when insulin levels are abnormally high. As time passes, the insulin-pro-ducing cells of the pancre-as become dysfunctional. At this point, insulin injec-tions are needed.

“If you look at the spread of the scourge around the world, type 2 diabetes occurs as a country advances tech-nologically, when people come out of the fields to sit behind desks,” notes Dr. Irwin Brodsky, director of the Diabetes Treatment Program at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

Type 2 is the strain most people have to fear. This is the real epidem-ic, accounting for 85-90 percent of diabetes cases in the Philippines. “Get-ting diagnosed early is important because most of its serious complica-tions are preventable,” assures Dr. Marie Yvette Rosales-Amante, who had her fellowship in endocri-nology, diabetes, and me-tabolism at the University of Massachusetts.

People with type 1 dia-betes need daily insulin in-jections. Those with type 2 diabetes usually don’t

need insulin injections. But 25 percent of them take drugs to improve sug-ar metabolism. “Treating type 2 diabetes with drugs does reduce blood sugar, that’s true,” says Dr. Willie T. Ong, an internist-cardi-ologist at the Manila Doc-tors Hospital and Makati Medical Center.

But in many cases, doc-tors are electing to treat type 2 diabetes with diet and exercise. They find that this lifestyle approach does more than just re-duce blood sugar.

“It does a lot more,” says Dr. James Barnard, professor of physiological science at the University of California. “The same regimen that puts diabe-tes on hold has a favorable impact on high cholester-ol, high blood pressure, and obesity.” Those three, along with high blood sug-ar, are what doctors call the deadly quarter.

Before doing anything, be sure to talk with your doctor. “We have been saying that diabetes is not a disease to be toyed with,” says Dr. Litonjua. “It should be viewed with concern because if left untreated then there may be serious consequenc-es. The glimmer of hope here is that if you treat a diabetic really well, he will live as long as a per-son without diabetes, and probably with a bet-ter quality of life because he takes care of himself better than one without diabetes who lives reck-lessly.”

DIABETES: THE SILENT EPIDEMICBy ARMANDO A. MORTEJO


Who’s setting the bad example?EDITORIAL

IT is one thing for the city’s officials to lambaste comedian Ramon Bautista for his “hipon” remarks during a Kadayawan

party over the weekend, quite another to de-clare him persona non grata in Davao City. In the first place, the definition of persona non grata precludes it from ever being im-plemented against Bautista: it refers to a foreign person whose entering or remaining in a particular country is prohibited by that country’s government. Last we looked, Bau-tista is a Filipino, and apparently a respected one because he is a professor at the Univer-sity of the Philippines-Diliman.

Even in an informal sense, a local govern-ment cannot ban a Filipino from stepping on its ground because the constitution guaran-tees freedom of travel for all citizens. The sec-ond sentence of Section 6 of the Bill of Rights

says this: “Neither shall the right to travel be impaired except in the interest of national security, public safety, or public health, as may be provided by law.” Whatever he may have done, Bautista did not commit anything that threatens these three conditions.

But more important than the technicalities, we must look into the supposed bad exam-ple that Bautista had set. To be sure he had riled some feathers and offended quite a few people. But who is really setting a bad exam-ple here? Is it Ramon Bautista, who made a mistake but owned up to it and very publicly sought forgiveness not once but twice – first onstage just a few minutes after the hipon incident, and second on Twitter? Or is it the city officials who refused to accept an obvi-ously heartfelt apology and chose to be vin-dictive?

EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

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

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VOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014

WILL HISTORY REPEAT IT-SELF? – A number of Presi-dent Aquino’s political allies

have resumed advocacy for charter change after he said in gist that he is amenable to the idea. The President said, however, he is only content in the desire to revise the constitution if his “bosses” share the common objective that would allow him to serve a second term.

The political opposition and pro-gressive groups view the revision’s aim not to eliminate the charter’s defects, but to prolong President Aquino’s stay in power. Those who oppose Cha-Cha insist that the key amendment in the charter would result in the extension of the terms of elected officials.

Some senior members of Congress and allies of the President also appear unconvinced about the soundness of the move at the time when the coun-try is confronted with mounting so-

cio-economic and political d r a w b a c k s . They believe the Aquino l e a d e r s h i p may be able to do more and better than revising the constitution c o n s i d e r i n g that in less than two years, the Presi-dent will bow out from office.

Some critics are also inclined to be-lieve that the move to change the char-ter is just a political ploy aimed at veer-ing the public’s attention away from the pork barrel crisis.

Initiators of constitutional change in the Lower House think the amend-ments have a good chance of passage.

Many allies of the President would logically support any move that would

result in the extension of their terms, including Cha-Cha. Some of them actu-ally believe that with the right combi-nation of timing and maneuvers, they could push constitutional amendments and have them approve by their “boss-es” in a referendum. This thing is a “game of chicken” and can be done be-fore the term of President Aquino ends.

On the other hand, groups opposed to Cha-Cha will exhaust all means to block the proposed constitution-al amendments. The move to give the President a second term, they warn, could be the beginning of another po-litical crisis.

Some anti-Cha-Cha are remnants of the victims of Martial Law who fear that history will repeat itself; that the amendment of the constitution could lead President Aquino to perpetuate himself in power, just like Ferdinand Marcos. It makes the motives of the President’s men all the more suspect.

IT’S still so early but there’s already so much talk of what’s going to happen in 2016 and beyond. But we hear lit-

tle or nothing about what to do or focus on till then in order to assure our society a smoother progression into the future.

Ideally it would be the President [who must] facilitate discussion on a vi-sion for the future—immediate, medium term, long term—or propose his own ideas; but it may be asking too much.

Nevertheless, one can hope there are far-sighted, strategic thinkers in our so-ciety to oblige with their own thoughts.

One suggestion Pres. Benigno Sime-on Aquino III might entertain is the idea of complementing, extending, or build-ing on his mother’s legacy, which was the restoration of our basic freedoms and democracy.

*****Toward that end, P-Noy could see to

the creation of a social-political frame-work in which genuine democracy can thrive and be institutionalized. By this I mean establishing the essential policies and structures that promote or guaran-tee full play of democratic processes and institutions.

This he can do by defining/identi-fying what restraining forces keep our democracy and politics immature and dysfunctional—then proceed to gener-ate societal responses on how to remedy them.

One restraining force for instance is the unhealthy dominance of political dynasties in our political system. This has its counterpart in the control of big business as a monopoly of a few families, a fact that keeps stretching the gap be-tween the rich and the poor ever wider.

These are worthy issues in our belea-guered society, but they don’t ever get to be discussed, let alone addressed by our putative leaders. It takes statesmanship

to tackle them. Has P-Noy learned to be a statesman?

*****Ever since EDSA and President Co-

ry’s administration, these items have remained on the pending tray of our national agenda.

P-Noy can well afford to grapple with them in the remaining time he has—unless he has effectively devel-oped a fondness for staying on via Cha Cha, which by no means is assured.

Another issue is the natural adjunct to his Daang Matuwid, namely, estab-lishing rule of law more effectively—without which his mantra is just wish-ful thinking and a corny slogan.

Then there’s the weakness of gov-ernance on all levels that remain unad-dressed, with the so-called state policy of autonomy in ersatz operation—local government units continue to rely on connections at high places and partisan sycophancy for their needs.

And of course, there’s people’s em-powerment. Nothing has been done to empower those who are not in power—the citizens. Power remains concen-trated in the entrenched ruling class of traditional politicians. True democra-cy demands active participation of all sectors, operating within a system of checks and balances, with no one group or class overpowering another.

***** But thus far, democracy and its pro-

cesses, as are our freedoms, are taken for granted. There’s no program to in-tegrate their principles and practices in our people’s value system.

Citizens and political institutions need education, nurture, and guides

on how to be good citizens in thought, word and deed.

There’s also the question of nom-inal political parties: no platforms, no programs on which to base which one(s) to support or patronize. Parties are supposed to provide the menu for good governance to aid the electorate in making intelligent or informed deci-sions.

But the so-called political parties don’t even bother to prepare or provide proper platforms of government. They bastardize politics and reduce elections to nothing more than political beauty contests, cockfights, or bruising brawls. Even the Commission on Elections fails to require proper credentials or actual implementation of “paper” platforms as requisite for accrediting the parties.

*****Even the need to orient or mobilize

civil society on their proper role in cre-ating the environment for democracy has been neglected. They are inutile politically, unable to protect their mem-bers from the evils of patronage politics and feudal-minded trapos.

These are only some of the major items on our society pending agenda. Why leave them to P-Noy’s successors? We need to tackle them now so that de-mocracy and our political institutions can flourish.

(Manny is former UNESCO regional director for Asia-Pacific; secretary-gen-eral, Southeast Asia Publishers Asso-ciation; director, Development Acad-emy of the Philippines; member, Phil-ippine Mission to the UN; vice chair, Local Government Academy; member, Cory Govt’s Peace Panel; awardee, PPI-UNICEF outstanding columnist. He is president/national convenor of Gising Barangay Movement Inc. Reader’s may reach him at [email protected]

UNLIKE typhoons, fires leave almost nothing but burned structures and ashes. This was the experience of

Davao City’s central business district un-derwent when a huge fire nearly wiped out its commercial center on Feb. 10, 1964. Although no death was recorded and the incident traced to faulty electrical wiring, the blaze, which started at Davao Superette along Anda Street, near the junction of Rizal Street, was one of the biggest calamities to hit the city in post-war years.

The morning flames ate up Lyric The-ater, Universal Theater, and Liberty Barber Shop, and later all the stores along Anda and San Pedro streets, including the Vera Cruz Hotel. Miraculously spared were the houses of the Magallanes, Monfort and Oboza families. The fire moved westward, consuming a second block that mercifully left intact the homes of the Dizon, Sasin, Pineda, and Panganiban families, situated across the present Phil-Am building.

Embers from the burning blocks were fanned by strong winds that helped start another fire on the third block, which was to the left of the first block. Stores like Gift Mart, Three Sisters, Tung Chong Grocery, and Farmacia Pascual were reduced to ash-es as the conflagration sped in the direction of the City Hall. Similarly, the flying embers from the second block crossed to the near-by chunk, gobbling up Liberty Theater. Only the Carriedo residence was spared.

From the third block, the fire jumped to another, burning the iconic Brokenshire Hospital where Grand Men Seng Hotel now stands. From the first block, the conflagra-tion crossed Ponciano Reyes Extension, a.k.a. Crooked Road, in the direction of San Pedro Church, swallowing on its way to Gems Theater at corner San Pedro and Bolton streets, Loleng’s Refreshment Par-lor, and the pre-war residence of the Lizada family.

Except for the burned trees at the government center, the iconic San Pedro Church, the Immaculate Conception College (which housed an auditorium beside), and the City Hall were past the worst. Through the years more landscape-changing confla-grations hit the city.

The urban legend gaining circulation then was that the big fire was caused by a move in the city council to change the name of San Pedro Street to something else. Peo-ple were also amazed at the fact that after the nuns and students of the old ICC had tied picture frames of the Virgin Mary on the school’s fence, the fire stopped raging from the side of Bolton Street and at May-flower Restaurant right at the back of the school and San Pedro Cathedral.

In the summer of 1965, a big fire nearly razed the entire west-end of the Santa Ana district where imposing warehouses, some of these keeping government stocks were destroyed. The National Rice and Corn Ad-ministration bodega (NARIC, forerunner of National Food Authority), sustained heavy damage, with thousands of sacks of grains ruined due to water seepage and heat. Still, this did not bar people from scavenging the stocks.

The storehouse of National Marketing Corporation (NAMARCO), on the other hand, after the blaze had subsided, showed mountains of burned commodities, from canned sardines to bottled soy sauce, lit-erally posing threats to people who ran-sacked the stockroom. Only the forest patch separating the district from Rosemarie area prevented the spread of the fire.

The famous Luc Tian Restaurant, mak-er of the city’s most popular noodle cui-sine, was partially hit by the conflagration, but was spared because of its tall firewall, which literally stopped the calamity from spreading towards the port area.

Political crisis bogey

A framework for genuine democracy as P-Noy’s legacy?

A city on fireVANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

BY MANNY VALDEHUESA

WORM’S EYEVIEW

BY THE ARCHIVIST

FAST BACKWARD

VOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014 10‘Persona Non Grata’...

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DOLE...

2 busted...

DOJ...

NHA...

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NEWS EDGEDAVAO

HARDHEADED. Unmindful of the risk of being hit by falling debris in a construction site, two unidentified students ignored and disregarded the warning sign. Lean Daval Jr.

“Mr. Bautista willfully and arrogantly intended to propagate a culture of sexism and male chau-vinism that promotes rude and disrespectful behavior against wom-en,” the resolution said.

The resolution said that his insinuations that the young women in the picture are lusting for popularity because he is an endorser of ayosdito.com, an online selling market and Smart shows utter arrogance.

“Mr. Bautista posted in his Instagram account a picture of himself with

his arms draped over three young women at-tending the event and wrote the caption ‘Ito ang kabataan ngayon hihi #Kadayawan #Pa-sisikatinKitaHijaFoun-dation @ayosdito_ph,’” the resolution stipulat-ed.

Last August 16, Bau-tista was presented by the organizers of ‘Ka-dayawan Invasion’ as endorser of online mar-keting site ayosdito.com.

It is said in the state-ment that Bautista shouted his greetings to the crowd by saying

“Tama! Ang daming hi-pon dito sa Davao! Al-right.”

Then, he goaded the crowd to chant ‘hipon’ by yelling “when I say Hi, you say Pon!” and initi-ated the chant twice be-fore shouting alright.

On the later part of the show, Bautista apolo-gized on stage after Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte confronted him upon hearing the statement.

In the weekly Pu-long-Pulong ni Pulong yesterday, Duterte told reporters that he already forgave Bautista since he

apologized on stage last Saturday night.

But because of the call from some wom-en groups, particularly Gabriela, he asked the council to file a resolu-tion for the declaration of Bautista as an unwel-come person in the city.

He said that this group told him in a text message that the state-ment of Bautista is unac-ceptable.

Aside from Gabrie-la, there were also nuns who texted them ex-pressing their sentiment on the statement of the

comedian.Councilor Leah Libra-

do-Yap said in a chance interview yesterday that the comparison of wom-en to food as what Bau-tista is obviously a com-modification of women.

“The mere fact the he made a joke sa atong mga kababaihan, ang ako man gung panguta-na is number one is, why we should equate wom-en sa isa ka butang or pagkaon na tao man ang usa ka babae,” Librado said.

Librado said that Bautista really violated

the Women Develop-ment Code of Davao City but she cannot point out as of the moment, a certain provision in the code which was violated by the comedian.

“The mere fact that the Women Develop-ment Code emphasized that the commodifica-tion of women is against the law and that is a vio-lation,” she said.

Bautista said in his Twitter account last Monday night that he respects the decision of Davao officials and he will abide with it.

ed residents will be also the workers in the pro-posed development.

However, the city gov-ernment of Davao cannot just enter into agreement with any of the three firms because of a presi-dential proclamation.

Former president Jo-seph Ejercito Estrada, through a presidential proclamation, designated the 123, 201- square me-

ter lot of Isla Verde into an area for human habi-tation.

Davao City Mayor Ro-drigo R. Duterte said that there’s a need for reclassi-fication of the area before investors can start with their own respective ven-tures.

Duterte said in an in-terview earlier that he already asked President Aquino on the matter.

He said that he asked third district congress-men Isidro Ungab to hand the request let-ter to the president. “Kay [congressman] Ung-ab ko na pinatrabaho be-cause he has the ear of the President,” he said. Duterte said that he can only talk to the President on “matters of extreme urgency” like issues on security of the city. CRC

More than five hours after the first operation, personnel of Tugbok Po-lice Station apprehended second suspect as Rom-mel O. Torres, 39, farm caretaker, a resident of Sitio Cogon, Barangay Biao Escuela, Tugbok District, in this city.

Reports from the

Operation Unit of Davao City Police Office (DCPO) bared that Tor-res with two other sus-pects at large were suspi-ciously roaming around 8:00 p.m. last Monday and ran when the three were approached by Ba-rangay Peace and Order Unit (BPOU).

Confiscated from Torres was one sachet of suspected shabu.

Each personnel of the responding police stations are preparing to file charges against the two for the violation of Republic Act. 9165 or Comprehensive Drug Act of 2002. CRC

order that the Republic Act No 10533 or the “En-hanced Basic Education Act of 2013” will be really implemented.

Benavidez said that the program has two com-ponents; the first one is providing complimentary senior high school vouch-ers to the incoming senior high school who will en-roll in private HEI.

The other component he said, is the financial assistance which will be provided in the HEIs for their teaching and non-teaching staff.

“What we need to do is, for teaching and non-teaching personnel to be asked to under-take research and exten-sion work or to teach or work as professors or an ordinary worker in se-nior high school. In this wise, there will be min-imal number of faculty members who will be re-trenched,” he said.

He said that this are the things that the gov-ernment is looking and they still have two years to materialize some plans.

Based on the joint guidelines of DOLE, DepEd, TESDA and CHED on the implementation of the labor and man-agement component of RA 10533, the proposed transition fund during interim period in 2016 -2021, is envisioned to provide assistance to HEIs to retained employ-ees who are not trans-ferred to teach or work and/ or work in the sec-ondary education of the same HEI and retrenched employees during the in-terim period.

tice stakeholders that is reflective of our societal norms,” Justice Secretary Leila M. De Lima said on Tuesday.

“We shall now en-dorse the final product of both houses of Congress for their consideration to realize its passage as the new Criminal Code of the Philippines on or before 2016,” De Lima added.

The key features of Book 2 include:

-- structured based on

central themes with com-mon features;

-- rationalized penal provisions by categoriz-ing into three major titles, namely, Crimes against Persons, Crimes against Property and Crimes against the State;

-- modernized archaic provisions by integrating and consolidating several penal laws which refer to the same criminal act;

-- delisted some out-dated penal provisions;

-- inclusion of trans-border crimes; and

-- penal provisions are generally conduct-based.

“We thank the Secre-tary for her support and to all the member agen-cies and offices of the Committee that contrib-uted and participated in this body of collaborative work,” Justice Assistant Secretary Geronimo L. Sy said.

Sy heads the CCC. (PNA)

Nino for the development of the resettlement proj-ect, which will benefit around 100 informal set-tlers in the area.

The project will be implemented within the 2.5-hectare unfinished Bliss housing village in Poblacion of Sto. Nino.

Engr. Samson Esparte-ro, Sto. Nino municipal engineer, said the reset-tlement site was first de-veloped during the early 80s under the Bagong Lipunan Improvement of Sites and Services or Bliss housing project of the late President Ferdinand Mar-cos.

He said the munici-pal government was able to construct six housing units before the project was shelved following the 1986 Edsa people power revolt.

“We will be construct-ing 50 duplex housing units to complete the re-

settlement project,” he told PNA.

Espartero said they are targeting to begin the construction of the hous-ing units, which would ac-commodate two families each, within the fourth quarter of the year.

He said the initial P1.8 million grant will be uti-lized for the mobilization and initial site develop-ment of the project.

The official said they are currently working on the posting or publication of the bidding for the re-settlement project.

“The process could take about a month so, hopefully, we can be able to award the project con-tract by October,” he said.

Meanwhile, aside from the Sto. Nino Re-settlement Project, two more socialized hous-ing projects are due for implementation in the province within the next

two years.South Cotabato (2nd

District) Rep. Ferdinand Hernandez said the HUD-CC and the NHA earlier approved the allocation of around P12 million each for the resettlement projects in Surallah and Banga towns.

He said his office is currently assisting the two local government units in the acquisition of the housing sites to facil-itate their implementa-tion by next year.

Hernandez said he also proposed with the NHA for the expansion of its resettlement proj-ect for the tribal or in-digenous peoples (IP) in T’boli town.

He said the initia-tive will take off from the P10-million “model IP resettlement project” being implemented by the agency in Lake Sebu town. (PNA)


KILLING YOU SOFTLYAIR POLLUTION:

ONE Wednesday morning in October 1948, a heavy smog

– produced when sunlight reacts with hydrocarbon compounds and nitrogen oxides from motor vehicle emissions – settled over Donora, Pennsylvania.

The smog continued for two days, and by Friday, a marked increase in illness started to take place in the area. “By Friday evening, the physicians’ telephone exchange was flooded with calls for medical aid, and the doctors were making calls unceasingly to care for their patients,” the US Pub-lic Health reported. “Many persons were sent to near-by hospitals, and other or-ganizations were asked to help with the many ill per-sons.”

Despite this, no gener-al alarm about the smog’s effects was sounded. That same Friday evening, thou-sands of people attended the annual Donora Hallow-een parade. In the after-noon of the following day, a high school football game was played on the gridiron of Donora High School be-fore a large crowd.

“The first death during the smog had already oc-curred, however, early Sat-urday morning – at 2 a.m. to be precise,” the US Public Health said. “More followed in quick succession during the day and by nightfall word of these deaths was racing through the town. By 11:30 that night 17 per-sons were dead. Two more were to follow on Sunday, and still another who fell ill during the smog was to die

a week later on November 8.”

“On Sunday afternoon, rain came to clear away the smog. But hundreds were still ill, and the rest of the residents were still stunned by the number of deaths that had taken place during the preceding 36 hours.”

Will that incident soon to happen in Metro Manila, too? Some years back, the metropolis was reported to have far higher levels of particulate matter (PM) in its air than New York, To-kyo, or London. “Particle concentrations in Manila’s air are more than 200 per-cent higher than the limits set in the United States,” said a report.

PM refers to any tiny solid particle dispersed from pesticides, asbestos, and thousands of other products. The most notice-able type of air pollution (since it is readily visible), PM often attracts and car-ries chemicals through the air such as dust-carrying sulfuric acid.

Aside from PM, other common forms of air pol-lutants are carbon monox-ide, hydrocarbons (which include benzene, xylene, and ethylene dibromide), sulfur oxides, nitrogen ox-ides, ozone, and residues of the highly toxic tetraeth-yl lead, a substance added to gasoline to enhance its octane value or “burning quality.”

A study commissioned by the Asian Development Bank some years back showed that diesel-fueled vehicles were the prima-ry source of PM in Metro

Manila. Although jeepneys, taxis, trucks, and buses rep-resent only one-fifth of the vehicle population in the metropolis, they produced two-thirds of the SPM, the study disclosed.

“The marked increase of particulate matter (PM) in the atmosphere can cause nose, throat, chest, and eye problems and aggravate the conditions of people suffer-ing from allergies, coughs, and colds,” pulmonologist Dr. Maricar Limpin, former president of the Philippine College of Chest Physicians (PCCP), said in a press statement released by en-vironment group EcoWaste Coalition.

Breathing polluted air is indeed bad for your health. Dr. Juan M. Flavier, when he was still Health Secretary, said: “Among the jeepney drivers plying along EDSA, 33 percent have acute bron-chitis.”

Even if you ride an air-conditioned vehicle, you are not spared from breath-ing air pollutants like lead (which comes mainly from burning leaded gasoline). “A study conducted by the Col-lege of Public Health found that there is hardly any dif-ference in the level of lead in blood and in the frequen-cy of respiratory diseases among jeepney drivers, drivers of air-conditioned buses, and people exposed to polluted air in traffic. So, it doesn’t mean that when we ride in air-conditioned buses, we have already es-caped from pollution,” said Dr. Nelia Cortez-Maram-ba of the University of the Philippines Department of

Pharmacology.“Nowadays, breathing

(in Metro Manila) can be a dangerous business,” com-mented Framelia V. Anon-as, a media service staffer of the Department of Sci-ence and Technology. “The air that breathes your life is the same one that can snuff life out of you.”

Many air pollutants – a mix of gases, droplets, and particles – are able to pass through the lungs into the bloodstream and are even-tually transported to the heart and the entire body through blood vessels.

“Because the cardio-vascular system is depen-dent on the functioning of the respiratory system, it is also indirectly affected by the deleterious effects of the pollution on the lungs,” the World Health Organi-zation (WHO) explained.

A study published in the medical journal Lan-cet showed that those living near a major road have a higher risk of dying earlier than the rest of the population. It concluded that long-term exposure to traffic-released air pol-lution may shorten life ex-pectancy.

Other studies also re-vealed that heart attacks, life-threatening heart rhythms, and thickening of the blood can also be traced to exposure to air pollution. “To make it clear: all these bodily changes spell doom for the Filipinos living in Metro Manila (and other highly-urbanized centers),” warned Dr. Willie T. Ong, a cardiologist who writes a regular column for

a national daily.Perhaps not too many

know that air pollution is tied to high blood pressure in pregnancy. Statistics show that women develop high blood pressure during about one in ten preg-nancies. Having so-called gestational hypertension makes it more likely that a woman will need a ce-sarean section, that she will give birth early, and that her baby will be born small.

“Our results suggest air pollution does have some impact on the risk of gesta-tional hypertension,” said epidemiologist Dr. Xiaohui Xu, who led the study at the University of Florida in Gainesville. “This could have some subsequent ef-fects on both maternal and fetal health.”

But worse, air pollution kills. A global study listed air pollution as one of the top 10 killers in the world, according to a report by the Asian Scientist. Up to a whopping 65 percent of deaths from air pollution occur in Asia.

Air pollution kills three times more than vehicular accidents do, said a study conducted by the WHO. In the Philippines, over four percent of all deaths are attributed to air pollution, according to a report re-leased by the World Bank.

“Air pollution is caus-ing more deaths than HIV or malaria combined,” Kandeh Yumkella, director general of the UN Industri-al Development Organiza-tion, told the participants of the 2012 conference in

Oslo trying to work out new UN development goals for 2030.

A recent WHO study found that 3.5 million people die early annually from indoor air pollution (caused by wood fires and primitive stoves) and 3.3 million from outdoor air pollution.

“We now know that outdoor air pollution is not only a major risk to health in general, but also a lead-ing environmental cause of cancer deaths,” said Kurt Straif, head of the Interna-tional Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)’s mono-graphs section, which is tasked with ranking carcin-ogens. “The air we breathe has become polluted with a mixture of cancer-caus-ing substances.”

Every little bit counts in the fight against air pollu-tion. A study in Europe has found that even very small cuts in pollution can bene-fit health. One recent study from Harvard University found that people living in cities where air pollution decreased in recent years saw their life expectancy increase an average of five months as a result of clean-er air.

Fresh air is invigo-rating. In his column, Dr. Richard G. Mendoza wrote: “Good quality clean air may usually be found in abun-dance in natural outdoor environments, especially around evergreen trees, green plants in mountains and forests, near mov-ing waters such as lakes, oceans, rivers, waterfalls, and after rain.”

By ARMANDO A. MORTEJO

11EDGEDAVAO

ENVIRONMENT

VOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014 12 CLASSIFIED

Billiard Supplies

( )

Phone Nos. Cell Nos.

EDGEDAVAO

INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014

EDGEDAVAOTRENDS

ALTHOUGH your baby’s too small to strike a pose for the camera, pictures are special keep-sakes that parents treasure for a lifetime. In fact, taking baby photos is like a military mission for most moms, who will spare no cost and go to great lengths just to capture her baby’s precious moments for all family and friends to see. In my case, being a working mom, these photos have become the best antidote which eases all melan-choly over missing my little one at home.

Baby’s first close up

best moments to capture tear-jerkingly beautiful im-ages. When planning your ba-by’s photo debut, remember that it’s important to make it comfortable for your little one. Props can prettify and add interest to your images, especially for a baby under 3 months who can’t do a dozen poses on his own. In this stage, babies can only be safely left unattended when lying down. Babies have sweet movements which do not have to be staged at all, so there’s no need to stress over having the perfect pose in every frame. A prop with sentimental value such as a handmade blanket or a hand me down teddy bear are good enough to enhance the overall frame. However, should you have any theme

tos taken using natural light are more realistic and de-lightful to the eye. It’s best to avoid the harsh midday light as will cast shadows on the face and your baby will be more likely to squint due to the flash of sunlight. Don’t just create wonder-ful images of your baby – create memories with your baby! Let the baby inspire you. Be creative and enjoy this bonding experience with your little one. It’s one of those memories you’ll keep looking back and will forever remind you of the magic of your child’s inno-cent smile and touch. Photos courtesy of Mar-lon Advincula. Visit Marlon Advincula Photography on Facebook or call 082 305 59 84. Set design and styling by Veejay Salongga of Decora-tives by Janah & Hercs.

and scene in mind, there are also stylists in town who can help you execute your preferred backdrop and set design. As for the wardrobe, it’s best to keep it stream-lined as bold patterns and prints can be distracting. Statement shirts may be im-possible to read if you can’t get your baby set and posed in the right position. One of the problems you’ll probably encounter when photographing infants is deciding what sort of shots you want to capture. Pho-tographers recommend that you bring yourself down to eye level or zoom in with macro lens to capture the extreme detail of his best features. If the baby sees you at eye level, there is a greater chance for interac-tion and expression. As you follow his every move with your camera, keep yourself on high alert for those in-evitable photo opportuni-ties. You may need to goof around to elicit a reaction. This can include playing hide and seek or making sil-ly clucking noises. You can try to capture natural ex-pressions, candid moments or posed expressions. After taking a full body shot, you may also want to take detail shots of his hands, eyes, feet and mouth --- all which you can put together to create a photo montage. These im-ages, when put side by side, capture all of your baby’s dy-namic personality. Natural light is often more pleasing to a baby’s skin tones. As opposed to artificial lights or flash, pho-

There are parents who opt for a photo session with a portrait photographer who has good experience in cap-turing images of newborns and toddlers. A photogra-pher who has the skill to work with children and ba-bies knows how to manage any kind of situation ---- be it crying times, tantrums, or when nature calls. Some pre-fer to get professional pic-tures of their baby around newborn stage or the three week mark. One of the most enjoyable baby shoots is also during the sitting stage which is usually around 6-7 months, when babies have become to be more animat-ed and interactive with the audience. On another hand, how, where, when and by whom the photos are done play only a minor part in the en-tire experience as what’s re-ally important is to capture that magical essence of your baby. With your camera phone alone, you’ll likely be snapping thousands of pic-tures of your child through-out the course of their child-hood. Motherly instincts are enough to turn you into your baby’s own photogra-pher who can calculate the

Photos byMarlon AdvinculaSet design byVeejay Salonggaof Decoratives by Janah & Hercs

Call: 224-0733 • Tionko St., Davao City

THE NEXT TIME we see Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), the unlikely hero of James Gunn’s spectacular and highly enjoyable space ca-per Guardians of the Galaxy, is 26 years after a brief sad prelude in his former planetary residence - a moment in his childhood in a 1988 Earth, his mom dying in a hospital bed before he got sucked into some space pod.

By Jay Rosas

Filipino comic legends featured on Hero TV this August

A2 INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014EDGEDAVAOMOVIE REVIEW

UP AND ABOUT

THE country’s number one anime channel is turning its sights to the Philippines’ very own animated charac-ters this month of August, when its special production “Comics on Cam” will be pre-miering on Hero TV. “Comics on Cam” will be showcasing classic Pinoy comic book charactersand putting them back into ac-tion through the channel’s motion comics. Gear up to meet original local comic legends this August 24 at 12:00pm before Hero Theat-rixx.

Local color also continues to shine through as Hero TV screens Arnold Arre’s “An-dong Agimat: Kanya ang Kalye.” Catch this 15-min-ute short film by one of the Philippines’ best animators, which even took home the top spot for the Short Film category and the Special Jury Prize in the 7th Anima-henasyon, the country’s ani-mation festival. Also hitting local screens this month is the hit show “Yuyushiki,” a series about three lovely girls and their daily randomness and

wacky humor at their data processing club. Catch it on weekdays at 8:00pm, with replays at 2:00am, 8:00am, and 2:00pm. Apart from all these, Na-

ruto Shipuuden: Season 6 will also continue to air on Hero. Catch it every Saturday at 12:00am, with replays at 12:00pm and 8:00pm. Kuroko’s Basketball: Sea-

son 2 also makes its way into weekdays this month at 8:30pm, with replays at 2:30am, 8:30am, and 2:30pm. Of course, Hero is bring-ing back current favorites with an awesome line-up of returning titles. This month, catch “The Eccentric Fam-ily”, “Love Live! School Idol Project”, “Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East”, “Vampire Knight”, “Shigofumi: Letter from the Departed”, “Toaru Kagaku No Railgun”, “Rahx-ephon”, “Arjuna”, “Digimon Savers”, “Major: Season 6”,

and “Reborn! Season 4”. The month wouldn’t be complete either without three animated movies tak-ing over Philippine televi-sion for Hero Theatrixx. This month, catch “Gundan U.C.”, “Sword of the Strang-er”, and “Rescue Force: The Movie”. The Hero Theatrixx block runs every Sunday at 12:00am, with replays at 12:00pm and 8:00pm. Catch all these and more this August on Hero TV. For updates, visit Hero TV’s official Facebook page (www.face-book.com/myheronation).

unable to fully understand that they have the capacity to do good. It is like a more fun version of Star Wars minus the overwhelming sense of cosmic urgency. The visual design and characters are fascinating. Gunn successfully does away with the dreadful emotional baggage by substituting backstory for some comi-cal existential quirks and hilarious punchlines. Both resolute, Gamora and Drax the Destroyer (ex-WWE su-perstar Dave Bautista) have violent, tragic histories; the orb some trivial means to betray and enact revenge on Ronan. Gunn does some wonders by casting Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel as voice characters. A genetic anomaly, Rocket is perfectly voiced by Cooper, providing hysterical laughs through his neurotic outbursts and frivolous interest in artificial bodily appendages (think the animated equivalent of the curly Cooper inAmeri-can Hustle combined with the manic-depressive Pat Jr. of Silver Linings Playbook). Calling everybody except him an idiot, the raccoon comes down his high chair for some bit of humility and

comforting. And despite the three-word limit, Vin Diesel skillfully changes his tone to a surprising effect and makes the “vocabulistics”-challenged Groot affection-ate, intelligent and sensitive. Even Drax’s annoying ag-gression rubs off when he has finally learned a thing or two about metaphors. Gunn also includes some set pieces that are exciting and lovely to look at, (Starlord and Gamo-ra floating in Knowhere, the Xandar spacecrafts forming a shield against the Dark As-ter) adding color to what can be a drab space and a respite from the elaborate mish-mash of explosions. When the Guardians-villain stand-off is resolved in the end partly via a failed Ronan-Starlord dance-off, Quill realizing his Terran origin and with a newfound family of ragtag oddballs, in the end, the orb begins to feel commonplace compared to that other thing Quill holds on to with the most senti-mental value – his Walk-man. In the first scene with a grownup Quill, the camera follows his hand to reveal his Walkman, with a cassette tape labeled Awesome Mix Vol. 1 filled with 70s pop/

rock music that his mother left him. He presses the play button and the beats of Red-bone’s Come and Get Your Love seduces you to do the sexy/silly dance moves as if the Morag cave is filled with loudspeakers. Beside the im-promptu dancing rekindling some Andy Dwyer reckless-ness in Parks and Recreation, that opening scene carries with it a deserved nostalgia and a soothing kind of sen-timentality - the anonymous hero alone, scouring for ar-cane thingamajigs, offering some momentary purpose to his listless existence. The soundtrack pro-vides that emotional con-text and uncanny texture to Quill’s character, as well as Gunn’s overall vision. Here, the cheekiness is more en-dearing because it’s serious enough not to be serious. Yet, Guardian’s self-aware unpre-tentiousness is poignant. Just like Quill’s Walkman, the film’s emotion and spirit is latched on to some moment in the past, assortments or things that remind us of a certain way of doing stuff and enjoying it. Call it escape, like Clint Eastwood’s recent film, the under-appreciated Jersey Boys, but pressing

the play button of a cassette tape and revisiting the plain goodness of a pop song or the grandeur of forgotten films, is a kind of wish fulfillment that we all engage in once in a while to give us perspective and enough sunshine to face the present. Guardians of the Galaxy is that stroke of marvel (no pun intended) in the superhero-populated vastness of Marvel universe. It certainly is the most entertaining Marvel franchise to come out of re-cent memory, eclipsing this year’s Spiderman, Captain America and X-Men sequels. In the end, they really be-come just the sort of com-mercial expectations, aiming to be better versions of their previous selves with our own superficial familiarity with them giving us a sense of auto-excitement. The Guard-ians will be back, probably shedding light to Thanos, and unfortunately becoming part of this lot of movie fran-chises. Hopefully, the charm and playfulness remains in-tact with Gunn at the helm. In the meantime, we have this installment to enjoy for a little while as we channel our own Starlord groove, still hooked on that feeling.

Quill, who now calls him-self Star-lord (which turns out is not much of a house-hold name even by notori-ety), enters a massive and desolate enclave in some abandoned planet called Morag, looking for an orb which power is as mysteri-ous as it is destructive in the wrong hands. Quill doesn’t know this of course; he only intends to sell it to The Col-lector of Xandar, the Comic-verse’s Earth twin in Gunn’s Marvel hodgepodge of inter-galactic fun. This orb sets the narrative in motion. We learn that aside from Quill a host of other characters also want a piece of it. This includes Gamora (a green Zoe Saldana) an assassin of Ronan the Ac-cuser (Lee Pace), the movie’s main villain, who is desper-ate for galactic domination. There is also Yondu (Michael

Rooker), Quill’s erstwhile ab-ductor cum unwanted sur-rogate father, and his band of never-do-gooders who chase Quill from Morag to Kno-where, a kind of interstellar purgatory (where we meet Tevan the Collector played by Benicio del Toro in some version of David Bowie) to Xandar. What really unrav-els is standard-issue plotting for any Marvel flick but inter-estingly there is enough sen-sibility to Gunn’s direction that makes it un-Marvel-ish. He infuses the five Guard-ians with enough pathos and character that we invest in them, never mind if it isn’t the frantic Tony Sparks, the time-embattled Steve Rogers or the emotive, adolescent Peter Parker. After all, this isn’t some superhero movie, but a band of misfits in some far-out space opera version of Godard’s Band of Outsiders,

Galactic grooveJames Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy

INdulge! A3

PG 13 /

* PG 13

R 13

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

R-16

TALK BACK AND YOU'RE DEAD

12:10 | 2:45 LFS / * 5:20 | 7:40 | 10:00 LFS

THE EXPENDABLES 3 / *TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA

TURTLES

James Reid, Nadine Lustre, Joseph Marco

Sylvester Stallone /

* Megan Fox, Johnny Knoxville

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

PLANES 2

Dane Cook, Julie Bowen

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

RUROUNI KENSHIN 2

Takeru Satoh

VOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014 EDGEDAVAO

“SA totoong buhay, wala naman tayong bida at kontrabida. Laging tayo ang bida. It’s your story,” says LJ Reyes, who believes that being a protago-nist or an antagonist does not matter, as long as an actor por-trays a character with credibility. Coming a long way from being a Starstruck first prin-cess to playing various roles on television, LJ has come to embrace showbiz and all the blessings and woes that it brings. It is the same industry that saw her trans-formation from the sweet, teeny bopper actress to the strong-willed and proud sin-gle mother that she is today. On the 10th year of Cin-emalaya, LJ is proud to be a part of the indie film The Janitor, which bagged the most number of awards in the said festival, where she stars opposite award-winning actor Dennis Trillo. The Janitor is her third stint in the indie scene following The Leaving and Intoy Syo-koy ng Kalye Marino. In this exchange with the actress, LJ talks about her role in The Janitor and her controversial “bed scene” with Dennis, what she loves about acting for both film and TV, and the joy of being a single mom. Q: What is The Janitor all about?A: ‘Yung plot nu’ng movie is about being a good man, and ‘yung blind loyalty. Si Dennis dito plays a police of-ficer na sobrang gusto niya talaga mag-serve. But then circumstances changed his fate. Medyo political na touching din on social ‘yung issues sa project niya. Q: How did you land your role in this film?A: Tinawagan ako ni Direk Mike for it, sabi niya “LJ can we have a meeting? Kasi I’m doing a Cinemalaya film and gusto ko sana na makatra-baho ka.” Tapos na-excite ako sabi ko, “Sige, sige, Di-rek.” So nag-meet kami, kinuwento niya sa akin ‘yung plot nu’ng story, ‘yung characters, tapos sabi niya, “Are you willing to do Mel-ba?” Sabi ko, “Of course, Di-rek, of course!” Sabi ko, “No problem, I would be very honored to play Melba.”

Q: Can you describe Melba to us?A: Melba is the wife of Cri-santo, si Dennis Trillo. Very loving siya, mapagtiis na-man siya sa buhay kasi sy-empre ‘yung life ng isang police officer dito and sa totoong buhay hindi naman talaga ‘yung very comfort-able di ba? Tapos pregnant siya with their child, siya rin ‘yung nag-aalaga sa sick mother ni Dennis, and also dealing with the alcoholic father. So medyo stressful din talaga dun sa house-hold. But then tinitiis niya ‘yon for Dennis kasi mahal niya si Dennis. Then nu’ng marami nang nangyayari kay Dennis, na-overwhelm siya, nagkakaroon ng prob-lema sa marriage. Q: How did you prepare for such a role?A: Since medyo familiar na-man ako sa situation ng family, tapos sa pagiging pregnant, pinagsama-sama ko na lang and then siyem-pre nagtatanong ako kay Direk kung ano ‘yung gusto niyang character talaga ni Melba and then nakatulong din na magagaling talaga ‘yung co-actors ko. So, ang sarap. Parang it’s easier, rela-tively easier na gawin ‘yung mga eksena kasi very gener-ous ‘yung kasama kong ac-tors. Q: Since this is already your third indie film, fol-lowing The Leaving and Intoy Syokoy ng Kalye Marino, how will you com-

pare it to your acting on television?A: Actually kasi kapag mov-ie, sa big screen, internal talaga. Kailangan maparam-dam mo kasi usually ito lang talaga ‘yung nakikita sayo eh (frames her face), mukha lang talaga. So ‘yun, sa eyes lang talaga. Sa TV kasi minsan may wide, medyo technical ‘yung sinasabi ko. Anyway, magkalapit naman nang kaunti. At saka ‘yung character kasi ni Melba, medyo subtle ‘yung move-ments niya. ‘Yung di siya masyado nagpapakita ng anger kasi nga nagtitiis siya. Q: What do you enjoy do-ing—the movies or your TV projects?A: I really enjoy doing both. Iba kasi ‘yung mga role na nabibigay sa akin sa TV, iba rin ‘yung nabibigay sa akin na role sa indie. Sometimes, nalalaro ko siya pareho in a different way. So ang sarap, ang sarap-sarap ng feel-ing. Kung papipiliin ako, di ko alam kung ano ‘yung pipiliin ko. Pero nakakatu-wa lang din kasi sa indie films, maraming kakaibang kwento na nagagawa. Kasi siyempre sa TV maraming nakakapanood, di ba? May mga bata so maraming re-strictions. Sa indie films mas walang restrictions.Q: You sometimes play the good girl, and at times the bad one. For you, in which role are you effective as an actress?A: Gusto ko talaga nagaga-wa ko both. Sa totoong

buhay, wala naman tayong bida at kontrabida. Laging tayo ang bida. It’s your story, ‘yun talaga ang tumatakbo di ba? So ‘yung ibang tao, sila ‘yung support sa story mo. Kahit na kontrabida ka sa TV, di mo naman iisipin na, “kontrabida ako”—isto-rya ko ‘to, noh! Parang ga-nun. So I don’t believe na may bida kontrabida. Q: How did you react to Dennis Trillo being your leading man? Is this the first time?A: Yes, first time na maging leading man ko siya. Tapos niloloko tuloy ako ni Di-rek. Sabi niya, “Si LJ nagre-request ng love scene!” Hahaha. Tawa ako nang tawa kasi may isang scene kami na gagawin sa bed pero pa-tweetums. Parang nagkukulitan kami, nagha-harutan. Pero sabi ko “Wow, Direk, ha! Ito na ba ‘yung love scene namin? Haha!” Tapos tawa nang tawa si Direk, sabi niya, “Si LJ nagre-request ng love scene!” Ako naman, “Direk hindi!” Ayun tuloy naging joke ever since. Q: How is Dennis as a lead-ing man?A: Very generous siyang co-actor. As in magre-react ka na lang talaga sa kanya. Masarap siyang katrabaho, very professional, magaling na artista. Wala ka na talag-ang hihinging iba pa. Q: Apart from acting, what other activities keep you busy?A: Meron akong spa, sa Timog, sa Luxent. I want to put up another business by early next year. And siyem-pre I engage into working out, exercise, healthy living. I want to go back to school. Naghahanap pa ako ng time kasi I still have one more year left in La Salle. I want to finish it siyempre to also in-spire my kid to study. Gusto ko rin talaga, nami-miss ko na mag-school, actu-ally. Nakaka-miss talaga siya. Marami talaga akong gusto gawin sa buhay. You just re-ally have to find time. Espe-cially ‘yun nga dahil may kid. When he grows older, kapag nasa big school na siya, mas may time na ako na guma-wa ng iba pang mga bagay. So ‘yun, everything will fall into place. You just pray for it, and you ask na mangyari ‘yon in His time.

ENTERTAINMENT

LJ Reyes:A protagonist of her own COCO AND KIM GAIN NEW RECOGNITIONS IN EDUKCIRCLE AWARDS.

“Ikaw Lamang” lead stars Coco Martin and Kim Chiu continue to earn more nods from award-giving organizations after they recently won in the 4th EdukCircle Awards, which promotes excellent media communication in the Asia-Pacific Region. After bagging the Celebrity and Actress of the Year award in the 2014 Yahoo! Celebrity Awards, Kim added a new feather to her cap as she was recognized as EdukCircle’s Most Influential Film Actress for her film “Bride For Rent” under Star Cinema. Grand slam actor of the year Coco also received the Best Television Drama Actor of Year award for his superhero teleserye “Juan dela Cruz.” Aside from EdukCircle, Coco was also named as the Male Showbiz Icon of the Year by the entertainment blog PhilippineEdition.com.

A4 INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014EDGEDAVAOEVENT

Romancing the beautyof the vintage terno

FILIPINO traditional wear is a often a fu-sion of Eastern and Western influences and are often considered works of art thanks to the intricate details and craftsmanship that is invested in these pieces and nothing is more beautiful than the classic Terno. Wanting to showcase the beauty of this traditional Filipino dress, the Hijos de Davao Foundation held a vintage terno exhibit titled “Through the years, a Dis-play of Vintage Ternos,” at the ground floor area of the Abreeza Mall last August 13. The exhibit features a collection of vintage and classic ternos that were collected by families of the original migrant settlers who arrived in Davao City some fifty years ago. Some exquisitely-designed Ternos that are on display include a heavily embroidered floral gown by Patis Tesoro worn by Carmen Tionko-Gahol; an organdy silk Terno with gold embroidery by Aureo Alonzo worn by Estela Marfori-Posadas; and a Baro’t Saya designed by Davao’s fashion Czar Alfonso “Boy” Guinoo for Perla Rañon Palma Gil. The exhibit is located at the ground floor area of the Abreeza mall and also features a panel display of the upcoming Hijos de Davao coffee table book. The exhibit runs until the 20th of August.

By Kenneth Irving Ong


SELECTED employ-ees of Davao City Water District

(DCWD) joined the sec-ond batch of the 5th Employees Tree Plant-ing Activity on June 27, planting 150 nar-ra seedlings along the ridge of Diolo Creek in Sitio Lipadas of Baran-gay Manuel Guianga. Together with the seed-lings planted by the first batch on April 23, a to-tal of 350 narra seed-lings have been planted through this year’s re-forestation activity in the half-hectare area.

Aside from being an annual activity, the tree planting was done to commemorate Envi-ronment Month in June. Led by the Environment and Watershed Protec-tion Division (EWPD), the participants were briefed on the water utility’s watershed re-habilitation and related community-based pro-grams. They were also oriented on the proper ways of handling and planting to give the seedlings better chanc-

es of survivability.Besides planting,

DCWD also subsidizes the cost of parenting and maintenance of the planted seedlings. The

residents within the planting area help in the maintenance.

The water utility’s in-house tree planting efforts started in 2010

to actively involve the employees in the cam-paign for environmental protection. Now on its fifth year, DCWD em-ployees have planted

trees in Barangays Dali-aon, Tambobong, Mala-gos, and most recently in Manuel Guianga.

The EWPD notes high survivability of the

planted trees and thus encourages the men and women of DCWD to con-tinue reforestation ac-tivities. (Jamae R. Gar-cia)

13EDGEDAVAO

COMMUNITY SENSEDCWD employees plant more trees

TREE PLANTING. Participants of this year’s reforestation activity batch 2 end the day with a happy hooray for the environment.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014 14 EDGEDAVAOSPORTS

ROOKIES. Jericho Cruz in actin against Frank Bonifacio in the PBA Rookie Draft workout. Box-ing star Manny Pacquiao was a no-show. Nuki Sabio

SANMIG Coffee Mix-ers guard Peter Jun Simon’s is like vin-

tage wine. He got better as he logged more years in the PBA.

We don’t want to say old. PJ, nicknamed “The Scoring Apostle” is only 34 years old and is good for a few more years in the PBA.

Yesterday, the Univer-sity of Mindanao product, shared his thoughts in an interview with 105.9 Balita FM and shared his random thoughts on the Gilas national duty, the PBA Draft and Manny

Pacquiao.Simon is in town for

the PBA offseason. He has a house in Mintal and spends time with basket-ball buddies to keep in shape. On Monday night, he guested in the opening of the 2014 Kadayawan Invitational Basketball Tournament at the Davao City Recreation Center.

Asked if he felt by-passed in the selection for the national team, PJ said it is everyone’s dream to be in the na-tional squad but he ad-mitted he is not bitter he was not picked in the

SMART Gilas Pilipinas.“I’m happy that (Marc

Pingris) Ping is there,” he said.

Pingris is Simon’s teammate in the SanMig Mixers squad which be-came the PBA’s fourth Grand Slam team.

On 8-division boxing champ Manny Pacquiao’s entering the league as a basketball rookie, Si-mon said he welcomes the development and if he were a PBA coach or team owner, he would draft Manny.

“Good for marketing,” said Simon.

He also picked Stan-ley Pringle as the best in the draft this year. “I’d pick Pringle as my top draft choice.”

Simon’s journey went through three basketball leagues beginning with the defunct Metropoli-tan Basketball Associa-tion (MBA) to the Philip-pine Basketball League (PBL) and the PBA. He was picked no. 43 over-all in the 2001 draft and became a free agent. He drifted into the MBA and PBL before he was signed by Purefoods in 2004.

THE New York Knicks will add Jim Cleamons to

new coach Derek Fish-er’s staff, the Los An-geles Times reported Monday.

Cleamons, a long-time NBA assistant, served on former Mil-waukee Bucks coach Larry Drew’s staff last season.

Knicks president Phil Jackson and Clea-mons have a long histo-ry of working together - first with the Chicago Bulls and then with the Los Angeles Lakers. Cleamons was on Jack-son’s coaching staff for numerous NBA titles.

Cleamons and Fisher also previously worked together when Clea-mons was an assistant coach and Fisher a point guard for the Lakers from 1999 to 2004.

The Lakers’ reunion in New York includes Kurt Rambis, a longtime Jackson assistant who is part of Fisher’s staff.

- - -The Detroit Pistons

signed free agent for-ward Cartier Martin and center Aaron Gray.

The 6-foot-7 Martin

brings career averages of 5.4 points, 1.6 re-bounds and 0.5 assists in 220 games with At-lanta, Chicago, Wash-ington, Golden State and Charlotte.

The 7-foot Gray has career averages of 3.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 318 career games for Chica-go, New Orleans, Toron-to and Sacramento.

- - -The Toronto Raptors

signed forward-guard Jordan Hamilton. The 6-foot-7 Hamilton aver-aged 6.7 points and 3.2 rebounds in 60 games, including 12 starts, last season with the Denver Nuggets and the Hous-ton Rockets.

- - -The Memphis Griz-

zlies signed 2014 sec-ond-round draft pick Jarnell Stokes to a multi-year contract.

The 6-foot-9 Stokes, a power forward who played his college ball at Tennessee, was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 35th overall selection and was traded to Mem-phis on draft day for a 2016 second-round draft pick.

THE Davao City Exec-utives turned back Digos City Execu-

tives, 97 – 84, in a friendly basketball match on Mon-day at the Davao City Rec-reation Center Almendras Gym.

The usually-hot Chris-topher “Bong” Go put on a brilliant game finishing with double-double as the sweet-shooting guard pumped in 35 points on top of 10 assists to lead the way for the Davao Ex-ecutives.

Go, the executive as-sistant of Mayor Rodri-go Duterte, was on fire right from the opening tip, erupting for 17 with baskets from different va-riety- floaters, fall-away and pull-up jumpers, running jump shots and from behind the arc.

Davao Executives wrapped up the first peri-od with a 16 points lead, 35 – 19, and dictated the tempo of the match en route to victory.

Glenn Escandor backed him up with 13 points and Gil Ciudadano joined the scoring bash

with 12.Digos Executives dis-

played their wares by mounting a big fightback in the second period with tough plays from Cabrera, Navarro and Manalang that cut the deficit to sin-gle digit late in the period.

But the Davao Execu-tives regrouped superbly with Go came out firing on all cylinders in the third canto to push the lead back.

By the time the third period ended, the Davao Executives were leading by 18, 78 – 60, and were never threatened any-more the rest of the way.

Cabrera paced with 22 for the Digos Execu-tive squad led by Mayor Joseph Peñas, Digos City Hall department heads, chief of police from vari-ous Digos police precincts and personnel from the Bureau of Fire Protection

Manalang and Navar-ro finished the game 13 and 10 points respective-ly.

Next friendly game is set on September 8 in Di-gos City. (Rico Biliran)

Davao edges Digos in Battle of the Executives

NBA ROUNDUP

[email protected]

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

PJ: I’ll pick Manny from the draft

THE MP Promotions in cooperation with Joven Sports Pro-

motion is staging a dou-ble-main event dubbed as ‘Tibay ng Pinoy 4’ on August 23 at the 6 p.m. at the Almendras gym.

“This is our Kaday-awan sa Dabaw boxing presentation,” said pro-moter Joven Jimenez.

Pitted in the main-headers are Inter-national Boxing Federa-tion (IBF) International super flyweight cham-pion Jerwin “The Pret-

ty Boy” Ancajas of MP Promotions Davao and Rochmad Santoso of In-donesia in a 10-rounder non-title fight.

Co-main event will feature Aston “Di-ego Corales” Palicte of MP Promotions Davao against Franvis Damur Plue also of Indonesia in a 10-rounder 115 lbs. match.

Ancajas, a native of Panabo City, previous-ly scored a first round knockout over Thai boxer Petchwanchai Sor Viset-

kit last February 3 at the USEP Gym in Bo. Obrero.

The 22-year old An-cajas has a ring record of 20 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw with 12 knockouts while Santoso of the Kusuma Stable is toting 11 wins, 3 loses and 6 KOs.

In his last fight, Santo-so, 26, bowed to Japanese fighter Taro Oikawa by a 5th round KO in Aichi, Japan last December 1, 2013.

“Gutom sa panalo ulit itong si Santoso. Kaya de-likado na kalaban,” said

Jimenez.Palicte, 23, also

scored a first round stop-page against Robel Ville-gas in his last fight last February 3 at the USEP Gym. He now has a re-cord of 14 wins, 10 Kos and 1 loss.

Palue, on the other hand, is a 30-year old fighter with 7 wins, 3 Kos, 3 loses and 2 draws. He is coming from a con-troversial split decision setback from country-man Marten Kisamlu last Feb. 21.

CARL Zirex Sato of Panabo City and Janes Hiftield Cain-

gles of Holy Cross of Davao College posted contrasting wins in ruling the 20 Un-der division of the 29th Kadayawan Age-Group Chess tournament held August 16 at the NCCC Mall of Davao.

Sato (4.0) beat Clark Kent Anabieza (4.0) of

Jose Maria College and John Gerard Acedo (4.0) of Davao in a tiebreak to rule the boy’s category.

Caingles, on the other hand, beat all her rivals in topping the distaff side with 5.0 points. Mary Jo-nah Lequin (4.0) and Char-maine Rosatace (3.5) both of Cor Jesu College from Digos City placed second and third, respectively.

Sato, Caingles topKadayawan Chess

Tibay ng Pinoy 4 at Almendras gym

AMBUSHED

15EDGEDAVAOSportsVOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014

DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte spoke of respect

moments before tipoff. Exactly that word “re-spect” will have to stick in the minds of The Roy-al Mandaya Hotel-CMO squad seeking for a fourth crown in local hoopdom.

Showing little respect to the 2012 champions, Montana Pawnshop de-livered one crippling spurt in the third quar-ter and left something in the final period for the final blow that sent TRMH-CMO down to its opening day loss 73-63 in the 2014 Kadayawan

Invitational Basketball Tournament at the Davao City Recreation Center on Monday night.

The Hoteliers, ap-peared to give no respect too to the smaller but more pesky Pawnbro-kers who hounded them no end on defense. The match was close through-out with the Hoteliers dominating the first two quarters 34-28 as Darwin Cordero, Mark Yee and Dino Daa hit their marks early.

After the break, Mon-tana came out spewing fire as new recruit Biboy Clavel broke free from

his guards and scoring off steals and putbacks. 6-8 import Steve Acomo was also a force in the middle for Montaña as his presence intimidated the smaller frontline of TRMH-CMO. By the mid-dle of the third, the Pawn-brokers caught up with the TRMH-CMO before taking its biggest lead in that stretch at 49-42.

Lyndon Gudez scored for TRMH-CMO to knot the count at 54-all 6:31 in the final period but just as quickly the run was doused with cold water as Clavel led a 10-5 surge, 1:44 to go. Eman Calo hit

a triple from the top of the arc to put the Hote-liers within 3, 64-61, 1:19 left in the match.

Rugged Montaña cen-ter Ronald Lamocha hit two freebies and Glenn Manlangit went to the line twice going 3-of-4 to nail the win for the Pawn-brokers who went up for good 69-61 with 24 ticks left.

Clavel fied 8 points for Montaña but it was his in-tangible figures�the hus-tle plays and smarts�that was the chief factor in the game. Manlagit had 19 for Montaña while Aco-mo scored 13 in his debut

in Davao. Lamocha added 11.

TRMH-CMO was paced by ex-pro Mark Yee with 15 but no other Ho-telier scored double digit. Import Mike Harry was a no-factor with only 2 points to show.

“Next game. We need to move on,” said coach Ronel Leuterio of TRMH-CMO.

Goldstar Hardware beat MP Hotel 71-63 in the second game. TRMH-CMO will battle MP Hotel in their second outing while Montana seeks for a finals slot against Gold-star.

Mayor Duterte along with PBA star Peter Jun Simon led the opening ceremonies of the annu-al tournament organized by the Duterte Basketball League and sanctioned by the Samahang Basket-ball ng Pilipinas under Regino “Boy” Cua.

Montana 73—Man-langit 19, Acomo 13, La-mocha 11, Clavel 8, Blan-co 8, De Guzman 3, Espir-itu 2, Estrella 1, Awitin 0

TRMH-CMO 63-- Yee 15 Tangkay 8 Cordero 7 Calo 6 Hayes 6 Gudez 6 Bulac 3 Gerilla 3 Harry 2 Cruz 2 Mondragon 0

Andaya 0

[email protected]

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

BIGTIME HOOPS IS BACK. Mayor Rodrigo Dute-rte (inset) prepares to toss the ceremonial tipoff as PBA star Peter Jun Simon applauds. Mark Yee (left) of The Royal Mandaya Ho-tel-CMO goes up strong to the hoop and got challenged by Biboy Clavel of Montaña Pawn-shop (45) during the opening game between TRMH-CMO and Montaña. Lean Daval Jr.

TRMH-CMO bows to Montana73-63 in opener

VOL. 7 ISSUE 112 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014 16 EDGEDAVAO

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