P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 2014

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

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

FTHEY’RE, 10

THEY’RE HEAD ON OVER RAMON

Rody, Pulong clash over reconciliation issue

THE BIG NEWS Page2

SPORTS page 15

US OPEN: THE HEAT IS ON

DAVAO RANKS NO. 5 INHIV-AIDS CASES

INSIDE EDGEIT’S personal.

Davao City Mayor Ro-drigo R. Duterte reminded

his son Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte that his reconciliation with comedian Ramon Bautis-ta last Tuesday night is a per-sonal declaration and does not bind the declaration of the city council.

In a statement, Duterte re-

minded the city council that its persona non grata declara-tion of Bautista is only a res-olution and not an ordinance.

“Let me remind the honor-able vice mayor and the ma-jority that their decision to de-clare Ramon Bautista persona non grata is a city council res-olution and not an ordinance. It does not bind me and every-

one else who disagree with it. The essence of a democracy is the right to dissent,” he said.

The elder Duterte even used a philosophical maxim to describe his sentiments, “as Voltaire would put it, “I may disagree by what you say, but I will defend your right to say it’. For your education.”

STRONGER BUSINESS CLIMATE. Davao’s economic growth is marked by local players competing in highly-driven industries like real estate development. One such example is the emerging Matina Enclaves mixed use project by homegrown developer Escandor Development Corpora-tion (Esdevco) located in Tulip Drive, Matina. The project’s main gate (in photo) has recently been completed. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 20142

F9,000, 10

FMARQUES, 10

EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS

DAVAO del Sur gover-nor Claude Bautista said that a total of

9,000 civilian volunteers from the municipality of Malita have been initially trained to be part of the barangay civilian auxiliary force.

Bautista, who graced the 8th Founding Anniver-sary of Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) as guest speaker yesterday, said that the recruited un-

armed civilians will be part of the quick response team of each barangay.

“It is essential for the local government unit to complement the efforts of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) to achieve lasting peace,” Bautista said who was also among the government officials awarded and recognized yesterday because of his contribution in AFP’s peace and development

program.He said that the civilian

forces were trained by the personnel of the 73rd Infan-try Battalion based in his province.

“Each team will be des-ignated to secure their as-signed area. Kung naay ma-hitabo sa ilahang barangay , sila ang unang magreport sa atong kapulisan (They will the first one to report to the police if there are in-cidents),” Baustista said.

He said that the vol-unteers where given com-munication paraphernalia and uniforms. Each was enrolled to various liveli-hood program of the gov-ernment.

Bautista said that the province took this initiative to compensate the scarcity of police cops and military personnel in different ar-eas, especially where there is insurgency problem.

PHOENIX Petroleum Philippines presi-dent and CEO Dennis

Uy has been promoted to the honorary rank of Com-modore of the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary, from the rank of Captain, in a donning ceremony held on August 27.

The promotion is a one-star general rank.

The ceremony was held during the 29th ac-tivation anniversary cele-bration of the Philippine Coast Guard at the Coast Guard District Southeast-ern Mindanao Headquar-ters in Sasa, Davao City.

Leading the ceremony were PCG District Com-mander South Eastern Mindanao COMMO George

Ursabia Jr., PCG Comman-dant VADM Rodolfo Isore-na, Uy, and PCGA District Director South Eastern Mindanao COMMO Efren Elbanbuena.

Phoenix Petroleum also received a plaque of appreciation from the Philippine Coast Guard “for the unwavering sup-port and assistance ex-tended to Coast Guard District Southeastern Mindanao in the fields of marine environmental protection, disaster relief operation, community re-lations, and capability de-velopment.”

Davao-based Phoenix Petroleum is the leading independent oil company in the Philippines.

THE Davao City Tourism Opera-tions Office (CTOO)

wants the Kadayawan Foundation to lift the ac-creditation fee for activ-ities mounted by private sectors in next year’s Kadyawan Festival.

CTOO head Lisette Marques told reporters yesterday in an interview said that she would tell the executive committee next year to recommend that there would be no accreditation fee on the

activities.Marques said asking

fees for accreditation is not a way to earn income. Marques said that it is not just earning but way of promoting the city’s fes-tival.

“Sana they would un-derstand how tourism works. The 1.4 million tourist arrivals that we get, if we multiply that with their numbers of stay here… that is P14.7 billion,” She said.

CHECKED. Participants from South Cotaba-to of the three-day Regional Association of Local Budget Officers seminar watch as a bomb-sniffing dog check their bags at the lobby of The Royal Mandaya Hotel in Davao City Wednesday morning. The seminar ends today. Lean Daval Jr.

Marques: Remove accreditation fees

Phoenix president, CEOnow PCGA commodore

crc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

9,000 DavSur barangay cops trained

THE Davao Region now ranks fifth in the number of cas-

es of Human Immunode-ficiency Virus –Acquired Immunodeficiency Syn-drome (HIV- AIDS) na-tionwide, latest statistics showed.

This is an improve-ment of the 2010 statis-tics, wherein the Davao Region ranked No. 2 in the whole country.

According to the Na-tional Epidemiology Cen-ter of the Department of Health (NEC-DOH), as

of July 2014, the region contributed 6 percent of the total 585 confirmed cases of HIV/ AIDS in the country. It is equivalent to 35 new recorded cas-es.

The total new con-firmed cases in the coun-try is 30 percent higher compared to the same period last year where there were only 449 cas-es.

The top five regions with new cases are Na-tional Capital Region with 41 percent (240

new cases) followed by Region 4-A composed of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas , Rizal and Quezon with 17 percent or 99 new cases; Region 7 with 11 percent or 64 cases; and Region III with 8 percent or 47 cases of HIV/ AIDS.

Statistics showed that 96 percent of the new cases were detected to male. Most number of confirmed cases were de-tected to be males, ages 20 to 29 years old.

Reported modes of transmission were sexu-

al contact with 551 total cases and needle sharing among injecting drug us-ers with 34 cases.

Male having sex with other males (MSM) was the predominant type of sexual transmission with 82 percent or 538 of the total cases.

It also showed that 92 percent or 536 cases were asymptomatic .

From January to July, the NEC- DOH was able to record 3, 399 cases of HIV/AIDS nationwide. CRC

Davao ranks No. 5 in HIV-AIDS cases

VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 2014 3NEWSEDGEDAVAO

THE Therma Ma-rine, Inc. (TMI) the power barge

owned by Aboitiz Power Corporation, announced a P12.6 million refund to Mindanao consumers through the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) as compliance to Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ruling.

In a statement, The June 16, 2014 ERC re-fund order covers the difference between the provisional rate ap-proved by the ERC and the final but lower an-cillary charge, also ap-proved by the ERC. TMI and NGCP entered into an Ancillary Service Pur-chase Agreement (ASPA) between 2010 to 2011.

The ERC further or-dered that the refund be effected in 12 months or P1.057 million per month starting the next billing cycle. ERC esti-mated that the impact to Mindanao consumers will be around P0.0015/kwh reduction.

“We will abide by the ruling of the honor-able commission and we will coordinate with the NGCP in order to effect the refund as soon as possible,” TMI president and Chief Operating Of-ficer Jose Venancio P. Ba-

tiquin said in their state-ment.

Although the ERC ordered TMI to refund NGCP to the amount of P392.577 million, TMI manifested that the grid operator NGCP has pend-ing uncollected payables of some P379.881 mil-lion. This leaves the net refund amount of P12.695 million.

The ASPA between NGCP and Therma Ma-rine ended in 2011. An-cillary power maintains the integrity of the grid and is critical to the grid for voltage regulation, mergency backup power and peaking power.

Therma Marine oper-ates two oil-fired barges in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte and Maco, Com-postela Valley province. The two barges combine for 200 MW. It serves more than 20 electric co-operatives and distribu-tion utilities in Mindan-ao, helping them cushion the effects of the power shortage in Mindanao.

“90% of TMI’s cost of power is for fuel, which is a pass-through charge. The remaining 10-per-cent is for the salaries of our employees, spare parts, insurance, mainte-nance costs and capital recovery,” Batiquin ex-plained.

COUNCILOR Al Ryan Alejandre denied the allegation that

there was a manipula-tion in the budget of the Indak-Indak Committee headed by councilor Edgar Ibuyan Sr.

Alejandre said on an interview that the audit report by the commission on audit was not yet re-leased, but based on the report in their committee hearing Wednesday after-noon; Kadayawan Foun-dation shows that there was a shortage of about P3 million.

“As per Kadayawan foundation tapado pa gani sila ug P3 million... Sariling kwarta nila ilang gigas-to,”He said.

“Naa tay process sa pag gawas og kwarta... naay gobeyrno nga naga tan-aw kung tama o mali ba ang pag padagan sa kwarta,” Alejandre added.

In a previous interview with the councilor, he said

that the Execom already released P38, 600 from the P58, 600 budget of the Indak-Indak committee to Ibuyan last August 20.

The issue came out af-ter Ibuyan aired his senti-ments to the media saying that he has no knowledge of the cash advances made by the other members of the Execom and the Kadayawan foundation, which up until now has not been liquidated.

“Wala man mi-agi sa ato, like example honorarium sa mga showdown judges, wala nako kabalo ana, kanang air fare nila, accommodation wala nako kabalo,” he said.

Ibuyan also stressed that he do not want the same thing to happen again.

“Dili ko gusto nga puro nalang ingon ani, dugay na ni nga sistema, mao gusto nako for a change na pud ba,” Ibuyan said.

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

Therma to refund Mindanao consumers

REMINDER FROM RODY. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte issues a statement reminding his son, Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte, that his reconciliation with comedian Ramon Bautista last Tuesday night does not bind the persona non grata declaration of the city council. Lean Daval Jr.

Deny manipulation of Kadayawan budgetBy FUNNY PEARL A. GAJUNERACorrespondent

VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 20144

FDAVAO’S, 10

EDGEDAVAO

THE ECONOMY

THE Bureau of Inter-nal Revenue (BIR) has penalized 180

unregistered business es-tablishments here as the agency continues its tax mapping operation in this city.

Cresencio Agad, head of the Revenue District No. 93A, said the 180 un-registered business estab-lishments penalized were among the 300 local firms the BIR subjected to tax mapping operation.

Agad said the ongoing tax mapping operation started in March this year and so far they have col-lected P200,000 in fines and penalties.

He said they checked

the following in the con-duct of tax mapping: who owns the business estab-lishment, how many work-ers it has, receipts, and business books.

Under BIR regulations, the businessmen must have the complete require-ments 10 days before the actual opening of their business establishment, he said.

Agad, however, said the agency does not allow just any BIR employee to con-duct tax mapping.

He advised business-men to ask for the mission order and identification card (ID) if someone in-spects their business es-tablishment. (MindaNews)

DAVAO City will host this year’s Manu-facturing Technol-

ogy Davao and PrintPack-Plas Davao, which will be held on September 4 to 6 at the SMX Convention Center, SM Lanang Pre-mier.

The two events will coincide with the Davao International Expo and Philconstruct Mindanao.

“Davao’s dynamic economy, government efficiency, and booming infrastructure are sever-al indicators that Davao proves to be a place for

business growth. That’s why we continue to bring some of the biggest trade shows in the country here for a regional show,” GLMP CEO Patrick Law-rence Tan said.

“Our aim is to provide the venue for companies to do business direct with their target market, espe-cially now that the man-ufacturing sector is the driving force of the city’s economy,” he added.

Tan said the idea of this trade show revolves around three diverse in-dustries.

“Manufacturing Tech-nology Davao focuses on industrial machinery, factory automation, hard-ware products, power tools material handling and welding technology and accessories,” he said.

“PrintPackPlas Davao will feature plastics and packaging, printing, food and beverage, and office automation as its focal point. This event has brought together a wide variety of industries all with the similar need of highlighting their prod-ucts and services and be

the ultimate source for perfect business solu-tions,” he added.

Tan said the compre-hensive trade show will gather over 200 compa-nies occupying a total of 2,932 square meters of exhibition space show-casing the latest ad-vancements in manufac-turing technology, and a wide-array of products and solutions which is a catalyst for business development not just in Davao but in the whole Philippines as well.

THE country’s eco-nomic growth accel-erated to 6.4 percent

in the second quarter of 2014, Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisa-can said yesterday.

Speaking during a press conference yester-day in Makati City, Balisa-can said the higher growth rate, coming from a high base a year ago, shows that the economy is back on the higher trajectory of growth registered in 2012 and 2013 and bodes well for economic growth for the rest of 2014.

“We remain as one of the bright spots in the re-gion, the second fastest growing economy among major Asian countries for the period, tied with Malaysia’s performance and topping other major ASEAN countries such as Indonesia, which has 5.1 percent, and Thailand with 0.3 percent,” he said.

Balisacan reported that on the demand-side, net exports contributed 4.2 percentage points and household consumption contributed 3.6 percentage points.

“This profile is in line with a more positive global economy, favorable busi-ness sentiment, and robust inflows of overseas Filipi-nos remittances,” he said.

On the supply-side of the economy, most sec-tors demonstrated strong growth except for the con-struction sector.

Agriculture grew by 3.6 percent, a rebound from 0.2 percent contraction in the second quarter last year. This was due to the big turnaround in major crop harvests.

Industry grew by 7.8

percent, partly moderated by the weak performance of the construction indus-try. “Although private con-struction increased by 12.7 percent during the second quarter compared to last year, public construction reversed last year’s strong growth and recorded a sig-nificant reduction in the second quarter,” Balisacan said.

“Still, it is notable that the gross value added in manufacturing accelerated to 10.8 percent in this pe-riod, buoyed by strong ex-ternal demand and house-hold final consumption,” he added.

Meanwhile, the ser-vices sector expanded by 6 percent, mainly due to trade, real estate, renting and business activities, and transport, storage and communication. “This was in response to the in-creased demand for busi-ness process management and the expansion of eco-nomic activities,” Balisacan said.

On the demand-side, the strong household spending in the second quarter of 2014 reflects the still upbeat consumer sen-timent in the country.

However, the slow-down in disbursements in Personal Services and Maintenance and Other Operating Expenditures or MOOE led to the nil growth in government consump-tion, Balisacan said.

“According to the De-partment of Budget and Management, the slower spending was partly due to administrative bottle-necks. Some government agencies also needed to re-vise their work programs to increase service deliv-

ery in the Yolanda-affect-ed areas. For instance, the Department of Health had to prioritize deployment of its personnel to render primary health care in the Yolanda-affected areas. The availability of donated supply reduced the need for MOOE even as the ser-vice was being delivered,” he said.

Balisacan said the de-cline in public construc-tion was the result of lower spending in infra-structure and other capi-tal outlays particularly in the months of April and May 2014 as major gov-ernment agencies posted lower-than-programmed

disbursements.“Overall, we see that the

country still has a strong likelihood of achieving the full-year growth target of 6.5 to 7.5 percent. Expec-tations survey show that businesses maintain their positive outlook on the economy. However, we are aware that market players are still looking for more positive signals, in par-ticular the public sector’s key role in infrastructure spending and consump-tion of nondurables,” he said.

On the supply-side, the agriculture, fishery and forestry sector is seen to maintain its momentum.

“In particular, livestock and poultry will likely grow due to increasing consum-er demand as the holiday season approaches. The industry sector is expected to accelerate in the second half of the year, led by man-ufacturing and the public construction subsectors. The manufacturing sector also remains upbeat as in-dicated by its double-digit growth. The sector is ex-pected to gain from the positive outlook for ex-ports and the increasing interest of foreign firms to set up operations in the country,” he said.

Balisacan also gave assurance that while gov-

ernment underspending in this quarter is a cause for concern, “government is aware of this and is taking the right steps to address bottlenecks in the imple-mentation of critical pro-grams and projects, par-ticularly key infrastructure projects.”

“And we are doing this with a sense of ur-gency. Proof of this will be demonstrated in the second half when govern-ment spending contributes to the economy’s growth while committing to im-prove our overall compet-itiveness and the delivery of the needed public goods and services,” he said.

WATER PROBLEM. A Dulangan Manobo man and his daughter wash themselves of forest trail mud in Sitio Tudog, Barangay Bugso in Sen. Ninoy Aquino, Sultan Kudarat. One of Tudog’s biggest problems is the difficult ac-cess to water. While local springs such as this exist, the water flow is weak

and the potability is suspect. A rich water source is available in the sitio’s outer edge but the cost of a water system to bridge the distance is so far an insurmountable obstacle. MindaNews photo by BJ Patiño

PHL economic growthsped up to 6.4% in 2QBy JON JOAQUIN

Davao’s thriving economyattracting more businesses

BIR penalizes 180 unregisteredbusinesses in Zamboanga City

VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 2014 5

GOV. Rodolfo del Ro-sario inaugurated last August 18 the

Provincial General Ser-vices Office (PGSO) build-ing, described as modern and cozy by people who have seen it.

The last-termer gov-ernor, who will turn 80 years old by Monday, had early on completed infra-structure projects like the provincial sports complex, gym, separate buildings for provincial health and disaster risk reduction offices, pasalubong cen-ter, Bulwagan ng Kapi-tolyo and the Tahanan ng Gobernador.

Del Rosario has been close to four decades serv-ing in elective post in var-ious capacities starting as assemblyman in 1978.

“It’s a dream come true. It’s an office with home ambiance,” PGSO department head Sammy Sanchez enthused.

The two-storey build-ing, worth about P7 mil-lion, stands southwest of the Capitol compound in Mankilam, Tagum City.

PGSO personnel trans-ferred to the building on the same day it was inau-gurated.

The building is equipped with CCTV sys-tem, intercom and inter-net connectivity. It is an

online office, for the being the provincial govern-ment’s arm engaged in procurement.

“If one gets there now, he gets unmistakable cozy feeling and good vibes ooze everywhere inside just as PGSO employees get a high motivation to work and exceed their performance targets,” a Capitol official comment-ed.

“There’s a welcoming small garden at the left when you set foot on the first level, below the flight of stairs made of narra. Upstairs, a small waiting lobby with the office’s bul-letin standing on natured wood carving, and a mini-malist yet striking wall de-cor beside the glass door can impress clients and visitors over the impact of the combined ambiance.

The half-cubicle par-titions give ease for em-ployees to coordinate each other as clerical and staff works can be seen by standing. It has fresh rest and washing rooms for male and female akin to those in posh hotels. There’s small altar there.

Foremost, its confer-ence room with cushion seats and speakers is su-perb, where a small con-ference can be held. It serves for multiple func-

tions, not just for the bid-dings. The dining room on the ground level is spa-cious for those bringing baons for their lunch and snacks.

The building houses all the PGSO’s divisions including the civil security unit, and importantly, it is attached to its warehouse.

Eleven years ago, San-chez dreamed to have a separate PGSO office to be attached to PGSO ware-house.

“It’s in the warehouse

where I have great re-sponsibility,” he said in an interview last Tuesday.

The warehouse is where the provincial gov-ernment’s supplies and other valuable properties already purchased are stockpiled.

For 11 years, the PGSO had then been holding office at the second lev-el, near the center-right wing of the main Capitol building.

The funding which re-alized the new building

was included in the 2014 General Fund Annual Budget as authorized un-der the Provincial Appro-priation Ordinance No. 2013-005.

It took only five months and 28 days for the building to be com-pleted since Day 1 of the construction period.

And just how the PG-SO’s new home gets to motivate now its usual busy-body workers? They come early, eager to work. Among those having no

dates and kids at home, often they work beyond 5 P.M.

“It’s nice place, and everybody is welcome to visit us.

We thank so much the Governor for this,” adds Sanchez, who conceptu-alized and designed the building, that’s certainly comes up now to be an additional pride of the whole Provincial Govern-ment of Davao del Norte.- Cha Monforte, Correspon-dent

DAVAO del Norte Vice Governor Vic-torio “Baby” Suay-

baguio, Jr. celebrated his 73rd birthday last Tues-day at the Clubhouse in the Provincial Sports Complex with well-wish-ers warmly greeting and wishing him for more birthdays to come.

Well-wishers includ-ed the man whom he has been with in steering excellent provincial gov-ernance for four terms already- Governor Ro-dolfo del Rosario, who will turn 80 by Monday with another big bash and thanksgiving party at the Capitol, Mankilam, Tagum City.

Other Baby’s well wishers were success-ful Tagum-homegrown businessman Larry Y. Ru-binos or LYR, provincial police director PSSupt. Samuel Gadingan, his colleagues in the Sang-guniang Panlalawigan,

a hundred of provincial department officials and employees, ordinary cit-izens, his friends, some Tagum pioneer resi-dents, kins and relatives.

On his his natal day, the vice governor was greeted with manani-ta from various groups at dawn, and attended the early morning mass to thank the Almighty for a good life reached and for all the blessings from the Lord showered unto to him through the years.

After the mass, the vice governor invit-ed mass attendees and religious leaders for a breakfast salo-salo at the upper sacristy, back of the Cathedral.

Even if it was his birthday, the vice gover-nor did not skip presid-ing the regular session of the SP. It was business as usual for the SP as a superb legislative mill,

where sometimes mem-bers exchanged fires over issues worth to be discussed with VG Baby moderating and presid-ing it well.

Also notable among the guests in the Club-house as of 7:00 P.M. were Board Members Shirley Belen Aala, Dr. Fred De Veyra, Alan Du-jali, Erning Evangelista, Hernani Duco and Tete So, outstanding coop leader Norma Pereyras, Sto. Tomas Mayor Be-nigno Andamon, BE Du-jali Vice Mayor Samuel Pacres, OIC provincial administrator Norma Lumain, other business-men and elected offi-cials.

Guests still came in after 7:00 P.M. while the Tagum City band, de-ployed by Mayor Allan Rellon, entertained the guests and well-wish-ers.- Cha Monforte, Cor-respondent At Large

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) gave assurance of

proper administration on the importation quota of rice with the approval by the World Trade Organiza-tion (WTO) General Coun-cil of the request of the Philippines to extend the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice.

DA Undersecretary for Policy, Planning, Re-search and Development and Regulations Segfredo R. Serrano in an interview said this would include de-termining the correct vol-ume of rice needed by the market, proper inventory, and timing of imports, among others, in order to keep prices stable in the market.

“This gives us flexibil-ity to manage (rice) im-ports,” he said.

In a waiver decision dated July 24, 2014 shared by a Geneva-based WTO official, it said the WTO

General Council decided to approve the extension of special treatment for rice of the Philippines, noting the commitment of the country under the Exten-sion Agreement.

In order to get the WTO’s nod in extending the QR on rice, the Phil-ippine government dealt to cut import duty and increase the minimum ac-cess volume (MAV) on rice.

Under the new deal with WTO, the Philippines has agreed to cut initial tar-iff rate on rice from 40 per-cent to 35 percent which started July 1.

The new MAV on rice, which now enjoys a 35 per-cent tariff rate, increased to 805,200 metric tons (MT) from the previous 350,000 MT.

Shipments outside MAV will still be subjected to 50 percent tariff rate.

The Philippines, in its justification of its request to extend QR on rice, stated

“(the country’s) WTO sim-ple average bound tariff is 35 percent in agriculture, which is just over half of the average bound tariff for all WTO developing mem-ber nations of 60 percent.”

The country noted that it “has virtually no trade-distorting domestic support or export subsi-dies” and “can be consid-ered as one of the most open agricultural trading regimes in the WTO.”

The WTO General Council, likewise, noted in the waiver that the Philip-pines since 2001 has “en-couraged private sector importation of rice to com-plement the National Food Authority’s (NFA) role” and the country “has pledged to continue encouraging pri-vate sector importations so as to ensure food security and stimulate competition in the domestic rice pro-duction and market;” thus deciding for the extension of the QR on rice. (PNA)

THE ECONOMY

A vendor of religious items displays her merchandise at her makeshift store outside San Pedro Cathedral in Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

Davao del Norte governorinaugurates GSO building

RDR, Baby celebrate birthdays DA commits proper quotaadministration of rice imports

By Cha Monforte

VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 20146 EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 2014 7EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 2014

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

8

Kadayawan bluesEDITORIAL

THE management of the latest Kadayawan Festival, partic-ularly the people behind the

Kadawayan Foundation, is at the receiving end of nagging criticisms nowadays, especially on the matter of its failure to settle financial obli-gations to “volunteers” immediate-ly.

The Kadayawan guys should re-main undaunted by whatever the detractors say, including the usu-al heckling from the broadcast-ers, even by social media, because

criticisms of this big annual pub-lic event, is part of territory, so to speak.

Instead of being angered or dis-couraged, the festival managers should consider the criticisms as bases to improve on the way they’ll manage the event next time.

They ought to take comfort in the fact that, despite everything –lack of time, and ridiculously low bud-get, among other handicaps-- this year’s Kadayawan Festival could still be rated one of the best in years.

EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

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

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

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

editorial@edgedavao.netmarketing@edgedavao.net

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

RICHARD C. EBONAAdvertising Specialist

SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

EDGEDAVAOProviding solutions to a seamless global village.

ANTONIO M. AJEROEditor in Chief

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

Columnists: CARLOS MUNDA • HENRYLITO TACIO • MA. TERESA L. UNGSON • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • AURELIO A. PEÑA • MARY ANN “ADI” C. QUISIDO • LEANDRO B. DAVAL SR., • NICASIO ANGELO AGUSTIN • VIDA MIA VALVERDE • Economic Analysts: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG • JONALLIER M. PEREZ

LEANDRO S. DAVAL JR. Photography

JOSEPH LAWRENCE P. GARCIAContributing Photographer

ARLENE D. PASAJECartoons

KENNETH IRVING K. ONGBAI FAUZIAH FATIMA SINSUAT AMBOLODTO

MEGHANN STA. INES NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN

Lifestyle

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

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

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

editorial@edgedavao.netmarketing@edgedavao.net

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

GENERAL SANTOS CITY MARKETING OFFICEFLORENCE S. VILLARIN Marketing Specialistc/o PZ Villarin MarketingSalvani St., Oringo Brgy. City HeightsTel: (083) 303-2215

MANILA MARKETING OFFICEANGELICA R. GARCIA | Marketing ManagerBlk. 1, Lot 10, La Mar Townhomes, Apitong St.,Marikina Heights, Marikina City Tel: (02) 942-1503

NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVOManaging Editor

AGAPITO JOAQUIN JR.Associate Editor

RICHARD C. EBONAMarketing Supervisor

SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

AQUILES Z. ZONIOFUNNY PEARL GAJUNERA

CHA MONFORTE Correspondents

ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.CHENEEN R. CAPON

Reporters

JOCELYN S. PANESDirector of Sales

AGUSTIN V. MIAGAN JRCirculation

PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTEthe national association of newspapers

VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 2014

HOW do you solve a problem like ter-rorism?

Erase the terrorist from the face of the earth. Of course, it’s easier said than done.

But that’s exactly what the Americans did to Al Qaeda mystic leader Osama bin Laden shortly after Barack Obama became president of the USA in 2008.

The death of bin Laden, however, did not cause the death, as many thought, of the terrorist organization which, to this day, continues to sow fear and terror all over the face of the earth.

oOoTerrorism at a glanceTerrorism is not an exclusive phenom-

enon of modern times. Various types of terrorism have sprung from all corners of the globe since the beginning of civiliza-tion, and each employed different meth-ods of terror.

There were the pirates who attacked and robbed ships at sea. The earliest pi-rates surfaced in ancient Mediterranean Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Sicilians, and Greeks.

Pirates ruled the high seas, and ter-rorized travelers in Europe and Asia from the 6th to the 19th centuries. The Viking Scandinavians seafarers terrorized North-ern and Western Europe for 200 hundred years (8th-10th century).

In 75 BC, pirates captured Julius Cae-sar, then 25 years old, while he was on his way to Rhodes province, and demanded

ransom mon-ey. That was p r o b a b l y the first kid-nap-for-ran-som case in the world.

In the 11th century A.D. the Mongols from Mongo-lia terrorized most of Eu-rope and part of Asia. They ravaged na-tions and enslaved people. From them came the term barbarian.

The Romans emperors and soldiers were the terrorists of the ancient civiliza-tion until the Christian era. They had abso-lutely no respect for human lives. Killings were just a game as they threw slaves to the lions for entertainment. They execut-ed criminals by hanging them on wooden crosses. Jesus was one such victim.

In the first two decades of the 20th century, it was the turn of hijackers to spread terrorism. They seized transport vehicles on land, in the air, and at sea.

Today, in this Third Millennium, the terrorists are the suicide bombers who spread terror to gain eternal reward in the afterlife. The most feared terrorist groups today are al Qaeda based in the Middle East and the Jemaah Islamiyah based in

Indonesia.In the Philippines, there is the Abu

Sayaff operating in Western Mindanao. They specialize in kidnap-for-ransom sor-ties, a criminal activity they did not invent, but have transformed it into a high-end cottage industry, minus a business permit.

Osama bin Laden was not the most evil of terrorists. There were others be-fore him who were more brutal, more depraved and debasing. They committed monstrous carnage and inflicted unimag-inable psychological devastation on their fellow humans.

In the 13th Century, Mongol ruler Genghis Khan butchered Asia and Europe. He used death as a form of discipline and looting as a reward.

The next century, a man from Samar-kand, Uzbekistan named Tamerlane, slaughtered 70,000 people, and piled their heads in the form of pyramid.

Six centuries later came Adolf Hitler, who killed people “not for what they did, but for who they were.” Bin Laden killed in god’s name; Hitler thought he was God, and killed in the name of his housemate, Eva Braun. He killed millions of Jews be-cause they belonged to an inferior race, and therefore, had no right to live.

Terrorists are inhuman humans. They do not value human life and therefore do not care about human rights. They have no conscience, no mercy, no pity, no remorse, and utterly insensitive to human suffer-ings.

PORK barrel of course was the much-abused fund that fed the vanity of unscrupulous lawmakers who felt

insecure unless they could upstage ex-ecutive officials and grab credit for proj-ects and programs they had no business claiming as their own.

They insisted on personally assigning and dispensing funds and projects, justi-fying it by claiming that no one knew the needs of the community better and that it was best to have them decide where funds should go or how to spend it.

Actually they were just a bunch of hypocrites and they were wrong. For their monumental wrong-headedness, we are stuck with plunderers afflicted with the Janet Lim-Napoles syndrome.

What’s strange is that no one disputed their claim of being knowledgeable about the community’s needs. No one pointed out that the community itself is best po-sitioned to define, identify, and prioritize programs or projects that are needed in its neighborhoods.

*****And inexplicably, no one, not even the

department of the interior and local gov-ernment (DILG), bothered to explain that in fact there’s a mechanism that enables every community to cope with its needs effectively without external intervention: its local development council (LDC).

Neither did the DILG explain that the membership of this LDC at every level or jurisdiction includes the congressman or his proxy—a membership that congress-men (to their eternal discredit) belittle, ignore, and boycott.

Perhaps they feared having their fak-ery exposed in front of the community, or maybe they didn’t want to risk being upstaged by knowledgeable members of the community, or what if they were pre-vented from claiming personal credit for the LDC’s projects. Shameful, especially if it’s all of the above!

In any case, they got away with it. They escaped embarrassment because no one questioned their habitual absence and failure to attend LDC meetings. And no one dared to denounce them for sab-

otaging the LDC, or for making it inutile.*****But in a very real sense, it’s those

pork-addicted lawmakers who bastard-ized the local development process of ev-ery community—by dictating their pref-erences on what projects are to be done, by which contractor, and where these are to be located.

As everyone knows, location is essen-tial for maximum exposure, impact, and revenues. This is as true for advertising and marketing a commodity as for pro-moting a candidate.

It’s why an overpass, bus or jeepney terminal, waiting shed, or multi-purpose pavement is a popular trapo project; they’re highly-visible and are within vi-sual reach of all voters.

In any case, since decisions on pork-funded projects are made by pork-bearing congressmen and senators, the local development council became redundant as the community and con-niving officials left everything to their discretion. And that’s how development programs got bastardized and politicized.

*****You see, lawmakers are not geared

for project planning or implementation. They just want a project done so they can get credit for it—preferably with a photo opportunity and a certificate of appreci-ation during a publicized turnover cer-emony. Virtually irrelevant to them are technical standards, esthetic design, or quality of work.

That’s why it’s better to do away with pork or funds whose release is contingent upon the discretion of one person. To re-tain it is to accept that political self-inter-est or vanity matters more than social re-sponsibility or genuine development

So what’s better than pork?An-swer:Entrust the funds to the commu-nity—through its duly-constituted local development council, which is its official

planning and implementing body.This can be done readily by distrib-

utingpro ratathe P70 million previously allocated for every congressman and the P200 million for every senator to the LDCs. The formula used for computing the internal revenue allotment (IRA) of every jurisdiction will serve the pur-pose.

*****Too long have Malacañang and mem-

bers of Congress stymied this official planning and implementing body of the community by allowing vanity-seeking members of Congress to substitute it with their whimsies, preferences, and abuses.

To ensure transparency and tighter accountability, the department of the interior and local government (DILG) and the Local Government Finance bu-reau should see that this LDC is properly organized and operational as per R.A. 7160 (Sec. 106-115) or Article 182 of its Implementing Rules and regulations.

This places the funds effectively un-der the management and care of the community—awakening its autonomy, activating its neglected role of oversee-ing local development, and fulfilling the state policy of autonomy in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity.

Now, isn’t this better than giving away pork, deploying funds that are ar-bitrarily used, misused, and abused by venal representatives of the people?

Let the people perform their role in local development so that no unscrupu-lous senator or congressman can co-opt their role or grab credit for the good things in their community!

[Manny is former UNESCO regional director for Asia-Pacific; secretary-gener-al, Southeast Asia Publishers Association; director, Development Academy of Philip-pines; member, Philippine Mission to the UN; vice chair, Local Government Acad-emy; member, Cory Government’s Peace Panel; awardee, PPI-UNICEF outstanding columnist. He is president/national con-venor, Gising Barangay Movement Inc. valdehuesa@gmail.com]

Henrylito D. Tacio

THINK ON THESE!

Terrorism through the ages E-cigarettesaren’t safe

What’s better than the pork barrel?

VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

BY MANNY VALDEHUESA

THE WORM’S EYEVIEW

EL E C -T R O N I C cigarettes

(e-cigarettes), i n c re a s i n g ly popular among young Filipinos, are touted to be “odorless, can-cer-free, and healthy way to smoke.” But they are not harmless after all according to the Food and Drug Admin-istration (FDA), which has issued an advi-sory identifying the “volatile” substances in the device and its emitted smoke.

“Electronic cigarettes are not emis-sion-free,” the FDA said in an advisory posted in its website. “E-cigarettes con-tain volatile organic substances, including propylene glycol, flavors and nicotine, and are emitted as mist or aerosol into indoor air.”

FDA said if several people are using e-cigarettes in a room at the same time, “considerable indoor air pollution will accumulate and may result in harmful sec-ond-hand exposure.”

Citing some studies done abroad, FDA said these “ultrafine liquid particles” – measuring less than 2.5 micrometer in diameter – may penetrate deeply into the lungs. As such, they are hazardous to health.

The products were invented in 2004 by a Hong Kong-based firm. Tagged as “revolutionary” and “pioneering” prod-ucts, these battery-operated plastic de-vices look like and are used like real cig-arettes. By producing an inhaled mist, it supposedly simulates the act of tobacco smoking.

Contrary to what most people think or believe, e-cigarettes are as addictive as the real thing because the liquid used to pro-duce vapor contains nicotine, said Maricar Limpin, executive director of the Frame-work Convention on Tobacco Control Alli-ance Philippines.

“E-cigarettes are being flavored to cov-er the (taste of nicotine). So you would think that there’s no nicotine in it until you develop addiction,” she said.

Maciej Goniewicz, a cancer researcher in the Department of Health Behavior at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffa-lo, New York, has confirmed this.

“E-cigarettes contain variable amounts of nicotine and some traces of toxicants. But very little is known to what extent non-users can be exposed to nicotine and other chemicals in situations when they are present in the same room with users of e-cigarettes,” he told Reuters Health.

Meanwhile, Limpin has expressed con-cern over the proliferation of e-cigarettes in the country. E-cigarettes have been banned by Israel, Australia, Canada, and Mexico over safety issues; in the United States, e-cigarette shipments are strictly monitored at its borders.

Because some Filipinos think e-ciga-rettes are not harmful compared to the real thing, e-cigarettes have been market-ed as something that would help a person quit smoking. These give people a false sense of security. “There is no evidence to prove that,” Limpin said.

Anthony Leachon, Department of Health (DOH) consultant for non-com-municable diseases, agreed. “Electronic cigarettes are not advisable since you don’t kick the habit. You can easily go back to smoking,” he pointed out.

While in industrialized people are quitting smoking, such is not the case in the Philippines, thanks to tobacco adver-tisements. A recent survey of Filipino adult smokers found 99.8 percent cited tobacco ads as one factor for initiating smoking.

The Geneva-based World Health Or-ganization (WHO) has nothing against to-bacco ads as long as these direct toward adults. “What makes all this unaccept-able and treacherous is that this danger-ous and addictive product is sold to youth and adolescents as an assertion of their freedom to choose,” said Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, former WHO director-gen-eral.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 201410

Davao’s...

They’re...

Marques...

9,000...

FFROM 4

FFROM 1

FFROM 2

FFROM 2

NEWS

NOTICE OF LOSS

Notice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS CONSOLIDATED INC. ThatCERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT No.(s) 21013407 under LOYOLA PLAN Contract No.(s)183159-3 issued to JORGE E. LEBOSADA was lost. Any transaction entered into shall be null and void.

8/15/22/29

EDGEDAVAO

AN armed suspect-ed drug pusher was killed in a

buy-bust operation con-ducted by the Talomo Police Station, Wednes-day night at Twin H Inn along Matina Aplaya.

The fatality was iden-tified as Michael Bitin Cabrera, alyas “Igit”, le-gal age and resident of San Miguel, Matina.

Initial investigation said that an informant told police that Cabrera was looking for “custom-ers.” The police acted on the informant’s report by using a poseur buyer. When the poser handed the money to the suspect in exchange for the ille-gal drug known as sha-bu, the suspect sensed that the buyer was an operative.

The suspect then out pulled a .38 revolver and shot the operative. For-

tunately, the gun failed to fire, giving police team led by SPO1 Riz-aldy Suaga to return fire. The suspect was hit in the body and died.

The suspect report-edly had a standing war-rant of arrest for rob-bery with violence and intimidation of person together with a certain Juhn Zymon Purto En-greso issued by Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 16 Judge Emmanuel C. Carpio.

Engresso was already arrested last July 19 for violation of RA 9165 known as the compre-hensive dangerous drug act of 2002.

It was revealed that the suspect was involved in a series of robbery incidents in the area of responsibility of Talomo Precinct and neighbor-ing areas.

Talomo Police Pre-cinct commander Chief Inspector Alfredo San-tillana said that the in-cident which resulted to the death of a suspect was the first time to hap-pen in his administra-tion.

“Sa among operation lang sa month of August napulo na ang opera-tion namo, mga close to 1 million among market value nga nakuha… pero 1st time ni nga namatay ang suspek”, Santillana said.

“Human niini mas pahugtan pa namo ang peace and order,” He added.

Recovered from the possession of the sus-pect were P500 marked money, three sachets of suspected shabu, 1 im-provised tooter, 2pcs. Lighter and .38 revolver with 4 live ammunitions.

SGV & Co. will hold a seminar on the “Recent Changes and Develop-ments in Taxation.” This seminar will provide com-prehensive updates about the latest BIR issuances and rulings to avoid com-plications in businesses.

“Aside from the tax up-dates seminars, the visi-tors should be on the look-out for others seminars conducted by industry ex-perts on printing technol-ogy, construction safety, plumbing and sanitation,” Tan said.

The event is support-ed by the Davao Associ-ation of Tour Operators (DATO), Davao Bakers’ Club Inc. (DBCI), Davao

Travel Agencies Associ-ation (DTAA), Packaging Institute of the Philippines (PIP), Philippine Center for Print Excellence Foun-dation (PCPEF) Philippine Plastics Industry Associ-ation (PPIA), Philippines Society of Plumbing En-gineers (PSPE), Printing Industry Association of Davao, Inc. (PIADI), and the Small Hotels Associa-tion of Davao (SHAD).

Peter Quintana, im-mediate past president of Philippine Plastics Indus-try Association (PPIA), one of the industry part-ners and supporters of the abovementioned event, expressed his en-thusiasm in holding this

exciting event.“Imagine putting to-

gether three different industries in one event. I am sure that this is the most comprehensive trade event that has ever set foot in Davao. The companies participating this year are very much ready in showcasing their latest product offerings and looks like they are all globally competitive,” he said.

“I can guarantee to all the visitors of the exhibit, and to those who will be attending the technical seminars prepared in this event, is a great avenue for learning experience,” he added. Jon Joaquin

After learning of the news that Mayor Duterte had talked to Bautista on the phone before leaving for Manila on Tuesday night, the Vice Mayor yesterday asked his fa-ther to respect the City Council resolution.

Mayor Duterte had told Bautista he is wel-come to come to the city since he has already apologized for his hipon joke.

Duterte followed this up on Wednesday night: “When a man humbles himself and apologizes for uttering a slur, that itself erases the wrong. To nurture residual hate against the guy is a hu-man frailty.”

But in a statement released yesterday morning, the vice may-or reminded the mayor that he should “respect

the decision of the City Council because the body represents the people of Davao City who voted for him for decades.”

“The mayor of Davao City can always welcome anybody he wants on a personal level. But as far as Davao City is con-cerned, Mr. Ramon Bau-tista is unwelcome here in our city because of the persona non grata reso-lution,” the vice mayor said.

Bautista had angered the City Council when he said Davao City was full of hipon (shrimp – a reference to people who have attractive bodies but unattractive faces) during a Kadayawan par-ty to which he had been invited.

Bautista apologized immediately onstage af-ter reportedly being con-

fronted by the younger Dutertes. A video of the apology showed the vice mayor standing on the side of the stage as Bau-tista said sorry to the crowd.

Bautista also posted an apology on Twitter. Despite these, the City Council declared him persona non grata.

In their phone con-versation on Tuesday night, the mayor ad-vised the comedian not to mind the persona non grata resolution.

Duterte also told Bau-tista that if he sets foot in Davao City, all he has to say is that he has the approval of the mayor.

The mayor told Bau-tista that the comedian’s public apology is enough and that he knows how difficult it is to apolo-gize.

She said that this P14.7 billion estimated revenue will be generat-ed through the tourism sectors such as hotels, transportation, restau-rants and souvenir shops.

“That is actually how the city should earn, not through directly in ac-creditation fees,” he said.

The CTOOO head said that during the executive committee meeting, it was presented that the

accreditation fee they got was only P40,000.

Marques hopes that the foundation will re-move the fees on accred-itation to generate more activities and make the festival bigger.

“For example, I bench-mark natin yung sa Sinu-log (let us make Sinu-log as our benchmark). Ang Sinulog, December pa lang andami ng mga events (In Sinulog, they

already have many events even it is still December). And they highlight side events - they call it as side-highlights because there is Cebu Pop and Ms. Cebu, mga ganun. So, all those, aside from the main Sinulog events such as procession, fluvi-al… aside from all those are being promoted to make it bigger, make it better,” Marques said. ABF

However, Bautista de-nied that there is still a commanding presence of New People’s Army (NPA) in his area.

In fact, the first district of Davao del Sur composed of Digos City, and munici-palities of Bansalan, Hago-noy, Kiblawan, Magsaysay, Malalag, Matanao, Padada, Sta Cruz and Sulop are al-ready free from NPA.

Bautista is positive that the insurgency prob-lem in some areas of his province will be eliminat-ed two years from now, as projected by EastMincom commander Lt. Gen. Ricar-do Rainier G. Cruz III.

“Dili na kayo kusog ang pwersa sa NPA. Naa na lang gamay na nagpa-bilin dira dapit sa may Jose Abad Santos na nang-gikan sa South Cotabato na nagaagi lang sa Don Marcelino (The NPA force is not actually strong any-

more. There are only a few left in the municipality of Jose Abad Santos who are originally from South Cotabato and just crossed through Don Marcelino),” the governor added.

He said that to address the insurgency, local gov-ernment units should have strong ties to the na-tional government so that government project and services can reach com-munities, even those that are already in the hinter-lands.

Bautista also encour-aged businessmen to re-fuse from paying revolu-tionary tax.

“Ginaingnan nako sila [businessmen] na dili sila magbayad para dili mag-dugay ang NPA sa ilang lugar kay kung nay mag-bayad na isa mapugos ang uban na magbayad na pud ng tax sa NPA (I asked businessmen not

to pay taxes as it will just encourage NPA to stay longer and their place at the same time it will also force other businessmen to pay revolutionary tax),” he added.

Bautista, meanwhile, said that they are target-ing to recruit more vol-unteers to be part of the civilian auxiliary force. He said that mayors of each municipality and city will be invited to a mass graduation of the recruits probably next month. CRC

Drug suspect killedBy FUNNY PEARL A. GAJUNERACorrespondent

VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 2014 11EDGEDAVAO

ENVIRONMENT

“There is sufficiency for man’s need, but not for man’s greed” – Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi

“THE worst thing that can happen – will happen – is

not energy depletion, eco-nomic collapse, limited nu-clear war, or conquest by a totalitarian government,” pointed out American biologist Edward O. Wil-son in an article he wrote for Harvard Magazine. “As terrible as these catastro-phes would be for us, they can repaired within a few generations. The one pro-cess that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity. This is the folly our descendants are least likely to forgive us.”

Biodiversity – coined from biological diversity – is most often thought of as the variety of organisms on earth. Yet it also includes two other factors: ecologi-cal diversity (the variety of ecosystems and ecological communities) and genet-ic diversity (the range of genetic differences found within and between spe-cies).

“All three aspects are crucial for the success and development of life on earth,” explained People and the Planet, a group raising environmental concerns based in London. “Since environmental con-ditions at every level are constantly changing, only diversity can ensure that some individuals and spe-cies will be able to adapt to the changes.”

Species declines and extinctions have always been a natural part of that process, but there is something disturbingly different about the current extinction patterns. “Like the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, humanity now finds itself in the midst of a mass extinction: a glob-al evolutionary convul-

sion with few parallels in the entire history of life,” wrote John Tuxill and Chris Bright, authors of Losing Strand in the Web of Life. “But unlike the dinosaurs, we are not simply the contemporaries of a mass extinction – we are the rea-son of it.”

The Philippines is the world’s second largest ar-chipelago country after Indonesia. It is composed of more than 7,100 islands covering 297,179 square kilometers in the western-most Pacific Ocean. The country has 400 out of 500 coral species known in the world.

“Every time we go in the water, someone discov-ers something that’s never been seen before,” said Dr. Terrence Gosliner, dean of science and research col-lections at the California Academy of Sciences who headed the 2011 Philip-pine Biodiversity Expedi-tion.

Dr. Gosliner believed that the biodiversity in the Philippines remains relatively unknown. He’s not alone; many scientists think that many new spe-cies remain to be discov-ered in the country.

Just recently, Secretary Ramon Paje of the Depart-ment of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) reported that 270 wild-life species that have been discovered in the country within the last 25 years. “These endemic species are our living jewels. They are irreplaceable and unique components of our awesome environmental heritage,” he pointed out.

The Protected Ar-eas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB), a line agency of DENR, has included in its list of new discoveries 29 new species of rodents found across the country; three species of bats from Mindoro and Abra; four bird species from Cagayan,

Cebu and Camiguin; and 44 reptile and 29 amphibi-an species from Luzon, Ne-gros-Panay, Greater Mind-anao, and Sulu.

More than 160 plant species have also been discovered, including vari-eties of the world’s largest flower, Rafflesia. The Phil-ippines ranks fifth in the world in terms of number of plant species and hosts about five per cent of the world’s flora.

“The Philippines, ow-ing to its rich islands and water formations, has been home to some of the rarest and beautiful creatures for generations,” said the Land Bank of the Philippines in its 2013 Calendar. “Over the years, a treasure trove of endemic animals and plants has been discovered by local and foreign scien-tists, clearly signifying our natural landscape as one of the world’s most formida-ble hotspots for biodiver-sity.”

The Convention for International Trade of En-dangered Species (CITES), of which the Philippines is a signatory, has listed several wildlife species in the country that are rare, threatened, or endangered. Among these are the Phil-ippine eagle (the country’s bird icon), tamaraw, Cala-mian deer, Palawan bear-cat, Mindanao gymure, Philippine tarsier, Panay flying fox, Cebu black sha-ma, Philippine cockatoo, “bungang ipot,” “tagbak,” and Sander’s glocacia.

“A few decades ago, the wildlife of the Philippines was notable for its abun-dance; now, it is notable for its variety; if present trend of destruction continues, Philippine wildlife will be notable for its absence,” deplored Dr. Lee Talbot, a well-known ecologist and geographer.

“The Philippines is one of the most threatened in the world. The rate of ex-

tinction of species is 1,000 times the natural rate be-cause of manmade activ-ities,” DENR Undersecre-tary Demetrio Ignacio said. “It is a crisis. We are the hottest of the hot spots.”

Dr. Angel C. Alcala, for-mer DENR secretary and current Director of the Sil-liman University Angelo King Center for Research and Management, has es-timated the number of endangered Philippine bird species alone number around 56.

Dr. Seymour Sohmer from the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii con-cluded in a study that the country has already lost 40 percent of its endemic flora. And that may soon include the endangered “waling-waling” orchid.

The threats to the country’s once lush and diverse wildlife are many. But the primary culprit is the loss of natural habitat, particularly the tropical rainforests. “In the Phil-ippines, forests are dis-appearing fast,” reported Sanda Volpp in an article which appeared in Hand-book Philippines.

“An alarming compar-ison reveals that while 95 percent of the Philip-pines was covered by for-ests a hundred years ago, in 1982, it was down to about 40 percent and in 2006, not even 20 percent is left. Of the remaining forest lands, only 800,000 hectares are still primary forests (3 percent of the total land area),” Volpp noted.

Studies show that a pair of Philippine eagles needs at least 7,000 to 13,000 hectares of for-ests as a nesting territory. “Without the forest, the species cannot survive over the long term,” said Dennis Salvador, the exec-utive director of the Phil-ippine Eagle Foundation, Inc. “Without the forest,

not only the Philippine eagle will go extinct, but so will the dreams and aspirations of millions of marginal income families who rely on the forest to survive.”

“Protection of biodi-versity should be one of the top priorities of any meaningful strategy to safeguard the world’s bio-logical heritage,” suggest-ed John C. Ryan, author of Life Support: Conserv-ing Biological Diversity.

As Dr. James Kirchner, an American professor of earth and planetary sci-ence at University of Cal-ifornia, put it: “The plan-et would be biologically depleted for millions of years, with consequences extending not only beyond the lives of our children’s children, but beyond the likely lifespan of the entire human species.”

But there is still a glim-mer of hope. “Humans, af-ter all, are not dinosaurs,” Tuxill and Bright declared. “We can change. Even in the midst of the mass ex-tinction, we still largely control our destiny, but only if we act now. The fate of untold numbers of species depends on it. And so does the fate of our chil-dren, in ways we can bare-ly begin to conceive.”

In the Philippines, sev-eral environmental laws that protect these natu-ral heritages have been passed. Unfortunately, these laws are not en-forced due to internal con-flicts over policy direction and jurisdiction as well as a general lack of technical knowledge and political will, surmised Atty. Jose A. Canivel, Executive Direc-tor of the Philippine Trop-ical Forest Conservation Foundation.

“Lawmakers, decision makers, policy makers have shown little interest in biodiversity conserva-tion because there is lit-

tle knowledge, and with little knowledge there is very little value attached,” Canivel said.

But “of all the global problems that confront us, (loss of biodiversity) is the one that is mov-ing the most rapidly and the one that will have the most serious consequenc-es,” deplored Dr. Peter Ra-ven, director of Missouri Botanical Gardens in the United States.

Saving biodiversity, however, is very expen-sive: an estimated $300 billion a year for the next eight years. That’s accord-ing to Brazilian Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, the new chief of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity.

It’s worth it, though. “Biodiversity is the basis of everything we do in agriculture, everything we do in health,” Dias told Reuters. “So the develop-ment of new vaccines, the development of new cul-tured varieties of plants is based on biodiversity, genetic resources. If we lose biodiversity, we lose the options for future de-velopment in these areas.”

The Philippines should heed that warning. “Our country is remarkably rich in biodiversity, from cor-al reefs to forests, rivers and lakes. Conservation of these resources is most critical to species surviv-al, stable ecosystems and economic development on the Philippines and the world as well,” said Dr. Perry Ong, director of the University of the Philip-pines Institute of Biology.

But “saving a species is more than a simple mat-ter of putting it in a cage or pot,” reminded Paje. “It requires us to protect or rebuild its habitat, as well as the balance it keeps in relation to other species lower and higher in the food chain or web of life.”

WHERE HAS ALL OUR BIODIVERSITY GONE?

Text and Photos by HENRYLITO D. TACIO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 2014

TWO of the most frightening words a doctor could say to

a patient are “hemorrhag-ic fever.” The virus that causes it, called Ebola vi-rus, has historically killed as many as 90 percent of those who contract it. The current outbreak in West Africa has claimed the lives of about 60 percent of its victims.

The deadly virus may have found its match in tobacco. Two stricken American health workers received an experimental treatment containing the antibodies derived from tobacco. Since receiving doses of the drug, both patients’ conditions have improved.

“Tobacco plant-de-rived medicines… are part of a handful of cut-ting-edge plant-based treatments that are in the works for everything from pandemic flu to rabies using plants — such as lettuce, carrots and even duckweed,” Bloomberg News reported.

Although the tech-nique has existed for years, it’s only in recent years that the treatments have started to reach the marketplace. “For centu-ries, gardeners have used home-made mixtures of tobacco and water as a natural pesticide to kill insect pests,” the Science Daily reported.

“Producing antibodies in plants is faster and less expensive than traditional manufacturing,” said Mary Kate Hart, an immunology researcher who did pio-neering research on Eb-ola antibodies for the US Army.

“Tobacco has always had negative press,” said 66-year-old Danny Ebel-har, a tobacco farmer from Owensboro who grows tobacco for Kentucky Bi-oProcessing Llc. to use for starch and research other than for pharma-

ceuticals. “But now it may come back to be a benefit to mankind.”

In the Philippines, some farmers are finding tobacco as an ally against pests. Take the case of 35-year-old Serapion Mariano, who has been growing corn for almost a decade now in his farm lot in Bansalan, Davao del Sur. Like other crops he used to plant before, corn is susceptible to attacks of insects and diseases.

One of the problems he encountered lately is the common stalk borer. Corn plants from 2 to 24 inch-es tall may be attacked. Damage to corn caused by the pest is characterized by wilting and/or dying of the upper leaves or by ragged irregular holes chewed in the newly un-rolled leaves.

The common stalk bor-er, experts say, is caused by the insect boring into the stalk at the soil level and tunneling upward. The insect may also climb up the plant and tunnel downward into the whorl, creating the ragged holes. A considerable amount of sawdust-like borer feces can be seen in the whorl or coming out of the bor-er’s entry hole in the stalk.

In the past, Mariano used chemical pesticides to destroy the insects that attacked his crops. But after attending a two-day training on organic agri-culture at the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC) in Kinuskusan, Bansalan, Davao del Sur, he found out that there’s a better way of getting rid of the insects.

“One of the best ways to eradicate the insects is by using tobacco spray,” Mariano said. Here’s what he did. He boiled 250 grams of dried tobacco leaves and stems in four liters of water for 20 min-utes. He allowed the water to cool and then filtered it

through layered cotton cloth. He added four more liters of water to the solu-tion and 50 grams of bar soap. He then poured the solution into corn funnels to kill the stalk borer.

According to MBRLC technicians, the tobac-co solution can also be applied as a soil drench around plants to kill cut-worms. It can be used to spray beans to prevent rust disease and also to control aphids, beetles, cabbage worms, caterpillars, grain weevils, leaf miners, mites, stem borers, and thrips.

The tobacco solu-tion, MBRLC technicians claimed, is especially effec-tive against biting or suck-ing insects. When applied weekly with a brush, it is effective against ticks and fleas in cattle.

The Florida-based Edu-cational Concerns for Hun-ger Organization (ECHO) has developed another kind of tobacco spray. One kilogram of crushed or bruised tobacco stalks and leaves are soaked in 15 liters of water for 24 hours. The solution is then filtered and three to five ta-blespoon of liquid soap is added. It is sprayed imme-diately to plants.

“Use tobacco sprays in the evening to allow them to work in the night,” the ECHO reminds. “And in general, do not spray po-tatoes, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant or any plant in the Solanaceae family in order to prevent the spread of vi-ruses.”

Another warning: “Do not let people or animals drink the solution, and when spraying, wear pro-tective clothing – especially a mask, or apply solutions with a watering can only. Do not eat vegetables with-in four days of application and wash them carefully when you do.”

A “green” pesticide industry based on tobac-co could provide income

for tobacco farmers as well as a new eco-friendly pest-control agent, scien-tists say. They describe a promising way to convert tobacco leaves into pesti-cides with pyrolysis. That process involves heating tobacco leaves to about 900 degrees Fahrenheit in a vacuum to produce an unrefined substance called bio-oil.

The scientists tested tobacco bio-oil against a wide variety of insect pests, including 11 differ-ent fungi, four bacteria, and the Colorado potato beetle. The oil killed all of the beetles and blocked the growth of two types of bacteria and one fungus. “Even after removal of the nicotine, the oil remained a very effective pesticide,” the scientists who con-ducted the study claimed.

“Tobacco is good – as a pesticide,” the Science Dai-ly declared. Just how good is tobacco? Here’s anoth-er timely tip from ECHO: “Mulch around plants with tobacco leaves to kill or repel aphids, flea beetles, slugs, snails, and thrips.”

In the Philippines, the National Tobacco Ad-ministration (NTA) has found that tobacco dust can help lessen the pop-ulation of nuisance snails that inhabit fishponds and fish cages.

The efficacy of tobac-co dust has been proven by studies conducted by a team from the Southeast Asian Fisheries Develop-ment Center in Tigbau-an, Iloilo. Field testing in fishponds in Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan, Pan-gasinan, and Ilocos Sur confirmed the validity of the scientific studies.

The studies showed that by following recom-mended production tech-nologies demonstrated in the farm, there was a marked decrease in the mortality rate of finger-lings from 20 percent to

only 5 percent, resulting in about P20,000 savings on production cost per hect-are per grow-out cycle.

“Tobacco dust is organ-ic, readily degradable, and environment-friendly,” the NTA said in a statement. “The absence of pesticide residues contributes to the marketability and ex-portability of local fish and ensures consumer safety, aside from being free from chemical residues,” it add-ed.

Fish exports, particu-larly milkfish(bangus) and tilapia which used to be among the country’s dollar earners, had been banned in the United States and Europe after they were found to contain chemical pesticide residues due to the extensive use of chem-ical pesticides.

Tobacco, when smoked, is considered one of man’s greatest killers. But in some ways, it can also help fight some dis-eases. “Tobacco, divine, rare super excellent tobac-co, which goes far beyond all panaceas, potable gold and philosopher’s stones, a sovereign remedy to all diseases,” Robert Burton once said.

Tobacco leaves and the smoke generated when they are burned con-tain over four thousand chemicals. According to the Journal of the Ameri-can Medical Association, those who suffer from mental disorders such at-tention deficit disorder, schizophrenia, and the like may experience posi-tive effects from smoking. Apparently, doses of nico-tine have a short term nor-malization effect on the EEG (electrical activity in the brain).

“Nicotine has long been a useful tool for re-searchers interested in probing the nervous sys-tem,” said Dr. Ovid Pomer-leau, director of the Behav-ioral Medicine Program of

the University of Michigan.Nicotine is one of the

most studied of all drugs. At the beginning of the century, the earliest re-search into neurotrans-mitters involved the ef-fects of nicotine. The first neurotransmitter receptor identified was the nicotine receptor. Nicotine mimics the actions of acetylcho-line and has been shown to modulate many neu-rotransmitters.

Some considerable re-searches have been made as to the role of nicotine receptors in the central nervous system in human cognitive functioning. Ini-tial investigations of the effect of nicotinic agents in both normal and diseased individuals have con-firmed the importance of the integrity of these sys-tems for normal cognitive functioning, Dr. Pomerleau said.

There is now some in-triguing new data suggest-ing that very low doses of nicotine can have dramat-ic effects in controlling the symptoms of Tourette’s syndrome, a rare neuro-logic disorder character-ized by physical tics and uncontrollable vocaliza-tions which are often filled with obscenities.

“Most patients with Tourette’s syndrome are treated with a neurolep-tic (anti-seizure) agent of some sort, and generally respond well to this ap-proach. But there are a certain number of patients that are not as responsive to neuroleptics and need some further help. Our studies suggest that these patients may be helped by nicotine therapy,” said Dr. Paul Sanberg of University of South Florida.

“Good food, good sex, good digestion, and good sleep: To these basic an-imal pleasures, man has added nothing but the good cigarette,” Mignon McLaughlin once said.

12 EDGEDAVAO

SCITECH

NOW, THE GOOD NEWSABOUT TOBACCO

By HENRYLITO D. TACIO Photos by Mauricio Victa

life a fulfillment of their dreams. Ciudades, of the Lapan-day Properties, aims to build and fulfill their tagline, “new communities, endless pos-sibilities” for all to experi-ence. With greens as far as

the eyes can see, it also will feature a grandeur of ameni-ties that will fully satisfy both the personal and professional cravings to live the life that we have always wanted. The Kadayawan Fun Ride and MTB Race is open for all

ages and can utilize any kind of bike to join. Meet up point is at Victoria Plaza where rid-ers would then traverse along JP Laurel, up at Buhangin and all the way to Mandug. On the other hand, the Elite MTB Challenge will be held at the

El Centro Bike Park. If nature’s glorious escape is not enough, then Popong Landero “Kaliweteng Gitaris-ta’ himself will serenade you with his captivating voice. Hefty cash prize will be awarded to the winners plus a chance to win a GoPro Hero 3 White Edition and other cool and exciting prizes during the raffle such as Wako Out-door apparels, bike statement headkerchiefs, gift certificates from Outback Grill and entry passes to Zoofari. Registration fee is P350 in-clusive of jersey, meal, raffle ticket and 1 day Bike Park Pass. Online registration still going on. Visit their official facebook fan page -- Ciu-dades Kadayawan Fun Ride for more details or at drop by any participating bike shops near you. For exciting news on Ciu-dades, visit their website at www.Ciudades.com.ph

INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 2014

EDGEDAVAOEVENT

FUN. . . Sun . . . Nature – three inevitable factors to best enjoy the many mysteries of life.

By Bai Fauziah Fatima Sinsuat Ambolodto

Yes, the month of August may be coming to an end but the Kadayawan festivities is once again making a roar to invite nature lovers and bike enthusiasts to participate and join in the Kadayawan Fun Ride and MTB Race on August 31, 2014 at the vast landscape of

Ciudades over at Tigatto Road, Buhangin, Davao City. Ciudades is situated in a vibrant 200-hectare stretch of luscious land with an exten-sive masterplan comprehen-sively envisioned to uphold a self-contained community that aims to make everyone’s

The Ciudades Kadayawan fun ride and MTB race

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

Watch the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 live and in HD on Skycable pay-per-view

Metro Society trains the spotlight on global Pinoys this August

A2 INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 2014EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT PEOPLE

EXCITING courtside action, heart-stopping buzzer beat-ers, and world-class ath-letes… catch all these and more at the 2014 FIBA Bas-ketball World Cup happen-ing in Spain. From August 30 to September 15, this action-packed basketball tournament will be aired live and in high definition on SKYcable PAY-PER-VIEW. The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup is a world tour-nament for men’s national teams held every four years. The winner will automati-cally qualify for the 2016

Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Check out our very own Gilas Pilipinas as they play their hearts out to bring home basketball glory. Get full coverage of 41 matches including all games of Gi-las Pilipinas, USA and Spain teams. Enjoy all the games live and in high definition right in your own living rooms. Witness the breath-taking action from jump shots to three-pointers, high-flying dunks to momentum-stop-ping defense all come alive as if watching real-time bas-

ketball action. Catch all the games 24/7 in 2 HD chan-nels, allowing you to watch all games back-to-back. Subscribe now to the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup on SKYcable PAY-PER-VIEW for only Php999. Nev-er again miss out on any of your favorite live sporting events with the access that SKYcable PAY-PER-VIEW gives you. SKYcable, the country’s leading cable TV provider, continues to enhance your viewing habit with top of the line innovations. Plus,

discover more ways of en-joying your digital cable TV with SKYcable’s widest choice of over 190 chan-nels, flexible subscription options via SELECT, iRE-CORD feature that records, pauses and rewinds live TV, and real-time coverage of live concerts and sporting events via FREE VIEW and PAY-PER-VIEW. For more information on SKYcable, simply call the Customer Service hotlines at (082) 305-5456 for Davao or log on to www.mysky.com.ph.

FOR Metro Society’s August release, the magazine features those who have gained recognition in an international playing field—distinct individuals who are successful not only in their own right, but those who have also put the Philippines on the map. Power couple Raul and Joanna Francisco grace the coveted cover. Beau-tiful, successful, cultured, and well-traveled are just a few ways to describe this partnership. Their brand Homme et Femme bring only the most exquisite of pieces from all over the world to their elite clien-tele. The issue also features other Filipinos who are making waves worldwide, beginning with bag designer Amina Aranaz Alunan. Her line has been a staple for Filipi-nos for years. The beautiful embellished totes and clutches are lugged around by the most chic. The last several months have been great for the label, having been featured in vari-ous international glossies. Another international marvel is the Philippine Azkal’s Simeon Rota whose beautiful story of success will surely make readers believe in miracles. Young and vibrant, this athlete is going places here and abroad. Meanwhile, Barcelona-based designer Katerina Gray is the magazine’s top pick for fashion. Her aesthetic is sophis-ticated and displays maturity for this young artist. Interior and furniture designer Maybelline Te has done many stories for Metro Society in the past. Her eye for style and elegance has made this Cebuana a force to behold in the home and design scene. Dominic Cu Unjueng Dekard is a filmmaker. His interna-tionally acclaimed short film ‘Adrift’ has been showcased in different film festivals and was recently played in several local theatres to share with a Filipino audience. Cecilia Pagkalinawan is a Filipino based in the U.S. and CEO and founder of the company ‘Appload,’ an app which is about the be launched. This is her third successful startup. American author and Pulitzer Prize winner Alex Tizon lives in Oregon. Metro Society gets to tknow him better in an one-on-one interview. Last but not least, Metro Society features Cherry Ander-son, who is bright as they come. As always, this issue would not be complete without the individuals who made the cut: New Beauty Trixie Syjuco gives readers a peek into her life and personal style, while versus girls and champion swimmers Christine Jacob-Sandejas and Roselle Papa-Allado face off, with all the pret-ty items in their closets. Also, be sure to check out all the Socials pages for an in-vite to all the metro’s hottest events, including a special on the Lopez 50th anniversary dinner. All these and more are in Metro Society’s August release, out in bookstores and magazine stands nationwide.

SUNSET BBQ BY THE POOL. Swing by for a weekend barbecue at Seda Abreeza, Davao. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, enjoy delectable a la carte items fresh off-the-grill from 4:00 to 8:00 pm. Poolside venue makes it doubly fun! For reservations, please call (6382) 3228888/2443000 or email dvo@sedahotels.com.

THE METRO’S premier shopping and lifestyle destina-tion – SM Lanang Premier – celebrates the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival by bringing back an-other breakthrough exhibition of tradi-tional Chinese arts to Davao City. From August 30 to Sep-tember 14, ‘An Exhibit of Chinese and Western Paintings’ by Chan Lim Family of Artists and Students will showcase over 200 artworks done in Chinese paintings, oil, porcelain plates, a teapot set and scrolls by 36 artists at the Atrium, SM Lanang Premier. This is the third year that Chan Lim will stage an exhibit in partnership with SM Lanang Premier since 2012. What makes this upcoming exhibit unique is the display of Chinese paintings on por-celain plates, which mea-sure 10 inches in diam-eter and are meticulously created for a year – from conceptualization, paint-ing, glazing to baking the artwork. Another visual attraction is the delicate set of teapot with six tea cups to be featured at the exhibit. The Chan Lim family is one of the few remain-ing notable Chinese brush

painting artists in the country today and has been conducting numer-ous painting exhibits and seminars, art workshops and on-the-spot painting demonstrations for more than four decades. On Saturday, Au-gust 30, at 2:30 pm, the Chan Lim exhibit will be launched at the Atrium, SM Lanang Premier with performances from stu-dents of Davao Chinese schools.

A free Chinese Paint-ing Workshop will also be held on August 30 start-ing 3 pm. Limited slots are available on a first-come, first-served basis. To reg-ister and inquire about the workshop, please con-tact the organizers, Davao Filipino-Chinese Cultural Foundation/Dynamic Youth, Inc. at 226-3571 or 221-6004. The public is invited to visit the 16-day art exhibit in celebration of the Mid-

Autumn Festival at SM Lanang Premier. The exhibit is co-presented by Dynamic Youth, Inc., the Davao Filipino-Chinese Cultural Foundation, Park Inn by Radisson and Air 21. Stay up to date on the events happening at SM Lanang Premier. Visit SM Lanang Premier on Face-book, Twitter and Insta-gram.

Chan Lim Family of Artists to hold exhibit at SM Lanang Premier

INdulge! A3VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 2014 EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

Nova Villa, Jessa Zaragoza play ‘unwanted guests’ in Pepito Manaloto this Saturday

VACC honors GMA Network with awards

Nash, Alexa, and Gimme 5 star in newest ‘Wansapanataym’ special

THIS Saturday (August 30), the hi-larious mother-daughter tandem of Nova Villa and Jessa Zaragoza will strike again as they play Mimi and Deedee, respectively, bringing fun riot to Pepito Manaloto’s (Mi-chael V.) mansion. In this week’s episode, Mimi and Deedee will ask Pepito and his wife Elsa (Manilyn Reynes) to help them look for a new place to stay after experiencing trauma due to the faulty electrical wiring in their house. A series of humorous events will start to happen when Elsa of-fers them to stay in their mansion although Pepito disagrees with his wife’s decision. Elsa will eventually realize that Pepito is right because Mimi and Deedee will bring noth-ing but stress to their family. The hit Kapuso sitcom Pepito Manaloto: Ang Tunay na Kuwento airs every Saturday right after 24 Oras Weekend on GMA 7.

ABS-CBN’s longest-run-ning and award-winning fantasy-drama anthol-ogy “Wansapanataym” will air its newest month-long special beginning this Saturday and Sun-day (August 30 and 31). The “Wansapanataym” special titled “Perfecto” will be topbilled by Ka-pamilya teen stars Nash Aguas, Alexa Ilacad, and the rising “ASAP 19” boy group Gimme 5. In “Wansapanataym Presents Perfecto,” Nash will portray the charac-ter of Perry, a young man who wanted to be per-fect to please his mother and his crush Kylie (Al-exa). Because of his in-securities, Perry is deter-

mined to do everything to achieve his dreams. What will Perry have

to sacrifice to get the perfect life he wanted? What experiences does

he have to go through to realize that the purity of his heart is far more im-portant than living a very ideal life? Also featured in “Per-fecto” are Matet de Leon, Vandolph Quizon, Candy Pangilinan, and Gimme 5 members John Ber-mundo, Joaquin Reyes, Brace Arquiza, and Grae Fernandez. It is written by Joel Mercado and di-rected by Onat Diaz. From the production of Dreamscape Entertain-ment Television, the orig-inal storybook for Filipino kids “Wansapanataym” is ABS-CBN’s longest-run-ning and most-awarded fantasy-drama anthol-ogy.

GMA Network won major cita-tions and spe-cial honors at the VACC (Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption) Awards held last August 20 at the National Bureau of Investigation in Manila. The Kapuso Network, which was inducted to VACC’s Hall of Fame last year for winning the Out-standing Television Sta-tion award for five years, was given the Special

Award for Community Service for Year 2013- 2014. GMA News’ news pro-ducer Emil Sumangil, meanwhile, was recog-nized as Outstanding TV News Reporter; while hard-hitting journalist Malou Mangahas was given a special award in the Anti-Corruption Campaign Category as host of GMA News TV’s Investigative Documen-taries. The Network’s flagship AM radio station, DZBB, also a VACC Hall of Fame

awardee, in turn, re-ceived a special award as Outstanding Radio Sta-tion for year 2014. DZBB’s Dobol A sa Dobol B and anchors Arnold Clavio and Ali Sotto also won the Outstanding Radio Program and Outstand-ing Radio Anchors spe-cial awards, respectively. Reporter Carlo Mateo, on the other hand, received the Outstanding Radio Reporter award. The VACC Awards was held as part of the orga-nization’s 16th Founding Anniversary celebration.

R 18

R 13

PG 13/

*PG13 12:40 | 3:00 LFS / * 5:20 | 7:40 | 10:00 LFS

R-16

TALK BACK AND YOU'RE DEAD

/ *TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

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

THE PURGE ANARCHY

James Reid, Nadine Lustre/

*Megan Fox, Johnny Knoxville

Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo

PG 13 12:00 | 2:00 | 4:00 | 6:00 | 8:00 | 10:00 LFS

THE GIVER

Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep

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

RUROUNI KENSHIN 2

Takeru Satoh

Mindanao’s fashion passion

A4 INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 2014EDGEDAVAOSTYLE

WITH its many diverse cultures, Mind-anao has always been a source of fashion inspiration. From T’nalak, to brass acces-sories, to carabao horn, and exotic plant fibres, Mindanao’s designers have a rich spectrum of materials and ideas to use for their designs.

By Kenneth Irving OngPhotos by Kenneth Hao

This year’s Moda Min-danao held at the Event Center of SM City Davao looked to be bigger than before with twelve en-tries each in the catego-ries of Cocktail Dress, Men’s Formal Wear, and Long Gown. In partner-ship with the Province of Maguindanao. The com-petition featured Cota-bato’s Inaul fabric and the designers incorpo-rated the textile heritage to their creations leading to eclectic creations on the runway that are as diverse as the materials are colourful. Moda Mindanao also featured Manny Deipa-rine as the event’s fea-tured artist. Deiparine who hails from Magu-indanao has made quite a reputation locally and overseas and has already incorporated Inaul as an

integral part of his de-sign. For the cocktail com-petition, Carlo Macail-ing won third place while Chard Pulatche won sec-ond. The grand prize for the cocktail competition went to an exquisitely detailed creation by Joey Hambala. The men’s for-mal wear competition was won by a red en-semble acceded by gold details by Niko Martinez while the grand prize for the Women’s Long Gown competition went to Jared Sevaño. The Grand prize win-ner for each category went home with Php 20,000 while the 2nd and 3rd placers will took home Php 15,000 and Php 10,000, respectively. The event is also made possible by Cebu Pacific and Huawei.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 2014 13EDGEDAVAO CLASSIFIED

VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 201414 CLASSIFIED

Billiard Supplies

( )

Phone Nos.

Cell Nos.

EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 2014 15

A huge field of over 1,000 runners is expected to answer

the starting gun for this Sunday’s The Royal Mandaya Hotel Hunat Dabaw 2 Fun Run in celebration of its 16th year anniversary.

TRMH general manager Benjie Banzon said everything is set for Sunday’s footrace. Participants will be treated to buffet breakfast after they cross the finish. The

race begins and ends at Palma Gil Street in front of TRMH.

“It’s all set and right now, the number of registered participants has surpassed 1,000. There could be more come race day,” said Banzon.

As of Thursday, 1,450 have registered for the race. “We are still open for registration until race day,” he said.

No less than Escandor Group of Companies

president Glenn Y. Escandor and vice president Gerome will lead the race along with the Escandor matriarch Violeta who will fire off the participants.

Hunat Dabaw 2 has a registration fee of P300 for the 3K and, P400 for both 5K and 10K, which entitles participants to buffet breakfast, race singlet, certificate, race bib and chance to win in the exciting raffles.

Last year’s inaugural race attracted 1,200 runners.

A total of P100,000 worth of prizes will be given away.

This year’s theme is “Dagan Para sa Kalambuan” with proceeds to be given to community outreach program of TRMH.

“This year our beneficiary is the Obu-Manuvu in Marahan,” Banzon said.

THE Samahang Bas-ketbol ng Pilipinas has issued a state-

ment regarding a query by the Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee on the eligibility of Gilas Pilipi-nas national team players Andray Blatche, Gabe Nor-wood and Jared Dillinger even as head coach Chot Reyes told veteran sports journalist Ronnie Nathan-ielsz “we will fight this to the end.”

Here are the conten-tions of the SBP:

In light of clarifications sought by the Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee on the eligibili-ty of Gilas Pilipinas players Gabe Norwood, Jared Dil-linger and Andray Blatche, the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas has forwarded to the Philippine Olympic Committee pertinent doc-uments providing irrefut-able proof as to the qualifi-cations of the three.

In a letter to POC pres-ident Jose Cojuangco Jr., to whom the IAGOC letter dated Aug. 26 from Mr. Jo Youngha of the Director General of Sports Head-quarters was coursed, SBP executive director Renauld Barrios explains:

“Briefly, we say that the Articles 49 and 50 of the OCA do not operate to ren-der our three mentioned players ineligible to play in the 2014 Asian Games.

“Assuming, without conceding, that the three (3) years residency rule in Articles 49 and 50 is ap-plicable to Mr. Norwood and Dillinger, these two are likewise eligible to play in the 2014 Asian Games con-sidering that they have re-sided in the Philippines for more than three (3) years prior to the 2014 Asian Games. Their old passports are hereunto attached to show that Mr. Norwood and Mr. Dillinger have re-sided in the Philippines more than three (3) years prior to the 2014 Asian Games.”

Mr. Norwood’s old Phil-ippine passport showed it was issued on July 23, 2007 with expiration on July 23, 2012, while Mr. Dillinger’s previous Philippine pass-port was issued on April 30, 2009 with expiration on April 29, 2014.

PBA operations director

Ricardo Santos also issued two certifications dated Aug. 27, the first attesting that “Mr. Gabriel Norwood was drafted by the Rain or Shine Elast Painters in the 2008 PBA Rookie Draft and has been playing with the said team up to the present,” and the second confirming that “Mr. Jared Dillinger was drafted by the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Tex-ters in the 2008 PBA Rook-ie Draft, playing from 2008 to June 13, and was then “trade to the Meralco Bolts on June 10, 2013 and con-tinues to play for the same team up to the present.”

The SBP also submit that the 3 year residency rule of Article 49 and 50 of the OCA Constitution does not apply to Andray Blatche for the following reasons:

• We take note of the specific mention of “... Rules of the IOC/ OCA as per Olympic Charter.”, which means it is of supreme im-portance that IOC and OCA rules should be consistent with the Olympic Charter.

• We submit that for a basketball player to be eli-gible to play in the Olympic Games in keeping with the Olympic Charter, a player must necessarily comply with FIBA eligibility rules since these are the basket-ball player eligibility rules applied for the Olympic Games.

• FIBA player eligibility rules covering “natural-ized” players dictate that a “naturalized” player can only play for one (1) coun-try and can NEVER play for any other country forever. There is no “residency” re-quirement under FIBA eli-gibility rules.

The SBP also cited that Blatche qualifies under Olympic Charter, By-Law to Article 40 Par 1, Article 41 and Bye-Law to Article 41 Par 1 and 2; and the OCA Rules on three (3) years residence requirement.

The SBP also contend-ed that FIBA has qualified Blatche to be eligible to play for the Philippines as its “naturalized” player for the upcoming 2014 FIBA World Cup and effectively in all FIBA sanctioned in-ternational tournaments, including the Olympic Games (if Philippines qual-ifies) and Asian Games.

A m u c h - w e a ke n e d United States should still be strong

enough at least to reach the final of the 2014 bas-ketball World Cup, which begins in Spain on Satur-day.

The holders, togeth-er with the hosts, will be strong favorites to reach the final of the marathon 24-nation event, while Eu-ropean champions France, a rejuvenated Croatia

plus Brazil, Lithuania and Greece are likely to feature among the dark horses at the tournament, which runs from Aug. 30 to Sept. 14.

Although the U.S. will be missing virtually the entire top echelon of household NBA names - including Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Carme-lo Anthony - they should still stroll into the final from their half of the draw.

The Americans com-pleted their build-up with Tuesday’s 101-71 rout of Slovenia, one of the teams they could meet en route to the final, after emphatic wins against Brazil, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

A balanced Unit-ed States outfit looks rock-solid in all depart-ments, with Anthony Da-vis, Kenneth Faried and DeMarcus Cousins dom-

inating the boards, while Stephen Curry, Kyrie Ir-ving and fit-again Derrick Rose provide long-range firepower.

Coached by the icon-ic Mike Krzyzewski, who has guided his Duke Uni-versity to four NCAA titles since 1980 and the nation-al team to 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold medals as well as the 2010 World Cup, the U.S. are likely to take nothing for granted.

EDGEDAVAOSportsSBP answersquery on Blatche

Hunat Dabaw 2 Fun Run on Sunday

US, Spain on collision course

THE U.S. Open heat-ed up on Wednes-day with China’s

Peng Shuai upsetting fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska and fifth seed Maria Sharapova averting an early exit on a swelter-ing day in Flushing Mead-ows.

French Open cham-pion Sharapova lost the

first set to 95th-ranked Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania, but the five-times grand slam winner bounced back to reach the third round with a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory in warm breezes at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Radwanska was not so fortunate as she fell 6-3 6-4 to world number one

doubles player Peng, who supplied a shock start to second-round play in Louis Armstrong Stadi-um.

Men’s first-round play was completed with sixth-seeded Czech To-mas Berdych dismissing 2001 champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia 6-3 6-4 6-3 and seventh seed

Bulgarian Grigor Dimi-trov a 6-2 7-6 6-2 victor over local wild card Ryan Harrison.

Other men’s seeds reaching the second round included Ernests Gulbis of Latvia (11), Marin Cilic of Croatia (14), South African Kevin Anderson (18) and Feli-ciano Lopez of Spain (19).

THE HEAT IS ONRadwanska out, Sharapova barely survives

BLATCHE

SHARAPOVA

VOL. 7 ISSUE 119 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29-30, 201416 EDGEDAVAO