P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015

A MEETING called by city administrator Melchor Quitain yesterday be-

tween Indian medical students of the Davao Medical School Foundation (DMSF) and the owner of the dormitories in which they are staying was cancelled when the owner failed to show up.

About 50 medical stu-dents were at City Hall for the meeting which had been set at 9 a.m. but the dorm owner, a certain Dr. Ashin Mohan who is also an Indian, did not arrive.

A dormitory staff mem-ber, Erlinda Sakay, went to the meeting but was not able to

give information and left after a few minutes.

Yesterday’s meeting was a follow-up to a meeting held Wednesday in which the Indi-an students made their com-plaints known to Quitain. Mo-han was supposed to give his side yesterday.

Quitain said both parties will meet again on Monday at the office of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) 11 to thresh out the students’ concerns and complaints.

He also said the DMSF ad-ministration is now investigat-ing the report.

Edge Davao tried to get the

statements of DMSF president Dr. Jonathan Alegre and DMSF School of Medicine Dean Dr. Petronilio Basa but was told the two were in a board meet-ing all day yesterday.

The complaints against Mohan range from illegal op-eration of three dormitories, various threats, and illegal de-tention.

Mohan, who is not con-nected with DMSF, is the al-leged owner of the Davao Med-ical Education Management Services (DMEMS).

Mohan allegedly operates three multi-story dormitories in Bankerohan, Bajada, and in

Jacinto Street.The three dorms report-

edly house around 1,500 stu-dents from India.

The students have com-plained that they are being charged P10,000 a month in rent even though they had been told before arriving in Davao City that the rent would be only P6,000.

“There’s no contract sign-ing. You will only know the real situation when you arrive here,” one of the students said.

The student said eight of them are crammed in each room, which has only one bathroom and one air condi-

INDIANS VS INDIAN

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

SPORTS page 14

INSIDE EDGE‘HONTI’ HAUNTSHontiveros sparkles as Alaska takes Game 1 in OT

crc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

tioner.Another student who re-

quested anonymity claimed that Mohan would prevent them from leaving the dor-mitory whenever they failed to pay their rent even during class hours or examinations.

Another student said Mo-han also threatened them with failure and expulsion from DMSF.

Another student said all Indian students are required to be inside the dorms at 9 p.m.

COMPLAINANTS. Indian medical students of the Davao Medical School Foundation (DMSF) gather out-side City Hall yesterday after their meeting with city administrator Melchor Quitain where they raised their concerns and complaints against their landlord. Lean Daval Jr.

FINDIANS, 10

Dorm owner snubs City Hall meeting

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015

FORMER government chief peace negotiator Jesus Dureza on Thurs-

day urged Congress to extend the transition period for the Bangsamoro region beyond 2016, to “give the political party of the Moro Islamic Lib-eration Front (MILF) time to mature.”

Dureza, also a former Pres-idential Adviser on the Peace Process, said that extending the transition period “will al-low the MILF to mature polit-ically and be able to prove to all Bangsamoro [constituents] that they are a different breed to the known past political leaders in the area.”

Congress is currently de-liberating the Bangsamoro Ba-

sic Law (BBL), the charter that would govern the new Bang-samoro government.

The creation of the Bang-samoro government is the key feature of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsam-oro (CAB), the final peace deal between the government and the MILF.

Once Congress approves the measure and ratified by the constituents in the proposed territory, the Autonomous Re-gion in Muslim Mindanao will be abolished.

A Bangsamoro Transition Authority will then be created, with the members appoint-ed by the President, until the first set of officials are elected during the 2016 elections.

Last December, the MILF officially launched its political party, the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP), in Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat town, Maguindanao.

At least 110,000 individu-als from the ARMM and other parts of Mindanao registered to become volunteers of the UBJP, which vowed to cam-paign for the ratification of the BBL and will field candidates for the regional elections in 2016.

MILF chair Al Haj Murad was installed then as UBJP president.

Dureza said Congress has the power to lengthen the transition period beyond 2016 by putting such provision in

the approved version of the Bangsamoro law.

An earlier MindaNews report said that Dureza pro-posed the extension of the transition period for the Bang-samoro until 2019.

He called on the public to-day to support the extension of the transition period, noting that “politicians listen to what is popular. If this [becomes] a real popular sentiment, politi-cians will listen.”

“If we don’t give the MILF longer time to mature and reform things in the Bang-samoro, they will not be able to compete in 2016 with the entrenched political leaders,” he said.

A GRENADE exploded at the maximum security compound of the Na-

tional Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City Thursday morning, killing a prisoner and wounding at least 19 others.

Bureau of Corrections (Bu-Cor) Director Franklin Jesus Bu-cayu said the grenade explosion at about 9:55 a.m. took place a few minutes before NBP offi-cials were supposed to hold a command conference.

In a text message, Depart-ment of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila M. De Lima said an inves-tigation “is already ongoing to determine the cause. The situ-ation is already under control.”

Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., for his part, said those responsible for the explosion will be held ac-countable.

“Seryosong bagay ito at la-hat ng anggulo hinggil dito ay pinasisiyasat ni Kalihim Leila de Lima (of the Department of Justice) at titiyakin na ang mga dapat managot ay mananag-ot hinggil dito,” Coloma said during the daily press briefing.

According to reports, inves-tigators have found parts of an MK2 fragmentation grenade at the scene of the blast.

The compound reportedly houses members of the Com-mando Gang.

Prior to this incident, the DOJ initiated a raid on the Maximum Security Compound which yielded firearms, cash, liquor, drugs, and other contra-band.

The Maximum Security Compound also houses con-victed drug lords and notorious robbery gang leaders. (PNA)

TO “pave way for the safe and orderly release” of the three policemen

snatched by New People’s Army (NPA), the National Democratic Front of the Phil-ippines (NDFP) has declared a 13-day ceasefire in Sirogap del Norte.

Ka Maria Malaya, spokes-person of NDFP-Northeast-ern Mindanao Region, said in a letter sent to MindaNews Tuesday that the local cease-fire would take effect on the same day until January 19.

But this local ceasefire, Malaya said, would only take effect once all operating units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Na-tional Police, Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit and paramilitary units complete-ly cease all their offensive military operations, which include the Community Orga-nizing for Peace and Develop-ment (COPD) and other such operations.

This local ceasefire, she said, covers four towns in

Surigao del Norte – Claver, Bacuag, Alegria, and Gigaquit – and in the municipality of Kitcharao in Agusan del Norte.

“This is a supplemental ceasefire to the 10-day cease-fire declared by the NDFP at the national level,” Malaya said.

She said this local cease-fire has been declared to avoid potential encounter be-tween the NPA custodial forc-es and operating units of the AFP, PNP and CAFGU.

She added that this would also provide security and safety for the families of the “prisoners of war,” members of the Third Party Facilitators and others who will attend the actual release of PO1 Democrito Bondoc Polvoro-sa and PO1 Marichel Unclara Contemplo of the Alegria Po-lice Station, and PO1 Junrie Amper of Malimono Police Station.

The NPA snatched Amper on Nov. 12 and Polvorosa and

2 EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS

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

FCEASEFIRE, 10

FEXTEND, 10

THE city government urged the people to file formal complaints

against erring city govern-ment employees instead of going to the media.

In yesterday’s I-Speak Media Forum, assistant city administrator Tristan Dwight Domingo said most of the complaints City Hall receives “come from the me-dia first.”

He urged complainants to make formal written com-plaints addressed to city ad-ministrator Melchor V. Quit-

ain so that an immediate in-vestigation can be conducted.

Domingo said the depart-ment heads only learn that their employees are in trou-ble when they read or hear about it in the news.

He also said it is hard for the department heads to val-idate the complaints because some are “petty” such as de-lays in the release of permits

Besides, he said, many times the complainants themselves are to blame be-cause the documents they submit are incomplete.

Ceasefire declaredfor release of cops

‘Extend transition period for MILF party to mature’

MEASUREMENTS. A child flashes a smile while her nutrition level is being checked by a health worker using Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) during yesterday’s Task Force Davao medical mission for the Badjao community at the Barangay 23-C Mini-forest covered court in Boulevard, Davao City. Lean Daval Jr.

Cases recommendedvs erring city workers

1 dead, 20 injuredin Bilibid explosion

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015

ENVIRONMENT and Nat-ural Resources Office (CENRO) head Engineer

Elisa Madrazo yesterday con-firmed that 15 trees will be cut along the drainage in Dacudao Avenue.

Madrazo told reporters in yesterday’s I-Speak Media Fo-rum that based on the tagging and mapping conducted last year, CENRO has observed that some of the trees really need to be removed because they had been damaged by termites.

Madrazo said she has al-ready submitted the recom-mendation to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the is-suance of a permit to cut the trees.

“It is up to the project pro-ponent (Task Force Drainage) to follow up with the DENR,” she said.

Madrazo said based on the assessment of the forester,

15 of the 200 trees planted in the stretch of Dacudao Avenue need to be removed.

She said that if the reha-bilitation on the drainage will push through, her office is go-ing to give a recommendation on appropriate trees that will fit the area.

Earlier, councilor Danilo Dayanghirang urged the city government to drop the pro-posal to cut down trees along Dacudao Avenue, saying it is “a direct contravention to our constitutional policy of conser-vation and protection on a bal-anced and healthful ecology.”

He also said the recon-struction of sewerage system in Dacudao to prevent flood in the nearby areas does not en-tail the cutting of trees.

Dayanghirang said there other ways to reconstruct the drainage without cutting down the trees if the intention

3NEWSEDGEDAVAO

THE Davao City Environ-ment and Natural Re-sources Office (CENRO)

will purchase additional gar-bage trucks and bins to man-age the city’s garbage disposal.

Speaking in yesterday’s I-Speak forum at City Hall, CENRO head Engineer Elisa Madrazo said the city will pro-cure 11 new trucks and 13,000 new bins which will be used for better solid waste manage-ment disposal.

Madrazo said the budget for acquiring the new bins and trucks will be drawn from a P600-million loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines.

She said the city needs ad-ditional trucks to collect all the

garbage especially in the areas where collection is seldom done.

Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte last year said he will hire pri-vate trucks to collect garbage, but Madrazo said the mayor changed his mind because he had learned that in other cities, private firms cannot collect all the garbage at all times.

“Kung i-privatize man gud murag mogawas na wala tay pakialam, na bahala na lang kung kanus-a sila mo kolekta, nga maghulat lang ang city. Sa atoa man gud sa siyudad, ginamonitor gyud nato pag-ayo kung naserbisyohan ba ang tanan na area (If we pri-vatize it, it would be as if we

do not care about it anymore, that we are letting the private firm decide for itself when to collect garbage and we would just wait. In our city, we really monitor the collection to en-sure that all areas are served),” Madrazo said.

Madrazo said 110 trucks are used in garbage collection, most of which are rented from private firms because the gov-ernment trucks are not opera-tional.

She said aside from the new trucks, the city will also repair nine compact trucks to ensure that all garbage is col-lected.

Madrazo said ideally 100

THE National Union of Journalists of the Philip-pines (NUJP) yesterday

condemned the deaths of 12 persons, six of them journal-ists, in the attack on the office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

In a statement, NUJP chair Rowena Paraan said the dead-ly attack “highlights how intol-erance has become an increas-ingly deadly bane to freedom of expression and of the press.”

Among the dead are editor and cartoonist Stephane Char-bonnier, cartoonists Jean Cab-

ut, Georges Wolinski, Bernard Verlhac, and Philippe Honoré, and economist and contribu-tor Bernard Maris.

Also killed were two police officers.

Paraan said the killing of journalists is “true not only among those who hold to ex-tremist views of whatever faith they believe in but even in countries that profess to respect and protect those free-doms.”

“The attack on Charlie Hebdo, the targeted killings of journalists, which have

claimed more than 170 lives in the Philippines since 1986, the worsening attempts to muzzle whistleblowers and reporters who bring to light corruption and the dark workings of state security, are all cut from the same mold,” she said.

“We acknowledge that there have been and will con-tinue to be debates about the role journalistic responsibili-ty – or lack of it – factors into such attacks on the freedom of the press. But while we ac-knowledge the indispensabil-

City gov’t to purchase11 new trucks, 13K binsBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

NUJP condemnsFrench mag attack

CENRO wants 15 treesalong Dacudao felled

‘JE SUIS CHARLIE’

MORE TRUCKS AND BINS. Davao City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) head Engineer Elisa Madrazo (left) re-veals that the city government is planning to purchase 11 new garbage trucks and 13,000 garbage bins that will be used for

better solid waste management disposal of the city. Madrazo, together with Traffic Management Center (TMC) chief Rhodelio Poliquit, graced yesterday’s I-Speak media forum at City Hall. Lean Daval Jr. FCENRO, 10

FCITY, 10

FNUJP, 10

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015

POLICE authorities in Region 12 have filed charges for violation of

the firecracker and pyrotech-nics law against four traders who were caught selling illegal materials in the recent Christ-mas and New Year holidays.

Chief Superintendent Les-ter Camba, Region 12 police di-rector, said Thursday the four traders were among the 29 in the region found to have vio-lated the provisions of Repub-lic Act (RA) 7183 and related local ordinances.

RA 7183 regulates “the sale, manufacture, distribution and use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices.”

He said they filed the four cases last Jan. 5, the first official working day after the long hol-iday break.

“We will be filing a total of 29 cases and most of these involved traders with proper business licenses who en-gaged in the selling of illegal firecrackers and fireworks,” Camba said.

4 NEWS

MALACAÑANG is leav-ing it to the Depart-ment of Justice (DOJ)

to investigate government offi-cials and individuals allegedly linked to the garlic price ma-nipulation.

“Ipinauubaya natin sa DOJ ang pagsisiyasat niyan na sila rin naman ang tumuklas

dito batay doon sa findings ng Office for Competition ng DOJ that were eventually con-firmed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI),” Presi-dential Communications Oper-ations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma said in a Pal-ace press briefing.

Coloma said charges

should be based on concrete and documented evidence that conform to due process of law.

The NBI has filed criminal charges against 119 individ-uals, including officials of Bu-reau of Plant Industry (BPI), allegedly involved in the garlic cartel.

Department of Agriculture

Secretary Proceso Alcala de-nied “any involvement in any illegal act nor have I exerted any influence to favor any busi-ness interest in the issuance of import permits or quarantine clearances.”

Coloma said the Agricul-ture chief will stay in his post. (PNA)

AFTER decade of pro-moting environ-mental protection,

the Balik Kalikasan Ad-vocacy Group (BKAG), an organization of environ-mentalists, vows to plant 700,000 trees in 2015.

To start the year right, the group conducted tree planting activity in Baran-gay Lipawan in this mu-nicipality, together with elementary pupils, teach-ers and administrators of Barira Central Elementa-ry School.

The Barira local gov-ernment unit and the Department of Education worked with the advoca-cy group.

To make the activi-ty more meaningful, the BKAG distributed books to pupils to help them in pursuing better educa-tion.

“This is part of our ad-vocacy this year to contin-ue the decade-old advo-cacy that aims to restore lost forest and Mother Earth that will protect the communities in Barira and nearby towns,” said Col. Arnel dela Vega, com-manding officer of the Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade.

“We are eyeing 700,000 seedlings, or more, to be planted with-in the next 12 months. We plan to plant Antipolo and Lanipao seedlings or in-digenous trees that easily grow here,” Dela Vega.

He lauded the con-tinuing support provided to BKAG by the Depart-ment of Environment and Natural Resources in the Autonomous Re-gion in Muslim Mindanao (DENR-ARMM), 6th Infan-

try “Kampilan” Division led by Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, DepEd, Barira LGU, STI College, Rotary Club, Jaycees, Cotabato Media, Minrico Lumber and civil society organiza-tions.

As part of its social corporate responsibility, Minrico, which is based in the municipality of Sul-tan Kudarat in Maguind-anao, vowed to produce more seedlings to be dis-tributed free of charge to anyone who wish to help protect environment by planting seedlings in their communities or farms.

Dela Vega said the Antipolo and Lanipao seedlings are ideal for planting in open fields or along hills and riverbanks because they grow faster, especially in rich and fer-tile grounds.

He said aside from restoring green environ-ment, the tree planting could serve as livelihood for farmers who would later sell timber products.

In fact, Dela Vega said some farm owners in the ARMM have already re-produced more seedlings by intercropping plants and plant more in be-tween coconut trees.

Those who participat-ed in the BKAG activity early have started har-vesting timber products of Antipolo and Lanipao varieties.

Dela Vega reminded owners of these products to secure necessary per-mits from the DENR to ensure its legality.

“If they want to earn, they should plant to have something to harvest in the future,” he added.

HEALTH personnel in Re-gion 12 recorded a total of 137 firecracker-re-

lated and stray bullet injuries in various parts of the region during the recent Christmas and New Year holidays.

Dr. Teogenes Baluma, De-partment of Health (DOH) Region 12 director, said Thurs-day such figure was based on the monitoring that they con-ducted in 31 hospitals in the region from Dec. 21 last year until 6 a.m. last Tuesday, Jan. 6.

The injury cases were down by nine when compared to the 146 recorded by the during the previous Christmas and New Year celebrations in the region.

Baluma said the 137 injury cases include the three stray bullet incidents in Cotabato City, Malungon town in Saran-gani and Midsayap in North Cotabato.

He said they have not re-corded any fatality as a result

of injuries but some of the cas-es involved amputations and surgeries.

A four-year-old in Cotaba-to City was hit by a stray bullet shortly before the New Year and a 43-year-old resident of Surallah town in South Cota-bato lost a finger on Christ-mas Eve due to an accidental explosion of the whistle bomb firecracker.

A 13-year-old boy from Barangay Namnama in Koro-nadal City lost two fingers and suffered serious burns due to an explosion of collected fire-cracker powders.

Baluma said South Cota-bato province posted the most number of injuries with 45, fol-lowed by North Cotabato with 38, this city with 18, Sultan Kudarat with 15, Cotabato City with 11 and Sarangani with 10.

“This is frustrating for us because we really wanted to have zero firecracker casual-

OUCH… A resident undergoes free tooth extraction during yesterday’s Task Force Davao medical mission for the Badjao community at the Barangay 23-C Mini-forest covered court in Boulevard, Davao City. Lean Daval Jr.

Palace: DOJ to probegarlic overpricing scam

ARMM environment groupwants to plant 700,000 trees

4 traders charged for selling firecrackers

137 firecracker, gun injuriesduring holidays – DOH-12

BLACK NAZARENE. A devotee presses the Black Nazarene at the Jesus Nazareno Parish Church in Cagayan de Oro City on Wednesday ahead of the annual procession of the Black Nazarene which started Thursday. A replica or the “callejeron” of the famous Black Nazarene was given to the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro in 2008. Its annual procession has drawn hundreds of devotee from all over Mindanao. MindaNews photo by Froilan Gallardo

F4 TRADERS, 10

F137, 10

EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015 5EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMYDOLE issues pay rules for NCRworkers during Pope’s visitTHE Department of La-

bor and Employment (DOLE) has issued

pay rules for workers in the private sector who will report for work on January 15, 16, and 19 which have been declared under Proc-lamation No. 936 as special non-working days in the National Capital Region on account of the visit to the Philippines of His Holiness Pope Francis.

n a statement, Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz enjoined all private sector employers in Metro Manila to observe the proper pay rules for the benefit of their workers.

The Labor Advisory states the pay rules ap-plicable for the special non-working days as fol-lows:

If the employee did not work, the “no-work, no-pay” principle shall apply, unless there is a favorable company policy, practice, or collective bargaining agree-ment (CBA) granting pay-ment on a special day;

If the employee worked,

he or she shall be paid an additional 30 percent of his or her daily rate on the first eight hours of work [(daily rate x 130 percent) + COLA];

If the employee worked in excess of 8 hours (over-time work), he or she shall be paid an additional 30 percent of his or her hour-ly rate on said day (hourly rate of the basic daily wage x 130 percent x 130 percent x number of hours worked); If the employee worked during a special day that also falls on his or her rest day, he or she shall be paid an additional 50 percent of his or her daily rate on the first 8 hours of work [(daily rate x 150 percent) + COLA];

If the employee worked in excess of 8 hours (over-time work) during a special day that also falls on his or her rest day, he or she shall be paid an additional 30 percent of his or her hour-ly rate on said day (hourly rate of the basic daily wage x 150 percent x 130 percent x number of hours worked). (DOLE/RJB/SDL/PIA-NCR)

SECRET FALLS. Thrill seekers explore the upper tier of the three-tier Secret Falls in the mountainous barangay of Pugaan in Iligan, also known as “The City of Waterfalls.” Rarely visited by picnickers, Secret Falls is not yet in the official list of the City Tourism Office, which so far has documented about two dozen waterfalls. MindaNews photo by Bobby Timonera

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015THE ECONOMY6 EDGEDAVAO

THIS early, the Davao City Water District is opposing the plan of

Cebu-based water company HelpMate, Inc. to extract wa-ter from Davao River to sup-ply the needs of the second district.

DCWD spokesperson Ber-nardo Delima told reporters during the Club 888 media fo-rum at the Marco Polo Davao last Wednesday that Help-Mate’s proposal will defeat the very purpose of DCWD’s plan to develop the Tamugan river as another source of po-table water for Davao City.

“What are we going to do with the bulk water that will be supplied by the construc-tion of the Tamugan Surface Water Project if this company (HelpMate) will enter? Aside

from that, DCWD is already supplying to the second dis-trict,” Delima said.

Delima said HelpMate first expressed its interest when it asked for clearance from the City Council of Davao for the construction of a water treatment facility in the Bu-hangin area and extraction of water from Davao River.

He said the company needs clearance from the lo-cal government as one of the requirements of the Nation-al Water Resources Board (NWRB).

“I presume that the wa-ter from this company will be much more expensive be-cause based on our study the water in Davao River is highly turbid. Kulay Milo (chocolate drink) na,” he added.

Based on DCWD’s study, the water running in Davao River is not as potable as the water coming from Tamugan River.

Delima said HelpMate will need a state-of-the-art water treatment facility to make the water coming from Davao River safe tor house-hold consumption.

DCWD, a govern-ment-owned and controlled corporation, is the sole and authorized water utility com-pany allowed to operate in Davao City.

JV Angeles Construction in consortium with Aboitiz Equity Ventures intends to start the construction of the Tamugan Surface Water De-velopment Project in 2016 after the project design and

costing is finished in the mid-dle of this year.

The construction, which will be implemented under a public-private partnership scheme, is expected to be completed by 2018.

The partners will put up a hydroelectric-powered bulk treatment facility and convey-ance system that will supply 300 million liters of potable water to DCWD.

Delima said the operation of the Tamugan project will address the water supply is-sue in Paquibato district.

“We expect that the bulk water that the Tamugan will supply is enough to address the growing demand for pota-ble water because of the city’s increasing number of popula-tion,” he said.

LABOR and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Di-mapilis-Baldoz on Tues-

day said 10 new wage orders took effect in 2014 granting increases ranging from P1 to P20 in the form of either basic pay or cost of living allowance (COLA).

The Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) that issued wage orders in 2014 are those in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Regions 1, 2, 3, 4-A, 5, 7, 11, 12, and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

The rest of the RTWPBs are in various stages of assess-

ing the socio-economic con-ditions and holding sectoral consultations as basis of their decision to adjust minimum wages.

Baldoz said of the 17 re-gional wage boards, eight have brought all their minimum wages to amounts higher than their region’s poverty income threshold, in compliance with the wage reform called the Two-Tiered Wage System (TTWS).

The reform consists of a genuine floor wage as Tier 1, which is set above the pover-ty income threshold to help workers and families meet

their basic needs and to con-tribute to poverty reduction, but not to exceed average wage to allow bipartite approaches, such as collective bargaining, in setting better terms and conditions of employment.

As the regional wage boards transition to the Two-Tiered Wage System, there have been simplifications in the minimum wage structures which, in turn, are expected to facilitate administration and enforcement.

“With the adoption of the two-tiered wage system, it is expected that all minimum wages shall be above the re-

gional poverty income thresh-old by end of 2016,” Baldoz said.

The second part of the TTWS reform aims to encour-age workers and enterprises to mutually agree to adopt pro-ductivity incentive schemes as sustainable source of higher revenues for enterprises and higher real incomes for work-ers over and above the man-datory minimum wage. The regional wage boards issue advisories to guide enterpris-es who will voluntarily adopt productivity improvement programs and gain-sharing schemes. (DOLE)

THE Department of Transportation and C o m m u n i c a t i o n s

(DOTC) is aggressively pushing for the modernization of the country’s public land transport services by issuing new yellow license plates to public utility vehicles.

DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya on Wednesday joined the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in issuing the brand-new, se-curity feature-packed yellow license plates to PUVs.

He also joined the Land Transportation Franchising

and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in inspecting the first-ever proposed route for electric jeepney (e-jeep) services in Quezon City.

“Safety and sustainabil-ity – these are key concepts in our modernization pro-grams. Today is a milestone in the promotion of road safety through the use of new yellow license plates, and in the shift to sustainable, environmental-ly-friendly public transporta-tion through electric-powered PUVs,” Abaya said.

DCWD nixes plan to getwater from Davao River

crc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

10 new wage orders took effect in 2014 DOTC, LTO set to launchbrand-new PUV plates

MINDANAO will get a P30-billion infrastruc-ture fund, the largest

chunk of the country’s infra-structure budget in 2015.

This was revealed by Ro-meo Montenegro, director for Investment Promotions and Public Affairs, who said the fund is about 30 percent of the national budget for infrastruc-ture.

“This is essentially part of the continuous lobbying... which is for Mindanao to be getting a better share of na-tional budget allocation for public works within the vicin-ity of 30 to 34 percent,” Monte-negro said.

The budget will cover all public works projects like roads and bridges.

“The big ticket projects will be those major highways connecting key major areas in Mindanao, it will also be com-plementing the other ODA (Of-ficial Development Assistance) projects particularly the con-tinuing effort to upgrade the

AH 26 (Asean Highways) in Mindanao.” Montenegro said.

Identified Asean Highways are General Santos to Davao, to Butuan then traversing to Vi-sayas all the way to Luzon.

The implementation of these major infrastructure projects are very much pur-sued with MinDA under the strategy outlined in the Mind-anao Logistics Corridor.

Under the strategy, all in-frastructure projects including farm-to-market roads will be implemented in areas where there is viability in connecting products/production centers to market centers and export gateways.

For as long as an infra-structure connects a produc-tion center like plantations to a gateway (port) automatically it will be considered as a priority project even though it is a mu-nicipal road.

Montenegro hopes these projects will be implement-ed and completed within this year. (PIA/RG Alama)

NEW WIRES. Linemen commissioned by a telecommunication company install new wires as part of the company’s expansion program which started last year. Lean Daval Jr.

Biggest infra moneyalloted to Mindanao

FDOCT, 10

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015 7EDGEDAVAO

AGRITRENDS

The mantises are among the most interest-ing and beneficial insects ever known. Although potentially lethal to other insects and spiders, they pose little threat to peo-ple. As a matter of fact, they have been a source of relief for those want-ing to control destructive insects in their gardens and farms.

A mantis will sit mo-tionless for hours on end in a posture like that of a person praying. It waits, however, not for inspira-tion but for food. Its dis-tinctive manner of satis-fying its appetite has long fascinated me no end. In fact, ancient cultures re-garded this insect with superstitious awe, for the word “mantis” is de-rived from the Greek for “prophet” or “seer.”

These insects are found throughout the country. They belong to the family Mantidae in the order Orthop-tera, which also includes crickets (a favorite of the Philippine tarsier), grasshoppers, and cock-roaches. All insects in this order are similar in that they have a first pair of wings that are straight and narrow and a second pair which fold and open like a fan.

Mantises are large insects, usually growing to a length of one to five inches. Their tough out-er skeletons are green or brown, which enables them to blend into sur-rounding foliage as they await their prey. A heart-shaped head at the front of the slender elongated

body seems dispropor-tionately small and can be swiveled. Such con-tortions earn the man-tis its reputation as “the only insect that can look over its shoulder.”

If you are a keen ob-server, you will notice that a mantis’ front legs are extremely long and powerfully muscled. When not in use, they are folded in a manner similar to the position of human arms at prayer, which undoubtedly ac-counts for the name of the best-known species: Mantis religiosa, the praying mantis.

The middle and lower sections of the front legs fold against each other, and the facing surfaces have extremely sharp and sturdy spines. These projections are arranged so that they interlock, like the teeth of a zipper. When a victim wanders within range of a wait-ing mantis, the insect flicks out its front legs with astonishing speed to spike the prey. As its legs retract, the spines sink deeper, securing the mantis’ grip. No wonder, this insect is called as “the preying mantis” in Europe.

Reproduction among the mantises is almost as eye-catching as their food-procuring hab-its. According to Bruce Kauffman, forest pest specialist with the Ten-nessee Department of Agriculture’s Division of Forestry in Nashville, most species reproduce through fertilized eggs.

Writes Kauffman:

Nature’s perfect predatorBy HENRYLITO D. TACIO

“BY any name, these fascinating insects are formidable predators.” -- National Geographic on the praying mantis

“Immediately following copulation, a singular and grisly mating ritu-al occurs: the female in many mantis species de-vours the male. One ob-server watched a female mantis eat the male with which she had just cop-ulated. In rapid succes-sion, she ate seven oth-er suitors as well. Male mantis, stronger and more capable fliers than the females, could easily avoid their mate’s grasp, but they seem resigned to their fate as post-mat-ing feasts.”

When you find an egg case, try to open it and you would see that it consists of three sepa-rate parts. Underneath, and nearest the support-ing surface, are rows of five to ten eggs lined up across the axis of the case.

On both sides of the eggs and forming the bulk of the case is a tough, frothy material uniformly laid down. Right down the center of the case is an-other distinct covering that is a series of over-lapping scales. This has been called the “zone of issue,” for this material is constructed to allow the young mantis an easy way to break out of the case.

The female mantis lays down all of this mar-velous structure continu-ously, rather than in stag-es, which says a lot for the complexity of her egg-lay-ing organs. The material around the eggs has air frothed into it by whip-ping actions of appendag-es on her abdomen. The material is soft and sticky at first but soon dries to become hard, stiff, and

water-repellant. After several months,

it is difficult to slash the case, even with a ra-zor. Depositing the eggs usually takes the female mantis about two hours. Afterwards, she goes in search of food, despite having eaten her mate a short time before. A fe-male may make up to 15 or more egg cases, Kauff-man reports.

The mantises are vo-racious eaters with a di-gestive system that seems capable of handling vir-tually anything without apparent ill effects. Some captive mantises have thrived on corned beef and hamburgers, others have gnawed paint; still others have eaten dead insects preserved in alco-hol solutions.

However, they pre-fer to prey upon moths, crickets, grasshoppers, flies, and caterpillars. “They will also eat others of their own kind,” says the National Geographic. “The most famous exam-ple of this is the notorious mating behavior of the adult female, who some-times eats her mate just after -- or even during -- mating. Yet this behavior seems not to deter males from reproduction.”

Large species of this insect have been report-ed to have attack frogs, mice -- and even snakes. “So fearless are mantis-es in approaching possi-ble prey that they have been known to spar with household pets,” Kauff-man notes. When they are taken out of their nat-ural camouflaged habitat, they are readily eaten by

birds.If grasped by the back

legs, they may escape by amputating the impris-oned leg. Some species scares away enemies by raising its wings and mak-ing a noise like the hiss of a snake, by rubbing the rear part of its body. The mantis kills its prey by biting through the back of the neck to sever the nerve cord.

Most mantises are sol-itary creatures which de-fend their hunting terri-tories. Trespassing man-tises will be challenged to a fight that often lasts until one insect is dead. This instinct probably developed so that each in-sect would be guaranteed enough food.

Though the mantises are adept aviators, they usually do not chase prey through the air.

The naturalist Gerald Durrell’s autobiography My Family and Other An-imals includes an account of a very evenly matched battle between a praying mantis and a gecko.

So, it’s not surprising at all that two martial arts had been separately developed in China with movements and fighting strategies based on those of the praying mantis. As one of these arts was developed in northern China, and the other in southern parts, the arts are now referred to (both in English and Chinese) as “Northern Praying Man-tis” and “Southern Pray-ing Mantis.” Both martial arts are very popular in China, and have also been imported to the West in recent decades.Praying mantis up close (from Wikipedia)

Praying mantis (from Wikipedia)

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 20158 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

A crime cut from the same moldEDITORIAL

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OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

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THE attack on the headquarters of hard-hitting publication Charlie Hebdo reminds us of the same ruthless massacre in Maguindanao that killed 58 people including 32 jour-

nalists in November 2009. On Wednesday, gunmen shot dead 12 people at the Paris office

of that French satirical magazine in an apparent militant Islamist attack. Four of the magazine’s well-known cartoonists, including its editor, were among those killed, as well as two police officers.

French President Francois Hollande described the terrorist at-tack as one “of exceptional barbarity.”

The Charlie Hebdo attack is believed to be the deadliest inci-dent in France since 1961, when right-wingers who wanted to keep Algeria French bombed a train, killing 28 people.

The masked attackers opened fire with assault rifles in the of-fice and exchanged shots with police in the street outside before escaping by car. They later abandoned the car in Rue de Meaux, northern Paris, where they hijacked a second car and fled.

The difference in the France attack and that of the Maguin-danao massacre is that the attackers of Charlie Hebdo are few,

masked, and they ran away. In Maguindanao, the supposed at-tackers were aplenty, not masked, and have been, for the past five years, identified albeit still to be convicted in court.

How France will deal with this attack will be known in the coming days, but for us here in the Philippines, the fight for press freedom and justice for 171 journalists who have been killed in media-related killings since 1986 continues.

Thursday morning, another journalist identified as Nerlita Ledesma was killed by motorcycle-riding men and she could be victim no. 172 if the motive is linked to her profession.

We are one with the Charlie Hebdo organization in condemn-ing the attack in France. We pray for those who perished risking their lives in the exercise of genuine freedom of the press and expression.

While we pray that the Charlie Hebdo attackers will be arrest-ed and unmasked soon, we also continue to pray that the per-petrators of the Maguindanao massacre, and those responsible for the rest of the unsolved killings – masked or unmasked – be ultimately served their due.

“THERE is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent

like greed.” ― Gautama Buddha***

On May 18, 1986, American finan-cier Ivan F. Boesky delivered a com-mencement address at the School of Business Administration of the Univer-sity of California in Berkeley, and said these words: “Greed is all right, by the way. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about your-self.”

This statement was later picked up in Oliver Stone’s award-winning film, Wall Street (1987), spoken by Gordon Gecko. “The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good,” said Michael Douglas, who por-trayed the role and received an Oscar trophy for his performance. “Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.”

Was Philip Slater also talking about greed when he said, “Our economy is based on spending billions to persuade people that happiness is buying things, and then insisting that the only way to have a viable economy is to make things for people to buy so they’ll have jobs and get enough money to buy things.”

In The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote: “The world says: ‘You have needs -- satisfy them. You have as much right as the rich and the mighty. Don’t hesitate to satisfy your needs; indeed, expand your needs and demand more.’ This is the worldly doc-trine of today. And they believe that this is freedom. The result for the rich is isolation and suicide, for the poor, envy

and murder.”How true,

indeed! Pope Benedict XVI once warned, “If people look only to their own in-terests, our world will certainly fall apart.” Are our politi-cians hearing these words? Or are they playing deaf -- as if they don’t hear the statement.

These days, rich people have accu-mulated more wealth than they could ever imagine while poor individuals have become poorer. “What is mine is mine, what is yours is mine, too.” That seems to be the mantra of most of the people. But that should not be the pur-pose of life. Jay Leno reminds us, “If you think of life as like a big pie, you can try to hold the whole pie and kill yourself trying to keep it, or you can slice it up and give some to the people around you, and you still have plenty left for your-self.”

A teacher and the school princi-pal were standing near the playground where the children were frolicking to their heart’s content. The teacher asked the latter, “Why is it that everyone wants to be happy, but so few ever are?”

The principal looked at the play-ground and replied, “Those children seem to be really happy.” The teacher answered back, “Why shouldn’t they be? All they do is play. But what keeps the adults from being happy like that?”

“The same thing that can keep chil-dren from being happy,” the principal said. Then, without saying any word, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of coins, and threw them among the playing children.

Suddenly, all laughter stopped. The children tumbled over one another, fought and argued. The principal told the teacher, “Well, what do you think ended their happiness?”

“The fighting,” the teacher an-swered. “And what started their fight-ing?” the principal inquired. “Greed,” the teacher replied.

God created this world for everyone to enjoy. “In this world there’s room for everyone, and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone,” said Charlie Chaplin in the movie, The Great Dicta-tor. “The way of life can be free and beau-tiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goosestepped us into misery and bloodshed.”

Mahatma Gandhi echoes the same concern: “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” As Seneca pointed out, “To greed, all nature is insufficient.”

Why is this so? “Greed is a bottom-less pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction,” American psychologist Erich Fromm explained.

Janwillem van de Wetering com-mented, “Greed is a fat demon with a small mouth and whatever you feed it is never enough.” This reminds me of the story of Jonathan, the only son of an affluent family. When his father died, he inherited all what his parents had and became the heir of the land. But he

wasn’t contented; he wanted more land.Once, a stranger came by, apparently

a man of means and power, and offered to give him all the land he could walk around in one day, on condition that he would be back at the spot from which he started by sundown.

Early the next morning, the boy set out, without eating any breakfast or greeting anyone. His first plan was to cover six square kilometers. When he finished the first six, he decided to make it nine, then twelve, then fifteen. That meant he would have to walk 60 kilome-ters before sundown. By noon, he had covered 30 kilometers. He did not stop for food or drink. His legs grew heavier and heavier.

About 200 yards from the finish line, Jonathan saw the sun dropping toward the horizon. Only a few minutes left. He gathered all his energies for that one last effort. He staggered across the line, just in time. Then, he reached for his heart and fell down in a heap – dead. All the land he got was a piece six feet by two.

“From top to bottom of the ladder, greed is aroused without knowing where to find ultimate foothold. Nothing can calm it, since its goal is far beyond all it can attain. Reality seems valueless by comparison with the dreams of fe-vered imaginations; reality is therefore abandoned,” French sociologist Emile Durkheim reminded.

“The point,” to quote the words of American businessman Donald Trump, “is that you can’t be too greedy.”

“It was not curiosity that killed the goose who laid the golden egg, but an insatiable greed that devoured common sense,” reminded E.A. Bucchianeri, au-thor of Brushstrokes of a Gadfly.

When enough is not enoughVOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

Henrylito D. Taciohenrytacio@gmail.com

THINK ON THESE!

LIVING more than half of my life in Davao City, which practically re-mains typhoon-free, left me without

any unforgettable personal experience of what it is like getting struck by this partic-ular disaster. Thus, experiencing the rage of typhoon Seniang while on a holiday va-cation in my hometown of San Agustin in Surigao del Sur was memorable, to say the least.

By late night of December 28, 2014, the typhoon started to unleash torrential rains and strong winds, damaging power lines and telecommunication towers as it wreaked havoc on houses and trees.

After it calmed down the following morning, dozens of families—whose hous-es were partially or totally damaged—sought refuge in the municipal gym and barangay halls.

For the next 72 hours, we were cut off from the rest of the world. No electric pow-er, no telecommunication signals. There was no way of getting any government ad-visory or getting news from our relatives.

Worse, shortly before dawn of De-cember 29, the detour bridge constructed in Hubo River as alternative route for ve-hicles passing the national highway was completely washed out. It easily gave way to the huge debris and assorted cuts of logs

brought by flashfloods.The repair of the original concrete

Buhisan Bridge, named after the barangay just a kilometer before the town proper, has yet to be completed. It was destroyed during the height of typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

The bridge is a vital infrastructure facil-ity connecting our town, the other ten mu-nicipalities in the eastern part of the prov-ince and the capital Tandag City to Agusan provinces and the Davao Region. The only other access is the circuitous route via the coastal towns of Surigao de Norte.

With the entire detour bridge nowhere in sight, a makeshift passageway was constructed from the riverbank up to the remaining half structure of the original concrete bridge to facilitate the mobility of people and merchandise goods that got stranded for at least 14 hours.

The improvised wooden ladder was ac-cessible only by foot and passengers with merchandise goods who wanted to trans-port their baggage across any point of the bridge’s approaches had to contend with

excessive charges by the local folks. A few meters transport of fruits cost

P10 per box while a large bag of personal belongings cost P20. Just imagine how much a trader had to shell out for a truck-load of merchandise goods.

Motorcycle drivers also charged an ex-orbitant P300-P500 for each passenger travelling to the capital city, almost five times the normal bus and jeepney fare. Local folks obviously made a killing out of people desperately wanting to spend New Year’s Day with their loved ones and fam-ilies.

Why the original bridge is still far from being operational even after more than a year after the onslaught of Yolanda, only the officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) can offer any plausible explanation, if not dubious excuses.

Yet, even if the bridge is finally restored, a local farmer opined in a matter-of-fact way that there is no assurance the same inconvenience would not recur, citing the presence of assorted cut logs rushing with the flashfloods which prove too heavy for the bridge’s structure to withstand every time a storm or a typhoon strikes.

The volume of sand, gravel, and boul-ders being excavated from both the down-

stream and upstream portions of the riv-er also compromised the integrity of the bridge’s foundation.

Local officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) may have provided good reasons why they are not being held liable for the glaring unabated illegal logging in one of Mindanao’s few remaining densely-forest-ed areas and the continued quarrying in one of the province’s critical waterways.

More than the timely repair of the bridge, therefore, the bone of contention is our collective failure to best manage the utilization of our natural resources. The daunting task of addressing this challenge is imperative for all the stakeholders to avert, if not totally eliminate, the recurring sorry consequence.

The responsibility lies not only in the hands of government officials – both local and national – but also of the people in the community, the supposed direct stewards of our environment, many of whom have also benefited from illegal logging and quarrying activities, including the people who made a killing out of the passengers affected in the recent catastrophe. (For comments and suggestions, the author can be reached through gregradel@gmail.com )

Troubled watersBY GREGORIO G. DELIGERO

PLAIN THOUGHTS

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“The new PUV plates will marginalize colorum opera-tors. They cannot be removed and transferred from one ve-hicle to another. They will in-dicate the vehicle type as well as the place of its registration. The ‘third-plate’ windshield sticker will also display the PUV’s plate number and au-thorized route,” he added.

The new yellow-and-black plates issued by the LTO under the leadership of Assistant Secretary Alfonso Tan Jr. have the same securi-ty features as the white-and-black private motor vehicle plates, such as tamper-resis-tant locks and screws to per-manently attach the plate to the vehicle, thereby prevent-ing “tanggal-plaka” practices, and reflectorized sheeting to make the PUV plates visible from afar and from any angle.

“Meanwhile, our inspec-tion of the very first proposed

route for e-jeepney services ushers in a new paradigm for public land transport ser-vices. We hope this is the start of replacing smoke-belching and poorly-maintained jeeps with high-tech, efficient, and environmentally-friendly e-jeepneys,” Abaya said.

The LTFRB, led by Chairman Winston Ginez, supports sustainable PUV services in line with estab-lished policies. It is mandat-ed to hear and rule on the petition for issuance of new certificates of public conve-nience (CPC) for E-Jeepney. E-jeeps are expected to have modern features such as a cashless payment system using reloadable cards, fixed stops, GPS and wi-fi connec-tivity, side entrance for easier boarding, and CCTV cameras to better ensure passenger safety, among others. (dotc.gov.ph)

The night guards would turn off their lights at exactly 10:30 p.m. every day, prevent-ing them from studying fur-ther.

“We just want to be good doctors but before that we need to study hard first,” she said.

Sakay, the staff member who went to the meeting, claimed she did not know who the owner of the dormitories is.

She also denied the stu-dents’ allegations, saying it was the first time she heard the complaints.

“Usually they only com-plain about food but not about the management,” she said.

Bridgette Abrina, a con-cerned citizen who is helping the Indian students, said the students fear Mohan especial-ly since four Indian students were sent to jail in May last year and were deported to In-dia.

Abrina clarified that Mo-han is not connected with DMSF but has a partnership with a certain David Pillai, CEO of India-based Transworld Ed-ucation Academy, which is the principal Indian associate of DMSF.

Rick Reyes, border cross-ing control officer of the Bu-reau of Immigration, said Mo-han has no power to deport the students.

Contemplo on Nov. 16 last year.

In its separate letter, the NDFP-North Eastern Mindan-ao has also issued an order of release for the three captives.

“Heeding the request of the family and loved ones of the POWs, the NDFP-NEMR deemed it necessary not to proceed with the preliminary investigation and trial proper, and thus ordered their imme-diate release,” Malaya said.

She, however, did not dis-close where and when will the policemen be freed.

“This local ceasefire dec-laration and the eventual re-lease of the prisoners of war in Surigao del Norte form part of the confidence build-ing measures of the National Democratic Front of the Phil-ippines for the resumption of the peace talks,” Malaya said.

“In compliance with this unilateral ceasefire decla-ration, all units of the New People’s Army (NPA) have been ordered to cease all their offensive action against the AFP, PNP, CAFGU and oth-er paramilitary troops,” she added.

The government earlier declared a month-long uni-lateral ceasefire from Dec. 19 to Jan. 19.

The CPP-NDF-NPA re-ciprocated with a staggered truce covering Dec. 24 to 26;

Dec. 31 to Jan. 1; and Jan. 15 to 19.

But the communists ac-cused that despite the AFP’s Suspension of Military Oper-ation (SOMO) and the PNP’s Suspension of Police Opera-tion (SOPO), there are still vi-olations committed, foremost of which is the COPD.

Malaya said that should the government forces “re-main adamant in their posi-tion, and in effect in jeopar-dize the security of the NPA custodial force and the POWs themselves, the NDF-NEMR shall have no other recourse but to cancel the release.”

Of the nine original cap-tives, only the three police-men from Surigao del Norte have remained in the hands of the NPA, according to Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos, spokesper-son of NDF-Mindanao.

Madlos told MindaNews during the 46th CPP anniver-sary celebration on Decem-ber 26 in Marihatag, Surigao del Sur that military oper-ations in Surigao del Norte continued despite the SOMO declaration, thus preventing the release of the remaining captives.

He said government forces were still deployed in Claver, Gigaquit, Bacuag, Plac-er, Tubod and Alegria towns and some parts of Agusan del Norte.

Dureza was among those invited to the “Media Roundta-ble on the Bangsamoro,” which MindaNews organized in part-nership with the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), Conciliation Resources, Euro-pean Union, Philippine Infor-mation Agency and the Cana-dian government.

Prof. Miriam Coronel Fer-rer and Mohagher Iqbal, chief peace negotiators of the gov-ernment and the MILF, respec-tively, also graced the event as key resource persons.

Both appeared optimistic that the BBL will be approved by Congress and ratified by the constituents in the proposed territory this year.

Ferrer said the GPH-MILF peace process has reached this far “mainly due to the trust and confidence as well as the resil-iency and creativity shown by each party.”

“The good thing now is we’re starting to reap the

benefits produced by the past efforts to solve the [Bangsam-oro] problem,” she said.

Iqbal, also the chair of the BTC which drafted the BBL, appealed to Congress to pass “a good BBL.”

“The key for bright future is for Congress to pass a good BBL. Let us not miss this rare opportunity to establish peace in Mindanao, as this opportu-nity may not come again,” he said.

Iqbal recalled that the negotiation stage was never easy, but because of the good-will shown by the parties, they were able to forge a final peace agreement.

“[The negotiations were characterized by] giving and taking, and taking and giving. Not all taking, not all giving. Compromises were made, that’s the essence of nego-tiations,” he said. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)

new trucks should be used in garbage collection to make sure all areas are served, espe-cially in the distant areas in the second and third districts.

She said the additional bins will be also used to re-place the damage and miss-ing bins. There are more than 10,000 bins installed in the designated collection area of CENRO.

Madrazo said these bins will be also used and installed during the big events in the city such as Araw ng Davao and Kadayawan Festival be-cause CENRO does not want to remove the bins installed in the collection areas.

She said before the bins are installed, an operation manual will be made first to inform the people of their proper use.

ity of ethics in the profession, we also maintain that no mode of expression, however offen-sive or unethical it may be, de-serves a death sentence,” she added.

“In the face of these, there can be really only one re-sponse – to fight back by con-tinuing to express ourselves freely despite our fears. Today, let us all proclaim, je suis Char-lie (I am Charlie),” Paraan said, echoing a solidarity statement in French that has gone global.

For its part, the Depart-ment of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the attack was “senseless and appalling.”

“We join the French nation and the rest of the world in

denouncing this blatant disre-gard for human lives and the fundamental right of expres-sion,” a DFA statement said.

Charlie Hebdo or Charlie Weekly had published contro-versial articles on Islam and numerous caricatures ridicul-ing the Prophet Mohammad.

“We are appalled by the senseless attacks that took twelve innocent lives and wounded several others in Paris,” the DFA said.

“We condole and sympa-thize with the families of the victims as they mourn the loss of their loved ones and begin their quest for justice.” Che-neen R. Capon with a report from PNA

Police units in Region 12 earlier launched a series of raids against illegal fire-crackers and fireworks or pyrotechnics in compliance with a directive issued by the Police Regional Office 12 and the Philippine National Police central office.

During the raids, Camba said they arrested a total of 19 persons and confiscated near-ly P500,000 worth of illegal items.

He said the biggest haul was in South Cotabato, fol-lowed by Cotabato City and North Cotabato.

The South Cotabato police earlier reported two major operations in the municipal-ities of Tupi and Polomolok that netted around P125,000 worth of illegal firecrackers and pyrotechnics.

The official said most of the 29 traders facing charges were able to escape and evade arrest during the raids.

But he said they were able to identify them based on the business registration docu-ments for their firecracker

stalls.He said the illegal fire-

crackers found at the stalls will serve as evidences in the cases against the erring trad-ers.

Under RA 7183, firecrack-ers and pyrotechnic devices that have more than the al-lowable explosive content are strictly prohibited.

Among the banned mate-rials are watusi or the “danc-ing firecracker,” piccolo, super lolo, atomic big triangulo, mother rockets, lolo thunder, pillbox, boga, big Judah’s belt, big bawang, goodbye Philip-pines, kabasi, five star, pla-pla, OG, giant whistle bomb and unlabeled firecrackers.

The Departments of Health and the Department of Trade and Industry had is-sued prohibitions regarding the use and sale of the said firecrackers and fireworks.

Camba earlier said they concentrated their operations on piccolo, which caused the most number of firecrack-er-related injuries in the re-gion in the past holidays.

TRANSITION. Commissioner Abdulla Camlian (right) of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission answers questions from media practitioners during the me-dia roundtable discussion on the Bangsamoro Basic Law at The Royal Mandaya Hotel yesterday. Also in photo is Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panel and Bangsamoro Transition Commission chair Mohagher Iqbal. Lean Daval Jr.

CENRO... FFROM 3is to rehabilitate it to prevent flood.

But Taks Force Drainage chair Yusof Jimlani had also earlier said based on the initial report of the technical working

group (TWG) that conducted a tagging of the trees located along Dacudao Avenue, a num-ber of trees need to be cut and pulled to allow personnel to clean the Dacudao canal. [ABF]

ties,” he told the Radio Mindan-ao Network in Koronadal City.

Of the 137 injury cases, Baluma said 118 involved males and 19 were females, majority of whom were chil-dren.

A total of 79 victims were aged 12 and below while the remaining 58 were 13 and above, he said.

He said the banned fire-cracker piccolo caused the most number of injuries, fol-lowed by kwitis and other fire-works, and big illegal firecrack-ers like pla-pla and judas belt.

Despite the conclusion of their monitoring last Jan. 5, Baluma said they expect the injury figures to still increase

in the next few days.“Our online reporting

system clogged up these past several days so there could be more cases that we have not yet added to our list,” he said.

For instance, the Integrat-ed Provincial Health Office of South Cotabato already re-corded 112 firecracker-related injuries as of Jan. 5.

The DOH-12 earlier ex-panded its monitoring sites for firecracker injuries to 31 hos-pitals in the region from six in the previous year.

The agency said it in-creased the monitoring sites to facilitate the proper reporting and handing of firecracker in-jury cases in the region.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015 11EDGEDAVAO

PROPERTY

SELECTIVE homebuyers have high standards as far as choosing a new home is

concerned. They have specific wishes they want met and most of the time they are not even willing to compromise. They will find that Northpoint, with its many attributes desired by even the choosiest of home-buyers, easily meets what they look for when choosing the best home for themselves and their loved ones.

They want prestige. Those with discriminating tastes want a beautiful home within a distin-guished neighborhood, a place they will be proud to call their own. Northpoint fits the bill with its premier address, British colonial themed condominium buildings, and well-thought con-do layout and design.

The prestige of living in Northpoint stems from the fact that this master planned con-dominium is a landmark devel-opment of Vista Residences, the vertical marketing arm of the country’s largest homebuilder, Vista Land.

They want distinction. Northpoint is the only condo-minium development in the region that has hundreds of imported Caribbean pine trees dotting its grounds, making it a veritable pine estate and lending it a distinct character.

The restored and enhanced

White House on top of the rise beside its entrance, currently hosting a fine dining Asian fu-sion restaurant and wine cellar, is a local landmark having been erected decades ago by the pre-vious land owner, a Scottish businessman who contributed to Davao’s economy as one of its first purveyors.

They want beautiful sur-roundings. Northpoint’s curb appeal is undeniably charming. Further enhancing the pine-filled surroundings of North-point are meticulously land-scaped grounds, a thick carpet of grass blanketing its open spaces, profuse greenery and preserved olden Acacia trees all around.

Nestled within these beau-tiful and verdant surroundings are the majestic condominium buildings whose design was in-spired by the distinct British co-lonial look of the White House.

They want to be near the pulse of urban life. Nestled within the heart of north Davao’s growth area, Northpoint is a stone’s throw away from mod-ern workplaces and business offices, shopping and commer-cial centers, and recreation and leisure spots.

It’s a breeze to go to a busi-ness meeting, grab a drink and sandwich from a coffee shop or bistro, shop for the latest in fashion, or unwind at a bar after a day’s toil in the office buildings

Why choosy homebuyersselect Northpoint

CAMELLA DAVAO

Northpoint holds the distinction of having world-class facilities such as this wellness pool with salinated water.

nearby. They want security and

privacy. Northpoint’s prop-erty management team keeps a tight watch over the condo property’s security, ensuring the safety of the homeowners and their condo homes. The round-the-clock security in-cludes guards manning the main entry gates and per-sonnel roving the grounds and parking areas. Guests are carefully screened and permission is sought for entry, thus ensuring that homeowners will not receive unwanted visitors.

While there are currently three condominium build-ings, with another soon to follow, Northpoint is not

wanting in privacy. The pine trees that can grow up to a hundred feet provide not only shade from sunlight or barrier from strong winds; they can also serve as a natu-ral screen between buildings and from prying eyes outside of the property.

They want convenient and hassle-free living. North-point is strategically located at the junction of Buhangin Road and JP Laurel Avenue, Bajada, two major thorough-fares plied by public trans-portation that leads to all the major streets in the city. It’s a short commute or drive for homeowners when they need to pay the bills, go to church, get to their doctor’s appoint-

ment, or buy groceries.A few kilometers away

are schools and universities, banks, supermarkets, hos-pitals, public markets, bus and van terminals, jump-off points to Samal’s white beaches, and other public utilities homeowners will need to go to on a daily or weekly basis.

Clearly, Northpoint eas-ily surpasses the yardstick of choosy homebuyers when selecting a new home. Picky or not, homebuyers can get their ideal Northpoint con-do home by visiting the Ca-mella offices at Delgar Bldg., (fronting Northpoint), JP Laurel Avenue, Bajada, tele-phone 226-3100.

With hundreds of imported Caribbean pine trees dotting its grounds, Northpoint is a veritable pine estate in the middle of the city.

Northpoint has a premier address urbanites and sophisticates will be proud to call their own.

Picky or not, homebuyers will find their ideal condo home in Northpoint.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 201512 CLASSIFIED

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

Billiard Supplies

Phone Nos. Cell Nos.

EDGEDAVAO

There’s abetter wayto getattention.Advertise with

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CLASSIFIEDSNOTICE OF LOSS

Notice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS CONSOLIDATED INC. that CERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT No.(s) 3453 under Loyola Plan Contract No(s). 10160897-5/MRO530003849 issued to PAZ M. DIMALALUANthat PAF (Plan Application Form) No(s). 00235894-235895 and 00235899 issued to SHARON C. PACIENTE

were lost. Any transaction entered into shall be null and void.1/9,16,23

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015

EDGEDAVAOINdulge! EVENT

Retro-ing into 2015Here’s what. Through

the last six hours of 2014, The Royal Mandaya Ho-tel made some noise, not of the firecracker kind, but of some tunes worth swinging into as it geared up for the dawning of year 2015.

There’s no New Year’s Eve partying like this elsewhere that day so TRMH threw in some more to make it a family thing. And what way it is to make the NYE Party a fam-bam affair but to rake in the kids and roll in the fun—there’s face-painting, games and mag-ic show and henna tattoo-ing too.

The five voices of Echoistic ensemble sang serenades to open up the mood for partying and just like that, The Royal

Ballroom was in party spirit.

Now, with all that flair, everyone just had to let down that hair. Partying guests hammed it up to retro tunes garbed in ret-ro fashion too all the way back to the great 60’s.

As the clock went from hours to minutes to just ticks away to NY2015, everyone had a blast doing the countdown, slowly ris-ing in crescendo as the an-ticipation level rose from one level to next, and then erupting into wild cheers as 2015 officially dawned in into its first ticks.

Now, if you think that’s the end of the party, you are making your first wrong guess of the year.

Party wore on until the first hours of the year. HNY, y’all!

The Royal Mandaya Hotel sure knows how to end the year with a bang and meet the new with aplomb.

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

COMMITTED to enable its enterprise clients to provide the best experience to their customers, Globe Business re-cently launched the Globe Contact Center Solution, an all-in-one internet protocol (IP) communications soft-ware suite that pro-vides multi-channel contact center auto-mation functionality for mid-sized to large organizations. The enterprise ICT arm of Globe Telecom worked in close collaboration with Interactive Intelligence Inc., a global provider of contact center, unified communications, and business process automa-tion software and services, in launching the robust cloud-based, single plat-form solution which will allow companies to take a highly-personalized, all-in-one approach to cus-tomer care. According to Globe Senior Vice President for Enterprise Group Nikko Acosta, “This partner-ship fortifies the goal of Globe Business to pro-vide customers access to some of the world’s lead-ing information and com-munication technologies,

enabling them to elevate service levels and custom-er satisfaction. With this innovative customer care solution, companies can improve operational per-formance with real-time monitoring and full-time operational visibility.” Meanwhile, Interac-tive Intelligence Inc.’s Chief International Busi-ness Officer Gary Blough said, “This service makes a company’s customer touch points more flex-ible by offering varied contact options such as voice, email, fax and chat, as well as SMS, business objects, and social media.” He also mentioned that the new service offering

enables enterprises to de-velop and manage creative outbound campaigns to build brand and customer loyalty and open up new revenue streams. A voice technology workshop featuring the solution was conducted during the launch, as well as knowledge sharing ses-sions of the latest contact center trends and market opportunities by infor-mation technology pro-fessionals from the busi-ness process outsourcing, manufacturing, financial, healthcare, retail, and ser-vices sectors. Globe Business has been creating a wonder-ful ICT landscape for in-

dustries, commercial en-terprises as well as their customers by providing a comprehensive range of interconnectivity so-lutions engineered ac-cording to their business requirements, enabling them continuous access to information. Its port-folio of products and ser-vices encompass mobile, wire line, broadband, data connections, Internet and managed services, among many others. For more information on running your business with Globe Contact Center Solutions please visit business.globe.com.ph or get in touch with your Globe Business Account Manager.

CEBUANA LHUILLIER’S Search for the Happiest Pi-noy is back, with a wider scope, new special awards, and bigger cash prizes. A P1-million cash prize, tax-free, awaits the Search for the Happiest Pinoy 2014 grand winner while nine (9) runners-up will receive P50,000. The country’s leading micro financial company will also give special prizes to the Happiest Student and Happiest Overseas Filipino Worker. “With our Search for the Happi-est Pinoy, we want to recognize out-standing Filipinos who are able to both rise above life’s challenges and positively impact the lives of other people with their positive outlook in life,” said Michael Sena, Cebua-na Lhuillier’s Integrated Market-ing Communications Group Head.

“This is our way of celebrat-ing the values of optimism, resilience, and hope among Filipinos.” Filipinos, 18 years old and above, with good moral character can be nominated to the search. Nomination forms can be downloaded from www.happiest-pinoy.com and are available in any of Cebuana Lhuillier’s more than 1,700 branches nation-wide, to enable more people to nominate their happiest Pinoys. Accomplished nomina-tion forms can be mailed together with supporting documents to: SEARCH FOR THE HAPPIEST PINOY SECRETARIAT, PJ Lhuil-lier Group of Companies, Inc., 2/F Annex 2, PJL Corporate Centre,

1782 N. Garcia cor. Candelaria Sts., Makati City 1209. Scanned copies of the accomplished nomination forms and supporting documents can also be emailed to www.happi-est-pinoy@pjlhuillier.com. Nomi-nations can be submitted from

October 24, 2014 until March 31, 2015. The nominees will be screened by the Happiest Pinoy Board of Judges com-posed of CNN 2009 Hero of the Year Efren Peñaflorida, Camarines Sur 3rd District Representative Maria Leonor Robredo, McCann-Erickson Chairman Emeritus Emily Abrera, Assistant Secretary Anne Corominas, Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Solutions (CLIS) General Manager Jon-athan Batangan, Happiest Pi-noy grand winners Winston

Maxino and Rommel Arellano, in-spirational speaker and corporate trainer Francis Kong, and broad-cast journalist Luchi Cruz-Valdez. Since its launch in 2009, the Search for the Happiest Pinoy has

been awarded to two deserving individuals. Winston Maxino, a corporate executive who was diag-nosed with Ankylosing Spondyli-tis, a degenerative and incurable bone disease, was declared the first Happiest Pinoy grand winner in 2010. Rommel Arellano, a guidance counselor who was afflicted with polio at age 1, was declared Hap-piest Pinoy in 2012, besting more than 13,000 nominees nationwide. This year, Cebuana Lhuillier is taking its Search for the Happiest Pinoy to different schools and of-fices nationwide to get even more nominations. Follow the official Search for the Happiest Pinoy Facebook page at www.facebook.com/happiestpinoy for more updates. You can also fol-low it on Twitter and Instagram @happiestpinoy

WANT to fly to an Asian country for free? If you’re a mobile or broadband postpaid subscriber of wireless services lead-er Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), you have a chance to win Cathay Pacific tickets to an Asian destination if you use Smart’s convenient billing and payment channels. Under the “Live More, Fly More” raffle promo of Smart and Cathay Pacific, 30 subscribers will each win two roundtrip tickets to any of the following Asian destinations – South Korea (Incheon, Busan), Japan (Fukuoka, Nagoya, Osaka, Narita, Haneda), Southeast Asia (Bangkok, Singa-pore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Saigon, Penang, Surabaya, Phnom Penh, Siam Reap), China (Beijing, Shanghai, Xia-men, Guangzhou, Guilin), or Hong Kong. To register to the promo for free, you must text the follow-ing to 6771: REG <space> LMFM <space> Name/Complete Address/e-mail address/Smart account number (Example: REG LMFM Juan de la Cruz/1 Paraiso Street Dasmariñas Vil-lage Makati City/jdelacruz@email.com/0729107382). You will get a confirmation text message asking if you agree to receive Cathay Pacific’s monthly newsletter via email. You can opt in to this by replying with the letter Y. You can start earning electronic raffle entries by either enrolling to environment-friendly electronic billing state-ments via the my.Smart customer service portal (my.smart.com.ph), use a credit card to pay your bill online on my.Smart, settle your bill with a few clicks on your mobile phone using Smart Money, the world’s first electronic wal-let, pay your bill in cash using Load Connect machines in Smart Stores, or pay your bill at any EC Pay partner mer-chant You can earn entries until February 28, 2015. Winners will be determined via raffle draw on March 13, 2015. Here’s one more perk under this promo: Smart subscrib-ers who will apply for a Smart Money card in any Smart Store during the promo period will be able to get it at 50% off -- for only P50. They will also receive a P100 Smart Money credit the first time they pay their Smart mobile or postpaid bill using Smart Money. “Our vision at Smart is to empower people to ‘Live More.’ We do this by offering relevant services that suit our sub-scribers’ different lifestyles; providing customer service channels that allow them to easily, quickly, and convenient-ly complete aftersales transactions like bills payment; and launching rewards programs and promos like ‘Live More, Fly More’ as a way of thanking our customers for their con-tinued trust in our service,” said Smart Customer Value Chain Group Head Maricris Crisostomo.

A2 INdulge! VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT

Asia trips up for grabs in Smart and

Cathay Pacific promo

Globe Business launches comprehensive platform

for customer care

Search for the Happiest Pinoy returns with P1M cash prize

Formalizing the partnership are representatives from Globe Business (from left): Director of Product Marketing Gerry Soler, Head of Mobile and Fixed Communication Louie Villanueva, Senior Vice President for Enterprise Group Nikko Acosta; and from Interactive Intelligence, Chief International Business Officer Gary Blough and Regional General Manager for Asia Simon Lee.

HIRAM NA ALAALA showcased how the power of shared memories can cause great love to become real, providing view-ers a unique viewing treat every night. And as Hiram na Alaala comes to an end, Den-nis Trillo and Kris Bernal, with Lauren Young and Rocco Nacino, share their unforgettable experi-ences while doing the show. For Dennis, playing the role of Ivan is mem-orable. “First time ko kasing gumanap bilang isang sundalo sa TV. The role itself is physically de-manding. Kailangan ta-laga paghandaan. Masa-sabi ko ring memorable ay yun mapabilang sa programang ito dahil ka-kaibang konsepto itong Hiram na Alaala at siyem-pre makatambal si Kris.

Very refreshing sa mga manonood ang ginawa ng GMA na pagtambalin kaming dalawa.” To be teamed up with Drama King Dennis

Trillo is one of Kris’ most unforgettable experi-ences. “To be part of a series with great actors and yun team-up namin ni Dennis, and my love

scene with him would be among the most memo-rable,” she shared. For Lauren, to be a better actor and a better kontra-bida are among

PRIMETIME TV’s most-loved ro-mantic drama series, “Forever-more,” continues to reign in its time slot despite the airing of a new competing show. Based on data from Kantar Me-dia last Monday (January 5), ABS-CBN’s kilig-serye starring Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano scored a na-tional TV rating of 23.6% or more than 8 points higher compared to the pilot episode of GMA’s “Once Upon A Kiss” (15.2%). Meanwhile, what will Xander (Enrique) do now that Julius (Kit Thompson) has been chosen as the new vice president of Hotel Grande? Will he now decide to reconcile with his family or is he

already content with his simple, happy life with Agnes (Liza) in Si-

tio La Presa? Continue to feel the thrill of falling in love for the first time in “Forevermore” weeknights after “Dream Dad” on ABS-CBN Prime-time Bida. For more updates about “For-evermore” visit Forevermore.abs-cbn.com and follow the show’s official social media accounts at Facebook.com/StarCreativesTV, Twitter.com/StarCreativesTV and Instagram.com/ StarCreativesTV. Viewers may also catch up on full episodes and past episodes of “Forevermore” through ABS-CB-Nmobile. For more information, please go to www.abscbnmobile.com.

BORN TO BE WILD kicks off 2015 with two excit-ing expeditions in Thai-land and the Maldives beginning this Sunday on GMA7. The pristine islands of the Maldives have breath-taking views to offer, and this January, Doc Ferds Recio takes viewers on a journey to discover an is-land nation that has been described as a paradise by tourists and conserva-tionists. Ocean giants like sharks, rays, and the elu-sive napoleon wrasse are only some of the species found in the Maldives. But the Maldives now

faces threats due to cli-mate change. Experts be-lieve that these islands may eventually be submerged under water if sea levels continue to rise. Doc Ferds meets residents of the Mal-dives who continue to look

after the protection and conservation of the marine species which they consid-er their treasure. Doc Nielsen Donato, meanwhile, journeys to a lake in Thailand famous for the big fish that thrive

beneath its waters. But among the giant fish, the Arapaima is said to be the biggest and most feared. The Arapaima can grow up to fifteen feet. Its strong head is said to be tough enough to knock down fishermen. Using a catch-release method employed by fish researchers, Doc Nielsen sets out to meet the Arapaima and encoun-ters other lake giants like the red-tail catfish and the alligator gar. Journey to the Maldives and Thailand with BORN TO BE WILD beginning this Sunday morning, right af-ter AHA on GMA7.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015 EDGEDAVAO INdulge! A3ENTERTAINMENT

Hiram na Alaala is indeed most memorable

Forevermore reigns in time slot despite new rival kilig-serye

Born To Be Wild expeditions in Thailand and the Maldives begin this Sunday

the things she learned and will never forget. “My character is very ex-citing. It challenged me more kasi bigla na lang siya nag-shift in that way. Kaya abangan nila kung ano pa yun mga pasabog ni Bethany,” she said, adding that one of the most unforgettable experiences are certain scenes with Kris. “Kasi she’s so small and I’m big so when we have to do physical scenes medyo mapapalakas but she’s a good sport naman and we just laugh it off after.” Rocco plays the role of Joseph/Otep, and for him, all his episodes are unforgettable. “Lahat ng episodes na inaatake ako ng post-traumatic stress disorder dahil napaka-

hirap. Very challenging yun mga scenes na ga-noon. Yun pag switch ng character. But at the same time, very fulfill-ing.” As Hiram na Alaala bids farewell this Friday, find out what will hap-pen to Bethany after all that she’s done, how Rocco will take responsi-bility for his son/daugh-ter with Yasmin, how An-deng will face her future after all that she’s been through and how Ivan will cope with the death of her mother. And final-ly, discover who will win Andrea’s heart. Will it be Ivan or Otep? Don’t miss the finale week of Hiram na Alaala after Once Upon a Kiss on GMA Telebabad.

PG 13

PG 13 / *R 13

PG 1312:00 | 2:00 | 4:00 | 6:00 | 8:00 | 10:00 LFS

R-16

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM:

SECRET OF THE TOMB

Ben Stiller, Robin Williams

PG 13 1:00 | 4:00 | 7:00 | 10:00 LFS

SEVENTH SON

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

THE AMAZING PRAYBEYT BENJAMIN / * LOVE ROSIE

Vice Ganda, Richard Yap /

* Lily Collins, Sam Claflin

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

Ben Barnes, Julianne Moore, Jeff Bridges

THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE

OF THE FIVE ARMIESMartin Freeman,Ian Mckellen,

Richard Armitage

January 8, 2015

A4 INdulge!EVENT

Around the world New Year’s Eve is often celebrated with a bang, but ever since Durianburg has banned pyrotech-nics of all kinds over a decade ago Dabawenyo urbanites have learned to celebrate the coming of the new year in

more creative ways and this year was no exception.

My night started street side at the Torotot Festival along Roxas Avenue. A celebration highlighting the city’s firecracker-free status, the Torotot Festi-val featured a horn mak-ing contest, a parade, as well as live entertainment featuring Luke Mejares and Color It Red. The Department of Tourism also joined in the celebra-tion to kick-start the Visit Philippines 2015 cam-paign in earnest. From the Torotot Fes-tival, it was a short walk to the Marco Polo Davao where the Marco Polo Ballroom was decked out in bright 50’s parapher-nalia with a giant jukebox dominating the dance floor. Entertainment was courtesy of the Rock and

6 parties to greet

2015Roll All Stars who belted out hits from the roaring 50s, much to the delight of the crowd. A short ride away was Seda Abreeza with their own New Year Count-down featuring hits from the age of Disco as per-formed by the band 8Mile. Wine and other premium drinks flowed as the clock ticked closer to 12 mid-night and I still had three

The 50’s theme of the Marco Polo Davao’s New Year’s Ball was a hit with guests swining to the tune of the jukebox and old style rock and roll.Seda Abreeza was swinging to the retro groove of the 70’s and 80’s as they welcomed the new year.

SM Lanang Premier’s new year coutdown featured Manic Nightning’s house DJs as well as Manila DJ Travis Monsod and was broadcast nationwide on GMA’s new year countdown program.

It was a chill out evening at the Park Inn by Radisson Davao while it waited for the clock to strike midnight.

The Waterfront Insular Davao Hotel took guests on a musical time machine together with a view of Fireworks on Samal Island.

Government officials led by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte together with Dept. of Tourism Asst. Secretary Art Boncato and Smart Regional Sales Manager, Arnold Dellosa welcomed 2015 with horns at the Torotot Festival.

minutes to spare, I hur-riedly ran over to the SM Lanang Premier’s near-by Fountain Court and with just a few seconds to spare, I was able to catch the highlight of the

countdown to 2015 with a shower of confetti and loud music blasting cour-tesy of DJ Travis Monsod. With a glass of Bacca-rdi cola in hand, I greet everyone a happy new

year and a more prosper-ous and happy 2015! Follow me on Insta-gram or on Twitter @ken-nethkingong for more hap-penings in, around, and beyond Durianburg.

parties to attend. I arrived at the Water-front Hotel Davao just past eleven and the party was swinging with guests taking to the dance floor thanks to dance hits spun by DJ Torch. Even that early, there were already some fireworks going off on Samal Island which can be seen from the Wa-terfront Hotel’s massive seaside Garden Pavilion. Rushing to Park Inn by Radisson Davao, I was greeted with a more chilled out yet equally en-ergy filled RBG. Although the buffet dinner service was over, it may seem that the guests are still game to jam along with the acous-tic band that was per-forming on stage. With just a couple of

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015 13ZION ACCUPRINT

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Qualifications:- At least high school graduate, not more than 30 years old

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- Has the ability to be cool under pressure of deadlines and complex projects

- Experience of at least one year

Account Executives (2)- Male / Female, not more than 30 years old- Candidate must posses a Bachelor/ College Degree in any Business field.- Willing to work under pressure, flexible, persuasive, can speak fluently and computer literate- A team player- With Basic Salary, Transportation, Communication, allowance + Commission

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VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 201514 SPORTS EDGEDAVAO

RESIDENTS of the Marikina Watershed, a community partner of

Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) in the protection and preservation of a critical watershed, took time off re-cently to watch a basketball

game featuring Talk ‘N Text at the Smart Araneta Colise-um in Cubao, Quezon City.

Smart organized the ac-tivity for these basketball aficionados in recognition of the community’s invalu-able contribution to efforts

to reforest and protect the Marikina Watershed, which serves as the last line of de-fense against floods for Met-ro Manila and other outlying areas.

The residents of the said community take care of the

reforested areas of Smart, established by its volun-teers, and partner organi-zations. They also serve as guides and provide assis-tance during tree-planting activities conducted within the watershed. (PR)

CITY Mayor’s Office bucked a slow start and overcame an early dou-

ble digit deficit to carve out an 87 – 69 win over Everball Columbia Computer Center on Wednesday night in Game 3 of their 2015 Basketball Friendly Series at the Davao City Recreation Center Al-mendras Gym.

The City Hall dribblers erased an 11 points lead, 26 – 15, in closing minutes of the first period and went into offensive blast in the fi-nal half behind Christopher “Bong” Go to notch their third straight victory for a 3 – 0 se-ries lead.

Go came through with 40 points with the bulk of it came from long range bombs as the CMO’s scoring-leader continued to flourish at the rainbow area in this series.

The sweet-shooting trusted-aid of Mayor Rodri-go Duterte, who fired off an appealing rainbow shots that seem to find the net more of-ten than not, shot a total of 28 three pointers in three games of the series.

With his lethal pull up and fall away jumpers and ripening running bank-shots,

Go possesses the most offen-sive force in this series that enabled the City Hall drib-blers to pull off a win in dom-inating fashion.

Everball Columbia came out strong dictating the tem-po bridging the first and sec-ond period.

But they fumbled the rest of the way to absorb another setback despite Rico Kwan Tiu found his offensive game going.

Kwan Tiu scored team-high 16 points but the Ever-ball Columbia go-to-guy drew limited support.

Eugene Labor made 17 and Ricky Sumagang and Joel Aberilla chipped in a com-bined 17 as well for CMO.

Filbon Maligro had 11 for Everball Columbia. (Rico Bili-ran)

BOX SCORESCMO – 87 – GO 40, LABOR

11, ABERILLA 9, SUMAGANG 8, APOSTOL 6, CLORIBEL 5, FLORES 4, CASAN 2, PELO-TON 2, POLIQUIT 0, REYES 0.

EVERBALL – 69 – KWAN TIU 16, MALIGRO 11, LUCERO 9, ANGSINCO 9, BALISALISA 8, MACARANDANG 8, FRAN-CISCO 6, CHUIM 2, SUAREZ 0, AVINANTE 0, MENDING 0

Smart partner community bonds with cage heroes

SMART TREAT. Smart treats community partners to Talk ‘N Text game. Residents of the Marikina Watershed, a community partner of Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) in efforts to reforest the Marikina Watershed, took time off from their duties to watch a bas-ketball game featuring Talk ‘N Text at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City. As a community partner, the group takes

care of the seedlings planted by Smart, its volunteers, and partner organizations. Members also serve as guides and provide assis-tance during tree-planting activities within the watershed. They are shown here with Talk ‘N Text and Gilas Pilipinas power forward Ranidel de Ocampo and guard Jayson Castro for a meet-and-greet with the players after the game.

‘HONTI’ HAUNTSHontiveros sparkles as Alaska takes Game 1 in OT

vored San Miguel Beer-men in Game 1 of the 2014 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, Wednesday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Dondon Hontiveros, a member of the San Mi-

guel Beermen for over a decade, sank a cru-cial triple with 2:34 left in the overtime period to give

Alaska an 82-76 advantage. The

A c e s held on for

the rest of the game as the

Beermen sud-denly went cold from the field.

Calvin Abueva was named the Best Player of

the Game because of his all-game brilliance as he finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and two assists. Rookie Chris Banchero also played one of his best games in his young career with 16 points, three rebounds, and three assists.

However, it was Honti-veros who scored the key baskets once again for Alas-

ka. After making five three-point shots in their last

win, Hontiveros made four in Game 1 as he scored 15 points and

added six rebounds.Chris Lutz led

the Beermen with 24 points, four rebounds,

and four assists but he committed a costly turn-

over at the tail end of regulation,

which cost them an op-portunity to win the game.

June Mar Fajardo scored

14 points and added 17 re-bounds but most his points came in the first quarter. Arwind Santos added 12 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks but he turned the ball over seven times.

The Beermen showed that rust would not be

a problem for them as they quickly built a

double-digit lead at 15-5 after a fast break layup

from Fajar-do.

C a l -

vin Abueva checked into the game to try and arrest the skid but he quickly made his way back to the bench after being called for a flagrant foul penalty 1 on David Se-merad.

The Beermen were up big, 27-5, after the first quar-ter thanks to a 16-0 run. Their defense held the Aces scoreless in the last 6:39 of the opening period.

Needing to change the game up, the Aces employed their vaunted press to start the second. This quickly led to six points for the rookie Chris Banchero as Alaska eclipsed its five-point first quarter less than two min-utes into the second.

With Abueva and Ping Exciminiano providing the energy, Alaska got within nine points of the Beermen at 29-20, thanks for a 15-2 run. However, San Miguel Beer held a 45-31 lead at the half after getting bonus points from defensive stal-warts Bitoy Omolon and Chris Ross.

The third quarter saw the Aces storm their way back into the game. A late 9-0 blast capped by a Honti-veros triple got Alaska with-in four at 50-46, the closest they’ve been since the Beer-men erected a 7-2 lead.

From a high of 22 points down, the Aces only faced a 54-49 deficit heading into the final quarter.

The Aces got their first taste of the lead, 63-62, at the 6:29 mark of the final

quarters after back to back triples from Hontiveros and RJ Jazul. This was followed by a steal from Casio and a layup from Baguio but San-tos tied the ball game anew at 65 with a straightaway three.

The Beermen then built their own three point lead but Casio tied the ball game at 72 with his own triple.

Down by a single point late in the game, the Alas-ka Aces went to the former Beermen and Hontiveros re-sponded by draining a jump-er to give them a 74-73 lead with 40.8 seconds left in the ball game.

Alaska had a golden shot at icing the game but light-ing struck JVee Casio as he slipped again reminiscent of the game-turning series in the semifinals of the 2014 PBA Governors’ Cup.

In the ensuing jump ball, June Mar Fajardo grabbed the ball and called for a tim-eout but the referees refused to blow their whistles. Calvin Abueva then fouled Fajardo who split his free throws for a 74-all deadlock.

Casio then missed his go-ahead attempt but Chris Lutz launched a prayer from the wrong side of the court even if there were still more than three seconds in the contest with the Beermen still hold-ing two full timeouts.

This gave Alaska the chance to win the ball game but Hontiveros his game-winning three-point attempt with 1.5 seconds

left.The Main Man: Abueva

was once again the key ingre-dient in the Alaska mix as his energy changed the complex-ion of the game. His first stint on the floor was cut short by a flagrant foul but he made up for it in the rest of the game.

Honorable Mentions: Hontiveros, Banchero, and Casio all scored in dou-ble-digits for Alaska to serve as Abueva’s main back-ups.

Game Turning Point: The triple Hontieveros sank with 2:24 left in the overtime period sank the Beermen’s hopes of getting back into the game. A turnover from Lutz and misses from Cabagnot and Santos hastened SMB’s downfall.

Tweets from the Game:Stat of the Game: With

their starters struggling, Alaska’s bench carried the fight for the Aces. Their bench mob score 61 points compared to only 20 for San Miguel.

Next Game: Game 2 on Friday, January 9, at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum

He Said It:Alaska head coach Alex

Compton: I thought we had a bad a start as we could have. We came out flat. Parang kami yung galing sa layoff but with these guys, their heart, their effort, I just kept reminding them that we’ve come back from 20 points down in the third quarter be-fore if we commit to defense. They guys never gave up. They kept chipping away.

NO CLEAR PATH. Cyrus Baguio of Alaska tries to wiggle out of the clutches of Chris Lutz of San Miguel Beer in Game 1. Nuki Sabio

CMO takes 3 - 0lead over Everball

THEY did it again.The Alaska Aces

came back from a 22-point deficit to pull off a magical 88-82 overtime victory over the highly fa-

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015 15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO

FRANCE kept their hopes of a second suc-cessive Hopman Cup

title alive by edging past Australia at the Perth Arena on Wednesday.

The French pairing of Alize Cornet, who teamed with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win the mixed teams tour-nament last year, and Beno-it Paire won the Group B tie 2-1, after taking out the de-ciding mixed doubles rub-ber against Casey Dellacqua and Marinko Matosevic.

With one win and a loss from their two ties, Cornet and Paire, who replaced the injured Tsonga at the tour-nament, will need to defeat unbeaten Poland on Friday to be in with a chance to advance to Saturday’s final of the eight-nation tourna-ment.

If the Polish pairing of Agnieszka Radwanska and Jerzy Janowicz win Friday’s tie they will go through to the title decider.

Radwanska and Grze-

gorz Panfil were beaten in last year’s final by the French.

World number 18 Cor-net, who appeared to be troubled by a lower back complaint, had her hands full with local favourite Ca-sey Dellacqua early and it was the 29th-ranked Aus-tralia who took the first set 6-4.

At 5-5 in the second set the match was evenly poised, but the French-woman then won seven successive games to put her on her way to a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 win.

Paire then looked set to secure the tie for the French when he took the first set against Matosevic, but the Australian substitute play-er fought back to win the match in three sets, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

The French then claimed the mixed doubles, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 in a very tight battle.

Earlier, Radwanska and

Janowicz remained unbeat-en after two ties by claiming the deciding mixed doubles rubber against Great Brit-ain’s Heather Watson and Andy Murray.

Radwanska gave the Poles the early ascendancy when she was far too good for 50th-ranked Watson, winning plenty of cheap points through Watson er-rors in her 65-minute 6-3, 6-1 win.

Radwanska said she played significantly better than when defeating Aus-tralian Casey Dellacqua on Sunday.

“I felt very good on the court today and in the sec-ond set I was playing much better, I think more con-sistent and confident and that’s for sure,” she said.

Radwanska said defeat in last year’s final would motivate her in Friday’s tie against the French.

Murray, ranked sixth in the world, levelled the tie with an impressive 6-2, 6-4

win over Janowicz.The Scot dropped the

first two games against the dangerous Janowicz, but then reeled off nine suc-cessive games to take total control.

Murray had complained of shoulder pain after his opening win against Paire. While he was still a little sore during the clash with Janowicz, he said it was nothing to be concerned about.

“My shoulder felt much better today,” Murray said.

“As I’m playing the matches it’s starting to feel a little bit better.

“It’s not like when I play on it it gets much worse, I do feel much better after a bit of rest and treatment on it.”

In the mixed doubles, the Poles were always in control in their 6-4, 6-4 winning match, creating 15 break points to their op-ponents’ three during the match.

ANA Ivanovic has dumped the last re-maining Australian

woman from the Brisbane In-ternational, defeating Jarmila Gajdosova in straight sets.

Making her first appear-ance in Brisbane in three years, the Serbian prevailed 6-4 6-1 to open her 2015 ac-count in style at Pat Rafter Are-na on Wednesday night.

Following Sam Stosur’s shock first round loss and the exits of adopted Aussies Ajla Tomljanovic and Daria Gavri-lova on Tuesday, there are no locals left in the women’s sin-gles draw.

Ivanovic was given a stern test early on by wildcard en-trant Gajdosova, who upset China’s Shuai Zhang in the first round and has made strides on her comeback trail from a bout of glandular fever.

But the former world number one turned the screws at the right time, saving three break points to hold 5-4 before closing out the opening set in 44 minutes.

She then soaked up the pressure from Slovakian-born Gajdosova, who tried her best to stay in touch but was ulti-mately outclassed by Ivanovic,

currently ranked No.7 in the WTA, in a brutal second set.

“We actually grew up together playing juniors so we’ve known each other for a long time,” Ivanovic said.

“I really tried to get into the match a little bit in the be-ginning and I was really happy to raise my level in the second set.” All four women’s quar-ter-finals will take place on Thursday, with Ivanovic to face 2012 Brisbane champion Kaia Kanepi after the Estonian’s 6-3 7-6 win over Madison Brengle earlier on centre court.

Ivanovic did not finish with a top 10 WTA ranking in any year from 2009 to 2013, but appears to be on a slow climb back to the top after a breakthrough season last year.

She captured a career-best four singles titles and notched seven top 10 wins in 2014.

“It was an amazing year,” Ivanovic said.

“I really started to en-joy myself off the court and tried to approach it a little light-hearted and enjoy the competition.

“I was really happy that I managed to do that and my form improved over the last few months of last year.”

WORLD number one Novak Djokovic took a significant

step towards winning an opening week tournament for the first time in eight years on Wednesday, simul-taneously earning himself a meeting with the man with 9,000 aces.

The Serbian’s increas-ingly fluent performance during a 6-2, 6-1 win over the Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky avoided a potential banana skin against an opponent best known for upsetting Roger Federer at Wimbledon 18 months ago, and it carried him into the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open.

Djokovic was pleased that

after saving three break back points in the seventh game, he acquired more rhythm and started dominating an oppo-nent whose penchant for net attacks can be disruptive.

“From that moment on it felt a different match,” Djokov-ic said. “I felt I was more swinging through the ball on the court and playing more confidently.”

It earned him a meeting with another unusual oppo-nent who can be dangerous in a very different way -- the seventh seeded Ivo Kar-lovic, whose 17 aces during a straight sets win over Nikoloz Basilashvili, a qualifier from Georgia, increased his career total to 9,041.

France stays alivein Hopman Cup

Ivanovic ends Aussie charge

Djokovic nears first title of the year

FRENCH BET. Alize Cornet of France plays a forehand to Casey Dellacqua of Australia in the women’s singles match during day four of the 2015 Hopman Cup at Perth Arena on January 7, 2015 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Will Russell/Getty Images)

MOVING ON. AnaIvanovic of Siberia hits it low but still gets the winning result in Brisbane.

INTO THE FINALS. Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball to Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine during their tennis match in Qatar’s ExxonMobil Open in Doha on January 7, 2015.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 201516 EDGEDAVAOSports

BOXING fans in Davao City get the chance to witness another ex-

citing action atop the ring with the staging of Pinoy Pride 29 on February 7 at the University of Southeast-ern Philippines (USEP) Gym in Obrero.

“We’re looking forward to a great show,” ALA Pro-

motions president and CEO Michael Aldeguer said of next month’s card featur-ing Filipino ring warriors against equally tough rivals from Mexico and Thailand.

The big event dubbed “Fist of Fury” will be head-lined by Jason “El Nino” Pa-gara’s defense of his World Boxing Organization (WBO)

international junior welter-weight crown against Cesar ”El Dolar” Chavez of Mexico.

Pagaara, who will be en-tering the ring at 34 wins and 2 loses with 21 knock-outs, also promised Davao fans an electrifying title clash.

The Filipino champion, ranked number four by the

WBO, is being prepared for a stint in the US by the AlLA Gym.

Also fighting in the card are three impressive Filipi-no fighters aiming to reach the top.

WBO intercontinental jr. featherweight titlist Gene-sis “Azukal” Servania (25-0, 11 KOs) will see action in

the co-main feature oppo-site challenger Juan Luis “Perla Negra” Hernandez of Mexico (17-3, 9 KOs).

Arthur Villanueva of the Philippines faces Julio Cesar Miranda of Mexico while the promising Mark Magsayo steps into the ring opposite Sukkasem Kietyongyuth of Thailand.

Aldeguer presented his fighters at a press confer-ence yesterday at The Royal Mandaya Hotel.

The ALA Promotions had its first Pinoy Pride boxing event in Davao City back in April of 2013 when Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista lost to Jose Ramirez of Mex-ico.

PINOY PRIDE 29. ALA Promotions president and chief executive officer Michael Aldeguer (center) is joined by (from left) trainer Edito Villamor, Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo, Jason “El Niño” Pagara, Genesis “Azukal” Servania and “King” Arthur Villanueva during the launching of Pinoy Pride 29 at The Royal Mandaya Hotel yesterday. Pinoy Pride 29 is slated on February 7 at the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP) Gymnasium. Lean Daval Jr.

Pinoy Pride returns to DavaoBy CHARLES RAYMOND A. MAXEY

DAVAO fight fans will have the time of their lives when big-time

boxing returns to the city with Pinoy Pride 29 set Feb-ruary 7 at the University of Southeastern Philippines Gym (USeP Gym).

Two of the country’s best hopes for a world title— light welterweight Jason “El Nino” Pagara and super bantam-weight Genesis “Azukal” Ser-vania-- will be at the limelight this time with tough hombres from Mexico making the chal-lenge.

“It’s going to be a big treat for Davao and we are glad to bring Pinoy Pride back in your city,” said ALA vice pres-ident Dennis Canete.

The fight will be launched formally in a few days.

The promising Pagara, 26, will battle 27-year old Cesar “El Dolar” Chavez while Servania will tangle with “Black Pearl” Juan Luis Her-nandez.

The last time Pinoy Pride was held in Davao City was in the Pinoy Pride 18 that saw Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista lose to Mexican Jose “Negro” Ramirez at the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP) Gym.

Philboxing.com reported that Chavez, who has a record of 23-7 with 11 knockouts, is coming off a rousing 3rd round knockout of Javier Gal-legos last October 3 and had earlier won the vacant Mexi-can Pacific Coast light welter-weight title with a 5th round TKO of Fernando Hernandez

on December 29, 2011 but lost by a 4th round knockout to Roberto Ortiz in a WBC Silver title fight on February 4, 2012.

Pagara won the title with a smashing 6th round TKO in a rematch with menac-ing-looking Rosbel Montoya who had won a unanimous ten round decision to grab the WBO Asia Pacific Youth title on September 10, 2011.

Pagara, who has a record of 34-2 with 21 knockouts is coming off a successful fourth title defense of his WBO Inter-national title against resilient Mexican Mario Meraz, scor-ing a TKO with one second remaining in the 4th round when referee Danrex Tap-dasan called a halt despite the fact that Meraz beat the count,

raised his hands and in-dicated he was ready to continue last June 21.

On the other hand, the undefeated 23-year old Servania who has a record of 25-0 with 11 knockouts, will have a tougher challenge than Pagara when he battles the 32-year old Hernan-dez who sports a record of 17-3-1 with 9 knockouts.

Pinoy Pride is the most successful boxing show promoted by ALA Pro-motions with CEO Michael Aldeguer at the helm in part-nership with television carri-er ABS CBN Sports.

MEXICAN CHALLENGEDavao fans get rare boxing treatBy NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

TOUGH CHALLENGE. Genesis Servania will have a tough

opponent in Mexican Black Pearl Hernandez. ABS

CBN Sports Photo

VOL. 7 ISSUE 210 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 9-10, 2015