P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

FINALLY, AN IP REP

FORMER Sanguniang Kabataan (SK) feder-ation president Halila

Sudagar was chosen by the Kagan Tribe as the new In-digenous People Mandato-ry Representative (IPMR) to the Davao City Council.

Based on the votes cast yesterday, Sudagar got 147 votes, followed by Macaba-yo Apadan with 97 votes, Lito Lapitan with 50 votes, Larry Cabaguio with 49 votes, Joel Bustamante with 28 votes, and Janor Balo with two votes.

The National Commis-sion on Indigenous People (NCIP) counted a total of 373 Baragwas (council of elders) that participated in the selection process.

Based on the validated attendance, there were 127 from first district, 191 from the second district, and 63 from third district for a total of 381.

The NCIP said some people approached to ab-stain from the voting while others had gone home by the time the votes were cast.

The counting was wit-nessed by the candidates along with NCIP Davao del Sur director Cristito Ingay City Planning and Develop-ment Office (CPDO) repre-sentative Roy Ryan Rigor. NCIP also asked the candi-dates to provide watchers.

Ingay said Sudagar will not immediately assume of-fice because there are docu-mentary requirements that need to be complied with, including genealogy as well as attendance and minutes of the chosen IPMR on the

previous consultation at-tended.

Prior to the selection, Sudagar said she would file a protest if she was not cho-sen as IPMR as she noticed that some of her co-aspi-rants are not pure Kagan.

She said based on their customary law, the leader of their tribe should be a pure Kagan and member of the royal family.

“Klaro sa national guidelines sa NCIP na kung mo pili og IP Mandatory

INSIDE EDGE

SPORTS page 15

PRAYING FOR WISDOM. Members of the council of elders of the Kagan tribe offer a prayer before the start of the selection process for the new Indigenous People’s Mandatory Representative (IPMR) to the Davao City Council at the Davao City Recreation Center

yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

FFINALLY, 14

Sudagar is new IP representative to City CouncilBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

PACMAN: I CANEASILY BEAT FLOYD

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 20152 EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS

A GRADUATE of the Min-danao Medical Foun-dation College (MMFC)

in Davao City topped the January 2015 Dentist Licen-sure Examination, along with two graduates of the Davao Medical School Foundation (DMSF) who garnered the second and sixth place.

The official list of passers released by the Profession-al Regulation Commission (PRC) showed that 23-year-old Ben Jay A. Maxino of MMFC topped the board examination with 85.43 per-cent.

Jan Michael S. Antes

of DMSF got 83.77 per-cent for second place while Shahzaadee B. Imlan of the same school got 83.07 per-cent for sixth place.

Maxino told Edge Davao in a Facebook message that he still could not believe he had topped the exam.

“Hindi pa rin po makapa-niwala. I never expected it be-cause of my struggles during the theoretical and practical exams,” he said.

For her part, Imlan said she was “euphoric” and still catching her breath.

“Thank you, Ya Allah! In-deed, You continue to bless

me with something greater than what I think I deserve. To my batchmates and fellow takers, congratulations!” Im-lan wrote on her Facebook timeline.

Other topnotchers were Faye Jennifer S. Cabrera from Southwestern Univer-sity with 83.67 percent; El-gimaine Louise M. Barroso from University of the Philip-pine Manila with 83.30 per-cent; Denica Jena E. Espares also from UP-Manila with 83.10 percent; Cristy Allysa T. Almonte form Cebu Doctors University (CDU) with 83.06 percent; Leah Christine P. Bu-

cad from Centro Escolar Uni-versity (CEU)-Makati with 82.77 percent; Donah Laine Y. Baldosano from CEU Makati with 82.43 percent; and Ma-rio Antonio R. Carpio from UP-Manila and Rose Elaine S. Li from CDU with both 82.40 percent.

The PRC announced that 268 out of 725 passed the De-cember 2014 Dentist Licen-sure Examination (Written Phase) and 257 out of 271 passed the Dentist Licen-sure Examination (Practical Phase) given by the Board of Dentistry in Manila this Janu-ary 2015.

INSTEAD of discussing the pros and cons of a clamor for him to run for President

in 2016, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte will go on a nationwide “listening tour” starting in Butuan City today.

Expected to take center stage in his consultation with Butuanons is the Philippines’ shift to a federal form of gov-ernment, a movement Mayor Duterte has openly supported.

This was learned from for-mer North Cotabato Gov. Em-manuel Piñol, who has been going around the country with the popular Davao City chief executive conducting initial consultations on federalism.

Piñol said the listening tour will initially take place in cities and capital towns in Min-danao, to be followed by those in the Visayas and Luzon alter-nating.

The former North Cota-bato governor enumerated a number of consultation ven-ues, but he said the sched-ule will be announced as soon as itinerary is finalized. Today’s Butuan forum will take place at the Doña Ynez Events Center starting at 9 a.m. with Duterte conducting it together with a powerhouse Federalism Advocacy team.

To join Duterte are long-time staunch Federalism pro-ponents led by former Sena-tor Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, former Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Reuben Canoy, former Transportation and Commu-nications Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez, and the core leader-ship of the Partido Demokra-tiko Pilipino (PDP).

Duterte, who is being

DAVAO City Council majority floor lead-er Bernard Al-ag is

set to propose the opening of new public transport routes in the city.

Speaking at the Pu-long-Pulong ni Pulong last Tuesday, Al-ag said he plans to bring the pro-posal in the plenary next session as he noticed that there are some places in which people have no ac-cess to public transport.

He said his office re-ceived several complaints from residents of new subdivisions regarding the absence of public trans-portation.

Al-ag said the City Council has approved many applications for the development of subdivi-sions but the problem is these places do not have efficient public transport systems.

“Kini sila dili maka af-

ford og mag taxi adlaw-ad-law kay mahurot na illang sweldo ana sa taxi pa lang (These residents cannot afford to take the taxi ev-eryday because they will use up their salaries),” he said.

Al-ag said there is an existing ordinance that defines the routes of jeepneys and shuttle bus-es that will be opened.

He cited as an exam-ple the new highway that

connects Calinan, Talanag, and Magtuod, Maa which he described as an accessi-ble road going downtown but does not have public transportation.

“Habal-habal lang ang naga-agi og mga private transportation,” he said.

Al-ag said he will also include air conditioned buses in his proposal so that the commuters will have option on their means of transport.

GOVERNMENT forc-es have captured two camps of the Abu Sayyaf

Group (ASG) as fresh clashes ensued that resulted in the death of an ASG member and injured four others in Basilan province, military officials said Wednesday.

Rear Admiral Reynaldo Yoma, Task Force Zambasul-ta commander, said the clash broke out around 11 a.m. Tuesday while the troops were on law enforcement operations at Sitio Penas, Ba-

rangay Pamatsaken, Sumisip, Basilan province.

Yoma said the Abu Sayyaf men fled north following a 15-minute firefight that in-jured one of the bandits, Yusof Sandatan.

Yoma said the bandits numbering around 25 people were led by Juhaibel Alamsirul alas Abu Kik, a Basilan-based sub-leader of the ASG.

Yoma said that around 12:55 p.m., the troops con-ducted counter-sniper oper-

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

3 Davao graduates topDentist Licensure Exam

crc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

Mayor Duterte goes onPhl-wide ‘listening tour’

Al-ag to propose new transport routesAbu Sayyaf man killed,4 hurt in fresh clashes

VOTING TIME. A member of the Kagan council of elders casts his vote during yesterday’s selection of the new Indigenous People’s Mandatory Representative (IPMR) to the Davao City Council held at the Davao City Recreation Center. Lean Daval Jr.

FMAYOR, 14

FABU, 14

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 3NEWSEDGEDAVAO

THE legal counsel of for-mer Regional Intelli-gence Unit (RIU) head

Chief Superintendent Leon-ardo Felonia said the Deputy Ombudsman for the Military and other Law Enforcement Offices (MOLEO) should not have assumed jurisdiction over the murder case since Felonia already has an admin-istrative case before the Phil-ippine National Police (PNP).

Lawyer Caesar Europa said there is a conflict of ju-risdiction between the two

agencies.This after the alleged

brain of the killing of Ce-bu-based hotelier Richard Lim King was slapped with a six-month suspension by the MOLEO despite the restrictive custody already imposed to him.

“Di na dapat nag assume ng jurisdiction ang ombuds-man kay may admin case naman sa PNP kaya nga naka restrictive custody na siya diba? Mukhang na issue ang order ng ombudsman not

knowing na may admin case sa PNP (The ombudsman should not have assumed jurisdiction since there is al-ready an administrative case before the PNP. That’s the rea-son he’s in restrictive custody. It looks like the ombudsman issued the order not knowing that there is already an ad-ministrative case before the PNP),” Europa said.

He also said there was already a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the National Police Commis-

sion (NAPOLCOM) and the MOLEO that only one of them should assume jurisdiction over the case.

Europa also expressed his disappointment that the City Prosecutor’s Office denied their Motion for Reconsider-ation to reverse their resolu-tion dated September 16 last year.

“I am disappointed that the City Prosecutor’s Office chose not to take the foren-sic and other evidence into

THE City Prosecution Office (CPO) has found sufficient grounds to

file kidnapping charges in court against a house helper who abducted the four-year-old child of her employer last January 9.

Charged before the Re-gional Trial Court (RTC) was Julita Quijoy, 39, a native of San Miguel, Zamboanga del Sur.

In a resolution approved by CPO officer-in-charge Vic-tor Sepulveda, Prosecutor II Faisal Padate indicted Qui-joy to kidnapping charges based on the complaint of the child’s mother, a resident of Barangay Catalunan Grande.

With the filing of the case, Talomo Police Station com-mander Chief Inspector Al-fredo Santillana said the case is now closed.

“The case is closed be-cause the case has been filed. Anytime soon she will be transferred to the Davao City Jail once the order comes out,” he said.

Santillana said police in-vestigated a certain “Ryan” whom Quijoy had pointed to

as her co-conspirator but he was immediately released.

“We investigated Ryan and we found that he was only a textmate of Quijoy. He had nothing to do with the kidnapping,” Santillana said.

Court records showed that on January 9, 2015, the mother received a text mes-sage informing her that her child was kidnapped.

Another helper, identi-fied as Juditha Camad, nar-rated to the police that she saw Quijoy bringing with her the child and told her they would only to go to a nearby store.

But the mother later re-ceived a text message from Quijoy telling her she would bring the child to Manila, prompting the complainant to seek police assistance at the Talomo Police Station.

Talomo police operatives traced the suspect and the child in Cotabato City on the way to Zamboanga.

In coordination with oth-er law enforcement agencies in Central Mindanao, Talomo police operatives cornered

DXIF-BOMBO Radyo anchorman Junel Ucat revealed in a

dialogue Tuesday between journalists and the city police office that he received last January 12 a text message that threatened to kill him or any of his colleagues.

“Di jud ka mu undang Junel Ukat sa paghisgut sa kahanginan bahin sa salvag-ing? Kami jud imong ingk-wentruhon? Gikapoy na ka sa imong kinabuhi? Pahulayon ka na namo (You won’t stop Junel Ukat your commen-taries on the salvaging? You really want to go against us. Are you tired of your life? We will let you take a rest),” said the text message from an anonymous sender who used

the number 09363527361.The sender continued:

“Magkuha mi usa sa inyo pamasin na makahunahuna ang imong ulo na daku (We will kill one of you so that maybe your big head can think it over).”

Ucat said the threats might have been triggered by the stinging commentar-ies he and his fellow Bombo Radyo anchors aired against the policemen who were tagged by a survivor of an extra-judicial killing that left three dead.

The intimidating text sent to Ucat prompted the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC) and the National Union of Journalists of the

A MAGNITUDE 5.4 earthquake jolted the province of Davao

Occidental on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Philippine Institute of Volca-nology and Seismology (Phil-vocs).

In its bulletin, Phivolcs said the tremor occurred at 1:20 p.m. with its epicenter traced 25 kilometers north-east of Sarangani in Davao

Occidental.Phivolcs added that

tremor was felt at Intensity 4 in General Santos City.

The agency noted that the quake, which was tecton-ic in origin, had a depth of 50 kilometers.

Philvocs said there was no casualty or damage re-ported from the temblor but warned of aftershocks. (PNA)

Military ombudsman ‘has no jurisdiction over Felonia case’By FUNNY PEARL A. GAJUNERA

SKY HIGH. Construction workers are seen working atop a high rise building that is starting to tower over the area along Sta. Ana Avenue in Davao City. Econ-omists have forecasted that Davao City’s construction boom will continue in the next 15 years. Lean Daval Jr.

HE SHOULD BE IN SCHOOL. A young boy spends his morning collecting used plastic bottles and other scrap items along Bolton Street in Davao City to earn some cash. Lean Daval Jr.

Helper indictedfor boy’s kidnap

CDO broadcastergets death threats

Magnitude 5.4 quakejolts Davao Occidental

FHELPER, 14

FMILITARY, 14

FCDO, 14

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 20154 EDGEDAVAO

SUBURBIA

THE Philippine Red Cross Davao del Norte Chapter will

send two delegates to a na-tional training on dissemi-nating the principles of the Red Cross and the Interna-tional Humanitarian Law (IHL).

In an interview, PRC Davao del Norte Chapter Administrator Luzviminda C. Neri said her office will be sending Alice Ortoyo, Red Cross Youth coordi-nator of Laureta Elemen-tary School in Tagum City, and Mary Lou Ulangcaya of Tagum City Information Office as participants to the

“Training of Disseminators for Red Cross Action Team” from January 26 to 31 at the Tagaytay Training Center.

Sponsored by the In-ternational Committee on Red Cross and the nation-al office of the Philippine Red Cross, the training will equip the participants with knowledge on disseminat-ing information about the Red Cross movement in-cluding the basics of IHL.

Neri said the training is helpful in strengthening de-livery of Red Cross services especially in insurgency af-fected areas as discussion on IHL will focus on the

fundamental principles of war, protection and proper uses of the Red Cross em-blem and PRC activities.

The training partici-pants are expected to echo what they learn from the training with their fellow members of the Red Cross Action Team and to conduct lectures in communities and in schools, Neri said.

Meanwhile, Neri re-vealed that four other trainings are set to be con-ducted by the ICRC for Red Cross Action Team during the first quarter of 2015, aside from the IHL trainors’ training.

The other trainings are on disaster management, safety services, community services, and social ser-vices on family links.

Of the 35 Red Cross Ac-tion Team (RCAT) members of Davao del Norte Phil-ippine Red Cross Chapter, 10, including the two on IHL, will be sent to undergo such trainings.

“All training gadgets, t-shirts and uniforms will be given by the Interna-tional Committee of the Red Cross to equip them as responders,” she said. (PIA 11/ Jeanevive Duron-Aban-gan)

TO further strengthen the enforcement of peace and order in the

province, Governor Corazon N. Malanyaon raised her con-cerns of beefing up efforts in fighting criminality and secur-ing peace.

Malanyaon made the call during the traditional New Year’s Courtesy Call paid by top officials of the police forces and the military.

“We must remain vigilant and determined to make sure that our hard-won gains in peace and stability of the prov-ince are sustained,” Malanyaon told peacekeeping officers and law enforcers.

The governor told the offi-cers of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to unite and continue harmonizing all their development directions to the provincial agenda.

“I want all agencies, par-ticularly from the national, to interface their programs with the government directions,

especially those set by the pro-vincial government,” she said, adding that development will not prosper if involved parties will go in different directions.

Malanyaon told the police and military that they play a big role in the province’s law and order, especially now that the provincial government is gearing up to kick-start the province’s tourism industry as it now aggressively promotes the province as a premier tour-ist destination.

She said peace and order are very important keys to tourism promotion. She said issues involving security have always been crucial for travel and tourism and that compro-mise in this security will have a negative impact on the local tourism industry.

She told police officers, led by Police Senior Superinten-dent Jose C. Carmuba, Provin-cial Director of the Philippine National Police, to take more measures in fighting the esca-lating crimes. (PIO DO)

PANABO City May-or Jose L. Silvosa Sr. passed away on Tues-

day due to cardiac arrest. He was 74 years old.

Silvosa died about 3:30 p.m. at the Southern Phil-ippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City.

According to city ad-ministrator Ramon Sawan, Silvosa was rushed to SPMC Tuesday morning after experiencing difficulty in breathing.

Sawan said the mayor’s remains now lie at St. Peter Chapel in Panacan, Davao City until January 23.

He said Silvosa’s body

will be transferred to the Panabo New City Hall on Friday morning.

“On Sunday, a mass will be held at the City Hall before the mayor will be moved to their house,” he said.

Sawan said the mayor’s remains would be buried on January 28 at the Panabo City Eternal Garden, which was one of the late mayor’s pet projects.

Vice Mayor James Gamao automatically as-sumed as the City Mayor; while Councilor Janrey Gavi-na, the first councilor, is the new vice mayor. (PNA)

THE Municipality of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur has been granted an addi-

tional fund of P2 million from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for the town’s Sagana at Ligtas na Tubig sa Lahat (SALINTU-BIG) project.

Sta. Cruz initially accessed P7.8 million for its Level 3 Water System project in Ba-rangay Inawayan, and after its effective project implementa-tion, the DILG added a supple-mentary budget of another P2 million for further expansion of the water system to more sitios in the project area and neighbor barangay of Darong.

Part of the implementing mechanisms is for the recipi-ent local government to allo-

cate counterpart funds for the project, as well as to provide manpower support compo-nent to manage and monitor the project.

The SALINTUBIG Pro-gram aims to contribute to the attainment of the goal of achieving universal access to potable water supply and the targets defined in the Phil-ippine Development Plan 2O11-2016, Millennium De-velopment Goals (MDG), and the Philippine Water Supply Sector Roadmap and the Phil-ippine.

It also aspires to reduce by 50 percent the world’s popula-tion without access to safe and potable water as reflected in the MDG number 7. (CDIO-Sta. Cruz/Julius R. Paner)

DavNor Red Cross to senddelegates to IHL training

HALAD. Students and devotees perform during a street dancing at the annual Halad festival, which is also the feast Sto. Niño, in Midsayap, North Cotabato on Saturday, January 17. Mindanews Photo Courtesy of Bobcat Gregorio

DAREDEVIL. Adventurer Arniel Balignot scales Lumbatin Falls in Barangay Pugaan, Iligan City without the aid of a rope on Sunday (18 Jan 2015). Lumbatin is the first, and the only one documented so far by the City Tourism Office, of a series of 20 or so waterfalls in this river system. MindaNews photo by Bobby Timonera

Malanyaon to PNP, AFP:Strengthen peacekeeping

Sta. Cruz gets additionalfunds for SALINTUBIG

Panabo mayor passes away

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 5EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMY

SUTHERLAND Global, one of the biggest BPO companies in Davao City,

will be hiring additional 700 employees to add to its work-force for the first quarter of the year.

Sutherland senior man-ager for recruitment Grace Garay, speaking in yesterday’s Club 888 forum at The Marco Polo Hotel, said the company is looking for additional call center agents for a United States-based telecommunica-tion company, IT support for Antivirus and customer sales agents for one voice and chat.

“We need to increase the number of our employees be-cause we will be having new clients. Our clients required the company to hire people first before we can have the account,” Garay said.

She said Sutherland has an existing number of more than 2,000 employees, both working for voice and non voice accounts that are work-ing for 24 hours.

“For this year, we are tar-geting to expand our number to 3,000,” Garay said, adding that the demand for laborers in the ICT-BPO industry is in-creasing because of the grow-ing number of foreign-based clients.

Sutherland senior man-ager for talent management

MarsyI ñigo said the company has 15 to 20 clients that are based in North America, Eu-rope and some parts in Asia.

Iñigo said applicants may send their application to their recruitment centers located in their main office at Jacinto Extention, General Santos and Tagum City.

“We are encouraging even non Davao-based to be part of our teams. Starting salary ranges from P12,000 to P15,000 depending on the work experience of the appli-cant,” she said.

She added that walk-in applicants are encouraged because the process is faster.

“There’s a chance that you’ll be hired once you get out of our recruitment cen-ters,” she said.

Iñigo said 90 percent of their employees are from Davao City, while the rest came from General Santos and Tagum City.

However, most of the key positions are being held by employees mostly coming from Manila.

Iñigo, the only Dabawen-yo who holds a senior man-agerial position, said that the company is training few Dabawenyo employees to be-come the next holders of key positions.

“That what the path

Sutherland to hire 700 more workerscrc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

Sutherland Global senior managers Marsy Iñigo (left) and Grace Garay announce during yesterday’s Club 888 media forum at The Marco Polo, Davao that the company will be hiring additional 700 employees to add to its workforce for the first quarter of the year. Lean Daval Jr.

leads,” she said.Iñigo clarified that

Dabawenyos are still needed to be trained for key positions and Sutherland is willing to assist their employees for

their career tracks.Garay, on the other hand,

said that there is still skills gap between the talents produce by schools and universities here and the demand of the

ICT-BPO industry.According to her, the ed-

ucation system in schools are not producing graduates that are industry-ready.

However, Garay said

what’s important is that ap-plicants should be flexible, adaptive, confident, have a minimum of two years in col-lege and has good communi-cation skills in English.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015EDGEDAVAOTHE ECONOMY6

crc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

Dureza: City must seek autonomy on approval of infra, dev’t projectsA DAVAO City Council-

or said the City Gov-ernment of Davao

should seek is autonomy from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) 11 on the approval of joint-venture agreement (JVA) for infrastructure and development projects exceed-ing more than P200 million.

Dav ao City Councilor Jimmy Dureza, chair of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) committee on trade and industry, said the provision on joint venture agreement which requires a review

from NEDA 11 if the project exceeds P200 million is very limiting.

“The city might go into a JVA with the private sector and there is a requirement in the Build- Operate Transfer (BOT) law that if the amount (of the project) will exceed 200 million, we will have to refer that to NEDA for review and approval,” Dureza said.

Before the autonomy in the approval of big develop-ment projects is achieved, Dureza said a provision in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) ordinance will have to

be amended first.The PPP ordinance is

based on the BOT Law, which encourages more private in-vestors to finance big devel-opment projects of the gov-ernment.

Once autonomy is se-cured, Dureza said the city easily enter into a contract with private firms and be ex-empted from being referred to NEDA for big development projects.

“We feel that if we want to fast-track the approval of big projects, we need to amend the ordinance as long as it

won’t go against the BOT law which was the basis of the or-dinance,” Dureza said.

He also said that amend-ing the local PPP ordinance will allow the city to partner with different private sec-tors for the development of a road along the coastal area of Davao City. He did not give specifics on the proposed de-velopment.

Dureza, who is also the author of the PPP ordinance, said that the review and ap-proval process in NEDA takes a very long time that private investors lose their interest

in developing and financing a certain project.

Dureza , however, said there’s still no formal en-dorsement submitted to his committee on the matter.

However, he said that he already consulted the City Legal Office for the review of specific provisions of the local PPP ordinance that are needed to be changed.

“Gusto kong masigura-don aplantsado na lahat bago ma-endorsed sa City Council for first reading,” he said.

He also said that he called for a meeting yesterday at

the Marco Polo Davao for the proposal to amend the ordi-nance.

The meeting was attend-ed by Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (DCCCII) past president Malou Monteverde, City Engi-neer Office officer-in-charge Engr. Roland Reyes, City Plan-ning and Development Offi-cer chief Mariano Escalada Jr. and two lawyers from the City Legal Office.

Dureza said that he is planning to have the first committee hearing two weeks from now.

PERSONS with work-re-lated disabilities (PWRDs) in Region 11

find alternative livelihood and rehabilitation assistance through the Employees’ Com-pensation Commission (ECC).

Under the ECC’s KAGA-BAY (Katulong at Gabay sa Manggagawang may Kapan-sanan) Program, a total of five PWRDs were given livelihood assistance and another five underwent rehabilitation and training.

ECC is a government agency mandated to provide meaningful and appropriate

compensation to workers in the event of work-related con-tingencies. It is a government corporation attached to the Department of Labor and Em-ployment (DOLE).

“We are very grateful that ECC gives us this opportunity to have our own micro-busi-ness. ECC helped us beyond our expectation,” Capillanes, a former repairman of Globe Telecom, remarked during the training. He received a stark-er-kit for meat processing.

He added that KAGABAY program is of great help for PWRDs like them who have

no chance of reemployment as KaGabay will enable them “to restart our lives for the better despite our disabilities.”

Prior to the training, the said workers were granted free sessions in physical ther-apy where all expenses includ-ing transportations and meals were shouldered by the Em-ployees Compensation Com-mission.

“In my entire employ-ment, never have I heard of any Government agencies whose function does not end on giv-ing monetary aid to victims of work-connected contingencies

but also rehabilitate the dis-abled worker both physically and occupationally,” Fernando Saraum, a former seaman, said.

He expressed joy over the thought that, after his ac-cident in the ship, he now has the means to support his fam-ily’s needs through the home-based micro-business that ECC provided.

“We hope that the ECC would be able to extend help to more beneficaiires who like us experienced work-related disabilities in the region,” Rog-el Tampus added. (Albert Ban-tan/ECC REU 11)

THE Department of Trade and Industry in Davao del Norte ac-

quired the highest number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) facilitat-ed for financing, among other provinces in the region.

Romeo Castañaga, pro-vincial director of the DTI Davao del Norte, revealed in an interview that through their efforts in reaching out with the business sector, they have not only surpassed

their target for 2014 but also topped other provinces in its access to finance program.

According to the DTI report, 159 MSMEs in the province accessed a total of around P 18.33-million loan through their partner agen-cies.

The identified partners were Small Business Corpo-ration (SBC), Bank of Makati (BoM), Land Bank of the Phil-ippines (LBP), Saint Mary’s College – Business Resource

Center, Babak Market Ven-dors Association and Panabo Business Center Multi-Pur-pose Cooperative.

The report also stated that 97% of the MSMEs or 154 enterprises availed loans from the micro-finance com-panies; however, the amount of loans from this sector only covered 21% or about P3.93-million.

The report added that only a small number of MS-MEs have bigger assets and

income, which had qualified to avail loans from financial intermediaries like the LBP, SBC and BoM; while majority of them have smaller assets availed in the micro-financing companies as these organiza-tions have less stringent re-quirements.

Dir. Castañaga also dis-closed that another founda-tion has expressed its willing-ness to assist MSMEs in giving finances and trainings for this year. (PIA 11/Michael Uy)

THE Department of Ag-riculture in the SOC-CSKSARGEN region

said today it will strengthen its research and development programs to further increase rice production and other ag-ricultural crops.

Amalia Jayag Datukan, DA-12 regional executive director, said the move was in line with the directive of Agriculture Sec. Proseso Alcala.

Datukan quoted the ag-riculture secretary as saying that this year, the agriculture department will also intensify the commercialization of di-versified and integrated rice-based farming systems such as ‘Palayamanan’ to enable farmers increase productivity and incomes.

Under the ‘Palayamanan project,’ farmers are taught to combine rice growing with the cultivation of vegetables and other high value crops, as well as fish and livestock raising.

Through this project, rice farmers will also become producers of vegetables and other high value crops while waiting for the harvest season.

Datukan said DA is promoting the technology through the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and National Rice Program.

Rice production in the Philippines has been on the uptrend for the past three years with Region 12 con-tributing a huge chunk of the country’s rice production.

The PhilRice reported that between 2010 and 2013, milled rice production grew by an average of 4.04 percent.

In 2014, palay harvest was projected to reach 18.88 million metric tons (MT), 2.4 percent bigger than the 2013 record output of 18.44 million MT.

In a statement released by DA-12, Alcala said the entire country owes this to the farm-ers who tirelessly worked to lead the country towards

greater rice sufficiency and increased food security.

“We could not have reached these milestones without the farmers and with-out prompt and proper inter-vention from the government. Never before has the Philip-pines had this increment in rice,” Alcala said.

DA is also banking on its current partnership with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in support of the government’s food secu-rity blueprint called the Food Staples Sufficiency Program.

Under the agreement, DA and IRRI work together to produce and distribute high-quality and improved rice seeds that are adaptable to climate change. In addition, best agricultural practices and other support tools will be disseminated, including skills-training for extension and field workers.

“The Department also in-tends to engage in profiling, finger printing and purifica-tion of traditional varieties with export potentials,” Alcala said.

He added, regional or provincial location specific technology development and adaptive studies for irrigated, rain-fed and upland ecosys-tem, is also included in the DA’s agenda.

Participatory varietal se-lection for favorable and ad-verse environment is includ-ed in the DA’s expanded R&D agenda for rice.

The DA will also enhance rice research capability and capacity, which includes im-proving and increasing facili-ties, equipment and manpow-er.

Region 12 composed of the rice producing provinc-es of North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, Sa-ranggani and the cities of Co-tabato, Kidapawan, Koronad-al, Tacurong and Gen. Santos, is considered the rice granary of Mindanao. (PNA)

DTI DavNor has highest number of MSMEs for financing

DA-12 to expand researchefforts to increase output

ECC extends assistance to Davao PWRDsAID TO PWRDS. Antonio Capillanes, Fernando Saraum, Rogel Tampus and Aimie Tao, persons with work-related disabilities (PWRDs), listen intently to a trainor during their meat processing training at the Pangkabuhayan Center in Davao City.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 7

The Philippines, whose coastlines stretch 18,000 kilo-meters, is very vulnerable to sea level rise. “Once sea levels rise,” notes Dr. Rosa T. Perez, a research fellow of the Manila Observatory, “low-lying ar-eas would be inundated, ero-sion would worsen, seawater would intrude into estuaries and aquifers damage due flooding, and storms would be greater.”

According to the country’s weather bureau -- the Philip-pine Atmospheric, Geophysi-cal and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) -- an increasing trend in the sea lev-el in the Philippines was ob-served way back in 1965.

A research conducted by the Philippine Country Study to Address Climate Change showed that Manila Bay is already subjected to several hazards, including flooding and storms. “Shoreline chang-es due to reclamation for housing, ports, coastal roads, buildings and other urbanized development are high, adding to an increased threat of inun-dation,” the study said.

Davao City, the biggest city in the country, is not spared from sea level rise. The recent Business Risk Assessment and the Management of Climate Change Impacts, published by the World Wide Fund for Na-ture (WWF) and Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), said that sea-level rise may create problems for the city’s sea-ports.

“Located along the rel-atively shallow channel be-tween the city and Samal Is-land, these port facilities are a nerve center for Davao City’s economy, and serve a variety of ships handling both cargo and passengers,” the risk as-sessment said.

But it’s not only in Davao City. Fragments of the re-claimed areas in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu, some dis-tricts of Manila and Manila Bay shoreline areas, and most port cities of the country will likely be submerged by the end of the century, according to some studies.

If that’s not bad news enough, a news report said that the sea level is rising fast.

According to a new study pub-lished in Nature, the world’s oceans are now rising far fast-er than they did in the past. The current sea-level rise rate -- which started in 1990 -- is 2.5 times faster than it was from 1900 to 1990.

The study found that for much of the 20th century, sea level rise was about 30 percent less than earlier research had figured. “But that’s not good news because about 25 years ago the seas started rising fast-er and the acceleration in 1990 turns out to be more dramatic than previously calculated,” wrote Seth Borenstein in a dis-patch for Associated Press.

“We’re seeing a significant acceleration in the past few decades,” study lead author Carling Hay, a geophysical re-searcher at Harvard University, was quoted as saying.

According to the report written by Borenstein, previ-ous research showed that be-tween 1900 and 1990, the seas rose about two-thirds of an inch a decade. The new study recalculates the 1900-1990 rate to less than half an inch a

Text and Photos by HENRYLITO D. TACIO

Sea level rising

EDGEDAVAO

ENVIRONMENT

decade. Old and new research both say that since 1990s seas are rising at about 30 millime-ters a decade.

“The implications are troubling -- accelerated ocean warming, ice sheet collapse and sea level rise -- all point to more and more sea level rise in the future, perhaps at a faster rate than previously thought,” noted Jonathan Overpeck, co-director of the Institute of the Environment at the Univer-sity of Arizona. “This will make adaptation to climate change more difficult and costly.”

As a consequence of cli-mate change, project sea-level rise is a highly difficult, com-plex, and controversial scien-tific problem, according to a report released by the Wash-ington, D.C.-based World Bank.

Using the analysis of “semi-empirical” approach -- projecting global sea-level rise by taking into account the ob-served relationship between past sea-level rise and global mean temperature over the past millennium -- a 50 cen-timeter sea-level rise by the 2050s “may be locked in what-ever action is taken now.”

The World Bank report -- entitled Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts and the Case for Re-silience -- maintained: “Limit-ing warming to 2⁰C may limit sea-level rise to about 70 cen-timeters by 2100, but in a 4⁰C world over 100 centimeters can be expected, with sea-lev-el rise in the tropics 10-15% higher than the global aver-

age.”Let’s take a closer look at

our region, Southeast Asia. “Due to location of the region close to the equator, sea-level rise along the South East Asian coastlines projected by the end of the 21st century rela-tive to 1986-2005 is generally 10-15% higher than the global mean,” the World Bank report said.

While the sea-level rise near Yangoon (Burma) and Krung Thep (Bangkok) is a bit lower, for all locations in the region, the projected sea-level rise will “be considerably high-er than the global mean,” with Manila at the high end.

“For these locations, re-gional sea-level rise is likely (more than 66% chance) to exceed 50 centimeters above 1986-2005 levels by about 2060 and 100 centimeters by 2090, both about 10 years be-fore the global mean exceeds these levels,” the World Bank report said.

Inundation is not the only problem that areas near the shores will face. In fact, sea lev-el rise is also expected to make groundwater becomes salty in taste. “Salinity intrusion into groundwater resources occur naturally to some extent in most coastal regions via the hydraulic connection between groundwater and seawater including through canals and drainage channels,” the World Bank report said.

A United States Agency for International Development study in 2013 projects chang-

es in salinity intrusion under a 30-centimeter sea-level during the 2045-2069 peri-od, “which are expected to be moderate during the wet season but significantly more severe during the dry season.”

Salty water is bad for your health. “The most common consequence of excessive salt ingestion is hypertension,” the World Bank report said. “Along with hypertension, there is a broad range of health problems potentially link with increased salinity exposure through bathing, drinking, and cooking; these include miscar-riage, skin disease, acute respi-ratory infection, and diarrheal disease.”

Salt intrusion is indeed bad news. In Davao City, for instance, the sources of wa-ter are in danger of becoming salty. “Davao has traditionally tapped surface water from its rivers as its main water source,” the WWF/BPI report said. “It prides itself in the relatively high quality of its drinking water. However, salt intrusion has already been reported in city districts to shore, especially in portions of the city where groundwater extraction continues. Sea level rise may aggravate this situa-tion.”

Scientists claim that for every meter the sea level ris-es, some three kilometers of inland would be inundated. The sea will literally rise to flood the plains. “Are the peo-ple ready for such scenario?” someone asked.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 20158 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

A listening leaderEDITORIAL

ONE of the perennial problems of the country is the failure of its leaders to listen to the people, especially the millions who reside in places far away from the seat of government

in Manila. This is the reason past administrations and those who serve under them in the various national agencies, including their followers in both houses of Congress, draft laws, plan projects and allocate funds and resources of the nation according to what they perceived, rightly or wrongly, to be the needs of the country. Well, we now know that running the country this way only results in an inequitable distribution of resources, to the disadvantage of regions which are not amply represented in the executive and legislative branches of government. Popular discontentment was the logical result of this unhealthy arrangement prompting many people to clamor for more autonomy. In the worse scenario, the aggressive ones, will even demand for self-rule, if not secession, at whatever cost.

The decision of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte to go on a “listening tour” around the nation is an interesting development in

local and national governance. In this tour, the Davao mayor will not only talk about his advocacy for a shift of our country to a fed-eral form of government, he will also know the pulse of the people on many burning issues of the day. It may be viewed as an interest-ing twist in the long-running saga of the snowballing move to draft Mr. Duterte to run for President in 2016. That one of their own is being eyed as a possible President is an exciting prospect never before experienced by Dabawenyos in their lifetime.

As to the “listening tour,” Duterte watchers consider it as no more than a national application of his leadership style as Davao City mayor for two decades now. This is one of the reasons Dute-rte’s popularity with his constituents, especially the masses, has intensified instead of abated. His frequent sallies to the barangays, especially those in the hinterlands, listening to their woes in life and acting on them pronto has endeared Mr. Duterte to his people some more.

What we might actually be witnessing today is the making of a listening President.

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

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

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

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

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

editorial@edgedavao.netmarketing@edgedavao.net

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

RICHARD C. EBONAAdvertising Specialist

SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

EDGEDAVAOProviding solutions to a seamless global village.

ANTONIO M. AJEROEditor in Chief

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

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

LEANDRO S. DAVAL JR. Photography

JOSEPH LAWRENCE P. GARCIAContributing Photographer

ARLENE D. PASAJECartoons

KENNETH IRVING K. ONGBAI FAUZIAH FATIMA SINSUAT AMBOLODTO

MEGHANN STA. INES NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN

Lifestyle

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

Quirino Avenue, 8000, Davao City, PhilippinesTel: (082) 224-1413

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

editorial@edgedavao.netmarketing@edgedavao.net

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

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

MANILA MARKETING OFFICEANGELICA R. GARCIA | Marketing ManagerBlk. 1, Lot 10, La Mar Townhomes, Apitong St.,Marikina Heights, Marikina City Tel: (02) 654-3509

NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVOManaging Editor

AGAPITO JOAQUIN JR.Associate Editor

CHARLES RAYMOND A. MAXEYConsultant

RICHARD C. EBONAMarketing Supervisor

SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

AQUILES Z. ZONIOFUNNY PEARL GAJUNERA

CHA MONFORTE Correspondents

ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.CHENEEN R. CAPON

Reporters

JOCELYN S. PANESDirector of Sales

AGUSTIN V. MIAGAN JRCirculation

PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTEthe national association of newspapers

“SMOKING is as dangerous to human life as addiction to drugs. Drugs at least have a curative function, smoking has none.”

-- Anonymous ***

From a distance, when you see a friend poking a gun to his head, you probably con-clude immediately that he’s committing sui-cide. The first thing you will do is to stop him from doing so. But it’s another story if you see him putting a cigarette into his mouth.

Both acts are suicide; the first is fast, the second is in slow motion. “A cigarette is the only consumer product which, when used as desired, kills its consumer,” Dr. Gro Harlem, former director-general of the World Health Organization, said.

Nearly 80 percent of the world’s one bil-lion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries. And yes, that includes the Philip-pines!

Tobacco kills up to half of its users, ac-cording to the United Nations health agency. “Tobacco kills nearly 6 million people each year,” it says. “More than five million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600,000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.”

Unless urgent action is taken, the annual death toll could rise to more than eight mil-lion by 2030.

“Based on current smoking trends, to-bacco will soon become the leading cause of death worldwide, causing more deaths than HIV, tuberculosis, maternal mortality, automobile accidents, homicide and suicide combined,” notes the WHO regional office in Manila.

In coun-tries where smoking is a l o n g - e s t a b -lished habit, about 90 per-cent of lung cancer, 30 percent of all cancer deaths, 20-25 percent of coronary heart diseases and strokes and over 80 percent of chronic bronchitis and emphysema are at-tributed to tobacco.

“When you start smoking at a young age, say at 15, you develop cancer of the lungs in 25 years,” said Dr. Juan M. Flavier when he was the country’s health secretary. “By the time you’re 40 and at the peak of your pro-ductivity, at a time when you’re supposed to be enjoying your life and your family, you’re dead.”

Tobacco (known in the science world as Nicotiana tabacum) originated in South America. It was originally used in rituals and ceremonies. When Christopher Columbus and his men returned to Spain after discov-ering America in 1492, one of the things they brought back with them was tobacco.

“Because there is a lag of several years between when people start using tobacco and when their health suffers, the epidemic of tobacco-related disease and death has just begun,” the WHO says.

Tobacco caused 100 million deaths in the 20th century. “If current trends continue, it

may cause one billion deaths in the 21st cen-tury,” warns the WHO.

“Every person should be able to breathe tobacco-smoke-free air,” the WHO points out. “Smoke-free laws protect the health of non-smokers, are popular, do not harm busi-ness and encourage smokers to quit.”

Currently, over 1 billion people, or 16 per-cent of the world’s population, are protected by comprehensive national smoke-free laws. Davao is one of the cities in the Philippines which has a comprehensive anti-smoking law.

Yes, no one is allowed to smoke cigarettes in public places in Davao City. You won’t see people puffing cigarettes while striding along the sidewalks. You won’t see children sell-ing cigarettes in heavily traffic streets. Even inside the public utilities, cinemas, malls, restaurants, and bars.

No one is above the law in Davao City, especially when it comes to the anti-smoking ordinance. Even President Benigno Aquino III knows this well. At one time, local jour-nalist Edith Regalado saw the President puff-ing a stick of cigarette under a tree marked as a designated smoking area. “Look, I’m a law-abiding citizen,” the President was quot-ed as saying.

In cities and provinces where smoking is not prohibited, non-smokers are not spared from health hassles caused by tobacco. They can stills smell second-hand smoke, or those smokes that fill restaurants, offices or other enclosed spaces when people burn cigarettes.

There are more than 4000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful. The most noted is nic-otine, which is considered one of the most

toxic substances known. Even a small dose ingested by smoking causes blood vessel constriction, raised blood pressure, nausea, headache, and impaired indigestion.

“There is no safe level of exposure to sec-ond-hand tobacco smoke,” the WHO says. “In adults, second-hand smoke causes seri-ous cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer. In infants, it causes sudden death. In pregnant women, it causes low birth weight.”

Children and teenagers are not spared from smoking -- or smelling tobacco smoke. Almost half of children regularly breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke in public places, according to the WHO. In 2004, children ac-counted for 28 percent of the deaths attrib-utable to second-hand smoke.

“Smoking is a chronic disease,” says Dr. Michael C. Fiore, director of the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention in Mad-ison, Wisconsin. “Once you quit, you’re al-ways at risk of smoking again. But each time you try, you develop better stop-smoking skills.”

When it comes to smoking, it is usual-ly those who quit that emerge winners. Dr. Willie T. Ong, author of several health books and active consultant in cardiology at the Manila Doctors Hospital and Makati Medi-cal Center, said a person who quits smoking will immediately get his rewards instantly.

Citing a study done by the American Lung Association, Dr. Ong said the health benefits of quitting will “begin just 20 min-utes after your last cigarette. Your blood pressure and heart rate will decrease, and the oxygen content of your body will in-crease.”

Slow-motion suicideVOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

Henrylito D. Taciohenrytacio@gmail.com

THINK ON THESE!

THERE are thoughts to suppress, feelings to remain unexpressed, and words to keep unsaid, if you value

something, like life or a relationship, more than the truth.

The truth may set you free from the burden, anxiety and pain of keeping it but never from the consequences of its disclo-sure. The consequences of expressing what is true could be more costly and damaging than burying it in the graveyard of silence and indifference.

While soldiers commit themselves to kill and be killed for such mythical symbol-isms as patriotism, love of country and lib-erty, there are individuals who choose to put their lives in danger to enlighten the world with what they perceive as truth. Journal-ists belong to this class. They have increas-ingly become an endangered species in the pursuit of their calling.

They who suffered and died for truth are called by society either as martyrs, heroes or idiots. Journalists can hardly be considered as martyrs or heroes. Getting them in pre-carious situations is part of their job and is a personal choice. Journalists are closer to being called idiots. But this does not stop some from living and dying for what they love and what they believe.

—————-They had been warned. There had been

attempts on their lives. Their headquarters had been fire-bombed two or three years

back. They had it coming. But they were un-deterred. They continued what they love to do – exposing and making fun of the shady sides of religion, ideology, politics and other beliefs and social conventions through their satirical works at the Charlie Hebdo maga-zine.

On Wednesday, 08 January, two hood-ed, heavily armed men barged into the Paris offices of the satirical magazine and executed its editor-in-chief and four other journalists. Twelve more victims, including Jews and Muslim police officers, perished in a three-day rampage and bloodshed in Paris wrought by three jihadists. The killers at the Charlie Hebdo headquarters claimed they did what they had done to avenge the Prophet Mohammed who has been depict-ed and ridiculed by the magazine for some time.

The barbaric execution of the journalists was calculated to strike fear in the hearts and minds of their enemies. Terrorists be-lieve that fear paralyzes people to obedience and silence, or drive them to irrational be-haviors that would lead to their eventual downfall.

The despicable strategy boomeranged. Instead of being skewered and paralyzed

by fear, the chilling massacre united the people. Not only journalists but 3.7 million people in all walks of life marched bravely through France on Sunday condemning terrorism and expressing support to Charlie Hebdo and free speech.

Moreover, in a huge display of global defiance against extremism, some 40 world leaders to include that of Israel and the Pal-estinian Authority also joined the assembly of the million marchers in Paris to honor the victims of the tragedy and express their sol-idarity with the French.

Extremism is ugly and should have no place in democracy. Using guns, violence and mayhem to deliver a message and gain visibility for a cause is a mad and pointless strategy. It denies understanding and sym-pathy to what could be a worthy cause and proves nothing at the end. The visibility that the prophet avengers gained from their vio-lent rampage in Paris could not compensate for the outrage and the tsunami of condem-nation they received from the whole world.

But come to think of it, was not Charlie Hebdo, its journalists or cartoonists, equal-ly guilty of the fatal extremism last week? Didn’t its untrammeled exercise of free speech contribute to the senseless killing not only of the targeted journalists but also of innocent and defenseless civilians?

The satirical magazine is known for its offensive and profane take on religion, de-rision of celebrities, politics, social conven-

tions and whatever comes its way. Its jour-nalists or cartoonists mock, ridicule, shame and even taunt people for their beliefs and practices under the cover of free speech.

Satire exposes truth in funny and sunny manner. But what could be fun for the writ-ers and their avid followers might be unnec-essarily offensive to some sensibilities, and could provoke a backlash of anger and ha-tred.

Freedom cannot be absolute. It has limits and must have limits in order to flourish and for everyone to enjoy. There are legal restric-tions and moral and social considerations to the exercise of free speech that communica-tion practitioners ought to observe to main-tain order and sanity in society. Without ob-serving the limits, extremism takes over and may destroy the very freedom we all cherish.

Thus extremism of all kinds should be shunned by all civilized people.

(William R. Adan, Ph.D., was a research and extension worker, professor and the first chancellor of the Mindanao State Uni-versity at Naawan, Misamis Oriental. He was a British Council fellow and trained in 1994 at Sheffield University, United King-dom, on Participatory Planning and En-vironmentally Responsible Development. Upon retirement, he served as national consultant to the ADB-DENR project on in-tegrated coastal resource management. He is the immediate past president of the MSU Alumni Association.)

Of Truth, Freedom and ExtremismBY WILLIAM R. ADAN

TURNING POINT

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 201510 EDGEDAVAO

ICT HUB

FACEBOOK is not just about selfies, throw-back Thursdays, outfits

of the day, and other such mundane posts.

Believe it or not, Face-book can also be a force for good, creating more than 4.5 million jobs and more than $225 billion in economic ac-tivity in 2014.

In a post in his Facebook timeline yesterday, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuck-erberg cited a new economic report released by research-ers at Deloitte looking at the social networking site’s im-

pact on the global economy.Deloitte is a UK-based

company that provides au-dit, consulting, financial ad-visory, risk management, tax, and related services to select clients through the collabo-ration of “tens of thousands of dedicated professionals in independent firms through-out the world.”

Deloitte said Facebook commissioned it to estimate the economic impact the social network enabled in 2014 around the world.

“We analysed the contri-bution Facebook supports as

a catalyst for economic activ-ity in ecosystems composed of marketers, app develop-ers, and providers of connec-tivity,” Deloitte said.

“We estimate that through the channels of mar-keters, app developers, and providers of connectivity, Facebook enabled $227 bil-lion of economic impact and 4.5 million jobs globally in 2014. These effects accrue to third parties that operate in Facebook’s ecosystem, and exclude the operations of the company itself,” the compa-ny added.

The key findings of De-loitte’s report include the following:

• The United States is es-timated to capture the larg-est share of economic impact enabled at $100 billion;

• High rates of engage-ment enabled $21 billion of economic impact in Central and South America;

• The thriving app econ-omy in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) has helped to generate $13 bil-lion of economic impact for the region through the plat-form effects; and

• In APAC (Asia Pacific) internet uptake and pur-chases of devices motivated by Facebook have contribut-ed to $13 billion of economic impact.

Zuckerberg said Face-book’s mission of connecting the world is often thought about only in terms of con-necting users with friends and family.

“But this also means helping people connect with businesses, governments and other organizations in their lives as well. By help-ing businesses connect with

new and existing customers, and by helping developers share their apps with the world, the Facebook com-munity is creating a lot of jobs and economic oppor-tunity around the world,” he said.

Zuckerberg thanked Facebook users “for all of the businesses you’re all building and all the new jobs and opportunities you’re creating.”

“You’re making the world more open and con-nected, and we’re proud to support you,” he said.

RISING smartphone star Xiaomi is moving up-market and taking aim

at Apple’s iPhone.The Chinese manufactur-

er known for ultra-low-priced handsets recently unveiled a new model that Chairman Jun Lei said is comparable to Apple’s iPhone 6 but thinner, lighter, and much cheaper. The phone starts at 2,299 yuan ($375), less than half the 5,288 yuan ($865) price of an iPhone 6 in China.

“We paid attention to ev-ery detail to make it as perfect as possible,” said Lei, standing on stage before reporters at a convention center in Beijing.

Xiaomi, founded in 2010, passed South Korea’s Sam-sung Electronics Co. in the second quarter of last year as the best-selling smartphone brand in China by number of handsets sold. The company is expanding into India and oth-er developing markets but has yet to announce plans to enter the United States or Europe.

The new Xiaomi could add to competition for Apple Inc. in China, a market CEO Tim Cook has said is expected to become its biggest. Other

Chinese smartphone brands including Lenovo Group and Huawei Technologies Ltd. also have released models they say offer features similar to the iP-hone but at lower prices.

Xiaomi “is a respected brand that already has an Ap-ple-like following” in China, said analyst Brian Blair, who tracks mobile device makers at Rosenblatt Securities. Ap-ple is still a relatively small player in China, selling about 45 million iPhones there last year, Blair estimates, but will continue to grow.

“Apple is very much a pre-mium brand,” said Blair. “The company that’s more at risk is Samsung, which has been los-ing share in that market.”

Wearing jeans and a blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, Lei showed a side-by-side comparison of Xiaomi’s newest model, the Mi Note, and the iPhone 6, which went on sale in China in October. He said the proces-sor power, performance and memory size were compara-ble and the Mi Note includes an improved camera.

While less expensive than an iPhone, the Mi Note’s price

Facebook created 4.5M jobs,$225B in economic activity

China’s Xiaomi takes aim at Apple with new phone

By JON JOAQUIN

is a departure for Xiaomi, whose other models cost as little as 699 yuan ($114). Lei said the company will offer a professional version of the Mi Note with a more powerful processor and other features for 3,299 yuan ($540).

Privately held Xiaomi said last year’s sales tripled to 61.1 million handsets and revenue more than doubled to 74.3 bil-lion yuan ($12.2 billion).

The company, based in Beijing, recently completed a round of fundraising from

investors that it said valued Xiaomi at $45 billion, mak-ing it one of the world’s most valuable technology brands.

Xiaomi ran into legal trou-ble in India in December after a court blocked sales while it hears a complaint by Swe-

den’s LM Ericcson that the Chinese company violated its patents.

In a blog post earlier this month, Lei called the case a “rite of passage” for a young company. JOE McDONALD, AP Business Writer

SELFIE TIME. Lei Jun, chairman of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, takes a selfie on the latest Xiaomi Note smartphone at a press event in Beijing on January 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (left) and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos at an event at the presidential palace in Bogota, Colombia on January

14, 2015. A report commissioned by Facebook showed that it created 4.5 million jobs and $225 billion in eco-nomic activity in 2014. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 11

350 join DACS Peace CampEDGEDAVAO

COMMUNITY SENSE

CAMP HIGHLIGHT. Young participants perform during the Davao Association of Catholic Schools (DACS) Peace Camp 2015.

AROUND 350 elementa-ry and high school stu-dents of Davao Region

gathered on January 16 and 17, 2015 at the Holy Cross Col-lege of Sasa for the Davao As-sociation of Catholic Schools (DACS) Peace Camp 2015.

The camp, which was centered on the theme “We Pray for Long Lasting Peace in Midanao; Give, Share, Live and Proclaim Peace,” was or-ganized by DACS in partner-ship with the Al Qalam Insti-tute on Islamic Identities and Dialogue, ForumZFD, and the Mindanaoan Youth Develop-ment Center, Inc.

The delegates came from 13 member schools of DACS, namely Ateneo de Davao Uni-versity, Holy Cross of Davao College Bajada Campus, Holy Cross of Davao College Babak Campus, Holy Cross of Bun-awan, Holy Cross College of Calinan, Holy Cross of Malalag, Assumption College of Davao, Our Lady of Fatima Acade-my, Stella MAris Academy of

Davao, University of Immac-ulate Conception, Holy Cross College of Sasa, PWC of Davao, and San Pedro College.

The camp commenced with a Holy Mass followed by the Opening Program with DACS director Jimmie-loe Dela Vega welcoming the delegates to the event.

The plenary session on Mindanao: The Past and Pres-ent followed with Fr. Roberto Layson, OMI sharing facts on the history of Mindanao.

The delegates gathered at the HCCS Grounds for the Bon-fire Ceremony and the burning of their outputs in their reflec-tions during the Group Discus-sions.

Each camper reflected on the question: As a youth/student, when do you say you experience peace and war? Varied responses on those questions were shared by the pupils, which they collated to create a slogan they presented to the other delegates during the Socials Night.

LAWYER Charmalou Alde-vera is the newest direc-tor of the Davao City Wa-

ter District (DCWD), replacing lawyer Eliseo Braganza Jr. who finished his term in December last year.

Aldevera took her oath of office before Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte on December 29, 2014 at the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Compound in Buhangin and submitted her oath of office to DCWD chair Eduardo A. Ban-gayan during DCWD’s Board meeting last January 8 at the Board Room of DCWD Matina office.

Aldevera, daughter of the

late Charlemagne Aldevera who was a DCWD director un-til his death on May 4, 2014, will serve from January 2015 until December 2020.

She currently chairs the DCWD committees on Bids and Awards and Engineering and Technology and is the vice-chair of the committees on Special Projects and Legal.

Aldevera attended the first monthly convocation on Janu-ary 5 and told the employees that coming to DCWD “feels like coming home.”

She said she had similar-ities and differences with her father and asked for the pa-

tience of the DCWD staff and time to learn the ropes.

“This is a totally new envi-ronment. This is a totally new job for me. Tagai ko ug gamay na pasensiya. I will be asking a lot of questions, makulitan man mo nako, pasensiyahi lang. Sooner or later I will learn. Pero dili nato kahinang-lan dali dalion,” she said.

Aldevera took up her un-dergraduate degree in BS Ac-countancy at the Ateneo de Davao University and finished her law degree from the Ate-neo de Davao Law School, tak-ing her oath as lawyer on May 3, 2004.

A lawyer by profession, she is currently a partner of the Aldevera Law Office.

Aside from DCWD, she also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Maa Slaughterhouse Management Board and, until December last year, was a member of the Peo-ple’s Law Enforcement Board.

Her affiliation also extends to being a member of the Chil-dren’s Joy Foundation, Inc., Bankerohan Livestock Dealers Cooperative, and Sigma Tau Mu sorority. She is also a pro-prietary member of the Apo Golf and Country Club in the city. Jovana T. Duhaylungsod

THE start of 2015 was a good one for teach-ers and students in

Almendras Elementary School in the municipality of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur as two newly built class-rooms were turned over to them ready to be used by 77 grade six pupils.

The students will now enjoy a favorable learn-ing environment in this one-story two-classroom building donated by Hed-cor Inc., Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., and the local govern-ment of Sta. Cruz in part-nership with the Depart-ment of Education (DepEd).

The classrooms were part of the joint project of Hedcor, Aboitiz Foundation and Sta. Cruz LGU worth P2.8 million as a continuing support to public education in the town, especially in Hedcor’s host communities for its hydropower plants operations.

The total funding also covered another one-sto-ry two-classroom building which was turned over to Tudaya Elementary School in far-flung Barangay Tu-daya, also in Sta. Cruz, where Hedcor is operating hydropower plants that serve electricity to some parts of Digos City and Davao City.

Rolando Pacquiao, Hed-cor’s vice-president for Mindanao operations, said the project is part of the actualization of the hydro-

power firm’s promise of in-clusive growth with its host communities through its Corporate Social Responsi-bility.

He said the two-class-room buildings were lined up in its 2014 projects, but were only turned over this year.

Out of the total funding, Sta. Cruz LGU allocated P1 million in this project.

Sta. Cruz Mayor Joel Ray Lopez said Hedcor has contributed a lot to the eco-nomic and social progress of the municipality, being the biggest investor and biggest taxpayer for oper-ating hydropower plants in the town.

Lopez said the compa-ny has so much concern for its host communities as it continues to pour in several projects for the welfare of the residents and improve-ment of the areas.

Aside from education, Hedcor’s CSR is also focused on the livelihood, health and environment concerns in its host communities, especially the indigenous cultural communities of the Bagobo-Tagabawa tribe.

Hedcor, a wholly owned subsidiary of AboitizPower, operates the 42.5-megawatt run-of-river Sibulan Hydro-power plant in Barangay Sibulan and 13.6-megawatt Tudaya Hydropower plants in Barangay Tudaya, both of Sta. Cruz town. (PIA-11/Ca-rina L. Cayon)

Charmalou Aldevera is new DCWD director Hedcor, Sta. Cruz LGUprovide new classrooms

As the highlight of the event, the campers conducted break-out sessions on pro-moting peace through music (song writing), dance, theatre arts, visual arts, and creative writing.

Marichelle de Ramos, the Coordinator for Student Activities of the AdDU-HS, in-troduced non-verbal theatre skills to the campers and em-phasized the importance of learning the art of characteri-

zation.EC G. Paler of the Groove

Unlimited Dance Company (GUDC) shared how the stu-dents can integrate proclaim-ing the message of inter-rela-tionship through bodily move-ments.

Victor Dumaging, a Min-danao visual artist, discussed basic skills in arts and exposed the participants to Synergy Art.

Angel “Angel 01” Josol,

a female rapper and known Mindanao musician, shared her experiences on how she maximized her musical talents in spreading her advocacies and taught the delegates how to compose a song for peace.

Lastly, Matias Regis Jr., a member of the Board of the Mindanaoan Youth Develop-ment Center, motivated the participants to maximize their writing skills in awakening and influencing other people

to take part in actions for the promotion of Peace.

The camp concluded with the presentations of the dele-gates’ outputs in their break-outs session and the testimo-nials of selected participants on what they learned from their sessions.

Rosendo Meriwan, Chair of DACS Committee on Histo-ry and Culture, acknowledged the organizers, facilitators, and participants of the camp.

WARM WELCOME. New Davao City Water District (DCWD) director lawyer Charmalou D. Aldevera (second from right) turns over her oath of office as DCWD’s director to DCWD chair Eduardo A. Bangayan (center). With them are (from left) directors Serafin C. Ledesma Jr., Ma. Luisa L. Jacinto, and Abdul M. Dataya.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 201512 CLASSIFIED

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

Billiard Supplies

Phone Nos. Cell Nos.

There’s abetter wayto getattention.Advertise with

EDGEDAVAO

CLASSIFIEDS

EDGEDAVAO

NOTICE OF LOSSNotice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS

CONSOLIDATED INC. That CERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT No.(s) 66293 under LOYOLA PLAN Contract No.(s) 297821-4 issued to MARIETTA A. KIMPO was lost. Any transaction entered into shall be null and void.

1/22/29,2/5

NOTICE OF LOSSNotice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS

CONSOLIDATED INC. That CERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT No.(s)66294 under LOYOLA PLAN Contract No.(s) 297823-6 issued to PATERNO KIMPO was lost. Any transaction entered into shall be null and void.

1/22/29,2/5

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

EDGEDAVAOINdulge! FOOD

WHEN I received an invitation to the opening of Gangnam Cafe and Restaurant, I knew at the back of my mind that it was a Korean restaurant. But nothing could have prepared me for the moment I arrived at the restaurant.

GoingGANGNAM The interiors of the place was dif-ferent from any Korean restaurant I have ever set foot on. In fact, the in-teriors look more like an exterior or street scene in the famous Korean district the res-taurant is named after. The walls of the restaurant were lined with masonry work with some greens and book shelves punctuating the corners and nooks. The wood and leath-er furniture, on the other hand, added a layer of modern sophis-tication and homey comfort. At first glance, the menu seemed familiar but unfamiliar at the same time. Maybe be-cause I was expecting tradition-al Korean dishes such as Kim-bap, Kimchi Jigae, and Jap Chae, but instead of these, I saw dishes such as Pork and Fish Cutlet, Grilled Rib Patty, Omelet Rice, and various kinds of pasta dish-es. It was then that I realised that Gangnam was not a traditional Korean restaurant but more of a Korean-Western dining place. Much like Filipino-owned food concepts that have Filipino chefs cooking up their version

of Western dishes such as roast beef, salpicao, burgers and steaks, Gang-nam is a Korean food concept with a Korean chef cooking up a fu-sion of Korean and Western dishes. For starters I had their Smoked

Salmon Salad. The greens were lightly dressed with a nice tangy lemon finish that compliment-ed the richness of the smoked salmon. For the entree, I had a taste of their Deluxe Braised Pork Ribs which were served family style in a big serving plate. The dish was made of pork that has been braised tender and cooked in a mix of squash, potato, onions, and leeks which made a nutty and savoury sauce that is sure to make one order more rice. All entrees are, of course, served with the requisite kimchi and appetisers. I want to mention that the lemonade that Gangnam serves is one of the best I have ever tasted. Filled with slices of kala-mansi and topped off with soda water, the lemonade had a rich lemony taste which is enhanced

Gangnam Cafe and Resturant’s cool interior.

by the effervescence of the soda. For the after-meal or merien-da, Gangnam Cafe and Restau-rant also serves Korean-style coffee and berry smoothies which are light and easy on the palate. Too bad the cakes were still not in stock yet as everyone was busy for opening night. The Gangnam Cafe and Res-taurant is located along McAr-thur Highway, right in front of S&R and is open 24-hours a day with the breakfast menu avail-able from 5 in the morning all the way to 10 am. Follow or talk to me on Ins-tagram or Twitter at @kenneth-kingong for more travel stories, foodie finds, and happenings in, around, and beyond, Durian-burg.

Deluxe Braised Pork Ribs.

Gangnam’s blueberry smoothie is light and does not taste like a heavy blueberry cheesecake.

The Smoked Salmon Salad comes with toasted garlic bread. Service with a smile at Gangnam Cafe and Restaurant.

GMA International marked another banner year in 2014 with a series of successful events held in key regions around the globe.

PROMOTING a healthy childhood and an op-portunity to have a fresh start, GMA Artist Center stars and Save the Chil-dren Ambassadors Mi-kael Daez and Kylie Pa-dilla chose to open their year and celebrate their birthdays by educating the children of Pag-asa Elementary School in Caloocan City. Last January 11, Mikael and Kylie gave a bit of a show as they lively par-ticipated in the storytelling portion of the program pre-pared by Save the Children organization. Almost 70 kids, whose age ranges from seven to nine, cheered and partici-pated as the Kapuso stars gave life to the books that turned the wheels of their imagination. “It’s nice seeing them smile because of what you do for them. It’s a simple thing for us, yung mag-act ng konti or magbasa sa kanila, pero it’s a big deal dahil nakikita mo yung ef-

fect ng ginagawa mo sa ibang tao,” says Mikael. Not only did they share their creativity through storytelling, but they also showed their being child-at-heart. They joined in the fun as the children took part

A2 INdulge!FOOD ENTERTAINMENT

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015EDGEDAVAO

Kapuso artists conquer the global stage

Save the Children Ambassadors Mikael Daez and Kylie Padilla give back on their birthdays

A must-try Aussie food experience atThe Hog’s Breath Cafe

Driven by its goal of strengthen-ing the Kapuso equity among its viewers in ways beyond television, GMA’s international business unit gave Filipinos abroad a taste of home through various on-ground events featuring the Network’s top artists. As GMA Vice President for In-ternational Operations Joseph T. Francia notes, “More than provid-ing quality programs and services through our international chan-nels, these events are an opportu-nity for our artists to interact with the viewers, which is integral to ex-tending the Kapuso experience to our audience overseas.” In the first half of the year, GMA participated in several well-attend-ed events held in various cities worldwide for the annual celebra-tion of Philippine Independence Day. Last year’s festivities saw Ka-puso prime artists Tom Rodriguez and Heart Evangelista gracing the Philippine Independence Day Parade in New York City while Kapuso leading man Geoff Eigen-mann joined fans in Carson City, California. Over in Kuwait, Asia’s Pop Sweetheart Julie Anne San Jose

and singer-comedienne Gladys Guevarra were featured in Musi-ka at Tawanan 4, which gathered more than 3000 overseas workers in the region. And finally, the Independence Day celebrations culminated with Kapuso Primetime King Ding-dong Dantes joining his kababay-an in Bolingbrook, Chicago for the Philippine Fest Piyesta Pinoy 2014 and Kapuso Premier Actress Lovi Poe delighting over 7000 Filipino-Canadians who came to the Pinoy Fiesta and Trade Show sa Toronto. Apart from these, GMA also celebrated the vibrancy of Filipino culture as it brought Kapuso stars Benjamin Alves and Steven Silva to the Flores de Mayo Festival in Ha-waii, which highlighted iconic Fili-pino traditions, while Kapuso Soul Diva Jaya headlined the third Van-couver OPM Festival in Canada, commemorating decades of great Filipino music. Moreover, the country’s longest running noontime show brought its trademark “isang libo’t isang tuwa” to the Filipino community in Canada with the much-awaited Eat Bulaga Live in Toronto concert led by the renowned comedic trio of Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey de

DID YOU KNOW that Davao is home to an authentic, world-famous Australian restau-rant? Yes, you got it right. Hog’s Breath Cafe, an international chain of steakhouse restau-rants from ‘the land down under,’ has one branch in the Philippines, and it can only be found at The Fountain Court of SM Lanang Premier in Davao City. Founded by Don Al-gie at Airlie Beach, North Queensland in July 1989, Hog’s Breath Cafe has since then opened several stores in different parts of Australia, and in other parts of the globe such as New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Viet-nam, and in Davao City, Philippines on December 13, 2012. Hog’s Breath Cafe’s lone branch in the country also happens to be its biggest branch in the world. Un-like any other restaurant, it provides a unique dining experience in its diverse Australian food options, the appearance and the atmosphere of the restau-rant, the style and type of service. Having developed and specialized in creating the best-tasting prime rib steaks in Australia, Hog’s Breath Cafe’s ten-der, mouthwatering steak dishes are a real gastro-nomic experience for guests. Its Premium Black Angus Prime Rib Steak is slow cooked for 18 hours to ensure maximum ten-

derness. Other must-have specialties include: Hicko-ry Smoked Pork Barbecue Ribs, Spaghetti al Ragu’ alla Bolognese, Spicy Buf-falo Chicken Wings, Hog’s Tail Fries, and Chili Coco-nut Prawns. To complement its signature dishes, Hog’s Breath Cafe has created an enjoyable casual dining environment for families and friends. Decked with Australian parapherna-lia and memorabilia and a saloon bar, it lets guests have fun with its friendly, festive atmosphere. Hog’s Breath Cafe at SM Lanang Premier is also a great venue for closed door parties and meetings. With a floor area measur-ing 447 sqm and three cozy function rooms, it is large enough to accommo-date a maximum of 200 guests at one time. Grab a taste of genuine Australian food at Hog’s Breath Café-SM Lanang Premier. For more infor-mation, contact (082) 285-2393. You may also check out Hog’s Breath Cafe Davao on Facebook, @

HBCafeDavao on Twitter, and #HogsbreathPH on Instagram. Stay up to date with unique dining and shop-ping options at the metro’s premier shopping and lifestyle destination. Fol-

low SM Lanang Premier on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and watch out for the Great 3-Day Sale on January 30, 31 and Febru-ary 1, 2015 for great dis-counts on selected items mallwide.

GMA International marked another banner year in 2014 with a series of successful events held in key regions around the globe.

in different games, which showcased the beauty of Filipino childhood. The event also had a feeding program that warmed not only the tummies, but most especially the hearts of the children.

“This is the way I want to extend the blessings I receive, kasi these children are so pure. And I know that helping them experience a happy childhood can be an inspiration to them,” shares Kylie.

SEN. MIRIAM DEFEN-SOR-SANTIAGO’S “Stu-pid is Forever,” a collec-tion of her memorable punch lines, jokes, and one-liners sold over 110,000 copies since its launch in December, making it the fastest and best-selling book of 2014. Due to popular de-mand, Senator Santiago will have another book signing on Thursday (January 22), 2-4PM at National Book Store Glorietta 5 after the success of her book launch and book signing over a month ago. “Stupid is Forever” published by ABS-CBN Publishing, Inc., has become a phenomenal hit, scoring rave reviews and strings of positive posts all over social media from readers. “I came up with this collection of jokes because some-times we are being too serious about the issues facing our country today. I think if we laughed more, and took ourselves less seriously, the public debate would be much better,” said Sen. Santiago during the book launch last De-cember 3. Senator Santiago also tries to curb ignorance by provid-ing socially relevant commentaries about Philippine soci-ety – Proof that Senator Santiago’s “Stupid is Forever” is more than just about jokes. Written and curated by the celebrated Iron Lady of Asia, “Stupid is Forever” also features illustrations of the coun-try’s top young illustrators Cj de Silva-Ong, Manix Abrera, Elbert Or, Rob Cham and many more. “Stupid is Forever” is exclusively available at National Book Store.

INdulge! A3VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 EDGEDAVAO

Kapuso artists conquer the global stage

Save the Children Ambassadors Mikael Daez and Kylie Padilla give back on their birthdays

Senator Santiago’s “Stupid Is Forever” tops best sellers list

and singer-comedienne Gladys Guevarra were featured in Musi-ka at Tawanan 4, which gathered more than 3000 overseas workers in the region. And finally, the Independence Day celebrations culminated with Kapuso Primetime King Ding-dong Dantes joining his kababay-an in Bolingbrook, Chicago for the Philippine Fest Piyesta Pinoy 2014 and Kapuso Premier Actress Lovi Poe delighting over 7000 Filipino-Canadians who came to the Pinoy Fiesta and Trade Show sa Toronto. Apart from these, GMA also celebrated the vibrancy of Filipino culture as it brought Kapuso stars Benjamin Alves and Steven Silva to the Flores de Mayo Festival in Ha-waii, which highlighted iconic Fili-pino traditions, while Kapuso Soul Diva Jaya headlined the third Van-couver OPM Festival in Canada, commemorating decades of great Filipino music. Moreover, the country’s longest running noontime show brought its trademark “isang libo’t isang tuwa” to the Filipino community in Canada with the much-awaited Eat Bulaga Live in Toronto concert led by the renowned comedic trio of Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey de

Leon, who were joined by the rest of the Dabarkads Pauleen Luna, Ruby Rodriguez, Jimmy Santos, Allan K., Julia Clarete, Keempee de Leon, the “Sugod Bahay Gang” of Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola, and Paolo Ballesteros, as well as the show’s well-loved Aleng Maliit, Ryzza Mae Dizon. “Through our continued pres-ence abroad, GMA hopes to re-main instrumental in cultivat-ing the Filipino spirit outside our home country,” Francia explains. Capping off the year’s success-ful endeavors, GMA International brought some of its brightest stars to Los Angeles, Dubai and Singa-pore for the much-anticipated Ka-pusong Pinoy concert series. As one of the hottest love teams on television, Carla Abellana and Tom Rodriguez thrilled the crowd in the sold-out concert titled Kapu-song Pinoy sa LA with their unde-niable chemistry. They were joined by Julie Anne San Jose, Kapuso teen star Miguel Tanfelix and ac-tor-comedian Betong Sumaya who portrayed his popular character Antonietta from the country’s lon-gest running comedy show Bubble Gang. This was followed by the equal-

ly successful Kapusong Pinoy sa Dubai which brought the Kapuso Network’s now-married Royal Couple Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera and Julie Anne San Jose to Dubai’s Global Village. Over 7000 spectators witnessed GMA’s Primetime King and Queen’s romantic duet and each artist’s individual performances. GMA completed the concert series and concluded 2014 with a tribute to its loyal Kapuso fans abroad. Drama King Dennis Trillo along with the Fearless Diva Jona-lyn Viray and Betong as Antoni-etta topbilled Kapusong Pinoy sa Singapore, giving their audience an entertainment-filled night to

remember. As another year commences, GMA International remains com-mitted in the service of its over-seas audiences, effectively bridging Filipinos all over the world to their home country. For updates on GMA Network’s artists, programs, international channels and events, visit the web-site www.gmanetwork.com/inter-national, Facebook pages www.facebook.com/GMAPinoyTV, www.facebook.com/gmalifetv, and www.facebook.com/gmanews-international, Twitter pages @gmapinoytv, @gma_lifetv, and @gmanewstvintl and Instagram ac-count @gmapinoytv.

PG 13

R 16

R 1311:40 | 2:15 | 4:50 | 7:25 | 10:00 LFS

R-16

AMERICAN SNIPER

Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller

PG 13 12:40 | 3:00 | 5:20 | 7:40 | 10:00 LFS

ANNIE

11:40 | 2:15 | 4:50 | 7:25 | 10:00 LFS

BLACKHAT

Chris Hemsworth, Tang Wei

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

Quvenzhane Wallis, Jamie Foxx,

Cameron Diaz

TAKEN 3

Liam Neeson

January 22-27, 2015

A4 INdulge!FOOD

Create your own trail mix and add anything you want. Make sure to pack them individually to lessen crumbs on the car floor.

EVERY DAY is a reason to pack your bags and leave. Sometimes, the best travel expe-rience happens unexpectedly. Nonetheless, for the organized  in us, we even want to make the spur of the moment travel a more satisfying one – especially in terms of food!

Yes, food is a staple. That is a given. Especially during long road trips, aside from the music, the food needs to be prepared. From the assortment of candies to snacks of sizes and flavors, it is impor-tant to know what you can bring along without the hustle of a kitchen night-mare.  Oh and yes, dis-posable containers reign supreme!

Muffins Bake them a day or two ahead and pack in an air-tight container. The best thing about muffins is its versatility and less crumbs when eating. Here’s an easy to make Snickerdoo-dle for you to enjoy: Cinnamon crum-ble:  Mix 2/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup sifted all purpose flour and 1 tablespoon cinnamon. Mix and mash ½ stick softened but-ter.  Batter: Mix 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon each cinnamon and salt, and ¼ teaspoon baking soda. In a bowl, whisk 3 eggs, ¾ cup sugar, 1 stick melted butter, 1 cup sour cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and fold into the flour mixture.  Combine: Stir ½ cup of the cinna-mon crumble into the batter; divide among 12 muffin cups and top with remaining crumble. Bake 25 to 28 minutes.

Homemade Trail Mix Instead of packs and sachets of sweets, why not

make a sweet trail mix of your own! Grab some M&Ms, caramel popcorn, mallows, nuts, chocolate peanut butter cups, choc-olate chip cookies and the likes. Combine and divide in zipped bags for everyone to enjoy. You can also add pretzels, beans and chips of your choice.

Individual packets of jam or peanut butter and fresh fruits It’s no secret that we want to munch on fresh fruits when we travel. From bananas to apples to grapes, we love bringing these sweet, healthy good-ness with us anywhere. However, adding a touch of jam or peanut butter could make all the differ-ence! Buy some sachet or packets and save them for a road trip.

Chocolates This is a no-brainer. The bitter and sweet combina-tion of chocolates in our mouth is a happy booster whenever, wherever. In-stead of having a big full on bar, bring bite size pieces. For a more excit-ing travel experience, have

Snickerdoodle muffins are delicious road trip snacks.

your chocolate varieties in a big bag where everyone can blindly pick one from the loot.

Sandwich Prepare the spread ahead of time and make the sandwiches minutes before you go. Here’s a recipe for Egg Salad Sand-wich Spread:  In a bowl, add boiled eggs, grated cheese, grated carrots, grated red onion, mayon-naise, cream cheese, salt and pepper. Mix well and adjust according to taste. You can also make a vari-ation of spreads – tuna, grilled chicken and even vegetables. Make #TheRoyalChef your Thursday habit! Fol-low and tag me on insta-gram (herroyalheiress) for your delicious pics and food finds

Road trip food

101A Tuna Sandwich is a delicious way to kill time when on the road. Photo from the Internet

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 13EDGEDAVAO

ZION ACCUPRINT PUBLISHING, INC.

MACHINE OPERATOR (Printing Press)

Door 14 Alcrej Building, Quirino Ave., 8000 Davao City, Philippines

E-mail: marketing@edgedavao.netzion_publishing@yahoo.com

Telefax: (082) 2213601Website: www.edgedavao.net

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

- Physically and mentally fit- Can handle minor repairs of the machine

- 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

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAOWANTS YOU!

HR DepartmentEDGEDavaoDoors 13 & 14 Alcrej B;dg., Quirino Ave., Davao CityTel. No. (082) 221-3601 Email: edgedavao@gmail.com

For interested applicants, you may send your resume to:

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015EDGEDAVAO14 NEWS

Finally... FFROM 1

Abu... FFROM 2

Mayor... FFROM 2

Helper... FFROM 3

Military...FFROM 3

CDO... FFROM 3Representative ginatagaan og pagtagad ang customary laws and primacy,” she said.

Sudagar said she could verify that the other aspi-rants are not pure Kagan because she knows there are only a few in the city.

The selection process started at around 1:30 p.m. with a Duwaa or the tradi-tional prayer with an Imam.

The presentation of the seven IPMR aspirants followed: Datu Larry Caba-guio, Datu Macabayao Apadan, Lito lapitan, Janor Balo, Joel Bustamante, Japar Pandadagan and Hali-

la Sudagar.There were eight orig-

inal aspirants but Kagan tribal deputy mayor Bob-by Mohammad withdraw his candidacy in respect to some members of the coun-cil of elders who told him to back out since he already has a position in the city government.

In the middle of pre-sentation, Pandadagan also conceded as one of the as-pirants. In an interview, he said he withdrew when he heard that Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte had asked him to.

pushed by several sectors to consider the Presidency in the 2016 elections, has lately been very vocal and active in his ad-vocacy for greater autonomy for the different regions of the country through the adoption of a Parliamentary Federal form of government.

As an advocate of Federal-ism, Duterte scored the neglect of the different regions of the country by a central govern-ment controlling the distri-bution of national budget and resources.

“Here we are in the coun-tryside trying to make ends meet, confronting the prob-lems of insurgency and se-cession, and we hear how our national officials misuse their pork barrel,” he said.

“A congressman who sup-ported the (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Renato) Co-rona impeachment gets P300

million while a senator is given P900 million. Kung ganito man lang maghiwa-hiwalay na lang tayo,” he said.

He said the other option is the establishment of a Par-liamentary Federal system of government where the local government units get to retain a larger portion of their earn-ings.

Also in the listening tour is lawyer Israelito Torreon, former Integrated Bar of the Philippines governor for East-ern Mindanao and law school dean who will discuss the legal and constitutional require-ments for the establishment of a Parliamentary Federal gov-ernment.

Pinol said the “Listening Tour” could also be an oppor-tunity for Mayor Duterte to feel the real pulse of the people on the snowballing clamor for him to run for President. AMA

ation when they came under enemy sniper fire as they “inched their way in clearing the enemy position” in Bai-was-Pamatsaken area.

He said another firefight ensued around 1:38 p.m. in at Sitio Crossing, Barangay Baiwas, Sumisip, as the troops continued to clear the area.

Yoma said the number of the Abu Sayyaf members swelled to 50 as the group of Abu Kik was reinforced by the group of another ASG sub-leader identified as Radzmil Janatul alias Abu Khubayb.

He said the firefight lasted for about two hours “with the troops effectively conducting fire and maneuver and the em-ployment of close-air support” that forced the Abu Sayyaf brigands to flee towards west direction.

He said the bandits suf-fered one death and three others wounded. The troops suffered zero casualties in the separate clashes.

He said the two ASG camps the troops captured in

Barangay Baiwas, Sumisip can accommodate more or less 100 people.

Colonel Rolando Joseli-to Bautista, commander of the Basilan-based Army’s 104th Infantry Brigade, said the troops also recovered an improvised explosive device (IED) at the old school build-ing in Barangay Baiwas, Sum-isip.

Bautista said the Abu Sayyaf members who figured in the series of firefights with the troops Tuesday were re-sponsible for the death of six soldiers, including a junior of-ficer, on November 2, 2014 in Barangay Libug, Sumisip.

The troops who belong to the Army’s 64th Infantry Bat-talion were providing security to the concreting of the Basilan circumferential road when the bandits ambushed them.

Yoma said the law enforce-ment operations aimed to de-feat the lawless elements par-ticularly the ASG will continue in coordination with the police and local government officials in Basilan province. (PNA)

Quijoy in Cotabato City at around 12:15 p.m. on Janu-ary 10, 2015.

During the police inves-tigation, Quijoy admitted taking the child to be brought to Zamboanga, intending to demand for P100,000 from the parents.

During an interview with

media, the suspect also said she had planned to sell the child for P100,000 in Zambo-anga City.

Following her arrest, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte warned Davao residents to be careful in hiring house helpers. FUNNY PEARL A. GA-JUNERA with PNA

serious consideration and in-stead passed the responsibil-ity to rule on the issues to the court,” he said.

Prosecutor Panfilo Lovi-tos stated in his resolution that the contentions of Felonia in his motion are evidentiary in nature and it is up to the court to decide on his defense.

On Tuesday afternoon,

Felonia’s camp filed a mani-festation with motion to re-solve the motion to deny issu-ance of warrant of arrest due to lack of probable cause be-fore the Regional Trial Court (RTC).

Europa added that the manifestation is an alterna-tive prayer on his earlier mo-tion.

Philippines (NUJP) to call for a Media Safety Dialogue at the Archbishop’s Residence here Tuesday morning.

Over one hundred jour-nalists attended the dialogue presided by Monsignors El-mer Abacahin and Perseus Cabunoc, vicar general of the Cagayan de Oro Archdiocese.

COPC President Jerry Orcullo said he suspects that the threats came from the police officers and fellow po-licemen angered by the com-mentaries.

Orcullo said they are holding the city police office responsible for any harm that may befall on Ucat and other DXIF Bombo Radyo staff members.

“Our families are already alarmed. They are afraid that threat will extend to our fam-ilies,” Bombo anchorman and Ucat’s colleague Mark Mar-tirez said.

Martirez asked the city police office if they could still count on the police force for protection since most of those implicated are their colleagues.

“Are we assured you are there for us?” Martinez asked City Police Director Faro Olaguera who attended the meeting.

For his part, Olaguera said they would extend assis-tance adding the threats have put the entire police force “in a bad image,” adding he will order an investigation into the alleged threats against Ucat and his radio station.

The threats came after a survivor implicated four po-lice officers in the killing of brothers Arnold and Harold

Jamaca and another compan-ion, Ma. Erica Yabut, whose bodies were found last Dec. 11.

Senior Supt. Alexander Camilon Tagum, chief of the PNP Criminal Detection Group 10 said their fourth companion, Jim Jamaca, a cousin who played dead and survived, tagged four police officers as responsible.

Tagum identified the po-lice officers as Senior Insp. Ludwig Charles Espera, chief of the Cagayan de Oro tourist police unit; Insp. Arnel Gighe, Espera’s deputy; PO1 Manuel Quipanes; and PO1 Jun Reil Barrientos.

A certain Atty. Marlon Yap and four others were also implicated.

The group was believed to have carried out over 60 extra-judicial killings record-ed in Cagayan de Oro in 2014.

Tagum said the police of-ficers belong to a drug syndi-cate that murders their cou-riers if a drug deal fails.

Regional State Prosecu-tor Jaime Umpa said he is now handling the case after Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ordered its transfer from the City Prosecutor’s Office.

Ed Montalvan, publish-er of the weekly Mindanao Current said there should be a mechanism where journal-ists who come under threat may seek protection.

JB Deveza, NUJP Mind-anao Safety Officer said such mechanism can be imple-mented under the supervi-sion of the Cagayan de Oro Archdiocese. (Froilan Gallar-do/MindaNews)

FEARLESS. A teenager fearlessly crosses Gov. Generoso Bridge 1 from Bankerohan to S.I.R. in Matina using the bridge’s concrete railing, ignoring the very real possibility of falling into Davao River below. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO

CITY Mayor’s Office stretched its winning streak to seven games

against Everball Columbia Computer Center with an 82-72 decision in Game 7 on Tuesday night to establish new team record for most number of wins in a row in their Bas-ketball Friendly Series at the Davao City Recreation Center Almendras Gym.

The City Hall dribblers

surpassed their longest re-corded winning streak of six games against Everball Co-lumbia squad last season.

Like the preceding series, the CMO surged to pile up double digit wins – one after the other - in as many games to stamp its might over Ever-ball Columbia.

Christopher “Bong” Go fired 35 points, including five triples, for CMO which over-

came a slow start to notch a come from behind victory.

After trailing, 26 – 12, at the end of the first period, CMO erupted for a 16-0 run in the second frame flared up by a two treys from the sweet-shooting Go.

The scoring outburst drove the City Hall dribblers to play a much fluid execution in the final half that kept Everball Columbia at bay.

Reyes paced with 21 points for Everball Columbia which remained winless in 10 games dating back the preced-ing series. Earl Angsinco had 19.

Michael Peloton dished out a valuable contribution so did Joel Aberilla as they chipped in 10 points apiece for CMO.

CMO won Game 6, 87 – 81, on a run of the mill per-

formance, noting the City Hall dribblers prevailing on a tight contest despite the absence of Everball scoring leader Rico Kwan Tiu and new recruit Winston Ho, who had game best 19 points, on his debut showing in Game 5.

The City Hall dribllers took the first six games in the preceding series before Ev-erball tasted its first victory. (Rico Biliran)

Box scores:CMO – 82 GO 35, PELO-

TON 10, ABERILLA 10, FLORES 8, CLORIBEL 7, ESCANDOR 6, APOSTOL 4, REYES 2, POLIQUIT 0, ROSAL 0, SUMAGANG 0

EVERBALL COLUMBIA – 72 REYES 21, ANGSINCO 19, FRANCISCO 14, CABALLERO 8, MALIGRO 4, MENDING 2, SUAREZ 2, BALISALISA 2, AVINANTE 0

Pimnipa Panthong (center) of Thailand holds her trophy as she poses with Simeon Tiu (right), president of Peerless Products Manufacturing Corp., makers of Champion Detergent Bar and Powder, and Women’s Golf Association president Marissa Romano after winning the 2015 Champion Infinity Philippine Ladies Open Golf Championship at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club recently.

MANNY Pacquiao be-lieves he can “easily beat” American ri-

val Floyd Mayweather Jr. and challenged the American to sign the contract for a me-ga-fight to show that he cares about boxing fans.

On Twitter, Pacquiao again fired shots at May-weather, saying: “I can easily beat Floyd Mayweather, I be-lieve that.”

“If you really care about the fans, you will fight. If you care about yourself, you won’t fight,” he added.

Pacquiao and Top Rank chief executive Bob Arum have confirmed that they have agreed to all the terms and conditions set by Mayweath-er’s camp for a May 2 fight in Las Vegas.

Even though the fight has yet to be confirmed, oddsmak-ers in Las Vegas have already installed the “Pacman” as an underdog, something the Fili-pino icon shrugs off.

“Everyone had me as a big underdog to Oscar De La Hoya, too,” he pointed out on Twitter.

“If Floyd Mayweather fights me, boxing will get an even bigger upset victory,” he said.

In an interview with ESPN, Pacquiao said he will

work even harder knowing that he is a 3-to-1 underdog.

“It’s good,” he said. “When I fought De La Hoya, it was 8-1. If I’m favored, I’m very con-fident and not focused. If I’m underdog, it’s like 200 percent focus in training.”

Pacquiao confirmed to ESPN that he has agreed to “whatever (Mayweather) wants,” including the date of the fight, a 60/40 split of the purse – of which the Ameri-can gets the bigger share – as well as the randomized drug testing.

Asked if he ever wonders why Mayweather won’t fight him, Pacquiao answered: “You know, first, before, his rea-son was drug testing. But he knows that’s not a problem before.”

“I already agreed to what-ever terms and conditions. He’s just making that alibi, to make a reason to avoid the fight,” he said.

Pacquiao agreed that Mayweather may be ducking him out of fear of tarnishing his undefeated record.

“Maybe he’s scared to lose,” said the “Pacman.”

Pacquiao confirmed to ESPN that Mayweather has until the end of January to sign the contract, otherwise they will move on to Plan B.

SERENA Williams start-ed her quest for a record sixth Australian Open

title with a commanding first-round win on Tuesday.

Facing 20-year-old Alison Van Uytvanck, Williams need-ed just 21 minutes to take the first set. It was her first time facing Van Uytvanck – Williams admitted before the match that she didn’t even know how to pronounce the Belgian’s name. Williams stumbled slightly in the second set before prevail-ing, 6-0, 6-4.

Fellow American Madison Brengle pulled off the biggest

upset of Day 2, as the unseeded youngster knocked out No. 13 Andrea Petkovic. Venus Wil-liams, seeded 18th, defeated Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor, 6-2, 6-2.

Jelena Jankovic, seeded 15th, fell 6-1, 6-4 to unranked Timea Bacsinszky. It’s the ear-liest Jankovic has ever been ousted from this tournament. In the final women’s upset of the day, Camila Giorgi defeated fellow Italian Flavia Penetta, who was the 12th seed, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

No. 4 Petra Kvitova, No. 8 Carolina Wozniacki, No. 6

Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 11 Dominika Cibulkova, No. 20 Sam Stosur, and Victoria Aza-renka also advanced. Wozniac-ki and Azarenka will face off in the second round.

On the men’s side, four-time Australian Open cham-pion Novak Djokovic faced off against Grand Slam newcomer Aliaz Bedene. It’s Djokovic’s first tournament back since becoming a father in October. Bedene put up more of a fight than Djokovic seemed to ex-pect, but the world No. 1 put the match away 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Stan Wawrinka is off to a

quick start as he looks to de-fend his 2014 Australian Open title, advancing in straight sets in a dominating win over Mar-sel Ilhan. Kei Nishikori, who made a surprising run to the U.S. Open final in August, is also moving on after defeating Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 7-6, 6-2.

No. 8 Milos Raonic, No, 18 Gilles Simon and No. 19 John Isner also advanced in straight sets. American Denis Kudla nearly upset No. 12 Feliciano Lopez, forcing three match points, but failed to convert. Lopez is moving on with the 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 victory

City Mayor’s Office demolishes Everball in Game 7  RECORD-SETTING WIN

SO here we go again. The megafight the world is dying to see could well

be just that—dead.Unless.There’s a lot of things

that hitch up after that “un-less” thing right there.

Alright, Manny Pacquiao has given a deadline by the end of the month for Floyd Mayweather to sign up or he will shop for another op-ponent.

Haven’t we heard of this before?

I’d say a lot of times. Manny’s camp giving the Mayweather camp a dead-

line to agree on terms is nothing new. Oftentimes, it ended with Bob Arum shopping for another lemon to throw on Manny’s side. Wrap the lemon like orange and call it a tough assign-ment for Manny.

Yeah. That old boxing habit. This is pure bidnes, bruh. Take it or leave it.

Let’s swing over to Floyd’s side. This is where words are not minced. Yeah. Floyd is flamboyant, rude, crap-talking even. But he speaks straightforward.

Says he after Manny said he agrees on all terms and

sets a deadline: “Are you the boss?”

Boom.That exploded right

there smack on the face of

our champ.Really, who’s the boss?

Manny or old man Bob?Many times, in post-

match interviews, Manny would tell Larry Merchant it depends on his manager. He is only a fighter.

Simply put, Manny just feeds on what Bob pops in on the table. He’s just a fight-er, y’know.

That’s the deal. That’s how the Manny-Bob Show works and that is probably why there’s that statement on Manny’s shirt—Manny Knows.

Floyd has a point here.

It’s a chess game and Man-ny, he thinks, is just a pawn. Bob’s the boss and only Bob can make the agreements. Bob will not be in the boxing business for decades if he was a moron. He’s a genius in making deals and even if Manny agrees to everything, Bob needs to protect Top Rank more than he needs to protect Manny.

In time, Manny is going to be one of those who “came and gone” in Bob’s business. Somebody will come and take his place and then Bob will have to make him his top dog. We are looking at

Amir Khan and Zhu Shiming, probably the next stars in TR’s stable.

Now, let’s put it straight. The only way the fight moves forward is for Manny to be the boss and tell Bob straight up to let him push forward with the megafight. We don’t know if that works under the Manny-Bob con-tract.

Simply put, Manny has to cease to be just the fighter that he is under the manage-ment deal and be the dicta-tor.

And that, buddies, is eas-ily said than done.

Be the Boss, Manny

Neil Bravo

LET’S GET IT ON

Pacman: I caneasily beat Floyd

Serena, Djokovic advance at Australian Open

VOL. 7 ISSUE 219 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015

THE KARATE KIDIT’S not everyday that

you see a four-year old girl hang around a gym

instead of playing with her dolls at home with mom.

When you do, get that kid in a gi and teach her the sport.

Rommel Tan, head mas-ter at the Association for the Advancement of Karatedo (AAK) Davao Gym, did just that. His eye for talent at work again.

This time, sensei Rom-mel had no problem looking further into the corners of the gym hoping to find a kid tag-ging along somebody inside. The kid is right there by his side. Her name is Atsuko.

If you are a karatedo pur-ist, you must have met Atsuko Wakai elsewhere in those in-ternet websites or one way or another, Google has led you to that name.

Atsuko Wakai is a Japa-nese women’s world karate-do champion. When Rommel and wife Mikay had a baby girl for their first child, they named her Atsuko which means “warm hearted” in Japanese.

“From the time she was born, I knew she would be a warrior someday,” said Rom-

mel in an interview with Edge Davao.

Atsuko Kaiyel Tan, four years old and only in her kindergarten year in school, tagged along her father since she was two at the gym al-most everyday. While her father was busy teaching young karatekas, Atsuko in-directly breathed the sport into her lungs and from Day 1 onwards at the gym, she was breathing karatedo air.

Now add that to her ka-ratedo DNA and a karatedo champion’s name and what you get is a star in the making.

Last Sunday, Atsuko made the headlines when she finished with a silver medal in kata in the under 5 years old girls kata category of the 3rd Adidas Cup International Tournament at the SM Me-gamall.

“It was a different expe-rience when it’s your own daughter out there compet-ing. I was too nervous,” Rom-mel narrated. “But luckily, Kaiyel was too calm and fo-cused.”

The silver medal finish was big enough for the dimin-utive Atsuko who was in her first ever international stint.

After going up the podium to receive her medal, she raised her arms like a proud warrior announcing her arrival.

“She’s now certified AAK warrior,” said her father af-ter the yellow-belter Atsuko came down to bring the sil-ver ware to her parents who were waiting at the sidelines.

COMPLETE RESULTS OF THE 3RD ADIDAS INTERNA-TIONAL KARATE CUP, JAN 17, 2015 AT SM MALL OF ASIA:

1.Gabriel T. Quinones (Brokenshire) juniors kata (16-17) and juniors kumite (2 golds)

2. Seth Michael Navarro (UIC-GS) 6-7 boys kata and 6-7 boys kumite ( 2 golds)

3. Sofia Agullo (UIC-HS) 12-13 girls kata (gold) and 12-13 girls kumite (bronze)

4. Julian Ambrose Ramirez (Precious) – 14-15 cadets boys gold kata and 14-15 cadets boys kumite bronze

5. Darlene Ross Mara-mara (DCNHS)- 14-15 cadets girls gold kata and 14-15 ca-dets girls kumite silver

6. John Paul Ponce (Pre-cious) - 10-11 boys kumite gold open

7. Kyzzhia Pauline Navar-ro (UIC-GS) – 8-9 girls kata bronze and kumite bronze

8. Marcus Arellano( St. Ignatius) - Boys 6-7 kata sil-ver medal

9. Mitsuki kawano (Holy Child) – boys 12-13 kata bronze and kumite silver

10. Atsuko kaiyel D. Tan (Davao Christian) – 6-7 girls kata silver medal

11. Emmanuel Ba-yugo – cadets 14-15 boys kata bronze and kumite bronze

16 EDGEDAVAOSports

Another Atsuko comethBy NEILWIN JOSEPH BRAVO

PROUD PANDA. AAK Davao head coach Rommel “The Kungfu Panda” Tan and wife Kikay with daughter Atsuko Kaiyel. (T. Inigo)

NEXT GEN CHAMP. Atsuko Kaiyel Tan proudly shows off her silver medal during the SCOOP Session at The Royal Mandaya Hotel. (T. Inigo)