EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAOP 15.00 • 24 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015

WITNESS VISIONS UNFOLD: PHILBEX Davao 2015 Opens Today!

Success is not an easy feat and yet Worldbex Services

International, the coun-try’s leading exhibi-tions and events orga-nizer make it appear as such as it continues to reap the fruits of its triumph with boldness and grace. Following the favorable outcome of the first-ever Philip-pine Building and Con-struction Exposition Davao last year, WSI follows through with its commitment to solidify the foundation of the Mindanao construction industry as it opens the 2nd PHILBEX Davao to-day at the SMX Conven-tion Center Davao.

Only PHILBEX Davao bravely dared to tap the rich potential that thrives with-in the region’s construc-tion industry and elevate it to global distinction. As it gathers the region’s top companies and associations under one roof once more, PHILBEX Davao proves to be a first-of-its-kind high-grade exposition that allows the public to get a first-hand look at the region’s cutting edge products and innova-tive services as well as ex-plore business-to-business opportunities all to expand and nurture their network.

As the country braces its various economic sec-tors for the implications of

the ASEAN economic in-tegration, PHILBEX Davao 2015 will be channeling its efforts in setting up the region for a far more glob-ally competitive econom-ic climate. Heralding the theme of “Building Visions in the Realm of ASEAN In-tegration,” this year’s pre-sentations will focus on showcasing the world-class products and services of the region, imparting relevant and insightful industry in-formation, as well as paving the way for both local and international connections between various sectors of the industry.

If last year’s expo at-tracted over 12,000 visi-tors, PHILBEX Davao 2015, which occupies a total exhi-bition space of 4,480sqm, is expected to draw the same foot traffic if not even more. Beyond merely being a con-struction exposition seen to stimulate much economic activity, PHILBEX Davao is likewise a one-stop life-style exposition that will be championing Mindanaoan’s cultural heritage as it turns the spotlight on the region’s design and artistic innova-tion.

The best part is, PHIL-BEX Davao offers free ad-missions throughout the four-day trade show as well as free registrations for the highly-anticipated PHILBEX Davao Seminars, which will

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PHILBEX Davao will put the spotlight on the most innovative products from select exhibitors from the recently-held WORLDBEX to be showcased in the regional show.

From establishing a solid reputation as the country’s leading events and exhibitions organizer, Worldbex Services International breaks new ground as it explores the uncharted territories of the Davao region.

The 2nd PHILBEX Davao is intent on outdoing its initial installment as it envisions elevating things to a whole new level #PHILBEXDAVAO2015

A bigger and bolder comeback of PHILBEX Davao this coming May 14-17 at the SMX Convention Center, Davao City! #PHILBEXDAVAO2015

B EDGEDAVAO

feature a handful of industry experts to conduct insightful and engaging talks that will en-compass a range of construc-tion and design-related topics.

Needless to say, whether you’re an industry profes-sional, an investor looking for the next big thing, or simply a construction enthusiast, ex-pect to experience an all-in-clusive trade show experience as PHILBEX Davao showcases over 130 exhibiting companies and around 240 fun and en-gaging booths. Not to mention, headlining this year’s install-ment are new pocket events and presentations that merely seek to enhance one’s trade show experience.

Certainly not to be missed is the WORLDBEX Lab, a curation of the cutting-edge products that were showcased at the recently concluded WORLD-BEX Manila. Among the par-ticipating companies include K-Plast Inc., Bestank Manufac-turing Corporation, La Casa

Deco, Unitec Pipe Manufactur-ing Corporation, Sea Olympus Marketing Inc., Pacific Paint Philippines Inc., Akari Lighting and Technology Corp., Fisher Martin Tech Inc., Wilcon Depot, Limson Marketing Inc., Teleeye Philippines Inc., Solar Savers, and Puyat Steel Corporation.

Sure to please design and style aesthetes are the interior design vignettes that will fea-ture the indigenous products of Mindanao that are made fresh and modern as Interior Design students inject their unique creative perspectives into the process. On the other hand, PHILBEX Davao promotes Min-danaoan artistry as it showcas-es local artworks by some of the region’s best artisans through a custom art installation that will be exclusively mounted at the event.

Other event highlights to watch out for includes the Inte-rior Designers Gallery which is presented in partnership with

Each year, a crop of distinguished industry experts is being featured in the PHILBEX Davao seminars to impart their knowledge and to share their personal experiences. #PHILBEXDAVAO2015

PHILBEX Davao visitors are encouraged to take advantage the free and accessible seminars as it offer a range of timely, relevant, and highly-informative talks. #PHILBEXDAVAO2015

Philbex... FFROM A

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VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015

EDGEDAVAOC

PHILBEX Davao attracts lifestyle and design enthusiasts as it serves as a one-stop shop for all their construction needs. #PHILBEXDAVAO2015

PHILBEX Davao headlines the theme of “Building Visions in the Realm of ASEAN Integration” with over 130 exhibitors and 240 booths.#PHILBEXDAVAO2015

PHILBEX Davao offers an extensive array of the latest product innovations and services from both local and foreign companies. #PHILBEXDAVAO2015

PHILBEX Davao is sure to be a hit among design professionals and enthusiasts as it builds up booths and galleries dedicated to showcase upcoming design trends and innovations. #PHILBEXDAVAO

From the latest industry trends and forecasts to insightful tips and strategies, interested participants will surely gain a productive experience at any of the PHILBEX Seminars. #PHILBEXDAVAO2015

the Philippine Institute of Interior Designers, Mind-anao Chapter. Meanwhile, those who wish to upgrade their spaces are invited to drop by the Architects Gal-lery. On top of it all, visitors can expect nothing less of a premium exposition as PHILBEX Davao encourag-es its exhibitors to integrate design and function in their booth installations, which can merit an award as PHIL-BEX Davao hosts the annual Best Booth Awards.

Only last year, PHILBEX Davao made history as it launched as the biggest con-struction exposition to ever hit the region. This year, WSI is more than ready to take things to a whole new level as it hosts an even big-ger and bolder exposition committed to materializing

the visions put forth by the movers and shakers of the industry.

Immerse in an over-whelming gathering of the industry’s best! From build-ing materials, equipments and services, construction materials, interior designs and design services, to ren-ovation products, mechan-ical engineering systems, electrical engineering sys-tems, construction promo-tions, information technol-ogy, telecommunications, and real estate and housing, witness all of it unfold at the 2nd Philippine Building and Construction Exposition which opens today and lasts until May 17, from 10AM to 7PM at the SMX Convention Center, Davao City. For more information, go to www.worldbex.com.

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VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015

This year, visitors can expect a more compelling range of product presentations and an even more exciting line-up of events. #PHILBEXDAVAO2015

Walk into PHILBEX Davao’s design landscape and discover a remarkable celebration of heritage and modernity. #PHILBEXDAVAO2015

PHILBEX Davao sees itself not only as a construction destination but as a captivating design hub. #PHILBEXDAVAO2015

The first-ever PHILBEX Davao was proven to be a great success, with a 96% rate of satisfaction and an 88% rate of show success. #PHILBEXDAVAO2015

PHILBEX Davao attracts lifestyle and design enthusiasts as it serves as a one-stop shop for all their construction needs. #PHILBEXDAVAO2015

The Philippine Institute of Interior Designers, Mindanao Chapter, harbors much-needed aesthetic inspiration as they facilitate this year’s Interior Designers. #PHILBEXDAVAO2015

DEDGEDAVAO VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015

P 15.00 • 24 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

Indulge A1

AIRASIA’S HOT MEAL FOODTRIP AT 35,000 FEET

RODY WANTSCON-CON

INSIDE EDGE

DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte wants a Constitution-

al Convention (Con-Con) to decide whether or not the Filipino people want a shift from a highly-centralized government to a Federal Par-liamentary system, which he

has been pushing in his “Lis-tening Tour” in the last two months.

In a statement, the Duter-te camp said the mayor spoke before students and faculty of the University of San Carlos in Cebu City and told them a Con-Con would be composed

of delegates elected directly by the people.

Shifting from the present system to a Federal one re-quires an amendment to the 1987 Constitution, but Char-ter change has always been rejected by the people in the past because the proposed

mode of amendment had been through Congress form-ing itself into a Constituent Assembly.

Many people expressed fear that Congress would also change other provisions of the Constitution, including

By CHARLES RAYMOND A. MAXEY

Duterte wants people to decide on Federalism

FRODY, 10

AUTOGRAPH. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte signs an auto-graph for Councilor Yoshitomo Kawakita (face hidden) of Mitoyo City, Japan on Tuesday night at Hotel Elena in Lanang. Duterte met with the officials of Mitoyo City led by Vice Mayor Sako Teruo to forge an intercity understanding. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 20152 EDGEDAVAO

NEWS

WEAR YOUR VESTS. Passengers of motorized boat plying between Sta. Ana wharf and Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS) are asked to wear life vest by Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) 11 director Felisa N. Orongan and some city councilors who conducted an inspection in various Davao City ports yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

DAVAO City councilors inspected motorboats and barges going to the

Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS) yesterday to ensure that passengers wear life vest while on board.

City council’s committee on peace and order, and pub-lic safety chair Nilo Abellera Jr. led the inspection with coun-cilors Al Ryan Alejandre, Vic-torio Advincula Jr., and Rene Elias Lopez in Sasa Port and Sta. Ana Wharf.

Maritime Industry Au-

thority (MARINA) 11 director Felisa N. Orongan also joined the inspection.

During the inspection, Abellera reminded the vessel owners about the mandatory wearing of life vests of all pas-sengers going to IGACOS.

But former Sasa barangay captain Mario Reta, who owns a passenger boat, said there is no need to require the passen-gers to wear the life vest since his boat is a closed deck one.

“This issue is already moot and academic,” Reta said.

He said MARINA had al-ready explained to the boat owners before that the man-datory wearing of life vests is only for open deck boats since there is a danger that passen-gers could fall off if a big wave hits.

Reta said MARINA told them that the life vests should be accessible to the passen-gers in case of an emergency.

He said the passengers also do not want to wear life vests because it is inconve-nient.

Orongan, however, re-butted Reta’s claim, saying there is an order from MARI-NA requiring all passengers to wear life vest for both open deck and closed deck boats.

She said an open deck boat is a vessel that has no roof while a closed deck vessel is enclosed by a roof.

She said Reta was refer-ring to Memorandum Circular (MC) 123 which makes life vests mandatory only for open decked boats.

Oronga, however, said

MC 123 has already been repealed by MC 176 which specifies that all passengers of motorized bancas and similar water transport are required to wear or hold life vests.

She said the boats in the Sta. Ana Wharf are categorized as motorized boats.

She said if passengers do not want to wear the life vests, the can hold them while on board.

“Before the boat leaves the port, the boat captain should advise the passengers to hold

the life vests, not necessarily wear,” Orongan said.

In an interview, Abellera said the inspection aims to add more information for possible legislation on the matter.

He said the Philippine Coast Guard and MARINA should not allow boats to leave port if not all passengers are wearing life vests.

“It is the job of MARINA and the Coast Guard to look after the safety of the passen-gers and implement the law.

Councilors inspect boatsfor life vest complianceBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

BOAT owners in Sta. Ana Wharf urged the Davao City govern-

ment to install a ferry termi-nal for passengers.

In an interview, Mario Reta, owner of Isla Reta Beach Resort which oper-ates a boat, told reporters that there is a need to put up a terminal because some passengers fall into the wa-ter in their rush to board the boats.

He said because there is no shelter for them, outgo-ing passengers immediate-ly climb into the boat even though there are still pas-sengers disembarking.

He said some passengers fall into the water because of the chaos.

Aside from this, Reta said many passengers who buy tickets end up not taking the boat ride because they have to stand under the heat

of the sun.He said boat owners

have been raising the mat-ter to the Davao City gov-ernment for many years but have gotten no feedback.

In a separate interview, City Council committee on government enterprise and privatization chair council-or Rene Elias Lopez said he will study the matter, noting that the city has no ferry ter-minal.

“I will make sure that we will plan out a passenger terminal to ensure the wel-fare, safety, and protection of our riding public,” he said.

Lopez said Reta’s pro-posal will be now part of the development plan of Sasa Wharf.

He said the next step will be to discuss the allocation of funds for the construction of the terminal. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

FRESH tremors Wednes-day struck Nepal where thousands of fear-strick-

en people spent the night in the open after a powerful earthquake killed 65 people, as the nightmare continued for the country already dev-astated by a temblor over two weeks ago that had claimed over 8,000 lives.

The 7.3-magnitude earth-quake yesterday brought down homes and buildings, killing 65 people and injuring

nearly 2,000, Nepal’s National Emergency Operation Centre said.

Most of the casualties were reported in Dolakha dis-trict, northeast of Kathmandu. The toll was expected to rise.

Police said a total of 32 of 75 districts were affected in the fresh quake and several houses collapsed.

The quake was centred some 83 kms east of Kath-mandu near Mount Everest

Vessel owners push for passenger terminalFresh tremors hit NepalFCOUNCILORS, 10

FFRESH, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015 3NEWSEDGEDAVAO

AROUND 800 square me-ters of coral reefs had been destroyed as a re-

sult of the grounding last week of a Panamanian-registered reefer vessel off a coastal vil-lage here.

Valiente Lastimoso, City Environment and Natural Resources Office head, said Tuesday a portion of the Taku Tago Reef in Barangay Bawing here sustained some major damages after M/V Tiara 108 went off course and eventual-ly ran aground in the area last

Wednesday.Aside from the coral reefs,

the grounded vessel also de-stroyed a number of artificial reef installed in the area.

Latimoso said these find-ings were based on an assess-ment conducted by divers commissioned by the local government.

“The affected area is around 800 square meters so it’s quite extensive,” Lastimoso told reporters.

He said the damage, which was documented by the div-

ers, was initially estimated at around P100,000.

Lastimoso said they have endorsed the damage assess-ment of the office of City Mayor Ronnel Rivera and the Protect-ed Area Management Board (PAMB) for appropriate action.

He said the owners and crew members of MV Tiara 108 could be charged for vi-olation of Republic Act 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aqui-no thanked Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao for

bringing honor to the Philip-pines by fighting with courage and skill during his May 2 fight with American boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Pacquiao, who arrived from the United States on Wednesday morning, paid President Aquino a courte-sy call at the Music Room of Malacañang Palace at about 3 p.m. on the same day.

The Filipino boxing icon lost to Mayweather via a unan-imous decision.

Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr., who was present during the 30-minute

meeting, said the President inquired about Pacquiao’s shoulder injury, which the boxer sustained during the fight.

Pacquiao said he felt pain in his right shoulder in the fi-nal seconds of the third round and that this injury hampered his movement for the rest of the fight, according to Coloma.

When asked by the Pres-ident about his immediate plans, Pacquiao said he would take a rest to recover from his injury, which according to doc-tors might take three months to heal.

“They compared and ex-changed observations on a topic of mutual interest: shoot-

ing as a recreational activity,” Coloma said.

The President shared some practical shooting tips and Pacquiao recalled how he joined the President at a shoot-ing event a few years ago.

He asked the President if he could join him again as soon as he recovers from his injury, which the President welcomed.

At the end of the meeting, Coloma said Pacquiao pre-sented the President with two black jackets as souvenirs of his fight with Mayweather.

Pacquiao was accompa-nied by his adviser Michael Koncz, and president of Solar Sports Wilson Tieng. (PNA)

PEOPLE who want to do-nate for the cause of the Philippine Eagle can now

do so any time, anywhere as the Philippine Eagle Founda-tion (PEF) launched its new website, www.philippineea-glefoundation.org.

“Our new website features an online donation system where site visitors can easi-ly give their contributions to PEF’s conservation efforts,” PEF communication officer Vidalyn Dumadag said in yes-terday’s Club 888 media fo-rum at The Marco Polo, Davao.

Dumadag said the new website is more interactive that its former website.

Dumadag said the among the new features of the web-site are online reservations where guests can book their visit to the Philippine Eagle Center; online volunteer ap-plication for volunteers who want to touch base with the PEF; a gallery of PEF’s pho-tos and videos; and articles, events and updates on the foundation’s programs.

There is also an archive of education resources for

teachers and students and the online Adopt-an-Eagle where interested supporter can touch base with the PEF’s fundraising officers through online service.

Dumadag said the con-servation center in Malagos, Baguio District, Davao City is home to a total of 34 endan-gered Philippine Eagles. Thor, a 46-year old male, is the old-est while two-year old Mabu-hay, the hatchling of Pag-asa, is the youngest.

However, PEF is hopeful that there are still at least 400 pairs of Philippine Eagles in the wild from Sibulan, Toril District, Davao City to Arakan, North Cotabato.

“Eagles are highly territo-rial predators. Each male ea-gle requires as much as 7,000 hectares for its territory,” Du-madag said.

She said the territory en-ables Philippine Eagle parents to raise their young and look for food for the family.

She said the mating pattern of Philippine Ea-gles allows them to lay

800 sq. m. of corals damagedby grounded Panamanian ship

Now you can give onlinefor the Philippine Eagle

crc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

Aquino thanks Pacquiao

WEBSITE WALK-THROUGH. Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) communication officer Vidalyn Dumadag (left) and fundraising officer Andi Baldonado walk members of local media through the new website of the organization in yesterday’s Club 888 media forum at The Marco Polo, Davao. Lean Daval Jr.FNOW, 10

F800 SQ. M., 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 20154 NEWS EDGEDAVAO

COURTESY CALL. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte and members of the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) from the Municipality of Biliran exchange pleasantries during the group’s courtesy call with the mayor at Hotel Elena in Lanang on Tuesday night. Lean Daval Jr.

THE Davao City Water District (DCWD) has set for July 27, 2015 the

date for the completion of the pipe bridge in Bankerohan – four months behind the origi-nal schedule.

In an interview, DCWD spokesperson Bernardo D. Delima told Edge Davao the new completion schedule was set by the contractors and was accepted by DCWD provided that the contractors

pay a penalty of 1/10 of 1 percent per day of the unfin-ished work item.

“I was informed yester-day about the completion day which was previously agreed last week,” Delima said.

Delima said the new schedule is based on the esti-mate of the contractors based on the assessment of DCWD.

“Hopefully, the contrac-tors will finish it earlier,” he said.

Delima could not say how much the contractors will end up being penalized, say-ing the total amount of the penalty will be determined as soon as the project is be completed.

“The penalty is under review by our audit depart-ment,” he said.

Delima had earlier said the project suffered further delays due to congestion at the Port of Manila from

where the pipes would be de-livered to Davao City.

The project was initially scheduled for completion on March 28 but was moved to April 27.

The mainline pipe that supplied water from the Du-moy pumps to the downtown area up to Sasa area was bro-ken in December 2012. The pipe was replaced with two smaller ones with a diameter of .725 meter.

WITH the recent con-ferment received by the city as the Most

Child-Friendly 2014, the De-partment of Interior and Local Government (DILG) 11 will intensify its assessment on the performance of Local Gov-ernment Units (LGUs) in the delivery of social services and manifold landmark projects that promote and uphold the welfare of children.

According to DILG City Director Merilo Q. Limbaro, DILG plays a vital role in the conferment of the Presiden-tial Award, stressing that they are thoroughly assessing ev-ery city and municipality in the region to gauge their per-formance in delivering chil-dren and youth-specific social

services in the community.“Our core responsibility

here is to conduct the manda-tory Child Friendly Local Gov-ernance Audit or CFLGA. With this, we are very resilient lalo na sa pag-iikot and we meet with Punong Barangays para masigurado na lahat ng con-cerns at proyekto na kailan-gan para matugunan ang mga pangangailangan ng bawat bata ay existing talaga,” Lim-baro said.

The award for the Child-Friendly municipalities and cities was initiated by the Council for the Welfare of Chil-dren (CWC) pursuant to Exec-utive Order No. 184 entitled “Establishing the Presidential Award for the Child-Friendly

THE Department of La-bor and Employment (DOLE) in Region 12

has partnered with the re-gion’s education sector for the monitoring of its con-tinuing livelihood initiatives in the area.

Ofelia Domingo, DOLE Region 12 director, said they have signed memorandum of agreements (MOA) with 14 colleges, universities and technical-vocational insti-tutions to help strengthen

the implementation of the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP) in the re-gion.

She said the educational institutions will specifically take the lead in the monitor-ing and evaluation of various local programs and projects under the DILEEP.

“They will help us mon-itor the implemented liveli-hood projects and document its successful beneficiaries

and impact on local commu-nities,” she said.

The 14 institutions are Marvelous College of Tech-nology, Inc., Green Valley Col-lege Foundation, St. Alexius College and STI College in Koronadal City; Golden State Colleges in this city; VMC Asian College Foundation, Inc., Sultan Kudarat State University and Notre Dame of Tacurong College in Sultan Kudarat; University of South-ern Mindanao, Central Min-

danao Colleges, Notre Dame of Midsayap College, Notre dame of Kidapawan College and Southern Baptist College in North Cotabato; and STI in Cotabato City.

The MOA signing was an offshoot of the 4th Regional Career Advocacy Congress in Koronadal City last April 29 hosted by DOLE-12.

Under the MOA, Doming said the 14 institutions will look into the system of im-

THE United Nations In-ternational Children’s Emergency Fund

(UNICEF) and the Moro Islam-ic Liberation Front (MILF) will jointly launch here on May 18 the “Children, Not Soldiers” campaign aimed at sparing children from any form of mili-tary activity.

The campaign is a series of public events to be run by the MILF, in coordination with the UNICEF, in its base commands to signal their commitment that no child should be recruit-ed or associated with any fu-ture MILF armed endeavor.

The MILF is currently engaged in a comprehensive

peace process with the govern-ment for the formation of the proposed MILF-led Bangsam-oro entity that would replace the old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao set-up.

The UNICEF-MILF com-munication campaign is ex-pected to raise the standard of spreading the message to the MILF, their children and families in communities across Mindanao – that no child un-der the age of 18 should be en-gaged in any form of military endeavor.

The MILF-spearheaded campaign with the backing of the United Nations through

Pipe bridge completiondate reset to July 27By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

UNICEF and MILF to launch‘Children, Not Soldiers’ drive

DILG 11 to intensify assessmenton LGUs’ child-friendly projects DOLE-12 partners with academe

for livelihood programs monitoring

FDOLE-12,10FDILG 11,10

FUNICEF,10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015 5EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMYAero school offers digital arts courseDAVAO-BASED aero-

nautical school Asian International School

of Aeronautics and Technolo-gy (AISAT) will start offering a two-year course on Digital Arts starting next month.

“This new course will have qualification on animation and visual graphic design,” AISAT head for academic affairs Marc Suico said uring the Club 888 media forum at The Marco Polo Davao yesterday.

Suico said the course on Digital Arts will be offered un-der Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda). It will be an additional course to AISAT’s existing two-year courses which included aviation courses like the Air-craft Maintenance Technolog (AMT), Aviation Electronic Technology (AET), and private or commercial Pilot Ground & Flight Course (Adventure Flight Education & Sports). AISAT also offered course on Hotel and Restaurant Services.

“Our students will be us-ing state-of-art facilities like Mac computers in taking their Digital Arts course,” Suico said. “We aim to provide students with the first-hand experience

of the industry and what’s re-ally happening in the digital industry.”

The management decided to open a new course in order to cater the growing demand for manpower on the digital industry.

Graduates of this course, Suico said, have huge chance to be employed immediately because of the school’s ap-proach leaning toward the providing manpower needed by the Information and Com-munication Technology sector.

“There’s a huge demand for graduates of this course locally and abroad. They can even work as home-based,” he said, adding that the school will also be open to students who just wanted to take crash course.

He also said the AISAT has already submitted appli-cation to the Commission of Higher Education (CHED) to be allowed to offer four-year courses on AMT, AET and Dig-ital Art.

“We’re targeting to offer this bachelor courses by 2016 after the rolling out of the K to 12 program of the Depart-

crc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

ment of Education,” Suico said.The aeronautical school

is also planning to bring the Cebu-based Adventure Flight Education & Sports where it sends its student who pro-ceeded to piloting by the end of the year.

“We would like to provide convenience to our clients and

students,” Suico.Davao, her added, is start-

ing to be a new destination for internation students who wanted to become pilots or aircraft mechanics.

“We have new students from Papua New Guinea who will start this June and will take our aviation courses,”

Suico said. “They decided to study here because we offer cheaper but quality education on aviation.”

The school partnered with local and international companies like Tadeco and Singapore International Air-line which served as training ground of AISAT aviation stu-

dents.Suico said the aviation in-

dustry continued to grow in-ternationally and that the de-mand for skill laborers on this specific industry will continue to rise in the next few years.

AISAT started in 2011 and has produce hundreds of stu-dents since then.

EXPANSION. Asian International School of Aeronautics and Technology (AI-SAT) academic head Mark Suico (center), together with school administrator Grace Calvo (right) and information technology head Ronie Concepcion, an-

nounces the school’s expansion from aviation maintenance program to Digi-tal Arts and Hotel and Restaurant Services during the Club 888 media forum at The Marco Polo, Davao yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 20156 THE ECONOMY EDGEDAVAO

THE Davao City Economic Enterprise (CEE) is al-locating P13 million for

the rehabilitation of eight pub-lic markets this year, an official said.

“We have requested the City Engineers Office for as built plan for all eight public markets that will be the basis of the rehabilitation project,” economic enterprise coordina-tor Reynan Librado said.

The city-owned public markets that will be rehabil-itated are located in Agdao, Bankerohan, Toril, Mintal, Cali-nan, Tibungco, Bunawan and Lasang.

Librado said CEE has pro-posed the rehabilitation of the public markets to be started by the second quarter of this year but could not proceed because of the lack of building plans for each public market.

The CEO, he saidm has no drainage plan for each public market which was also needed to proceed with the rehabilita-tion of public markets in Davao City.

“We need to request the engineers’ office to provide us

a built plan because the origi-nal contractor of Bankerohan Public Market did not turn over the project design to the city government,” Librado said.

He said CEO chief Engineer Rolando Reyes has already re-sponded to the request and assured the CEE a copy of the as-built plan of each public markets. However, the CEO didn’t give specific timeline.

Librado said this will be the first time that a huge bud-get will be allocated for the rehabilitation of city-owned public markets.

“We requested a budget for rehabilitation which was from the CEE’s excess income last year,” he said.

Librado said there’s al-ready a need to rehabilitate each public market because of issues on roofing, sanitation and flooding.

Last Tuesday, the fish sec-tion of the Bankerohan Public Market was flooded because of the heavy rainfall last Monday evening.

The City Government has to improved its public market

ECONOMIC TIES ENHANCED. Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan (seated, left) signs the Mutual Accountability Framework with the Canadian government with Christian Paradis (seated, right), Minister of International Development and

La Francophonie of Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada. President Benigno S. Aquino III and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper witnessed the signing. (Photo courtesy of the Malacañang Photo Bureau)

P13M for rehab of 8 public marketscrc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

THE Office of the City Building Official (OCBO) in Davao City recorded a

26 percent increase in its rev-enue collection last year, sur-passing its 2014 target.

Acting assistant building official Atty. Joseph Dominic S. Felizarta said in 2014, the ac-tual collection reached P99.8 million against the target of 71.5 million compared to 2013 actual collection of P73.80 mil-lion against the P65 million target, or an increase of 26 percent.

OCBO also recorded a 1.59 percent increase in the num-ber of issued building permits last year compared to the pre-vious year.

Felizarta said the office is-sued a total of 5,271 building permits last year, higher than the 5,186 permits it issued in 2013.

OCBO recorded an in-crease in the number of per-mits issued to developers of commercial and industrial buildings.

“We credit this accom-plishment to the intensified inspection of building inspec-tors to ensure that the Nation-al Building Code and its addi-tional implementing rules and regulations are uphold and implemented both in the su-pervision of all works related to buildings, structures and the issuance of building and ancil-

lary permits,” Felizarta said. “Likewise, Administrative

sanctions and fines are being imposed,” he added.

Felizarta also attributed the increase in building per-mit issuance last year to the streamlining in the processing of permit applications, which was cut down to 72 hours from the 15 days processing period under the National Building Code.

He said OCBO developed the Integrated Infrastructure Permits System (IIPS) project in partnership with the City In-formation Technology (CITC) to ensure good governance and to provide efficient and ef-fective services to clients.

“The development phase of the system started around mid 2011 and by September 2012, it was installed in the Processing and Evaluation Di-vision for the trial phase, and in this calendar year 2015 the development of the IIPS is al-ready in full-swing, and the online assessment for transac-tions which have been incor-porated in the program have been successfully implement-ed,” Felizarta said.

The computerization of permits through the IIPS will not only fast track OCBO’s pro-cesses but will also promote transparency in office transac-tions, according to him. CHE-NEEN R. CAPON

Building official: Revenue collection up

PROPERTY giant Mega-world, the Philippines’ leading developer of

integrated urban townships and the top office developer and landlord, posted a net in-come of P2.35-billion for the first quarter of 2015, a12.48 percent growth on a recur-ring basis year-on-year from P2.09-billion on the same pe-riod last year.

Residential sales from the various townships across the country remained strong and leasing income from its office and retail portfolio continued to grow even at the start of the year.

“We are on-track in achieving consistent quarterly double digit growth and we remain optimistic to hit and even surpass our growth tar-get for the year,” said Francis Canuto, Megaworld chief fi-nance officer.

Consolidated revenues of Megaworld Group, which in-cludes Global-Estate Resorts, Inc. (GERI),Empire East Land Holdings, Inc. and Suntrust Properties, Inc., amounted to P10.47-billion for the first quarter of 2015, up 12.08 per-cent on a recurring basis from P9.34-billion of the same peri-od in 2014.

Megaworld’s rental in-come from office develop-ments and malls soared to a record P1.99-billion in the first quarter, 15.98-percent higher thanP1.71-billionpost-ed in the same period last year.

Earlier this year, Mega-world announced that it expects its rental income to reach P10 billionby 2016 as it further expands its office and mall portfolio in various townships.

Megaworld is known to have introduced the “LIVE-

WORK-PLAY-LEARN” lifestyle concept for mixed-use com-munities in the Philippines, which are popularly known as “townships.”

To date, Megaworld has launched 17 integrated ur-ban township developments across the country:

Megaworld Corporation now has 17 township devel-opments spread across the Philippines: Eastwood City in Quezon City, (18.5 hectares), which holds the distinction of being the country’s first cyberpark; Newport City in Pasay City (25 hectares), which is the home of Resorts World Manila; McKinley Hill (50 hectares), McKinley West (34.5 hectares), Uptown Bonifacio (15.4 hectares) and Forbes Town Center (5 hectares), all in Fort Bonifa-cio; The Mactan Newtown in Cebu (28.8 hectares); Iloilo

Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo City (72 hectares); Bo-racayNewcoast in Boracay Is-land (150 hectares) and Twin Lakes in Tagaytay (1,300 hect-ares) of Global-Estate Resorts, Inc. (GERI), a subsidiary of Megaworld; as well as Wood-side City in Pasig City (12.3 hectares); Southwoods City in the boundaries of Cavite and Laguna (561 hectares); Davao Park District in Lanang, Davao City (11 hectares); Al-abang West in Las Piñas City (62 hectares); SuntrustEco-town in Tanza, Cavite (350 hectares) and The Upper East (34 hectares) and Northill Gateway (50 hectares) both in Negros Occidental.

Over the past 25 years, the Megaworld Group has devel-opedover 342 completed res-idential and office buildings covering a total area of around 6.4 million square meters.

Megaworld Q1 income up 12.48%

FOLLOWING the is-suance of Executive Order No. 179 by

President Benigno Aquino III ordering the inventory, transfer, reconveyance, and disposition of coco levy as-sets, and the transfer of the proceeds for the use and exclusive benefit of coconut farmers and the develop-ment of the coconut indus-try, the recapitalization of United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) through pri-vatization by way of public bidding has been approved by the Privatization Coun-cil with bidding date set for September 2015.

The bank’s ability to raise capital has been de-terred by the pendency of the case on the ownership of the bank. The recapitaliza-tion of the bank is now pos-sible with the ownership of the bank having been final-ly decided by the Supreme Court in 2013 i.e., that the government owns the shares funded by coco levy funds.

PDIC President Cristina Orbeta said that the recapi-talization is an integral part of the 10-year rehabilitation plan agreed to with PDIC, the BangkoSentralngPilipinas, Department of Finance and the Presidential Commis-sion on Good Government in 2008. She said that while the bank’s financial position has continued to improve, even

outperforming the targets under the plan, its growth potential has been tempered due to lack of capital. The recapitalization will further boost UCPB’s competitive-ness and sustain its viability. At the same time, the size and franchise value of the bank makes it a strategic acquisition by domestic and foreign investors.

A public bidding for the right to recapitalize, and purchase the government’s interest in, the bank is set sometime in September 2015. The Privatization and Management Office has been designated as the disposi-tion entity, and shall soon request for submissions of expression of interest from prospective investors. The auction will be open to eli-gible domestic and foreign entities with proven track record in banking.

Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said, “Recapi-talizing UCPB is a big step forward in implementing EO 179 as part of the Pres-ident’s leadership on this longstanding issue. UCPB’s successful recapitalization is integral in protecting the bank’s depositors and in strengthening our financial system. More importantly, it also enables the government to get best value for the co-conut fund set aside for our coconut farmers.

UCPB recapitalization slated in September

FP13M, 10

Rice was also a crowd fa-vorite. The chicken was moist and tender and paired well with the fla-vorful seasoned rice that was served along with it. The addition of the chilli ginger and garlic sauce adds a punch of flavor el-evating it to a superstar meal at 35,000 feet. And what is a meal without dessert right? Named after AirAsia Phil-ippine’s CEO Atty. Joy Ca-ñeba, the airline’s dessert offerings were indeed a joy

to taste from their chunky Chocolate Chip Cook-ies, to the dense Choco Banana Pound Cake. The most sinful airline des-sert award though should be given to AirAsia’s Sin-ful Chocolate Cake which was moist, fudgey, and simply decadent. AirAsia’s All-Day Din-ing menu are Halal certi-fied and are available on flights that are over 75 minutes for only Php200. You can also book your meal on their website or on

the AirAsia app together with your flight for a bar-gain price of Php168 inclu-sive of a bottle of water. AirAsia flies three times daily from Davao to Ma-nila and two times daily to Cebu from Davao. Check out their website at www.airasia.com for more af-fordable fares. Follow me on Instagram or on Twitter at @kenneth-kingong for more travel stories, foodie finds, and happenings in, around, and beyond Durianburg.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015

EDGEDAVAOINdulge! FOOD

AirAsia’s hot meal foodtrip at 35,000 feetFLYING on a plane to get from one place to another is a regular oc-currence when your country is an archipelago. Given that jet flight means less time spent traveling, it means more time spent at your travel or business destination. What makes flying on a plane more enjoyable, and time to pass even more quickly, are the meals and snacks that are served on-board.

Not too long ago air-lines served hot meals even on domestic routes. The meals might be simple re-heated boxed trays featuring a viand and some rice or pasta, but they made each flight memorable. But with the rise of low cost airlines, the hot meals also went the way of the dinosaur. Or did they? AirAsia Philippines, the newest low-cost car-rier in the country, re-cently hosted bloggers as well as food writers from Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and Cebu at Cebu’s

Azia Suites to introduce their Hot Meal as well as their onboard snacks and drinks service which can be bought as extra on any of their domestic as well as international flights.

For snacks, the Chick-en Ceasar Sandwich as well as the Kani Sand-wich were offered. Both were a nice much break for short flights. But the real stars of the event were the All-Day Dining hot meals comprising of Uncle Chin’s Chicken Rice; a Chinese Malay-sian favorite of fluffy sea-soned rice as served with roast chicken and accom-panied with a chilli gin-ger and garlic sauce; Beef Caldereta; stewed tender beef in tomato sauce with a blend of garlic, bell pep-pers, onions, and pepper-corn; and Pak Nasser’s Nasi Lemak, fragrant coconut rice served with special chilli sambal and tender chicken rendang accompanied with fried anchovies, crispy peanuts and half of a hard-boiled egg. AirAsia’s hot meals are not like the airline food I have ever tasted before. Where most hot meals tend to be a bit bland in flavor, AirAsia’s meals are full in flavour and asser-tive when it came to sea-soning. The Nasi Lemak in particular was my fa-vorite due to its complex layering of spice, savori-ness, and texture thanks to the crispy anchovies and peanuts. Uncle Chin’s Chicken

AirAsia’s Nasi Lemak and Chicken Rice are delicious treats at 35,000 feet in the air.

AirAsia Philippine’s CEO Atty. Joy Cañeba.

Home-style Beef Caldereta. AirAsia’s gorgeous flight attendants serving dessert. The Sinful Chocolate Cake.

A2 INdulge! VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT

Two EDM parties cap VDFS

Philippine chocolate wins international awardDavao-made chocolate wins Bronze Award at the prestigious 2015 Academy of Chocolate Awards in London.CHOCOLATE made by a family-run com-pany from the Phil-ippines won at the recently held 2015 Academy of Choco-late Awards. In ceremonies held at Fortnum & Mason in London last April 23, the Academy of Chocolate gave Malagos Premium 100% Unsweetened Choc-olate the Bronze Award for the Best Unflavoured Drinking Chocolate. The Academy of Chocolate was created in 2005 by five of Britain’s leading chocolate professionals to campaign for better chocolate and promote a greater aware-ness of the journey from bean to bar, differentiating between fine chocolate and mass-produced chocolate confectionery. Malagos 100% Premi-um Unsweetened Choc-olate is the product of Davao-based Malagos Ag-ri-Ventures Corporation. The company is owned and run by the Puentes-pina family, who are also in the business of growing ornamental plants & cut flowers, operating a cacao nursery, running a nature-themed resort in Davao, and producing artisanal cheeses under the brand Malagos Farmhouse. “This goes to show that our base chocolate (cocoa liquor) can compete side by side with other chocolates around the world. As far as I know, this is a first for the Philippines,” said Rex Puentespina, Chocolate

Maker and Sales & Mar-keting Director at Malagos Agri-Ventures Corp. “This award validates the quality of beans & chocolates we have been producing the past two years,” he added. Malagos Agri-Ventures Corp. started making pre-mium single-origin cocoa

liquor in 2012, building on the training it received from the Mars Cocoa Sus-tainability Team on how to grow & produce high-quality cacao beans. While the PUM (Programma Uitzending Managers), an organization of senior ex-perts based in Netherlands, provided the company the

much-needed technical assistance on chocolate making. The company also owns a cacao nursery that is certified by the Bureau of Plant Industry. It grows cacao trees in Calinan, Davao City and supplies true-to-type cacao seed-lings, seeds and scions all over Mindanao. Charita

and Rex Puentespina (mother and son tandem) have been working closely with more than 40 small farmers in the area, us-ing cacao beans harvested from trees growing in the foothills of Mount Talomo in Davao, a highly diverse agricultural area on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines. “We grow Trinitario clones, a cross between the Criollo and Forastero varieties, specifically and predominantly the UF 18, BR 25 and PBC 123 clones. The beans we grow are considered as fine flavor beans. These beans are manually harvested then fermented on the farm to further enhance naturally the complex flavor of co-coa,” explained Mr. Puen-tespina. The company also in-vested in solar dryers, precision-controlled roast-

ers, ball mill grinders and tempering machines. The company still continu-ously invests in equipment and technology, producing other premium, single-origin chocolate products such as Malagos 65% Dark Chocolate, Malagos Roast-ed Cocoa Nibs, and soon Malagos 56% & 72% Dark Chocolates. These choco-lates are also used for bak-ing and cooking. The award-winning entry, Malagos Premium 100% Unsweetened Choc-olate was one of the first products of the company’s venture into producing high-quality, single-origin chocolates. The award was received by Anne Marie Kristine Umali on behalf of Mala-gos Agri- Ventures. Ms. Umali is the Commercial Attache and Director at the Philippine Trade & Investment Centre at the Embassy of the Philippines in London. According to The Acad-emy of Chocolate, this year’s Awards received a record number of entries with over 500 products from different parts of the world. As a result, more judges were involved in the jury panel and the judg-ing, which took place at Westminster Kingsway College, was extended to five days. Chaired by glob-ally respected wine expert Charles Metcalfe, judges included chocolate experts and buyers, pastry chefs, food professionals and food journalists.

THE Visit Davao Fun Sale teams up with two of Davao City’s hottest night spots in bringing the most exciting parties to end the city-wide tourism sale program. Dubes as Visit Davao Summer End Par-ties, two electronic dance music (EDM) events will be stages simultaneously at Matina Town Square and Club Echelon this May 16. Referred to as HEAT WAVE, the black light EDM party at MTS will feature renowned DJ Martin Pul-gar, head resident DJ of Manila’s hippest club, Valkyrie. Local tal-ents DJ Nikki Rose, DJ Brylle, DJ Ronn Mirage, MC Klawn and MC Lemuel will also heat up the night

starting at 8PM. Simultaneously, the PARTY AT THE PEAK will be happening at Club Echelon, at the Peak of GMall featuring DJ Clyde Harris, also one of the country’s sought-after DJs and resident of the most presti-

gious clubs in Manila. Visit Davao Fun Sale passport and mobile app holders are free to join the event at MTS, while a 50% discount on entrance fee will be enjoyed by passport and mo-bile app holders at Club Echelon.

Give a book to THE SM STORE from May 4 to June 30, 2015 and receive a Php50 discount coupon. Get fifty pesos off on a minimum Php500 single-receipt purchase on any regular-priced item at any branch of The SM Store Stationery Department.

INdulge! A3VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015 EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano are inspired by the magic of “Forevermore”

GMA Network tops digital TV coverage survey

success of the series is the popularity of the tourist spot in Sitio Pun-gayan in Sto. Tomas, Benguet, which is now more known as La Presa, the place where Xander and Agnes fell in love with each other.

Meanwhile, be-causeof its riveting plot and characters, “Forev-ermore” has become one of the latest Filipino series aired internation-ally, most recently in Kazakhstan. It will soon start airing in other

“FOREVERMORE” lead stars Enrique Gil at Liza Sobera-no are both grate-ful because of how ABS-CBN’s top-rat-ing romantic dra-ma series changed their lives and ca-reers. Their grati-tude is made more poignant now that the finale episode of “Forevermore” will be aired on May 22 (Friday). “We are very thankful for all the viewers who followed the love story of Xander (Enrique) and Agnes (Liza). The suc-cess of ‘Forevermore’ in-spired me more to work and to become a better actor,” said Enrique. “ ‘ F o r e v e r m o r e ’ brought a huge change in my life. Aside from getting the recognition from viewers, this series helped me discover a lot of things about myself and showbiz,” said Liza. When asked about what fans and viewers should watch out for in the last two weeks of “Forevermore,” Liza said that everyone will surely love the finale. “They’ll find out if Agnes and Xander will end up to-gether, and if true love really lasts,” she added. Since it aired in Octo-ber 2014, “Forevermore” has consistently won the hearts of TV viewers and dominated the na-

tional TV ratings game because of the gripping love story of the charac-ters of Enrique and Liza, who are now preparing for their movie under Star Cinema titled “The Bet.” Further proving the

BROADCAST GIANT GMA Network led in an indepen-dent study measuring digital TV presence in the country, affirming the robust cover-age of the Network’s digital TV signal. The study, which was con-ducted by local smartphone and tablet manufacturer Starmobile, revealed that GMA 1SEG and GMA News TV were available in 10 out of the 14 test locations in Metro Manila. American market research firm IDC (International Data Cor-poration) was commissioned by Starmobile to perform the study. Other channels surveyed were ABS-CBN, ABS-CBN Sports, TV5, and AKSYON TV, among others. “The results of the study con-firm our readiness for the even-tual shift to Digital TV,” says Engr. Elvis B. Ancheta, GMA Senior Vice President for Engineering. In compliance with the direc-tive of the National Telecommu-

nications Commission, GMA has started to adapt the Japanese DTV standard or ISDB-T. “Moreover, it manifests the lev-el of importance the Network has placed in being able to reach as many viewers as possible as this ultimately determines our audi-ence size,” Ancheta adds. The Network takes pride in its commitment to signal superiority

as evidenced by its excellent sig-nal across the country, an advan-tage over competitors exhibited consistently by its analog foot-print which it commits to carry over to digital. Based on claimed household reception findings in the 2014 TV Establishment Survey of Nielsen Philippines, GMA is received by 99 percent of all TV households in Total Urban Philippines, leading other local free-to-air channels. As it continues to improve and expand its coverage in the re-gions, GMA completed numerous transmission upgrades in 2014. The Network commissioned a new 2KW TV relay station in Daet, Camarines Norte and re-located its transmitting station in Iligan City to enable the re-broadcast of Northern Mindanao programs from Cagayan de Oro. GMA is set to commission a new 5KW TV relay station in Bu-tuan City this May.

countries such as Cam-bodia, Vietnam, and other parts of Africa. For “Forevermore” fans who want to pur-chase the show’s official merchandise such as t-shirts, mugs, choco-lates, and DVDs, simply visit the ABS-CBN Store located at the ground floor of ELJ building in Quezon City, or visit AB-SCBNstore.com. Other “Forevermore” novelty items are also available in selected National Bookstore branches na-tionwide. Don’t miss the last two weeks of “Forevermore,”

weeknights, after “Na-thaniel” on ABS-CBN Pri-metime Bida. For more updates about “Forev-ermore,” visit Forever-more.abs-cbn.com and follow the show’s official social media accounts at Facebook.com/StarCre-ativesTV, Twitter.com/StarCreativesTV and In-stagram.com/ StarCre-ativesTV. Meanwhile, viewers may also catch up on full episodes and past episodes of “Forev-ermore” through ABS-CBNmobile. For more information, please go to www.abscbnmobile.com.

PG

R13

R16 12:00 | 2:30 | 5:00 | 7:30 | 10:00 LFS

R-16

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult

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

PARA SA HOPELESS ROMANTIC

12:25 | 2:20 | 4:15 | 6:10 | 8:05 | 10:00 LFS

MAGGIE

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin

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

Nadine Lustre, James Reid,

Julia Barretto, Inigo Pascual

PITCH PERFECT 2

Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson

May 14-19, 2015

A4 INdulge!FOOD

THE PAROLA may be one of the most sig-nificant icons for Pearl Farm Beach Resort but there is more than their inviting pools and breathtakingly majestic view that will have you coming back for more – their food is also perfect for any time munching with the sea God.

Basking under the sun is anybody’s version of say-ing good bye to stress. The more we inhale the radi-ance of the sun, the more we are relieved from the hustle and bustle of city life. However, any fun ac-tivity – be it under the sun or not – will surely leave you hungry, thus food forms an integral part in

A medley of flavors by the sea

any activity. This is something that Pearl Farm Beach Resort took in great consider-ation. Their extensive and delectable menu is a brag-ging right that will surely leave you hungry just by reading this. In short, they have everything for any-one on any occasion. Choose amongst their many offerings and don’t forget to always leave room for dessert. Honestly, you’ll need to leave room for dessert given their mas-sive buffet food feast selec-tions. First up, create your own salad with cold cuts, olive choices, seaweeds, and fresh greens. More so, they have many other salad condiments for you to mix and match for that own version of perfection. Driz-zle, top or toss, their salad bar is a feast on its own. If salad is not for you, then you can always warm your soul with a bowl of hot heart-warming soup pre-pared with love and care. Most often, they have sea-food chowder that features the freshest catch from the abundant sea cooked with cream and vegetable pieces perfect any time of the day. As Filipinos, we value the presence of rice in our every dining moment. Here, they have choices of rice cooked al-dente to the taste. Their viand selection is also impec-cable. Have a taste of their

lic bits paired with pieces of crunchy steamed veg-etables on the side. For the meat lover, they too have a perfectly marinated ver-sion of an all-time favou-rite Bistek Pilipino that will have you asking for another serving of rice in an instant. On any given day, you’ll also have a hard time choosing from their de-lectable grilled choices – Grilled Chicken, Grilled Squid and Grilled Pork Belly to warm your mind,

body and soul. Perfectly grilled, these meat and seafood choices are gar-nished with fresh pieces of onions, tomatoes and other fragrant vegetables to add a new dimension of flavour that will leave you asking for more. For the sawsawan lover in all of us, they have it covered with an array of food combina-tions for you to mix and match. Dessert is a whole differ-ent story -- as it is found in a separate table. Fresh fruit choices and sweet delecta-ble cakes in bite size pieces proudly awaits the sweet lover in you. More so, they have some kakanin choices and freshly baked rolls and breads for a nightcap by the sea. If you want an escapade like no other, head on to Pearl Farm Beach Resort and enjoy the abundance of the sea. Visit them at the Abreeza Mall, JP Lau-rel Avenue, Davao City for reservations and inquiries. Make #TheRoyalChef your Thursday habit. Tag me on instagram @herroy-alheiress for your delicious food finds!

buttery-tangy Blue Marlin steak garnished with gar-

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015 7

The potentials of Pekin duck

EDGEDAVAO

AGRITRENDS

IF you go to Beijing, what is the best Chi-nese dish you should

eat?Pekin duck, that’s what.Actually, I really don’t

like ducks. But it all changed when I tried the Pekin duck served at the Da Dong Roast Duck Restaurant in Beijing. Although there’s more to the menu than the city’s signature, the Pekin duck is why people go to this place listed as one of “20 Best Beijing Restaurants” by CNN.

Before we came to the restaurant, our guide told us that the dish is prized for its thin, crisp skin -- just like our very own lechon. The authen-tic version is served mostly with the skin and little meat, which are sliced in front of the diners by the cook.

“Duck has been roasted in China since the Southern and Northern Dynasties,” Wikipe-dia notes. “A variation of roast duck was prepared for the Emperor of China in the Yuan

Pekin duck production (Photo from the net)

Pekin duck as prepared by a chef

said that Davao City will be ex-porting Pekin duck meat.

The news report quoted Maharlika Agro-Marine Ven-tures Corporation president Vicente Lao as saying: “Davao will soon be the center of Pe-kin duck production in Asia.” The city, after all, has several advantages over other areas. For one, it has cool and elevat-ed areas, which is suitable for raising Pekin ducks.

History records showed that the ducks used to prepare Pekin Duck actually originated in Nanjing. They were small, had black feathers, and lived in the canals around the city link-ing major waterways. With the relocation of the Chinese capital to Beijing, supply barge traffic increased in the area. Often these barges would spill grain into the canals, providing food for the ducks. By the Five Dynasties, the new species of duck had been domesticated by Chinese farmers.

In the Philippines, Pekin duck is sometimes mistaken for a goose because it carries its body rather upright. It is docile and well-adapted to Philippine climate. It is a good layer; the ducklings are ready for market at 2-3 months old.

In recent years, Pekin duck is getting popular among Filipino consumers. “Through internet and the booming popularity of social media has linked the Filipinos with their Asian neighbors, expos-ing them to different cultures, including food, particularly the varied duck fares which is considered an Asian specialty,” noted Dr. Erwin Joseph S. Cruz, free-range poultry and Pekin duck specialist and fellow of the Philippine College of Poul-try Practitioners.

As a result, “Filipino chefs, restaurant owners and food concessionaires who are con-stantly looking for something

new beside chicken, beef and pork welcome duck in their roster of new delights for Pi-noy taste buds to savor,” wrote Dr. Cruz in an article which ap-peared in Marid Agribusiness Magazine.

In his article, Dr. Cruz shared some good news about duck production: “Since the year 2000, the world annual consumption of duck meat rapidly increased from 2,877.4 million tons to 4,081 million tons in 2010. For this reason, a further growth in the per capita consumption of duck is expected due to the boost in tourism, plus the economic progress in the Asian region.”

In the past, duck meat is described as “tough, slimy, and has a fishy taste.” It also has more bones than meat. To improve the meat quality of the ducks raised in the Philip-pines, some farmers imported breeders from Europe.

The offspring of imported certified parent stocks and lo-cal breeds “resulted to a much improved domestic Pekin duck that grows to 3.2 kilos to 4 kilos live weight at 60 days and dressed at 2.3 kilos to 2.7 kilos with head and feet on,” Dr. Cruz reported.

Duck production these

days is getting better. According to Dr. Cruz, from a small produc-tion of 250 per week of ducklings in 2008, it has now grown to a weekly production of 3,000 to 4,000 day-old ducklings a week.

“The breeders are mostly smallholder farmers scattered na-tionwide where we expect an increase of breeders particularly on rural areas to rely on Pe-kin duck as a major live-lihood source,” he said.

Indeed, the future of Pekin duck in the Phil-ippines is brighter. “The continuous demand for ducklings nationwide is a good indication that there is potential for the prod-uct even in the provincial ar-eas,” Dr. Cruz wrote. “Another indication is the acceptance of Chinese restaurant of the local produce due to regular orders.

“The good support of our local chefs in introducing duck meat in their culinary pro-grams has boosted the accept-ability of the bird. Variations in cooking have also made it eas-ier for restaurants to integrate ducks in their menus,” he said.

Dr. Cruz sees further spread of integration of duck meat in the local food scene in the coming years. “In the next 5 years, I predict that duck meat will be part of the fast food sector,” he wrote.

“Let us support our lo-cal farmers by buying their ducks,” Dr. Cruz urged. “Give them feedback on how to fur-ther improve their products and assist them in making a sustainable local farming pro-gram.”

Dynasty. The dish, originally named ‘Shaoyazi,’ was men-tioned in the Complete Reci-pes for Dishes and Beverages manual in 1330 by Hu Sihui, an inspector of the imperial kitchen.

“The Pekin Roast Duck that came to be associated with the term was fully devel-oped during the later Ming Dy-nasty, and by then, Pekin Duck was one of the main dishes on imperial court menus.”

As I savored my first taste of Pekin Duck, I was reminded of a news item which came out in Manila Bulletin a year ago. It

By HENRYLITO D. TACIO

The authentic Pekin duck (Photo by Henrylito D. Tacio)

The Pekin ducks (Photo from the net)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 20158 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

Accolade for the nth timeEDITORIAL

FOR the fourth time, Davao City is recognized Most Child-friend-ly Highly-urbanized City, an annual Presidential Award. It won three times before – in 1998, 1999, and 2013. It beat

such highly-urbanized cities as Pasig, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, and Puerto Princesa. The other urbanized cities not mentioned obvious-ly failed to make the grade as finalists in the annual search.

The accolade bestowed again for the year 2014 literally tells vol-umes about the city’s more than ordinary concern for the young, also expressed in the oodles of money spent by the city government on ordinances, executive orders and related edicts, and projects de-signed for the promotion of the well-being of children.

The first positive impression was created by the city when it passed a child welfare code in the early years of the Rodrigo R. Dute-rte administration, one of whose hallmarks is its productive critical collaboration with civil society, including militant non-government organizations which other local government units wouldn’t touch

with a 10-foot pole.Truth to tell, the city government under Duterte has a solid re-

cord of fighting threats to the survival and development of the youth in all fronts, including and specially the drug menace. Why, the city mayor, in a show of his unorthodox style of local governance, even recently ordered the arrest of parents of minors found loitering around the city in the wee hours of the night.

This is not to say that all the problems about children in Davao City are gone. For the LGU, through the City Council and the execu-tive department headed by Duterte, battling the demons against the vigilant efforts to raise children into upright and productive citizens of our nation is a work in progress.

In the meantime, for getting the award once again, it is only prop-er to congratulate the city government, Mayor Duterte and his sub-ordinates who have piously implemented the city’s child-friendly programs and policies for a job well done.

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

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PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTEthe national association of newspapers

AS Philippine politics and social dis-course is increasingly informed by resources easily available on the in-

ternet, it has increasingly been the case that strong opinions and positions have been put forward in the desire to advance political positions. Suddenly, the opinion of netizens, or those citizens of the internet making their opinions felt in online forums and the phenomenon called social media, become the news. Many a mainstream reporter has written articles on media featuring netizen opinions, even quoting their nicknames and noms de plume. Older media practitioners often bristle at such articles as products of indolent media folk lacking the wherewithal to do proper reportage.

Yet, two recent debates that involved many netizens and prompted protest marches from opposing sides are the con-troversial Reproductive Health Law and the debate regarding the scrapping of the pork barrel. Truly, the RH Law was a law passed after an 11-year debate and numerous revi-sions. The pork barrel was finally scrapped from public budgets after decades, thanks in great part to citizens coming together to oppose it with a strong communal voice. On both counts, analysts attribute the strong

presence of oppositors on the internet to put pressure on policymak-ers to make the necessary changes.

It cannot be denied that in those two instances, the perception of large num-bers, as validated by public opinion surveys, tilted the policy balance. The question that remains, however, is whether the surveys informed the opinion and created the num-bers. Surveys have time and again evolved in Philippine society not only as barometers of opinion, but opinion shapers. Little rea-son why there are those calling for its reg-ulation, or regulating its publication in rela-tion to elections. Seemingly, survey perfor-mance influences electoral outcomes. There are many who criticize surveys as tools to bully the electorate into voting for a winner. Many say that our elections are done in two rounds – the surveys and the actual election

itself. Yet the bigger question for me is, have

our opinions gone deep enough to touch our conscience? Have our consciences devel-oped as a result, or are we as easily swayed by swagger and bullying of the crowd? At the moment, it seems that Filipino public opinion does not delight in analysis, but it is titillated by loud and especially eloquent voices. It is often impressed by the polemics of Miriam Defensor Santiago’s tirades and Gloria Arroyo’s mea culpas and apologies. This same kind of Filipino public opinion encouraged people to vote for Fernando Poe Jr., Joseph Estrada, Bong Revilla and the three Ejercitos: Loi, Jinggoy, and JV.

Having seen the outcomes in the RH Law and Pork Barrels removal begs me to ask: As a people, how have we grown as a critical mass able to analyze positions before making decisions, or do we simply not want to be left out of the crowd? Do we swallow the opinions of others because they sound good or seem logical to us? It is like the many who feel that a divorce law is timely because the rest of world allows it, or that a greater number of surveyed think the same. It’s the same as calling for block-ing the passage of the Bangsa Moro Basic

Law without understanding the longer term ramifications, or the deep historical context that led proponents to push for it, or oppo-nents to oppose it. I believe there are better reasons for pushing an important issue than simply quoting the crowd. Perhaps deeper discussion on the possible social outcomes of such policies over the next generations is in order. Today’s crowd may be or may not always be right. Just because today’s crowd says so, its not always correct. We need deeper discussion, with facts, numbers, and information to help us cut though the sen-sationalism, polemics, rhetoric and propa-ganda that often enthrall the crowd. It is for this reason that we must continue to search, read and think.

Doubtless, a greater number of people have begun to participate in public debates. Their voices resounding in the halls of the internet are as important as the opinions read in mainstream media or in Congress. To help make these debates more effective, we need a Freedom of Information law. Such a law allows us to uncover facts and infor-mation for ourselves, so that we do not de-pend on too many loud and powerful voices to simply frame or determine our opinions for us. It better allows us to participate.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

John Triaecisouth@gmail.com

MY TWO CENTS’

AT a dinner party one evening, there was a heated exchange between Brit-ish statesman Winston Churchill and

a female member of the parliament. At the end of the argument, the lady said scornfully, “Mr. Churchill, you are drunk.” Replied Chur-chill, “And you, madam, are ugly. But I shall be sober tomorrow.”

Revenge or vengeance consists of retal-iation against a person in response to per-ceived wrongdoing. Although many aspects of revenge resemble or echo the concept of making things equal, revenge usually has a more injurious than constructive goal. The vengeful wish to make the other side go through what they went through or make sure they’ll never be able to do what they did again.

Actually, revenge is a deceiver – it looks sweet but is most often bitter. Now, let me share you a true story that happened to Hun-garian artist Arpad Sebesy.

At one time, Elmer Kelen came to his stu-dio and when he saw the portrait, he was very angry. Before leaving, Elmer told Arpad: “That’s a rotten portrait and I refuse to pay for it!”

The artist was crushed. He had spent weeks on this painting, and now the 500 pen-gos (Hungarian currency) that he was going to lose on the deal flashed through his mind.Bitterly, he recalled that the millionaire had only posed three times so that the painting had to be done virtually from memory. Still, he didn’t think it was such a bad likeness.

Before the millionaire left his studio, the

artist called out, “One min-ute. Will you sign this letter saying you re-fused the por-trait because it didn’t resemble you?” Glad to get off the hook so easily, Kelen agreed.

A few months later, the Society of Hungarian Artists opened its exhibition at the Gallery of Fine Arts in Buda-pest. Soon afterwards, Kelen’s phone began to ring. Within half an hour, he appeared at the art gallery and headed for the wing where a Sebesy painting was on display. It was the one he had rejected.

He glanced at the title and his face turned purple. Storming into the office of the gallery manager, he demanded that the portrait be removed at once. The manager explained quietly that all of the paintings were under contract to remain in the gallery the full six weeks of the exhibit.

Kelen raged. “But it will make me the laughing stock of Budapest. It’s libelous! I’ll sue!” The manager turned to his desk, drew out the letter Kelen had written at Sebesy’s request, and said, “Just a moment. Since you yourself admit that the painting does not re-semble you, you have no jurisdiction over its fate.”

In desperation, Kelen offered to buy the painting, only to find the price was now ten times that of the original figure. With this rep-utation at stake, Kelen immediately wrote out a check for 5,000 pengos.

Not only did the artist sell the rejected portrait to the man who had originally com-missioned it, he also received ten times the first price and achieved his revenge by exhib-iting it with the title: “Portrait of a Thief.”

Charles Caleb Colton once said, “Revenge is fever in our own blood, to be cured only by letting the blood of another; but the remedy too often produces a relapse, which is re-morse – a malady far more dreadful than the first disease, because it is incurable.”

Percy Bysshe Shelley agrees. “Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time; as aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy: its after-flavor, metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned.”

English author Samuel Johnson is one person who would get even with those peo-ple who would exploit him. When he was completing his dictionary, a London journal published two anonymous “previews” of the book. The articles were favorable but super-ficial. When he learned that the wealthy Earl of Chesterfield had written them, he was fu-rious.

After all, he had applied to him repeat-edly for patronage while writing the dictio-nary, but the earl had been cheap, giving the poverty-stricken writer no more than ten pounds (about US$250). Now, Johnson felt,

he was trying to take credit as a patron. In the dictionary, he defined patron as “com-monly a wretch who supports with inso-lence, and is paid with flattery.”

Irish author George Bernard Shaw had also experienced embarrassing moments. After the premiere of Arms and the Man (1898), he took the stage to make a curtain speech.When the applause subsided, there was a solitary boo from London critic Reg-inald Golding Bright. Shaw looked directly at Bright and said, “My dear fellow, I quite agree with you, but what are we two against so many?”

Finally, here’s another story that should end this piece.

A cigar smoker bought several hun-dred expensive cigars and had them insured against fire. After he’d smoked them all, he filed a claim, pointing out that the cigars had, in fact, been destroyed by fire.

The insurance company refused to pay, and then the man sued. The judge ruled that because the insurance company had agreed to insure the cigars against fire, it was legally responsible.

The company had no choice but to pay the claim. Then, when the man accepted the mon-ey, the company had him arrested for arson.

“Don’t get mad,” Josh Billings suggests. “Get even.” But Martin Luther King, Jr. reiter-ates, “That old law about ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.”

“Live well,” said Francis Bacon. “It is the greatest revenge.”

Vengeance is not ours

Henrylito D. Taciohenrytacio@gmail.com

THINK ON THESE!

The FOI law and the need to think more

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015EDGEDAVAO10 NEWSRody... FROM 1

Councilors... FROM 2

Now... FROM 3

Fresh... FROM 2 DILG 11... FROM 4

P13M... FROM 6

Globe... FROM 11

800 sq. m.... FROM 3

DOLE-12.... FROM 4

UNICEF.... FROM 4

Globe Senior Vice Presi-dent for International Busi-ness Rizza Maniego-Eala added, “We recognize that the usage of messaging apps is continuing to gain traction among Filipinos wherever they are in the world, and we are happy that our partner-ship with LINE continues to benefit more Filipinos abroad with discounted calling rates, making communication easi-er on the pocket.”

As both Globe and LINE work together to provide quality service to more Fil-ipinos, LINE shared the im-portance of synergy with a telecom network. “LINE con-stantly evolves into not just a mobile messaging app but a essential lifestyle platform. Working with Globe allows us to maximize the potential of our platform and reach out to more users. We are thrilled to extend special offers to LINE users globally with this partnership so they can en-joy discounted calling rates

to their contacts on the Globe network in the Philippines through LINE,” added Head of LINE Philippines Stephan Kang.

Last year, the Globe In-ternational Business Group announced its partnership with LINE where LINE us-ers worldwide, including the 12-million strong Filipinos in various communities abroad, can make free calls to Globe and TM customers in the Phil-ippines through the apps Pre-mium Call function.

The LINE Premium Call offering is another expansion of the telco’s comprehensive line-up of services for Over-seas Filipinos, which include DUO International for 24 countries, international SIMS in the UK, Spain, Italy, and co-branded partnerships in Hong Kong, Singapore and Saudi Arabia, among many others. For more information on Globe International Ser-vices, visit www.globe.com.ph/international.

facilities in order to be-come competitive as the oper-ation of supermarkets in malls in Davao City continued to entice the consuming public, according to Librado.

He added that most Dabawenyos prefer to go to malls in buying basic com-modities because of conve-nience and cleanliness even though the prices of goods are higher than public market prices.

“The prices in our public markets are competitive but not the area itself,” Librado

said.The CEE has laid its de-

velopment and rehabilitation program for each public mar-kets to entice the consuming public to patronize public market like in Bankerohan.

The CEE is targeting to start the rehabilitation project right after it receives the as-built plan.

Librado said that the proj-ect can be implemented in the next three years given that the budget will still be available even under a new administra-tion.

the removal of term limits.Duterte’s statement

points to a possibly more acceptable mode of change since the Con-Con would be composed of delegates voted for by the people.

Speaking at a jampacked USC audio-visual hall, Dute-rte said a Federal system of government will free vibrant investment areas from the stranglehold of stringent reg-ulations imposed by a high-ly-centralized government. The statement also said a teacher from a government educational institution asked Duterte for his secret in main-taining peace and order in the most-child friendly city in the country. The teacher noted that Davao was recently given

recognition as the ninth safest city in the world.

Duterte said drug pushers “are warned not to ply their evil trade in Davao City, or else.”

Observers have said Dute-rte’s listening tour is a plat-form for his possible run for the Presidency. He has denied this, however, saying he is not interested in running and he does not have the money to do it.

But when asked in the Cebu forum what he would do to restore peace and order in the country if he did become President, Duterte had a ready answer: “I will bring back the death penalty for drug push-ing, rape, kidnapping and oth-er heinous crimes.”

If the passengers do not know the law, the Coast Guard and MARINA should inform them,” Abellera said.

Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Dute-rte earlier slammed the Phil-ippine Coast Guard (PGC) for tolerating the practice of barge companies not implement-ing safety procedures such as wearing of life vests while sail-

ing to Samal.Paolo said he wants to

enact an ordinance imposing strict compliance with the rule.

He said he will give special attention to the problem be-cause he does not want to wait for the day when he would see the dead bodies of women and children floating in Davao Gulf.

at a shallow depth of 15 ki-lometres. It was followed by 6.3-magnitude aftershock 30 minutes later and numerous other aftershocks continued into this morning.

According to the US Geo-logical Survey, yesterday’s quake was followed by at least 17 strong aftershocks.

The temblor triggered landslides blocking roads to remote villages in several dis-tricts.

The quake and the subse-quent powerful aftershocks forced people out to live in the open under plastic tents barely shielding them from cold last night.

A US military helicopter was reported missing with six US Marines and two Nepali soldiers on board while deliv-ering aid.

A search continues for a missing helicopter. Rescue workers are searching for sur-vivors of the latest earthquake.

The quake triggered mas-

sive panic among the people, who have been staying in the open since the 7.9-magnitude lethal temblor struck on April 25, killing over 8,000 people and flattening thousands of buildings besides destroying villages.

Nepal’s only international airport, the Tribhuvan Inter-national Airport, was briefly closed by authorities yester-day and flights to Kathmandu were diverted.

A five storied building had collapsed during the quake in Nayabazaar area of Kathman-du yesterday, officials said.

Authorities have ordered all schools to be closed for the next two weeks.

Yesterday’s quake had its impact in several cities in Bi-har, West Bengal and UP and tremors were felt across vast stretches of east and northeast India.

The tremors were also felt in China, where one woman was killed in Tibet. (PNA/PTI)

eggs once every two years. However, not many captive eagles are able to do this. Dumadag said the egg-laying season is from September to February, but no eagle laid an egg during this last season.

She also said there are ea-gles in custody that cannot be released to the wild because of low survival rate.

“There were eagles that were raised conditionally by their human handlers and those eagle become depen-dent to them,” she said. “We’re afraid that the eagle we re-lease in the wild will go to hu-man habitation where there is

more danger.”Some of the eagles in the

center were adopted by indi-viduals who give support to the daily requirement of the adopted eagle.

For instance, television host Kim Atienza adopted two eagles in the center and gives as much as P150,000 to each annually.

Dumadag said 11 Philip-pine eagles in the center were already adopted, while 23 are up for adoption.

She said the donation of adopters goes to veterinary care, maintenance, and food of the adopted Philippine Eagle.

The damaged area is part of the Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape, which covers a total of 211,913 hectares.

M/V Tiara 108, which came from Papua New Guinea, was on its way to the city fish-port complex when it drifted and got stuck at around 0.3 nautical mile from the coast-line of Bawing Beach here.

Crew members of the ves-sel, which was carrying some 3,933 metric tons of frozen tuna, reportedly miscalculated its course after evading some small fishing vessels.

The vessel, which is cur-rently docked at the city fish port complex, was removed

through the help of salvor ships a day after it was strand-ed.

Lt. Rolando Lorenzana, commander of the Philippine Coast Guard station here, said there were no signs of an oil spill in the area based on the surface inspection that they conducted.

He said that except for mi-nor paint scratches, the vessel did not incur cracks or dents on its hull, rudder and propel-ler.

The PCG station initially cleared the vessel after “con-cluding that the integrity of its hull is intact and is, therefore, safe to navigate.” (MindaNews)

plementation of the DILEEP projects and the utilization of the released grants or fund-ing.

“They will feedback to us how these projects are doing or if they’re okay or not,” she said in a press conference.

She said the results of the monitoring and evaluation of the 14 institutions will be presented during the fifth edition of the Regional Ca-reer Advocacy Congress next year.

“We’re optimistic that with the help of our partners’ research and development programs, we will be able to gather feedbacks and sug-gestions that will further im-prove our service delivery fu-ture program beneficiaries,”

Domingo said.The DILEEP seeks to con-

tribute to poverty reduction and reduce vulnerability to risks of the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized workers through emergency employ-ment and promotion of en-trepreneurship and commu-nity enterprises.

The program’s compo-nents are the Kabuhayan or livelihood program and emergency employment pro-gram, which is also dubbed Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Dis-placed Workers or TUPAD.

From January to De-cember last year, DOLE-12 released nearly P47-million worth of grants under the DILEEP.

Municipalities and Cities” is-sued on December 13, 1999.

“We assess LGUs based on the set of criteria like re-duction in the deaths among children below 5 years old; re-duction in the number of chil-dren below normal weight; absence of child labor or per-centage reduction in child la-bor cases; and percentage re-duction in the number of child victims of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Ilan lang yan sa tinututukan natin,” Limbaro explained.

He also stressed that the assessment criteria shall use as benchmarks and a scale system in measuring the re-sults and performance of LGUs consistent with national standards, averages or tar-gets.

For this year’s national search, Davao highlighted its various landmark proj-ects creating a sustainable child-friendly milieu toward protecting the rights of the child to survival, protection, development and participa-tion. Some of the key projects include the Halfway House for IPs in Brgy. Datu Salumay in Marilog District, Balay Pa-silungan Project, ALIMA De-velopment Center for street children, Mobile Registration Program, and the Child Mind-ing Center in Magallanes, an-ti-drugs and anti-crime cam-paigns,supplemental feeding program, scholarship pro-

gram, among others.“In accordance with the

country’s commitments to the United Nations Conven-tion on the Rights of the Child, we support the realization of children’s rights and building a “Child-Friendly Society,” he said.

According to Limbaro, DILG Regional Office “will in-tensify our assessment on the delivery of social welfare ser-vices on child and youth hindi lang para sa award kundi para sa kapakanan ng mga bata,” adding that the DILG ensures organization and assist in the strengthening of Barangay Council for the Protection of Children in all barangays.

Davao City’s recent award included a trophy and a cash amounting to PHP500,000 plus a PHP50,000, for being a national finalist.

The award was present-ed by CWC headed by Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman in a ceremo-ny held at Philippine Interna-tional Convention Center in Manila last May 8, 2015. The city had also been honored with the same award for two consecutive years from 1998 to 1999 and won the regional award in 2012.

This year, it is eyeing for the “Hall of Fame” award pushing itself further to re-main in the category title as the most child-friendly city for 2015. [DILG XI-CPNaig]

UNICEF would include various activities such as group discus-sions with children in war-torn communities, radio programs, and a theater play.

UNICEF partner agencies, meanwhile, have prepared banners, steamers, posters, and a series of visual materi-

als that will help endorse the advocacy.

Expected to grace the scheduled program launching at EM Manor Hotel here are UNICEF Philippines Represen-tative Lotta Sylwander and top MILF officials, among others. (PNA)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015 11EDGEDAVAO

COMPETITIVE EDGE

UP Mindanao BA Com-munication Arts stu-dents were chosen

among the national finalists in the PANAta Marketing Effec-tiveness Awards of the Phil-ippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) and will attend the all-expense-paid Awarding Ceremony on May 25 in Makati City where the prospect of winning a nation-al award awaits.

This was disclosed in an e-mail received from Digna D. Santos, Executive Director of

PANA. The recognition was giv-

en for the student’s project named, #IMC, or “Integrated Marketing Communications Seminar-Workshop”, that was held on December 12 and 13, 2014.

According to student-or-ganizers, the #IMC even “of-fered lessons on the applica-tion of consistent brand mes-saging across traditional and non-traditional marketing channels, and on using differ-ent promotional methods to

reinforce each other.”The student-organizers

promoted their event through press conferences, broadcast radio, social media, and in newspapers, using videos, graphics, and personal ap-pearances.

The speakers in the #IMC event were Benralph Yu of Nestle Philippines, Glorypearl Dy of Switotwins Inc., Tommy Secuya of Carve company, Do-mini Sebastian del Rosario of Grand Regal Hotel, Dan Pacoy and Danelle Filipinas of Manic

Nightings Productions, and Julius Neil Piala of UP Mind-anao Department of Human-ities.

The #IMC event sponsors were Green Heights Conven-tion Center, Davao Catholic Herald, Monster Radio FM, GH Office Depot, and National Bookstore. The University of the Philippines Trend Events (UPTREND) student organi-zation, led by its president Nicole Go (4-BA Communica-tion Arts), served as organizer of the event.

GLOBE Telecom is beef-ing up its presence worldwide with its

partnership with world’s leading life platform, LINE,

to provide Filipinos around the world an affordable way to connect with their families and loved ones in the Philip-pines.

With the partnership, LINE users calling Globe and TM customers in the Philip-pines can save over 35% off in per-minute calling rates com-

The Globe International Business Group further strengthens its partnership with LINE with a new promo to offer discounted calling rates to Globe and TM customers in the Philippines. Cel-

ebrating this new announcement are Head of LINE Philippines Stephan Kang and Globe Senior Vice President for Internation-al Business Rizza Maniego-Eala

THE Philippines is forecasted to face an 800-megawatt power

shortage this summer, which creates operational challeng-es for the country. At the same time, it echoes mounting calls to conserve energy across dif-ferent sectors of the economy.

Neltex Development Cor-poration, which is the first company in the Philippines to manufacture heavy-metal free pipes, believes energy con-servation is one of the major challenges for companies in the light and heavy industry.

“Promoting sustainability is one of our core tenets,” says Jun Velasco, Neltex Vice Pres-ident for Manufacturing. “It is a new thing for us, but we de-cided to be exhaustive and ap-plied it in every aspect of our company—from the formu-lation of our products to the lighting we use in operations.”

Velasco adds, “Our goal is to go green.”

Most recently, Neltex partnered with Philips to up-grade the lighting systems of its state-of-the-art plant in Dasmariñas. The partnership came as the building suppli-er moved from Las Piñas to Cavite.

The new plant came into full operation May last year, af-ter the installation of addition-al production lines and inte-grating machines to automate the manufacturing process.

Towards a greener path“We wanted to contribute

to the environment,” explains Velasco. “It all started with the formulation of the pipes. When we moved to this facto-ry, we changed our formula-tion for our products. Now, we are the first in the Philippines to produce heavy-metal and lead-free pipes.”

As it changed location and upgraded its facilities, Neltex took it as an opportunity to add a greener approach to every detail of the plant—including the installation of ecologically friendly lighting systems.

From the factory to the stockyard, Neltex’s 26,000-sqm facility has been installed with high-quality Philips LED lighting. From highbay lumi-naires down to office space

lighting, Neltex now uses energy-efficient and environ-ment-friendly lighting tech-nologies.

According to Velasco, “Using LEDs does not only help us save electricity, it also lessens our carbon footprint.”

The new plant is the first in the regional Neltex net-work to start incorporating green technologies into all as-pects of its operations, mak-ing it an industry showcase in efficiency.Pro-environment, Pro-sav-ings

“LED lighting is one of the most advanced types of lighting right now,” shares Fabia Tetteroo-Bueno, Coun-try Manager of Philips Phil-ippines. “It opens new possi-bilities for energy savings and sustainability.”

In comparison to its coun-terparts, LEDs are known to project brighter light while using less energy. They also last longer, which means less-frequent replacements and waste.

For a power-intensive company like Neltex, state-of-the-art lighting provides durability, performance, and savings. As a matter of fact, LED lights can save up to 85 percent energy—resulting in ROI in just 2-5 years time.

Moreover, Philips LEDs are also designed to provide proper lighting levels for warehouse use. With its ad-vanced optics, these lighting solutions provide the right light in the right place.

‘Green’ lightingLights account for nearly

20% of electrical consump-tion and 6% of CO2 emissions worldwide. Unless changes are made, the global con-sumption of lighting could climb to 60% by 2030.

For its part, Philips has al-ways been a strong advocate of sustainability and energy efficiency. Tetteroo-Bueno ad-vises, “Our choice in technol-ogy impacts the environment around us and all of us should do our part to help preserve it.”

Velasco closes, “We chose Philips because of its history and reputation. We are very happy with our choice.”

UPMin student event is finalistin PANAta Marketing Awards

UP Mindanao BA Communication Arts students at the “ # IMC” event in December 2014 that was recognized as a finalist in the PANAta Marketing Effectiveness Awards of the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA).

Globe, LINE offer discounted ratesto Globe and TM customers in Phl

pared to calling other mobile networks in the country.

Beginning May 12, 2015, LINE users will now benefit from the new $0.09 (P4.05) per minute rate, compared to the old rate of $0.14 (P6.30). Filipinos residing in Australia, New Zealand, United King-dom, Japan, India, US, Thai-land, Malaysia and Greece can take advantage of the offer by simply purchasing LINE call credits using their credit or debit card and can start call-ing their family and friends back home.

“Strengthening our rela-tionships with top messaging platforms help us give our customers value for money services. Inspired by how Fil-ipinos around the world value keeping ties with their loved ones back home, we strive to provide an affordable way for them to connect as frequently as they can with our partner-ship with LINE,” said Globe EVP & COO for International and Business Markets Gil Gen-io.

Neltex, Philips work togethertowards sustainability

FGLOBE, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 201512 CLASSIFIED EDGEDAVAO

GENERAL SANTOS CITY MARKETING OFFICEEDMUND P. RENDONMarketing SpecialistGeneral Santos CityMobile: (Sun) 0925-357-3460 (Smart) 0907-202-3844

DAVAO CITY MAIN OFFICEJOCELYN S. PANESDirector of SalesDoor 14 ALCREJ Bldg.,Quirino Ave., Davao CityTel: (082) 224-1413Telefax: (082) 221-3601

MANILA MARKETINGOFFICEANGELICA R. GARCIA Marketing Manager97-1 Bayanbayanan Ave.,Marikina Heights, Marikina City Tel: (02) 654-3509

GO BOLD GO COLOUR• All text

• Telephone Number (bigger point size)

• Bold Header

• Background• Text

Price: 100.00 Price: 175.00 Price: 230.00

ADD-ON

• Pictures/Logos• Graphic Elements

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015

NOTICE OF LOSSNotice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS

CONSOLIDATED INC. That CERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT No.(s) 3509 under LOYOLA PLAN Contract No.(s) 10161057-1 issued to ROXANNE G. SACRAMENTO

CASH SURRENDER VALUE: 0001-17197, OFFICIAL RECEIPT C0-01313375, C0-01363799, C001460282 issued to TERESITA F.ERAMIS

were lost. Any transaction entered into shall be null and void.5/7/14/21

13NEWSEDGEDAVAO

Malaysian, MisOr firms sign dealon 1M oil palm seeds for farmers

A LEADING Malaysian agri-business firm entered into an agreement with a Mis-

amis Oriental-based agricultural company on Monday to distrib-ute one million of high quality oil palm seeds to farmers in Bukid-non and Misamis Oriental.

Felda Global Ventures (FGV) Vice President S. Palaniappan hailed the signing of the busi-ness partnership with Bali Oil Produce Corporation of Misamis Oriental as “a milestone.”

Palaniappan said the oil palm seeds they intend to dis-

tribute to farmers in the two provinces are assured of quality as these are backed by extensive research and development by their firm.

“This is a milestone in col-laboration. The quality of our seeds is supported with exten-sive research and development by our company,” Palaniappan said.

He said they plan to distrib-ute one million oil palm seed-lings to farmers in Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental through the help of Bali Oil Produce Cor-

poration.FGV is a leading agribusi-

ness firm in Malaysia which uses its cutting edge technology from its research and development department to boost production of palm oil.

Manuel Boniao, chair of Bali Oil, said they will distribute the seedlings to farmers in the towns of Kalilangan , Maramag in Bukidnon and Tagoloan and Villanueva in Misamis Oriental.

He said they intend to cover 50,000 hectares in the first year of the arrival of seedlings.

“One major thing that is different here is that the farm-ers still own and till their lands unlike other agricultural compa-nies that produce pineapple and bananas,” Boniao said.

“We are just adding more value and profitability to the farmers,” he added.

Boniao said they have tied up with the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the Cooperative Development Au-thority to provide soft loans to the farmers. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)

SELFIE! A young girl tries to take a “selfie” with an ostrich in her background at Davao Baywalk along Ecoland Drive, Matina, Davao City. MindaNews photo by Toto Lozano

JOB OPPORTUNITY A Davao based automotive company is a need of GENERAL MANAGER who

will perform the following functions:

• Provide overall leadership and direction to ensure the company’s continued growth/profitability and achieve its desired state for the future;

• Set strategic directions, targets, strategies and performance control indicators for the sales, after-sales services, and administrative support units of the company.

• Achieve bottom-line results such as gross sales, profitability, operating efficiencies, and shareholder relations.

The ideal candidate is one who has a proven track record as a General Manager having steered a company with a sales revenue of at least P500 million annually and with at least 50 employees. He or she must be at least 40 years old.

A competitive compensation package awaits our ideal candidate. Kindly

email your Resume with photo and Career Highlights on or before May 19, 2015 to: humanresource.davao@gmail.com

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 201514 EDGEDAVAO

COMMUNITY SENSE

THE city council has honored world boxing icon and Sarangani

Rep. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao and three other top local boxers for bringing pride to the city and the en-tire country through their recent fights.

The council passed four separate resolutions in their regular session on Tuesday “congratulating and com-mending” Pacquiao, fly-weight Froilan Saludar, junior flyweight Randy Petalcorin, and featherweight John Vi-cent Moralde for their “suc-cessful” bouts.

Vice Mayor Shirlyn Nograles said Pacquiao de-serves the highest recogni-tion from the city despite losing his epic bout last May 3 against undefeated American fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas.

She said Pacquiao gave an outstanding performance in the fight, which was dubbed as the “fight of the century.”

“Pacquiao’s fight perfor-mance over Floyd Mayweath-er is truly a classic display of speed and explosive fist pow-er,” she said.

Nograles, who authored the resolution, said the fight emerged as one of the big-gest shows in the world of professional boxing and ele-vated Pacquiao as “one of the greatest and most dominant figures” in the sport.

“(We) convey this resolu-tion as a way of giving honor to the one and only Manny Pacquiao, a self-made man, a working class hero, and an icon of the Filipino race whose astounding success had become a great and last-ing inspiration to humanity,” she said.

On the other hand, the council also recognized Salu-dar, Petalcorin and Moralde as the city’s “champions.”

Saludar wrested the World Boxing Organization (WBO) intercontinental fly-weight title last April 25 after a fifth round technical knock-out win against Indonesian Faris Nenggo in Haikou, Hain-an in China.

Petalcorin brought home the World Boxing Association interim junior flyweight title after dominating Chinese Ma Yi Ming in their bout last April 24 held at the Capital Gym in Beijing, China.

Moralde originally hails from Davao City but is cur-rently a part of a local boxing stable and has made the city his second home.

He conquered the vacant World Boxing Council Asia Boxing Council continental

featherweight title following a unanimous win last March 14 against Australian Bray-don Smith in Toowoomba, Queensand in Australia.

Moralde’s win had taken a sad twist after Smith col-lapsed following the match and died in a Queensland hospital two days later.

Meantime, sources from the Pacquiao camp disclosed that the the boxing icon’s homecoming has been reset to Friday.

Pacquiao, who arrived in Manila early Wednesday along with his family and boxing team, initially planned to return home on Thursday.

The local governments of Sarangani and this city has prepared a grand hero’s wel-come for Pacquiao’s home-coming on Friday, which also coincides with his mother Di-onisia’s 66th birthday. (PNA)

WITH the Depart-ment of Agriculture (DA) as convenor

for Davao Region, the De-partment of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) regional office here will participate in the ASAPP Salubungan today, May 14, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at The Apo View Hotel.

Anchored on the Phil-ippine Development Plan, ASAPP or Accelerated and Sustainable Anti-Poverty Program intends to reduce poverty in multiple dimen-sions through the creation of sustainable employment op-portunities for the poor.

In partnership with the private sector and the local government units (LGUs), ASAPP’s key elements are economic growth, employ-ment creation, income re-distribution, and strategies to maintain low food price inflation.

Through this ASAPP Sa-lubungan, businesses are en-abled to expand and increase linkages with the poor either for raw materials or labor. Hence, there would be better employment opportunities for the poor and growth and expansion for the businesses, Director Priscilla N. Razon of DSWD said.

She said in Davao Region, three areas in Davao del Sur are being targeted for the ASAPP Salubungan: Digos City, Hagonoy and Magsay-say.

Thursday’s Salubungan

will be attended by Gover-nor Claude P. Bautista; the mayors of Digos City, Hago-noy and Magsaysay; busi-nessmen and other private sector representatives; and directors of regional and pro-vincial government agencies such as DSWD, National Eco-nomic Development Author-ity, Department of Environ-ment and Natural Resources, and Department of Agrarian Reform.

Representing DSWD Sec-retary Corazon J. Soliman, Razon will discuss the pov-erty situation in the three ASAPP pilot LGUs, which will serve as input for the work-shops set in the afternoon.

Other points to be tack-led during the one day ASAPP Salubungan are: Rationale for ASAPP in Davao Del Sur; Messages/Commitments on Anti-Poverty and Employ-ment Generation; ASAPP Framework and Salubungan Overview; Davao Regional Development Framework [2014-2016]; and Growth Prospects/Opportunities and Priority PAPs for the 3 Focus LGUs.

Following the open fo-rum, the mayors of the three pilot LGUs and heads of the Private Sector will render their Responses and Com-mitments.

The first Salubungan in the region will then be capped with the ceremoni-al signing of the Pledge for ASAPP. (DSWD/Carmela C. Duron)

THE Department of Labor and Em-ployment (DOLE)

here has already assisted 2,137 out-of-school youths (OSYs) and deserving stu-dents in the Davao Region to pursue education during the first quarter of this year under the Special Program of Employment for Stu-dents (SPES) from January to March 2015.

A total of 980 beneficia-ries came from Compostela Valley Province while 155 of them came from Davao City. There were 717 ben-eficiaries in Davao del Sur; 247 beneficiaries from Davao Oriental; and 38 beneficiaries from Davao del Norte.

“The SPES program aims to assist poor but deserving students pur-sue their education by en-couraging employment of those in the secondary lev-el during summer and/or Christmas vacations and of those in the tertiary, techni-

cal or vocational education levels any time of the year,” said DOLE regional director Joffrey M. Suyao.

SPES beneficiaries re-ceive a salary not lower than the minimum wage in which 60 percent comes from the private companies or national or local govern-ment agencies where they worked while the remain-ing 40 percent will be given by DOLE through education vouchers.

To date, DOLE have spent P7,925,848 pesos as its 40 percent counterpart.

“This year we target to extend assistance a total of 6,610 beneficiaries,” Suyao said.

“We in the department strive to accommodate more students and out-of-school youths (OSYs) espe-cially those deserving but cannot afford education. This can be manifested by reaching our number of target beneficiaries for this year,” Suyao added. (PNA)

THREE sets of water ser-vice interruption have been scheduled by Davao

City Water District to give way for completion of service im-provement projects.

First set is from 8:00 PM of May 16 until 2:00 AM of May 17 affecting the entire Flores Village in Bangkal and imme-diate environs. This water cut is needed for the installation of gate valves and bypass pipe for the proposed installation of pressure regulating valve at Flores Village. Said project once completed will help reduce non-revenue water.

Second set is on May 20 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Af-

fected are some areas in Pana-can particularly San Miguel Street, San Miguel Village, Sun-rise Village, Doña Mercedes Phases 1 and 2, Pizzaro Village, Benjamin Hills, Don Ramon Village, Veterans Village and Emma Village. DCWD’s Engi-neering and Construction De-partment (ECD) crew will tap the newly installed 100mm diameter Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) pipeline to the existing 150mm diameter PVC pipeline for the mainline improvement at San Miguel Centro, Km. 14 in Panacan.

Another water cut is sched-uled on May 20 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM affecting Blue Dia-

mond Village and Puroks 2 to 8 in Brgy. Communal. The ECD crew will tap the newly installed 100mm diameter PVC pipeline to the existing 100mm diameter PVC pipeline for the mainline improvement at Purok 1-B Sto. Rosario Relocation Area in Brgy. Communal.

The second and last sets of water cut will allow for accom-modation of additional service connections.

DCWD general manag-er Edwin V. Regalado advises would-be affected customers to store enough water prior to the scheduled water interruptions. He also asks for their under-standing and cooperation. Wa-

ter supply may be restored earli-er if work goes smoothly or later if unforeseen problems arise.

The general public may visit DCWD website (www.davao-water.gov.ph) and official Facebook page (www.facebook.com/davaowater) or call the Central Information Unit / Call Center through the 24-hour hotline 297-DCWD (3293) and press “1” on their phone dial to listen to latest daily water up-dates. They may also call / text 0927-7988966, 0925-5113293 and 0908-4410653 for oth-er updates, complaints, que-ries and matters pertaining to DCWD services. (Jamae G. Dela Cruz)

SUMMER PLUNGE. Children jump into the water to beat the summer heat in Libertad River in Barangay LIbertad, Butuan City. MindaNews photo by Erwin Mascarinas

GenSan honors Pacquiao,3 other top local boxers

SPES beneficiaries reach2,000 in Davao Region

DSWD joins today’sASAPP Salubungan

Water service interruptions insome city parts May 16, 17, 20

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015

May-Pac breaks PPV record15EDGEDAVAOSports

THE pay-per-view sales figures for the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd May-

weather fight are in, and they are mind-boggling.

The fight generated a re-cord 4.4 million PPV buys, HBO and Showtime an-nounced, which produced more than $400 million in TV revenue alone.

That shatters the previ-ous record of 2.48 million PPV buys set by Mayweath-er and Oscar De La Hoya in 2007, and it blows away the pre-fight estimates of 3.0-3.8 million buys.

And that is just the big-gest piece of the fight pie. When you combine all the revenue streams, the fight generated more than $500 million, according to HBO and Showtime.

According to John Branch of The New York Times be-fore the fight, it was estimat-ed that there would be at least another $133 million in revenue from streams such as ticket sales ($72 mil-lion), international broadcast sales (“at least” $35 million), closed-circuit broadcasts in

bars ($13 million), sponsor-ships ($12 million), and mer-chandise ($1 million).

However, if we assume that international and closed-circuit broadcasts beat the pre-fight estimates by the same rate that the final PPV buys exceeded expecta-tions, the total revenue from these streams is probably closer to $155 million.

That pushes the total revenue for the fight to be-tween $550 and $595 million depending on exactly how many of the PPV buys were in HD ($100) versus SD ($90).

Of that $500-plus million in revenue, more than $350 million will go to Mayweath-er and Pacquiao.

According to David Mayo of MLive.com, Mayweath-er will take home between $209 and $210 million and Pacquiao will take home be-tween $142 and $143 million.

It is hard to imagine that anybody would turn down a rematch, even if the hype can’t approach these same levels. This revenue at half the rate is still pretty decent for a day’s work.

Manny Pacquiao poses for photo after a press conference, shortly after arriving from the US, at the international airport in Manila, on Wednesday. (AFP Photo/Ted Aljibe)

GENSAN is now set to welcome Manny Pac-quiao.

City Mayor Ronnel Ri-vera has confirmed the city government is now ready for the “hero’s welcome” for Pacquiao on Thursday (May 14), including the security plans and route his convoy would use.

Mayor Rivera said that although Pacquiao had lost to Floyd Mayweather, he still made his fellow countrymen proud.

“Manny is still our cham-pion. He deserves a hero’s welcome,” Mayor Rivera said.

The military will do pla-neside honors for Paquiao, who is the congressman of Sarangani, at General Santos City International Airport.

Pacquiao and his party will then be welcomed by Mayor Rivera, Vice Mayor Shirlyn Nograles, and Saran-gani Governor Steve Solon.

The municipal mayors of Sarangani, city councilors of General Santos, and other provincial and city person-nel will also be present.

Manny Pacquiao will be joined by his wife Sarangani Vice Governor Jinkee Pac-quiao, Mayor Rivera, Vice Mayor Nograles, Governor Solon, Dionisia Pacquiao, and Freddie Roach in the

motorcade.The motorcade will end

in SM Gensan where a press conference will be held at the mall’s atrium.

The Philippine National Police, Gensan’s Joint Task Force, and City Security Unit will be deployed in the streets.

It is expected that the streets where the motor-cade will pass will be filled with thousands of people.

Locals in the city already prepared streamers and tarpaulins to show their support and appreciation of Pacquiao who has risen from poverty to be one of the greatest and richest in the sport of boxing.

In the “Fight of the Cen-tury”, Pacquiao was defeat-ed through a unanimous decision by Mayweather with the scores of 116-112, 116-112, 118-110. But here in Gensan, the residents are still delightful for the perfor-mance Pacquaio has shown during his showdown against Mayweather.

Jypril Quintana, a resi-dent of Barangay Labangal, said that Pacquiao had really proven once again that he is a real fighter and not just a boxer. “Mayweather won the titles, Pacquiao won the hearts,” Quintana said. (Gen-san CPIO/ Ian John Lagare)

THE City Government of Panabo shelled out more than P 4-million

for the improvement of the classrooms utilized as bil-leting areas for the Palarong Pambansa 2015 on May 3-9.

Mayor James Gamao said that the hosting of the Palaro by the province pushed the development of the school buildings earlier.

“I believe that the im-provement might have come earlier than sched-

uled because of the holding of the Palarong Pambansa in our province,” he said.

He said that the said fund was appropriated from the Special Education Fund.

Panabo National High School and Panabo Central Elementary School accom-modated regions 3 and 10 respectively, while Salva-cion Elementary School ca-tered technical officials of the gymnastics event.

He said that the police and the barangay police auxiliary helped secure the billeting areas.

Gamao said that aside from the schools building improvement, the city also allocated some amount for the meals of the security and even augmented the supply of rice and canned goods of the delegations.

According to the may-or, the delegation officials appreciated the billeting

schools because of the wide space for practice and its proximity to the playing venues.

Panabo City is 16 kilo-meters away from Tagum City, wherein the most of the playing venues were located. The only playing venue outside Tagum City is the Panabo City Multi Pur-pose Cultural, Sports and Tourism Center, which host-ed the gymnastics event. (PIA11, Michael Uy)

WITH the ‘’Big 3’’ reduced to the ‘’Banged-Up 2,’’

LeBron James again showed why he’s Cleveland’s one and only.

James scored 38 points, Kyrie Irving added 25 and the Cavaliers held off Chi-cago’s charge in the fourth quarter for a 106-101 vic-tory over the Bulls on Tues-day night to take a 3-2 lead in their testy Eastern Con-ference semifinal.

Showing no ill effects from a sprained left ankle, James added 12 rebounds, six assists, three steals, three blocks and didn’t have a turnover in 41 minutes to ensure the Cavs will again play at home this season. The four-time league MVP was locked in from the start, imposing his will on a game the Cavaliers had to have.

‘’I commend him for putting us on his back,’’ Ir-

ving said.Cleveland can wrap up

the best-of-seven series and advance to the conference finals for the first time since 2009 with a win in Game 6 on Thursday night back at United Center in Chicago, where the teams exchanged buzzer-beating victories last weekend.

The drama wasn’t quite as high in Game 5, but it was close and it was intense.

Jimmy Butler scored 29 and Mike Dunleavy 19 for Chicago. Derrick Rose scored 16, 12 in the first quarter, but the star guard shot just 2 of 15 in the final three quarters and aggra-vated a shoulder ‘’stinger’’ he sustained in Game 1.

Rockets 124, Clippers 103James Harden received

an IV Tuesday afternoon, his answers to postgame questions were peppered

with coughs and he sniffled repeatedly between que-ries.

Harden clearly wasn’t feeling well. But faced with elimination in the West-ern Conference semifinals, Houston’s bearded super-star shook off his illness and had a triple-double in per-haps his best playoff perfor-mance to keep the Rockets alive.

Harden had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, Dwight Howard added 20 points and 15 rebounds, and the Rockets bounced back from two lopsided losses with a 124-103 vic-tory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

‘’I’m all right,’’ Harden said when asked about his health. ‘’We won, so that’s all that matters.’’

The Rockets hadn’t lost three straight all season, and with their season on the

line they ended their skid to send it back to Los Angeles for Game 6 on Thursday night.

Houston used a 36-point second quarter to take a commanding lead and with-stood a third-quarter surge by Los Angeles to lead by 14 entering the fourth.

Blake Griffin had 30 points and 16 rebounds, and Chris Paul added 22 points and 10 assists for the Clippers.

‘’They were more fo-cused,’’ Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. ‘’They played like they were the desper-ate team and we didn’t play very desperate.’’

Harden made a 3-point-er with about two minutes to play to make it 121-100 and coach Kevin McHale cleared the bench. Harden’s triple-double was Hous-ton’s first in the postseason since Steve Francis in 2004.

Panabo spends more than P4-M for Palarong PambansaGen. Santos City all set for Pacmans hero’s welcome

Cavaliers tame Bulls behind James’ 38 points, leads series 3-2

VOL. 8 ISSUE 30 • THURSDAY, MAY 14, 201516 EDGEDAVAO