P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

WAS INDIAN KIDNAPPED?

Cops continue searcheven if victim’s family is ‘not cooperating’

GETTING READY. Personnel from the Traffic Management Center (TMC) unload traffic signs and road barriers near Jones Circle along Roxas Avenue and C. Bangoy Street in Davao City yesterday. Jones Circle is the regular venue of the Araw ng Kagitingan celebration in the city where the living war veterans and their families are recognized and honored. Lean Daval Jr.

Sports P16

By FUNNY PEARL A. GAJUNERA INSIDE EDGEDAVAO’S TOP WOMAN CHESSER EYES ASEAN STINT

POLICE are trying to determine the whereabouts of an

Indian national who was reported kidnapped at around 9:30 a.m. in Tug-bok District, Davao City.

Davao City Police Office (DCPO) spokes-person Senior Inspector Milgrace Driz, however, declined to give further information about the

police operation.“We don’t want to

jeopardize the life of the victim,” she said.

Driz, however, said the police are having a hard time because the victim’s family is “not cooperating” and would not say whether or not a kidnapping had really occurred.

Despite this, she said

police are still continu-ing their manhunt oper-ation.

Driz identified the In-dian national as Jaspar Malih, alias Singh, a res-ident of Wellspring Vil-lage, Catalunan Pequeño, Tugbok District.

Malih is married to a Filipina.

Initial reports said witnesses saw a man

forcibly pushing Malih into a vehicle.

Malih could not be contacted after the inci-dent.

His Filipina wife was also quoted as saying the suspect was involved in a fight with an uniden-tified man and believes it had something to do with the victim’s disap-pearance.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 20152 EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS

DAVAO City councilor Al Ryan Alejandre wants a review done on the

executive order imposing a speed limit in the city.

“A motorist told me that there are car units that can-not withstand the current speed limit imposed in the city,” Alejandre said during the recent Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Annex.

Alejandre, who chairs the committee on tourism, said there are cars that were built

to run above the prescribed 37 kilometer per hour (kph) limit in certain areas in the city.

Based on Executive Or-der 39, the speed limit for the downtown area of the city should be 30 kph, but it re-cently raised to 37 kph. Other limits of 40 kph and 60 kph were retained.

Alejandre said he will re-lay the complaint to the City Council transportation com-mittee headed by councilor

Tomas Monteverde.For his part, City Plan-

ning and Development Office (CPDO) planning division head Engineer Jose Froilan Rigor said the implemented speed limit is “OK.”

“I drive everyday and the 30 kph speed in the down-town area is enough,” Rigor told Edge Davao yesterday.

Rigor said the city gov-ernment should invest in road signs instead of chang-ing the speed limit.

He said the city govern-ment can use part of the P23 million special local road fund downloaded to the city when it was rewarded the seal of good housekeeping by the Department of Inte-rior and Local Government (DILG).

He said P8 million of the reward went to the Traffic Management Office while P15 million went to City En-gineer’s Office for road re-blocking projects.

THE Davao City Mayor’s Office (CMO) still tops the list in appropria-

tions in the proposed P463.7 million Supplemental Budget (SB) No. 2.

Based on the report of the City Council’s committee on finance, ways and means, and appropriation headed by councilor Danilo C. Dayanghi-rang, the CMO got the highest share with P97.463 million from SB2.

Of the total CMO budget,

P56.96 million goes to the peace and order program which is 58.4 percent of its al-location. P24.9 million or 25.6 percent goes to the Lingap Pro-gram or the health and hospi-talization assistance program.

Next in line after the CMO is the lump sum appropriation at P97.402 million.

P50 million of the lump sum appropriation is set aside for the Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) Incentives

BUSTED. A worker struggles to contain water coming out of a busted pipe which was accidentally hit by a backhoe while the crew was working on a drainage project in Lanang in Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

Al Ryan wants review of speed limit order

crc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

THE organic farming advocacy network Go Organic Davao City

(GODC) called for the with-drawal of glyphosate products from agricultural stores in the city, citing World Health Orga-nization (WHO) findings that the chemical, which is com-monly used by farmers to de-stroy weeds, is carcinogenic.

“The World Health Orga-nization’s assessment of the health risks of using glypho-sate as a herbicide validates what health advocates and

organic farming practitioners have long been saying: this chemical is a danger to both health and environment,” GODC member and IDIS ex-ecutive director Ann Fuertes said in a statement.

Fuertes said the Interna-tional Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is the cancer agency of the World Health Organization, created a Working Group of 17 ex-perts from 11 countries that assessed the carcinogenicity of five insecticides, including

glyphosate.She said in its evaluation

report released last March 20, 2015, it classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

According to Fuertes, this means that the group dis-covered that there is limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans and sufficient ev-idence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals. “This is very alarming, particularly since glyphosate is the most commonly used herbicide in

the Philippines,” she said.Glyphosate is sold locally

under some of the following names: Monsanto Roundup, Sting, Rodeo, Muster, Tum-bleweed, Spasor, Sonic, Gli-fonox, Glialka, Glycel, Rondo, and Wipeout .The Philippine Fertilizers and Pesticide Au-thority (FPA) lists some 70 glyphosate products in its registration inventory, most of which carry the global Mon-santo corporation brand.

The regional environ-

AUTHORITIES arrested a top leader of the New People’s Army, allegedly

responsible for the education of its members in the Southern Mindanao Revolutionary Com-mittee, and a companion 9:20 pm Tuesday at a checkpoint in Barangay Sirawan, Toril.

1Lt. Vergel Lacambra, spokesperson of the 10th In-fantry Division identified the respondent as Vincent Estrada alias Brod, Bords, Uban and Dennis Montecillo, alleged head of the regional instruc-tors’ bureau of the rebels.

He said Estrada was ap-

prehended with his compan-ion Zacarias Mancia, Jr. on board a sports-utility-vehicle with plate number BDV 684 by virtue of an arrest warrant docketed as Criminal Case No. 7610 for the crimes of kidnap-ping and serious illegal deten-tion issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch III based in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley.

Lacambra said the arrest yielded one .45 caliber pistol and two fragmentation gre-nades found in the possession of the respondents.

Group calls for recall of glyphosate products

CM office still topsSB2 appropriationBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

Top rebel leader arrestedFCMO, 10

FTOP, 10 FGROUP, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 3NEWSEDGEDAVAO

THE Davao City Coun-cil’s committee on rules, privileges laws

and ordinances will ask the administration of University of the Philippines Mindanao (UPMin) for it plans for the settlers in the area before signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the proposed City Sports Complex.

In an interview yester-day, committee chair coun-

cilor Bernard Al-ag told re-porters that he will call for a committee hearing within this month to clarify UP-Min’s stand on the settlers.

This after Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte said in last Tuesday’s regular City Coun-cil session that the proposed City Sports Complex inside the UP Min is not feasible due to the problems of the claimants living in the area.

Al-ag said if the pro-

posed sports complex is not be pursued inside the UPMin campus, the city will look for another area for the proposed complex.

The vice mayor said if the national government will allocate a P200 million budget for the sports com-plex, then it should just give it to the city government and let it find a place for the proj-ect outside of UP Min where a lot of claimants will be af-

fected.In last Tuesday’s City

Council session, the item titled “Memorandum of Un-derstanding (MOU) to be executed by the City Govern-ment of Davao and UP, rela-tive to the intention of both parties to establish a sports complex at the latter’s Mint-al Campus” was referred back to the committee level due to the problem with the claimants.

THOUSANDS of farm-ers in North Cotabato continue to experience

losses in agricultural products as the dry spell continues.

Agriculture officials said the cost of damages to agricul-tural products due to drought continue to rise.

As of April 7, the reported damages to agricultural prod-ucts reached Php230-million, according to Dr. Eliseo Mang-liwan, North Cotabato provin-cial agriculturist.

Heavily affected crops are rice, corn, banana and rubber, which is North Cotabato’s ma-jor products.

Mangliwan said if the dry spell continues until next month, more crops will be damaged.

“The extent could even go higher with no immediate remedy in sight,” Mangliwan told DXND Radyo Bida Kidap-awan.

“Rain is the only remedy to save our agricultural prod-ucts,” he said, adding that even sources of water for planta-tions and rice fields have dried up.

Aside from drought, farm-ers of rubber, banana, coco-nut and other crops are also threatened by grass fire that occur every now and then since February.

At least 16 grass fires were recorded in Mlang alone and another 20 in Kidapawan City.

Mangliwan said his office

MORO Islamic Liber-ation Front (MILF) chief negotiator and

spokesman Mohagher Iqbal on Wednesday admitted of using aliases but evasive in re-vealing his real name.

Instead of directly an-swering the question of Ang Nars Party-list Rep. Leah Paquiz, Iqbal said it is a com-mon practice within a revo-lutionary organization to use aliases.

“I have so many names and that is natural in revolu-tionary organizations,” he told members of the House com-mittee on Public Order and Safety joint with the commit-tee on Peace, Unification and Unity hearing on the Mamasa-pano incident.

Iqbal explained that even Filipino hero Marcelo del Pilar was known to have used nine

aliases during his lifetime.He even cited fake names

Del Pilar used such as “Siling Labuyo”, “Dolores” and “Plar-idel”.

Iqbal, however, main-tained he is a Filipino citizen and a Bangsamoro “by entity.”

Negros Occidental Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer then asked the MILF chief peace negotiator if he could show his passport during the hearing but Iqbal immediately declined claim-ing certain “sensitivities.”

“Because of security rea-sons, my name on the pass-port is known only to the gov-ernment. I travel a lot -- maybe hundred times. But I’m not hiding my name on my pass-port,” he said.

Instead, the MILF execu-tive said he will ask the De-partment of Foreign Affairs

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

SCHOOL AID. Rolling Chair’s Naprey Almario (left) gives the details of the activities for the annual back-to-school gift giving project organized by his group and Bigay Buhay Multi-purpose Cooperative represented by project coordinator Esterlita O. Payumo (right) and project administrative assis-

tant Almarie Gonzaga-Faicol during yesterday’s Club 888 media forum at The Marco Polo, Davao. The project aims to help children with disabilities by giving away school materials just before the opening of classes. Lean Daval Jr.

Councilors want UPMinto bare plan on settlers

LIKE A SUPERHERO. A lineman shows off his spiderman-like skill as he and his companion repair a power line along Roxas Avenue in Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

Iqbal admits using aliases

More N. Cotabato farmers suffer losses due to drought

FIQBAL, 10

REP. SILVESTRE “BELLO” H. BELLO III of 1BAP (Una Ang Barangay

Ating Paunlarin ) Party-list said he is against the propos-al of fellow Davao lawmaker, Rep. Luzviminda C. Ilagan of GABRIELA (General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action) Paty-list, to legal-ize divorce in the country.

Bello bared his stand on the proposal during a conver-sation with Davao print and broadcast journalists in his of-fice recently.

“Divorce will trivialize the institution of marriage in our country,” he said.

Bello argued that once allowed, divorce will encour-age and promote promiscuity among couples.

He said he is also against the proposal to decriminalize adultery for the same reason.

Rep. Ilagan and another GABRIELA party-list lawmak-er, Rep. Emerenciana A. de Jesus, collaborated in the re-vival of the divorce bill, which had been proposed as early as 1988.

In filing House Bill 1799, the latest proposal, Reps. Ilag-an and de Jesus stated in their explanatory note that a law legalizing divorce is “a way of protecting and strengthening marriage and the family as ba-sic social institutions, to value the dignity of every human person, to guarantee full re-spect for human rights, and to ensure the fundamental equal-ity before the law of women

Rep. Bello against divorce, decriminalizing adultery by Jimmy Torres, Contributor

FMORE, 10

FBELLO, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 20154 EDGEDAVAO

SUBURBIA

MORE residents in this town can now have access to safe potable

water supply.This after Department

of Agriculture (DA) through the Mindanao Rural Devel-opment Program (MRDP) turned over on Tuesday Lev-el II Potable Water System (PWS) in Barangay Tagolilong in this town.

MRDP is a special proj-ect of the DA which officially closed its implementation in December last year.

However, LGU Sulop has excess funds from its rural infrastructure projects and utilized it to fund small infra-structure, which is under the MRDP’s Community Fund

for Agricultural Development (CFAD).

The P500,000 PWS proj-ect will benefit about 106 households in Barangay Tago-lilong. It started construction in August 2014 and was com-pleted October on the same year of which 60 percent is from MRDP; the 20 percent from the GOP through DA and the 20 percent as the local government unit equity.

The project is designed to tap the underground wa-ter by pumping up to a max-imum of 200 feet below the natural ground surface and 120 feet pump setting to the confine aquifer, a resource to supply safe drinking water for human and animal consump-

tion.The facilities consisted

of 11 faucets, one reservoir, pump house, laying pipes and submersible pump and acces-sories.

Betty Mendez, a resident of Purok 1, recalled the hard-ships they go through when getting their water. “Kumuku-ha kami ng tubig sa aming balon at kadalasan maraming mga linta, minsan pa nga may ahas pa (We were getting wa-ter from the well and at times there are leeches. Sometimes there are snakes).”

She added that their for-mer water source caused di-arrhea among the residents and no longer safe to drink.

Aurea M. Dayon, barangay

captain of Barangay Tagoli-long, said before the installa-tion of the PWS, they bought water from the neighboring barangay at P15 per contain-er.

“Now that we have our own water system, we also allow residents from other barangays to buy water from us. We only charge P2 per container,” she added.

Dayon swore to take good care of it.

Miguela Edquila, MRDP deputy regional program co-ordinator, and Mayor Jimmy Sagarino led the turnover ceremony of the PWS project together with the municipal councilors and barangay offi-cials. (PNA)

Davao Sur town can nowaccess clean potable water

SANDMAN. Totski Sabra pours sand he scooped from the riverbed into his wooden boat in Davao River near Maa, Davao City on Tuesday, April 7. Sabra says he earns P150 for every boat load of sand. MindaNews photo by Keith Bacongco

BEGINNING this April, students and youth in Baguio, Iloilo, Davao,

and Zamboanga are invit-ed to kick off the summer break by catching two films showing at their local Cine-matheque that delve into the heart-breaks, growing pains, but also the joys and won-ders of being young. The Film Development Council of the Philippines presents two Cinemalaya favorites: “Purok 7” directed by Carlo Obispo, and “Mayohan” di-rected by Dan Villegas.

Cinematheque Iloi-lo starts off the summer program with “Purok 7” screening April 7-12; Cine-matheque Baguio April 14-26; Cinematheque Davao April 28-May 3; and Cinema-

theque Zamboanga May 19-28 and June 2.

“Mayohan” starts in Cin-ematheque Iloilo on April 28-May 3; Cinematheque Davao May 19-24; Cinema-theque Baguio May 26-31; and finally Cinematheque Zamboanga June 9-14 and June 23.

Carlo Obispo’s film is a drama-comedy that tells the story of Diana and her younger brother as they grow up in a country farm village Purok 7. With their mother working abroad and their father caught up in an affair, the siblings bond to-gether and find themselves captivated by the thrills and promising adventure of the town’s summer festival.

THE 1001st Infantry Bri-gade, 10th Infantry Di-vision of the Philippine

Army together with the Asso-ciation of Regional Executives of National Agencies region 11 (ARENA 11) in partner-ship with the provincial gov-ernment units of Compostela Valley and municipal local government units of Maco and Maragusan will facilitate the conduct of a two-day ac-tivity dubbed “13th ARENA 11 Serbisyo Caravan” on April 9 and 10, 2015 in Barangay New Leyte, Maco, Compostela Valley Province.

The Serbisyo Caravan will benefit the 12 far-flung ba-rangays of Compostela Valley Province which includes sev-en barangays of Maco name-ly: Elizalde, Tagbaros, Mainit,

Masara, Teresa, Panoraon and New Leyte and five barangays of Maragusan: Tandik, Paloc, Mahayahay, Parasanon, and New Manay.

The objective of the two-days caravan is to provide and assist the local government units of ComVal during the de-livery of basic services to the communities and other social services and programs in the far-flung barangays in the mu-nicipalities of Maragusan and Maco.

The “Serbisyo Caravan” is a program of ARENA 11 bring-ing the government services to the communities through the conduct of one-shop pro-gram offering different so-cial services and programs that will help uplift the Com-valeños’ way of life.

1001st IB facilitates‘Serbisyo Caravan’

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is pushing for the har-

monization of various policies and regulations governing the operations of fishing compa-nies as it moves to improve the labor practices in the industry.

Ofelia Domingo, DOLE Re-gion 12 director, said a joint de-partment order is being crafted by the agency to properly lay down the national govern-ment’s labor-related policies, programs and other interven-tions concerning fishing com-panies based in this city and other parts of the country.

She said such move was an offshoot of a memorandum of agreement earlier signed by DOLE, Department of Agricul-ture, Department of Transpor-tation and Communication, Bu-reau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Maritime Industry Authority, Philippine Fisheries Development Authority and the Philippine Coast Guard.

These agencies specifically recognized the need to harmo-nize their interventions at the operational, program and pol-icy levels to help address var-ious labor concerns affecting the fishing industry, she said.

Domingo said the joint department order specifically sets the “rules and regulations governing the employment and working conditions of fish-ers employed in fishing vessels engaged in commercial fishing operation.”

“It aims to harmonize laws and regulations in giving de-cent work to fishermen and ease doing business with the fishing industry,” she said in a statement.

She said the order also wants to ensure that the indus-try will remain competitive and continue to expand and grow.

DOLE’s legal department has been conducting consul-tations with various sectors regarding the provisions of the joint department order.

The agency met with mem-bers of the Soccsksargen Fed-eration of Fishing and Allied Industries Inc. (SFFAII) and

other fishing industry players here last month to introduce the proposed joint administra-tive order.

The SFFAII agreed last year to undergo an assessment by DOLE regarding the prev-alence of contractualization schemes in the operations of companies in the industry, es-pecially the “cabo” system that is prevalent in tuna fishing op-erations.

The Labor Code of the Philippines defines “cabo” as “a person or group of persons or a labor group which, in the guise of a labor organization, supplies workers to an em-ployer, with or without any monetary or other consider-ation whether in the capacity of an agent of the employer or as an ostensible independent contractor.”

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz earlier urged tuna in-dustry players here to pursue reforms in their labor prac-tices and make sure that they are aligned with international standards.

She said it is important for local tuna companies to be compliant with the labor laws to avoid possible problems lat-er on with the European Union (EU).

Baldoz warned that the country’s inclusion of its tuna products in the EU’s Gener-alized System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) list could be jeop-ardized by the prevailing ques-tionable labor practices in the tuna industry.

EU’s GSP+ mainly grants zero duty or tariff to over 6,000 eligible exports from the Phil-ippines to its member-states. It covers processed and canned-tuna products caught by 100-percent Philippine-reg-istered vessels.

The city, which is home to six of the country’s tuna can-neries, is dubbed the “Tuna Capital of the Philippines.” The industry generates annual ex-port receipts of around $350 million and directly employs about 20,000 workers. (Min-daNews)

Summer kicks off atFDCP Cinematheques

DOLE pushes improvementin fishing industry practices

FSUMMER, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 5EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMY

DAVAO City Mayor Ro-drigo Duterte shared the beacon of light to

some 1,600 graduates of the Mindanao State University-Il-igan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) in Iligan City, saying peace in a city or community generates thousands of jobs.

Duterte, donned in a toga as this year’s commencement

speaker of MSU-IIT on Tues-day, made reference to Davao City where employment rate is very high.

He cited the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) in Davao, for instance, as an in-dustry that is expected to gen-erate more than 30,000 jobs in the next year or two.

This only means that

there is even a shortage of graduates in Davao to cope with the demand, according to Duterte.

Last year, Davao City ranked first among 37 out-sourcing destinations in the Philippines, the only city out-side Metro Manila with its lo-cation even in Mindanao.

According to Tholons In-

ternational Advisory and Re-search Group, Davao City is in the top 100 cities in the world for outsourcing.

However, Duterte down-played before the crowd of close to 5,000 the economic turnaround of Davao.

It can be recalled that Davao was used to be tagged as a “killing field” in the south,

Rody: Peace generates thousands of jobsBY ROLDAN G. GORGONIO

referring to those times in the 1980s, or before Duterte took over City Hall. The unstable peace and order at that time also killed business and op-portunities.

Duterte emphasized the requirement on peace and se-curity of the people as his sim-ple formula in job generation which put his city consistently in the job market.

LASTING SOLUTIONAnd, just as Davao is en-

joying its new label as one of the world’s safest cities and where crime index is very low and crime solution efficien-cy is very high, and that it is generally safe to walk even at night, Duterte offered a last-ing solution, this time for the whole country to consider: Federalism.

Duterte posed a challenge to the graduates on what a president of the country should do to solve its prob-lems. He said most if not all of the past Philippine presidents upon leaving office (mostly due to a term expiration) had to make an address to the nation, enumerating all their accomplishments only to find out they fell short of their tar-gets.

Most of the times, he said, they leave with more prob-lems unsolved, or even made

problems worse.Duterte then turned to

the national government for its failure to address issues which narrowed down to what really ails the country.

“They sit there for years, doing nothing to fix this coun-try, to make it peaceful, and then go out the office after the term ends, or during their ten-ure, they even have aggravat-ed the situation”, Duterte said.

The shift from the present unitary type of government to federal, according to Duterte, would lessen cases of corrup-tion in the government and the problems on insurgency.

Duterte is noted to have championed peace in his city not only to have cracked down on criminals and syndicates, but he gave proper represen-tation of lumads and Muslims, especially in the crafting of laws. He appointed deputy mayors to represent all the tribes in his city.

Davao, under Duterte’s administration, is also the first city in the country to pass an Anti-Discrimination Ordinance. (Editor’s note: Roldan G. Gorgonio is one of the few volunteers of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte in his advocacy on federalism and has been joining the local chief executive in his Listening Tour)

VISIT DAVAO CAB. A black taxi sporting the Visit Davao Fun Sale logo and the Department of Tourism’s latest campaign picks up domestic visitors at The Marco Polo, Davao yesterday. A Davao City taxi company is rolling out

its black cabs sporting the Visit Davao Fun Sale logo in support of the on-going tourism and retail industries’ city-wide summer campaign. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015THE ECONOMY6 EDGEDAVAO

SECURITY Bank Cor-poration (SBC) and Security Bank Employ-

ees’ Union (SBEU-PTGWO) reached an amicable conclu-sion to the Collective Bar-

gaining Agreement (CBA) for 2014-2016, affirming the existence of a harmonious labor-management relation-ship within.

The formal signing cere-

mony, spearheaded by Man-agement Panel Chairman Joselito E. Mape and Union President Carlo Gabriel O. Ta-bia, was held at the Security Bank Head Office, Makati City.

Also present during the ceremony were SBC Execu-tive Vice Presidents Eduardo M. Olbes and Rafael S. Algar-ra, Jr. and SBC President Al-berto S. Villarosa.

FROM L-R: (seated) EVP Eduardo M. Olbes, RCMB-IVB Director Jay Jas-per B. Javines, Atty. Arnel Z. Dolendo, SBC President Alberto S. Villaro-sa, SBEU-PTGWO President Carlo Gabriel O. Tabia, Management Panel Chairman SVP Joselito E. Mape, Management Counsel Ma. Natividad A. Tankiang, RCMB-NCR Director Edgar G. Aquino, (standing) EVP Rafael

S. Algarra Jr., Angelo Bien C. Magpantay, Union Counsel Atty. Arvin C. Dolendo, Lucille Anadyl T. Fajardo, Jelly Ann B. Ybabao, SVP Belen W. Au, Juan Miguel P. Gonzalez, VP Ma. Victoria B. Dimayuga, FVP Helen L. Chua, FVP Marlette P. Brodett, Kurt Patrick B. Hernandez, Honeylet O. Paggao, FVP Dante T. Fuentes.

INDUSTRY players of spa and wellness centers in Davao City

are bullish on the market as there are indications of increasing growth in such business here.

Fides Castaneda-Ber-nabe, operator of Pres-sure Points, who is also president of Davao Spa and Wellness Association (DavWell) said they not-ed a continuing growth and the increasing num-ber of spa businesses in the city.

Bernabe is a licensed therapist with accredita-tion issued by the Depart-ment of Health (DoH) as well as holder of a certi-fication after complet-

ing a four-month course handled by the British Association of Beauty Therapy and Cosmetol-ogy through the Confed-eration of International Beauty Therapy and Cos-metology (CIBTAC).

Out of over a hundred spa businesses in Davao City, Bernabe said there are only 40 accredited members of DavWell.

Bernabe told business reporters at the Davao Business Forum at derm-Path, SM City that once a member of DavWell they must follow standards. She said DavWell make sure centers are safe, clean and also a legiti-mate business operator

with approved business permits issued by the Business Bureau.

“We wanted that the operations of all our members are legitimate,” she said.

Spa business here var-ies from small to large, she said, but no matter what size of spa one op-erates it must follow and implement the law gov-erning the spa operation.

Although they are allowed until 2017 for their therapist to comply accreditation with DOH thru a licensure exam, she said they already implemented the other requirements of their therapist having been

accredited by the Tech-nical Education School Development Authority (TESDA) and also their staff enrolled in training institutions for massage and therapy.

“I cannot speak for spa operations out-side of here but I know that Davao spas (under DavWell) obey and im-plement the laws govern-ing spa operations,” she said, adding that they do random monitoring of their member-spas.

“What is good with our association is that we help each other and agreed that we do not pi-rate workers but rather assist them to improve

on their performance,” she said.

She said availing spa services has become a lifestyle with 75 percent of spa goers are mostly males under the working class and up.

Meanwhile, Bernabe said they have joined the Visit Davao Fun Sale tak-ing the opportunity that wellness and spa is part of the destinations in Davao.

She said it will be a great exposure for them through continuing pro-motion as visitors both domestic and foreign could also avail of their promo offerings like the Madayaw Massage for

only P100 for 30 minutes.There will be oth-

er promos that our spa members offer but it varies from one spa to another. Pressure Points for instance, Bernabe said they offer massage for free for one person for a group of four. She said their client gets a welcome cold drink and a cold face towel upon arrival and once services are completed the cus-tomer is offered a hot face towel and treated to a hot tea.

Events like the Fun Sale is an avenue that will help them improve on their operation and ser-vices, she added. (PNA)

Positive growths of spa industry seen

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has released an initial

grant of P24 million for the rehabilitation and upgrad-ing of a priority farm-to-market road in Malapatan town in Sarangani Prov-ince.

Sarangani Gov. Steve Chiongbian Solon said Tuesday the grant will fund the initial phase of the 8.1-kilometer Lun Mas-la-Kinam road concreting project in Malapatan.

Such funding will be utilized for a 2.6-kilometer stretch of the road, which leads to vast agricultural production areas in Baran-

gay Kinam and other up-land villages in Malapatan, he said.

“We’re very grateful to the national government for this grant as it will help a lot in the development of the area,” the governor said.

Solon said the DA ap-proved such funding under the infrastructure devel-opment component of its food security program.

He said the project will mainly be funded by the DA grant and additional counterpart funds from the municipal and provin-cial governments.

It will be supervised

by the provincial govern-ment, through the Pro-vincial Engineer’s Office (PEO), in coordination with the DA.

Engr. Jerry Belbider, Sarangani PEO head, said the DA regional office has already approved the proj-ect’s plan and issued a certification regarding the availability of the allotted funds.

He said the project’s bidding was conducted last week by DA Region 12 in Koronadal City.

“We will implement the project as soon as its contract is finalized and awarded to the winning

bidder,” he said.Aside from the food

security grant, Belbider said they have submitted a proposal to DA for an addi-tional P50-million funding to facilitate the completion of the road project.

He said they specifical-ly sought for the inclusion of the project into the in-frastructure development component of the Philip-pine Rural Development Program.

Belbider said the addi-tional funding will cover for the concreting of the remaining 5.5 kilometers of the road project. (Min-daNews)

Security Bank concludes CBA negotiations with union

PHILIPPINE merchan-dise exports recorded a 3.1-percent decline

in February 2015 on account of lower sales in agro-based products, manufactures, and petroleum products, accord-ing to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

The Philippine Statistics Authority reported today that total revenue from Philippine exports reached US$4.5 billion in February 2015, down from US$4.7 billion in the same pe-riod last year.

“Majority of the major economies in East and South-east Asia registered negative export performance in Febru-ary 2015, with only PR (Peo-ple’s Republic) China in the positive territory. This partly mirrors the still fragile global economy, which is particular-ly reflected in the country’s

weak turnout of merchandise exports on the back of lower demand from the country’s major trade partners, Japan and China,” said Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan.

Among major commod-ity items that contributed to the lower exports outturn are agro-based products and man-ufactures, which recorded sig-nificant declines in shipments to Japan and PR China.

During the period, total export revenues from agro-based products contracted by 20.1 percent, driven by lower earnings from fruits and veg-etables, sugar products, and other agro-based products. This amounted to US$327.0 million in February 2015, lower by 20.1 percent from US$409.4 million in the same month of last year.

SUN Life Asset Manage-ment Company, Inc. (SLAMCI) is marking a

milestone this 2015 as it cele-brates its 15th anniversary in the industry.

Currently the largest non-bank affiliated asset management company in the Philippines today with almost Php 47 Billion in assets un-der management (AUM) as of December 2014, SLAMCI has gone a long way since it started its operations in 2000 with three funds totaling just over Php 150 Million in AUM. It now manages eight funds collectively called the Sun Life Prosperity Funds: Bond Fund, Balanced Fund, Equity Fund, Money Market Fund, GS (gov-ernment securities) Fund, Dollar Advantage Fund, Dollar Abundance Fund, and Dynam-ic Fund.

“We’re extremely proud

of what our company has achieved in the past 15 years in serving the Filipinos, be-cause it shows how we’re able to help bring them closer to achieving prosperity and fi-nancial security,” said SLAMCI President Valerie N. Pama.

SLAMCI has pioneered several firsts in the industry such as introducing the Money Market Fund with zero sales load, creating the first ever television commercial on mu-tual funds, holding financial planning sessions, and launch-ing exciting investor promos year after year.

Today, the company con-tinues to innovate and im-prove. Through its 2,449 fi-nancial advisors and 10 bank partners, SLAMCI’s number of active clients has grown to 60,776 as of December 2014 – marking a 21% growth versus

P24M alloted for farm-to-market road rehab

Phl exports decline

SLAMCI vow: Reachout to more Filipinos

FSLAMCI, 10

FPHL, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 7EDGEDAVAO

SCITECHUnderstanding acid rain

By HENRYLITO D. TACIO

A DAY after an 8.9-mag-nitude earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, the

Fukushima power station ex-ploded. Warnings of radioactive clouds and acid rains were circu-lated through text messages.

Government officials im-mediately stamped down the public’s fears. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Adminis-tration (PAGASA) said there was no basis for such claims.

“The winds from Japan are moving away from us. It’s not true that these winds contain acid rain,” PAGASA forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said in an inter-view on dzBB radio

A bulletin, which was re-leased after a second explosion at the Fukushima plant, gave this assurance: “Based on (our) monitoring, there has been no increase in the levels of radio-activity since the time of the Fukushima event.”

Acidic rain was discovered in 1853 but it was not until the late 1960s that scientists started widely observing and studying

the phenomenon. In 1872, the term “acid rain” was coined by Robert Angus Smith.

Acid rain was first reported in the Scandinavian countries, then in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada, and finally in northern Europe. In subsequent years, it became apparent in Japan, Taiwan, and China and in some parts of Southeast Asia.

Public awareness of acid rain in the United States increased in the 1970s after The New York Times published reports from the Hubbard Brook Experimen-tal Forest in New Hampshire of the myriad deleterious environ-mental effects shown to result from it.

Asia is not spared from it. A report released by the Washing-ton, D.C.-based World Resources Institute (WRI) in 2001, pointed out: “The dimensions of the acid rain problem are growing rap-idly in Asia, with sulfur dioxide emissions expected to as much as triple from 1990 levels by 2010 if current trends continue.”

Acid rains refers to all types

of precipitation -- rain, snow, sleet, hail, fog -- that is acidic in nature. Acidic means that these forms of water have a pH lower than the average 5.6 average in rainwater.

Science tells us that the acid in acid rain comes from two kinds of air pollutants -- sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. These are emitted primarily from utility and smelter “smoke stacks” and automobile, truck and bus exhausts, but they also come from burning wood. When these pollutants reach the atmo-sphere, they undergo chemical reactions.

“The sulphur dioxide is oxi-dized to sulphur trioxide, which then dissolves in water droplets to form sulfuric acid,” explain Pe-nelope ReVelle and Charles ReV-elle, authors of The Environment: Issues and Choices for Society. “Nitric oxide is oxidized to ni-trogen dioxide, which dissolves in water droplets to form nitric acid.”

These two acids -- sulfuric acid and nitric acid -- as well as salts of these acids are respon-sible for acid rain. The more of these acids that are present in the atmosphere, the more acidic the rainwater becomes.

Wikipedia says the principal cause of acid rain is sulfur and ni-trogen compounds coming from human sources. These include electricity generation, factories, and motor vehicles. “Electrical power complexes utilizing coal are among the greatest contrib-utors to gaseous pollutions that are responsible for acidic rain,” it says. “The gases can be carried hundreds of kilometers in the atmosphere before they are con-verted to acids and deposited.”

Acid rain affects lakes,

streams, rivers, bays, ponds and other bodies of water by in-creasing their acidity until fish and other aquatic creatures can no longer liver. In Sweden, Nor-way, and eastern North America, commercial and sport fishing have suffered as fish populations have declined or disappeared.

According to a handbook for journalists, Reporting on the En-vironment, aquatic plants grow best between pH 7.0 and 9.2. As acidity increases, submerged aquatic plants decrease, depriv-ing waterfowl of their basic food sources. At pH 6.0, freshwater shrimp cannot survive. At pH 5.5, bottom-dwelling bacterial decomposers begin to die and leave undecomposed leaf-litter and other organic debris to col-lect on the bottom.

“This deprives plankton -- tiny creatures that form the base of the aquatic food chain -- of food, so that they too disappear. Below a pH of about 4.5, all fish die,” the handbook points out.

Acid rain harms more than aquatic life. It also harms vegeta-tion. The great forests of Germa-ny and elsewhere in Western Eu-rope, for instance, are believed to be dying because of acid rain. Scientists believe that acid rain damages the protective waxy coating of leaves and allows ac-ids to diffuse into them, which interrupts the evaporation of water and gas exchange so that the plant no longer can breathe.

“This stops the plant’s con-version of nutrients and wa-ter into a form useful for plant growth and affects crop yields,” the handbook says.

Perhaps the most important effects of acid rain on forests may result from nutrient leach-ing, accumulation of toxic metals

and the release of toxic alumi-num. Nutrient leaching occurs when acid rain adds hydrogen ions to the soil, which interact chemically with existing miner-als. This displaces calcium, mag-nesium and potassium from soil particles and deprives trees of nutrition.

Toxic metals such as lead, zinc, copper, chromium, and aluminum are deposited in the forest from the atmosphere. The acid rain releases these met-als and they stunt the growth of trees and other plants and also that of mosses, algae, ni-trogen-fixing bacteria and fungi needed for forest growth.

Directly, acid rain does not affect human health. The acid in the rainwater is too dilute to have direct adverse effects. “Howev-er, the particulates responsible for acid rain (sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides) do have an ad-verse effect. Increased amounts of fine particulate matter in the air do contribute to heart and lung problems including asthma and bronchitis,” notes the US En-vironmental Protection Agency.

Unknowingly, acid rain can damage buildings, historic mon-uments, and statues, especially those made of rocks, such as limestone and marble, that con-tain large amounts of calcium carbonate. Acids in the rain re-act with the calcium compounds in the stones to create gypsum, which then flakes off.

Acid rain has no respect for boundaries of states or nations. Great Britain and northern Eu-rope export acid rain to Sweden and Norway. Emissions in the United States contribute to acid rain in Canada, and Canada do-nates emissions that produce acid rain in the United States.

A coal-fired Gavin Power Plant in Ohio. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A statue damaged by acid rain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 20158 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

Let the debate beginEDITORIAL

DISCUSSIONS in media forums on the proposal to legalize divorce in the Philippines have started.

Right here in Davao City, at least two party-list representatives have expressed opposing views on the matter.

Rep. Soilvestre “Bebot” H. Bello III of Una Ang Barangay Ating Paunlar-in (1BAP) Party-list told Davao media practitioners he is against the pro-posal because it will trivialize the institution of marriage in our country.

The proponent of House Bill 1799 is no less than Bello’s fellow Davao lawmaker, Rep. Luzviminda C. Ilagan of GABRIELA (General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action) Paty-list.

Once allowed, Bello said divorce will encourage and promote promis-cuity among couples. But, of course, congresswoman Ilagan would have nothing of Bebot’s argument.

Ilagan and another GABRIELA party-list lawmaker, Rep. Emerenciana A. de Jesus, collaborated in the revival of divorce as an idea, which had surfaced as early as 1988.

In filing HB 1799, Ilagan and de Jesus stated in their explanatory note that a law legalizing divorce is “a way of protecting and strengthening marriage and the family as basic social institutions, to value the dignity of every human person, to guarantee full respect for human rights, and

to ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men.”They said that couples must have the option to avail themselves of

remedies that will pave the way for the attainment of the fulfillment and the protection of their human rights.

The party-list lawmakers said that existing laws like the Family Code, which allows annulment of marriage, are not enough to guarantee and protect their rights.

Bello is not alone in being against the bill. There are many other mem-bers of the current Congress who are against the idea.

Fortunately or unfortunate for the protagonists, a recent opinion sur-vey conducted by Social Weather Stations indicated that a majority of people interviewed is in favor of the divorce proposal.

The opinion survey results clearly points to the fact that it is now high time to begin a national debate on this contentious issue. The House of Representatives where the proposal was born more a decade ago should initiate the debate by acting on the house bill of Ilagan and de Jesus.

After debating on divorce, maybe Congress can likewise consider an-other controversial proposal of GABRIELA, that is to decriminalize adul-tery and concubinage. This is a proposal

vehemently opposed by the Church as expressed by the Catholic Bish-ops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

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

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

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EDGEDAVAOProviding solutions to a seamless global village.

ANTONIO M. AJEROEditor in Chief

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Columnists: CARLOS MUNDA • HENRYLITO TACIO • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • GREGORIO G. DELIGERO Economic Analysts: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG

LEANDRO S. DAVAL JR. PhotographyARLENE D. PASAJE

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FUNNY PEARL GAJUNERACHA MONFORTE

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VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

RECENTLY, three elderly Filipinos – who were former classmates when they were still young – got together. They were re-

laxing in the shade of a mango tree and philos-ophizing. One was a well-known politician, an-other was a university professor, and the third was a simple farmer.

All three were dreaming about what they would love to have the following day. The pol-itician said all he would like were two things: a new car that will bring him to a white-sand beach. The professor said he wanted a cup of hot coffee and spend the day reading a nice book at the library.

The farmer said he did not want anything special for tomorrow, but just the regular things that happened everyday, like the sun-rise, crops growing well, and birds nesting and singing in his fruit trees.

That night, a strong earthquake rocked the province. It smashed the politician’s new car. As for the professor, his dream was also shattered: all the cups were broken and the library full of books burnt down.

But the farmer’s wishes were not in the least affected by the tremor. The sun rose as usual, the crops were growing well, and the birds nested and sang in the branches of his fruit trees.

“Happy is the man who does not dream great things for the future but takes each day as a present from the hand of God,” so goes a Chinese saying. “All presents are good.”

Happiness, at best, is an illusory goal.

“ H a p p i n e s s is not a desti-nation; it is a manner of trav-eling,” Haim Ginott said. “It is not an end in itself. It is a by-product of working, play-ing, loving, and living.”

Who are happy? Jane Canfield an-swered it well: “The happiest people are rarely the richest, or the most beautiful, or even the most talented. Happy people do not depend on excitement and ‘fun’ supplied by externals. They enjoy the fundamental, often very simple, things of life. They waste no time thinking other pastures are greener; they do not yearn for yesterday or tomorrow. They savor the moment, glad to be alive, enjoying their work, their families, the good things around them. They are adaptable they can bend with the wind, adjust to the changes in their times, enjoy the contests of life, and feel themselves in harmony with the world.”

Despite this, people are searching for the elusive happiness. Where is it? You can’t find it in pleasure. Lord Byron lived a life of plea-sure, if anyone did. He wrote: “The worm, the canker, and the grief are mine alone.”

Happiness can be found in wealth. Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plen-ty of that. When dying, he said: “I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth.” Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of position and fame. But both didn’t make him happy. “Youth is a mistake; manhood, a strug-gle; old age, a regret,” he wrote.

You won’t even find real happiness in military glory. Alexander the Great con-quered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept, because, he said, “There are no more worlds to conquer.”

A sick man asked a philosopher to write some inspirational thought that could be treasured from generation to generation. So the wise man wrote: “Father dies, son dies, grandson dies.”

The sick man, who was also very rich, was upset at the words and complained, “Is that what you call a happy message for my family?”

The philosopher replied, “If your grand-son would die before you and your son, you would be broken-hearted. If your family dies in the order I have written down, isn’t that prosperity and happiness?”

Happiness comes not from having much to live on but having much for live for.

Once upon a time, there was a man who had grown weary of life. So, one day, he decid-ed to leave his own hometown to search for the perfect Magical City where all would be different, new, full, and rewarding. So he left

without saying goodbye to anyone.On his journey, he found himself in a for-

est. As he settled down for the night, he was careful to take off his shoes and point them in the new direction toward which he was going. However, unknown to him, while he was sleeping, an animal happened to turn his shoes around. When the man awoke the next morning, he carefully stepped into his shoes and continued his journey to the Magical City.

After the few days, he finally came to the city he was looking for. Not quite as large as he had imagined it would be, however. In fact, it looked somewhat familiar. He found a fa-miliar street, knocked at a familiar door, meet a familiar family he found there – and lived happily ever after.

The search for happiness, someone once said, is one of the chief sources of unhappi-ness. Just think how happy you’d be if you lost everything you have right now – family, job, position, friends, home, etc. – and then got them back again.

Here’s a recipe for happiness: Take equal parts of faith and courage, mix well with a sense of humor, sprinkle with a few tears, and add a helping of kindness for others. Bake in a good-natured oven and dust with laughter. Scrape away any self-indulgence that is apparent and serve with generous blessings.

Much happiness is oftentimes over-looked simply because it doesn’t cost any-thing.

What is happiness?

Henrylito D. Taciohenrytacio@gmail.com

THINK ON THESE!

IT’S unfortunate for our electorate that the days of formal political parties seem to be gone. As we approach the 2016 elections,

party labels still survive in people’s memories, but not what they stand for.

For example, name any group today that claims it is a political party. (Nacionalista, Lib-eral, Lakas-NUCD, UNA, KBL, KAMPI, whatev-er.) Now, explain what it stands for, its platform, and how it differs from the others.

If this were a quiz, most people would flunk it.

Or try a simpler question: what party sports the slogan “Matuwid na Daan” as its overarching platform? Now, explain what it means and how it applies to any aspect of gov-ernance. Not so easy, no?

*****Political parties are important. They are a

political system’s quality-control mechanism. They recruit and nominate candidates for pub-lic office. They screen them for qualification or fitness for public service.

In their role of providing a platform of government, then championing it and the pro-grams that actualize it, parties are essential for translating public preferences into public pol-icy.

They also help organize the competition during elections—by mobilizing citizens who support their platform and candidates, by reg-istering and activating voters, campaigning, and providing resources to candidates.

Parties are important for sensitizing the citizenry to public issues that should concern them or that affect the wellbeing of their com-munity.

*****By far the most crucial task of a political

party is nominating candidates; not just nom-inating them any old way but openly, properly, fairly, and honestly as befits the rubric of de-mocracy.

The PROPER way to nominate candidates democratically is through a PARTY CONVEN-TION attended by accredited delegates; dele-gates usually chosen by members of local chap-ters in villages, towns, or cities.

And this is the crux of the problem. Hold-ing a convention presupposes having bona fide members—whose rank and file constitutes its pool of potential candidates, plus delegates who vote to ratify the standard bearers.

Since the so-called parties today are really just personal election vehicles and not pub-lic-interest associations, they have no bona fide members to speak of, which is why they’re not receptive to debates or exchanges with other candidates or “parties”.

*****With no dues-paying members and no

properly-screened or accredited delegates, they can’t rightly hold a convention. How would they determine who attends, who speaks, who votes on motions, or who acts for the party?

That’s why all we hear are talking heads that claim to be a spokesman for this or that politico. They’re really paid mouthpieces or ac-complices to a conspiracy to win office in con-

sideration of lucrative positions in the event of victory at the polls.

Without an honest-to-goodness party convention—with platforms openly debated and nominations openly voted on, guess what happens? The alleged political party falls back on a deep-pocketed oligarch with vested inter-est—usually his interest in becoming the stan-dard-bearer.

It’s no secret that such oligarchs serve as substitutes for a real political party. Without real “party members” and no dues collected, the oligarch’s money and organization pro-vides the necessary logistics—with him calling the shots as “party leader” or standard-bearer, of course.

*****And that’s what obtains among the nation’s

so-called political parties today. The “party leader” as its financier, lead fundraiser, or the conduit of funds received from alleged contrib-utors.

This reality, along with its shady characters (remember Pwersa ng Masa, Jose Velarde, and Jaime Dichaves?), has bastardized our party system. Even the so-called “party list” groups are co-conspirators to the perpetuation of this ugly reality.

So flagrant and shame-faced has this reali-ty become that some party “leaders” don’t even bother to pretend that their “party” is anything more than a personal vehicle for election. It’s not even clear how they got to be party “leader” since no party convention takes place anymore.

Thus, sporting the name of a party today means almost nothing, merely a label. Except for one or two groups, none even pretend to

recruit, organize, or conduct party-building activities any more. It’s not even a team that moves around since it’s mainly the so-called party leaders and their close-in operatives who are visible.

*****Gone are the days when pursuing political

objectives was a team effort—the team formed for their sterling reputation, their public ser-vice record, or their learning.

To be sure, there are a few groups that in-sist they are real parties. Of course they’ll insist; no one cobbles a group together with great ado and expense, then admit it is fake.

Such groups should produce their lists of members and chapters and programs of gov-ernment. It’s a free country, a democracy, but no one should be free to fool people and get a free ride on bogus claims of legitimacy.

And do be wary, because as in much of the manufacturing industry today, where robots replace people on the factory floor, politics today can be played by proxies, puppets, and robots deployed by well-financed political ma-chines. And remember: there are still billions of cash that are unaccounted and are capable of financing grand deceptions.

(Manny is former UNESCO regional director for Asia-Pacific; secretary-general, Southeast Asia Publishers Association; director, develop-ment academy of Philippines; member, Philip-pine Mission to the UN; vice chair, Local Gov-ernment Academy; member, Cory Government’s Peace Panel; awardee, PPI-UNICEF outstanding columnist. An author of books on governance, he is chairman/convenor of Gising Barangay Move-ment Inc. valdehuesa@gmail.com)

The demise of real political parties

BY MANNY VALDEHUESA

THE WORM’S EYEVIEW

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015EDGEDAVAO10 NEWSCMO... FROM 2

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in which the 2,500 regular em-ployees of the city government will be given P20,000 each.

The Sangguniang Panlung-sod (SP) is allocated P27.65 million which is intended for the payment of the prior year’s obligation and augmentation budget for this year.

The City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) has a proposed ap-propriation of P16.023 million. Of this, P14.560 million goes to the payment of hauling ser-vices for the months of Novem-ber and December last year.

P710,419 is allocated for the payment of gasoline con-sumption during the month of December 2014.

The development fund got a total allocation of P203.326

million which is funded from the reversion of this year’s P154.1 million and from the last year’s P9.3 million appro-priation.

The city also transferred P39.895 million from general fund to development fund as requested by the barangay of-ficials and various offices and departments.

The source of funds came from the P248.931 million saving from general fund and economic enterprise as well as P215.315 million reversions from the various appropria-tions of this year and last year.

The proposed resolution for the passage of SB 2 was already approved on second reading in last Tuesday’s regu-lar session.

He described Estrada as difficult to be replaced in the rebel movement given his re-sponsibility in handling the ed-ucation of both members and sympathizers.

“His arrest is a big blow to the rebel leadership in arous-

ing and mobilizing their sym-pathizers,” Lacambra said.

He said the respondent are now detained at the stockade of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group pending further investigation. (PIA 11-Joey Sem G. Dalumpines)

MONUMENT TO HEROES. Teenagers walk by the monument at Jones Circle along Roxas Avenue and C. Bangoy Street in Davao City yester-day which was already cleaned up in preparation for today’s Araw ng

Kagitingan celebration. The monument is dedicated to the men and women who sacrificed their lives for the country’s freedom during World War 2.

Earnings from exported manufactured goods also de-clined by 1.8 percent record-ing US$3.8 billion in Febru-ary 2015 from US$3.9 billion in February 2014. This is due to lower receipts from wood manufactures, machinery and transport equipment, and other manufactures.

“The recorded contrac-tions in these manufactured commodities slightly out-weighed the year-on-year gains in the value of elec-tronic products, most nota-bly of semiconductors, gar-ments, and chemicals,” he said.

Similarly, lower export volume and the plummet-ing global prices of crude oil continue to drag revenues from petroleum products, which contracted by 51.5 percent during the period.

Meanwhile, mineral products posted a 7.1 per-cent increase in outward sales due to higher ship-ments of copper metal, gold, and iron ore agglomerates.

“While this strain and moderation in Philippine exports is expected and was noted last month, now is the high time to be vigilant,” said Balisacan, who is also NEDA Director-General.

“Forward estimates of manufacturing activity for both Japan and China sug-gest another slowdown in March. Global commodity prices also continue to de-cline, potentially reducing revenues from agro-based and mineral exports in the succeeding period,” he add-ed.

In this regard, the Cabi-net official stressed the need to diligently monitor poten-tial external shocks that can negatively affect the coun-try’s trade performance. The government will also benefit from intensifying its efforts in expanding its market base for agro-based products.

“Further improvements in infrastructure and logis-tics should also continue to support the export manu-facturing sector. Likewise, concerns on the stability of power supply should be ad-dressed,” said Balisacan.

Japan remained as the top destination of Philip-pine-made goods account-ing for 20.9 percent of total revenues from merchandise exports during the period. The USA continues to be in the second spot with 16.2 percent share, and PR China with 9.9 percent.

the previous year.SLAMCI also made a new

record when it launched the Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund last year, which gener-ated Php 2.8 Billion in gross sales in only a month’s time. Meanwhile, as of November 2014, its Balanced Fund re-mains to be the largest mutual fund in the country.

As it celebrates its 15th an-niversary alongside the 120th anniversary of its parent com-pany Sun Life of Canada (Phil-ippines), Inc., SLAMCI will be rolling out several initiatives in line with its mission of help-ing clients achieve prosperity. “Distribution channels are set to be expanded further, new products will be developed and launched in the market, more financial planning ses-sions and investment forums

will be held, and the compa-ny’s digital presence and on-line capabilities will also be strengthened,” Pama shared.

Among the initial offer-ings are the Invest for Re-wards promo, wherein inves-tors will be rewarded with credits to top online mer-chants; and the partnership with COL Financial, wherein five (5) of the Sun Life Pros-perity Funds will be made available to internet-savvy investors.

“SLAMCI welcomes the opportunity and the chal-lenge to reach out to even more Filipinos and help them discover the significant ben-efits that investing offers,” Pama said. “On our 15th year, we remain committed and inspired to be our best for the people we serve.”

mental group Third World Network noted that the agri-cultural use of glyphosate has increased sharply since the introduction of crops which have been genetically modi-fied to make them resistant to glyphosate. In a briefing paper, TWN said glyphosate “is also used in forestry, ur-ban and home applications. It has been detected in the air during spraying, in water, and in food.”

Fuertes said worldwide, Brazil, El Salvador, and Sri Lanka are already considering a ban on this chemical, citing the danger it poses to agricul-tural lands.

In Mindanao, the use of glyphosate is linked to the production of RR corn. Corn farmers use glyphosate in conjunction with the plant-ing of Monsanto’s Round up Ready corn which has been genetically modified to with-stand the herbicide.

Fuertes said there is cur-rently no available data on

RR corn production and gly-phosate use in Davao City but reiterated the need for local government agencies to take a proactive stance on this is-sue to protect the health of farmers and the watersheds.

“Farmers need to be aware of the dangers of using this herbicide. The Fertilizers and Pesticide Authority (FPA) should cancel the registration of this pesticide and manufac-turers should recall the stocks that have already been dis-tributed to their outlets. Sim-ilarly, we urge distributors to stop selling herbicides which use glyphosate as an active in-gredient,” she said.

“The City Agriculturist’s Office should also step up the implementation of its organic agriculture program so that farmers will have an alternative. Organic corn is a high-value crop; farmers stand to gain more if they shift to organic corn produc-tion,” she added. CHENEEN R. CAPON

(DFA) to provide the Lower Chamber with information re-garding the name indicated on his passport.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita De-les, for her part, affirmed that Iqbal uses a Philippine pass-port issued by the DFA in leav-ing and entering the country.

Earlier, Professor Miriam Coronel Ferrer, chair of the government peace panel, ad-mitted Iqbal is using an alias

but she declined from divulg-ing his real name.

Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles took issue with Iqbal’s use of pseud-onyms, saying the use of pseudonyms in any public transaction or document is prohibited under Article 178 of the Revised Penal Code and the Anti-Alias Law un-der Commonwealth Act 142 as amended by Republic Act 6085. (PNA)

has already recommended to the Department of Agriculture regional office for the conduct of cloud seeding operations to induce rains in the province.

Aside from costly, the

cloud seeding could not be done anytime and anywhere.

“The problem is no ‘seed-able clouds’ in the province to conduct cloud seeding opera-tions,” Mangliwan said. (PNA)

and men.”They said that couples

must have the option to avail themselves of remedies that will pave the way for the at-tainment of the fulfillment and the protection of their human rights.

The party-list lawmakers said that existing laws like the

Family Code, which allows an-nulment of marriage, are not enough to guarantee and pro-tect their rights.

A recent opinion survey of the Social Weather Stations in-dicated that majority of those interviewed is in favor of Con-gress enacting a law legalizing divorce.

At the 9th Cinemalaya, “Purok 7” was nominat-ed for Best First Narrative Feature. Among its honors abroad, it won Best Film at Lucas International Festi-vals of Films for Children and Young People, and was nominated for Break-through Performance by an Actress from the Golden Screen Awards Philippines, Best Director at the Ham-burg Film Festival, and Best First Narrative Feature from the Calgary International Film Festival.

In “Mayohan,” director Dan Villegas takes us into the world of the town Infan-ta, Quezon, during the May festivities celebrating the Blessed Virgin Mary. A teen travels with his aunt to the town to partake in the cel-ebrations but is caught off guard when he falls in love with a young woman and must participate in the pa-sayaw, or dance finale, with her. The duo gets caught up

in the energy of the event and the flush of first love while accepting the lessons of growing up.

During the 6th Cine-malaya in the New Breed category, the film won Best Screenplay, Best Cinematog-raphy, Best Musical Score, and Best Actress (Lovi Poe), and was nominated for Best Film. At the 2011 Star Awards, “Mayohan” was nominated for Digital Movie of the Year, Digital Movie Di-rector of the Year, and Digital Movie Original Screenplay of the Year, among any others.

For screening times, admission fees and further information on the featured films, visit the respective Cienmatheque facebook pages or get in touch via call or text: Cinematheque Iloilo 033 335 0543, Cine-matheque Baguio 0905 330 9829, Cinematheque Davao 082 282 4579, and Cinema-theque Zamboanga 0905 171 2418.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 11EDGEDAVAO

ICT HUB

A NEW inexpensive aluminum battery that could charge

cellphones in just one min-

ute has been developed by Stanford scientists.

The new aluminum battery is much safer

than existing lithium-ion and alkaline batteries in wide use today and does not catch fire, researchers

SMART Communications (Smart), through its sat-ellite services arm, was

recently cited by the Filipi-no Association for Mariner’s Employment, Inc. (FAME) for its long-standing support to Filipino seafarers and the country’s maritime industry.

FAME is the largest or-ganization of manning agen-cies and shipping companies in the Philippines with 127 members, accounting for 75 percent of the annual mar-itime employment in the country.

In celebration of its 40th year, FAME recognized Smart for its “valuable support and exceptional generosity to programs contributing to the growth and development of the Philippine seafaring and maritime industry.”

Smart is the only telco recognized at the event, at-tended by the biggest names in the Philippine maritime industry, and graced by rep-resentatives from the De-partment of Labor and Em-ployment and the Philippine Overseas Employment.

“We are deeply honored and inspired by this recogni-tion. Indeed, Smart Satellite Services has led not only in supporting relevant pro-grams that honor Filipino seafarers, but has also pio-neered in providing afford-able and reliable commu-nication services that allow them to stay in touch with their families,” said Tina Z. Mariano, Smart Global Access Head.

“We look forward to

Smart feted for supporting seafarers

New battery charges phones in 60 seconds

providing more of these ser-vices and supporting more of FAME’s efforts, which are es-sential in boosting the morale of our mariners, who com-prise 35 percent of the global seafaring workforce – a fact that our whole nation should take pride in,” she added.

Smart Satellite Services has been actively deploying Smart Marino PhonePal ter-

minals in vessels carrying Filipino crew across Asia-Pa-cific, Europe, Africa, Australia and the Middle East.

With Smart Marino Pho-nePal, seafarers can call their family even while they are sailing at an affordable rate of P18 per minute for PLDT, Smart, Sun and Talk ‘N Text subscribers, and P30 per minute for other mobile net-

works.Smart is able to deliver

this wide and reliable satel-lite service because of its stra-tegic deal with world-leading mobile satellite services pro-vider Thuraya Telecommu-nications Company, whose coverage includes two-thirds of the world or around 140 countries and major sea lanes around the world.

Aside from Marino Pho-nePal, Smart also offers Ma-rino TextMate, a special SIM that allows seafarers and crew members to send to and receive text messages from the Philippines at very affordable rates, even when they are off-vessel in foreign ports, anchorages or wherev-er there is GSM signal.

Using the special SIM,

seafarers may send a text message to their loved ones for only P2 for Smart, Sun and Talk ‘N Text numbers, and P4.50 for other net-works.

In 2014, there were about 363,000 Filipino sea-farers deployed across the world, according to the Phil-ippine Overseas Employ-ment Administration.

said. “We have developed a

rechargeable aluminum battery that may replace existing storage devices, such as alkaline batteries, which are bad for the envi-ronment, and lithium-ion batteries, which occasion-ally burst into flames,”

said Hongjie Dai, a pro-fessor of chemistry

at Stanford Uni-versity. “Our

new battery won’t catch fire, even if you drill through it,”

said Dai. Aluminum

has long been an attractive ma-

terial for batteries, mainly because of its low cost,

low flammabil-ity and high-charge stor-age capacity. An alumi-n u m - i o n battery con-sists of two

electrodes: a negatively charged anode made of aluminum and a positively charged cathode.

“People have tried dif-ferent kinds of materials for the cathode,” Dai said. “We accidentally discov-ered that a simple solution is to use graphite, which is basically carbon. In our study, we identified a few types of graphite material that give us very good per-formance,” said Dai.

The team placed the aluminum anode and graphite cathode, along with an ionic liquid elec-trolyte, inside a flexible polymer-coated pouch.

“The electrolyte is basi-cally a salt that’s liquid at room temperature, so it’s very safe,” said Stanford graduate student Ming Gong, co-lead author of the study.

Aluminum batteries are safer than convention-al lithium-ion batteries used in millions of laptops and cell phones today, Dai added.

Smartphone owners know it can take hours to charge a lithium-ion bat-tery. But the team reported “unprecedented charging times” of down to one minute with the aluminum prototype.

Aluminum batteries developed at other labo-ratories usually died after just 100 charge-discharge cycles. But the Stanford battery was able to with-stand more than 7,500 cycles without any loss of capacity.

“This was the first time an ultra-fast alu-minum-ion battery was constructed with stability over thousands of cycles,” researchers said.

“Another feature of the aluminum battery is flexi-bility. You can bend it and fold it, so it has the poten-tial for use in flexible elec-tronic devices. Aluminum is also a cheaper metal than lithium,” Gong said.

The study was pub-lished in the journal Na-ture.

The Filipino Association for Mariner’s Employment (FAME) acknowledged the contribution of the satellite services unit of Smart Communications to the maritime industry. In the photo are FAME President Capt. Emmanuel Regio, Labor Undersecretary Reydeluz Conferido and Smart Head of Global Access Tina Z. Mariano.

Goodbye to lithium in batteries

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 201512 CLASSIFIED

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

EDGEDAVAO

Bistro Rosario’s‘WORKS OF

AARTS’

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015

EDGEDAVAOINdulge! FOOD

WHEN it comes to delicious cakes and pastries, nothing comes close to the co-loured history of Bistro Rosario in Duri-anburg. Established in 1989 by the Lizada family who also runs Harana, Peter Pan Bakeshop, and Sarung Banggi restau-rants, Bistro Rosario has been, and still is, one of the go-to places to have cake, coffee and tea.

Pastry chef Jan Willem Jansen and Bistro Rosario’s Amylou Lizada-Aarts prepare tasting portions of the dessets.

Last March 25 saw the beginning of a new era for Bistro Rosario as it launched its new line of artisan pastries as well as new and better cakes and I was lucky enough to be invited to have a taste. Tapping the expertise of award-winning Dutch pastry chef Jan Willem Jansen, the new line of desserts feature artfully crafted chocolates and mousse paired with fresh, top-quality local produce. Called ‘Works of Aarts’ after the family name of Amylou Lizada-Aarts, the new desserts use creative combinations that wake up the senses. One of the desserts that I loved was the Spar-kly White Chocolate that featured a luxuriously smooth white choco-late and vanilla mousse, brightened up by a layer of tart raspberry that was perfect with a cup of tea. Another creation that I loved was the Radiant Hazelnut that features a multitude of components such as a milk hazelnut glaze, a creamy hazelnut mousse, almond biscuit, and finished with a cala-mansi pearl. Chocolate lovers will definitely adore the Choc-olate Carree which is made of layers of choco-

late, an almond biscuit, a coffee mousse, and a base layer of chocolate cake which pairs well with a cup of freshly brewed black coffee. When asked which of the creations was her fa-vourite, Amylou Lizada-Aarts revealed that her favourite is the Brilliant Raspberry, a dessert made of layers of raspberry mousse, lemon mousse, almond biscuit, and a crumble bottom. “We had always wanted to bring to Davao an-other level of pastries that would normally be found in Europe,” said Amylou,

“and with these Works of Aarts, we believe we have achieved that.” And from the taste and looks of things, I believe Bistro Rosario is still on the cut-ting edge of sweets in Du-rianburg. The Works of Aarts pastries are available daily at Bistro Rosario along Torres Street. Prices are affordable and range from Php150 to Php175 per sin-gle serve order. Follow me on Instagram or on Twitter at @kenneth-kingong for more travel stories, foodie finds, and happenings in, around, and beyond Durianburg.

Briliant Raspberry.

Caribe Pearl.

Radiant Hazelnut. Sparkly White Chocolate.

Pastry chef Jan Willem Jansen.

Easter funtasy at the Waterfront Insular Davao EASTER SUNDAY is the culmination of the Holy Week. The day of our Lord’s rising. It is the time when we come together in cel-ebration, and what better way to do so than at Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao’s Easter Sunday Specials?

A2 INdulge! VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015EDGEDAVAO

LOOKING FORWARD to your summer get-away with family and friends? If you’re a Smart Bro subscriber, you have a chance to capture and instantly print your fun mo-ments with a cool Fujifilm Instax Mini 25 camera, by join-ing Smart’s “Capture Your Adventure” pro-mo. Smart and Fujifilm will give away 72 units of the Fujifilm Instax Mini 25 to prepaid and postpaid Smart Bro subscribers who will use Smart’s self-care channels from April 8 to June 30, 2015. To join the promo,

you first need to register your Smart Bro number either by visiting www.smart.com.ph/capture or texting the following syntax to 6771: CAPTURE <space> Name/Com-plete Address/Age/e-mail address/Smart Bro number (Example: CAP-TURE Lia Cortez/42 Palm Ave., Makati City/24/lia.cortez03@yahoo.com / 09493857417) You can then earn raf-fle entries by completing one or more of the fol-lowing self-care transac-tions: Texting SAGOTAGAD <space> BRO to 888, to learn more about Smart Bro products and pro-

mos Using Smart’s cus-tomer service portal (my.smart.com.ph) to enroll for eStatements, view your bills in the past 12 months, or inquire about your prepaid balance. Paying your Smart Bro bills through bank (BPI, Metrobank, RCBC, etc.) or non-bank (7-Eleven, Bayad Center, Smart Money, etc.) accredited payment channels Winners will be deter-mined by monthly raffle draws to be held on May 15, June 15, and July 15, 2015. “In line with Smart’s vision of empowering people to ‘Live More,’

the company has been providing alternative customer service chan-nels that allow its sub-scribers to easily, quickly, and conveniently com-plete various aftersales transactions for FREE. Several rewards pro-grams and promos have also been launched as a way of thanking custom-ers for their continued trust in Smart services, ” said Smart Customer Value Chain – Enterprise Process Quality Manage-ment Group Head, Mari-cris Crisostomo. To know more about Self Care channels, please visit smart.com.ph/selfcare

UP AND ABOUT

Instax Mini cameras to be given away to lucky Smart Bro subscribers

Easter Sunday Mass was held at 10:30 am at the Lawin Room and cel-ebrated by Fr. Brian Vin-cent Rances, M.I. Guests and loyal patrons then proceeded to Café Uno for a lavish culinary offering of international cuisine. Diners indulged in ap-petizing food selections, such as Seafood Ciopino, Arroz Valenciana, Parme-san Fish Fillet with sweet basil cream, Seafood Kare Kare con Kasuy, and the favorite Lechon Bagnet. Executive Chef, Victor Barangan, really outdid himself with the variety of dishes served, topping a hefty lunch with an assort-

ment of French pastries for dessert. As an added treat, diners got to choose to claim either a complimen-tary Pool Pass or an Adult Pass to the Easter Event in the afternoon. The Easter event, dubbed as Easter Funtasy, is where the Easter-iffic and egg-citing activities took place. Thanks to our sponsors, Golden Touch by Noel Tanza, Floral Pink Designs by Wendell Gar-tes and A Touch of Pink, the Kalaw Room was given an ambiance of enchant-ing fantasy, as if they have stepped into a totally dif-ferent reality. Children of all ages came in their most

IT’S SUMMER TIME MOMS & DADS! Baby Company’s Travel Gear Sale is on. Enjoy up to 50% off on stroller, car seats and more. And exclusive to Mom Card members, get a Free Fun Fan for a minimum single receipt purchase of P3,000 pesos. Plus, get a cool Ride-on Luggage for only P799 pesos when you buy a single-receipt purchase of any stroller. Hurry, See you at Baby Company’s Travel Gear Sale. Now until April 30.

enchanting and captivat-ing ensembles with match-ing made-up baskets. Fair-ies, super heroes, even a Disney princess graced the event and joined in on the fun and games. After a sumptuous help-ing of afternoon snacks and refreshing soft ice cream, courtesy of Tech-nolux, Limited Edition Waterfront Tumblers and special prizes were given for the Best in Costume, Best Decorated Basket, and Most Number of Eggs Found. The lucky finder of the Golden Egg won an Overnight Gift Certificate in a Deluxe Room with buffet breakfast for two. It was indeed a day wor-thy of merriment which is best done with bonding

moments with family and friends. Meditating, reju-venating and family bond-ing has never been this enchantingly special at the Waterfront Insular Hotel

Davao. For updates on our pro-mos and culinary offerings, contact us at (082) 233 2881 to 87 or 300 8881 or visit our website at www.

waterfronthotels.com.ph. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/water-front.davao and follow us on Instagram at Water-frontDavao.

INdulge! A3VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 EDGEDAVAO

E I G H T- D I V I S I O N world champion Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquaio is set to in-spire the world in a different light as the highly anticipated sports drama movie event of the year titled “Kid Kulafu” shares his story not as a sports icon but as a young boy who knocked out life’s challenges. “This is the untold story of our People’s Champ--way before the fame, fortune, champi-onships and even prior wearing boxing gloves,” said Paul Soriano, the di-rector of the biographi-cal film presented by ABS-CBN, Star Cinema, and Ten17 Productions. “It is not about his career as a professional boxer but an in-depth look into his early years, from his birth up to his teen-age life.” According to Direk Paul, “Kid Kulafu” has been three years in the making with two years dedicated for extensive research about the child-hood of the People’s Champ. “Viewers will discover in the film how hard life was for Manny as a kid in General Santos City. They will get to know a young boy who had nothing but attitude, passion, and fighting spirit to face every challenge head on

and knock it out one by one,” shared Direk Paul. The director added that what inspired him more to do the movie was when he got to know more Manny through a series of con-versations which hap-pened within the two-year research spent for the biographical film. As Manny shared to Direk Paul, “All the pain and the knock outs I experienced in boxing were just physical pain. But you know what’s more painful? It’s the fact that you have noth-ing to eat, no home where you can rest, and having a broken family.

And I endured all those when I was young.” Like Direk Paul, former child actor and “Kid Ku-lafu” lead star Buboy Vil-lar feels honored to be part of the world cham-pion’s biopic. “I knew that there were a lot who audi-tioned for the role that’s why I was so happy when I was chosen. Be-cause I’m really a big fan of Pacquiao,” said Buboy who underwent serious boxing training in prepa-ration for the film. “Because of ‘Kid Ku-lafu’ I realized that Sir Manny can be a huge source of inspiration to kids of today. He’s hard-

working, determined to rise above poverty, and has high respect for his parents and family,” shared Buboy. “When Sir Manny stepped into amateur boxing, his goal was not to win. He wanted to help provide meals to his family and make his parents proud of him.” Buboy assured movie-goers that there are still a lot that the world don’t know about Pacman. He quipped, “Before he be-came a world champion, he was Kid Kulafu who was filled fueled by pas-sion and faith.” “Kid Kulafu” was shot in select locations in Sa-

LAUDED for its in-tegrity and commit-ment to Serbisyong Totoo, GMA Network recently received ac-colades from the Ly-ceum University of the Philippines’ Um-alohokJUAN Awards and St. Scholastica’s College’s 9th Hilde-garde Awards for Women in Media and Communication. In a ceremony held last March 18 at the Jose P. Laurel Hall of Freedom in Lyceum Intramuros, GMA News pillar Jessica Soho was recognized as Best News Anchor for GMA News TV’s flagship primetime newscast State of the Nation with Jessica Soho (SONA). GMA’s weekly news magazine program Ka-puso Mo, Jessica Soho, also presented by Soho, won as Best Magazine Show. Investigative pro-gram Imbestigador, headlined by GMA News

pillar and veteran broad-cast journalist Mike En-riquez, was awarded as Best Public Service Pro-gram. State of the Nation with Jessica Soho also earned the Outstand-

ing Achievement in the Broadcast Journal-ism category in the 9th Hildegarde Awards for Women in Media and Communication togeth-er with Biyahe ni Drew, a weekly travelogue host-

ed by Drew Arellano on GMA News TV. SONA and Biyahe ni Drew won two of only three awards given for the said category. The awarding was held at the St. Cecilia’s Hall of St. Scholastica’s College in Manila last March 6.

‘Kid Kulafu’ reveals untold story of Pacquiao

GMA wins UmalohokJUAN, Hildegarde awards

ENTERTAINMENT

ranggani and General Santos City where Man-ny spent his childhood and teen years. Portraying Manny’s parents Dionisia and Ro-salio are award-winning actors Alessandra de Rossi and Alex Medina. Also part of the cast are Cesar Montano, Khalil Ramos and Igi Boy Flores. “Kid Kulafu” is written by Froilan Medina and un-der creative consultant Amor Olaguer and fight director Erwin Tagle. Meanwhile, ABS-CBN Store has released a col-lection of Kid Kulafu movie merchandise such as T-shirts, hoodies, and bags. The items may be bought at the ABS-CBN Store in The Loop locat-

ed at the ABS-CBN Com-pound in Quezon City and online via www.abs-cbnstore.com. It will also be made available in selected cinema lobbies during the film’s theat-rical release and in the following Elorde Gyms: Elorde Gilmore, Elorde Katipunan 1 and Elorde Maceda. Don’t miss the biggest sports drama movie of the year, “Kid Kulafu,” to hit cinemas nationwide on April 15 (Wednesday). For more information and latest updates about “Kid Kulafu” and other Star Cinema movies, simply visit StarCinema.com.ph, Facebook.com/StarCinema and Twitter.com/StarCinema.

G/*PG

G/*PG

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

R-16

YOU'RE MY BOSS

Toni Gonzaga, Coco Martin

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

SPONGEBOB MOVIE:SPONGE OUT OF WATER /

* FURIOUS 7

12:00 | 2:00 | 4:00 LFS / * 6:15 | 9:15 LFS

HOME / * FURIOUS 7

Rihanna, Jim Parsons / * Vin Diesel, Paul Walker

11:40 | 1:20 | 3:40 LFS / * 5:30 | 8:30 LFS

Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke / * Vin Diesel, Paul Walker

FURIOUS 7

Vin Diesel, Paul Walker

April 9-14, 2015

A4 INdulge!FOOD

TODAY as we celebrate Araw ng Kagitingan or Day of Valor, let’s not forget the greatness of our Filipino ancestors and forefathers who fought during the WW II. For the heroism, thank you!

To commemorate to-day, here are 9 of the most delicious and comfort-ing Filipino dishes that has stood the test of time. Apologies for making you hungry!

Sinigang Be it hipon, beef or pork, the sinigang is a fa-vourite especially on a cold day. Made from freshly squeezed tamarind and fresh local greens, this hot and sour soup is a fiesta on its own. With its many

Celebrations of food and heroism

versions found all over the archipelago, you are sure to find a recipe for you.

with meat, veggies and a crunchy texture on ev-ery bite. Hint: Add some crushed toasted nuts on your filling!

Cassava Cake This plain looking ka-kanin is a delight to the taste. Its not too sweet rep-utation makes it a cheer-me-up snack anytime of

the day. For a creamier cassava, add some caramel sauce on the filling. Bibingka A staple especially dur-ing the yuletide season, you can always find a freshly steamed bibingka anywhere in the country. Make it even more palat-able with melted butter,

fresh coconut meat or itlog na maalat slices on top.

Halo-Halo What more can you say?

Make #TheRoyalChef your Thursday habit. Fol-low and tag me on insta-gram (@herroyalheiress) for your delicious food finds!

Pancit Palabok It’s no secret that we love noodles. We love to mix and match flavours and come up with an authentic recipe to call our own. The pancit palabok is combi-nation of noodles, meat and savoury sauce that makes for an interesting gastronomic taste. Don’t forget the calamansi! Kare-Kare Oxtail stew like no other! The medley of fla-vours and textures is what makes the kare-kare ex-emplary for any day of the week. The secret to this dish? Peanut butter!

Adobo Comfort at its best—it has its many versions scat-tered all over the coun-try. From the typical simple braised recipe to the creamier one, you’ll surely a have grand time eating this. Pair it with hot steamed rice and some crunchy garlic flakes or slices of itlog na maalat and you’re all set! Afritada A hearty meal of meat, potatoes and sauce, this Spanish influenced dish is a perfect one pot meal that can make you smile from ear to ear. The rustic and explosive medley of flavours is easy to achieve and more so, this dish is easy to cook – perfect for the busy you!

Lumpia Sweet or savoury, the lumpia has been a staple in every dining table gather-ing. Considered mainly as a snack, it can be made long or short, thick or thin. For the traditional in us, we love our lumpia

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 13EDGEDAVAO NEWS

SOLAR power is giving new life to the once dilapidated and forgotten tribal hall of

the Matigsalug community in Marilog, Davao City.

In partnership with Aboitiz-Power, its subsidiary Therma South Inc., and the Aboitiz Foun-dation the Matigsalug Council of Elders, Marilog, Davao City, Inc. (MACOEMADDACI) and its community is now using the new facilities and most im-portantly, electric power, of the “Friendship Building” for their meetings, trainings and social events.

Due to the remoteness of the barangay from the city, there was a need to for a conducive area for the trainings, project meetings as well as the tribe’s council meetings and other cul-tural practices, to name a few.

“We are extremely grateful for the kindness and generosity of Therma South and the Aboitiz Foundation in supporting our tribe’s cause of cultural preser-vation and environmental pro-tection. Rest assured that we will take care of this donation as a way of showing our high regard for our tribe’s friendship with TSI.” said Datu Juanito Manda-hay, president of MACOEMMA-DACI in his speech during the turnover ceremony last March 13, 2015.

Through AboitizPower, the Friendship Building located in Brgy. Marilog Proper, Marilog, Davao City, boasts of a fully so-lar-powered battery system that can last up to 8 hours a day and is capable of providing power to basic functions like meetings

and presentations.The MACOEMMADACI

is the partner organization of Therma South, Inc. (TSI) in its ongoing implementation of the Carbon Sink Management Pro-gram (CSMP) in Brgy. Marilog Proper in Marilog, Davao City. Due to the success of the first batch of partner beneficiaries, the CSMP is now on its second year of implementation of its 10 year CSMP plan.

The CSMP aims to capture an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the power plant, through a massive and sustained forest ecosystem re-habilitation program. More than just planting the trees, a compre-hensive carbon sink program ensures that the trees grow to maturity so the trees will be able to help the environment absorb carbon dioxide, which is a prod-uct of human activities. Without the carbon sink, the carbon foot-print of industries will just add to the already existing amount of global greenhouse gases, which contributing to global warming.

“This Friendship Building is a testament of the strong partnership between TSI and MACOEMADDACI towards its objective of cultural and envi-ronmental preservation within the ancestral domain area of the Matigsalug tribe in Barangay Marilog Proper. Through this building we also hope to see the realiztaion of more projects that will bring sustainable livelihood and a better future for the peo-ple of Barangay Marilog Proper” said Charles Gamo, AboitizPow-er FVP for Corporate Services.

Matigsalugs enjoysolar-powered center

JOSE Ma. K. Lim, President of Met-ro Pacific Investments Corporation and chosen by Corporate Gover-

nance-Asia, a Hongkong-based business journal, as one of Asia’s Best CEO, is go-ing to address the graduates of Davao Doctors College during the school’s com-mencement ceremonies for its Class of 2015 at the SMX Convention Center, SM Lanang, Davao City this Friday, April 10, 2015 . Lim is also the Chairman of the Board of Davao Doctors Hospital and is a Director and Officer of several other companies in the MPIC Group of Com-panies headed by business leader Man-uel V. Pangilinan. He is an alumnus of the Ateneo de Manila University and the Asian Institute of Management where he finished the Master in Business Man-agement Program. An active member of the Management Association of the Phil-ippines, Lim is known as a turnaround strategist and is acknowledged as one of those instrumental in bringing the MPIC Group of Companies to the heights it is enjoying today. He has been cited by his own alma mater, the Asian Institute of Management, as one executive whose formula for success is anchored on “… empowering individuals and teams with vision and proper guidance to do what needs to be done.”

Davao Doctors College, a whol-ly-owned subsidiary of Davao Doctors Hospital, is the city’s foremost propo-nent of healthcare education, which has been declared by the Professional Regulation Commission as the country’s

top performing school in Radiologic Technology due to its superior perfor-mance in the latest board examination for radiologic technologists, besting even the best schools in Metro Manila and Cebu. The Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA) recently awarded the school’s BS Nursing Pro-gram for attaining Level IV, the highest level of accreditation for nursing in the country. The school is also known for its entrepreneurship-enhanced degree programs where students undergo en-trepreneurship training regardless of the course they are enrolled in. Aside from Radiologic Technology and Nurs-ing, Davao Doctors College also offers Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy, Medical Laboratory Science (popularly known as Medical Technol-ogy), Psychology, Biology (with a major in Medicinal Horticulture), Optometry, Education (with a major in Biological Sci-ence), Entrepreneurship (with a focus on medical entrepreneurship), Tourism and Hospitality Management (both focused on medical tourism). It has two graduate programs: Master of Arts in Nursing and Master in Business Administration ma-jor in Medical Entrepreneurship. Its MBA Program is offered under a consortium arrangement with the University of Min-danao. Prof. Miguel D. Soledad, former Vice Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Mindanao, who, like Lim, is also an alumnus of AIM, heads the school as President and CEO.

Asia’s best CEO is speakerof Davao Doc graduation

MPIC CEO Jose Ma. K. Lim

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 201514 EDGEDAVAO

COMPETITIVE EDGE

Buteyko breathing relieves asthma, sleep apnea, anxiety

GLOBE Telecom has the fastest growing broadband busi-

ness in the Philippines fol-lowing impressive gains in revenue growth and cus-tomer uptake.

Sustaining its strong-hold in consumer broad-band business, Globe broadband brand Tattoo booked a revenue growth of 22 percent in 2014 com-pared to competition’s 13 percent revenue growth. Tattoo’s customer uptake also jumped 37 percent versus competition’s 19 percent increase.

“Offering innovative products and services most relevant to our cus-tomers, Tattoo was able to sustain its growth tra-jectory over the previous four quarters, which in turn, helped secure its po-sition as the fastest grow-

ing broadband business in the country,” said Gilbert Simpao, Globe Senior Vice President for Consumer Broadband Business.

“We are confident that our latest roster of broad-band plans, which affirms our commitment to enrich our customers’ digital life-style, will further strength-en our leadership position in the market,” he added.

Tattoo recently un-veiled its latest roster of broadband plans where customers get exclusive access to a portfolio of en-tertainment content that allows them to watch mov-ies and basketball games, as well as stream music, whether at home or on the go.

Globe recently launched its collaboration with HOOQ, an online en-tertainment service pro-

vider that boasts of an extensive content library with thousands of mov-ies, television episodes and shows available for users to watch, including titles from partners Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Aside from HOOQ, Globe also has an existing partnership with Spotify, the world’s most popular music streaming service, allowing customers to get the best music experience with access to over 20 million songs. In addition, Globe Telecom’s part-nership with NBA allows customers to experience the game in a watch bas-ketball games along with highlights, stats and other features.

“We recognize today’s shift to the digital life-style and we want our

Matigsalug tribe and MACOEMADDACI members witness the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon led by Marilog Proper Punong Barangay Purificacion Suyko (center in dark blue), Matigsalug Deputy Mayor Datu Carlito Guinto (left from center), and MACOEMADDACI President Datu Juanito Mandahay (far right) and TSI FVP Charles A. Gamo (right from center).

Globe is country’s fastestgrowing broadband business

IF you have spent many years battling asthma, snoring/sleep apnea,

allergies, anxiety/panic attacks, hypertension, mi-graine, stress orchronic fa-tigue without much success, perhaps it is time to try a natural method clinically proven to give effective and long-lasting relief: Buteyko

breathing.Revered music and the-

ater icon Celeste Legaspi, and indie-pop band vocalist and writer Selena Salang, both suffered from asthma pretty much all of their life. Celeste grew up and raised a family with asthma, while-Selena endured it for more than 30 years. Both are now

asthma-free and free as well from taking expensive med-icines.

It’s a family concern for telecommunications exec-utive Paolo Sitaca. His wife and seven-year-old daugh-ter suffered from asthma for years. His wife also de-veloped hypertension and anxiety attacks during preg-

nancy. Today, they are no longer taking “unhealthy” medicines, especially the puffers and nebulizers for their daughter.

Relieved of his sleep apnea, Rolly Robles now sleeps soundly without any help from his CPAP (con-tinuous positive airway pressure) machine – previ-

ously his constant sleeping companion. Rolly, a senior officer of a leading finan-cial institution, never felt much better since he has “breathed new life into his body.” He also lost weight and no longer suffers from hypertension and shortness of breath at night.

All of them learned to breathe correctly with the Buteyko breathing meth-od and are now enjoying a healthier, more productive life.

“Breathing correctly could be the most import-ant factor in having a longer and healthier life as it helps increase your immunity and resistance to infections, improve the quality of your sleep and concentration, provide you with more en-ergy, and counter stress,” says Jac Vidgen, an Austra-lian senior Buteyko practi-tioner.

Developed more than 50 years ago by pioneering Russian respiratory special-ist Dr. Konstantin Buteyko, Buteyko breathing is a safe, drug-free, and effective technique that has helped thousands of Filipinos find immediate relief from asth-

ma and other “lifestyle” diseases and, over time, can even reverse many chronic conditions such as emphy-sema/COPDwith its effec-tive application. Buteyko breathing restores and re-trains our breathing to a healthy pattern.

Vidgen returns to Davao for an exclusive Buteyko workshop from April 14 to 21 at Bahay Ni Tuding Inn & Resto, 160 San Pedro Street, Davao City. The workshopis comprised of five two-hour sessions for both adults and children over four years old.

Vidgen, who introduced the breathing method in the country two decades ago, is holdinga free introductory lecture on Saturday, April 11, 4pm-6pm at Bahay Ni Tuding Inn & Resto, 160 San Pedro Street, Davao City.

Vidgen is available for private workshops, consul-tations, and online coach-ing via Skype.

For more details, con-tact Jac at 0919-6356060 or Ed Cruz 0918-6331999, email buteykoasia@gmail.com or visit www.buteyko-asia.com or Buteyko Asia on Facebook.

customers to be part of this revolution by offer-ing them a suite of plans that give them access to entertainment content such as HOOQ, Spotify, and the NBA League Pass. Such wealth of entertain-ment content provides optimism that Tattoo will continue to generate im-pressive performance in the broadband business,”

Simpao added.Amid continuing shift

of its customers to digital lifestyle, Globe is current-ly upgrading its network capacity and expanding its LTE TDD and LTE-FDD footprint to further strengthen the company’s mobile data infrastruc-ture and deliver faster and more reliable wireless in-ternet connectivity. This

involves activation of more cell sites with the LTE-TDD and LTE-FDD ultra broad-band access technologies for a more pervasive LTE coverage. The LTE-TDD and LTE-FDD technologies offer higher bandwidth, which enhances speed of data transfer, provides lower latency and increas-es overall network capaci-ty.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO

IN a move to prevent World Boxing Organiza-tion welterweight cham-

pion Manny Pacquiao from peaking too soon, chief train-er Freddie Roach has can-celed Tuesday’s scheduled sparring session at his Wild Card Boxing Gym.

Roach, actually, had ex-pressed his concern on the possibility of of his partner’s being over-trained as early as last week when he, like-wise, did away with one of Pacquiao’s workouts.

The 55-year-old Hall of Famer told this writer then that the 10-time world titlist in eight weight divisions was already nearing his fighting form and might peak so ear-ly for his date with Ameri-can World Boxing Council/World Boxing Association 147-pound belt-owner Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The Pacquiao-May-weather mega million-dollar encounter is set on May 2 at the MGM Grand Arena in the United States gambling capi-tal Las Vegas in Nevada.

“As you know, Manny is a freak as far as training is concerned. While he knows how to prepare himself for a fight, he has the tendency to overdo things up,” Roach related then.

“Frankly, I really have no problem with him as far as training is concerned, my problem though is he doesn’t want to stop,“ he said. “My problem, actually is how to hold him back.”

“The best thing I could do in the remaining weeks

or so in the camp is to pull the plug myself when he is overdoing things up,” Roach revealed.

“Manny, you see is very energetic When he trains, he really trains as in he trains,“ Roach explained. “Some-times, during sparring, I would set a 10-round ses-sion, but he’ll still ask for one or two more rounds.”

“When we do the mitts for 12 rounds, he will ask for more and so on and so forth. I really have to put him to where he should be. I have to put the reign on him like a horse,“ he said with his usual naughty grin.

Pacquiao ran the Pan Pa-cific Park morning of Tues-day and was supposed to spar at noon till 3 p.m.

Old buddy, two-division thampion Gerry Penalosa, ran with him and was sur-prised how fast his friend is now.

“Hindi ako maka-abot sa kanya sa takbuhan,” Penalo-sa exclaimed. “Ganyan ba ang may leg cramps, ang bilis tumakbo? “News reaching us in Manila was he is suffering from calf problem and other injuries that’s why he could not train well.”

“It’s not true pala. Ang bi-lis ng paa n’ya. Ewan ko lang sa gym mamaya kung ano makikita ko,” Penalosa, who arrived Sunday here, said. Pag ganyan ang ipinakita niya sa laban, baka instead of Mayweather running from him, baka baligtad ang mangyari. Si Mayweather na ang maghahabol sa kanya.”

EVERYTHING is now set for “Tour de Grande Dos”mountain bike

cross country race set on May 10 in Barangay Catalunan Grande in Talomo District.

“Right now, we already have 278 riders but we’re aiming for 500 bikers to join,” said Mark Martin Sev-erino, Grand Knight of the organizing Knights of Colum-bus Council No. 9573 at the SCOOP Session of the Royal Mandaya Hotel last Tuesday.

Also present at the week-ly public service sports pro-gram was project director Tony Royeras, who said that proceeds will go to the on-go-ing construction of the San Isidro Labrador Parish Pasto-ral and Formation Building in Barangay Catalunan Grande.

The event, which is held in celebration of the San Isidro Labrador Fiesta, is sanctioned by Philcycling in coordination with the Davao City Sports Consumer Coop-erative.

Barangay Captain Janu-ary Duterte, president of the Association of Barangay Cap-tains (ABC) in Davao City is the invited guest speaker.

A total cash prize of P49,000 with medals will be awarded to the top three finishers of the Open Elite,

23 Under, Junior (18 under), Veterans (30-39), Masters (40-49), Ladies Open, Gold-en Boys (50 and above), Legend (60 and above), Fat Boys (minimum weight of 180 lbs.) and Executive (25-45 yrs. Old with PRC license or updated business permit under the rider’s name).

The race route starts and ends at San Isidro Labrador Parish. Each lap has a dis-tance of 16.2 kilometers with only the Open Elite, 23 Under and the Veterans having a to-tal of two laps.

“The rest of the cate-gories will only have one lap,”Royeras said.

The riders will kick off from the parish church go-ing to Sitio Awa, passing Sitio Ubat turn right to San Miguel towards Sto. Nino Ilihan, Si-tio Guadalupe, turn left Sa-mantha Homes to Sitio Toril, Matina Pangi Road, Diversion Road, turn right for the Pink Sisters and go back to the parish.

The top three finishers in the Open Elite, 23 under, Junior and Veterans will re-ceive P3,000, P2,500 and P2,000 with medals.The top three placers in the other categories will earn P2,000, P1,500 and P1,000 with medals.

THE Davao School for the Blind Judo Club made another impressive per-

formance by harvesting 13 medals including five golds in the just-concluded 78th Araw ng Davao Judo Championship held at the HCDC Cultural Sports Center in Bajada.

The Blind Judokas got five medals plus four silvers and four bronzes to emerge over-all first runner-up behind champion University of Mind-anao which garnered 12 golds, 5 silvers and 6 bronze medals.

The Kolehiyo ng Pantukan Judo Club placed over-all sec-ond runner-up with 3 golds, 5 silvers and 1 bronze followed by the Ateneo de Davao Judo Club (3-2-1).

Host Holy Cross of Davao College Judo Club finished over-all fourth place with 2 golds, 10 silvers and 6 bronze medals followed by the Ceno-jas MMA Judo Club (1 gold) and Jae’ger Judo Club of Tacu-rong (2 bronzes).

The other team was Gan Soo Doo Judo Club.

DSBJC got their golds from Rovi Jane Arano (girls extra lightweight -75 lbs. & below), Reynalyn Buntia (girls light weight over75 lbs. to 90 lbs.), John Dave Bughao (middle weight +115-124 lbs.), Ed-mond Montecillo (lightweight +100 lbs. -115 lbs.) and Oliver Secuya (extra light weight -100 lbs.).

The silvers were courte-sy of Aldren Fuentes (extra lightweight), Angelica Sam-ling (girls extra lightweight), Bea Malate (girls lightweight)

and Bia Himpit (girls middle-weight) while the bronzes were pocketed by John Dave Bughao (lightweight), Flor-deliz Insedan (middleweight), Evangeline Gamao (heavy-weight) and Renan Dave Manumba (middleweight).

Davao Judo Association president Atty. Eduardo Es-tores and tournament director Mariano Barayuga awarded the medals. The tournament was sponsored by the city gov-ernment of Davao as part of the Duterte Game Plan.

Pacquiao sparring session canceled

TIGER Woods last won a major title in 2008 and hasn’t won the Masters

in a decade, but top-ranked Rory McIlroy will be watching out for him this week all the same.

The 79th Masters opens Thursday at Augusta National with McIlroy seeking his first green jacket and third major crown in a row to complete a career Grand Slam while Woods, who has fallen to 111th in the world rankings, con-tends for a 15th career major after a nightmare year of inju-ries and inconsistent form.

“I think everyone is just curious to see how he comes back,” McIlroy said of Woods, who has fallen to 111th in the world rankings. “I don’t think you should ever underestimate him. He has done things on the golf course that are pretty spe-cial.

“I had a good chat with him on the putting green. He feels good. He has been working hard. He has the motivation to

keep at it, and just like every-one else, I’ll be looking for his score and seeing what he’s do-ing.”

Defending champion Bub-ba Watson can match Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Fal-do as the only players to win back-to-back Masters crowns and match Nicklaus as the only ones to win three green jackets in a four-season span.

Factor in young stars seek-ing a first major win such as Jordan Spieth and Jason Day, sprinkle in some skilled past champions such as Adam Scott and Phil Mickelson and mix in the stunning backdrop of Au-gusta National’s treacherous greens and towering pines with the dramatic legacy of Amen Corner and Rae’s Creek and the scene is set for an im-pressive first major of 2015.

“It’s the anticipation factor, the hype, everything else, it feels the same because it’s al-ways exciting to get here,” McIl-roy said. “It’s always a great week.”

Woods has been idle for more than two months since withdrawing after 11 holes at Torrey Pines in February. And that came off a career-worst 82 in the second round at Phoenix.

“I’m excited to be back playing at this level,” Woods said. “I feel like my game is fi-nally ready to compete at the highest level.”

- McIlroy likes Bubba -McIlroy is just fine with

Woods, who has struggled simply to finish 72 holes over the past 12 months, taking the lion’s share of attention with his strong practice rounds even as McIlroy tries to join a career Grand Slam list that includes only Woods, Nicklaus, Ben Ho-gan, Gene Sarazen and Gary Player.

“It is such a big story, Tiger coming back at the Masters after a bit of a lengthy period where he has not been around,” McIlroy said. “But still I’m just here to play golf and you guys can write the stories and I won’t read them and we’ll move on.”

Asked to name a favorite, McIlroy selected Watson.

“I’d say Bubba is. He has won here two of the last three years,” McIlroy said. “Perfect game for this course. Been play-ing really well. Seems confident every time he tees it up.

“He has been right up there his last few events. So if you’re looking at someone that will do well this week, I think Bub-ba is the main guy -- not trying to put any pressure on him or anything.”

Watson knows that Woods, 39, will draw extra energy from his Masters history, which in-cludes eight top-six finishes in his past nine appearances.

“Tiger has taken enough time off to where he wants to be back and obviously he’s pretty good around this place, so he is excited,” Watson said. “This place brings it out in you. Older champions, the veterans, they get excited around here. That’s why everybody comes back. They want to be a part of this. It energizes them.”

All set in Tour de Grande Dos

TIGER AT PRACTICE. Tiger Woods hits from the bunker at Augusta National Golf Club during a practice round for the 2015 Masters Golf Tournament.

Rory, Bubba eye Tiger in Masters

Blind judokas bag 13 medals

VOL. 8 ISSUE 5 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015

EYES ON THE ASEAN

16 EDGEDAVAOSports

THE “Get Into Rug-by Summer Clinic 3” will be held at

the SOS Children’s Village Davao starting on April 20.

The summer clinic is supported by PRFU, Davao Durians, Potbellied Pigs RFC of Hongkong, Vismin Rugby Football Union and World Rugby.

“We want to discover more young rugby play-ers in Davao,”said Blessie Kate delos Santos, rugby development officer of the Philippine Rugby Football Union (PRFU) Davao at the SCOOP Session of The Royal Mandaya Hotel last Tuesday.

The weekly public ser-vice sports program was

also graced by Roxie Pa-guyan, fund development coordinator of the SOS Chil-dren’s Village Davao.

Registration is fee for a limited slot of 150 only for both boys and girls.

“It’s first come first serve basis only,”said Delos Santos.

The opening ceremony and orientation is on April 20 while the try sessions and developmental activi-ties is from April 21-24. The morning session is for 7-9 years old while the after-noon is for 10-12 years old only. Awarding ceremony is on April 25.

For more inquiry, con-tact tel. no. (082) 222-0097 or 226-3710.

Davao’s top woman chesser aims return to Asean joust

Get Into Rugby Summer Clinic 3

Moulic at the SCOOP Session of The Royal Mandaya Hotel last Tuesday.

Moulic, who just graduated high school at the Holy Cross of Davao College, qualified in the 2015 Grand Finals by fin-ishing second runner-up in the girl’s 18 below category in the Mindanao leg – Gov. Lala Talino-Mendoza National Age-Group Chess Championships held last month in Kidapawan City.

Moulic also qualified last year and ruled the girls 16 un-der division in the grand finals to represent the country to the ASEAN+ Age-Group held in Ma-cau.

She captured four gold medals, one silver and one bronze in the blitz, standard and rapid competition in Ma-cau.

“That is my target again for this year before I will study in Manila already,” said Moulic, who wants to take up a busi-ness course at the De La Salle College.

Moulic, who also got schol-arship offers from three other universities in Manila, prefers La Salle due to the presence already of some varsity chess players from Davao City.

Moulic, daughter of chess arbiter and coach Alfred, is also this year’s champion in the Davao Region Athletic Associa-tion (Davraa) and Catholic Edu-cation Association of the Phils. (CEAP) Mindanao Meet.

She will also be playing her final year in the Palarong Pam-bansa on May 3-9 in Tagum City.

In June 2013, Moulic earned two golds in the girls 16 rapid chess and blitz and a silver in standard of the 14th ASEAN+ Age Group held in Chi-ang Mai, Thailand.

She also placed 7th in Stan-dard and 8th place in the Blitz of the Asian Youth Girls 16 cat-egory held in Sari, Iran.

On that same year. Moulic pocketed a gold (standard) and a bronze (blitz) in the National Batang Pinoy Games held in Ba-colod. She earlier took the golds in the Mindanao Batang Pinoy held in Tagum.

Moulic’s first international campaign was in the 11th ASE-AN+ Age Group Chess Champi-onship held in Olongapo City in 2010 wherein she won a team gold in the girls 12 under rapid chess.

She also earned a silver in the girls 12 under team event and a siler in the girls blitz. It was also in 2010 when Moulic ruled the girls 12 division in the National Age-Group and fin-ished 4th in the Palarong Pam-bansa.

In the coming Grand Finals, Moulic will be facing WFM Sha-nai Mendoza, fellow Mindanao qualifiers Zsuza Tabudlong, Babylyn Salanga and Venice Vi-cente,Luzon’s Marife dela Torre, Virgenie Ruaya,Jemima Valdez and Visayas’ Rowena Padro.

DAVAO’S top woman chess player Ella Grace

Moulic is aiming for an-other slot in this year’s ASEAN+ Age Group Championship slated in Singapore.

To be able to do that, Mulic had to hur-dle the National Age Group Chess Champi-onships in San Juan on April 15-21.

“Kailangan kong manalo sa Grand Finals ng National Age Group Chess championships,” said the 17-year old

TRY RUGBY. PRFU Davao rugby developmental officer Blessie Kate delos San-tos (left) and SOS Children’s Village fund development coordinator Roxie Paguy-an at the SCOOP Session of The Royal Mandaya Hotel. (Photo by JIMMY JAVIER / SCOOP DAVAO)

FAVORITE. World no. 1 Rory McIlroy is the prohibitive favorite to win the Masters (See story on page 15).

NEXT MOVE. Davao’s Ella Moulic ponders on her next move in a recent tournament. FB Photo Ella Moulic