P 15.00 • 16 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 2016

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DAVAO

DROUGHT TILL JUNECurrent El Niño is one of the strongest, says PAGASA

Warriors headline NBA All-Star picks P11

EDGEDAVAOSports

THE current El Niño phe-nomenon being experi-enced in the country is

“one of the strongest” to hit the Philippines and is expect-ed to last until June this year, the government weather bu-reau said.

“The long drought season which had its peak during the last quarter of 2015 was considered one of the three strongest since 1900,” PAGA-

SA Davao City chief meteoro-logical officer Gerry Pedrico said during the Kapihan sa PIA held at Abreeza Ayala Mall yesterday.

Pedrico said the sea sur-face temperature anomaly (SSTA) has already reached 2.7 degrees Celsius, more than five times the .5 degree Celsius threshold value.

He said only two previ-ous El Niño occurrences were

stronger than the current one: in 1982 to 1983 and in 1997 to 1998 in which the respective SSTAs were also more than five times higher than the threshold.

Pederico said the current El Niño episode will last about five more months, during which some areas in Mindan-ao will be hit badly by drought or dry spell.

According to PAGA-

SA, a drought is defined as three consecutive months of way-below normal rainfall condition with greater than 60 percent reduction from average rainfall. A dry spell is defined as three consecu-tive months of below-normal rainfall condition with 21 to 60 percent reduction from av-erage rainfall.

The provinces in Mind-

crc@edgedavao.netBy CHENEEN R. CAPON

YOUNG WORKER. A barefoot young boy peddles pieces of flannel cloth along Jacinto Extension yesterday in order to help his family earn a living. Child labor is one of the country’s most urgent problems, stemming from a wide range of social factors. Lean Daval Jr.

“The long drought season which had its peak during the last quarter of 2015 was

considered one of the three strongest since

1900”PAGASA Davao City chief Gerry Pedrico

FDROUGHT, 9

VOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 20162 EDGEDAVAO

NEWS

POWER PROTEST. Progressive groups stage a protest rally in front of the Davao Light and Power Co. office along Ponciano Reyes Street yesterday to call for the scrapping of the 15-year-old Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA). Lean Daval Jr.

“KUNG nagawa ko nung mayor ako, bakit di ko magawa kung pres-

idente ako (If I was able to do it when I was mayor, why can I not do it as president?)” asked Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte was reacting to his rivals’ claim that he would not be able to live up to his prom-ise to stop illegal drugs, crim-inality and corruption within three to six months if elected president.

The mayor was emphatic about his campaign promise, saying in a previous engage-ment that he would resign if he

fails to live up to his promise.Duterte was the first

presidential candidate to visit Coron to speak during a forum on illegal drugs.

Duterte did not waste time after he was introduced by act-ing Mayor Jim Gerard Pe.

“I’m not bragging but when I get to Malacañang, you watch out!” he warned crimi-nals and drug lords in the ver-nacular.

“I will assure you, I will stop corruption in govern-ment,” he added.

Duterte lamented the fail-ure of the justice system char-acterized by the proliferation

of the drug trade right inside national penitentiary.

“Where can you find a country in this planet na (ex-pletive) sa prisohan nagluluto ng shabu (shabu is cooked in-side prison?),” he said.

The mayor was particu-larly angered by reports that illegal drugs are being peddled even in remote areas.

“In the mountains, they sell drugs and they receive chickens, pigs and carabao as payments,” he said.

Addressing his critics, Duterte wondered why they are more concerned with triv-ial things while turning a blind

eye to more serious problems.“The only thing they notice

is my mouth,” he said.Duterte also took potshots

at his rivals particularly Vice Pres. Jejomar Binay and Liber-al Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas.

Duterte said that the alle-gations of corruption against Binay will be a baggage that will hound him.

He asked Roxas what he did to the “Yolanda” funds and hinted that the former Interior secretary knew more about Mamasapano than what has been reported so far. Chito A. Fuentes

DAVAO City Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte called on landowners in the

city to save the city govern-ment the time, effort, and ex-pense of evicting professional squatters by putting up fences around their respective prop-erties.

“Korala ninyo kay dato na man mo (Fence your proper-ty because you can afford it),” Paolo said.

Paolo made the call after observing that many land-owners turn to the city gov-ernment to remove informal settlers.

“Pagkahuman kung naa nay mangikswat diha pati kami na pud ang mag-kaproblema. Dayon mo’g da-gan sa goberno (If squatters encroach on your property you immediately run to the government. It becomes our

problem),” he said.Paolo said private land-

owners should do their part in protecting their property so that no government money will be wasted.

He said government spends the people’s money for the tagging, demolition of houses, and relocation of the displaced settlers.

At the same time, Paolo warned professional squat-

ters that the city government will file charges against them if they do not stop their illegal activity.

He gave the warning af-ter he found a structure be-ing built on private property going to Barangay Catalunan Grande last Monday.

He said he found out that the owner of the newly built house also has other houses in the Boulevard area.

GOVERNMENT security forces foiled a bombing attempt early Thursday

in Isabela City, the capital of Basilan province.

Chief Insp. Rogelio Ala-bata, Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9) information officer, said an improvised explosive device (IED) was recovered around 3:25 a.m. in the vicinity of the Mabuhay Trading along Roxas Avenue, Barangay Isabe-la proper, Isabela City.

Alabata said prior to the recovery of the IED, the intelli-gence operatives of the Army’s 15th Special Forces Company noted two men carrying “sus-picious item” riding tandem in a motorcycle without regis-tered plate in the vicinity of the Sta. Isabel Cathedral Church.

Alabata said the two men threw the item in the vicinity of the Mabuhay Trading and sped towards Barangay Kaum-purnah when the intelligence

operatives tailed them.He said the intelligence op-

eratives called explosive ord-nance demolition (EOD) per-sonnel and Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) who imme-diately cordoned and rendered safe procedure.

He said when confirmed it was an IED, the improvise bomb was disrupted with wa-ter disruptor.

He said among the pieces of evidence recovered were the following: a cooking pot used as IED casing; a cellular phone (firing switch); a rock-er switch (safety switch), two light emitting diodes; a silicon control rectifier; four resistors; ammonium nitrate fuel oil weighing more or less three ki-lograms; two improvised elec-tric blasting caps; and, a three and 10 inches detonating cord.

He said the IED has the ca-pacity to kill and destroy prop-erties. (PNA)

‘If I can do it as mayor,why not as President?’

Paolo to landowners: Fence your propertiesBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

Police foil bombingattempt in Basilan

POWER outages in Mindanao are likely to continue with the El Niño phenomenon

at its peak, low water level in hydropower plants in Lanao and Bukidnon, bombing of transmis-sion towers, and the non-repair of a toppled tower in Ramain, Lanao del Sur, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said.

However, Milfrance Capu-long, NGCP communications head for southern Mindanao, said NGCP remains hopeful the

issue will be solved very soon be-cause government agencies are addressing it.

With NGCP Tower #25 still down in Ramain, Lanao del Sur after lot owner Sanbitori family continue to deny entry to NGCP field workers, the tenuous power situation in Mindanao has been aggravated, Capulong said.

She said the incoming 600 Megawatt of generation capacity from new power plants “will not be sufficient to relieve Mindanao

NGCP says poweroutages to continue

F NGCP, 8

VOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 2016 3EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 20164 EDGEDAVAONEWS

THE general manager of Park Inn by Radisson in Davao City died yester-

day in Bangkok, Thailand from a still unknown cause.

In an official statement, the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group said Pavan Kakar “passed away early morning on Thurs-day, January 28, 2016 in his room at Radisson Blu Plaza Bangkok.”

It said the cause of Kakar’s death “remains unknown, pending the release of an au-topsy report.”

At the time of his passing, Kakar had been general man-ager of Park Inn by Radisson in Davao City for less than two years.

Kakar, who is from India, joined Carlson Rezidor Ho-tel Group in 2000 as regional sales manager at Radisson

Hotel-Regional Office in Ban-galore.

“Over the years at Carlson Rezidor, as well as other orga-nizations, Pavan rose the ranks in various sales and market-ing positions. Recognized for his strong results, leadership and dynamism, Pavan joined Park Inn by Radisson at Davao as General Manager in May 2014,” the statement said.

“Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Asia Pacific, would like to extend our deepest condo-lences and heartfelt sympa-thies to Pavan’s family, his loved ones and colleagues. He was a dynamic, loyal and kind leader who embodied our company’s Yes I can credo and he will be dearly missed by all of us for his passion and com-mitment to his team and our company,” the statement said.

Park Inn GM passesaway in Bangkok

A BOMBING attempt was foiled by concerned civilians who immedi-

ately reported a suspicious bag left at a bus terminal here early afternoon.

Colonel Lito Sobejana, commander of the 601st In-fantry Brigade, said Army ex-plosive experts who checked the bag found a 60mm mortar round, one MK-2 type hand grenade, 250 milligrams of gasoline, two blasting caps, a 9-volt battery and a cellphone.

Sobejana said that the explosive experts were sur-prised to notice several missed calls on the cellphone connected to the explosive and blasting cap. “There was indeed an attempt to explode it,” he added.

He said there may have been a failure in the bomb’s design, or maybe amateurs were involved. Whatever, Sobejana said he was thankful the bomb did not explode.

It was learned later that

there was an attempt to ex-tort P2 million from Husky Bus Company, which is ply-ing the Cotabato – General Santos route, by a group that identified itself only as “ISM” and headed by a certain Abu Sabbab.

Carlo Manalo, head of the bus company’s terminal in Cotabato City, said he received a text message threatening to bomb one of their units two hours after the foiled bombing attempt in this municipality.

Witnesses said that a young looking passenger from Cotabato City disembarked around 12:45 p.m. at the ter-minal here, leaving behind is gray backpack on the terminal ground.

People in the terminal who saw the bag suspected it was a bomb and immediate-ly called the attention of the Army’s explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team near the area. The latter confirmed it was a bomb and promptly

conducted procedures to dif-fuse it.

The Army then had the bus stopped in Isulan town in Sultan Kudarat, about 30 kilometers away, and had it checked again for explosives, before it could proceed for the two-hour drive to General Santos City.

Sobejana did not reveal more details of the suspect’s profile but said they already have a lead as to the group be-hind the attempt.

Manalo, meanwhile said, the bus company has been receiving extortion letters, which he reported to the po-lice station in Cotabato for re-cording on its blotter.

Among the threat mes-sages, Manalo said, include the ISM’s pronouncement to ambush one of Husky’s bus-es with grenade rifles or even plant bombs in their termi-nals.

Other messages, he add-

WITH only three ses-sion days left before the election cam-

paign, Senate President Frank-lin Drilon on Thursday said the time has come to consider the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) as the 45th victim of the Mamasapano incident.

Drilon said the Senate committee deliberations on the BBL were going smoothly until the bloody Mamasapano encounter took place and left 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers dead on Jan. 25 last year.

”Let’s put the record straight. We were on the way to the approval of the BBL.

Unfortunately, after the Ma-masapano incident, the envi-ronment became very toxic. I can say that I think the BBL is the 45th victim in Mamasapa-no,” Drilon said in an interview with cable television ANC.

Drilon said both the Sen-ate and the House of Repre-sentatives did their best “but you can operate only in a polit-ical environment conducive to the passage of this bill.”

In the Senate, Drilon said the BBL’s substitute bill, Basic Law on the Bangsamoro Au-tonomous Region (BLBAR) is in the period of interpellation but “the signs are not very good.”

”I don’t think we have enough time. I don’t know if Senator (Bongbong) Marcos will be present during the next three days. I am not optimistic that we will be able to pass the BBL in the Senate,” Drilon said.

For the last two weeks, the BLBAR was not tackled although the period of inter-pellation for the proposed measure was always on the agenda.

As chairman of the Senate committee on local govern-ment, Marcos, who is a vice presidential candidate, crafted the BBL substitute bill and is defending it on the floor.

Despite the possible

non-passage of BBL under curent 16th Congerss, Drilon promised to keep on pushing the peace process with the Moro rebels and the BBL even beyond the term of President Benigno Aquino III.

”It’s not a matter of giving it to the Aquino administra-tion. Yes, the President had been pushing for the passage of this but he has also been realistic. Unfortunately, and especially given the political environment that we’ve been operating in with the last few weeks, it is extremely difficult to get this through by Wednes-day next week,” he explained. (PNA)

POLICE personnel in T’bo-li town in South Cotabato have stepped their op-

erations against the report-ed resurgence of marijuana plantations in various upland villages in the area.

Chief Inspector Jose Ma-rie Simangan, T’boli police chief, said Friday they received information that marijuana plantations have been thriv-ing anew in portions of the highland villages of Tudok and Salacafe.

He said they are currently coordinating with local offi-cials and concerned residents regarding the exact location of the plantations.

“According to reports, the marijuana grown in the area is considered of high quality and reportedly exported by trad-ers to other countries,” he said.

On Wednesday morn-ing, elements from the T’boli police station discovered a marijuana plantation in Sitio

REST IN PEACE. File photo of Park  Inn by Radisson Davao general manager Pavan Kakar interacting with members of the local media late last year. An official

statement from Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group confirmed that Kakar was found dead in his hotel room in Bangkok yesterday morning. Lean Daval Jr.

Civilians foilbombing try

Drilon: BBL is 45th victim in Mamasapano

GOING MOBILE. A member of a militant group distributes flyers containing a statement against the 15-year-old Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) and Aboitiz’s Therma South Inc. coal-fired power plant which they say has failed to solve the energy problem in Davao City. Lean Daval Jr.

T’boli steps up operationsvs marijuana plantations

In Maguindanao

F T’BOLI, 9

F CIVILIANS, 8

VOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 2016 5EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMY

crc@edgedavao.netBy CHENEEN R. CAPON

DAMAGED to rice and corn sectors of Davao Region due to El Niño

has already reached to a com-bined value of P248 million since January last year.

“A total of 11,963 hect-ares of corn and rice produc-tion areas were damaged by the long drought season that peaked during the last quar-ter of 2015,” said Joedel Leliza, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) officer of the Department of Agricul-ture (DA) 11.

Gracing yesterday’s Kape-han sa PIA at Abreeza Mall, Leliza said a total of 5,636 hectares of rice production areas were damaged by El Niño from January last year up to present. Damage to vol-ume of production reached to 9,317.30 MT with a value of P140 million.

“Majority or 80 percent (4,121 hectares) of the re-gion’s total damaged rice pro-duction areas were located in the province of Davao del Sur,” he said.

Meanwhile, the loss due damaged to the region’s corn sector reached P107 million.

“A total of 6,427 hectares of corn production areas were damaged by the long drought season,” he said adding most of majority of these produc-tion areas are located in Davao City and Davao del Sur.

Leliza said the DA 11 shelled-out a total of P34 mil-lion from its regular budget and savings to fund its El Niño interventions and programs.

“We have already dis-

tributed 6,546 bags with 40 kilogram (kg) each certified rice seeds, 376 bags of green super rice, and 1,130 bags of registered seeds as well as open surface pump under the Agri-Pinoy Rice Porgram,” he said.

Affected farmers also re-ceived certified white corn seeds and cassava seed pieces worth P9.2 million under the Agri-Pinoy Corn Porgram.

The DA 11 also distribut-ed drought resistant seeds of mungbean to affected farm-

ers worth P400,000 udner the Agri-Pinoy high Value Crops Development Program.

Farmers also received 863water plastic drum as part of the program.

Another intervention of the department to mitigate the effect of the dry season to the region’s agriculture sector is the ongoing activities of cloud seeding.

Engineer Corazon Ditarro of the Bureau of Soil Manage-ment said in the same event that the cloud seeding activity

in Mindanao started last Janu-ary 22 in Region 12 while the it started in Davao Region last January 23.

Ditarro said the cloud seeding activities were al-ready conducted in the last few days covering mostly ar-eas in Davao del Sur including Magsaysay, Bansalan, Matan-ao, Municipality of Padada and Hagonoy.

“We will continue our op-eration in the next few months until our farmers cross to har-vesting stage,” she said.

El Niño damage to rice, corn hits P248M

CAMELLA Amarillo, the latest masterplanned development of Camella

in Davao Region, is positioned ahead of time as the first com-munity of its kind in Carmen and Panabo City, areas with bustling economies that are ripe for major developments.

Strategically straddling Carmen and Panabo, Camella Amarillo has an excellent loca-tion. Camella’s choice of loca-tion is driven by the qualities of these vibrant places with the most potential to become boom areas in the near future.

Major institutions are said to locate soon in these areas, such as major supermarket chains, manufacturing plant, and an IT Park. Camella’s en-try alone is an indication of investor confidence in Car-men and Panabo, potentially influencing the entry of more investors and triggering more developments here.

With Camella Amarillo, Carmen and Panabo will now

have an opportunity to experi-ence exclusive living in a mas-terplanned community. Those who do business in this part of the region do not have to move to bigger cities like Tagum or Davao to live the good life. Ca-mella Amarillo is there to offer them the charmed living they seek and deserve.

“Homebuyers can take advantage of the entry of Ca-mella Amarillo in the housing market by choosing their pre-ferred unit now. Buying this early is ideal because prices are bound to appreciate in the coming months,” said Fritzie Joy Gepolio - Marcelino, Mar-keting Head.

Camella will hold an Open House at their Information Centers along the National Highway in Barangay Salva-cion area. There will also be a Buyers Day at the Camella Am-arillo offices at 2/F Greatsun Plaza, National Highway on January 30, 2016.

“We are rolling out our

New Year’s promo by offering discounts that can go as high as P250,000 for selected units. Homebuyers should take ad-vantage of this by coming to our Buyers Day now,” said Gepolio, adding that more In-formation Centers are found at the ground floor of Gaisano Grand (near Jollibee entrance).

The huge discounts are not the only thing that sweet-ens the deal for homebuyers who will avail of the promos. The Buyers Day is themed “Sweetness Overload” and comes with free food and other freebies, symbolizing a pleasant start for the New Year for families who want to fulfill their desire to live in their dream home in a Camella community.

Camella Amarillo is prox-imate to schools and univer-sities, hospitals and medical centers, places of worship, shopping and leisure centers, government institutions, and public utilities such as trans-

portation hubs and main ac-cess roads.

The clubhouse will have a swimming pool, multi-pur-pose hall, basketball court and playground. There will be jog-ging paths, parks and gardens, landscaped grounds, lush trees and tree-lined avenues. Amenities include the services of a professional property management team that will manage subdivision affairs, from security to homeowners’ social activities and commu-nity undertakings, to subdivi-sion upkeep and maintenance.

Camella, a subsidiary of the country’s largest home-builder, Vista Land & Lifes-capes, maintains a powerful presence in Mega Manila and in 34 key provincial destina-tions and 76 cities and munici-palities across the nation. More information is available at the Camella offices or at telephone numbers 09955124769 and 09125380590, or at www.ca-mella.com.ph.

Camella Amarillo: First to offercharmed living in Davao Norte

TWO prospective inves-tors expanding their Business Process Out-

sourcing (BPO) operation in this city have been looking for workers with talents on spe-cialized fields.

While he did not name the two companies, Lawyer Sam Matunog, president of the Davao ICT Council, said the two firms need accountants with knowledge on the Ger-man language.

“We may have some but the requirement is big and we do not have that pool of tal-ents,” he said, adding though that the Davao’s Information Technology (IT) sector may have pool of talents but it could not supply the wide and diversified skills needed by BPOs such as the two pro-spective investors.

The BPO sector globally,

he said is now into different fields and given this tough re-quirement we may not be able to serve some of them.

H also disclosed that there are other investors that come for expansion of their existing businesses for inbound call center.

Matunog emphasized that job mismatch has not been addressed although there are already steps taken to address this. The process of meeting the industry requirements vis-a-vis the needed qualifica-tions might take some time.

He said the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is in the process of asking IT schools to revise their curric-ulum.

A new circular was issued by CHED for the schools to re-vise their curriculum follow-

Davao BPO locatorslooking for workers

THE provincial govern-ment of South Cotaba-to collected a total of

PHP14.37 million in mining and quarry taxes last year, surpassing its annual revenue target.

Siegfred Flaviano, Pro-vincial Environment Manage-ment Office (PEMO) head, said Tuesday it is PHP2.37 million more than its PHP12 million collection goal for the entire 2015.

He said it increased by roughly PHP3.4 million or about 24 percent from its total income in 2014 that reached PHP10.90 million.

“This only shows that the reforms that we’ve been im-plementing in our small-scale mining and quarry sectors have been gaining ground,” Flaviano said in a statement.

PEMO records showed that it already reached its tar-get for the year as of the end of November with collections of PHP12.9 million.

It ended the year with to-tal revenues of PHP1.47 mil-lion, higher than the monthly average collection of PHP1.17 million since January.

The province’s mining and quarry revenue, which is

mainly drawn from the thriv-ing small-scale mining oper-ations in Barangays Kematu and Desawo in T’boli town, posted significant increases starting March last year.

The local government only collected a total of PHP1.72 million in January and February, or an average of PHP860,000, but the figures surged to PHP1.45 million in March.

Owing to the improved collection performance, Flavi-ano said the provincial govern-ment’s revenue share reached a total of PHP5,541,327 in 2015.

The provincial imposi-tion under quarry and mining covers sand and gravel tax; mining tax, mining permit fee, ore transport fee, occupational mining tax, verification fee, fil-ing fee, permit fee, projection fee, processing fee, fines/pen-alties/surcharges, and, miscel-laneous (delivery receipts).

Last year’s collection is the second highest for the province since the creation of PEMO in 2007.

The province posted its biggest collection in 2012 with a total of PHP15.79 million.(PNA)

SoCot nets P14.37M in mining, quarry tax

NOW OPEN. Moviegoers line up at the newly opened The Movie Snack Bar of Abreeza Mall cinema during its official unveiling on Wednesday evening. Lean Daval Jr.

F DAVAO, 8

VOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 20166 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

EDITORIALExercise in futility

THE seven-hour hearing of the Senate on the Mamasapa-no clash that claimed the lives of 44 troopers belonging to the Special Action Force (SAF) in 2015 produced no

significant revelation, contrary to what Senator Juan Ponce Enrile had promised. Reopened upon Enrile’s request himself, the Senate inquiry that was conducted last Wednesday into the tragic encounter between government forces and Moro rebels in Mamamasapano, Maguindanao was an exercise in futility.

Except from the media mileage earned by the senators at-tending the hearing, lawmakers gained nothing from the lat-est probe as Enrile failed to extract new evidence to pin down President Aquino. He had earlier vowed to present proof that Aquino did nothing to save the SAF troopers, but had none to show as all he did was castigate the Armed Forces of the Philip-pines (AFP) for its apparent refusal to send reinforcements at the height of the firefight.

Even Senator Grace Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, said there was no new ev-idence that would warrant a change on the report they had

submitted on the bungled police operation called “Oplan Exo-dus” which also killed Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan. The committee report found Aquino, among others, “ultimately responsible” for the tragic fate suffered by the SAF commandos.

Enrile was at the PNP General Hospital in Camp Crame where he was detained on plunder charges when the Senate investiga-tion was conducted last year, but his request to have the probe reopened upon his release on bail and after talking with the SAF survivors of the clash was seen as politically motivated, or that it was the result of a personal grudge against the President. What-ever, Enrile failed to produce new evidence or revelation that would put the Mr. Aquino in a bad light as he had desired to do after taking the Senate floor to air his sentiments and despite raising eight issues against the President during the probe.

Well, at least Enrile made good on his promise to the SAF sur-vivors, whom he had met at the PNP hospital while he was still being detained on charges of pork barrel funds misuse, that he would reopen the investigation.

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

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PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTEthe national association of newspapers

WE used to call it the former (Japan Philippines Economic Partner-ship Agreement) when it was

signed in 2008 but now articles about this have renamed it to the latter (Philippine Japan Economic Partnership Agreement).

But whatever the acronym, it remains the same except perhaps the Philippines gets the top billing in the latter.

Japan is the country’s top trading part-ner and largest investment resource, eas-ing out the US which used to be the pre-mier export haven for Filipino exporters.

The PJepa allows nurses, skilled tech-nical labor and caregivers to enter Japan on a quota. Provided however that these OFWs first hurdle an educational require-ment that they must become Niponggo proficient before they are allowed to work anywhere in the country of the setting sun.

This agreement was inked by former Pres. Gloria Arroyo and then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Hel-sinki, Finland on Sept. 9, 2006 which later on was ratified by the Senate in 2008.

I remember Sen. Miriam Santiago prais-ing it to high heavens because OFWs need not belabour going to the Middle East and

live and work in a culture starkly different from theirs.

In Japan, the people are much more civil, much more pro-fessional, much more educated and much easi-er to deal with. We have had a historical relationship although it is not as complimentary as we would tackle it because of the brutality that war brings. (I visited Japan in 1995 as the coverage pool writer for the Philippine baseball team that took part in the Asian Baseball Cham-pionships held in Japan.)

Anyway, not much is being proffered by our authorities to encourage those who want to seek employment abroad. Japan is about five or six hours by plane, much closer than if an OFW finds work some-where in the Middle East or even Europe. It means, if one needs to get back home on an emergency or a celebration on a weekend,

the OFW would easily find a sked that will not jeopardize his/her job back in Japan.

Data coming from the Department of Trade and Industry would show that our bilateral trade with Japan has remarkably grown.

In 2010, the two partners traded for some $14.6B which leaped to $19.5B in 2014 for a 7 percent annual growth rate.

The Philippines has a trade surplus which outpace the trade imports from Ja-pan. In fact, Mindanaoans should know that Japan is the biggest importer of tuna food products and fresh tuna fish.

Latest stats from the Philippine Statis-tics Authority reflect that as of November 2015, Japan was still the top destination for our electronic products, construction materials, transport, and minerals that ac-counts for some $11.4B or 21% of the Phil-ippines’ total export revenues.

In this economic picture, we are en-couraged to do more business with Japan because the PJepa has become the true in-strument for closer coordination between these two neighbors.

No less than the vice president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and In-

dustry of the Philippines (JCCIPI) Nobuo Fujii, in a press interview, said that the provisions in the PJepa have also benefited several industries in Japan. Fujii cited the automotive sector, food and tourism as di-rect beneficiaries of the agreement.

I know that many Mindanaoans are itching to find work anywhere abroad just to provide food on the table. But if there is the PJepa, why do many still persist to take the Middle East route?

The Pjepa is a much reliable opportu-nity than those one finds randomly adver-tised by placement agencies in Manila. All one needs to do is resource more info from the Japanese embassy or from the DOLE or DFA.

To enrol and learn Japanese, I got the info that you need to pay P90,000 for a six month period after which you can fly to your work site. There’s a school some-where in Makati that teaches basic and ad-vance Niponggo classes.

At any rate I hope this column gener-ates interest from the ranks of unemployed and jobless. (Email your feedback to fred-lumba@yahoo.com). God bless the Philip-pines!

VOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 2016 VANTAGE POINTS 7EDGEDAVAO

FROM cacao capital, Davao City is set-ting its sight to become the next Pekin capital. Actually, that’s what Vicente

T. Lao, chief executive officer of Maharlika Agro-Marine Ventures, is aiming to do.

In a recent news report, EDGE Davao reporter Cheneen R. Capon wrote that Lao “was able to secure Halal certification for the company from the Ministry of Water and Environment of the United Arab Emir-ates… which would enhance his plan to penetrate the Middle East market.”

“This is a big boost to Mindanao’s poul-try industry since we can now penetrate the market of gulf countries like Saudi Ara-bia and Yemen,” Lao was quoted as saying.

Before going further, allow me first to explain why Davao is touted to be the ca-cao capital of the country. You see, ninety percent of the total cacao production in the country is mostly sourced from Mind-anao, according to the data from the High Value Commercial Crops Development Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA). The Davao Region contributes about 80% of the total production.

Remelyn R. Recoter, DA regional di-rector in Southern Mindanao, told Davao media: “Aside from banana and durian, we are prioritizing support to cacao industry so that we can position the region as the country’s cacao capital.”

According to studies, at least two hun-dred million cacao trees should have been grown by 2020 to reach the target volume of 100,000 metric tons of cacao beans. That’s two times the annual domestic de-mand of the country.

Now, let’s go back to Pekin duck. Ac-cording to Lao, large volume of the Pekin duck his company produces is currently being shipped to Japan which he consid-ered as its stable market.

“About 26-28 metric tons of Pekin duck are shipped to Japan every month, mostly premium duck breasts and leg cut,” Capon quoted Lao as saying.

I n d e e d , Lao has gone a long, long way since he started raising and processing Pekin duck in 2013. He is said to be the first export-er of Pekin duck in the country. “There is a great opportunity for the Philippines in this business considering its status as a bird-flu-free country,” he said.

Pekin duck is very popular not in Japan but in China, where it is roasted just like our very own litsong baboy and known as Pekin duck. It is prized for its crispy skin.

“Duck has been roasted in China since the Southern and Northern Dynasties,” Wikipedia notes. “A variation of roast duck was prepared for the Emperor of China in the Yuan Dynasty. The dish, originally named ‘Shaoyazi,’ was mentioned in the Complete Recipes for Dishes and Beverages manual in 1330 by Hu Sihui, an inspector of the imperial kitchen.

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

History records showed that the ducks used to prepare Pekin duck actually orig-inated in Nanjing. They were small, had black feathers, and lived in the canals

around the city linking major waterways. With the relocation of the Chinese capital to Beijing, supply barge traffic increased in the area. Often these barges would spill grain into the canals, providing food for the ducks. By the Five Dynasties, the new species of duck had been domesticated by Chinese farmers.

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

In recent years, Pekin duck is get-ting popular among Filipino consumers. “Through internet and the booming popu-larity of social media has linked the Filipi-nos with their Asian neighbors, exposing them to different cultures, including food, particularly the varied duck fares which is considered an Asian specialty,” noted Dr. Erwin Joseph S. Cruz, free-range poultry and Pekin duck specialist and fellow of the Philippine College of Poultry Practitioners.

As a result, “Filipino chefs, restaurant owners and food concessionaires who are constantly looking for something new be-side chicken, beef and pork welcome duck in their roster of new delights for Pinoy taste buds to savor,” wrote Dr. Cruz in an article which appeared in Marid Agribusi-ness Magazine.

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

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

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

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

“The breeders are mostly smallholder farmers scattered nationwide where we expect an increase of breeders particular-ly on rural areas to rely on Pekin duck as a major livelihood source,” he said.

Indeed, the future of Pekin duck in the Philippines is brighter. “The continu-ous demand for ducklings nationwide is a good indication that there is potential for the product even in the provincial areas,” Dr. Cruz wrote. “Another indication is the acceptance of Chinese restaurant of the lo-cal produce due to regular orders.

“The good support of our local chefs in introducing duck meat in their culinary programs has boosted the acceptability of the bird. Variations in cooking have also made it easier for restaurants to integrate ducks in their menus,” he said.

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

From cacao to Pekin duck

JaPepa or PJepa

Henrylito D. Taciohenrytacio@gmail.com

THINK ON THESE!

Fred C. Lumba

SPECKS OF LIFE

VOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 20168

NGCP... FROM 2

Davao... FROM 5Civilians... FROM 4

EDGEDAVAO

BIGGER PICTURE

CROCODILES and sharks are not the deadliest liv-ing creatures. Public en-

emy number one is that tiny speck of a living thing that irri-tates many Filipinos on a daily basis. It’s called mosquitoes.

Every year, crocodiles kill 1,000 people while sharks manage to take 10 lives. In contrast, mosquitoes snatch the lives of 725,000 people each year, according to the Ge-neva-based World Health Or-ganization (WHO).

Mosquitoes have been around for at least 350 years, the age of the oldest mosquito fossil. Beating their wings 300 to 500 times a second produc-es that distinctive whine that novelist D.H. Lawrence penned as a “small, high, hateful bugle” in his ear.

Science says there are over 2,500 different species of mosquitoes throughout the world, all of which live in spe-cific habitats, exhibit unique behaviors and bite different types of animals. Though the average mosquito lifespan is only about three weeks, some varieties have been known to live as long as two months in laboratory conditions.

Mosquitoes track people down by sensing their body odors and temperature, and the carbon dioxide human be-ings exhale. “Only female mos-quitoes have the mouth parts necessary for sucking blood,” notes the National Geographic. “When biting with their pro-boscis, they stab two tubes into the skin: one to inject an enzyme that inhibits blood clotting; the other to suck blood into their bodies. They use the blood not for their own nourishment but as a source of protein for their eggs.”

After a female-sucking mosquito has bitten, some

saliva remains in the wound. The proteins from the saliva (called anticoagulants) evoke an immune response from man’s body. The area swells (the bump around the bite area is called a wheal), and people itch, a response pro-voked by the saliva. Eventual-ly, the swelling goes away, but the itch remains until man’s immune cells break down the saliva proteins.

One of the diseases that mosquitoes carry is the den-gue virus. Also known as “break-bone” fever, dengue is the Swahili term for “a sudden overtaking by a spirit.” Caused by four distinct virus serotypes (varieties recognized as dis-tinct by the immune system), it is a distant cousin of yellow fever.

All dengue viruses have one thing in common: they are transmitted from man to man principally by two types of mosquitoes: Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.

According to studies, most Aedes mosquitoes are found indoors than outdoors. The Aedes aegypti prefers to rest in shaded places while Ae-des albopictus prefer to rest in shrubs and trees.

“The Aedes mosquito sur-vives an average of 30 days and can theoretically deposit up to four batches of eggs number about 60-100 eggs at a time,” explains Dr. Rebecca Singson, who used to be the head of the dengue eradication program of Rotary International District 3810. “These eggs are laid on water surfaces and hatch into larval stage which we com-monly call kiti-kiti which, in five to seven days, transform into the mosquito carrier.”

The two Aedes mosqui-toes bite only during daytime but their peak biting time is

after sunrise and at dusk – especially one hour before sunset. In areas where these mosquitoes abound, take note on those times.

“After feeding on the blood of a person infected with dengue virus, an incubation of 8 to 10 days is required for the virus to multiply in the salivary gland of the mosquito,” Dr. Singson says. “The mosquito will then be-come infected and can trans-mit the virus when it bites an-other innocent victim.”

The UN health agency says that when a person is bitten by an infected mosquito, the dengue virus is deposited in the person’s bloodstream. The time between the bite of a dengue-carrying mosqui-to and the start of dengue fever symptoms averages four to six days, with a range of three to 14 days.

The WHO points out that an infected person can be a source of dengue virus for mosquitoes for about six days. But unlike rabies, an infect-ed person cannot transmit the dengue virus directly into another person.

Medical scientists claim Aedes mosquitoes breed in clean water. Inside the house or office buildings, the po-tential sites for the mosquito larvae are “any container that can accumulate water for up to seven days.” These include: un-covered water storage tanks, flower vases, saucers for orna-mental plants, soft drink bot-tles, and metal and plastic pails for water storage.

The dengue mosquitoes breed in outdoor “vectors” such as tree holes, bamboo stumps, leaf axillas or plants (such as palm, banana and yam,

among others), earthen jars for water storage, discarded bottles and tins, old rubber tires, rain bar-rels for collecting rainwater, clogged roof gutters, coconut shells and husks and canoes and small fishing boats.

Dr. Scott B. Halstead, of the Health Sciences Division of the Rockefeller Foundation, said dengue transmission is in-creased at high temperatures and at a high relative humid-ity, but reduced in cool or dry weather. It goes without saying that epidemics in the tropical countries like the Philippines coincide with the hot, rainy season.

After El Niño will exit from the country in April or May, there is a tendency that den-gue cases will again surge. The reason: the coming of La Niña. A flipside to El Niño, La Niña is the phenomenon associated with above-average rainfall resulting from the extensive cooling of the central and Pa-cific Ocean.

“Mosquito-borne diseases usually break out during the rainy season, particularly after a flood or strong rain,” the De-partment of Health said. “This is because pools and puddles of water formed after the rain are ideal breeding places for the day-biting female mosqui-

Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Transporta-

tion and CommunicationLAND TRANSPORTATION

FRANCHISING AND REGULATORY BOARDRegional Office No. XI

Davao City

Petition for Renewal of a Certificate of Public Convenience to operate an AIRCONDITIONED TAXI Service

Case No. 2001-XI-01716

ARLYN L. GATCHALIAN,Petitioner

x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - --x

NOTICE OF HEARING

Petitioner is a grantee of a Certificate of Public Con-venience issued in this case authorizing the operation of an AIRCONDITIONED TAXI service on the route: WITHIN DAVAO CITY to any point in Region XI with the use of ONE (1) unit, which Certificate will expire on December 31, 2016. In the petition filed on Janu-ary 15, 2016, petitioner re-quests authority to extend the validity of said certificate to operate along the same route with the use of the same unit previously authorized.

NOTICE, is hereby given that this petition will be heard by this Board on FEB-RUARY 16, 2016 at 10:20 a.m. at this office at the above address.

At least, TEN (10) days pri-or to the above date petitioner shall publish this Notice once in a one (1) daily newspaper of general circulation in Min-danao

Parties opposed to the granting of the petition must file their written opposition supported by documentary evidence on or before the above date furnishing a copy of the same to the petitioner, and may if they so, desire ap-pear on said date and time.

This petition will be acted upon by this Board on the ba-sis of its records and the doc-umentary evidence submit-ted by the parties, unless the Board deems it necessary to receive additional documen-tary and/or oral evidence.

WITNESS the Honorable BENJAMIN A. GO, CESO V, Re-gional Director, this 18th day of January 2016 at Davao City.

TERESITA DELA PEÑA-YÑIGUEZ

Chief Transportation Development Officer

Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Transporta-

tion and CommunicationLAND TRANSPORTATION

FRANCHISING AND REGULATORY BOARDRegional Office No. XI

Davao City

Petition for Approval of Sale and Transfer of a Certificate of Public Convenience to operate a PUJ-DUAL Ordinary Regular Service

Case No. 2016-XI-00042(2014-XI-00971)

ELSIE D. LEGONIS,Petitioner

ARNEL G. HABANA,Petitioner-Vendee

x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - --x

NOTICE OF HEARING

Petitioners request authori-ty for the Approval of Sale and Transfer executed by ELSIE D. LEGONIS in favor of ARNEL G. HABANA of a Certificate of Public Convenience with Equipment issued in this case authorizing the operation of a PUJ –DUAL Ordinary Regular service on the route: TIBUNG-CO VIA BUHANGIN and for cargoes as dual service from said route to any point in Re-gion XI with the use of ONE (1) unit, which Certificate is still valid and subsisting up to May 21, 2020.

NOTICE, is hereby given that this petition will be heard by this Board on FEB-RUARY 15, 2016 at 09:20 a.m. at this office at the above address.

At least, TEN (10) days pri-or to the above date petitioner shall publish this Notice once in a one (1) daily newspaper of general circulation in Min-danao

Parties opposed to the granting of the petition must file their written opposition supported by documentary evidence on or before the above date furnishing a copy of the same to the petitioner, and may if they so, desire ap-pear on said date and time.

This petition will be acted upon by this Board on the ba-sis of its records and the doc-umentary evidence submit-ted by the parties, unless the Board deems it necessary to receive additional documen-tary and/or oral evidence.

WITNESS the Honorable BENJAMIN A. GO, CESO V, Re-gional Director, this 14th day of January 2016 at Davao City.

TERESITA DELA PEÑA-YÑIGUEZ

Chief Transportation Development Officer

By HENRYLITO D. TACIO

of its energy problems unless the bombing of transmission facili-ties are stopped.”

Capulong said the current situation of Tower #25 might lead to “zero reserves” because it isolated Agus 1 hydropower plant from Mindanao grid.

NGCP has been rationing power to distribution utilities across Mindanao as a result of low hydropower plants gener-ating capacity and non-repair of Tower #25.

Capulong said the repair of Tower #25 is a must as the gen-erating capacity of other energy sources have reduced.

Since the start of 2016, NGCP has been rationing power in Mindanao. As a result, the Cota-bato Light schedules daily power brownout of 1 or 2 hours in its franchise area that also included Sultan Kudarat and Datu Odin Sinsuat towns in Maguindanao.

In the January 29 NGCP pow-er outlook, Mindanao has 1,324

MW available capacity with 1,360 MW system peak or gross reserves of negative 36 MW.

The Department of Energy, meanwhile, said the “right of way” (ROW) claims issue that hampers the repair of toppled tower in Lanao Sur is being ad-dressed but admitted there are issues that need to be cleared first.

Energy Secretary Zenaida Mosada, in a radio interview, said negotiations to settle ROW

claims by Sanbitori family in Ra-main, Lanao del Sur have failed.

“The claims cannot be vali-dated,” Monsada said.

A top level meeting involv-ing officials of Department of Energy, NGCP, PNP, AFP, National Power Corporation and govern-ment-run National Transmission Corporation (Transco) also failed to address the ROW issue.

The Sanbitori family has been claiming ROW amounting to about Php40 million. (PNA)

ing the Outcomes Base Educa-tion (OBE) which he said had been roll out since last year.

He said the IT sector here has been tapped by schools while other universities and colleges hired experts to han-dle the revision of the cur-riculum in their respective schools.

According to him, among the schools that sought their

assistance and have complet-ed the revised program were the University of Mindanao, University of Southern Philip-pines and Holy Cross of Davao College.

Right now there are about 49 schools in Region 11 that offer IT courses namely Com-puter Science, Information Technology and Information Management. (PNA)

ed, include ambushing one of the buses near a bridge so it would fall into a ravine, and planting a 15-kg bomb packed with 20 kg of nails in Husky’s office.

Despite those threats, Manalo said they would con-tinue to work because they also need to feed their families.

The Husky management vows to implement strict-er security procedures right

away and installing CCTV in the newly constructed termi-nal building.

Husky has had its share of violent incidents, including the bombing of one of its buses a few years ago in Isulan, and the ambush of another bus while traversing the highway in Maguindanao by armed men using high-powered fire-arms. Ferdinandh B. Cabre-ra/MindaNews

toes that carry the dis-ease.”

By the way, there are actually two types of

dengue: dengue and se-vere dengue. The latter, also

known as dengue hemorrhag-ic fever (DHF), was first rec-ognized in the 1950s during

dengue epidemics in the Phil-ippines.

“Today, severe dengue affects most Asian and Latin American countries and has become a leading cause of hos-pitalization and death among children in these regions,” the WHO reports.

Aedes aegypti (Photo from Wikipedia)

Mosquitoes: Public enemy no. 1

VOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 2016 9DROUGHT... FROM 1

T’boli... FROM 4

NEWSEDGEDAVAO

Education Development Center (EDC) a leading non-profit research and development firm is implementing the 5 year (2013-2018) Mindanao Youth for Development (MYDev) Program funded by USAID. In partnership with TESDA, DepEd and civil society, MYDev will provide direct technical assistance to support LGUs to develop and lead civic engagement, youth education (through Alternative Learning Systems) and technical skills training programs (through TESDA and other service providers) in their respective communities for at least 19,000 out-of-school youth (OSY) in Mindanao.

REQUIREMENTSOperations Manager based in Davao City.The job holder will be responsible for managing the project’s administrative operation from its main office in Davao City and overseeing the field offices operation. The work shall cover facilities management, logistics, procurement of goods and services, contracts administration, human resources management and safety and security coordination. The job holder shall also assist the Chief of Party in ensuring project staff’s compliance with EDC policies and procedures, and donor rules and regulations. He or she will work closely with the technical unit in anticipating and planning for required administrative support to technical programs, forecasting cash requirements and implementation. He or she will directly supervise the administrative officer in Davao Office and field offices, and coordinate the work of outsourced personnel.At least 5 year experience in a similar position is required; as well as a university degree in management, psychology or related field. Advance studies and thorough familiarity with USAID rules and regulations under a Cooperative Agreement will be an advantage.

Administrative and Logistics Officer.The job holder will be responsible for procurement of commodities, inventory, travel logistics, coordinate safety and security and front desk management. He or she will provide administrative support to the Chief of Party and Deputy Chief of Party and coordinate logistics for USAID visits. Will also assist Finance Department and will supervise the office driver and utility person.Candidate must hold a university degree in Management or administration, psychology, human resource management or equivalent background. He or she must have at least 4 years of relevant working experience in an international donor assisted project. Knowledge of USAID procurement regulations and practices will be an advantage.

Candidates for the above positions must be proactive, organized and able to multi-task. They must be effective team members and be culturally sensitive. Must also possess strong oral and written English communications skills, sound judgement and a high degree of accountability.

Submission of job application. Interested and qualified candidate should send an updated CV to mydevhr@edc.org with a one page expression of

interest . You can also browse this ad at www.facebook.com/usaidmydev

anao that are experiencing drought are South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Sultan Kuda-rat, Basilan, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-tawi.

The provinces of Zambo-anga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Bukidnon, Misamis Occiden-tal, Davao del Sur, and Saran-gani are experiencing dry spell this month.

For the month of Feburu-ary, the provinces of Zambo-ang del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Bukidnon, Misamis Occi-dental, South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, Basilan, Maguindan-

ao, Sulu, and Tawi-tawi are ex-pected to experience drought.

By the end of the first quarter, the provinces of Zam-boanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Soth Cotabato, North Cotabato, Saranggani, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Magu-indanao, Sulu, and Tawi-tawi will experience drought.

By April, the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zam-boanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte, Misamis

Occidental, Misamis Orien-tal, Compostela Valley, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Soth Cotabato, North Cotabato, Saranggani, Sultan Kudarat, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Ta-wi-tawi will likely experience drought.

In May and June, the prov-inces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zambo-anga Sibugay, Camiguin, La-nao del Norte, and Misamis Occidental will be badly hit by drought.

PAGASA expects the weather to normalize in July.

Lamcade in Barangay Datal’ Dlanag.

Simangan said they up-rooted in the area some 50 hills of fully-grown marijuana with an estimated value of PHP22,000.

But he said the plantation was already abandoned when they arrived and they have yet to identify those behind the il-legal activity.

“We’re determined to put a stop to this illegal activity and eventually eradicate all marijuana plantations here in T’boli,” Simangan said.

He added that the local government of T’boli led by Mayor Dibu Tuan is fully sup-porting their campaign and has initially offered financial incentives to operatives and informants. (PNA)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 201610 CLASSIFIEDS

Advertise with

Tel No. 082.221.3601/224.1413Email: edgedavao@gmail.com marketing@edgedavao.net

EDGEDAVAO

STYLE

EDGEDAVAOINdulge!

THIS YEAR, Abreeza Mall strengthens its commitment to be a bastion for fashion in Davao by holding Scandi-lous, an exclusive mixer and mini-fashion show attended by members of the city’s fashion, publishing, and blogging communities. Held on January 24, Scandi-lous treated guests to a peek at the trends that are set to take over 2016, par-ticularly Scandinavian style, from which the event takes its name. Models showed off Scandinavian-inspired fashion from Abreeza Mall merchants; namely, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, GAP, Mango, Marks & Spencer, and Promod. Another highlight of Scandi-lous was a talk by editor-in-chief Pam Quiñones of L’Officiel Manila, the Philippine edition of the Paris-based fashion magazine and the country’s first locally franchised international fashion title. Before landing her job at L’Officiel Ma-nila, Pam was a top celebrity stylist whose clients included Anne Curtis, Judy Ann Santos, Charlene Gonza-les, and Sarah Geronimo. Besides touching on the year’s trends, Pam also shared her impressive journey growing up in Cotabato to becom-ing one of the most respected names in the Philippine fashion industry. Joining her onstage for the talk was Philippa Andrén, a fashion consul-

tant involved with L’Officiel Manila’s styling team and a Scandinavian herself hailing from Denmark. At Scandi-lous, guests also got to marvel at a vignette ex-hibit by local fashion design collective Davao Elite Fashion Group. Inspired by the Pantone Color Institute’s Color of the

Year for 2016, Rose Quartz and Serenity, the exhibit featured pink- and blue-toned creations by Andi Amora, Aztec Barba, Bamba Limon, Benjie Paniza-les, Dodjie Batu, Edgar Buyan, Egay Ayag, Emi Englis, Junie Artajo, Lala Luz, Lauren Ar-riola, Tzardy Tombo, Windell Mira, and Xioti Chiu. The ex-

hibit was on display at Abreeza Mall’s Ground Floor Fashion Hallway and Activity Center from January 20 to 24.Scandi-lous is a special edition of the Abreeza Fashion Forum, a regular convergence of press, bloggers, and fashion insiders that aims to discuss and pro-mote trends, projects, brands,

and ideas in the field.For inquiries and updates on Abreeza Mall news and events, please visit the Main Concierge at the ground floor or call (082) 321-9332. Stay updated by liking www.facebook.com/AbreezaMall and following @abreezatweets on Twitter and @iloveabreezamall on Instagram.

Abreeza Mall

previews 2016trends

VOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 2016

But not all is lost. A collab-orative network of non-govern-mental organizations and com-munity-based organizations in South and Southeast Asia called Non-Timber Forest Products – Exchange Programme (NTFP-EP) has started working on The Indigo Project which reaches out to indigenous populations in upland and rural communi-ties in the Philippines and In-donesia. These artisans include members of Mangyan Alangan, Mangyan Hanunoo and Mang-yan Iraya of the island of Min-doro; Higaonon of Bukidnon, Palaw’anon and Tagbanua of Palawan, T’boli of South Cota-bato, Maguindanao weavers and those of Negros. The Indigo Project promotes the development and implemen-tation of environmental and so-cial standards in hand-woven textiles production. It supports production and sourcing of en-vironmentally friendly natural dyes and fibers, establishes eco-friendly product standards, and scales production of eco-textiles. In the Philippine, NTFP-EP partnered with CustomMade Crafts Center (CMCC) as its in-tegrated design and marketing arm to give project beneficiaries proper skills training that will allow them to combine modern technology with age-old prac-tices. The goal is to produce world-class materials made of natural dye and fiber that can be promoted not only locally but to the international market as well.

Modi or Modern Indigenous, CMCC’s banner program, for instance, is a lifestyle line that fuses traditional crafts with con-temporary design and function. It is a synergy of Philippine tribal artisans and city-bred designers to make culture-bound crafts up to date. CMCC, incidentally is one of the social enterprises being supported by leading telecommunications company Globe Telecom. “When we started the Indigo Project, there were no takers. It was only Globe who really worked with us on this,” says Be-nilda Camba, NTFP-EP Enter-prise Development Coordinator. “Globe believes that every-one should have a share in the country’s economic growth that is why we continue to focus on underserved communities which we can help by providing sustainable livelihood programs. Through these efforts, Globe hopes to offer viable economic opportunities – and with these, new possibilities for prosperity,” said Fernando Esguerra, Direc-tor of Globe Corporate Social Responsibility. NTFP-EP and CMCC benefit from the information and com-munication technology tools being provided by Globe such as internet connectivity and mo-bile credit card payment facility through Globe Charge , as well as capacity building support and market access. “We’re not busi-ness people, we’re more involved in community development. But

all this technology helps drive the business,” adds Camba. But Globe is not only all about technology. As part of the com-pany’s rehabilitation and recov-ery efforts in the Province of Aklan, Globe and CMCC has expanded the program in the province to benefit more sub-sistence farmers and to take ad-vantage of the vibrant weaving industry in Aklan. In Madalag,

for instance, from just one ba-rangay Globe added 10 more to its list of supported barangays. Madalag grows Indigo plants whose leaves are eventually turned into powdered dye which CMCC buys to supplement the livelihood of the communities. Globe helped establish natu-ral indigo dye powdering facili-ties not only in Aklan but also in Occidental Mindoro, Orien-

tal Mindoro, Zamboanga, and Palawan. By preserving this craft which is a traditional expression of the art and identity of indigenous and rural peoples, NTFP-EP, CMCC, and Globe are not only able to keep such customs alive but are also able to provide the communities a way to a better life in the face of growing mar-ginalization.

INDIGO WAS ONCE WIDELY FAVORED by the local weaving industry as a traditional way of add-ing color to fabrics due to its excellent resistance from fading or running. Yet, over the years, this natural dye was pushed to the sidelines by the emergence of cheaper and easier to obtain synthetic dyes which were quick to be embraced by textile manufacturers.

A2 INdulge!ARTS AND CULTURE

Artisanal hand-woven products using Indigo dye from CustomMade Crafts Center.

Reviving the art of traditional dye weavingThe Indigo Project

Stylish indigo fashion.

The indigo plant.

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 2016

INdulge! A3EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

Zaijian’s moving portrayalof street kid re-airs in ‘MMK’A W A R D - W I N N I N G KAPAMILYA ACTOR Zaijian Jaranilla gives life to the character of a former street child who finished his studies in a “Maalaala Mo Kaya” episode that will inspire viewers once more this Saturday (January 30). After he and his brother ran away from home, Rustie (Zaijian) was exposed to different vices and crimes when he befriended other street children who learned to steal and use drugs. However, Rustie’s life began to change when he met a street artist who inspired him to pursue his dreams of studying in a prestigious university. How did all the pain and hardships that Rustie had to go through help him succeed in achieving his goals in life? Where did he get the strength to move on from his past and change his own destiny? “MMK’s” episode this Saturday will also feature Andrea del

Rosario, Cris Villanueva, Kean Cipriano, JM Ibañez, Jeric Raval, Lance Lucido, Kokoy Desantos, Kyle Banzon, Tanya Gomez, Encar Benedicto, Junjun Quintana, Gerald Pesigan, John Vincent Servilla, Carlo Lacana, Winryll Banaag, and Tony Manalo. It is under the direction of Garry Fernando and written by Ruel Montañez. “MMK” is led by business unit head Malou Santos. Don’t miss the longest-running drama anthology in Asia, “MMK,”

this Saturday, 8:30PM. For more updates, log on to MMK.abs-cbn.com, follow @MMKOfficial on Twitter, and “like” Facebook.com/MMKOfficial. Tweet your thoughts about this Saturday’s episode by using the hashtag #MMKDreamAndBelieve. Meanwhile, viewers may also catch up on full episodes and past episodes of “MMK” through ABS-CBNmobile. For more information, please go to www.abscbnmobile.com.

Zanjoe Marudo joins the fun on ‘Banana Sundae’“BANANA SUNDAE” continues to roll the Kapamilya artists’ funny sides as they air a special presidential episode this Sunday (January 31). This week’s serving includes a special guesting of “Tubig at Langis” star, and former “Banana Sundae” mainstay, Zanjoe Marudo as well as a special presidential Deal or No Deal that will surely leave the audience in stitches. Randy Santiago also guests in the Baby Luv segment while the other dish the crew will serve is Hugot Class.

Meanwhile, their kiddie counterparts at “Goin’ Bulilit” give their own take about Senate hearings, but tackling nursery rhymes instead of national issues on the same day (January 31). Not to be outdone is their transportation jokes that take place inside and around taxis. Get to listen as well to Lito Camo’s “Beep Beep Beep” for the kids’ Musical Hitback performance. “Goin’ Bulilit”, the brainchild of Direk Bobot Mortiz over the years has become a training ground for kids who later on when in their teens become

big names in the industry. The “Banana Sundae” cast has been making people laugh during their late

night forays, most notably with mainstays Angelica Panganiban’s and Jason Gainza’s segments Krissy

TV and Ihaw na. With a new airdate, and with quirky segments, Sunday viewers would definitely have a good laugh while still having their regular serving of well-loved portions like Kantaranta, Baby Luv, and Make Me Rap. The other mainstays of the show include John Prats, Ryan Bang, Sunshine Garcia, Aiko Climaco, Pokwang, Jessy Mendiola, JC De Vera, Pooh, Jobert Austria, and Badji Mortiz. Catch “Banana Sundae” and “Goin’ Bulilit” this Sunday and “Home Sweetie Home” on Saturday.

KATRINA DECLARED AS ALFONSO’S LEGAL WIFE IN “AND I LOVE YOU”. Katrina (Angel Aquino) won her right as the legal wife of Alfonso (Tonton Gutierrez) after changing Joanna’s (Miles Ocampo) DNA result to negative in the afternoon series “And I Love You So.” Michelle (Dimples Romana) was surprised to learn that the DNA test showed Joanna and his father Alfonso were not biologically matched. With this, Michelle faced Katrina and made sure she finds out her involvement with the incident. Meanwhile, as she was declared as the legal wife, Katrina forced Joanna to leave the mansion and pushed her to the ground, fueling so much anger from Michelle. Now that Katrina’s plans are happening as intended, how can Michelle defend her family, especially her daughter Joanna? Don’t miss the thrilling scenes in “And I Love You So,” weekdays in ABS-CBN. For more information about the program, visit the official social networking site of Dreamscape Entertainment Television at Facebook.com/DreamscapePH, Twitter.com/DreamscapePH, and Instagram.com/DreamscapePH.

R13

R13

PG/ *R1311:50 | 1:45 | 3:40 LFS / *5:40 | 7:50 | 10:00 LFS

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF ALADDIN /

*FATHERS & DAUGHTERS

Kev Adams, Jean-Paul Rouve / *Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried

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

13 HOURS

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

THE BOY

Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans, James Russell

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

James Badge Dale, John Krasinski

EVERYTHING ABOUT HER

Vilma Santos, Angel Locsin, Xian Lim

January 29 – February 2, 2016

VOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 2016

A4 INdulge!UP AND ABOUT

BDO, the country’s num-ber one bank, opens the third leg of The Great BDO Travel Sale in the Crown Jewel of Mindan-ao - Davao. As an opening salvo for 2016, BDO goes on a nationwide run of the highly anticipated The Great BDO Travel Sale. The first two legs of the one-stop shop travel event were held in Manila and Cebu for the past two con-secutive weekends. The third and last stop will be held at The Atrium, SM Lanang Premier starting january 29 until the 31st of January. “We launched the very first The Great BDO Travel Sale around this time last year in Ma-nila. And because of its rousing

success, it was quickly followed by a second run in June - both in Manila and Cebu,” according to Ma. Nannette R. Regala, Senior Vice President and Consumer Lending Group Marketing Head, “For 2016, we decided to further expand our reach - aim-ing to cater to the travel needs of our cardholders nationwide. Be-ing a key city here in Mindan-ao, and considering our strong cardholder base in the area, Davao was a definite choice.” At The Great BDO Travel Sale, BDO Rewards, Debit and Credit Cardholders can choose from an extensive line-up of travel options available exclusively during the event. Big savings and special dis-counts on international and do-

mestic airline tickets with travel period until December 2016 will be offered. The Great BDO Travel Sale travel partners for the Davao leg include Cathay Pacific, Philip-pine Airlines, Quatar Airways, Asiana Airlines and AirAsia. “Travell=ing has been ingrained in our lifestyle. Through The Great BDO Travel Sale, we hope to further extend our service to our valued BDO Cardholders. Whether they’er planning to

go on a family vacation in the US orEurope, a barkada esca-pade in japan or Korea, or even just a beach getaway here in the Philippines, we’ll provide them with an easy, hassle-free and of course, a more cost efficient means to do so. Part of which is out instalment payment option, available for as low as 0.70% in-terest rate per month, that we offer BDO Credit Cardholders during the event. So, by simply attending The GreatBDO Travel

Sale, our cardholders will be able to book and buy all the air-line deals they need and want. The event will be open from 10:00AM to 7:00 PM. All pay-ments must be settled using only BDO Credit Cards, BDO issued American Express Credit Card, BDO ATM Debit Card, BDO Cash Card and BDO Re-wards Card. For more details, please call 631-8000 and 1-800-10-6318000 or log on to www.bdo.com.ph.

Airline deals at The Great BDO Travel Sale

Ma. Nannette R. Regala, Senior Vice President and Consumer Lending Group Marketing Head for BDO. BDO’s marketing team.

FROM LEFT: AirAsia Philippines’ head of commercial sales Gerard Peñaflor, Philippine Airline’s Victor Suarez, area manager, Mindanao sales, and Cathay Pacific’s country manager Alan Lui.

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 2016

VOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 2016

UNTOUCHABLE NOVAK11EDGEDAVAOSports

EARLY in the second set on Thursday night, a fan let Roger Federer know

exactly how he felt about the 17-time Grand Slam champi-on’s performance.

“Three-hundred dollars for tickets tonight, Roger!” the fan yelled from the stands. Those $300 earned the guy a chance to see Novak Djokovic trounce all over Federer for the first two sets. So much for a heated rivalry.

Djokovic, 28, closed out a 6-1 first set in just 22 min-utes. The next lasted 10 min-utes and one game longer. The man who has won more Grand Slam singles titles than any other looked like a new-comer in those 54 minutes, in-caple of answering Djokovic’s commanding serve or deep winners.

Djokovic won 91 percent of his first-serve points in the first set, 86 percent in the sec-ond and converted four of his five break-point opportunities. He hit 17 winners to Federer’s 11. The most telling statistic, though, was unforced errors: with 24, Federer committed four times as many as Djokov-ic.

The crowd did everything it could to rally the Swiss star. A Canadian man stood and waved a cowboy hat every time Federer put it between the lines. A few in the rafters yelled Roger’s name just as Djokovic started to serve. When Federer, 34, earned his first break point opportuni-ty of the match, they offered

a standing ovation. He didn’t convert that one, but he kept the game going and nine points later he succeeded. That gave him the 4-2 lead; he’d go on to take the set 6-3.

At least the fans hadn’t paid all that money to see him crash out in straight sets. They now seemed to be satis-fied with the effort. The match stopped briefly at the end of the third as rain started to fall in Melbourne and the organiz-ers closed the roof. When they started again, the set stayed on serve through seven games. Fans dared to believe they’d see a five-setter after all.

In the eighth game, Feder-er fell into a 0-30 hole on serve. He battled back again, outlast-ing Djokovic in a phenomenal rally to even it at 30-30.

But that would be his final highlight of the night. Djokovic took the next two points for the break and the 5-4 lead. He served out the win with four unanswered points.

“His defense was terrific that point,” Djokovic said later. “After it was done I had to just forget about it and focus on the next point. Managed to return two very good returns and pass him on the net. That was a crucial break.”

“I know that if I drop my level or concentration or al-low myself to get distracted by anything that he would take the first opportunity, jump on me, and just take the lead of the rallies. That’s what he had done in the third. He just waits for a little drop from his oppo-

Novak Djokovic plays a backhand return during his semi-final match against Roger Federer at the Australian Open in Melbourne, on Thursday.

DRAYMOND Green and Klay Thompson were picked Thursday for the

Western Conference team, giv-ing the NBA champion Golden State Warriors three All-Stars for the first time in 40 years.

Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins, Houston’s James Harden, San Antonio’s LaMar-cus Aldridge, the Clippers’ Chris Paul and New Orleans’ Anthony Davis were also cho-sen for the West squad for the Feb. 14 game in Toronto.

The Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan will represent the home team and is joined by fellow East reserves Chicago’s Jimmy Butler, Detroit’s Andre Drummond, Miami’s Chris Bosh, Washington’s John Wall, Atlanta’s Paul Millsap and Bos-ton’s Isaiah Thomas.

The reserves were select-ed by the head coaches in each conference, who had to vote for seven players: two guards, three frontcourt players and two additional players at any position. They were not al-lowed to vote for players from their own team.

The coaches made Green a first-time selection and picked Thompson for the second year in a row. With MVP Stephen Curry voted a starter by fans, the Warriors have three All-Stars for the first time since Rick Barry, Phil Smith and Ja-maal Wilkes in 1976.

‘’It’s definitely something I could’ve never imagined hap-

The selection of Draymond Green and Klay Thompson as All-Stars gives the Warriors three for the first time since Rick Barry, Phil Smith and Jamaal Wilkes in 1976. AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

ORGANIZERS of the 8th Kidapawan Open Chess Championship are ex-

pecting around 150 players from all over the Philippines to compete in the two-day tournament at the Kidapawan Convention Center from Feb-ruary 6 to 7.

Speaking during Thurs-day’s Davao Sportswriters’ As-sociation (DSA) Forum at SM City, JojoPalero, chief arbiter of the chess tournament, said that they are expecting chess players from Davao City, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro City, Bacolod City, and Manila to come and compete in the tournament to be held in time for the Kidap-awan City foundation anniver-sary.

“The tournament is open to all Filipino players of all ages, rated or non-rated, male or female, residing anywhere in the Philippines,” he said.

He explained that the tournament has two catego-ries, namely: open and 15-un-der categories.

It has a registration fee of P300 for adult players com-ing from outside Kidapawan, P200 for local players, and P100 for the junior and kiddie players.

Registration opened last January 4 and will end on Feb-ruary 6.

Ely Acas, deputy chief ar-biter, said a Fide Laws of Chess will apply, except otherwise provided.

He added that the chess game has a defaulting time of 15 minutes after each round.

Palero added that bigger prizes await winners.

For open category, P15,000 be awarded to the champion, P10,000 to the first runner-up, and P5,000 to the second runner up. Each will receive a trophy.

The third runner-up will get P3,000 and a medal while the fourth to ninth runners-up will receive P1,000 each. The best junior and best female players will receive P1,000 each.

For 15 and under category, champion will receive P3,000, first runner-up will get P2,000, and second runner-up will get P1,000. All three winners will get medals.

Three-time champion International Master Oliver Dimakiling, who hails from Davao City, will defend his title against his challengers. (Anto-nio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)

Djokovic dominates Federerto reach Australian Open final

nent. That’s why he’s been so successful throughout his ca-reer... But I’ve played in these particular situations before, and managed to use theat ex-perience.”

He’s played in these situa-tions many, many times before. The two came into the match

at an even 22-22 in their ca-reer head-to-head. With the win, Djokovic now holds a win-ning record against every oth-er member of the top 5. He’s 9-6 against Federer in Grand Slams.

Sunday’s final will be Djokovic’s sixth here, the most

of any man in Australian Open history. He is a perfect 5-0 since winning his first title here in 2008, his first in any Grand Slam. This is his fifth fi-nal in as many Grand Slams, ty-ing the mark set by Rafael Nad-al from the 2011 French Open to the 2012 French Open. Only

Federer has strung together a longer streak of finals appear-ances, with separate runs of eight and 10 appearances.

Djokovic will face the win-ner of Friday’s semifinal be-tween Andy Murray and Milos Raonic. He’s 21-9 against Mur-ray, 5-0 against Raonic.

Warriors headline NBA All-Star picks

pening,’’ Green said during an interview with TNT. ‘’It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to one day see that happen, but I could never imagine it happen-ing like this.’’

Along with Green, who leads the NBA with eight tri-ple-doubles, Drummond and Thomas were selected by coaches for their first All-Star Game. Drummond tops the league in rebounding and double-doubles, while Thom-as - the 60th and final pick in the 2011 draft - is among the NBA’s top 12 in scoring and assists.

On the other end, Bosh will return to his original NBA city after being chosen for

his 11th consecutive All-Star Game, trailing only the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (18), Cleveland’s LeBron James and Miami’s Dwyane Wade (both with 12) among active players. Paul is an All-Star for the ninth straight year.

West coaches passed on Damian Lillard, who is in the NBA’s top seven in scoring and assists for a Portland team that is surprisingly in playoff po-sition, but there appeared no obvious snubs in either con-ference.

Previously voted as start-ers by fans in the East were James, Wade, New York’s Car-melo Anthony, Indiana’s Paul George and Toronto’s Kyle

Lowry. DeRozan joins Lowry to comprise the first starting backcourt to play an All-Star Game in their home city since the Los Angeles Lakers’ Jer-ry West and Gail Goodrich in 1972.

DeRozan said it was a big moment because of how much pride he has in playing for the Raptors, who have won 10 straight games.

‘’And now to have the All-Star Game here and have two guys participating, it doesn’t get much bigger than that,’’ DeRozan said. ‘’It’s definitely a blessing. I have to credit the coaching staff and my team-mates for helping me and Kyle get to this point.’’

8th Kidapawan Openchess tourney set

VOL. 8 ISSUE 219 • SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 201612 EDGEDAVAO