Edge Davao 6 Issue 149

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DCL Final 6 cast is completeRash of robberies hit 4 barangays

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24Kaimunan Festival highlights

rich culture, tradition of IP’s

16DCL Final 6 cast is complete

VOL. 6 ISSUE 149 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013

CALLING the pork barrel system “un-c o n s c i o n a b l e , ”

Davao City Mayor Rodri-go R. Duterte said some-body should pay for the P10-billion scam involv-ing PDAF (Priority Devel-opment Assistance Fund).

Saying the stealing of the people’s money was “too much,” Duterte said he was with 1BAP par-ty-list Rep. Silvestre H. Bello III and other mem-bers of the minority in the House of Representatives in their call for the total abolition of the pork bar-rel.

“There has to be a break somewhere, this cannot go on,” the mayor said. “Tapos na ito (This is the end). Otherwise,

it will drag the spirit of the Filipino and bring us down.”

Duterte confirmed the temptations to commit corruption that a law-maker is exposed to, hav-ing been a congressman of Davao City’s First Dis-trict from 1998 to 2001.

He said that congress-men are offered oodles of money, free travel abroad and beautiful young women by unscrupulous businessmen who want to make a killing from proj-ects funded then with the Countrywide Develop-ment Fund (CDF), former name of the PDAF.

He said that the ex-pose made by former Sen-ator Panfilo Lacson on

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

FDUTERTE, 10

[email protected]

By Antonio M. Ajero

TOP BRASS. Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Alan L. Purisima (center) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Emmanuel T. Bautista (left) enjoy a light moment with BGen. Ariel Bernardo, commander

of the 10 Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, during the AFP and PNP Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Council meeting at the Waterfront In-sular Hotel Davao yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

SOMEBODY SHOULD PAYDuterte: Stop PDAF

SEIZED JEWELRIES. Talomo Police Pre-cinct commander PSupt. Julius E. Silagan holds a handful of jewelries recovered from suspected robber Roberto Kepti and his many live-in partners during the media presentation yesterday at the Davao City Police Office (DCPO). Kepti who has two standing warrants of arrest for theft was killed in a shootout with police operatives Tuesday afternoon. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 6 ISSUE 149 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 20132 EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS

EVEN IF the demon-ized Priority Devel-opment Assistance

Fund (PDAF) will finally be abolished, congress-men and senators can still help the people although not as much.

This was the clarifica-tion issued by 1BAP Par-ty-list Rep. Silvestre “Be-bot” H. Bello III after the blessing and inauguration of his District Office in one section of the CAP Audito-rium along Anda Street in Davao City yesterday.

He said that imple-mentation of all PDAF projects have been sus-pended after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO). This, even as a lot of changes is being made on the proposed P2.26-tril-lion annual budget for 2014, including the possi-ble total scrapping of the

PDAF, also known as pork barrel system.

Bello said the Su-preme Court TRO has in effect stopped the imple-mentation of all PDAF projects under the cur-rent 2013 annual bud-get, also known as the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2013. These include scholarships and road projects extended by many congressman and women lone one of whose problems now is how to find the money to pay for the tuition of thousands of scholars to enable them continue going to school. Also adversely af-fected are ongoing PDAF budgets given by lawmak-ers to public hospitals all over the country.

Under the PDAF-less era, Bello said the partic-ipation of lawmakers

FBELLO, 10

FSANTA CRUZ, 10

JOINT LETTER DIRECTIVES. Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Alan L. Purisima (2nd from right, seated) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Emmanuel T. Bautista (2nd from left, seated) together with LtGen. Ricardo Rainier G. Cruz III (leftmost, seated), EASTMINCOM command-

er, and P/Dir. Manuel R. Barcena (rightmost, seated), DIPO-EASTMIN director, sign the Joint Letter Directives (JLDs) during the Joint Peace and Security Co-ordinating Council between the AFP and PNP at the Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

CITYHOOD. Mayor Joel Ray Lopez of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur says that they are giving a push and exerting all efforts so that Sta. Cruz will be granted cityhood status during an interview with Edge Davao Tuesday afternoon. Lean Daval Jr.

SANTA Cruz, Davao del Sur, may become the next most com-

petitive local government unit (LGU) in region 11, considering the influx of industrial businesses in-vesting in the province, ac-cording to Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 11 regional director Mari-zon S. Loreto.

Santa Cruz Mayor Joel Ray Lopez, in an interview Tuesday, told Edge that they are doing their best to maintain the image of the municipality as a lead-ing agri-industrial zone in

the region, and in two to five years it will become a city.

Lopez said, the annu-al local income of Davao del Sur, the bulk of which comes from industri-al businesses, is around P100 million, with an in-ternal revenue allotment (IRA) of P100 million, for a total of P200 million an-nual income.

If Santa Cruz becomes a city, the IRA will triple or quadruple, Lopez said.

Loreto in yesterday’s Local Chief Executive Con

Santa Cruz

Next most competitive LGU in Region 11, say

A LONE robber re-sponsible for sev-eral robberies

in the Talomo area and elsewhere in the country, was shot dead in a shoot-out with the police on Wednesday afternoon on Durian Extension, Juna Subdivision, Matina .

P/Supt. Julius Silagan, head of the Talomo police station, said that one Ro-berto Bello Kipte, 36, from Salvacion, Bayugan City had two warrants of arrest issued by the court in 2009 and 2012 for robbery in an uninhabited house. He only took pieces of jewelry which he pawned at differ-ent pawnshops. Kipte had also a warrant of arrest

from Mandaue, Cebu for robbery.

Police found 56 pawn papers on Kipte valued at P779, 000 for jewelry whose total worth was P2.5 million.

Silagan said that Kipte started stealing at age 10 and specialized in jewelry. He was the main suspect in jewelry stolen from houses in Juna Subdivi-sion, Ecoland; GSIS Vil-lage; Central Bank and in the Buhangin area. Kipte usually attacked in the af-ternoon when many hous-es were closed.

“There are still other groups (2 or 3) which are responsible for robberies in the Talomo area,” Silag-

an said.H said he had directed

P/Senior Inspector Alfre-do Santillana and other police officers to conduct surveillance in the Juna Subdivision where there has been a high incidence of robberies.

Unfortunately for Kipte, he was seen walk-ing along a street and was recognized by police who possessed pending war-rants of arrest for him.

When they approached Kipte to serve the war-rants, he resisted arrest and drew his .38 caliber revolver and reportedly started shooting but was gunned down on the spot.

Marycris Ardines, live-

in partner of Kipte, will be facing an anti-fencing law charge after police recov-ered from her 18 pawn papers at D’Counter dor-mitory on Jose Camus St. where she and Kipte had been staying for the past year.

Silagan added that pawnshops which ac-cepted the stolen jewelry would not face anti- fenc-ing charges since they did not purchase the items which serve as collateral for loans.

Silagan said those who lost jewelry to thieves may go to the police station to look at the pawn papers and pieces of jewelry that were recovered. EPC

Notorious robber shot dead Bello: Solons can stillhelp people sans PDAF

A MAN is charged for qualified theft af-ter he ate a pack of

mini-cake worth P52.26 without permission in-side a warehouse of the Mars Venture Commod-ities Inc. on Saavedra St, Toril.

Assistant City Prose-cutor Stella Esparagoza- Camino, found probable cause to indict Joseph Beduya, employed in the warehouse based on the complaints filed by Cit-robel Asilom,35, human resource supervisor and Sheila Walog, 21, a checker.

Camino cited grave

abuse of confidence when Benduya took 1 pack of Jack ‘n Jill Quake Bar of his employer as a ground for qualified theft.

Based on the affidavit of Asilom, on April 11,2013, he instructed Beduya to appear in his office after he received the report, how-ever, Beduya escaped by climbing over the compa-ny’s fence.

Walog, who saw the ac-cused eating the one pack cake around 12:00 noon, said Beduya did not heed her advice to stop eating for it was an act of stealing, instead kept eating. EPC

Man eats mini-cake,is charged for theft

[email protected]

By ej DoMinic FernAnDez

VOL. 6 ISSUE 149 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013 3THE BIG NEWS

FDAVAO, 10SERENADE. International saxophonist Dharix Blue Villamor serenades members of local media with his rendition of Kenny G.’s Silhouette during this week’s edition of Club 888 media forum at The Marco Polo Davao. Lean Daval Jr.

[email protected]

By ej DoMinic FernAnDez

DAVAO City topped the ranking on eco-nomic efficiency,

government efficiency, and infrastructure devel-opment in the competi-tiveness index survey of the Department of Trade and Industry 11 among four cities and 10 munic-ipalities in the region.

University of Mindan-ao (UM) Davao Research and Publication Center (RPC) director, Linda Ar-quiza, at the Regional Convergence on Local Government Unit (LGU) Competitiveness at the Pinnacle Hotel and Suites, Davoao City, yesterday said that out of the 14 ar-eas of the Davao region, Davao City ranked first in the economic efficien-

cy measurement with an efficiency score of 7.5, followed by Panabo City (5.25) and Asuncion (4.7) of Davao del Norte.

In terms of govern-ment efficiency, Davao City ranked first with a score of 6.7 followed by Mati, Davao Oriental and Nabunturan, Compostela Valley respectively.

In infrastructure com-petitiveness, Davao City, Bansalan, and Nabuntur-an were ranked as the top three infra-competitive areas.

“Based on the data, we can say that Davao City is the most competitive city, making it the best invest-ment destination in Re-gion 11, while Mati and

Davao City tops DTI competitiveness index

A 22-year-old wom-an who claims to belong to the Am-

patuan clan of Maguind-anao has been charged for selling and possess-ing illegal drugs after she was arrested in a buy-bust operation on September 30 inside a fastfood establishment at the Damosa Gateway, Lanang.

The joint resolution indicting her was penned by Carlos B. Castańos, as-sistant prosecutor, who

found probable cause against Bai Jasmine Am-patuan, a resident of Spi-no St, Cotabato City and a native of Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao based on the complaint filed by PO1 Angelita Endonela of Sasa Police station.

Castańos recommend-ed no bail for Ampatuan who is detained at the Sasa police station.

The police confiscated .8642 gram of shabu from the suspect during buy bust operation and anoth-

er .87835 gram and .6684 gram in her possession, all of which will serve as evidence.

Endonela, who posed as a buyer, bought P1,000 worth of illegal drugs from Ampatuan after a confidential agent report-ed to the police that a cer-tain Jasmine was engaged in illegal drug activities.

The police formed a team to do the buy- bust.

Endonela and the in-formant proceeded to the agreed place where she

was introduced to the ac-cused. Endonela handed the money P1,000 marked money in exchange for the shabu to Ampatuan and then gave the signal to the team which forthwith arrested Ampatuan. At police station, they recov-ered two more sachets of shabu from the suspect’s possession.

Furthermore, Ampat-uan also proved positive as a user of illegal drugs based on her urine test. EPC

Woman, 22, bustedfor illegal drug sale

From Maguindanao

PEACE in Mindan-ao is a question of “When” not “If ”

according to Govern-ment of the Philippines (GPH) chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer.

Ferrer during the 41st GPH- Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Formal Exploratory Talks in her opening speech said, 70 percent of Filipinos still believe a peace agreement be-tween the GPH and the MILF is possible, accord-ing to the Social Weath-er Stations (SWS) June 2013 survey results.

She said, “it is ev-ident from these sur-

vey results that the key question to many peo-ple following up this ne-gotiation is not so much ‘if ’ we will have a peace agreement, but ‘when’.”

She said that those who ask these questions are not just impatient, but do so out of genuine concern, due to the rise in violence perpetrated by those who want this process to fail.

From July to Sep-tember, the GPH Panel Secretariat document-ed more than 50 cases of attacks initiated by the Bangsamoro Islam-ic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) on civilian instal

Peace in Mindanao: A question of “when”

TWO separate water service interrup-tions in some ar-

eas in the city have been scheduled by the Davao City Water District to give way to different service improvement projects.

For the first set, a sev-en-hour water service in-terruption on October 12 from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM will affect some por-tions of Davao – Bukidnon Road particularly from corner Waling-waling St. to Puting Bato, Purok 6-A, Redstone in Brgy. Riv-erside and Puting Bato. The Engineering Crew (EC) will tap the newly in-stalled 100mm diameter Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)

pipeline to the existing 100mm diameter pipeline for the mainline improve-ment at Purok 6-A, Red-stone in Brgy. Riverside. Once this Php343,000 project is completed, ap-proximately 10 new ser-vice connections can be accommodated.

Second set is a nine-hour water cut from 9:00 PM of October 12 until 6:00 AM of October 13 and will affect some ar-eas of Catalunan Grande specifically Southvil-la Heights, Camasura Compound, SGR Subd., Stonerock Subd., Caflor Subd., Diagro Compound, Lozano Compound, Ruby Subd., Villa Monte Maria,

Water service interruption in some areas Oct. 12-13

BREAK TIME. Members of Police Dispersal Team take a much needed break after protesters from the different progressive groups voluntarily dispersed in front of Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao while the Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Council meeting between the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 6 ISSUE 149 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 20134KIDAPAWAN CITY

EDGEDAVAO

SUBURBIA

COMPOSTELA VALLEY PROVINCE

THE provincial gov-ernment of Com-postela Valley has

launched its school-based Supplemental Feeding Program on October 8, 2013 in Laak, covering 48 public Elementary Schools to receive free lunch meal during school days.

The program is under the supervision of Senior Board Member Tyron Uy, the Chairman of Commit-tee on Health and Social Services.

There are 927 identi-fied undernourished chil-dren who fall on the Se-verely Wasted and Wast-ed School Children in the Nutrition Categories.

Provincial Nutrition Action Officer Raymun-do Pajarito said that the feeding period is from October 2013 to March 2014.

The ceremonial launching and kick-off feeding was done at

Laak Central Elementary School attended by Gov-ernor Arturo T. Uy, SP Member Macario Humol as Chairman of Commit-tee on Budget and Appro-priation, and the DepEd Officials.

Provincial Nutrition Coordinator Nena Mira-fuentes shared that the United Nation’s World Food Program (UN-WFP) is the PLGU’s partner in this endeavor. They provided nutritious Beef and Chicken Flavor Tex-tured Soy Protein (TSP) and TSP Soup-Based, and gives additional rice and canned goods to the pro-vincial government for such purpose.

The school children had also recently availed the province’s other nu-trition interventions such as supplementation of Micronutrients, Vitamin A-200,000 I.U, Iron-60 ml syrup, and deworming tablets. [Grace Almedilla]

LGU provides supplemental feeding to children in Laak

GENERAL SANTOS CITY

MAJORITy of the 225 barangays in General San-

tos City and nearby South Cotabato province have already allocated the required funding assistance to the Com-mission on Elections (Comelec) for the con-duct of the upcoming barangay elections.

Lawyer Jay Gerada, Comelec-South Cotaba-to provincial supervisor, said Wednesday most of the area’s city and municipal election of-fices have so far com-pleted the collection of the P10,000 contribu-tion from the barangays while others were still on process.

South Cotabato has a total of 199 barangays while this city, which is under the jurisdiction of

the Comelec provincial office, has 26 barangays.

“Based on our assess-ment, about 20 percent of these barangays have not yet finalized their allocations,” Gerada said in a media forum.

The official said local election offices have been continually reaching out with ba-rangay councils in the area to remind them of their required election contributions as set by Comelec Resolution No. 9739.

The resolution spe-cifically required each barangay to set aside as much as P10,000 from its annual budget to defray the Comelec’s projected expenses for the Oct. 28 barangay elections.

It said local gov-

ernments are required by the Omnibus Elec-tion Code to contribute funds when necessary, spending for the “rea-sonable expenses of the members of the board of election tellers (BET), board of canvassers and the printing of election forms.”

“Barangay officials who will ignore or not comply deliberately with the resolution will be held liable to elec-tion offenses,” Gerada said.

An election offense carried penalties of im-prisonment of one to six years, removal of the right to vote, and disqualification from public office, according to the Comelec.

Gerada said the city and municipal Associa-

tion of Barangay Coun-cils (ABC) have been assisting them in the collection of the contri-butions.

“The ABC presidents were also gathering of-ficials of some baran-gays who have limited funds to discuss mea-sures that would enable them to meet their obli-gations,” he said.

Gerada said some city and municipal gov-ernments in the area have initially signified to help some barangays that would not be able to raise the required contribution by the Oct. 18 deadline set by the Comelec.

“Overall, I’m positive that all our barangays will eventually comply with the resolution,” he added. [MindaNews]

Barangays’ contribution for polls almost complete – Comelec exec

TOWN executives and farmers in Kidap-awan City were up

in arms against Janet Na-poles and her non-govern-ment organization (NGO) who used their names as beneficiaries of P5 million worth of agriculture liveli-hood assistance packages.

The amount supposed-ly came from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile through the Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation, Incorporated (MAMFI), one of Napoles’ NGOs.

On Tuesday, a team of investigators from Om-budsman Manila met with former Mayor, now Vice Mayor Efren Piñol of Magpet, North Cotabato. He told the probers that the town did not receive anything from MAMFI and that their signatures were forged.

He said only in papers did 159 farmers receive agriculture livelihood as-sistance from MAMFI.

He said farmers in Ba-rangays Noa, Alibayon, Inac, Amabil and Basak, all

of Magpet, were named re-cipients of Agri Production Livelihood Package from Masaganang Ani para sa Magsasaka Foundation, Incorporated (MAMFI).

Magpet was one of the four towns in Mindanao identified as beneficiaries of Senator Enrile’s PDAF through MAMFI with a to-tal amount of P20 million.

Aside from Magpet, the towns of Don Marceli-no, Davao del Sur, Banay-banay, Davao Oriental and Manukan, Zamoanga del Norte, were also listed as beneficiaries of P5 million each worth of agricultural livelihood packages.

According to Piñol, the signature of Edgardo Linsag, Magpet municipal agriculturist, was forged, as shown in the acknowl-edgement receipt docu-ment presented to him by a team of investigators from the Office of the Om-budsman-Manila.

“I am denying all these, we have not received any assistance from Sen. En-rile or from Janet Napoles’ NGO,” he said.

But Piñol said the

names listed as benefi-ciaries had some grain of truth as “they were real names of some of our peo-ple here.”

He suspected someone from Magpet identified with Napoles could have used the town and the farmers’ names.

Lilian Español who hails from Magpet was a trusted aide of Napoles taking care of her ailing mother.

Piñol believed Español had a hand in including the town as beneficiary and the farmers as recipi-ents. [PNA]

Sen. Enrile’s PDAF used in non-existing projects

VANISHING ISLAND. A fisherman prepares to head out to sea after a quick stop at a sandbar popularly known as “vanishing island” off Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCoS) in Davao del Norte on October 6, 2013. The vanishing island is being rehabilitated by locals by planting mangroves. MindaNews photo by Toto Lozano

VOL. 6 ISSUE 149 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013 5EDGEDAVAO

THE ECONOMY

DESPITE rapid eco-nomic growth in recent quarters, the

Philippines has been do-ing a poor job in providing adequate health care, and inequality in access to health services is in fact high, according to a health economist.

Oscar F. Picazo, senior health research consul-tant at state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), presented data on worsening health condi-tions in the country as he laid the case for crafting a policy that will make health care more “inclu-sive” in the press confer-ence last Sept. 4 for the 11th Development Policy Research Month at the NEDA sa Makati Building.

Maternal health alone—which serves as a good indicator of the health system as it covers the entire spectrum of the referral scheme—is not improving as shown by a spike in the maternal mortality ratio to 221 ma-ternal deaths per 1,000 live births in 2011. Before that, the ratio had de-

clined steadily to 161 in 2006 from 209 in 1990, based on government statistics. The infant mor-tality ratio, meanwhile, is decreasing but not as fast as neighbors in the region, Picazo told mem-bers of the press.

“Reproductive health has something to do with this,” he said. “There’s still a high number of children per woman … Unwanted pregnancies are high among the poor.”

Picazo also pointed to the high variation of health outcomes across socioeconomic classes and regions. For instance, there is a huge discrep-ancy in Philippine Health Insurance Corp. coverage between the rich and the poor—52.8 percent of the richest have coverage while only 21 percent of the poorest are covered, he said. “Rich people are being subsidized by Phil-Health,” he added.

There are three sets of underlying causes for large disparities in health, Picazo said. The first is the interplay between poverty, income inequal-

ity, and the burgeoning population. Hospitals are unable to accommodate the growing number of clients, and the number of health workers per population is declining.

Frequent disasters and environmental risks are also worsening inequality, Picazo said.

The second challenge pertains to the effects of demographic and epide-

miological transitions as well as population mo-bility. The country’s pop-ulation is starting to age, which will lead to a shift in disease burden to non-communicable diseases

from infectious diseases. PhilHealth is also unable to keep up as more Filipi-nos seek work overseas, which leaves dependent families without health coverage.

Economic growth not translating to better health -- PIDS economist

GOING JAPANESE. Japanese sponge cake starts to gain followers from Davao City’s street food lovers and slowly eating out a big chunk of kwek-kwek’s, the city’s king of street foods, market. Lean Daval Jr.


MONTHLY AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATE (January 2012-April 2013)

Month 2013 2012 2011

Average 42.23 43.31December 41.01 43.64November 41.12 43.27October 41.45 43.45

September 41.75 43.02August 42.04 42.42

July 41.91 42.81June 42.78 43.37May 42.85 43.13April 42.70 43.24

March 42.86 43.52February 40.67 42.66 43.70January 40.73 43.62 44.17

Stat Watch7.1

1st Qtr 2013

7.8 1st Qtr 2013

USD 3,741 million

Feb 2013USD 4,708

million Feb 2013USD -967

million Feb 2013USD -640

millionDec 2012

P 4,964,560 million

Feb 2013

2.4 % Mar 2013P113,609

million Mar 2013

P 5,281 billion

Mar 2013

P 41.14 Apr 2013

6,847.5 Mar 2013

132.8 Apr 2013

2.6 Apr 2013

3.1 Apr 2013

418,108 Feb 2013

20.9% Jan 2013

7.1% Jan 2013

1. Gross National IncomeGrowth Rate(At Constant 2000 Prices)

2. Gross Domestic ProductGrowth Rate(At Constant 2000 Prices)

3. Exports 1/

4. Imports 1/

5. Trade Balance

6. Balance of Payments 2/

7. Broad Money Liabilities

8. Interest Rates 4/

9. National Government Revenues

10. National government outstanding debt

11. Peso per US $ 5/

12. Stocks Composite Index 6/

13. Consumer Price Index 2006=100

14. Headline Inflation Rate 2006=100

15. Core Inflation Rate 2006=100

16. Visitor Arrivals

17. Underemployment Rate 7/

18. Unemployment Rate 7/

EDGEDAVAO6 THE ECONOMY

Cebu Pacific Daily 5J961 / 5J962 5:45 Manila-Davao-Manila 6:15Zest Air Daily Z2390 / Z2390 5:45 Manila-Davao-Manila 6:25Cebu Pacific Daily 5J593 / 5J348 6:00 Cebu-Davao-Iloilo 6:30Philippine Airlines Daily PR809 / PR810 6:10 Manila-Davao-Manila 7:00Philippine Airlines Daily PR819 / PR820 7:50 Manila-Davao-Manila 8:50Cebu Pacific Daily 5J394 / 5J393 7:50 Zamboanga-Davao-Zamboanga 8:10Cebu Pacific Daily 5J599 / 5J594 8:00 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 8:30Cebu Pacific Daily 5J347 / 5J596 9:10 Iloilo-Davao-Cebu 9:40Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri/Sun 5J963 / 5J964 9:40 Manila-Davao-Manila 10:10Philippine Airlines Daily PR811 / PR812 11:30 Manila-Davao-Manila 12:20Cebu Pacific Daily 5J595 / 5J966 12:00 Cebu-Davao-Manila 12:30Cebu Pacific Thu 5J965 / 5J968 12:55 Manila-Davao-Manila 13:25

Cebu Pacific Tue/Wed//Sat 5J965 / 5J968 13:35 Manila-Davao-Manila 14:05Silk Air Mon/Sat MI588 / MI588 13:35 Davao-Singapore 18:55 Silk Air Wed/Sun MI566 / MI566 15:20 Davao-Singapore 18:55Silk Air Thurs MI551 / MI551 12:05 Davao-Singapore 15:45Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Wed/Fri 5J507 / 5J598 15:00 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 15:30Philippine Airlines August 15:55 Mani2Mani 16:50Zest Air Daily Z2524 / Z2525 16:05 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 16:45

as of May 2013

THE Social Securi-ty System (SSS) will implement a

0.6-percent increase in its current 10.4-percent monthly contribution rate, setting the new rate at 11 percent effective the applicable month of January 2014, as well as the increase in the maximum monthly sal-ary credit (MSC) from P15,000 to P16,000 af-ter it was approved by President Benigno Aqui-no III. This was disclosed by SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emilio S. de Quiros, Jr. in a press conference.

“The 0.6 percent in-crease will be divided equally between em-ployees and employers, with the latter to pay 7.37 percent, while the former will pay 3.63 percent based on the ap-plicable monthly salary credit (MSC). Self-Em-ployed and Voluntary Members will shoulder the entire 11-percent contribution rate,” de Quiros said.

“This contribution rate increase is part of the SSS Reform Agenda that seeks to lengthen gradually the actuarial life of the Social Securi-ty Fund,” he added. “It also aims to reduce the unfunded liability of SSS, which was at P1.07 Trillion as of December 2011 and increases by about eight percent an-nually.”

An unfunded liability exists when the present value of a pension fund’s contributions and assets is insufficient to cover the present value of fu-ture benefit payments and operating expenses. Such situation occurs because the benefits that a member receives or is entitled to far out-weigh the accumulated contributions, including interest.

“Increasing the con-tribution rate would re-sult in bridging the gap between contributions

and benefits,” de Quiros added. “In absolute terms, the 0.6 percent increase translates into an additional monthly contribution of P6.00 for every P1,000 increment in the MSC.”

Aside from the 0.6 percent increase in the contribution rate, President Aquino also approved an increase in SSS’ maximum MSC from P15,000 to P16,000. The MSC is the compensation base that determines both the amount of monthly contributions to be paid by the member and the amount of benefits to be derived. With the 11-percent contribution rate, the monthly con-tribution will be P110 for the minimum MSC of P1,000, P550 for the minimum MSC of P5,000 for OFWs, and P1,760 for the maximum MSC of P16,000.

“The new maximum MSC at P16,000 means that a greater portion of the members’ incomes are covered in their SSS contributions,” de Quiros explained. “High-er contributions eventu-ally mean higher bene-fits in the future.”

For the past three years, the SSS has been conducting consultation meetings with various stakeholder groups, in-cluding employer and worker organizations, to generate understanding and support for its pro-posed reforms. During his State of the Nation Address before Congress in July, President Aquino declared his support for the need to increase the SSS contribution rate to help address the growth of its unfunded liabilities.

As affirmed by SSC Resolution No. 711-s.2013 dated 20 Septem-ber 2013, the 11 percent SSS contribution rate and the P16,000 maximum MSC will become effec-tive for the applicable month of January 2014.

BICOLANDIA FEAST. Chef Doy Sto. Domingo announces Café Marco’s Bicolfest Food Journey slated on October 9-23 during yesterday’s Club 888 media forum at The Marco Polo Davao. Chef Doy is Café Marco’s guest chef as it celebrates the culinary delights of the Bicol Region. Lean Daval Jr

SSS contribution rate jumps effective 2014

ARE MICROCREDIT and savings programs ef-fective? These areas

represent two interesting case studies of impact eval-uation in the Philippines, highlights of which were presented in a seminar last Sept. 10 as part of the activ-ities commemorating the 11th Development Policy Re-search Month.

There is conflicting evi-dence on the impact of mi-crofinance in the developing world, and the results are also mixed when it comes to the Philippines, said Mark Miller, deputy country direc-tor of research nonprofit In-novations for Poverty Action

(IPA)–Philippines.In 2010, IPA partnered

with First Macro Bank of Pa-teros for an evaluation of the latter’s credit program, using experimental credit scoring. One of the main findings was that after loan takeout, profits increased but only for male entrepreneurs, Mill-er said during the seminar titled “Impact Evaluation: Why It Matters”, organized by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies and IPA-Philippines, held at the Romulo Hall of NEDA sa Makati Building.

“The effects of the loan were also stronger for high-er-income entrepreneurs.

These entrepreneurs had al-ready started their business well, and they benefit more. But the loans did not serve well for starting businesses,” he added.

Miller noted that busi-nesses that had obtained loans subsequently laid off employees. This meant these businesses had to shed workers to be able to grow.

IPA has been conducting research in the Philippines since 2003, focused on fi-nancial capability, peace, and governance. Recently, it has started research studies on small and medium enter-prises and migration, partic-ularly remittances.

Evaluating microfinance in PHL


SOME 3.5 billion people, or half of the world’s population, are with-

out access to crucial waste management services, pos-ing significant environmen-tal and health hazards and harming economies.

This staggering statis-tic is the baseline for a new document released by the United Nations Environ-ment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) last Tuesday.

The Guidelines for Na-tional Waste Management Strategies: Moving from Challenges to Opportuni-ties seeks to provide stra-tegic guidance to countries whose waste management systems are disorganized, haphazard or under-re-sourced or are in need of a review of their current strategies.

Open dumping - the most prevalent waste dis-posal method in many countries - can lead to acute health impacts for those living closest to dumping sites, most often the ur-ban poor. In addition, poor waste management can lead to significant environ-mental hazards: leachate from waste can contami-nate soil and water, open burning of waste can cause air pollution and a failure to use recycled materials from waste means an accelera-tion in the depletion of ‘raw’ materials.

Some key facts about waste:

Waste generation: Ev-ery year, and estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of solid waste is collected worldwide. This

figure is expected to in-crease to 2.2 billion tonnes by 2025, with almost all of the increase from develop-ing countries.

Greenhouse gases: De-cay of the organic fraction of solid waste contributes about 5 percent of global greenhouse gases.

Market size: The global waste market, from collec-tion to recycling, is estimat-ed at US$410 billion a year, not including the sizable informal segment in devel-oping countries.

Resource savings: Recy-cling a tonne of aluminium saves 1.3 tonnes of bauxite residues, 15 m3 of cooling water, 0.86 m3 of process water and nearly 40 bar-rels of oil, while preventing the emission of 2 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 11 kg of sulfur dioxide.

Employment: In 2000 recycling activities in the European Union generated over 229,200 jobs, which by 2008 had increased to nearly 512,340 - an an-nual growth rate of over 10.5 percent. The propor-tion of people employed in waste-related recovery ac-tivities in Europe increased from well over 400 persons per million inhabitants in 2000, to over 600 in 2007, an increase of some 45 per-cent.

Food waste: Globally, about one-third of food produced for human con-sumption is lost or wasted, amounting to about 1.3 bil-lion tonnes per year.

Profitability: One tonne of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) contains as much gold as 5-15 tonnes of typical gold ore, and

amounts of copper, alumin-ium and rare metals that exceed by many times the levels found in typical ores. Printed circuit boards are “probably the richest ore stream you’re ever going to find”.

As an early response to the recommendations of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), the Guidelines sets a concep-tual and methodological framework for national planning to reduce these risks. Countries are encour-aged to adapt this frame-work to their particular cir-cumstances.

The report stresses that management is not only a challenge, it is also a largely untapped opportunity. Ben-efits are reaped when waste is treated as a resource that can be recovered and put to productive and profitable use. Products can be reused

and, if waste is separated at source, the uncontaminat-ed organic fraction can be composted or digested an-aerobically.

Improving the opera-tion of waste pickers in col-lecting and recycling useful products and materials can lead to better econom-ic outcomes for the waste pickers themselves; to bet-ter quality organic waste that can be composted and used to improve soils; and to less need for investment in landfill facilities.

Even more progress can be made if production and consumption processes are re-evaluated, so that all the inefficiencies, losses and adverse impacts associated with generating and man-aging waste are reduced, or, for certain kinds of prod-ucts, even eliminated com-pletely.

Among other guidance, the Guidelines offers a se-

ries of practical steps that can lead to the creation of an effective, efficient na-tional waste management strategy. They include:

Preparing for the devel-opment of a national strat-egy by identifying leaders and gathering information, in particular through a baseline study.

Identifying the funda-mental elements of the strategy, including: estab-lishing scope, identifying an overarching goal, estimat-ing expected national ben-efits and identifying initial options for financing and resourcing.

Engaging with all rel-evant parties, taking into account the wide range of groups and interests in-volved. Securing political endorsement at an early stage is a critical step.

Examining the situation and analyzing gaps, focus-ing on the wider context

and identifying relevant na-tional priorities (e.g. related to health or development), the information base for strategy, the current state of waste management and the available technical infra-structure and its adequacy, among other key elements.

Setting priorities, in particular, identifying waste streams and urgent waste issues such as collection. Other broader issues re-quiring priority attention, such as investment or fund-ing needs, should also be identified.

Developing a national strategy composed of a sys-tematic assembly of policy choices.

The Guidelines also stresses the importance of implementing nation-al strategies, as well as the need to adjust or revamp strategies based on chang-ing circumstances and de-pending on the local context.

7EDGEDAVAO

ENVIRONMENT

New strategies to fight health,environmental risks

LEADERS from the As-sociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASE-

AN) on Wednesday adopt-ed in Brunei Darussalam a declaration to seek further political support for region-al disaster management efforts.

The ASEAN Declaration on Enhancing Cooperation in Disaster Management, which was passed during the 23rd ASEAN Summit kicked off in the morning, called for regular dialogues and a longer-term vision beyond 2015 to promote ASEAN centrality and lead-ership in disaster manage-ment.

The leaders said they “fully support” the launch of the second phase of the ASE-AN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergen-cy Response (AADMER), which came into forces in 2009, at an upcoming part-nership meeting in Vietnam in November.

They also called on rel-evant ASEAN branches to

“undertake necessary steps to ensure effective and time-ly implementation” of the second phase and encour-age ASEAN dialogue part-ners and international or-ganizations to help “develop a supportive environment that optimizes the imple-mentation,” said the decla-ration.

The leaders also called for promoting regular talks among relevant ASEAN min-isterial agencies to acceler-ate well-coordinated and concerted efforts to realize the disaster resilient and safer communities, reduce disaster losses and jointly response to disaster emer-gency by using AADMER.

They also tasked rele-vant ASEAN bodies and re-lated mechanisms to “chart a longer-term vision of ASEAN cooperation in di-saster management beyond 2015 that promotes ASE-AN’s leadership and shared vision” in disaster manage-ment in relevant multilater-al fora.

THE wildlife bureau expects newly en-acted RA 10629 to

promote out-of-the-box but environment-friendly measures that will fur-ther raise revenues for better conservation and protection of Philippine protected areas (PAs) which government safe-guards due to recognized natural, ecological and/or cultural values.

RA 10629 amends Sec. 16 of RA 7586 (National Integrated Protected Ar-eas System or NIPAS Act of 1992) so multi-sectoral protected area manage-ment boards (PAMBs) having jurisdiction over PAs can retain 75 percent of revenues generated there, and which accrue to the Integrated Protect-ed Areas Fund (IPAF), for use in enhancing respec-tive conservation and

protection efforts.”That should serve

as incentive for PAMBs to be creative in gener-ating more revenues for respective PAs,” said Pro-tected Areas and Wildlife Bureau Dir. Theresa Mun-dita Lim.

She considers RA 10629’s enactment time-ly, noting climate change is elevating urgency for improving conservation and protection efforts in PAs.

”We’re promoting eco-tourism in PAs but still need to exercise cau-tion and ensure those areas don’t end up de-stroyed,” she also said.

Latest available gov-ernment data show the country has 240 PAs es-tablished under RA 7586.

Some 232 of those PAs are within the country’s tourism development ar-

eas, the data also show.Rep. Pryde Henry

Teves (3rd District, Ne-gros Oriental) is principal author of HB 5996 which he filed last year to over-haul the PA funding sys-tem by enabling PAMBs to retain 75 percent of reve-nues accruing to IPAF.

RA 7586 established IPAF, a trust fund, to fi-nance projects under the NIPAS system.

Such law and RA 10629 provides that IPAF “may solicit and receive donations, endowments, and grants in the form of contributions, and such endowment shall be ex-empted from income or gift taxes and all other taxes, charges or fees im-posed by the government or any political subdivi-sion or instrumentality thereof.”

Both laws also iden-

tified sources of PAs’ in-come.

Those sources are tax-es from permitted sale and export of flora and fauna and other resources from PAs, proceeds from lease of multiple-use ar-eas, contributions from industries and facilities directly benefiting from PAs as well as other fees and income derived from PAs’ operation.

”Each PA has a trust fund but before RA 10629’s enactment, all revenues generated there went to the national trea-sury,” Lim said.

She noted under such arrangement, PAMBs re-lied on government to fund implementation of respective work plans.

Lim said RA 10629’s enactment reduced such dependence on national government, however.

Protected areas gain opportunity for non-conventional funding

ASEAN leaders seek support for reg’l disaster management

Combating the hazards of waste:

VOL. 6 ISSUE 149 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 20138 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

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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AQUILES Z. ZONIOCorrespondent

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AGUSTIN V. MIAGAN JRCirculation

EDITORIAL

ONE of the best things to happen to us Dabawenyos this year is the appearance of a homegrown hero.

He is Randy Halasan, a public school teacher in Pegalongan, Marilog district , Davao City. Randy is among the recipients of this year’s “Many Fac-es of the Teacher Award,” a national award given to teachers who have contributed to the devel-opment of communities.

Halasan was picked by the Bato Balani Foun-dation and the Diwa Learning Systems for his in-spiring teaching experience and community out-reach service as a teacher in the Pegalongan El-ementary School located in a remote Matigsalog community, seven hours away from downtown Davao City. The road to Pegalongan is simply tortuous. To get to the god-forsaken sitio, Randy would travel by bus for two hours, another hour by “habal-habal” motorcycle, and four hours of

walking, including two flood-prone rivers to be crossed by wading, if not swimming.

Randy loves the community so, that he refused to be assigned to a school right in the city, pre-ferring to sacrifice for the tribe he doesn’t be-long to.

This is just part of the heroism of Randy, which saw print as a feature story in Edge Davao writ-ten by is managing editor, Neil Bravo. It was the publication that made Randy’s parents and sib-lings at last understand why he chose to work in Pegalongan all these years, risking dear life at times. The story made them cry. (In his speech, Randy thanked Edge Davao for being the first to publish his story, a fact that was also mentioned by the Philippine Daily Inquirer story later).

But you see, Randy is the hero not only of Edge Davao, the PDI nor the Matigsalogs. Above all, he is the hero of all Dabawenyos.

Our hero

VOL. 6 ISSUE 149 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

AQUILES Z. ZONIOCorrespondent

By Patricio P. Diaz MIND DA NEWS

THERE’S an idea floating around the Philippine banana industry that the creation of a “banana board”

can help solve the industry’s various problems.

This is similar to the Australian Banana Board, the Malaysian Rubber Board, or the Palm Oil Board of Malaysia which are being looked up to as “models” by some executives of the local banana industry who are seriously studying this possibility.

This idea had been discussed several times during meetings between officials of the Department of Trade and Industry and executives of the Federation of Banana-based Cooperatives or FEDCO and it seemed to gain ground these past months.

“All we wanted is an official body composed of industry executives and government officials who can decide on many problems besetting the banana industry like low buying prices, aerial spraying, new markets,etc” says Rene Dalayon, chief executive officer of FED-CO and chair of the Mindanao Banana Growers and Exporters Association.

Despite all the meetings however, nothing solid had been decided yet as both industry and government are still unsure how the “banana board” will look like ---what the structure will be, how it will function, what the board is expected to do, etc.

The creation of this “banana board”

had been started by the small banana g r o w e r s and small exporters due to the many p r o b l e m s faced by this sector in the industry. No one in the industry is s u r p r i s e d why the small banana growers desperately wanted to put up this “banana board”.

Invitations had been sent many times by Dalayon’s group to the big exporters represented by the Pilipino Banana Exporters and Growers Association or PBGEA, but no one from the group showed up during meetings set up by the DTI to discuss the creation of the “banana board”.

PhilExport Davao chapter pres-ident Ferdinand Maranon of Sagrex Foods, a banana chips exporter, kept insisting in several meetings that the big exporters under PBGEA will never agree to a “banana board” set up in the Davao Region since many of the prob-lems raised by small banana growers are being blamed on the big exporters.

“They’ll shoot it down even before you set it up. It’s not a good idea for

the banana export industry,” Maranon told the industry group during one meeting.

One of the biggest complaints of small banana growers is the “low buying price” of fresh Cavendish bananas being paid by the big exporters at the farms after the fruit is delivered to the packing plant for processing and packaging.

A “low buying price” would mean less than its minimum of $2.50 per carton box (13 kgs) of fresh bananas, ranging from $1.80 to $2.00 while a “good high buying price” would mean about $4.80 to $5.80 a box.

has any business of controlling the prices of the fruit, or whether the price should be left alone to the supply and demand forces in the market to establish the “buying price”--- was one of the many points discussed by Maranon, Dalayon, other stakeholders, with DTI Regional Director Marizon Loreto in one meeting.

They agreed however that an in-depth study be made on the various industry boards of Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, looking at their structure, the board composition, the functions, duties, and the advantages of having a similar board for the banana industry in the Philippines.

(Comments? Email > [email protected])

Can a ‘banana board’control prices ?

MAKING HARD CHOICES - Since the start of a temporary economic slowdown sighting

a slight weakening of the peso and subsiding of the stock market, we have read and heard criticism of the situation in the popular media. Most commentators seem to come down hard on top government officials and economic think-tanks, unanimous in their judgment that the country faces grave economic problems due largely to alleged misguided or obsolete policy decisions. However, when the value of the peso and the strength of the stock market bounce back recently, critical commentators were tight-lipped, of course, for obvious reasons.

But a reminder is due that irrespective of the situation now, many of our people actually experienced dramatic improvements on their living conditions and lifestyles when the economy was relatively good. The lesson for government economists and financial managers is to learn from the previous economic slowdown and shape their policies accordingly, and not to ignore constructive criticism and observations as obstacles to economic progress. Chances are that despite imminent economic reversals, the country could immediately spring back and redefine competitiveness and economic advantage in the ASEAN and Southeast Asian regions.

Top officials, President Benigno Aquino III above all, and government economic and financial planners might also reflect on the fact that tumbling currencies don’t have to lead to economic collapse. There was even a time when the US dollar tumbled against the yen and mark, but still the US economy reverberated. The reason is that American companies made hard choices about restructuring and

formulated sound and p r u d e n t d e c i s i o n s about where to invest their capital. The value of a currency a c t u a l l y may loosely reflect a c o u n t r y ’ s e c o n o m i c

fundamentals, but ultimately its value replicates the consensus about government’s ability to manage the economy and the nation.

It is a revelation to note that Southeast Asian economies including the Philippines are suffering because the world lacks confidence in their money as a store of value, and likewise lacks confidence in the leadership that supposedly stands behind it. The government needs to face up to realities, in fact, its responsibilities of enhanced authority may persuade economists and financial experts that greater effort and ingenuity are needed to produce tangible results. Within this climate, keen observers insist that the real solution to the current economic situation is not only about strong currency and maintaining brisk growth in the stock market or other macroeconomic fixes presently capturing all the attention.

So far, the market is relatively good with the recent upgrading of the country’s economic status from BBA to BAA by world-renowned and prestigious credit ratings agency Moody’s Investor Service. The argument therefore for all of us right now particularly for the government, is how it can entice foreign investors to establish business in the

country and to continue pushing strong trade alliance with other countries. The scheme has greater impact on the social aspect because luring entrepreneurs to invest and engage in manufacturing and production like what worked so well in the past eventually would generate employment. Furthermore, it is also widely consider that more business activities will lead to higher employment rate that would help lessen the country’s lingering poverty situation.

That’s precisely the reason why private economists and the business sector are declaring that it’s about time for a little creativity and innovation on the part of well-paid government economic and financial planners. It appears from their views that the abrupt reversal of foreign capital flows spurred by the recent economic upturn of the European bloc started the slumping of the local currency while some thought otherwise saying that speculators brought the exchange rates to the lower points. If government economists and financial managers view the current market and the economy in a proper perspective, they should at least look for appropriate solutions rather than just treating the symptoms with “temporary cure.”

Still and all, the oft-repeated claim about the country’s rapid economic growth is actually consisted of two parts: productive investment that resulted from foreign capital and advance technology, and non-productive investment that Filipino entrepreneurs made with their own savings. This investment mostly in real estate and golf courses led to a supply far greater than demand, and was extremely inefficient. In reality, the supposed soaring economic growth was merely a supplementary effect of the enormous productive and technological revolution happening around us.

Greater effort and ingenuity

THE Government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front 41st exploratory talks in Kuala

Lumpur opened Tuesday, October 8, to end on Friday, October 11. Can the Parties put a closure during these four-day talks to the negotiations on the two remaining Annexes – Power-sharing and Normalization – that they failed to do in ten days of the 40th exploratory talks last month?

MILF Panel Chair Mohagher Iqbal, in his opening statement, made a challenge: “I would like to urge the parties to resolve and finish the remaining annexes especially power-sharing, because it seriously impedes the working timeline of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) in crafting the Bangsamoro Basic Law.” Will this challenge be accepted or rejected? Let’s see by Friday.

He reminded themselves that on October15, 2012 they set December following as the deadline “to finish the four annexes” and that December 2013 “is less than two months from now and we are still struggling to finish the job” – emphasizing without stating the embarrassingly slow pace of the negotiation.

He also reminded themselves of the desire of “Congressmen, Deputy Speaker Pangalian Balindong, Rufus Rodriguez, and Jesus Sacdalan, who graced our meeting recently,” to have “the Basic Law finished by the BTC before January next year”. While conveying the eagerness of the Congress to enact the BTC draft into a law, they must be expressing their concern for the Congress to meet the President’s 2014 deadline.

As Iqbal enumerated ways to hasten the negotiation, he pointed out that (1) “the issues before us are tough, substantive, and sensitive or irritating, at times”; yet, (2) “if we can mutually improve … our respective internal working process, I am sure we can move forward quite faster” – singling out (3) “too much legalism” among the factors in slowing down the negotiation.

To explain, obviously referring to the Annexes, particularly, on Power-sharing, he said: “One way to do is for the parties not to engage in too much legalism because the process is not a legal process but a political process.” As a policy, Government will not sign an agreement that is not in accordance with the 1987 Constitution.

He pointed the MILF contention about the insufficiency of the 1987 Constitution: “Much of what we intend to do to address the Bangsamoro Question is to think ‘out of the box’, because the current Constitution of the Philippines is too narrow and restrictive to argue or entrench any real solution to this problem.” The MILF negotiators have been pointing this out since the Arroyo years of the negotiation. While they have not gotten tired of barking, successive government peace teams, not heeding, have stuck to legalism.

Has the 1987 become irrelevant? To IqbaI and MILF, “whether there is a need to amend the Constitution or not is not a settled issue. Let us wait for the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) to make a stand on this. Therefore, the Constitution should not be used as an argument to limit our creativity to solve the Bangsamoro Question.” Evidently, he is proposing, ala Leonen, to agree now on the politically agreeable and determine constitutionality based on the BTC’s draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

A half-baked solution is no better than no solution at all; worse, the conflict will stay or worsen with all its ugly faces. This we must start arresting now and not to leave it for the next leaders or generations to handle. That might be too late. [MindaNews]

Challenge toAccept or Reject

VOL. 6 ISSUE 149 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 201310 EDGEDAVAONEWS

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is limited identifying the needs of their dis-tricts and suggesting the projects that can address these problems but the job of implementing the projects will entirely be up to the concerned agencies like the departments of

health, public works and highways, and education.

“The lump sum sys-tem of allotting the bud-get for any project will be scrapped,” the party-list lawmaker said.

Bello said congress-men and senators will

concentrate on their orig-inal job of lawmaking.

The lawmaker from Davao City and Isabela belong the minority group in the House composed of less than a dozen repre-sentatives.

vergence on Compet-itiveness at the Pinnacle Hotel said, with respect to other cities such as Digos and Tagum, Santa Cruz showed how business friendly it is as proven by the many investments from big manufacturing companies in the region that are flocking to the municipality.

Mayor Lopez said the industrialization of San-ta Cruz was pioneered by San Miguel Corpora-tion back in 1995 up to present.

After that came nu-merous industries, Pryce Gas, Coco Davao Inc, Franklin Baker, GSL Food Enterprise, Aboitiz-owned Therma South

Inc, and more. At present there are new oil compa-nies that are develop-ing their facilities in the area.

The mayor said, in-surgency problems in Santa Cruz have declined due to the economic benefits from the in-dustrial business boom there which generates jobs and the opportunity to earn.

Some of the major reasons why these in-dustrial businesses were attracted to Santa Cruz are because of its stra-tegic location (proximity to Davao City), its abun-dant water supply, and it’s good investment pro-motion program, he said.

Ayala Agricultural Development Corpora-tion is also buying par-cels of land in Santa Cruz to put up solar power plants in partnership with Mistubishi Motors.

Mayor Lopez said that Santa Cruz can still accommodate more in-dustrial businesses, add-ing that he recently talk-ed to an executive of an oil company from Dum-aguete which is looking to put up an oil manufac-turing mill in the munic-ipslity.

Lopez said that turn-ing Santa Cruz into a city is one of his biggest goals and he expects to hit that goal in about three to five years. Santa Cruz became

the Island Garden City of Samal are alternatives,” she said.

“Nabunturan and Maco are the two munic-ipalities considered as the most highly competitive areas in North Davao that offer good investment en-vironments.

The RPC of UM was commissioned by DTI 11 to perform data analysis to determine the compet-itiveness index of the cit-ies and municipalities of region 11 using set quan-tifiable indicators.

The data used in this comparative analysis were those that were ob-tained by DTI 11 from their provincial field offic-es, from a commissioned survey and from other agencies.

The participating

cities included Davao, Panabo, Mati and IGaCoS, while the municipalities included Asuncion, Ba-ganga, Caraga, Kapalong, Maco, Nabunturan, Pan-tukan, Sto. Tomas, Ban-salan and Malita.

The cities or munici-palities that were not in the list were not able to submit the data request-ed by DTI 11 but it would not necessarily mean they have poor perfor-mance in the competitive index.

The indicators used in the competitiveness measurement were those determined by the Na-tional Competitiveness Council (NCC), which are economic efficiency, gov-ernment efficiency and infrastructure develop-ment.

Economic efficiency is composed of indicators that provide the funda-mental requirements and ingredients for stable ex-pansion of local business-es and industries which would lead to improved economic activities and higher employment return.

Government efficiency measures the important quality of government ser-vices and its reliability in supporting the productive expansion of the domestic economy.

Finally, the infrastruc-ture indicator of compet-itiveness refers to basic inputs of production such as energy and water sup-ply. It looks at the reliable interconnection of pro-duction like transporta-tion, roads, and commu-nications.

lations, communi-ties, and military out-posts, she said.

Abu Sayyaf collabo-rated in some of these attacks, but these did not match the scale of armamentation that was used in the September arrack of Zamboanga

City by a faction of the Moro National Libera-tion Front (MNLF), ac-cording to Ferrer.

She said, “in contrast, the ceasefire between the Government and the MILF remains steadfast with zero hostilities and increased cooperation

in preventing untoward incidents and contain-ing criminal activities.”

She said that it is very important to pur-sue the peace p rocess between GPH and MILF so that the temporary ceasefire will become permanent.

Skyline Subd., Hacien-da Grande, Monte Maria Village, St. Francis Xavi-er Village, Forest View Village, Bahay Pag-ibig Heights, Sea Gems Village and Sitio Soriano. This wa-ter cut is needed to allow the Operation and Main-tenance crew of DCWD to install the 350mm diam-eter wye strainer for the District Metered Area at Catalunan Grande Road for non-revenue water re-duction.

In behalf of the man-agement, DCWD acting general manager Edwin V. Regalado is asking for the understanding and cooperation of would-be affected customers. He likewise advises them to store enough water prior to the scheduled water in-terruption as water sup-

ply may be restored ear-lier if work goes smooth-ly or later if unforeseen problems arise.

The general public may visit DCWD website (www.davao-water.gov.ph), official Facebook ac-count (www.facebook.com/davaocitywaterd-istrict) or call the DCWD trunk line at 221-9400 and press “1” on their phone dial to listen to lat-est daily water updates or call directly its Central Information Unit / com-plaints center through the 24-hour hotline 221-9412 or call/text 0927-7988966, 0925-5113293 and 0908-4410653 for other updates, com-plaints, queries and oth-er matters pertaining to DCWD services. [Jamae R. Garcia]

ONE NIGHT, ONE PASSION. Carmencita Z. Gomez, president of Association of Prac-ticing Musicians in Davao City, promotes its launching concert dubbed “One Night,

One Passion… Music” slated on October 25, 2013 at the Royal Mandaya Hotel during yesterday’s Club 888 media forum at The Marco Polo Davao. Lean Daval Jr.

widespread PDAF cor-ruption, both in the Sen-ate and the House, is true.

Duterte was the guest speaker at the opening yesterday of the District Office of Rep. Bello, a long-time friend from their college days, at the CAP Auditorium building. They were both boarders at the yMCA Hostel while studying law in Manila.

He said that Janet Lim Napoles is not alone. “There are many others, but she is the biggest and seems to have perfected the modus.”

However, Duterte said that government watch-dog agencies, like the Commission on Audit, are partly to blame for al-lowing the corruption to flourish.

He said that the cre-ation alone of founda-tions composed of rel-atives of lawmakers as officers and members of the board is illegal, and is appalled by the fact that this practice has been allowed by government watchdog agencies at the expense of the Filipino people.

THE 16th Congress may be on recess, but a Quezon con-

gressman is making use of his time to collaborate with an non-government organization in pushing for the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill.

Represenative Lo-renzo Tañada III collab-orated with the Right Now! Coalition (R2KRN) and recently wrote a let-

ter to Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II.

In the letter, Tañada III and Atty. Nepomu-ceno Malaluan, R2KRN Co-Convenor, called for the First Reading and Referral of the “People’s FOI Bill” filed by people’s organizations through Indirect Initiative when Congress resumes ses-sion on October 14.

R2KRN members filed their own bill through the mechanism of “Indirect Initiative” under The Initiative and Referendum Act (RA 6735) last July 1.

Under this law, peo-ple’s organizations may propose to Congress the enactment of a bill by fil-ing a petition for indirect initiative.

R2KRN also filed a counterpart petition at

the Senate. Rep. Tañada had joined the petition as an individual endors-er.

Tañada and Malaluan noted that RA 6735 and the House Rules require that the Petition and its subject People’s FOI Bill be taken up in plenary session for First Reading followed by its referral by the Speaker to the appropriate committee. [PNA]

Solon teams up with groupto push for FOI bill passage

VOL. 6 ISSUE 149 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013 11EDGEDAVAO

NATIONMANILA

ASEAN LEADERS. President Benigno S. Aquino III (left), along with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, arrive for the traditional group photo opportunity with their counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), following the Plenary Session of the of the 23rd ASEAN Summit and Related Summits at the Main Lobby, Brunei International Convention Center in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam on Wednesday (October 9, 2013). [Photo by Ryan Lim/Malacañang Photo Bureau/PNA]

THE Philippines wel-comed the recent developments in the

discussions between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China with regards to the crafting of the legally binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea.

Foreign ministers dis-cussing the COC seemed to believe that the talks in the recent months have moved towards the Code of Con-duct, Secretary Ramon Ca-randang of the Presidential Communications Develop-ment and Strategic Plan-ning Office said in a press

briefing at the Times Hotel in Brunei Darussalam.

“There has been some progress, but it’s difficult to say when we can expect something to happen, be-cause as you know these things do take time. They have taken more than 10 years, about 11 years. We’re just happy to note that all sides seem to be reporting some progress on these talks,” Carandang said.

And if ever the ASEAN comes up with a Code of Conduct that is binding among its members, Chi-na should not be forced to adopt it because it is an

active participant in the discussions.

“We presume that any Code of Conduct that is agreed upon by all parties would include China,” Ca-randang said, adding that the Philippines is glad that despite all of the tensions arising China continues to participate in the talks for the COC,” Carandang said.

“And that shows us they are also committed to preventing tensions from escalating in the re-gion,” he added.

ASEAN members have been discussing the adop-tion of the legally binding COC to eventually settle

conflicting claims in the West Philippines Sea.

In 2002, the regional grouping, together with China agreed on the Dec-laration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea to avoid tensions in the disputed territory.

The West Philippine Sea, a major sea lane for trade, is believed to be rich in mineral resources, making it a flashpoint in the region.

Among the claimant countries include China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Viet-nam, Brunei, Indone-sia and the Philippines. [PNA]

PHL welcomes dev’t on talks on Code of Conduct on WPS

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

The Philippine National Police (PNP) Wednesday announced the arrest of more than 200 persons for violating the firearms ban.

In its update, Sr. Supt. Wilben Mayor, PNP spokes-man, said as of 3:31 p.m. Wednesday, 221 persons, mostly civilians, have been apprehended for carrying firearms since the imple-mentation of the Commis-sion on Elections (Comelec) gun ban last Sept 27.

Of these individuals, 206 are civilians, three po-lice officers, nine security guards, two government officials and one from the Armed Forces of the Philip-pines.

Confiscated were 179 firearms, 61 bladed weap-ons, 23 other explosives, 12 grenades, 10 firearm repli-cas and 1,409 ammunition.

The gun ban is being implemented by the PNP and other law enforcement agencies for the barangay election period from Sep-tember 28 to November 12, which is 30 days before, and 15 days after the October 28 village elections.

“[PNP chief], Police Di-rector General Alan Puri-sima, assures that the PNP will remain vigilant in its law enforcement and secu-rity operations to ensure Safe and Fair Election,” Mayor said. [PNA]

MANILA

Gun ban violatorsbreach 221 mark

A Palace official said Wednesday the public should wait for the ruling of the Supreme Court on the fate of the controversial “pork barrel” funds and the Disbursement Acceleration Program before launching a people’s initiative on the abolition of all forms of “pork barrel.”

“There are cases now that are filed to question PDAF and DAP. Hayaan na muna natin... [ang Supreme Court]. Sila na muna bahala. May parallel efforts, we’ll let it (sic) run its course. Kung ano mauna, tignan po natin,” Presidential Spokes-person Edwin Lacierda said in a media briefing.

Lacierda was reacting to former SC Chief Justice Rey-nato Puno’s call for a peo-ple’s initiative by gathering five million signatures to abolish PDAF and DAP.

The High Court is still holding oral arguments on the constitutionality of PDAF. Meanwhile, it has set the oral arguments for DAP on Oct. 22.

During the oral argu-ments, the SC’s most senior magistrate Associate Jus-tice Antonio Carpio said the PDAF in the 2013 General Appropriations Act “is fa-cially unconstitutional” and violates the 1987 Constitu-tion because it allowed the President and Congress to share powers.

He also cited provi-sions in the 2013 GAA al-lowing Cabinet secretaries to realign funds and give lawmakers the privilege of identifying projects under the funds.

“I don’t want to argue with the associate justice... the president approves the realignment of the savings and that’s under the Consti-tution,” Lacierda said.

The issue on the PDAF or “pork barrel” funds be-came a hot item recently after several lawmakers allegedly channeled their PDAF to fake non-govern-ment organizations owned by detained Janet Lim Na-poles.

One of those tagged in the controversy was Sen. Jinggoy Estrada who re-vealed in a privilege speech two weeks ago the distribu-tion of P50 million to sena-tors who voted for the con-viction of former SC Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Lacierda maintained that the Aquino administra-tion can defend the use of DAP and clarified that it is not a fund but a mechanism to accelerate spending.

“We’re confident we can defend the DAP... ang PDAF, nasabi na po ni Pan-gulong Aquino na na-abol-ish na po ang PDAF,” he said.

“What a Supreme Court case will do is to ensure

Palace: Wait for SCruling on ‘pork barrel’

that it will not be resurrect-ed again. That is the pur-pose of a case filed before the SC,” he added.

For his part, Commu-nications Sec. Ricky Caran-dang said the Aquino gov-ernment has been more transparent than the pre-vious administrations in

the use of DAP or realigned savings.

At a briefing with the Philippine media delega-tion in Brunei, Carandang said it was the initiative of the Aquino administra-tion to show to public how much savings have been accumulated since 2011.

“So I think there was a lot of transparency in the use of realigned savings. The fact that we even gave it a name, Disbursement Acceleration Program, shows that we weren’t hid-ing anything and we were actually telling people what it was,” he said.

“It’s all on record since 2011 where—how much savings we had, where we intend to use it—and we continue to disclose and to announce how much sav-ings we have and where we intend to use it, and we will continue to do so,” he added. [PNA]

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FOR the continuous advocacy on the importance of the

National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTSPR) data or Listahanan, as baseline for planning and implementation of social protection programs and services, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) conducts data sharing/focus group discussion in all municipalities in Region X1.

Part of the commitment of DSWD is to provide national line agencies, LGUs and stakeholders the pioneer database consisting of a comprehensive data of poor households as a clearer basis in the implementation of their programs and services.

“We already visited the municipalities of Davao Del Sur and Davao Del Norte. Other provinces will be visited as scheduled. Our main goal is to partner with our LGUs so that we

can effectively implement poverty alleviation as we believe that LGUs have substantial control in local affairs,” said Raquel E. Nuñez, DSWD National Household Targeting Unit Regional Focal Person.

The data presented to the LGUs was gathered during the 2009-2010 household enumeration. The Second Round Household Enumeration is slated 2013-2014.

The database of poor households shows various poverty indicators like the composition of households, socio-economic condition, incidence of senior citizens, access to water and electricity, occupation, income, tenure status, among others.

Other than the government agencies and LGUs, the department will also conduct focus group discussion with non-government organizations and stakeholders to objectively identify beneficiaries of their social protection programs.

“We are very fortunate that DSWD through this system can provide us the complete data of poor. It is very timely since Gov. Claude Bautista is preparing various programs for the

people of Davao Del Sur and our problem is the complete master list of our beneficiaries,” stressed Robert Bellarmine R. Bajo, Provincial Planning and Development Officer.

The Department urged LGUs and NGOs to adopt the available NHTSPR Data or Listahanan to ensure that social protection programs and services will benefit those who really

need the assistance. DSWD promotes a standardized and transparent household targeting system for improved governance and accountability. [DSWD/Florame B. Espada]

13EDGEDAVAOEDGEDAVAO

COMMUNITY SENSE

CASH FOR TRAINING FOR ‘PABLO’ FAMILIES. The 99 graduates of Carpentry under the Cash for Training of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in partnership with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the local government of Laak. carpentry

kits at P 20,000 each were provided to the beneficiaries whose first project is the repair and improvement of Gawad Kalinga shelter units. The graduates will also be construct the Modified Permanent Shelters for Typhoon Pablo-affected families in Laak. [DSWD/Florame B. Espada]

DSWD 11 to provide LGUs Listahanan Data


THE Wimbledon cham-pion underwent back surgery last month,

and has now confirmed that he will not be suffi-ciently recovered in time to play in the season-ending tournament at the O2 in November.

“I’m really disappointed not to be playing this year, I love playing in front of my home crowd, it’s a great at-mosphere,” said Murray.

“All the players look forward to competing in London and I’ll be doing my best to qualify again for the tournament next year.”

The world number three has been a semi-final-ist in the eight-man tourna-ment three times in the last

five years, and had already qualified for this year’s even alongside Rafael Nadal, No-vak Djokovic and David Fer-

rer.Juan Martin del Potro,

Tomas Berdych, Roger Fed-erer, Stanislas Wawrinka

and Richard Gasquet cur-rently sit in the five avail-able spots in the Race to London standings.

14 EDGEDAVAOSPORTS

SOUTH Korea’s KJ Choi is aiming to become the first player to win

the same Asian Tour event for three straight years when he tees off at this week’s CJ Invitational.

“I’m eyeing a third win in this event but ob-viously it won’t be easy. No player has done it on the Asian Tour before and I hope to be the first,” the 43-year-old, who hosts the $750,000 event in the city of yeoju, said in an Asian Tour statement on Wednesday.

“But I’ll also be happy if a younger player wins this event as well.”

Choi fired a final round four-under-par 67 at the Haesley Nine Bridges Golf Club course last year to win the event by two shots from compatriots Jang Dong-kyu and Bae Sang-moon, matching his mar-gin of victory in the inau-gural event in 2011.

An eight-times win-ner on the U.S. PGA Tour,

Choi is yet to claim a title this year but said he was in good form ahead of his own event.

“I did not win this year but I made all the cuts in all the major tournaments so that’s a positive sign for me,” Choi said.

“I finished higher on the U.S. PGA Tour rankings compared to last year so that’s another success for me.”

Swede Rikard Karlberg believes Choi’s reign will end this week with the Asian Tour field catching up on the world number 119’s home advantage.

“KJ has shown us how strong and solid his game is. He has lectured us like small boys in this tour-nament but I think the players now are getting better and better and they are more used to the golf course,” the twice Asian Tour winner said.

“I think we will see an-other winner this year.” [REUTERS] K.J. Choi of South Korea watches his tee shot on the third hole during the second round of the British Open golf championship. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne/Files

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- From worst to first, and now back in

the AL championship se-ries.

Shane Victorino’s in-field single snapped a sev-enth-inning tie and jour-neyman Craig Breslow gave Boston a huge boost out of the bullpen, sending the Red Sox into the ALCS with a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tues-day night.

Koji Uehara got the fi-nal four outs - one night af-ter giving up a game-win-ning homer - and Boston rebounded to take the best-of-five playoff 3-1.

A year after finishing in last place, the AL East champion Red Sox won 97 games to match St. Louis for the best record in base-ball. Now, they’re moving on to the ALCS for the first time in five years.

‘’It’s great, but we’ve still got one more to get where we want to be,’’ Vic-torino said. ‘’We’re going to get a few days off to rest and see what happens in the other division series, and we’ll go from there.’’

After the resilient Rays were finally eliminated, Boston will open at home Saturday against the Ath-letics or Tigers. Oakland hosts Detroit in a decisive Game 5 on Thursday.

Both managers mixed and matched all night at Tropicana Field in a tense game that felt more like a chess match. Desperate-ly trying to force a fifth game, Rays skipper Joe Maddon used nine pitch-ers - a postseason record for a nine-inning game - and had ace David Price warming up for a potential 10th inning.

‘’The way it was work-

ing at the beginning there, I could see it was just not go-ing to work and we had to do something differently,’’ Maddon said. ‘’We became a little bit more extempora-neous at that point.’’

Breslow relieved Bos-ton starter Jake Peavy in the sixth and struck out his first four batters - all in the middle of Tampa Bay’s lineup. The 33-year-old lefty from yale has pitched for six teams in eight big league seasons, including two stints with the Red Sox.

‘’We had guys come to spring training, everybody bought in,’’ Breslow said, explaining Boston’s quick turnaround after going 69-93 last year. ‘’There’s accountability and 25 guys who prioritize winning baseball games beyond any kind of individual achieve-ment or accolade.’’

Andy Murray has pulled out of the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Choi eyes Asian Tour record

Red Sox beat Rays, reach ALCS

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Koji Uehara (19) and catcher David Ross (3) hug and celebrate with teammates after they beat the Tampa Bay Rays in game four of the American League divisional series at Tropicana Field. Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports)

Wimbledon champ Murray out of ATP World Tour Finals

THE Globe Arakan XC2 and an up-coming football

event will be among the topics in today’s Davao Sportswriters Association (DSA) Fo-rum set at 10:30 a.m. at Dexter’s Pizza Sta-dium in Matina.

Alex Sam of or-ganizing Lead Pack Event Management and Buboy Arrieta of Davao Football Com-

munity are guests in this week’s edition of the forum hosted by Dexter’s Pizza Stadi-um owners Jimmy and Bai Lim.

Sam will tackle the 66-kilometer event set on Oct. 13 in an out-and-back loop from the Philippine Eagle Center to Barangay Salaysay while Arrieta will announce details of a DFC tournament.

Trail ride, football DSA topics at Dexter’s Pizza

Boracay island is literally a cacophony of sights, scents and tastes with its kilometres of sand dotted with many different food es-tablishments. From the most classy fine din-ing establishments serving international fare to the most simple of street food, Boracay is a food lovers heaven. For my article this week i decided to feature three of Boracay’s most iconic food items which are, in my humble opinion, essential eats when visiting the is-land.

INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 149 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013

EDGEDAVAOFOOD

Boracay beach chowOne iconic eat The sandwich that is as synonymous to Boracay as the island’s white sand, the chore burger is essentially a chorizo, a sweet sausage, that is grilled and served on a burger bun. The is-land is actually peppered with many establishments that serve their version of the chori burger but i per-sonally love the ones that can be bought right off the beach by chori burger stands. The stands, which also incidentally serve grilled hotdogs and isaw (chicken intestines) among other things, grill the chorizo over a small charcoal grill. They also heat their burger bun on the same grill they use for the meats which actually add more flavour to the bread. once every-thing is cooked and heated, the sandwich is assembled with just an addition of banana ketchup for some added flavour. The street side chori burger may be simple, but it is that stripped down sim-plicity that actually high-lights the sweet, smoky and meaty taste of the chorizo that other fancier restau-rant-made chori burgers

drown out no thanks to too many dressings and veg-gies. and for just Php40 a pop, the street side chori burger is a definite cheap

snack that is great value for money.

A fruity way to cool down located between station one and station Two, Jo-nah’s is is an eatery that is

built right beside the beach. you can literally step into the restaurant from the beach to dine with a beau-tiful panoramic view of the sea and Boracay’s shore-line. The food at Jonah’s is

average but what Jonah’s is known for are their fruit shakes. Jonah’s fruit shakes have been a stable on the hot tropical island and with literally dozens of differ-

ent fruit combinations to choose from like avocado banana, banana papaya, pineapple rum strawberry mango, papaya pineapple and even lemon, one is

Grill (left), assemble (center) and bite (right). The “life cyle” of a Chori Burger.

FBORACAY, A4

i used to think Hansel and Gre-tel’s massive sug-arhouse is just

for the pages of a fairy tale. Boy was i mistaken. it may not be a literal sugarhouse but it is a por-tal of sweetness. as you step inside Margie’s quaint sugary shop, you cannot help but be awe-struck of the many sweet offerings they have. yes, their cakes are but a sight to see – and more. Personally, i have been a fan of their cookie Mon-ster cake. it is nothing like i have tasted. The moment you bite into it, you’ll lit-erally feel it melting in your mouth. if that is not enough, then i do not know what else you want. Their sans rival, an all time family favorite, is an-other sure way to get you jumping up and down. imagine biting into layers of crispy and creamy but-tery goodness with pieces of nuts on a stressed out day from work, with just a tall glass of water or hot cup of coffee that will in-stantly transform your cloudy day into a pocket full of sunshine. The best thing about Margie’s Bakeshop, one of the many best things, is that they offer mini cake versions or even slices that are easy on the budget but still big on the taste. now, that is something we could all look forward to. no, Margie’s Bakeshop is not just about cakes. recently, they have added rice dishes that are insanely

delicious. Their spicy Viet-namese chicken tastes like the streets of Ben Than on a summer day. if you are not into herby and spicy dishes, then their special nutty Beef Kaldereta is for you. savour the 7,107 islands of the Philippines with every bite. if salad is your thing, then try their flavor loaded asian Pomelo salad with vinaigrette. The simplicity of the ingredients makes this a sought after taste in your palate. They too offer chef ’s and caesar salad for the more conservative ones.

For the more health conscious, try their pasta dishes that are simply scrumptious up to the last bite. Black olives and Tuyo? Exciting combina-tions that will make you fall in love with tuyo all over again. another all time staple, the Pomodoro Pasta, will have you asking for seconds. if that is not enough, i know it is not, then have a serving of their homemade ice cream. you read that right. They make their own ice cream and thus you can expect nothing but the best with each scoop. For added flare, order their Brownie ala Mode and share it with a friend or your significant other. Together taste the creamy goodness of ice cream like you have never before! The fun does not stop there. They have rows and rows of packed sweet goodies that are packed

like miniature diamond rings sitting atop an open case. choose from their mouthwatering Mango Bars, crispy cornflakes Meringue, chocolatey Brownie Thins and healthy to indulge oatmeal Thins. Favorite? can i say, all? cap your Margie’s esca-pade with hot cup of fresh-ly concocted coffee and that smile will never leave your face until you arrive home. i am sorry for making you hungry –as i am too trying to hide my cravings. When in davao and is craving for an ulti-mate sweet escape, visit Margie’s Bakeshop ei-ther at their Tulip drive branch (082.2951857), Torres street branch (082.3045775) or abreeza Mall branch (082.3026036). if in Butuan, home of Margie’s Bakeshop, do visit them there and have a taste of nothing but delec-table goodness dishes that will surely have you forget about your diet (did i Eat That?!). Thank you, Ma’am Tan-Tan and Ma’am Margie for an evening of sweets and smiles. cheers! Good luck to my Tau Mu brothers and sisters who are braving the Bar! King’s Good servant but Gods First! Be a part of Davao’s Thursday habit! Email me at [email protected] or visit www.chefroyale.com for more recipes. Follow @chefroyaleofficial and me @herroyalheiress on insta-gram! Lovelots!

This season’s most anticipated sale event opens its doors at sM City Davao’s 3 Day sale on October 18, 19 & 20. shoppers may enjoy up to 70% off on great selections mall-wide. sM Advantage, Prestige/BDO Rewards card holders may also avail of additional discounts when using their cards at the sM store, ACE hard-ware, surplus, sM Appli-ance and Levi’s during the sMAC sale 2 hour special happening 10AM-12NN on Friday, October 18. sM City Davao treats its valued shoppers with top calibre performances from the Voice of the Philippine’s Final 4 and the soothing music from the country’s prince of pop Erik santos on Friday and saturday. On sunday, teen loveteam Paul salas and Ella Cruz are set to melt their fans’ hearts away. shoppers also get a chance to win one of the two suzuki Nex115 scooter at the mall raffle and an internet TV with Tat-too superstick from the sM store. sM Davao 3 Day sale runs October 18-20 with extended mall hours to 12 MN on Friday and saturday. For inquiries, call 297-6998 local 126. Like sM City Davao on Facebook or follow @smcitydavao on Twitter for event and promo updates.

Loyalty paid off for hundreds of Talk ‘N Text (TNT) subscribers as they flocked to six cinemas around the country for a free screening of the latest comedy hit film, “Kung Fu Divas.” Topbilled by TNT endorser Marian Rivera and comedy queen Ai ai de las alas, the film is the latest offering of the country’s biggest prepaid mobile brand to its tenured users dubbed as ‘Loyalistas.’ Text messages about the movie treat were randomly sent out to TNT subscribers who were considered “active” on the network for at least a year. They were invited to bring along a companion to participating movie houses located in sta Lucia East in Cainta, Rizal; JTC Mall in Vigan, ilocos sur; sM City in san Fernando, Pampanga; Pacific Mall in Legazpi City, Albay; island City Mall in Tagbilaran, Bohol; and Gaisano in Tagum, Davao del Norte. The film kept viewers in stitches, with loud laughter filling the cinemas. TNT also gave away special merchandise and mobile phones as prizes for the games before the film show-ing. smart Prepaid Business Group head Jane Basas said that through its Loyalista rewards program, TNT is able to give back and show appreciation to the most loyal of its over 30 million subscribers nationwide. “We pride ourselves in bringing smiles to our subscribers in ways that are simple and very personal,” Basas said. “This is very much in line with TNT’s ‘Araw-Araw Panalo’ theme, making our own subscribers experience winning moments that they can easily impart with their loved ones using our reliable and affordable services, Basas added. For more information on the latest TNT offerings, visit talkntext.com.ph or follow @talkntext on Twitter.

A2 INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 149 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT FOOD

Awesome 3 Day Sale at SM City Davao, Oct 18-19!

Kung Fu Divas: A ‘reel’ treat to loyal Talk ‘N Text subscribers

Sweet escape at Margie’s Bakeshop

ENjOY P295 DishEs AT TGi FRiDAYs. Four new delectable dishes to satisfy your lunch. Available Monday to Thursday 11 am to 3pm. Visit us at Level 1 Abreeza Mall.

Muffins oozing with cheese goodness.

CornFlakes Meringue is simply heaven.

spicy Vietnamese Chicken.

special Nutty Beef Kaldereta.

Mint Brownies.

GP

R13

R 13

PG 13 12:25 | 2:20 | 4:15 | 6:10 | 8:05 | 10:00 LFS

R-16

ESCAPE PLAN 2D

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

GRAVITY 2D

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

ARTHUR NEWMAN 2D

Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger

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

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE

OF MEATBALLS 2 2D

Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan

Sandra Bullock, George Clooney

Colin Firth, Emily Blunt

ViEWERs will finally get to see actress Jessy Mendiola play the iconic role of Mer-cedes beginning tomorrow (Oct 9) in ABs-CBN’s new-est primetime series “Maria Mercedes.” On its pilot telecast, the telenovela remake already created a buzz after its rat-ings won on its timeslot and trended on Twitter nation-wide and even worldwide. According to data from Kan-tar Media, “Maria Mercedes” hit a national TV rating of 23.8% or ten points higher than rival program “Akin Pa Rin Ang Bukas” with only 13.2%. Netizens, mean-while, had nothing but posi-tive feedback on the show that Maria Mercedes landed on the list of the top ten worldwide trending topics on Twitter during its pilot. Jessy Mendiola, on the other hand, also made it as one of the trending topics on Twitter Philippines even if she hasn’t appeared on the series yet. Fans need not wait any longer as Mer-cedes’ character grows up and Jessy debuts on the show tomorrow (Oct 9). After Mercedes’ family fell

apart following her mother Magnolia’s (Vina Morales) betrayal, the young Mer-cedes (Alex ilacad) moves to Manila with her dad and siblings. What awaits Mer-cedes in her new life in the city? how will she overcome the struggles in life espe-cially without her dad on her side? Don’t miss the bitter-

sweet story of “Maria Mer-cedes” weeknights after “Got to Believe” on ABs-CBN’s Primetime Bida. For updates, follow, @Mer-cedesMariaPh on Twitter and like www.facebook.com/MariaMercedesOffi-cial on Facebook. Post your thoughts about the show on social media using the hashtage #MariaMercedes.

This OCTOBER, GMA News TV brings on free TV fascinat-ing documentaries about the struggles of three amaz-ing wildlife species in a fast changing world --- “salmon: Running the Gauntlet”, “21st Century Elephant”, and “An-cient Mariners”. The Columbia River Basin once teemed with young salmon heading toward the ocean, and mature salmon returning to their home riv-ers and streams to spawn. Now, many salmon species of the Pacific Northwest are extinct, and thirteen, including the iconic sock-eye salmon, are currently endangered. salmon are an integral part of the ecosys-tems of the Pacific North-west. During their run, they feed all manner of wildlife, including bears and eagles, and they subsequently fertilize the surrounding forests. But the once great runs of salmon now have to be conceived in laborato-ries, raised in tanks, driven in trucks, and farmed in pens. “salmon: Running the Gauntlet” investigates the stories of the dwindling Pa-cific salmon populations and how biologists and en-gineers are working to save them. “21st Century Elephant”

follows the emotional jour-ney of two African calves growing up, and intertwines this traditional wildlife tale with more contemporary stories. From begging el-ephants in Bangkok to the first babies born through ar-tificial insemination, this film takes a thorough look at ele-phants today and asks what the future holds for them in the 21st century. “Ancient Mariners: The sea Turtle story” presents the natural history of sea turtles, their ancient mytho-logical origins, and present day brushes with extinction after roaming the oceans since prehistoric times. For over 150 million years, sea turtles have navigated the oceans of the world, watch-ing the dinosaurs come and

go. Yet today these shy and gentle creatures exist in a desperate struggle for sur-vival on the very edge of extinction. This film docu-ments the amazing life-cycle of these mysterious reptiles, and the man-made crises which threaten them. it also presents the increas-ingly successful scientific and humanitarian efforts underway around the world to save the sea turtle from extinction. Dubbed in Filipino, these documentaries will air on GMA News TV Channel 11 this October - “salmon: Running the Gauntlet” on October 13, “21st Century Elephant” on October 20, and “Ancient Mariners” on October 27 – sundays at 10:15PM.

INdulge! A3VOL. 6 ISSUE 149 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013EDGEDAVAOENTERTAiNMENT

Jessy Mendiola debuts on TV as Maria Mercedes

Eye-opening wildlife stories on GMA News TV this October

A4 INdulge! VOL. 6 ISSUE 149 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013EDGEDAVAOFOOD

hard pressed not to find a shake that he or she will not like. one can even customise their sugar and milk con-tent to one’s taste which makes for one cool and de-licious drink.

Don’t forget the muffins The Kalamansi Muffin of real coffee and Tea cafe is a fairly recent addition to the food scene but is liter-ally making waves among foodies. Hidden among the many alleyways of sta-tion Two is probably one of Boracay island’s best des-sert. my friends and i liter-ally had to go walk around to spot the establishment’s signboard. no one can keep us from our just des-serts. The cafe is small, dimly lit but cozy, with the air around it perfumed by the

different goodies still bak-ing in the oven. not wast-ing any time, we all ordered kalamansi muffins and i added a pot of hot earl grey tea to pair with the muffins. The kalamansi muffin was light and moist with a hint of vanilla and some sourness coming from the kalamansi. The muffin on itself was oK, but when paired with the tea, the muffin takes on complex lemony and floral notes. i also loved the fact that real coffee’s kalamansi muffins were balanced and not too sweet, making the dessert an enjoyable flavourful ex-perience. What is your favou-rite Boracay eat? Tell me about it on instagram or on Twitter or follow me @kennethkingong for more foodie finds, travel tips, and happenings in, around

Me and my Binondo friends at Real Coffee.

Real Coffee and their Kalamansi Muffins.

EDGEDavao Davao Partners

Boracay...FFROM A1


ONTARIO, Calif. -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant re-

turned to the team Tuesday after traveling to Germany to undergo the platelet-rich plasma treatment known as Orthokine on his right knee.

Bryant walked off the team bus and into Citizens Business Bank Arena on his own power and without any visible limp.

“He said it went great and it feels good,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said.

Bryant, 35, is still recov-ering from surgery on his ruptured Achilles tendon. There is no firm timetable for his return, but he has been able to do some light jogging and set shooting during the first week of training camp.

“Just keep grinding. Keep working hard and getting better,” Bryant said of his Achilles rehab Tues-day in a courtside interview with Time Warner Cable during the Lakers’ 90-88 preseason win over the Denver Nuggets. “I gotta get in shape, too. I’ve been sitting on my butt now for a while. I gotta get up and get moving.”

He previously said it’s too soon to know whether it will be possible to play by the Lakers’ season open-er against the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 29 but that he’s trying to get back as soon as possible.

“Overall, I feel good,”

said Bryant, who watched Tuesday’s exhibition from the bench. “Obviously, I feel like I’m ahead of schedule. It’s just about trying to get that range of motion back where I feel like I can run comfortably. The last stage is really the explosiveness and the muscle endurance.”

D’Antoni said he had no idea whether Bryant would be ready for the season opener.

“Obviously, as you get closer, it gets tougher. But he’s doing everything he can to get back as quick as he can. I just don’t know when that is,” D’Antoni said.

15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO

AFTER watching Mi-guel Cotto return to the winner’s circle

with a third round tech-nical knockout of Delvin Rodriguez on Saturday, trainer Freddie Roach has indicated he wants his lat-est recruit to fight Sergio Martinez next - and also revealed the Puerto Rican could spar his former con-queror Manny Pacquiao.

Just 18 seconds into the round three at Flori-da’s Amway Centre, Cotto floored Rodriguez with a devastating left hook to bounce back from succes-sive world title defeats; unanimous decision loss-es to Floyd Mayweather Jr and Austin Trout had made the bout with Ro-driguez win or bust.

However, Roach - re-nowned for reviving for-mer world champions as well as making them - was pleased with how Cot-to responded in the face of adversity and praised the former three-division champion’s work rate.

“I don’t believe in warm ups,” Roach told Boxing News. “He’s [Cot-to] a veteran, he puts the

hard work in and that’s what made the Rodriguez fight look easy.

“I’d like Sergio Marti-nez straight away before someone else gets him. It’s a great fight and I believe Martinez would be the perfect opponent. There’s also the attrac-tion of Miguel becoming the first Puerto Rican to win world titles at four weights.

“Sergio is always say-ing he can still make 154 but we could do a catch-weight of say 158lbs and I’d be more than happy with that match.”

Cotto has lost four professional bouts to date, one of which ended in a 12th round knock-out to Pacquiao for the WBO welterweight ti-tle at the MGM Grand in 2009. However, Roach stated the pair were on good terms and has not ruled out the idea of them sparring together in the future.

“They’re good friends now, so I’m not sure how hard they’ll go,” Roach said. PACqUIAO

Pacquiao may spar with Cotto

IF the Japanese Grand Prix pans out the same as last year’s race, the

26-year-old Red Bull driv-er will be enjoying sweet dreams as the youngest quadruple world cham-pion - and only the third four-in-a-row winner - with four races to spare.

“I’m trying not to think about it, to be honest,” the German, who will be chasing a fifth successive race win and fourth pole in a row, told reporters in South Korea last weekend.

He will need excep-tional mind control for that to happen.

Vettel stands on the brink of joining three of

the all-time greats - Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher - in the record books as the only drivers to have won four or more titles in the 63-year history of the sport.

The championship leader enjoys a 77 point lead over Ferrari’s Fernan-do Alonso and will wrap up the title if he wins at Su-zuka and the Spaniard fails to finish in the top eight.

There is every chance of that happening, even if Alonso has finished eighth or higher in all but one of the 14 races so far this year.

“We are not thinking

about the championship. If the moon and stars align and he (Vettel) wins the race and Fernando is ninth or below, then theoretical-ly he can win the cham-pionship,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told reporters after last weekend’s victory, show-ing he knew exactly what was required.

SAMURAI SWORDS-MAN

“Our approach in Su-zuka will be the same as in our other races this year and we will go there to get the best out of ourselves and the championship will tend to take care of itself,” Horner added.

Vettel ready to put F1 championship to bed Kobe rejoins Lakers after surgeryKobe Bryant waves to the crowd prior to the game against the Denver Nuggets at Citizens Business Bank Arena on Tuesday in Ontario, California. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)


GAMETIME!16EDGEDAVAOSports

MANILA—The great-est basketball show on earth is

here.Retooling their respec-

tive rosters in the offsea-son for a possible run for the championship, both the Houston Rockets and the Indiana Pacers are well aware this could be their biggest season yet—one that could finally put them in the position of challeng-ing the Miami Heat in the NBA’s new season which begins two weeks from now.

Dwight Howard took extra time on the free throw line yesterday while team-mate Jeremy Lin promised when mobbed by reporters that he will not do anoth-er movie. James Harden is happy with Dwight joining the mix and believed the Rockets are gaining chem-istry.

Over at the Pacers side, legendary Larry Bird, the Pacers’ president, sat qui-etly like a maestro watch-ing over his flock as Paul George, George Hill, David West, Roy Hibbert, return-ing Danny Granger and new recruit Luis Scola re-hearse the plays designed by coach Frank Vogel.

George, who signed a whopping $90-million contract renewal in the off-season, couldn’t wait to get going with a healthy Grang-er back in the line-up and Scola added to shore up the frontline.

Like the Rockets, George and his teammates are enjoying their stay in the Philippines sampling Filipino food and doing some shopping at Green-hills. George said he ate a lot of fried rice and loved it. However, he did not go with some of his team-

Pacers, Rockets test ‘championship’potentials in Manila today

[email protected]

By neiLWin joSePH L. BrAVo

James Harden and teammates.The Pacers in practice.

Paul George of Indiana spins the ball.

Rockets center Dwight Howard shoots free throws.

Jeremy Lin and Francisco Garcia of the Rockets shoot free throws.

James Harden of the Houston Rockets shoots from the baseline during practice at the MOA Arena on Wednesday.

mates though who had a loot at the Greenhills shop-ping mall.

“They say it was surre-al, it’s a lot crazy, they came out with a lot of stuff,” said George who has averag-es of 17.4 points, 7.6 re-bounds and 4.1 assists last year.

Granger, returning af-ter a season-long injury, said: “I will play the role I’ll always play, I’ll score with the ball.” George is excited to play with Granger back in the line-up. “He’s a 20-plus scorer every night.”

The rest of the Pac-ers roster is composed of Hilton Armstrong, Rasu-al Butler, Chris Copeland, Solomon Hill, Ron Howard, Darnell Jackson, Orlan-do Johnson, Ian Mahinmi, Donald Sloan, Lance Ste-phenson and CJ Watson.

The Rockets meantime will have a roster made up of James Anderson, Omer Asik, Patrick Beverley, Aar-on Brooks, Carlos Delfino, Francisco Garcia, Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas, Tim Olbrecht, Chandler Parsons, Thomas Robin-

son, Greg Smith and Royce White.

Howard, who moved in from a short fling with the Lakers, is excited to play before Filipino fans. “This is a great country and I’m excited to play here.”

tNBA legend Kevin McHale will be the Rockets’ head coach.

tThe Manila pre-sea-son games is the first ever in Southeast Asia and one of only three set in Asia this year. Gametime is set at 7:00 p.m. tonight at the Mall of Asia Arena.


Edge Davao 6 Issue 149

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