P 15.00 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 8 ISSUE 245 FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016

SHORTER BLACKOUTS

EDGE Serving a seamless societyDAVAO

EDGEDAVAOSportscrc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

Now only hour-long as TSIs Unit 2 goes onlineABOITIZ-OWNED Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) an-nounced shorter rounds of rotating power interruptions in its franchise area after all units of the 300 MW coal-fired power plant of sister company Therma South, Inc. (TSI) went online yesterday.

Once Davao Light re-ceives the full power supply

of 50 MW, which is based on contract from the said plant, duration will be decreased to 30 minutes to 1 hour, DLPC said in a statement.

This will be shorter than the two- to three-hour sched-uled blackouts announced last Wednesday to be rolled out in the franchise area of the DLPC, which includes Davao City and portions of the Davao del

Norte.The DLPC has a contract-

ed supply of a total of 100MW with TSIs 300 MW coal-fired power plants. The power plant has two 150-MW units, of which Unit 2 tripped twice on Wednesday.

TSI synced with the grid a little over midnight last night, Wilfredo Rodolfo III, Aboitiz-Power corporate branding

and communication manager, said in a text message yester-day.

Unit 2 had just completed a 10-day preventive mainte-nance shutdown that ended on February 28 before tripping three days later.

Although TSIs two units have fully synced with the grid, the National Grid Corporation

F SHORTER, 10

HARD BED. A young boy falls asleep at the side of the road along E. Quirino Avenue corner J.P. Laurel Avenue in Davao City last night, apparently unmindful of the risks involved in being in such a precarious situation. Lean Daval Jr.

WITHIN STRIKINGDISTANCERancho Palos Verdes, Apo stay on course with leadersP16

VOL. 8 ISSUE 245 FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 20162 EDGEDAVAONEWS

National bets not barredfrom Araw celebration

SACKED. Davao City councilor Al Ryan Alejandre shows a sack that will be used as campaign paraphernalia of presidential aspirant Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte. Alejandre urged the people of the city to donate used sacks, tarpaulins, and even cartons to support the candidacy of Duterte. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.abf@edgedavao.netARAW ng Davao festival director city councilor Al Ryan Alejandre yes-

terday clarified that the city will not stop any national can-didate from joining the people of the city in celebrating its 79th anniversary.

Speaking in yesterdays I-Speak Media forum, Alejan-dre said anyone is welcome to visit Davao City and celebrate with the Dabawenyos.

We will welcome them

with open arms to celebrate with us, he said.

Alejandre, however, said the city will limit the candi-dates exposure especially during the civic parade on March 16. He said the execu-tive committee will not allow the candidates to mount cam-paign booths.

We cannot assure them that they can talk on stage, he said but added that Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte will decide

if he will let any candidate talk during the civic parade.

Earlier, City Tourism Oper-ations Office (CTOO) head Li-sette Marques said politicians are advised not to use the cele-bration of 2016 Araw ng Davao for their political campaigns.

Marques said the prohibi-tion aims to remove political color from the celebration.

She said politicians are free to join the celebration and talk on stage as long as they

have the consent of the mayor and they will not talk politics.

Marques said politicians can also be interviewed by re-porters, adding the executive will designate areas for such interviews.

She said local and national politicians are also not allowed to display their posters, espe-cially during the Civic Parade, because only the sponsors posters and tarpaulins are al-lowed.

Cigarettes now requiredto carry graphic warning

WHAT YOSI IS WHAT YOU GET. Graphic Health Warnings (GHWs) like this are now required on all tobacco products. Photo courtesy of the Davao City Anti-Smoking Task Force

THE Davao City An-ti-Smoking Task Force (ASTF) has announced the start of the implementa-tion of Republic Act No. 10643 or the Graphic Health Warning (GHW) Law in the Philippines.

In a statement sent to Davao City reporters yester-day, ASTF co-chair Dr. Domilyn Villarreiz said starting March 3, all tobacco products with-drawn from manufacturing facilities or imported for sale in the Philippines are required to carry the new GHWs.

Villareiz said the purpose of the GHW law is to have Graphic Health Warnings that

effectively warn of the dev-astating effects of tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke.

She said the law will also remove misleading or decep-tive numbers or descriptors like low tar, light, or mild which convey or tend to con-vey that a product or variant is healthier, less harmful, or safer.

Tobacco use kills at least 10 Filipinos every hour and six million people globally each year. It is the number one preventable cause of heart disease, stroke, cancer, lung disease, and many other

Dabawenyos urged to donatesacks for Duterte campaignDAVAO City councilor Al Ryan Alejandre has ap-pealed to the people in the city to donate used sacks that can be printed with cam-paign material for presidential bet Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte.

I am urging Dabawenyos that this is one way to help Mayor, basin naa moy used na mga sako na pwede ma-do-nate kay naa pud mi print-ing sa mga sako (maybe you

have used sacks that you can donate because we print on them), Alejandre said in yes-terdays I-Speak Media Forum.

Alejandre said he and the other councilors saw during their visit to the national head-quarters of Duterte in Maa diversion road that there are only few campaign parapher-nalia there.

He said even his fellow councilors who are support-

ing the candidacy of the may-or also spend their personal money wherever they go to campaign for Duterte.

We all know na kitang mga taga-Davao kung unsa ka-lisod ang kampanya sa atong mayor (We all know how chal-lenging our mayors campaign is), he said.

Alejandre said even if the sacks are not appealing to the eyes, they will send a message

to Duterte to urge him to con-tinue his campaign despite in-sufficiency of funds.

He said aside from used sacks, he and other councilors will also accept used tarpau-lins and cartons.

He said interested people can send their donation to the Duterte national headquarters in Maa or to the offices of the city councilors. ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

FCIGARETTES, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 245 FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016 3EDGEDAVAO NEWS

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

TIGHT. Drivers of trailer trucks use a large portion of the old Davao International Airport road as their parking area. The remaining space has become dangerous for motorists who have to squeeze through at the risk of hitting other cars and pedestrians. Lean Daval Jr.

BEAUTY AND BRAINS. Mutya ng Davao candidate Thea Maragarette Elipio listens to the answer of her co-candidate Kathleen Beniga during the presentation of the top 15 semi-finalists to the reporters yesterday. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

3 Davao jail inmatescaught in shabu sessionPERSONNEL of the Davao City Jail-Annex nabbed three inmates carrying illegal drugs inside the detention facility yester-day.

The suspects were iden-tified as Mark Anthony Sala-zar, Paul Ryan Tantamco,

and Ednor Pablo.The initial report said

the jail guard received an in-telligence report that some inmates in Cell 4.5 were having a shabu metham-phetamine hydrochloride) session.

Upon verification, the

suspects were caught inside the comfort room possessing a small sachet of shabu with three lighters and impro-vised needle, a straw a small piece of foil, and improvised bamboo stick sealer.

The jail guards imme-diately called the Talomo

Police Precinct and the Phil-ippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 11 for assis-tance on the disposition of the contraband.

The suspects were brought to PDEA 11 for drug testing while the seized evi-dences were also sent.

THE influential and pow-erful Singson family of Ilocos Sur welcomed presidential aspirant Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte with a hearty reception on Thursday.

The public display of friendliness was a proof of Dutertes desire and ability to work with any one or any group if only to push for gen-uine change once he is elected to office, Dutertes spokesper-son Peter Lavia said.

The Duterte-Cayetano camp is buoyed up by another warm reception, this time in Vigan, Ilocos Sur part of the vaunted Solid North, Lavia said.

Political kingpin former Governor Luis Chavit Sing-son personally received Dute-rte before the presidential candidate from the South pre-sented his agenda in a rally at the Vigan Convention Center.

Also present during the reception were incumbent Governor Ryan Singson and Vigan Mayor Eva Marie Sing-son-Medina.

Duterte was accompanied by Taguig Mayor Lani Cayeta-no who represented her hus-band, Dutertes vice presiden-

tial running mate Alan Peter Cayetano.

We understand the vet-eran Chavit went out of a self-imposed retirement from politics to meet Duterte and Mayor Lani, Lavia said. We are very thankful for the Iloca-no hospitality and warm wel-come.

He said the visit was part of Dutertes efforts to win the approval of the people.

Notwithstanding political colors and affiliations, Duterte is extending his arms to every-one as he desires to unify the Filipino people and the whole nation, Lavia said. What is important for us is to reach everyone and break the wall of the Solid North for Duterte.

As of 2010, Ilocos Sur has 385,553 registered voters. Vi-gan, the capital of the province, has 26,362 registered voters.

The province is part of the so-called Solid North, a re-gional-bloc vote that includes Cagayan Valley and the Cordil-lera Administrative Region.

The Singsons had earlier publicly expressed their sup-port for the candidates of UNA.

Last month, Duterte also visited Laoag, the bailiwick of the Marcoses.

NO Filipino was reported injured in the 7.8 mag-nitude earthquake that hit Indonesias western region, the Department of Foreign Af-fairs (DFA) said on Thursday.

In a text message to report-ers, Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said: So far we have not received any report of Filipinos affected by the earth-quake in Indonesia.

Tsunami warnings were issued following Wednesday evenings tremors in Padang, triggering widespread fears and panic.

No deaths and casualties

were reported.In 2004, an 8.9 magni-

tude earthquake triggered the worlds deadliest tsunami off Indonesia, killing more than 200,000 people. (PNA)

SENATE President Frank-lin M. Drilon on Thursday condemned the attempt-ed killing of a prominent Sau-di cleric during a speaking engagement in Zamboanga City, saying such an attack is an affront to the countrys ad-herence to religious tolerance and co-existence.

The Senate leader and Liberal Party re-electionist candidate made the state-ment following the shooting of Sheikh Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni, a famous Islam-ic scholar and activist, and Sheikh Turki Assaegh, a re-ligious attach at the Saudi

Embassy in Manila, by an un-known assailant last March 1 during an Islamic symposium inside the Western Mindanao State University.

Reports claim that the influential al-Qarni, who has 12 million followers on social media site Twitter, is on the hit-list of the terrorist group Islamic State.

This sort of violence has no place in a democratic and peaceful nation like the Philip-pines. Such brutal actions ran counter to our nations ideals that respect, peace and tol-erance must reign even amid TROOPS from Joint Task Group Sulu arrested two suspected Abu Sayyaf

members and recovered an improvised explosive device (IED) during patrol operations Wednesday afternoon.

The suspects and their IED were discovered around 4:00 p.m. while soldiers from the 32nd Infantry Battalion were conducting route secu-rity operations along the Ba-rangay Kanague-Kabontakas roadnet, Joint Task Group Sulu commander Brigadier General Alan Arrojado said.

The operation was done to ensure the safety of the main supply route and movement of 32nd and 44th Infantry Bat-talion troops who were then headed to 32nd Infantry Bat-talion headquarters at Baran-gay Bonbon, Patikul town.

During security opera-

tions, an IED triggering device was discovered buried and camouflaged at Sitio Nangka, Barangay Kanague.

Arrojado said the discov-ery prompted government sol-diers to scour the area, result-ing in the discovery of two sus-picious looking persons who were immediately arrested.

Further search also led to the discovery of the IED which was immediately disarmed.

Further inspection re-vealed that the IED consisted of 20-liter blue container filled with ammonnium nitrate, ny-lon loop switch, two blasting caps, and 10 dry-cell batteries and 12 meters of electrical cord.

Arrojado said the arrested Abu Sayyaf men and the IED were taken to the Sulu Provin-cial Police Office for custody. (PNA)

Duterte buoyed by Singsonshearty reception in Vigan

No Filipino hurt in Sumatra earthquake

2 Abu Sayyaf men nabbed,IED seized in Sulu patrol

Drilon condemns shootingof Saudi cleric in Zamboanga

FDRILON, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 245 FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 20164

BOI positions Phlas retirement haven

EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMY

RDC 11 endorsesP106B as budgetTHE Expanded Execu-tive Committee of the Regional Development Council (RDC) 11 endorsed P106.43 billion worth of pro-posed programs, activities, and projects (PAPs) next year.

The proposed budget came from the PAPs of 36 Agency Regional Offices (AROs), State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), and selected Government-owned and Con-trolled Corporations (GOCCs) in Davao.

The proposed amount is ten percent higher compared to what was endorsed by the Council in FY 2016, the com-mittee said in a statement.

RDC 11 vice-chairand Na-tional Economic and Develop-ment Authority (NEDA XI) re-gional director Maria Lourdes

D. Lim said the annual budget preparation and review exer-cise has been institutionalized by the Council as a continuing effort to strengthen the link across development planning, investment programming, and budgeting processes.

Lim further informed the RDC 11 Executive Committee that pending the formulation of the successor Regional De-velopment Plan, this years budgeting exercise will con-tinue to advocate priority PAPs that directly contribute to the attainment of development goals, objectives, and targets under the current Davao Re-gional Development Plan, 2014-2016 as well as the Sus-tainable Development Goals.

Of the P106.43 billion pro-posed budget, P52 billion or

53 percent is for PAPs under the Social Development, P44.5 billion or 42 percent is for In-frastructure Development, and P5.9 billion or 5 percent is for the Economic and Develop-ment Administration Sectors.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 11 has the biggest investment with P42 billion, followed by the Department of Education (DepEd) 11 with P40.7 billion.

Aside from the regular programs of AROs/SUCs/GO-CCs, PAPs for Gender and De-velopment (GAD), youth devel-opment, Senior Citizens, Per-sons with Disabilities (PWDs) and Indigenous Peoples (IPs); Climate-change; Payapa and Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) and other peace building-related concerns;

PAPs proposed under the Bottom-up Budgeting and the Davao Region Industry Clus-ter Roadmaps were integrated into the budget proposals.

During the RDC 11 Ex-eCom Consultation and Re-view, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) As-sistant Secretary Maxine Tanya M. Hamada highlighted the im-portant role of the RDCs in pro-moting meaningful devolution, emphasizing the role of the RDC in harmonizing national and local initiatives.

Hamada encouraged RDC 11 to add value to the budget proposals by linking the PAPs to the regions overall develop-ment objectives and prioritize PAPs as there is a limit to what the national government can fund.

HIGHER PRICES. A market goer walks past piles of vegetables at the bagsakan area of the Bankerohan Public Market. Prices of vegetables have increased in the citys public markets as the supply has been decreasing due to the drought brought on by El Nio. Lean Daval Jr.

crc@edgedavao.netBy CHENEEN R. CAPON

SLOVENIA eyes to strengthen bilateral re-lations with the Philip-pines and make the country its gateway to ASEAN market.

Slovenia State Secre-tary for Ministry of Eco-nomic Development and Technology Ale Cantarutti led a business delegation in Manila on Thursday for government-to-govern-ment (G2G) discussions and business-to-business (B2B) matching with the Chamber of Commerce of the Philip-pine Islands (CCPI) to im-prove economic relations and defense cooperation of the two countries.

Cantarutti said Slovenia is aware of the excellent eco-nomic growth of the Philip-pines, hence, a perfect time for Slovenian companies to explore the 100-million mar-ket of the country.

This is the first business mission in the Philippines and the first step to increase our bilateral relation, he added.

Slovenia is the countrys 82nd trading partner. As an export market, the Europe-an country placed 104th and 64th import source.

Top Philippine exports to Slovenia include tuna, in-

tegrated circuit, bicycles, and electronics while top imports are medicine, articles for par-lor games, and data process-ing equipment.

Cantarutti noted that the economic growth, market size, and competitive work-force in the Philippines entice Slovenia to make the country as its window to the markets of other ASEAN nations.

Moreover, he mentioned that the two countries are eyeing to boost ties in the de-fense sector.

The G2G meeting of the two parties aims to draft a memorandum of understand-ing and agreement for sup-plying products for national defense as well as transfer of technology and knowledge in the field of national defense.

The next step is to write, prepare memorandum of understanding between min-istries then organize joint commission for this area for defense industry then will go on how to cooperate on that said Cantarutti.

In todays world, trade is not enough. We want to be reliable and sustainable part-ners for the long term and this is why we have to cooperate, the official noted. (PNA)

DPWH to do study on wideningof Davao-Digos-Cotabato roadIN a bid to improve inter-connectivity among key strategic hubs in Mindan-ao, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will be conducting a feasibility study on the widening of the Davao-Digos-Cotabato nation-al road as one of its priority projects.

This came as one of the major recommendations during the recent meeting be-tween the Mindanao Develop-

ment Authority (MinDA) and the DPWH last Monday for the discussion on updating road network masterplan.

It is essential to widen the Davao-Digos-Cotabato road as the traffic congestion starts to worsen in the area, MinDA development management officer Maria Vilma Belches said in this weeks edition of Wednesdays at Habi at Kape sa Abreeza.

The DPWH also expressed

commitment to conducting a separate feasibility study for the widening of the Tawi-Tawi Circumferential road which remains uncompleted until today.

The updating of the road network plan is one of the two component of the Asian De-velopment Bank (ADB)-assist-ed project called Improving National Roads for Inclusive Growth in Mindanao Project which aims to attain inclusive

growth by improving national road networks all over Mind-anao.

Belches said the DPWH an-nounced it will be utilizing the Mindanao Development Corri-dor (MDC) as part of its criteria in identifying essential proj-ects for connectivity as well as in improving and updating its road network masterplan.

According to MinDA, the MDC is a spatial development

Slovenia eyeing Phlas gateway to ASEAN

THE Board of Investments (BOI) and retirement in-dustry stakeholders en-vision the Philippines as a via-ble retirement destination for foreign and Filipino retirees.

DTI Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo described the Philip-pines as an emerging retire-ment destination. With our compassionate and competent pool of healthcare profession-als and world class wellness facilities, the Philippines is fast becoming an attractive coun-try for foreign and Filipino re-tirees from around the world, he said.

The BOI said the Retire-ment Industry Roadmap will be finalized within the first half of 2016. The roadmap was crafted by stakeholders in the retirement industry in collabo-ration with BOI and other gov-ernment agencies.

The Retirement Industry Roadmap outlines the course of action needed for the indus-try to be globally-competitive. The Philippine Retirement Au-thority (PRA), current chair of the Technical Working Group (TWG) for the Retirement Sec-tors Roadmapping Activity, is currently reviewing the draft roadmap.

In the Annual Global Re-tirement Index 2016, the In-ternational Living Magazine ranked the Philippines as 17th out of the 23 best countries to retire in. The Annual Glob-al Retirement Index bases its

rating on a number of com-posite factors, namely, real es-tate costs, special benefits for retirees, cost of living, leisure amenities, healthcare services, infrastructure, and climate.

The retirement industry has made considerable con-tributions to the economy, reflected largely in revenues from visa deposits of Special Resident Retirees Visa (SRRV) holders. Introduced by PRA in 1987 to entice foreign nation-als and former Filipino citizens to retire in the country, retirees can either apply for multiple entry privileges and rights to stay permanently or indefi-nitely in the country by way of visa deposits ranging from USD 10,000 to USD 50,000 and USD 1,500 for former dip-lomatic corps workers. In 2014, PRA enrolled 4,781 new retirees. Total visa deposits of SRRV holders as of December 31, 2014 amounted to USD 452 million or about P19 bil-lion.

Although not yet compre-hensively documented, signif-icant economic contributions are known to also come from local retirees and pensioners from the Government Service Insurance System and Social Security System (of about 1.3 million individuals combined), Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), and the Retire-ment and Separation Benefits System (AFP-RSBS) for the uniformed services.

FBOI, 10 FDPWH, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 245 FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016 5EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 245 FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 20166THE ECONOMY EDGEDAVAO

POWER PROBLEMS. AboitizPowers Therma South, Inc. (TSI) coal-fired power plant as seen from Barangay Dumalag 2 in Matina Aplaya, Davao City. The city will still experience hour-long blackouts due to the effects of El Nio and the continued non-repair of National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) towers that had been bombed. Lean Daval Jr.

THE Department of Bud-get and Management (DBM) announced yes-terday the release of P11.8 billion to the National Irriga-tion Administration (NIA) for the expansion of irrigation across the country, as well as the P500 million for the Quick Response Fund.

This latest release, which is part of NIAs bud-get this year, will go towards Irrigation Network Services and Locally-funded Projects, Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said. The remaining portion of NIAs P32.7 billion budget for 2016 will follow once the agency submits the necessary documentary re-quirements.

Irrigation Network Ser-vices, part of NIAs mandate, consists of the extension and expansion of existing irrigation systems, repair, operation, and maintenance of pumping systems, repair of groundwater systems, ir-rigation management sup-port services, rehabilitation of irrigation works damaged by Typhoon Yolanda, and climate change adaptation works.

The P500 million corre-sponds to the appropriation for NIAs Quick Response Fund under their budget. Abad said this release will cover the requirements of NIA towards addressing the

impacts of El Nio.Abad added that pro-

posed measures to address the impacts of El Nio may be funded by the regular budgets of agencies as long as these measures fall under programs, activities and proj-ects inherent to the agencys mandate.

We know that many communities are severely affected by the El Nio phe-nomenon. Since we are only in the first quarter of the year, we cannot identify yet the budgetary savings to be used for interventions for El Nio, he said.

Abad said the DBM has advised NIA, as well as con-cerned agencies, to maximize their appropriations and to charge their funding require-ments for said interventions to existing programs, activi-ties and projects under their budget.

Agencies may also use the QRF to serve as stand-by fund to normalize the condi-tion of peoples and commu-nities in areas under state of calamity, he said.

Abad said that if the regu-lar budget and QRF are insuf-ficient to fund El Nio-related interventions, agencies may request for the release of ad-ditional funds to be charged against the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Manage-ment Fund (NDRRMF).

DOT: Uninterrupted, robust tourism growth since 2010to P227.62B in 2015.

For the year 2015, tour-ism remained profitable and accounted for an estimated $5.0 billion or P227.62 billion worth of international visitor receipts. This is 5.92% percent greater than the 2014 total earnings of P214.88 billion, with the month of December 2015 yielding the peak of all tourism activities at P23.47 billion and the month of Sep-tember 2015 registering the highest growth of 24.24%.

Korea continued to be the top spending market with visitor spending amounting to P66.55 billion for the year 2015. U.S.A. ranked second with P42.31 billion expen-diture followed by Australia with P12.83 billion, overtaking Japan which provided P12.20 billion to take the fourth spot. Completing the top five spend-ing markets is China with visi-tor spending of P10.19 billion.

Moreover, among the top twelve markets of the country, visitors from Canada recorded the highest per capita spend-ing for 2015 with P65,537.00 while visitors from Germa-ny provided the second big-gest per capita spending of P58,308.29. USA ranked third with per capita spending of P55,808.05. Other top markets with high per capita spending include United Kingdom with P54,912.69; Australia with

P53,846.21; and Korea with P48,973.54.

For the year 2015, tourists spend an average of P4,888.82. They also spent heavily last year, with an average per cap-ita expenditure of P48,350.44. Their average length of stay in the country is registered at around 10 nights.

In terms of visitor arrivals, the industry also marked an-other milestone as, for the first time in history, total inbound tourists surpassed the five mil-lion mark, with the Philippines welcoming 5,360,682 visitors in 2015. It posted a 10.91% growth from the 4,833,368 foreign visitors recorded in 2014.

The strong performance of the industry may be at-tributed to the aggressive branding and promotional activities launched in key and emerging markets e.g. Visit the Philippines Year (VPY) 2015, destination-based marketing materials, introduction of new and exciting destinations/products offered, influx of visitors during the Christmas holidays, and hosting of major international events such as the visit of Pope Francis, APEC 2015 meetings,Madrid Fusion Manila, Iron Man challenge, among many others.

Our VPY 2015 campaign and destination-based mar-

AN importer of luxury sports utility vehicles (SUVs) was charged with tax evasion by the Bu-reau of Internal Revenue (BIR) before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday.

In a press conference, BIR Commissioner Kim S. Jacin-to-Henares said they charged Jonamie Ronato Publico for willful attempt to evade or de-feat tax and deliberate failure to file his income tax returns

(ITRs) for taxable years 2012 and 2013, all in violation of Sections 254 and 255 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997.

Publico is the sole propri-etor of ADELC Trading with business address on Chino Roces Ave., Makati City.

He is engaged in the busi-ness of importation of luxury SUVs from the United Arab Emirates. He is registered in the BIR and the Department

of Trade and Industry (DTI) whose indicated addresses in both offices cannot be lo-cated.

Henares said that in the letter sent by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to the BIR, it said that ADELC Trading made total importations of Php654.32 million in 2012 and Php163.76 million in 2013.

However, BIR Revenue District Office No. 49-North

Makati City certified that Pu-blico has not filed any ITR, quarterly value added tax returns, nor percentage tax returns.

As a result of his acts and omissions, Henares said, Pu-blico was assessed an esti-mated income tax liability in the sum of Php532.9 million, inclusive of surcharges and interest, such as Php434.67 million in 2012 and Php98.23 million in 2013. (PNA)

DBM releases P12B for irri expansion

Luxury car importer charged with tax evasion

THE Department of Tour-ism (DOT) yesterday boasted of uninterrupt-ed growth in the tourism in-dustry since 2010, saying tour-ism has become one of the major economic drivers in the

Philippines under the Aquino administration, marked with strong, continued, and unin-terrupted growth in both vis-itor arrivals and receipts. This is amidst various challenges, such as weather disturbances

and natural calamities (super typhoons, earthquake) experi-enced by the country in recent years.

The DOT said international tourist arrivals posted a com-pounded annual growth rate

(CAGR) of 8.77 percent from 2010 to 2015, higher than the 7.76 percent CAGR achieved in the nine years from 2001 to 2010. International tourist re-ceipts also showed a dramatic increase from P112.55 in 2010

FDOT, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 245 FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016 7Watch out for

Big OneThe

EDGEDAVAO

SCIENCE

(First of Two Parts)

Its not only Metro Manila that is waiting for the Big One. Davao City, the countrys largest city, is ripe for another big earthquake, too.

Last year, EDGE Davao Ed-itor-in-Chief Antonio M. Ajero wrote: A big earthquake as strong as, if not even stronger than, the so-called Big One that Metro Manilans are pre-paring for is a possibility in Davao City in the immediate future.

With a land area of 244,000 hectares, Davao City is approximately three times the size of the entire Metro Manila. According to Desiderio Caban-lit, regional director of the Phil-ippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), the city is likely to be destroyed by big earthquake that may be triggered by the Surigao-Mati fault.

The new active fault line was discovered by geologists when Phivolcs updated its 10-year old fault map. It stretches from Surigao City to Mati City in Davao Oriental and has a distance of 320 kilometers.

Based on the recent Phi-volcs study, it was found that a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Compostela Valley in 1893. On April 15, 1924, another earth-quake with 8.3 magnitude happened somewhere in Siga-boy, now known as Governor Generoso in Davao Oriental.

Cabanlit explained that should an earthquake with an intensity of 7.2 may happen again in Compostela Valley, Davao will immediately feel a 7.0 to 7.1 magnitude and ground shaking could reach (the city) in less than one min-ute.

Aside from those men-tioned earlier, there were other major earthquakes that rocked Mindanao, according to data from Phivolcs. On August 16, 1976, an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0, with epicen-ter traced to the Celebes Sea, triggered a tsunami in Moro

Gulf. A major aftershock was recorded to have a magnitude of 6.8.

A magnitude of 7.6 earth-quake struck Lanao on April 1955 that killed 400 people. The intensity recorded in Dan-salan was 8.0; in Dipolog and Ozamiz, 7.0; and in Cagayan de Oro and Malaybalay, 6.0. A 6.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked Southern and Central Mindanao on March 7, 2002 killed 11 people.

Destructive earthquakes most likely

For the last 35 years, the Philippines had been affected by 10 earthquakes with mag-nitude greater than 7.0, said a fact sheet circulated by Phi-volcs. Hence, the likelihood of these destructive earthquakes occurring again in the future is indeed very strong.

Several studies pointed out the Philippines archipel-ago lies between two major tectonic plates, the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate. Phivolcs says the Phil-ippine Sea Plate is moving towards the Philippine Archi-pelago at the rate of about 7 centimeters per year. The Eur-asian Plate is being subducted along western side of Luzon and Mindoro at the rate of 3 centimeters per year except on Mindoro and northwest of Zamboanga where collision is taking place.

At the intersection of these two plates is found the Philippine Fault Zone which decouples the northwestward motion of the Pacific with the southwestward motion of the Eurasian Plate, Phivolcs ex-plains. Movements along oth-er active faults are responsible for the present-day high seis-micity of the Philippine Archi-pelago.

Every day, at least 5 earth-quakes occur in the country. Based on the distribution of earthquake epicenters, the most seismically active part of the county is its eastern sec-tion containing eastern Min-danao, Samar and Leyte with an average of 16 perceptible earthquakes per year.

6,000 earthquakes annually

According to the Grolier Encyclopedia, about 6,000 earthquakes are detected throughout the world each year. Of this, 5,500 are either too small or too far from pop-ulated areas to be felt directly. Another 450 are felt but cause no damage while 35 cause only minor damage. The remaining 15, however, can exact great toll sin death and suffering, besides heavily damaging houses, buildings, and other

structures.An earthquake (also

known as a quake, tremor or

temblor), according to a mono-graph circulated by the Phil-vocs, is feeble shaking to vi-

olent trembling of the ground produced by the sudden dis-placement of rocks or rock materials below the earths surface.

The earth has an outer-most shell, about 80-kilometer thick, which is solid and rigid. This shell is called lithosphere, which is subdivided into small and large pieces with some pieces large enough to contain continents. These pieces of lithosphere are called tectonic plates.

So-called faults are breaks or zones of weaknesses in rocks akong which displace-ments had occurred or can oc-cur again. They may extend for hundreds of kilometers down-ward, even down to the base of the lithosphere. Faults show-ing signs or documented histo-ry of recent displacements are called active faults.

Earthquake hazards

The destructive effects of earthquakes are due mainly to intense ground shaking or

vibration. Because of severe ground shaking, low and tall buildings, towers and posts may tilt, split, topple or col-lapse, foundation of roads, railroad tracks and bridges may break, water pipes and other utility installations may get dislocated, dams and sim-ilar structures may break and cause flooding, and other forms of mass movement may be generated, explains RED (Reference for Emergency and Disaster), which is published by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Liquefaction, the process where particles of loosely con-solidated and water-saturated deposits of fine sand are re-arranged into more compact state, can also occur. Liquefac-tion prone areas can be found in beach zones, sand spits, sand bars, wide coastal plains, deltaic plains, floodplains, and former or existing marshlands and swamplands.

Many strong earthquakes originate along faults that break the earths rigid crust. Called ground rupture, it is a deformation on the ground that marks the intersection of the fault plane with the earths surface.

The most common man-ifestation is a long fissure ex-tending from a few kilometers to tens of kilometers, RED ex-plains. Ground rupture may also occur as a series of discon-tinuous cracks, mounds or de-pressions. Houses and build-ings on top of an active fault can be damaged by ground rupture.

Landslides, the downward movement of slope materials either slowly or quickly, are most likely to happen. Hilly and mountainous areas, es-carpments, and steep river banks, sea cliffs and other steep slopes are prone to land-slides. The main effects of landsliding would be erosion and burial, RED warns.

Earthquakes can also cause tsunamis. Tsunamis are giant sea waves generated mostly by submarine earth-quakes, RED says. They occur when the earthquake is shal-low-seated and strong enough (magnitude 6.5 or greater) to vertically displace parts of the seabed disturb the mass of wa-ter over it.

Other causes of tsunamis include submarine or coastal landslides and submarine vol-canic eruptions. Tsunamis can flood low lying coastal areas and drown people.

Not all submarine earthquakes, however, can cause tsunamis to occur,Phi-volcs points out. (To be con-cluded)

The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone places on Earth. Theyve got it all. Theyve got earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, tropical cyclones, landslides. -- KATHLEEN TIERNEY, DIRECTOR OF THE NATURAL HAZARDS CENTER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO

By Henrylito D. Tacio

Tsunami (from Wikipedia)

(from DOST)

When an earthquake devastated Bohol (from Wikipedia)

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EDITORIALUndue advantageIT seems that administration bets Mar Roxas and Leni Ro-bredo are getting undue advantage in the 2016 elections, what with the use of government programs and mobili-

zations, not to mention the use of government services like transportation.

Photos have circulated in social media of government ve-hicles being used to carry campaign materials of the Liberal Party bets and Roxas TV host-wife Korina Sanchez joining a dispersal program of the Department of Agriculture per-sonally handing over agricultural implements to farmers in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato.

Why is Ms. Sanchez afforded that responsibility when it is a government program, not an election campaign rally? Had it been her television program distributing slippers to kids people, it would have been understandable, but that was not her show. That was a government program. And the funny thing is DA Secretary Proceso Alcala himself allowed it to

happen.Korina and Secretary Alcala distributed farm tractors,

floating tillers, wheelbarrows, and other farm implements. Korina, dressed in the signature yellow shirt of the LP, led the distribution of rice to farmers who were ferried to the venue. This could be interpreted as the administrations way of le-galized vote buying.

The presence of Korina in the government activity is a clear violation of election laws and an overbearing display of pow-er and arrogance by the administration.

There was also the use of a red-plated mini dump truck and another government pick up truck ferrying Roxas campaign materials. Isnt this technically a violation of election laws?

This only means one thing that the administration is us-ing government resources in the Roxas-Robredo campaign. What an irony from people who pride themselves as champi-ons against corruption.

February 29, 2016 will be remembered not only for coming once every four years but for a wonderful lunch ten-dered by the Ambassador Club of Davao and the American Chamber of Commerce in Min-danao at The Marco Polo Davaos Sarangani Room in honor of the visiting Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Mexico Julio Camer-na Villasenor to Davao City. Gracing the event were Honorary Mexican consul and former Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Dr. Maria Lourdes G. Monteverde, Japanese Consul Tomoko Dodo, and Malaysian Consul Abdulla Za-wawi Tahir, and Honorary Consul of Palau Miguel Iigo. The lunch included a presen-tation of the various business initiatives of Mexican companies in the Philippines, such as Coca Cola FEMSA, CEMEX, and the new-est, the Kidzania childrens attraction at the

Bonifacio Glob-al City in Metro Manila. All of these invest-ments totaled 6 billion dol-lars over the last ten years, making Mexi-co one of our 10 top trading partners. The Ambasador re-vealed that another 2 billion dollar invest-ment is forthcoming.

What was most interesting was the reve-lation of many things about Mexican culture and history that closely mirror our own. It is a fact, for instance, the our Spanish colo-nizers administered the Philippine archipel-

ago via Mexico, called Nueva Espaa or New Spain. Thus, many of our Spanish Governors general were once officials in the Spanish colonial government in Mexico. Most no-tably, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi who finally conquered Manila was once the Mayor of Mexico City. Likewise revealing is the fact that many of our cultural and religious prac-tices are not of Spanish origin but rather na-tive Mexican. Our Kalag-kalag or undas traditions are taken from the Dias de los Muertos. Both our cultures observe these as special days in which we visit our depart-ed loved ones on the second of November.

Apart from the Church and beyond the grave, Filipinos owe Mexicans their wet markets, which in ancient Aztec was termed Palenqui, with the smaller ones called Tiangge. We also share a liking for fruits like the Chico, so named by native Mexicans,

we regularly consume Tomate and Ca-mote, both ending in the letter E, like the famous Mexican beer Tecate and Tequila, taken from a root called Agave, which led the event master of ceremonies Alvin Pinpin to ask if Duterte is also a Mexican word.

In all, the deep historical ties and com-mon aspirations shared by Filipinos and Mexicans stem from a common experience of centuries under Spanish colonial rule, culminating in a bloody revolution ousting the Spaniards in roughly the same gener-ation. Both countries also look forward to working in common markets with more economically powerful neighbors. We also face the same threat of narcopolitics and a the need to beef up our territorial defens-es. Similarities point out a truth we cannot deny, that our common roots are as thick, and about as tasty, as the camote.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 245 FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

John Triaecisouth@gmail.com

MY TWO CENTS

FINALLY, screen heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio received the elusive Acade-my Award. The Revenant was his sixth nomination and many thought he would get it. And he did.

He received his first Oscar nomination for a supporting role as a mentally chal-lenged boy in the drama Whats Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). In 2004, he was rec-ognized for playing Howard Hughes in The Aviator. In 2007, he got another Best Actor nomination for Blood Diamond. In 2014, he received two nominations: as Best Actor and producer of Wolf of Wall Street.

While DiCaprio took the Oscar statuette, I was reminded of the late Paul Newman (yes, the blue-eyed actor who co-starred with Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid and The Sting). Newman won his Oscar for his performance in The Color of Money (1986). It was his seventh nomi-nation, having been nominated previously for 1958s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1961s The Hustler, 1963s Hud, 1967s Cool Hand Luke, 1981s Absence of Malice, and 1982s The Verdict.

Newman received two more nomina-tions after winning the Oscar. In 1994, he got a Best Actor nomination for Nobodys Fool and a Best Supporting Actor nomina-tion for Road to Perdition (2002). In both nominations, he was defeated by Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump) and Chris Cooper (Adaptation), respectively.

Then, there was Al Pacino. He took home the prestigious award on his eighth nomination: for Scent of a Woman (1993), which most observers think was not his great role ever. He was also nominated that year for Best Supporting Actor for his per-formance in Glengarry Glenn Ross.

Pacino also received nominations for his lead roles in 1974s Serpico, 1975s The

Godfather Part II, 1976s Dog Day Afternoon, and 1980s And Justice for All. He also received nominations for his supporting roles in 1973s The Godfather and 1991s Dick Tracy.

At least, Di-Caprio, Newman and Pacino won Oscar for their performances. But there were two equally great actors who were nominated several times but never received the Oscar until death caught up with them.

First, there was British actor Richard Burton, the husband of London-born Amer-ican actress Elizabeth Taylor (who received two Oscar awards).

Burton was nominated six times for an Academy Award for Best Actor and once for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Ac-tor. His first nomination, for My Cousin Ra-chel (1952), was for Best Supporting Actor. His subsequent nominations all came in the Best Actor category.

He was nominated as Best Actor for The Robe in 1954, but did not receive another nomination until 1965, for Becket, at which time he was one of the most famous actors in the world, due to his relationship with Elizabeth Taylor.

Considered a favorite in the 1966 and 1967 contests for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) and Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), he lost to Lee Marvin and Paul Scofield, respectively. His performance in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) was bested by John Wayne in True Grit and his comeback performance in

Equus (1977) was topped by Richard Drey-fuss in The Goodbye Girl.

Irish actor Peter OToole, on the other hand, received eight Oscar nominations. In 1962, he got his first nomination as T.E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia (he lost to Gregory Peck, who starred as lawyer Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird). Two years later, he got a nomination as King Henry II in Becket (but Rex Harrison got the Oscar for My Fair Lady).

For the same role as King Henry II in The Lion in Winter (1968), OToole got an-other nomination but Cliff Robertson won the award for his touching performance in Charly. The following year, his role as Ar-thur Chipping in Goodbye, Mr. Chips earned him another nomination.

In 1972, his performance in The Rul-ing Class was defeated by Marlon Brando, who was great for his lead role as mafia patriarch in The Godfather. Robert De Niro (Raging Bull) defeated his performance in The Stunt Man (1980) and his Alan Swann in My Favorite Year was no match for Ben Kingsleys Gandhi. His last nomination was for Venus (2006), but it was the year when Forest Whitaker played the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scot-land.

Perhaps the most nominated actress who never took home the award was Deb-orah Kerr. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress: Ed-ward, My Son (1949), From Here to Eter-nity (1953), The King and I (1956), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), Separate Tables (1958) and The Sundowners (1960). She received one Academy Honorary Award for her career in 1994.

Katharine Hepburn was the most Os-car awarded performer. She won four for her leading roles in 1993s Morning Glory,

1967s Guess Whos Coming To Dinner?, 1968s The Lion in Winter (where she shared the honor with Barbra Streisand who was equally great in Funny Girl), and 1981s On Golden Pond.

Hepburn was also nominated eight times: 1935s Alice Adams, 1940s The Phil-adelphia Story, 1942s Woman of the Year, 1951s The African Queen, 1955s Summer-time, 1956s The Rainmaker, 1959s Sud-denly, Last Summer, and 1962 Long Days Journey Into Night.

But the most nominated performer is Meryl Streep. She received 19 nominations, winning three: as Best Supporting Actress in 1980s Kramer Vs. Kramer and two Best Actress awards for 1983s Sophies Choice and 2012s The Iron Lady.

Streep also received a nomination for her supporting roles in 1979s The Deer Hunter, 2003s Adaptation, and 2014s Into the Woods.

The rest of her nominations were for Best Actress: 1982s The French Lieu-tenants Woman (which was exhibited at the Manila International Film Festival), 1984s Silkwood, 1986s Out of Africa, 1988s Iron-weed, 1989s A Cry in the Dark, 1991s Post-cards from the Edge, 1996s The Bridges of Madison County, 1999s One True Thing, 2000s Music of the Heart, 2007s The Devil Wears Prada, 2009s Doubt, 2010s Julie and Julia, and 2013s August: Osage County.

With 12 Academy Award nominations, Jack Nicholson is the most nominated male actor. He has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice, one for the drama One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975) and the other for the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets (1997). He also won the Acad-emy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the comedy-drama Terms of Endearment (1983).

The elusive Oscar

Mexican lunch in Davao

Henrylito D. Taciohenrytacio@gmail.com

THINK ON THESE!

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of the Philippines (NGCP) re-corded a 27-MW deficit yester-day. The NGCP said the power demand yesterday was seen to reach 1,420MW, surpassing the 1,393 system capacity as of 1:00 p.m.

The NGCP said the low capacity of the state-owned hydroelectric power plants Agus-Pulangi Complexes due to El Nio resulted in the pow-

er deficit.The bombing of towers

and transmission lines of the NGCP also causes grid deficit.

Agus 1 and 2 remained iso-lated from the Mindanao grid because Tower 25 remained unrepaired for more than two months after it was bombed last Christmas Eve because of a conflict with private landown-ers on which the tower stands.

diseases, Villareiz said in the statement

She said compared to text-only warnings, GHW images are more effective at conveying the truth about the harmful effects of tobacco use, discouraging initiation by young people, and encourag-ing tobacco cessation among current users.

She said all tobacco prod-ucts such as cigarettes, cigars, and other forms of smoked and smokeless tobacco, whether locally produced or imported into the Philippine market, should carry GHWs on their packaging.

As set out in the GHW Law, the Department of Health has published a set of twelve (12) GHWs that depict some of the many health harms caused by tobacco use, such as mouth and throat cancer, stroke, em-physema, impotence, hand/foot gangrene, and low birth weight and preterm birth. Each picture is accompanied by a related text message in Filipino (on the front) and En-glish (on the back), she said.

Villareiz said the Bureau of

Internal Revenue (BIR) will en-sure that excise tax stamps are not affixed on noncompliant packages.

The Department of Edu-cation (DepEd) will also use GHW templates to educate children on the ill effects of tobacco and will ensure that these are included in relevant subjects under the K-12 curric-ulum, she added.

The penalty for the man-ufacturers and importers will P500,000 for the first offense, P1 million for the second of-fense, and P2 million for the third offense or imprisonment of not more than five years, or both, and business permits and licenses will be revoked or cancelled.

For retailers, on the first offense, a fine of not more than P10,000. On the second offense, a fine of not more than P50,000. On the third offense, a fine of not more than P100,000 or imprisonment of not more than one year, or both, and business permits and licenses shall be revoked or cancelled, she said. ARMANDO B. FENE-QUITO JR.

the strongest of political, so-cial and religious differences, Drilon said.

Drilon said that he was alarmed about the brazenness of the attempted assassina-tion, and called on the local authorities to work hard in investigating this incident, to prevent and discourage such acts in the future.

Our law enforcement agencies must get to the bot-tom of this incident, including why and how it happened. It

is important that we know ev-erything that we need to make sure these kind of violent ac-tions do not happen again, Drilon said.

He said whether the victim was a foreign national or an ordinary Filipino citizen, the police and the military need to step up their intelligence net-work in order to prevent these acts from happening within the countrys territory, which undermines our image as a peaceful nation. (PNA)

Meanwhile, Retirement & Healthcare Coalition, Interna-tional, a non-profit, non-stock private organization affiliated with the Joint Foreign Cham-bers of the Philippines, is doing its share in making the country more viable as a retirement destination. The organization recently conducted a certifi-

cation and training program for a Quality Management System based on DIN EN ISO 9001:2000 to participating nursing homes under the Pub-lic Private Partnership Project Human Touch. The activities under the program were tai-lor-made for the institutional framework of the Philippines.

strategy that aims to increase the competitiveness of Mind-anao industries by providing them with common service facilities.

The program, according to MinDA, also aims to achieve physical integration among key economic clusters in Min-danao in its bid to become self-reliant and internally de-pendable. The program will also prepare the island-region towards greater economic co-operation with the BIMP-EA-GA and other ASEAN-mem-ber countries in anticipation for the ASEAN Integration by 2015.

Belches said the MinDA has been working for the pro-motion of the MDC for a long time before it was adopted by the DPWH.

We are very happy that the national government agencies are considering our

program to attain inclusive growth in Mindanao, she said.

The adoption of the MDC will allow the interconnectivi-ty between key hubs in Mind-anao as well as improve roads leading to seaports and air-ports which are necessary in improving the logistics sector the island.

Belches also said the adop-tion of the program will allow projects of each regional office of the DPWH to complement with each other.

She said at present, the lack of complementation among national government agencies cause redundancy and road leading to nowhere.

Aside from masterplan up-dating, the DPWH will be also improving 13 road networks in Northern Mindanao as part of the implementation of the foreign-assisted project. CHE-NEEN R. CAPON

keting materials helped in in-creasing awareness and gener-ating a positive performance, while our market development efforts served to ensure that this growth will be sustained year on year. The strategies outlined in the countrys Na-tional Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) 2011-2016 have enabled us to stay on focused in improving the sectors com-petitiveness and in contrib-uting to the countrys overall goal of inclusive growth. More than accounting for a signif-icant share of the countrys Gross Domestic Product, this rapid growth in the industry is allowing decent jobs and live-lihood for many Filipinos. For 2015, tourism employment is

estimated at 4.99 million with a share of 12.7% to national employment, already repre-senting 4.8% growth from 2014, Tourism Secretary Ra-mon R. Jimenez, Jr. said.

The past five years up to the present has been a sto-ry of how the DOT, together with its attached agencies, has achieved an enhanced orienta-tion as the countrys primary marketing and selling unit. Together with the support of both public and private sec-tors, we were able to trans-form tourism into a national industry. Indeed, it has been a journey of an entire coun-try working together to make tourism the peoples business, Jimenez said.

they were government offi-cials or civilians suspected to military assets.

Lawyer Antonio T. Teves, a police general from Davao City, was assassinat-ed for his law enforcement work, while broadcasters Leonardo Palo Jr. of DXRA and Edgar Nagar of DXDC and the Mindanao Daily Mirror were killed for their anti-communist commen-taries. Wilfredo Baby Aquino, barangay captain of Agdao before it was ger-

rymandered into 11 baran-gays lost his life with four others when ambushed by suspected communist as-sassins near his residence along Cabaguio Avenue. Ear-lier a total of 51 members of the paramilitary CAFGU (Citizen Armed Force Geo-graphical Unit) had been killed in separate incidents. One of those perished was Col. Manuel Garcia, a well-loved police officer, for his campaign against illegal el-ements.

Relief workers surviveArmy-BIFF crossfireAID workers in Maguind-anao have survived many hostilities, even risking lives to serve internally dis-placed families in Maguindan-ao during both man-made and natural calamities.

But Wednesdays encoun-ter was too close for comfort.

The Peoples Medical Team (PMT), Maguindanaos emer-gency relief assistance unit, was almost caught in the crossfire when government forces and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) traded mortars in Barangay Tee, Datu Salibo, Maguindanao.

Emergency workers were trapped as the protagonists traded mortars but all of them,

numbering about 15, survived unscathed, according to PMT focal person Lynette Estandar-te.

Estandarte, also Maguind-anaos budget officer, said the team was preparing to leave the village where the relief op-eration was conducted when automatic gunfire was heard near them. Not far away were soldiers in combat position fir-ing their guns.

Bullet sounds were so close to us, we were told to lie down, she told reporters.

A few minutes later, the sol-diers told the relief aid workers to pack up and leave. They did so hurriedly.

Being in the middle of the

battlefield was not new to the aid workers, having risked lives so displaced families can be served.

We have been to this situa-tion in the past but this one was so scary, hearing the sounds of bullets passing so close to us, Estandarte said.

The military said the BIFF had grouped into smaller teams apparently to mislead mili-tary forces. They even mingled with civilians and most likely received relief aid from govern-ment agencies.

Captain Joann Petinglay, speaking for the military, admit-ted it could be a possibility. But if they are unarmed, we cannot just pounce on them, she said

in a radio interview, adding that it was difficult to determine whether those queuing for re-lief goods are BIFF or ordinary civilians.

Estandarte said despite the scary experience, the PMT will continue its mission of helping the displaced families survive the daily ordeal of living in cramped evacuation sites.

This is the mandate given us by Governor (Esmael) Man-gudadatu. We will continue to discharge this mandate, she said.

Fighting continued Thurs-day between elements of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Bri-gade and BIFF in Datu Salibos village of Tee. (PNA)AT the height of the hostil-ities in Lanao del Sur last week, hundreds of VHF

amateur radio enthusiasts pre-vented further escalation of the conflict by going on air spread-ing information or dispelling rumors.

Ayub Saripada, public in-formation officer of Saksi, the biggest amateur radio group in Lanao del Sur said their 1,000 plus members were monitor-ing closely the developments of the fighting when they learned that Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commander Ab-durahman Macapaar aka Com-mander Bravo issued a crucial statement on February 23.

In that interview, first aired by DXKP, a local TV and radio station, Bravo said he and his forces were not involved in the

fighting in Butig town and the ambush of a military convoy in Balindong town, all in Lanao del Sur.

In the videotaped inter-view, Bravo said the MILF is not involved in the fighting in Lanao del Sur. Hindi po kasali dyan ang MILF (The MILF is not involved there), he said.

He also belied reports that he had joined the armed group responsible for the at-tacks. Tapat po ako sa MILF dahil ang emir po ng MILF si Al Haj Murad Ebrahim ay ang sinsusunod ay si Allah at ang Prophet Muhammad (I am loyal to the MILF because our Emir, Al Haj Murad Ebrahim follows Allah and the Prophet Muhammad), Bravo said.

Saripada said their group leaped on the chance to help

and their members quickly made use of the base radios and smaller ICOM sets to relay the message on air.

Ham VHF radios are the chief mode of communications in Marawi City and Lanao del Sur province where mobile phone signals are weak.

Kahit na uminit ang am-ing mga radio sets, sige pa rin kami kasi alam naming napaka importante ang statement ni Bravo , Saripada told MindaN-ews.

The relay of information was so timely and was credit-ed by the government and the MILF for averting a possible escalation of the hostilities last week.

Maganda ang ginawa ni Commander Bravo. Nakatu-long talaga (What Command-

er Bravo did is good. It really helped defuse tension), Von Al Haq, MILF spokesperson and member of the general staff of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) told MindaNews.

He said the armed group led by the Maute brothers made several attempts to draw the MILF into the hostilities by running to the MILF camps when pursued by government troops.

Bravos statement had a calming effect on a very tense situation. Everyone realized he was not breaking the cease-fire between the MILF and the government, Army Brig. Gen. Glen Macasero, head of the governments Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) said. Froilan O. Gallardo / MindaNews)

Amateur radio operators help de-escalate Lanao Sur conflict

VOL. 8 ISSUE 245 FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016 11EDGEDAVAOCOMPETITIVE EDGERoubini to speak at Phlinvestment forum in NYINTERNATIONALLY re-nowned economist Nou-riel Roubini, who was said to have predicted the last global economic crisis, will speak at the Philip-pines Business & Invest-ment Forum (PBIF) hap-pening in New York City on March 3.

Roubini will be part of the forums first panel discussion titled The Only Way Forward, where long-term sustainability of the Philippines encouraging economic story from the last six years will be tackled.

Joining Roubini in the first panel discussion of the PBIF will be Finance Secretary Ce-sar Purisima, Philippine Com-petition Commission Chair Ar-senio Balisacan, and Century Properties Chairman and CEO Jose E.B. Antonio.

The 57-year-old Turk-ish-born American economist, who is chair and co-founder of global macroeconomic re-search firm Roubini Global Economics, is expected to share his thoughts on the Philippines chances of main-taining its positive economic performance even after the elections in May.

It may be recalled that in January 2013, Roubini said the Philippines, which was still suf-fering from stubborn specula-tive credit ratings, deserved investment grade sovereign credit ratings. He pointed out significant improvements in the countrys economic, fiscal, financial, and policy funda-mentals.

Soon after that, or in March 2013, Fitch Ratings gave the Philippines its first investment grade from a ma-jor international credit rating firm. Since then, the economy has earned a series of cred-it-rating upgrades from vari-ous institutions to now enjoy a secure place well within the investment-grade territory.

The Philippines has re-

corded an inspiring economic story over the years, transi-tioning from the sick man of Asia to Asias bright spot.

Besides securing invest-ment grade sovereign credit ratings, which have helped re-duce borrowing costs for the government and the average Filipino, the Philippines like-wise significantly improved its rankings in various global sur-veys on competitiveness over the past six years. All this hap-pened despite a challenging global economic environment.

The pending leadership change in the Philippines may have raised the question over the countrys ability to keep its positive momentum after the elections.

Taking a proactive stance in assuring the international investor community that the Philippines is poised to keep moving forward, the countrys top economic officials will share the latest favorable out-look on the economy, as well as various measures implement-ed to institutionalize reforms and to sustain the economic gains.

Some of the measures geared toward sustainability have been enshrined in laws, such as the Sin Tax Reform, the Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act, the law fully liberalizing the banking sector, the amendment to the Cabotage law, and the Compe-tition Act, among others. These

laws are seen to play vital roles in helping accelerate the Phil-ippines economic gains in the years to come.

Besides Roubini, exec-utives from the US business community will also be joining Philippine government offi-cials and private-sector execu-tives in the PBIF.

Other foreign speakers in the event include US Chamber of Commerce Senior Director for Southeast Asia John Goyer, Standard & Poors Sovereign Debt Committee Chair John Chambers, Citigroup Vice Chair for Investment Banking Jay Collins, Caterpillars Ex-ecutive Director for Govern-ment and Corporate Affairs for Asia-Pacific Jeffrey Hardee, Philip Morris Vice President for US and International Cor-porate Affairs Jon Huenemann, and US-ASEAN Business Coun-cil President and CEO Alexan-der Feldman, among others.

US Department of Com-merce Director Andrew Edlef-sen will be among the repre-sentatives from the US govern-ment to grace the event.

In addition to the discus-sion on sustainability of eco-nomic gains, the PBIF will also feature panel discussions on business opportunities in var-ious sectors of the Philippine economy: banking, capital markets, manufacturing and BPO, and tourism.

The PBIF is initiated by Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Cuisia, Jr. and international events company Invivalink, with as-sistance from the Investor Re-lations Office (IRO).

The Philippine govern-ment and US Philippines Soci-ety serve as lead partners for the event, while other insti-tutional partners include the Makati Business Club, the US Chamber of Commerce, the US-ASEAN Business Council, AMCHAM Philippines, and the Manhattan Chamber of Com-merce.

FOLLOWING the mas-sive success of Clash of Clans (CoC) around the world, Helsinki-based mobile game developer Supercell has launched another much anticipated game, Clash Royale, in the Philippines, and gamers can now make the most of it with Smart Prepaids PasaData, which allows them to share data with friends anytime and anywhere for more online gaming fun.

An exhilarating card and strategy mobile game, Clash Royale pits players in a duel with other online players in a race to knock down each others castle. To achieve this, players draw from a deck of eight cards containing famil-iar CoC characters, defenses and spells and unleash all their powers in the arena.

Victories lead to more cards, trophies and glory, which then allow players to upgrade their characters, unlock new arenas, and ul-timately build their clan and battle community to share their cards with.

Rave game reviewsPrior to its worldwide

launch, Clash Royale was ini-

tially rolled out in select mar-kets in Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland and New Zealand, where it garnered rave reviews for creatively merging the card and arena game formats. You can now download the game on Google Play Store and the App Store for free.

We are thrilled to finally make Clash Royale available to Filipinos, who are very engaged CoC players, said Erlend Christoffersen, Direc-tor for Global Expansion at Supercell. We cant wait for them to have as much fun and enjoyment while play-ing our new game with their family and friends anytime, anywhere.

We welcome the launch of Clash Royale in the Phil-ippines, and we expect it to follow the success of the massive hit Clash of Clans as it introduces another exciting way for friends to bond and interact with each other on-line, said Katrina Luna-Abe-larde, Head of Wireless Oper-ations at Smart.

Filipino mobile gamers can definitely make the most of this new game with Smart Prepaids PasaData, which

gives you the convenience and flexibility of passing on a chunk of your Big Bytes Bark-ada offers to your friends the first service of its kind in the country, she added.

PasaData with Big Bytes Barkada offers

PasaData can be used with both Big Bytes Bark-ada 99 (which comes with 700MB valid for 7 days) and Big Bytes Barkada 299 (which offers 2GB valid for 30 days).

Both full-packed of-fers, you can use the Big Bytes Barkada to play Clash Royale and other mobile games, stream videos and music on apps like YouTube, iflix, and Spinnr, and stay ac-tive on all your other apps, such as Facebook, Viber, and Instagram, among others.

To register to Big Bytes Barkada offers, simply text BBB99 or BBB299 to 9999, respectively, or dial *121# the all-access portal for all Smart Prepaid promos. Once registered, you can easily make use of PasaData for your friends anytime and anywhere by simply texting SHARENo. of Recip-

Smart brings Clash Royale to Filipinos

WITH the theme CE Expand: Compe-tence in Engineering by the Extension of Parallel and New Dimension, the Junior Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (JPICE) successfully held the JPICE Congress on February 26-28, 2016 at the NCCC Mall Kaday-awan Hall in Davao City.

Highlighted activities in-cluded a seminar and work-shop sponsored by MIDAS IT (February 26); formal open-ing ceremony, seminars and search for Mr. & Ms. JPICE 2016 (February 27); and OJT Fair, battle of the bands and modern dance competition and MTS spoof (February 28).

The event was held to broaden the students scope of competence with character and excellence. It was able to achieve the objective to pro-

mote camaraderie between the five different schools, en-courage participation, and motivate them to get involved in activities that will help them in their future endeavors.

The activity was orga-nized by the JPICE officers and directors headed by president Dan Loigi Pardillo in cooper-ation with the presidents of the different Civil Engineer-ing schools, namely Univer-sity of Mindanao, University of Southeastern Philippines, Ateneo de Davao Universi-ty, University of Immaculate Conception, and Jose Maria College.

It was fully supported by the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers, Davao City Chapter headed by Engineer Anacleto V. Calamba, Jr. (Engr. Sharon Angelica Gilla- Bonguyan, MPA)

JPICE holds successful congress in Davao City

WINNERS. Newly crowned Mr. JPICE Filnick G. Aguilon (UM, left) & Ms. JPICE- Tresha Roelle Jainar (USEP, 5th from left) are flanked by JPICE president Dan Loigi Pardillo, Mr. & Ms. JPICE 1st runner-up (Kenneth Paul Villacorta & Blanche

Sullano both from ADDU), MIDAS IT sponsor, and PICE Davao officers headed by president Anacleto V. Calamba, Jr. (fourth from left) during the pageant night on February 27, 2016 at NCCC Mall Kadayawan Hall in Davao City.

Nouriel Roubini

F SMART, 10

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Here are some interest-ing reasons I love Kapatagan Highlands. Try these out. Who knows? It can be the same rea-son you will be coming back to this Edenic Highland of Davao del Sur.

THE MAJESTIC VIEW OF MOUNT APO Being the grandfather of Philippine mountains, Mount Apo is undeniably a beautiful sight to behold. Situated at the foot of the Mt. Apo, Kapatagan offers a number of best spots to get the outstanding view of the highest summit of the country. Mornings at Kapatagan with Mt Apo at the background is something to look forward to everyday.

THE COOL HIGHLAND BREEZE OF KAPATAGAN At 1,160 meters above sea level, Kapatagans cool climate makes it among the best des-tination in Davao Region to chill and relax especially during warmer days. For those who come here often, they call this place Little Baguio as the tem-perature here is much colder than other places in the region. There are only two destinations in Davao Region that I love most because of its cool and cold weather BUDA in the bound-aries of Davao and Bukidnon, and KAPATAGAN.

THRILING RIDES OF CAMP

SABROS Home to the first zipline rides in Davao Region, Camp Sabros is among the top destinations in Kapatagan. They have three zipline facilities here. One of those is considered the longest in the whole Davao Region. Aside from ziplines, Camp Sa-bros also offers accommodation facilities for those whod like to stay for a night or more. Camp-ers also have space here at this highland camping destination. Camp Sabros also offers the best spot to catch the perfect view of Mount Apo.

THE AWAKENING AROMA OF MOUNT APO COFFEE Some of the best coffee beans in Davao Region are grown at the foot of Mount Apo. The fer-tile volcanic soil of the countrys highest peak makes it the ideal place to grow coffee. Must try is the Altura Coffee and the famous Civet Coffee grown by Dizon Farms. Awaken your

senses with the aroma and taste of Kapatagans coffee.

THE AWE-INSPIRING ART GARDEN OF ARTIST KUB-LAI MILLAN If you are from Mindanao, I guess you are familiar with the works of renowned Min-danaoan artist Kublai Milan scattered in many parts of the

island. Davao City alone has a number of Kublais masterpiec-es. But when you come to Kapa-tagan, here you will find the Kublai Art Garden which hous-es some of the best art installa-tions of the famous artist. I have gone and seen some beautiful art installations in the country and I would consider Kublais Art Garden in Kapatagan as one of the finest. Never miss this site when you visit Kapatagan. Oh yeah, its Instagram worthy.

THE HEART-PUMPING JOURNEY TO THE VIRGIN FALLS Theres nothing like trek-king down deep into the cool Virgin Falls. Albeit treacher-ous trail seemed unending, the journey itself is an experience to remember. Thick vegetation covers the trail. Huge ferns are abundant. Cogon grasses taller than humans are all over. Sharp rocks along dangerous cliffs can be heart stopping. It must be one of your hardcore hikes but when you get to the eye-catch-ing beauty of the Virgin Falls hidden deep inside this thick verdant forest, it will definitely

By Olan Fernandez Emboscado

TRAVEL

EDGEDAVAOINdulge!

KAPATAGAN A4

THE HIGHLANDS OF KAPATAGAN IN DIGOS CITY is among the most visited destinations in the Davao Region. This rustic part of the Davao Del Surs capital is popular among mountain climbers as one of the major jump off points to the majestic Mount Apo, the Philip-pines highest point. A great part of Kapatagan is under the protected area of Mt. Apo Natural Park, thus, luxuri-ant vegetation covers the highlands. Having visited this place a number of times, this has become my personal favorite. And every time I come back, theres always this immense feeling of thrill that I always have. Certainly, this part of the region never runs out of great surprises and exhilarating adventures for thrillseekers like me.

WHY I LOVE THE

HIGHLANDS OF KAPATAGAN

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A FEAST FOR FASTINGThe Marco Polo Davao offers a seafood bonanza and more

THE CELEBRA-TION OF DURI-ANBURGS found-ing is just around the corner and along with it are the many parties and dining events that add to the celebration. But for many devout Catholics, this period is also marked by the obser-vance of Lent where many abstain from vices as well as from eating meat, which is why The Marco Polo Davaos special sea-food dinner buffets are a welcome deal which I was able to preview last week. Available every Friday and Saturday, diners can enjoy a variety of seafood items such as Yellow-fin tuna, crab, shrimp, oys-ters, mussels, and dif-ferent fishes prepared to their preference. Items can be grilled, deep-fried, steamed, baked, or even prepared as soup. A vari-ety of sauces, seaweed (or lukot) salad are also avail-able to further comple-ment the seafood dish.

Cafe Marcos buf-fet spread for the special days will be composed of around 70 to 80 seafood, said Marco Polo Davaos every cheerful and dy-namic general manager Dottie Wrgler-Cronin. This is also to highlight the bounty of the seas of Davao as well as for the celebration of Lent. Also introduced dur-ing the media lunch was Marco Polo Davaos two new signature dishes. The Davao Kinilaw is the hotels own version of the local favorite, tuna kinilaw. It is prepared similarly to a ceviche with

distinct local ingredients such as cucumber, Phil-ippine lime (dayap) with calamansi (native lemon) and fried dried squid. Dottie took delight in personally demonstrat-ing the preparation of the signature dish, which will be available at any din-ing outlet of the hotel. Ms Dottie has a special con-nection with the Tuna Ki-nilaw as she prepared this dish for her colleagues during the GMs Confer-ence of Marco Polo Ho-tels in Niccolo Chengdu, China last year. For those individuals who can eat meat, Execu-

tive Sous Chef Alex Des-triza also presented the second signature dish of Marco Polo Davao, the Baked BBQ Baby Back Ribs which has also been an all-time favourite of its regular dining guests. There is also a Sunday Dimsum Buffet at the ho-tels Cantonese restaurant, The Lotus Court. The buf-fet is a spread of the ho-tels famous savory dim-sum such as Pork Shrimp Xiumai, Xiao Long Bao, Hakao, Spring rolls, Pork and Chicken Siopao as well as dessert dim-sum including the Lotus Courts famous Buchi.

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THE COUNTRYS INSPIRATIONAL DIVA Jamie Rivera is again using her voice and her music, this time to urge fellow Filipinos to vote wisely in the upcoming national elections and choose the candidates who they think would serve the people. With the future of the country in mind, Jamie composed her newest single titled Pag-isipan Mo Ang Boto Mo, Star Musics official theme song for Halalan 2016. St. Augustine said that singing is praying twice. That is why I turned my prayer into a song, because music is a universal language. Its my prayer to God to guide Filipinos in choosing the

rightful candidates to lead our country. Its also a message for us Filipinos to decipher whom we should vote for because the

future of our children is at stake, she said. Pag-isipan mo at magdasal tayo kung sino ang dapat at kung sino ang tapat. Yung hindi niya sasaktan, ating inang bayan, nagmamahal ng wagas sa bayang Pilipinas, Jamie sings in the track. Pag-isipan Mo Ang Boto Mo can now be streamed on Spotify and can also be downloaded via online music stores such as ABS-CBN Store, iTunes, Amazon.com, OneMusic.ph, and Starmusic.ph. For more information, visit Starmusic.ph or follow Star Musics official social media accounts at Facebook.com/starmusicph, Twitter.com/starrecordsph and Instagram.com/Starmusicph.

AS PART OF ITS THIRD ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, Wagas will exclusively feature the love story of Kalinga tattoo artist Whang Od this Saturday (March 5) starring Janine Gutierrez and Rocco Nacino. Amid the deliberation on declaring her as a National Artist, 95-year-old world renowned tattoo artist Whang Od shares her One Great Love for the very first time on Philippine television. Dubbed as the Last Mambabatok of Kalinga, Whang Ods body is covered by tattoos, all except her right arm that she reserved for the only man she ever loved. A batok or tattoo symbolizes Whang Ods beautiful race. Her intricate tattoos

attracted many menincluding the handsome warrior Ang-Batang (Rocco). Whang Od and Ang-Batang would fall in love with each other but they had to conceal their relationship since Whang Od did not come from a family of pure-bloods like Ang-

Batang. Only Whang Ods best friend, Hogkajon (Stephanie Sol), knew about their romance . But fate would play a cruel trick on them. Ang-Batang was ordered to marry Hogkajon, shattering Whang Ods life into pieces. As if this was not enough,

GMA NETWORK continues to earn the nod of the Filipino audience with a number of Kapuso programs and personalities receiving child-friendly seals from Anak TV. Recognized as Makabata Stars of 2015 personalities who are most credible, wholesome, and worth emulating by the youth were Primetime King and Queen Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera, the phenomenal love team of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza, GMA News and Public Affairs personalities Vicky Morales, Kara David, and Drew Arellano, and Eat Bulaga host Vic Sotto. GMA public affairs programs recognized with the Anak TV Seal for 2015 were infotainment show AHA!, the animated series Alamat, travel and wildlife program Born to be Wild, news magazine show

Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, wellness program Pinoy MD, and wish-granting show Wish Ko Lang. Various Kapuso entertainment programs were also given the Anak TV seal including cooking shows

Del Monte Kitchenomics and Sarap with Family, well-loved family sitcom Pepito Manaloto, infotainment program I-BiliB, cooking talk show Sarap Diva, youth-oriented program Tropang Potchi, locally produced travel

and culture program Lets Fiesta, and the first ever faith-serye PariKoy. Anak TV also recognized GMA News TVs Ang Pinaka, Biyahe ni Drew, Good News, I Juander, Idol sa Kusina, Just 4 Kids, and Pop Talk.

In celebration of its 18th year, Anak TV also recognized GMA as among the pioneer networks who pushed for child-friendly programming and being instrumental in the establishment of Anak TV as an organization.

Jamie Rivera releases new inspirational single

Kapuso programs and personalities receive Anak TV seals

Janine Gutierrez and Rocco Nacino star in Whang Ods love storyAng-Batangthe only man Whang Od loved in her lifewas greatly wounded in one of the battles he went to. Wagas went all the way to Mountain Province to make this

special presentation under the direction of Rember Gelera. Watch the two-part episode of Pag-ibig ni Whang Od in Wagas this March 5 and 12, 7 p.m. on GMA NewsTV.

PG

PG

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

ALWAYS BE MY MAYBEGerald Anderson, Arci Muoz

R13 12:40 | 3:00 | 5:20 | 7:40 | 10:00 LFS

THE FINEST HOURS

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

GODS OF EGYPTGerard Butler, Abbey Lee, Courtney Eaton

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

Chris Pine, Casey Affleck

LONDON HAS FALLENGerard Butler, Morgan Freeman

March 3 8, 2016

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KAPATAGAN A1take you breath away and will soothe your tired and numbed bodies.

THE QUAINT SCEN-ERY OF LAKE MIRROR Among the places I vis-ited in Kapatagan, Lake Mirror offers the most stunning view of Mount Apo. Owned by Mr. Phil-ip Dizon, the same great mind behind the Davao Crocodile Park and Sa-mals Maxima Aqua Fun, Lake Mirror has a num-ber of camp houses and camping grounds avail-able for campers and va-cationers. Here guests can go boating, fishing, and paddling over Lake Mir-ror. On clearer days, the majestic view of Mount Apo is reflected on the tea-colored waters of lo-tus-filled lake.

THE SOOTHING WA-TERS OF MARAW-ER COLD AND HOTSPRING Cold spring and hot spring meet at Marawer. This is the part of Kapata-gan where one can dip into the cold waters from the mountains of Mount Apo but at the same time shift to hot spring contained in a man-made pool. This is favorite among locals as they come here often to

relax and unwind.

THE GENTLE AND WARM SMILES OF KAPATAGAN FOLK The people of Kapa-tagan are known to be friendly and hospitable. Walk around the area and you will be greeted by the warm smiles of the people. Most of them are farmers and you will see them sell-ing vegetables in the mar-ket and on the sidewalks. They are the nicest people, and they would even give more than what you buy from them. When touring around and you get lost, worry not, Kapatagan folk will surely help you.

THE FRESH BOUN-TIFUL HARVEST OF KAPATAGAN At 1,160 feet, Kapata-gan is the best place to grow vegetables and oth-er crops. The cool, fresh mountain air and fertile land make it perfect to produce good and healthy crops. E