Edge Davao 9 Issue 15

P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 9 ISSUE 15 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

CATCHING UPDuterte, Poe now statistically tied in Pulse Asia-ABS CBN pollBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

[email protected]

POE 26DUTERTE 25 BINAY 22

ROXAS 20SANTIAGO 3

PULSE ASIA-ABS CBN SURVEYMarch 8-13, 2016

EDGE DAVAO INFOGRAPHICS

SLOWLY but surely. That, in a nutshell, described Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s

quantum leap in the result released yesterday, Duterte is just one percent away from pacesetter Poe after scoring 25 percent while the lady Sen-ator has 26 percent.

Davao City first dis-trict representative Karlo B. Nograles believed that the momentum is now in favor of presidential bet Mayor Rodri-go R. Duterte.

“The momentum is fa-voring Mayor Duterte and we expect the numbers to go higher, especially after his per-formance in the presidential

debate,” Nograles said in his Facebook account.

Nograles said as the cam-paign progresses more people get to know Duterte and he believes that more voters will be convinced to vote for the mayor as the next president of the country.

“As it is now, the Duterte campaign is being run mostly by volunteers,” he said.

He said he never seen the spirit of volunteerism as strong as in the Duterte cam-paign and this Filipino bayani-han spirit will surely carry him to victory.

In the latest survey, Dute-rte gained one percent from

the previous 24 percent in the ABS-CBN commissioned Pulse Asia Survey released last March 15. While there was a 2 percent decrease from 28 percent.

Vice President Jejomar Binay ranked third with 22 percent, gaining 1 percent-age point from the previous survey. Administration stan-dard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II was 4th with 20 percent, unchanged from the previous poll. Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago remained constant with 3 percent.

The survey was conducted on March 8-13, 2016, about

F CATCHING, 10

Monstrous Mbala P16

EDGEDAVAOSports

PROUD CLASSMATES. Among the crowd waiting for the arrival of presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte in his homecoming in

Maasin, Leyte are two of his elementary classmates at the Laboon Elementary School--Constancia Magadan-Roble (center) and Paterno Antoc Jacobe. Both

are Duterte's classmates in grades 1 and 2. Charles Raymond Maxey

VOL. 9 ISSUE 15 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 20162 EDGEDAVAO

NEWS

FIVE US Navy ships will be participating in this year’s “Balikatan” excercises, a

military spokesperson con-firmed Monday.

Capt. Celeste Frank Sayson, “Balikatan” spokesper-son, however did not give the names and exact types of the participating American ships except one of them will be most likely a “guided missile destroyer.”

He said the number of American ships to join the an-nual joint maneuvers could still climb as the listings are not yet final.

US Navy ships are expect-ed to participate in the mar-

itime interdiction exercises which will held off the eastern side of Palawan.

Sayson said two Philippine Navy ships are slated to partic-ipate in this activity.

He defined maritime in-terdiction as military efforts to deal with pirates and other vessels not cleared or without permission to enter Philippine territorial waters.

“Balikatan 2016” is sched-uled to start on April 4 and end on the 15th.

An estimated 3,773 Fil-ipino soldiers and 4,904 US troops will take part in the two-week military maneuvers. (PNA)

MILITARY bomb experts on Tuesday detonat-ed an improvised

explosive device planted by outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) along a major highway in the prov-ince.

While members of the military bomb disposal team were attending to the roadside bomb, hundreds of commuters plying portions of the Cotaba-to-Davao highway, particularly in Datu Unsay, Maguindanao, were stranded for about an hour beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Citing reports from the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion, Capt. Joann Petinglay, 6th In-fantry Division spokesperson, said the improvised bomb fashioned from a mortar round with black pweder and metal sheets as shrapnel, was found strapped on a steel road railing in Barangay Iganagampong, Datu Unsay, Maguindanao.

Police said the IED was first found by motorists pass-ing by the village and quickly alerted an Army detachment about 400 meters away.

To prevent accidental ex-

plosion, bomb experts deto-nated the IED using a water disruptor.

IED has been a regular ar-maments of the BIFF that it had been using against military. The BIFF has been blamed for at least 40 roadside bombings in Maguindanao this year.

According to the military, the IED was meant for gov-ernment forces passing by the Maguindanao major thorough-fare.

Roadside bombing is very dangerous, especially if bombs are placed on areas where civil-

ians regularly commute.Five government forc-

es were killed and 30 others were hurt in roadside bomb-ings since the Army launched offensives against the BIFF in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao for attacking workers of a govern-ment flood control project.

Five civilians, including the town treasurer of Datu Salibo, were also killed when the BIFF set off a road side bomb on the treasurer’s vehicle mistaken as Army truck in Datu Saudi Am-patuan, also in Maguindanao. (PNA)

OPERATIVES of an inter-diction team composed of Philippine Drug En-

forcement Agency (PDEA) 11, Task Force (TF) Davao and Toril Police Station arrested a 23-year-old man who brought a P1.8 million worth of shabu at the Task Force Davao check-point in Sirawan, Toril on Mon-day night.

The suspect was identi-fied as Renz Nicole N. Tuban a resident of Zone 2, San Vicente Buhangin, Davao City.

Tuban was arrested for possession of about 200 grams

of suspected “shabu” (meth-amphetamine hydrochloride) with an estimated value of P1.8 million at around 9:30 p.m.

The PDEA classified Tuban, in their report, as one of the big time drug perpetra-tors operating in the region.

In an interview yester-day, Davao City Police Office (DCPO) spokesperson Chief Inspector Milgrace C. Driz said the suspect was arrested after he tried to evade being whisked by the personnel of Task Force Davao.

“Pagbaba niya sa van, mura

siya og dili mapakali. Nag-at-tempt siya na mag-evade sa in-spection maong napansin siya (When he went down from the Public Utility Van, the suspect was uneasy. He attempted to evade the inspection that was why he was noted),” she said.

Driz said the suspect went to the comfort room in the nearby store and when he went back to the TF Davao in-spection. Tuban insisted not to be inspected.

She said the inspectors also insisted to check the sus-pect and they found the four

big sachets of shabu inside his belt bag.

Driz said the interdiction had no specific target during that time but it just happened that Tuban tried to evade the inspection which resulted to his arrest.

The suspect is now de-tained at PDEA 11 detention facility in Camp Domingo Le-onor.

Tuban is now facing charges for violation of Repub-lic Act 9165 otherwise known as The Comprehensive Dan-gerous Drugs Act of 2002.

THE campaign manager of presidential candi-date and Mayor Rodrigo

Duterte said they are working doubly hard to cover more grounds as the first half of the campaign period winds down.

“Persistence and hard work will be key to victory,” outgoing Maribojoc, Bohol Mayor Leoncio Evasco Jr. said in a statement which came shortly after Duterte was re-ported to have gained a virtual deadlock with Senator Grace Poe in voter preference for the presidential race.

In a survey commissioned by ABS-CBN and conducted by Pulse Asia, Duterte is now just a point at 25 percentage points behind the 26 of Grace Poe.

With a margin of error of 1.5 percent, Duterte is finally catching up with the poll lead-ers for the first time since the presidential campaign period started on February 9.

“We are where we are comfortable right now. We expect to gain more points as we move towards the second half of the campaign,” Evasco added.

What is more revealing, he said, is that Duterte gained more grounds during the week of the survey when the Supreme Court overturned a Comelec decision to disqualify Poe.

The survey involved more than 4,000 respondents and

SECURITY CHECK. A Task Force Davao personnel strictly inspects the bags and baggage of passengers at the entrance of the Davao City Overland Transport Terminal yesterday. The Davao City Police Office (DCPO) and the Task Force Davao implemented a tighter security measures for the celebration of the Lent. Lean Daval Jr.

Suspect nabbed over P1.8M-worth shabuBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

[email protected]

Army foils Maguindanao bombing

Persistence, hardwork key to victory -- Duterte camp

5 US Navy ships inthis year’s ‘Balikatan’

F PERSISTENCE, 10

VOL. 9 ISSUE 15 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016 3NEWSEDGEDAVAO

ALL Davao Light and Power Company full service centers will be

closed on March 24, 25 and 26 in observance of the Holy Week.

Payment and all custom-er services in the full service centers at SM Lanang Premier and at SM City Davao and the Panabo office’s payment ser-

vice will be catered on Sunday, March 27.

Meanwhile, Toril, Calinan and Sto. Tomas collection offic-es and Panabo office’s custom-er services will resume opera-tions on March 28, Monday.

Emergency service will continue to be available 24 hours through 229-DLPC (3572).

DIWATA-1, the Philip-pines’ first microsatel-lite, will be brought to

the International Space Sta-tion (ISS) at 11 p.m. of March 22, Eastern Standard Time (11 a.m., March 23, Philippine Standard Time).

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) commercial provider Orbital ATK is set to launch its fifth mission to the ISS on March 22 (EST), and the company’s Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to lift off on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 11:05 p.m. (EST) from Space Launch Complex 41 in Cape Canaver-al Air Force Station in Florida, USA.

The Philippine Depart-ment of Science and Technolo-gy (DOST) said March 22 (EST) is a target launch date and is subject to change due to a va-riety of factors.

“NASA will make every at-tempt to notify the Philippines of changes at the soonest pos-sible time,” the agency said.

At the ISS, meanwhile, Di-wata-1 will be housed in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), nicknamed “Kibo.” To-wards the end of April, the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deploy-er (J-SSOD) will release Diwa-ta-1 into space at an altitude of 400 kilometers from the earth’s surface.

The Philippines’ first mi-crosatellite is expected to be in orbit for approximately 18-20 months and will be imaging the country twice daily.

While still in orbit, the same Filipino research team who assembled Diwata-1 tar-gets to launch the second mi-crosatellite (DIWATA-2) in late 2017 or early 2018.

Diwata-1 has four cameras

LOCAL officials from sev-en Mindanao local gov-ernment units had been

ordered by the Environmental Ombudsman to submit an ex-planation and comment on the complaint filed against them for violating RA 9003 (Ecolog-ical Solid Waste Management Act).

The mayors, vice mayors

and Sanggunian members of the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Kidapawan and Koronad-al and the municipalities of Valencia (Bukidnon), Loreto (Agusan Sur), Marihatag (Su-rigao del Sur) and General Luna (Surigao del Norte) are among 90 officials who had been ordered to answer the complaints filed by the Ecow-

aste Coalition.A team of investigators

from the Office of the Ombuds-man was deployed this week to personally serve the orders.

Ecowaste Coalition, who filed 50 complaints against LGUs last month, reported that “field investigations re-veal that the officials commit-ted violations of RA 9003 and

its implementing rules and regulations.”

Article 6, Section 37 of the said law prohibits the estab-lishment or operation of open dump site. The law also man-dates that, upon its effectivity in 2003, every LGU shall con-vert its open dumps to con-trolled dumps.

NASA set to launch 1st PHL microsatellite to the ISS

Ombud orders 7 LGU officials to explain illegal dump sitesOUTSIDE LOOKING IN. A Catholic faithful seems contented to pray even outside San Pedro Cathedral just to show her love and compassion to God. Lean Daval Jr.Davao Light bares

holy week schedule

F NASA, 10

F OMBUD, 10


SUBURBIA

IN time for the Holy Week where many would also spend their summer vaca-

tions during the long break, the Philippine Coast Guard has urged the public to be re-sponsible for their safety.

Lt. Commander Dan Au-gust Cariño, commander of the Philippine Coast Guard Sta Ana Station urged vacation goers to be mindful of their safety during the holidays. He urged people not to be intox-icated or drink lots of alcohol when they plan to go swim-ming in the beaches.

Cariño said they had re-sponded to many drowning incidents many of which in-volved drunken people. He said last year four people died in Samal Island during the holy week period, almost all who drowned were intoxicat-ed.

Aside from swimming in the sea while drunk, other cause of injuries were diving along the cliffs while under the influence of alcohol.

Aside from religious pil-grimages and return to their hometowns for the long weekend, People will be flock-ing the beaches particularly in Samal Island and Talikud Is-land for their annual vacation.

The Coast Guard is on heightened alert during the holy week, aside from protect-ing the beaches, they are also enforcing maritime safety reg-ulations. About 100,000 peo-ple will be traveling in vessels and seacrafts during the holy week period.

The PCG will be deploying 50 personnel complemented by a K9 team, sea crafts and patrol vessels during the peri-od. (PIA/RG Alama)

IF there will be no hitches in the transportation, the 6MW modular generator

set will arrive in the Island Garden City of Samal on March 28.

Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative (DANECO) Man-ager Charles Bejod bared in an interview that they are cur-rently preparing the founda-tion for the generator set from Mindoro Grid Corporation, which will provide electricity in the Samal island

Samal has been in to-tal blackout since Thursday (March 17) as a vessel hit the submarine cable connecting the island to the power grid.

“If the genset will arrive

as scheduled, we can energize Samal by March 29 or before the month ends,” Bejod said.

Bejod stressed that with the generator, Samal will have an excess of 2 megawatts, since the genset has a capacity of 6 megawatts while the city only has a demand of 4 megawatts.

He also emphasized that the genset will remain in Sa-mal until the submarine cable will be repaired and operation-al to connect Samal the power grid.

Bejod also declared that provision of modular genset will not transform to an ad-ditional charges to the power consumers.

THE city government here called an in-ter-agency meeting

dubbed as Oplan Semana Santa 2016 with national and local safety and security agen-cies on March 16.

This is to ensure safety and security of Christian com-munity that will troop to places of worship to pray and do penance in observance of the Holy Week and influx of tourist and visitors taking ad-vantage of the long weekend for rest and recreation in the island.

City Administrator Ed-ward Sisor presided the meet-

ing with officials from the Phil-ippine Coast Guard, Regional Maritime Police Unit, Tactical Operations Group(TOG) II, 1003rd Infantry Batallion, PNP IGaCoS, Task Force Sa-mal, Bureau of Fire Protection, Naval Forces of Eastern Min-danao, City Investment and Tourism Office (CITO), City health Office (CHO), City May-or’s Office –CDRRM and Public Information Section.

The gathering aimed to reactivate the ‘ Oplan Semana Santa 2016” which intends to intensify safety and security measures and ensure availabil-ity of health and other services

in worship areas and tourist destinations and other areas of convergence for the occasion.

The group agreed to em-ploy the Incident Command System identifying City Mayor Aniano P. Antalan as the Inci-dent Commander and CDRRM Executive Officer Janus Rafail-es as the alternate IC. The In-cident Command Post will be established in Penaplata Free-dom Park.

Each safety and security agencies were given tasked according to their capacity and resources, like the Naval Forces of Eastern Mindanao is tasked to secure Davao Gulf

and IGaCoS coastline at the north from Vanishing Island to the coastline of Barangay Kanaan at the East, while the Philippine Coast Guard se-cures Davao Gulf and IGaCoS coastline from Kaputian Wharf to Barangay Pangubatan coast-line. The TOG 11 will provide forces for quick reaction force; Task Force Samal secures Ba-rangay Kinawitnon and Pobla-cion Kaputian Wharf and as-sist IGaCoS PNP in the conduct of security coverage at church-es and other designated places of worship.

The PNP IGaCoS has the

THE lsland Garden City of Samal has established the Smoking Cessa-

tion Clinics (SCC) at City hall and three Rural Health Units (RHU): Babak, Samal and Ka-putian. A team was organized to properly and efficiently ex-ecute its respective tasks.

This is in In compliance of Republic Act 9211 known as Tobacco Regulations Act where Department of Health (DOH) is required to establish withdrawal Clinics and Admin-

istrative Order no. 122, section 2003 where the implemen-tation of Smoking Cessation (SCC) was denoted including the Local Government Units (LGU’s).

A team is composed of trained smoking cessation counselors who will be desig-nated to conduct the counsel-ing session. It also consist of medical consultant, program coordinators, clinic adminis-trator and smoking cessation counselors. Each has its vital

functions to perform their task efficiently.

The basic services in the clinics include assessment of clients, plan of care, pharma-cologic treatment, stress man-agement, health education and counseling.

The City Health Office (CHO) continuously conducts campaigns to encourage more citizens/clients to quit from smoking and avoid hazardous effect to health. A data will be establish as well as on smoking

status of government employ-ees in coordination with City Human Resource and Manage-ment Office (CHRMO) and give counseling to willing-to-quit smokers.

There are sanctions pre-pared if ever government em-ployees violate the implement-ed law on anti-smoking act. First offense: Suspension of one month and one day to six months, Second offense: Dis-missal from the service. (CIO IGACOS)

A LAWMAKER is seeking to declare the Aliwag-wag Falls, one of the

most picturesque and stun-ning waterfalls in Mindanao, a protected area.

In House Bill 6406, Rep. Nelson L. Dayanghirang (1st District, Davao Oriental) said the Aliwagwag Falls has been recognized for its terrestrial biodiversity as a natural habi-tat for different types of birds, animals and marine species that have been sighted in the area.

“Located in the Munici-palities of Boston and Cateel, Davao Oriental and the Munic-

ipality of Compostela, Province of Compostela Valley, the area around the Aliwagwag Falls is not only home for these spe-cies, but it also supports an estimated 17,000 hectares of rice land in Cateel,” Dayanghi-rang said.

The bill, otherwise known as “The Aliwagwag Falls Pro-tected Landscape (AFPL) Act of 2011,” provides technical descriptions for the area cov-erage of the AFPL, which shall be subject to ground survey and verification to be conduct-ed by the Department of Envi-ronment and Natural Resourc-es (DENR).

The measure states that all lands of the public domain comprising the AFPL shall fall under the classification of na-tional park as provided for in the Philippine Constitution.

For public lands that are already classified or declared by law as agricultural or alien-able and disposable prior to the passage of this Act, the bill provides that the said public lands shall remain as such and may be disposed of pursuant to the provisions of Common-wealth Act No. 141 or the Pub-lic Land Act, as amended, and other public land laws.

The proposal establishes

the buffer zone for the AFL, which shall be given special development control, subject to existing rights, to serve as a protective belt around the AFPL.

The bill calls for the cre-ation of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB), which shall have the sole juris-diction, power and authority over the AFPL for all matters that may affect biodiversity conservation, protection and sustainable development.

It creates the Aliwagwag Falls Protected Landscape (AFPL) Fund for the purpos-

Smoking-cessation clinics in IGaCoS

Genset for Samal due March 28

Solon pushes for Aliwagwag Falls as protected area

Coast Guard bats forresponsible holidays

IGaCoS prepares for Holy Week

AFTER long years of fetching their drink-ing water from distant

sources, residents from seven far-flung villages in Manay town, Davao Oriental now find relief after the completion of level two and three potable water system projects.

Davao Oriental Gov. Cora-zon Malanyaon led the turn-over of the projects together with the top officials of Manay and the Department of Inte-rior and Local Government (DILG) in the area.

The constructions of the potable water systems were funded through the Bot-tom-Up Budgeting (BUB) – Sa-gana at Ligtas na Tubig sa La-hat or the Salintubig Program of the DILG with the support of the local government unit (LGU) in the area.

“Provision of safe drink-ing water to communities is one of the topmost priorities of the provincial government. Water is one of the most basic needs in every community,” Malanyaon said in her mes-sage.

She added that to ensure

the delivery of such important services to far-flung areas, the government has been invest-ing portion of its resources to make sure that communities are well-provided with suf-ficient and continuous safe water supply through potable water systems.

Among the barangays that were provided with new level two and level three types of potable water systems include Mabini, San Isidro, Lambog and four areas in Barangay Central.

Residents especially those in the remote villages ex-pressed gratitude for finally realizing their long dream of having easy access to potable water supply.

Now, they said, safe drink-ing water can now reach their homes without them having to endure long walks just to fetch water from its source.

Malanyaon also lauded the DILG for the support it provid-ed to the province as she urged the local officials and residents to share their obligation of maintaining and caring for the water system projects. (PNA)

7 DavOr villages get access to safe water

FINISHING TOUCHES. A worker commissioned by St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Sasa puts on the finishing touches on a kneeler ahead of the upcoming Easter Sunday masses when large number of Catholic faithful will flock to the church. Lean Daval Jr.

F SOLON, 10

F GENSET, 10F IGACOS, 10

VOL. 9 ISSUE 15 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016 5EDGEDAVAO

Brokenshire Hospital now equipped with hi-end CT scan

TAKING another stride in the improvement of medical services

in Mindanao, Davao’s very own Brokenshire Integrated Health Ministries, Inc. (BIH-MI) can measure up with Manila’s finest hospitals as it inaugurated the first-of-its-kind computed tomography (CT) scan in the island yes-terday.

“The Siemen’s Somatom Definition AS+128 slices CT scanner is a dream of every radiologist. In our lingua, it is already the state-of-the-art. It delivers low dosage of radia-tion to patients,” Dr. Samuel B. Bangoy, chairperson for the Department of Medical Imag-ing (Interventional and Diag-nostic Radiology) of BIHMI, said the blessing ceremony yesterday.

Dr. Bangoy said the BIH-MI’s latest scanner is safe for pediatric computerized to-mography compared to old generation scanners which exposes patients to high dose of radiation that can cause cancer in the long run.

Launched four years ago worldwide, the BIHMI’s newest multi-slice CT scan is considered as one of the new generation CT scan models which can produce higher

and better qualities of three-di-mensional images of internal organs and structures of the body.

Capable of performing mul-tiple medical imaging, Dr. Ban-goy said the Siemen’s Somatom Definition AS+128 slices can

accommodate more than 40 patients at a maximum capacity per day.

“In a scale of one to 10, the difference between the old generations CT scan we had is 8 to 9,” Bangoy said adding the scanner designed to maximize

clinical outcome.Dr. Bangoy said among

the imaging that the scanner is capable of performing are CT Angiography that produces detailed images of both blood vessels and tissues in various parts of the body; brain perfu-

sion imaging; CT Colonography which is used to obtain internal view of the colon or the large intestine; liver segmental calcu-lation, and short scanning of the whole body.

Siemens, Inc. Medical Solu-

EVENT

[email protected] CHENEEN R. CAPON

F BROKENSHIRE, 10


ECONOMY

[email protected] CHENEEN R. CAPON

THE Department of Health (DOH) in Davao region has ordered

city health officials to inten-sify monitoring of food pro-cessors in the city.

This developed after a food poisoning incident downed more than 50 day-care students and patients in Barangay Mandug in Davao City Friday last week.

“I have already talked with Dr. Josephine Villa-fuerte of the City Health Of-fice and she said she will be mandating her sanitary in-spectors to heightened their monitoring of food proces-sors in the city,” DOH11 re-gional director Abdullah Du-mama told reporters at the sidelines of the inauguration of the new computed tomog-raphy (CT) scanner and new Department of Medical Im-aging facility of Brokenshire Integrated Health Ministries, Inc. yesterday.

Dumama said reports reached his office that the patients ageing 0 to 5 years

old and as old as 51 years old were rushed to the hospitals hours after consuming dirty ice cream donated by a ba-rangay councilor.

“Most of the patients were rushed to the SPMC (Southern Philippines Medi-cal Center) and other private and regional hospitals after experiencing nausea and vomiting,” Dumama said.

While most the patients are already released from confinement, he said per-sonnel of the hospital are already conducting fecal testing to identify the cause of the food poisoning.

Dumama said the result is expected to be out anytime soon.

While there are limited incidents of death caused by food poisoning, Dumama re-minded the public to always be vigilant with the food they consume.

He said the dry season is one of the reasons that can hasten spoilage of food products.

OIL firms hiked gas prices by 10 centavos per liter yesterday.

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Petron Corp., Seaoil Phil-ippines Inc., PTT Philippines Corp. and Eastern Petroleum Corp. said in separate adviso-ries Monday that they would enforce the price hike stating at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

According to the Energy Department’s oil monitor for Metro Manila dated March 15, gasoline presently has a price range of Php 33.55-41.25 per liter and with a common price of Php 38.50 per liter.

The diesel prices, on the

other hand, will remain un-changed at its price range of Php 21.25-24.62 per liter and a prevailing price of Php 23 per liter.

Shell, Petron and Seaoil will also increase its kerosene prices by 10 centavos per liter.

The firms noted the price changes reflect movements in the international crude mar-ket.

CNBC reported the aver-age prices for gas last week went up due to the weakening of the U.S. Dollar.

The price changes are de-rived from the average trading of the previous week. (PNA)

THE government has shown its commitment to inclusive growth by

focusing on the needs of prov-inces and local government units (LGUs), Undersecretary Manuel Luis Quezon III of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office said.

Undersecretary Quezon III said President Aquino’s re-cent visits to four provinces in Luzon last week embodies the administration’s commitment to inclusive growth.

“By focusing on the needs of our provinces and LGUs, the government ensures that progress reaches all,” said Quezon.

“President Aquino has al-ways stood firm in his belief that no Filipino—no matter where they live—should be left behind in our pursuit of progress. This week, beyond his commitments in Metro Manila, the President traveled

to Pangasinan, Laguna, Batan-gas, and Pampanga to inaugu-rate and turn over projects as well as meet with local leaders and the community,” the Pal-ace official added.

In Pangasinan, the Pres-ident Aquino attended the turnover of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Shared Services Facilities (SSF).

“Launched in 2013, the project involves setting up common production facili-ties with the goal of increas-ing MSME productivity and boosting their competitive-ness. Currently, we have 1,681 SSF all over the country, shared among 16,192 MSMEs and 72,864 entrepreneurs. The DTI plans to launch 200 more SSF before the end of the Aquino administration. While in Pangasinan, the President also led the inauguration of a new building in Urdaneta I Central School, constructed

A PALACE official is hope-ful that results of the Senate investigation on

the crossborder laundering of US$ 81 million stolen from Bangladesh Bank (BB) last February will be used to fur-ther improve the Philippines’ anti-money laundering law.

In a briefing Monday, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Undersecre-tary Manuel Quezon III said he believes that “the Senate has done its part and is doing its part in holding a hearing in aid of legislation.”

“We can all hope that in the remaining life of the current Congress that this would result in a report and recommenda-tions that could then be the basis for action under the next Congress,” he said.

The Palace official also stressed that in the midst of the Senate investigation peo-ple should consider the impor-tance of the discovery of the said illegal activity and that is “being vigorously looked into.”

“And I think it is also in-cumbent on all of us to follow the story and continue to study the ongoing revelations as it is

investigated,” he added.Last week, the Senate con-

ducted two hearings on the issue, with an executive ses-sion done last Friday upon the request of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) Jupiter, Makati branch Man-ager Maia Deguito for her to openly tell the Senators all the information she knows about the laundering of the multimil-lion dollar funds.

Deguito and four others are now facing money laun-dering charges before the De-partment of Justice (DOJ) for their participation in the al-

leged money laundering case.The others whom the An-

ti-Money Laundering Council (AML) named in the charges are Michael Francisco Cruz, Jessie Christopher Lagrosas, Alfred Santos Vergara, and En-rico Teodoro Vasquez.

AMLC Executive Director Julia Bacay-Abad, in last Thurs-day’s Senate hearing, said these five are the initial batch of individuals found to have clear participation in the mon-ey laundering case but more will be named in the future as investigation on the case con-tinues. (PNA)

DOH: Intensify monitoring of city’s food processors

Hopes high for improvement of PHL’s anti-money laundering law

“During hot seasons, perishable goods spoil very fast,” he added.

He also said the very humid weather can also cause fast growth of bacteria

which can be aggravated by improper food handling.

Meanwhile, a total of 59 people who attended the graduation ceremony of a day care center in Barangay

Mandug were brought to nearby hospitals last Friday due to alleged food poison-ing.

Reports said the patients only ate ice cream after the

graduation rites of the day care center at DDF Village, Coog and Project Hope in Mandug Proper under the City Social Services and De-velopment Office.

Oil firms to hike gas prices

Gov’t focused oninclusive growth

MARKET PORTER. A market porter carries on his back a sack full of vegetables which just arrived from the hinterlands of Davao City yesterday. Prices of vegetables in the city’s public markets went up as the demand increased due to the observance of the Holy Week. Lean Daval Jr.

RECOGNITION. Eurotowers International Inc. recognized top three performing producers for Vivaldi Residence Davao on its annual awards night at the Apo View Hotel last Friday. Chief operating officer (COO) Maricar J. Encarnacion (leftmost) and finance and admin director and acting director for sales Jesse G. Clamor (rightmost) handed award to the winners.

F GOV’T, 10


PROPERTY

Mr. Joey Reyes

APD Marketing Team

Asistant Director for Sales Rogelio Garcia, Sales Head Rhoda Cua, Associate Project

Marketing Officer Maya balog, Marketing Coordinator Teejay Arcena

ON March 5, 2016 PHINMA Properties hosted “Real Estate:

Real Talk, a special Investors’ Night presentation and din-ner gala at Pinnacle Hotel and Suites, Davao City. The event was headlined by the interna-tional business speaker and investment specialist, Severi-no “Joey” Reyes III. Mr. Reyes provided attendees with his much sought-after profes-sional investment advice, as well as educational insights on the merits of investing in real estate amid the growing

Philippine economy.Mr. Reyes is a world-class

keynote speaker in invest-ment speaking engagements. His 20 years of exemplary experience in investment and real estate make him a highly regarded expert by prospective investors. He is also an award-winning pub-lic speaker, earning various accolades from Toastmasters International.

PHINMA Properties con-dominiums are designed to be community-oriented, with a commitment to allotting

60%-70% open spaces in all its de-velopments

and convenient in-city loca-tions. Such residences offer value for money virtually unmatched in its market cate-gory, making for high-quality investments.

As a company committed to integrity, PHINMA Proper-ties prides itself in being able to serve clients above and beyond selling condomini-ums, by hosting educational events such as investors’ nights. In this way, the company can assist clients in making sound and objective investment deci-sions.

Talking about

Severino Reyes IIIcondo investments with

Mr. Arthuro Tuason and Mr. Joey Reyes


VANTAGE

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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EDITORIALPractical solutions

THE second round of the Presidential Debate was an im-provement, to say the least, from the first one save from some delays owing to disagreement of some rules.

The second one in in Cebu City was more intense and engag-ing than the first round as candidates are more like into feeling in for themselves. Save perhaps for Sen. Miriam Santiago, let us consider that not all of them are debaters, or may have nev-er been in one, so understand the adjustments.

The second round was, yes, more fiery. The four candidates present—Vice President Jejomar Binay, Mayor Rodrigo Duter-te, Sen. Grace Poe and Former Secretary Mar Roxas—went out att each other. Perhaps the flow of the debate led them into it other than planned.

The problem is that because these are personalities who may have been used to do the talking and presiding, the ten-dency is to hog the mic or to overlap. It happened so many times that somebody is talking and someone butts in. Roxas,

for his part, has always claimed “oras ko to (it’s my time)” to assert that he has the floor.

How do we solve this problem? Well, one it calls for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to impose the rules strict-ly and be decisive. Last Sunday, the Comelec did not at once rule on the subject of bringing notes to the podium resulting to the delay.

Now, this overlapping problem is not too complex. It’s actu-ally a technical problem that requires a technical solution.

It’s just the microphone. If someone has the floor, only his mic should have audio output. The rest are muted. Now, if it’s the time for one to rebut or answer or ask, his mic output will be activated. That simple. And then we do not have to listen chaotically to the overlapping of voices like elementary kids arguing on which came first—the egg or the chicken.

This should lead on the Round 3 network and hosts and the Comelec to prepare for this eventuality and anticipate it.

JONATHAN is the only child. So, when his father died, he became the heir of the land. But he wasn’t happy; he wanted

more land. Once, a stranger came by, ap-parently a man of means and power, and offered to give him all the land he could walk around in one day, on condition that he would be back at the spot from which he started by sundown.

Early the next morning, the boy set out, without eating any breakfast or greet-ing anyone. His first plan was to cover six square kilometers. When he finished the first six, he decided to make it nine, then twelve, then fifteen. That meant he would have to walk 60 kilometers before sundown. By noon, he had covered 30 kilometers. He did not stop for food or drink. His legs grew heavier and heavier.

About 200 yards from the finish line, Jonathan saw the sun dropping toward the horizon. Only a few minutes left. He gath-ered all his energies for that one last effort. He staggered across the line, just in time. Then, he reached for his heart and fell down in a heap – dead. All the land he got was a piece six feet by two.

Meanwhile, one summer afternoon on the Mississippi River, a steamer crowded with passengers suddenly struck a sub-merged rock. In a moment, the deck was a wild confusion. The lifeboats were able to take off only one-fourth of all the passen-gers. The rest tore off their clothes, and swam ashore.

After ev-eryone had deserted the o v e r t u r n e d ship, a man suddenly ap-peared on the leaning deck. He grabbed a loose piece of wood and then jumped into the river. But he sank like a stone.

When his body was recovered, it was found that while the other passengers were busy escaping, he was also busy breaking open and robbing their trunks and bag-gage. Many of them were miners returning home with their treasure. This thief gath-ered their gold, tied little bags of it around his waist and within 30 minutes he had more gold than most men would have in a lifetime. But those gold dragged him to the bottom of the river in an instant.

Both stories have one thing in common – they all die of greed. Millions of people would rather die to get more wealth. “We’re all born brave, trusting and greedy,” Mignon McLaughlin once commented, “and most of us remain greedy.”

“Greed has three facets: love of things, love of fame, and love of pleasure; and these can be attacked directly with frugality, ano-

nymity, and moderation,” says Paul Martin.Don’t be greedy to own everything what

you want – or you end up with nothing at all. There was a poor man who complained loudly that life had been unfair. “Most of those who are rich did nothing to gain their wealth,” he wailed to anyone who would lis-ten. “They inherit their money from their parents.”

One day, as the man was walking home after having expressed his bitter feelings to some of his friends, Fortune appeared be-fore him and said, “I have decided to provide you with wealth. Hold out your purse, and I will fill it with gold coins. But there is one condition: if any of the gold fails out of the purse onto the ground everything I gave you will become dust. Be careful. I see that your purse is old; do not overload it.”

The poor man was overjoyed. He loos-ened the strings of his purse and watched as Fortune started to pour a stream of golden coins into it. The wallet soon became heavy. “Is that enough?” Fortune asked.

“Not yet,” the man replied. Fortune poured in several more coins, so that the purse was filled, and then asked again, “Shall I stop now?” The man answered, “Not yet, just a few more.”

But at that moment, the purse split apart, the gold coins fell to the ground, and the treasure turned to dust. Fortune disap-peared, and the greedy man was left with an empty wallet. Happiness, someone once re-marked, can’t be measured by one’s wealth.

A person with two million pesos may not be one bit happier than a person with one mil-lion pesos!

Greed, in fact, robs us from being hap-py. A teacher and the school principal were standing near the playground where the children were frolicking to their heart’s con-tent. The teacher asked the latter, “Why is it that everyone wants to be happy, but so few ever are?”

The principal looked at the playground and replied, “Those children seem to be really happy.” The teacher answered back, “Why shouldn’t they be? All they do is play. But what keeps the adults from being happy like that?”

“The same thing that can keep children from being happy,” the principal said. Then, without saying any word, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of coins, and threw them among the playing children.

Suddenly, all laughter stopped. The children tumbled over one another, fought and argued. The principal told the teacher, “Well, what do you think ended their hap-piness?”

“The fighting,” the teacher answered. “And what started their fighting?” the prin-cipal inquired. “Greed,” the teacher said.

Yes, everybody wants to find happiness. But our greed to possess the things that will make us happy keeps happiness itself away. “One of the weaknesses of our age is our apparent inability to distinguish our needs from our greeds,” points out Don Robinson.

VOL. 9 ISSUE 15 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

Henrylito D. [email protected]

THINK ON THESE!

TV 5 news executive Luchi Cruz Valdez made a major booboo in communicat-ing a Comelec rule to VP Binay that

resulted in an exasperating time delay in the live broadcast of the presidential debate at the UP Visayas in Cebu City.

Her immediate confession, however re-pentant, did little to assuage the hurt feelings of Binay who was mostly at the receiving end in the consequent repartee.

The new format was a marked improve-ment on the first (held in Cagayan de Oro) but the over-lapping responses from all four protagonists (Sen. Miriam Santiago sadly didn’t make it) transformed the dialectics into a free-for-all.

That would have been an ideal set-up for Miriam because she is the ablest among them when crossing swords in such a forum.

There were name-callings but the tirades swirled around only three contenders: Binay vs Poe vs Roxas; Poe vs Roxas vs Binay; and Roxas vs Binay vs Poe.

Why? Because by attempting to put the other two down, the mudslinger thought his/her survey ratings would consequently rise up.

Where was Duterte while these three

p r e t e n d e r s were swapping harsh diatribes, spilling beans and throwing mud against each other?

With an amused grin, the Davao City Mayor was hands akimbo, watching and listening to them destroying each other because there was little that the three could muster throwing at Duterte.

Appreciatively, Valdez, as the moderator, allowed all contestants more than just elbow room to knock each other out, like in a tag team wrestling match.

But believe me, while Mar and Grace were glib talkers, both failed to correct mis-impressions etched in the public mind about their erroneous forays in the Yolanda and American citizenship issues, respective-ly.

Roxas’ long explanation about being there in Tacloban before, during and after Yolanda, did little to erase his now monu-

mental statement to thousands of Leytenos: “Bahala kayo sa buhay nyo.”

Binay harassed Poe on her citizenship turnaround when she swore allegiance to the American flag. “Do you know the term ”abjure”? Binay translated it for her: “Abjure means to renounce solemnly.”

Poe never recovered because the record spoke for itself when she embraced Amer-ican citizenship for her own convenience, thus turning her back on her own country.

While the three were frantically trying to out-speak and drown the others, Duterte was too decent a gentleman, raising his hand to be recognized by the moderator and butt in.

Fortunately, his timely forays stopped them cold in their tracks. When he gave Poe a situationer, assuming China destroyed two RP coastguard boats, the lady senator missed out when she failed to mention the conven-ing of the National Security Council for the purpose.

Presidents, when faced by such highly critical national defense issues, always con-vene the NSC for immediate appropriate ad-vice. Horrifyingly, Grace missed this one. Hin-di pa talaga handa si Grace Poe para maging pangulo ng Pilipinas.

Binay, his credibility already hurting, was on the defensive all night as Roxas, Poe and even Duterte ganged up on him when the subject of corruption came. Duterte, who earlier had signed a bank waiver to display his transparency, prodded Binay to sign one.

In their individual commencement mes-sages, Roxas, Binay and Poe enumerated their lengthy platforms and promises, wal-lowing in very descriptive but generalized statements that he/she can bring progress to the nation. But none came close to making bold, categorical action plans and commit-ments as did Duterte.

The Davao City mayor firmly echoed his thrusts on three fronts.

In effect, he said: “Within three to six months, if I become President, I will take care of the pestering illegal drugs trade, take care of crime and criminals and do away with corruption. Just give me the chance and I will do it.”

Can “Galing at Puso,” “Matuwid na Daan” and “Ganito Kami sa Makati” slogans beat Duterte’s straight, down-to-earth “Tapang at Malasakit” battle cry?

(Email your feedback to [email protected]). God bless the Philippines!

Moderate your greed

Debate free for all

Fred C. Lumba

SPECKS OF LIFE

VOL. 9 ISSUE 15 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 201610 NEWS

Brokenshire... FROM 5

Ombud... FROM 3

CATCHING... FROM 1 Persistence... FROM 2 Solon... FROM 4

Genset... FROM 4

Gov’t... FROM 6

ENVIRONMENT... FROM 11

IGaCoS... FROM 4

NASA... FROM 3

Cruz... FROM 15 (sports)

EDGEDAVAO

the same time the Supreme Court (SC) dismissed the rul-ing of the Commission on Elec-tions (Comelec) to disqualify Poe as a presidential candi-date in the May 2016 poll with 9-6 votes.

The survey had 4,000 re-spondents who are registered voters, ages 18 years old and above, with biometrics. It has a ±1.5 percent margin of error margin at the 95 percent con-fidence level.

tion dealer manager Haydee Cayanan-Lazaro said the scan-ner is the first in Mindanao.

It’s a multi-slice CT –SCAN it is almost top of the line. Usually, what we have in this region is usually dual slice or 16 slices. 128 slices are pretty uncommon,” Lazaro said.

But in the whole country, Lazaro said high-end medical hospitals in Manila also have their own The Siemen’s Soma-tom Definition AS+128 slices. “It can produce images in just 0.6 seconds,” she added.

“You’ll be proud because Brokenshire is almost at the same level of these high-end medical hospitals in Manila and that is not common in Min-danao,” Lazaro said.

Department of Health 11 regional director Dr. Abdullah Dumama said the upgrading of equipment of Brokenshire is a clear commitment of the hospital in providing high level medical services to the public.

Dumama said partner pri-vate hospitals like the Broken-shire is fulfilling its mandate of improving public health service.

Apart from the scanner, the BIHMI also celebrated the grand opening of the Depart-

ment of Medical Imaging New Facility which will house the CT scanner.

“We improved the physical and interior aspect of our fa-cility to give better services to our client. When patients enter the facility, they won’t feel like they are in a hospital because we designed it like a hotel lob-by,” Dr Bangoy said.

Dr. Bangoy also said two separate entrances were con-structed for the inpatient and outpatient clients to create better experience and lessen the anxiety.

BIHMI chief executive di-rector Pastor Ruben L. Dela Cruz said the inauguration of the facility and equipment is just one segment of the proj-ects of the hospital that are the already on the pipeline.

“We’re planning to launch the renal dialysis facility on May 18,” he added.

Dela Cruz said the hospital already launched the pediatric intensive care unit two months ago.

“All these projects are part of our commitment to fulfill the vision and the mission of the organization which is pro-vide quality medical services for all,” he added.

was conducted from March 8 to 13.

The Supreme Court deci-sion allowing Poe to run for the president came out on March 8.

The former chief of staff of Duterte credited the rise of Duterte’s ranking to the clam-or of the people for genuine change in the national leader-ship.

“There is this growing groundswell of discontent among the people and they see in Duterte the strong leader-ship that the country has been wanting over the last decade,” Evasco explained.

While being cautious about momentum, Evasco said the Holy Week will provide them opportunity to assess where they went very strong and gained more converts.

“Of course, we are happy with the results of the survey,” he further said.

Duterte media head Peter Lavina also explained that the result of the debate in Cebu on Sunday could further boost the mayor’s image as a decisive leader.

In his closing statement af-ter the 3-hour debate, Duterte promised to provide leader-ship in the fractured country.

es of financing projects of the AFPL.

Dayanghirang said the declaration of the Aliwagwag Falls as a protected area shall shield it from exploitation, sustain its ecological stability and preserve it for future gen-

eration.The bill is pending at the

House Committee on Nat-ural Resources chaired by Rep. Francisco “Lalo” T. Matu-gas (1st District, Surigao del Norte). (House of Represen-tatives)

that would continuously take pictures of the Philippines. These images will be used for research and in remote sens-ing.

Remote sensing “is a nec-essary technology for monitor-ing weather, disasters, as well as environmental issues” as described by Kohei Cho, Asian Association on Remote Sens-ing (AARS) general secretary.

In a previous interview with the Philippines News Agency, Cho noted that every country and every continent worldwide needs remote sens-ing, since environment, for in-stance, has no boundaries. He added that a country needs remote sensing to have good cooperation with the interna-tional framework.

”It has been proven to be capable of monitoring El Nino, too,” said Enrico Paringit during the 36th Asian Con-ference on Remote Sensing (ACRS) held in the country last year.

Paringit, 36th ACRS local chair, cited that the technolo-gies in remote sensing include satellite with high resolution camera and sensors mapping flooding areas.

“The pictures that will be taken by Diwata-1 can also be used for tourism, as we could pick an image of the day and share it with you,” said Carlos Primo David, executive direc-tor of the DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Re-search Division (PCIEERD).

Included in the Philippine government’s budget is pro-viding a good microsatellite data storage facility in Subic.

A ground receiving station in Subic is tasked to receive Di-wata-1 imagery as well as from selected commercial satellites.

According to PCIEERD, an-

other facility is currently being constructed -- the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman Microsatellite Research and Instructional facility which will be the hub of training for future space technology research and development activities.

About Diwata-1In 2014, the DOST em-

barked on a research program to develop the necessary local expertise in space technology and allied emerging fields in science and engineering.

The flagship project of this effort is called the PhilMicrosat Program which is implement-ed by several departments in UP Diliman and DOST’s Ad-vanced Science and Technolo-gy Institute (ASTI).

DOST has also partnered with two universities in Japan to develop Diwata-1.

Diwata-1 was assembled by nine young Filipino engi-neers who were stationed in Japan to undergo an extensive course about microsatellite. The team had almost a year to finish the assembly and testing of Diwata-1.

It weighs 50 kg and is about the size of a “balikbayan box.”

The country’s microsat-ellite passed the component tests, first vibration tests, post-vibration electrical tests, off-gas test and fit checking according to PCIEERD. There was a continuous functionality tests of modules and sensors and software optimization.

Last Jan. 13, DOST repre-sentatives turned over Diwa-ta-1 to Japan Aerospace Explo-ration Agency (JAXA).

The agency had request-ed JAXA to release Diwata-1 at a time when the ISS is at the highest altitude (between March 21 and April 30). (PNA)

The Environmental Om-budsman also directed the local officials to submit a Safe Closure and Rehabilitation Plan (SCRP) within a non-ex-tendible period of 30 days.

The plan must detail their proposal to immediately close the open dump site as well as specific tasks, activities and legislative action to be imple-mented within six months.

Under its mandate, the Environmental Ombudsman team, which is headed by Dep-uty Ombudsman for Luzon Gerard Mosquera, shall handle complaints filed against any public official, employee, office or agency mandated to protect the environment and conserve natural resources where the act complained of appears to be illegal, unjust, improper or

inefficient.Mayors and the City En-

vironment and Natural Re-sources Officers (CENRO) are the principal executive officers responsible for ensuring com-pliance with RA 9003.

Vice-mayors and Sanggu-nian members, on the other hand, having the mandate to establish policies of their re-spective local governments and control over the funds, are likewise charged for con-spiring with mayors and the CENROs to commit the viola-tions of R.A. No. 9003 within their jurisdiction.

If found liable, the local officials may be criminally and administratively charged un-der the provisions of R.A. No. 9003. (Ombudsman Mind-anao)

“This will not entail ad-ditional charges since it is for emergency purpose,” he said.

Bejod also disclosed that

they will still conduct another round of assessment tomor-row for the damaged cables. (PIA11, Michael Uy)

with the help of PAGCOR,” said Quezon.

On Wednesday, President Aquino went to Laguna to attend the 30th anniversary celebration of the Center for Agriculture and Rural Devel-opment Mutually Reinforc-ing Institutions (CARD-MRI). In his speech, the President lauded the institution’s con-tributions, as it continues to benefit MSMEs through mi-crofinance, microinsurance, and other business services. From Laguna, the President proceeded to Batangas to lead the switch-on ceremony for the Calatagan 63.3-Megawatt Solar Farm in Barangay Para-iso.

“The following day, Pres-ident Aquino met with the Pampanga Provincial Disas-ter Risk Reduction and Man-agement Council (PDRRMC). During the briefing, officials discussed infrastructure and flood control projects in the area. From P9.41 billion be-tween 2005 and 2010, the in-frastructure budget for Pam-panga has grown to P16.94 billion between 2011 and 2016. This has funded projects such as the Gapan-San Fernan-

do-Olongapo Road (Phase 2), Lazatin Flyover, San Fernando 1st Green Road, and the Aqui-no Bypass Road,” Quezon said.

“Also this week, the Presi-dent attended the 7th Gener-al Assembly of the League of Provinces of the Philippines, where he spoke about how the landscape of local governance, and how it has changed un-der Daang Matuwid. Among the examples he cited are the present availability of funds for LGU projects. Afterward, the President attended a nec-rological service for former Senate President Jovito Salon-ga, whose services to the na-tion are well remembered by Filipinos,” Quezon added.

“The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced that our poverty rate had dropped to 26.3% in the first semester of 2015 —the lowest since 2009. As President Aqui-no said, the goal has always been to leave the country in a better state than in 2010. Now, as we face another crossroads, we trust that our voters will choose a leader who will con-tinue our upward trajectory,” Quezon said. (PCOO News Re-lease)

main effort for security in all designated places of worship and Unit Primary Responsible in the ICP among other tasks. The CITO will deploy person-nel in every district for mon-itoring of tourists arrival and provide tourist assistance. The CDRRM is the unit primary re-sponsible in the TG emergency, in-charge of the ICP at Penapla-ta Freedom Park and will act as communication hub providing

unhampered communications link to all agencies involved.

The CHO will also provide standby medical personnel in the incident command post as well as the Kabalikat Civicom.

Hotline numbers of every agencies were made available and be posted in strategic point of entry in the island city and will also be distributed in convergence areas. (CIO IGA-COS)

hold used wind power for 25 percent of its needs, it would spend only $4 or $5 dollars per month for it and the price is still dropping,” contends al-terenergy.org. “Compare this to 4.8 to 5.5 cents per kilowatt per hour (kWh) for coal or 11.1 to 14.5 cents per kWh for nuclear power.”

Wind power has its shares of drawbacks. Modern wind turbines rated at around 1 to 2 MW are large structures. Typi-cally, a rotor of 60 meter diam-eter is attached to a nacelle at the top of a 60 meter tall tu-bular tower. Not surprisingly their environmental impact has not pleased everyone.

Controversy over their ap-pearance is fuelled by the fact that wind farms are usually installed on tops of hills which make them prominent. In the past, wind turbines were also rather noisy. However, recent research has resulted in much quieter machines therefore noise is now not a major envi-ronmental issue.

Compared to the environ-mental impact of traditional energy sources, the environ-mental impact of wind power is relatively minor in terms of pollution. Wind power con-sumes no fuel, and emits no air pollution, unlike fossil fuel power sources. The energy consumed to manufacture and transport the materials

used to build a wind power plant is equal to the new en-ergy produced by the plant within a few months. While a wind farm may cover a large area of land, many land uses such as agriculture are com-patible, with only small areas of turbine foundations and in-frastructure made unavailable for use.

There are some concerns about bird fatalities on wind farms. A study in the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area in California found 182 dead birds, 119 of which were rap-tors. In response to this, the wind industry is committed to modifying the equipment in order to make the area safer for birds.

Of course, wind power should not be the only source of electricity. Generally, hy-droelectricity complements wind power very well. When the wind is blowing strongly, nearby hydroelectric plants can temporarily hold back their water, and when the wind drops they can rapidly increase production again giv-ing a very even power supply.

The answer is not only blowing in the wind but the future is based on it. As singer Peter Frampton wrote: “The future’s in the air, I can feel it everywhere; blowing with the wind of change…” (Conclu-sion: Power from the sun)

serve as his chief deputy.The Filipinas are brack-

eted with powerhouse teams Bangkok Glass, 3BB Nakhon-nont and Idea Khonkaen, which emerged as top teams in last year’s edition of the tour-nament.

The other pool has Su-preme Chonburi-E Tech, Na-khon Ratchasima, King-Bang-kok and Hong Kong.

“Wala tayong idea kung ano ang laro nila. Medyo ma-hirap pang kapain. Pero sana madali kaming makapag-ad-just kapag nadoon na sa laro,” said Pascua, whose Tri-Activ

Spikers are already in the final round of the ongoing PSL Invi-tational Conference together with the Lady Troopers and the Cargo Movers.

“Ang maganda sa atin ay malalim ang bench natin. Sy-empre sa experience, angat ta-laga ang mga Thai teams. Pero competitive din naman ang mga players natin.”

The top two teams from each group will advance to the crossover semifinals with the survivors clashing in the sudden-death championship match.

VOL. 9 ISSUE 15 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016

(Fourth of a Series)

THERE are non-renew-able energy sources and there are renewable en-

ergy sources.Non-renewable energy

depends primarily on fossil fu-els which include coal, oil, and natural gas. Renewable energy source, which are considered to be inexhaustible, includes solar power, hydroelectric, geothermal energy, and bio-mass energy.

Climate change, popula-tion growth, and fossil fuel depletion mean that renew-ables will need to play a bigger role in the future than they do today. Of those renewable energy sources mentioned above, which is more advanta-geous to be tapped? If you ask American singer Bob Dylan, he would reply: “The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind…”

And yes, he is right! “Across the developing world, countries are beginning to see the way the wind is blowing,” said Klaus Toepfer, former executive director of United Nations Environment Pro-gramme. “Once it was be-lieved that only one percent of their area was suitable for wind power.”

Not anymore. “The serious development of wind power in modern times began in 1973 after the oil crisis shook the confidence of the developed world that oil was there for the asking. Today, wind power is the fastest growing energy

source in several regions of Europe, with the United States and India following behind in total installed capacity. And the potential is enormous,” notes Dr. Leon Freris, a visiting professor of renewable energy at the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology in Loughborough University in England.

In Denmark, for instance, wind energy now contributes 13 per cent of national energy consumption, the highest pro-portion of any country in the world. When the wind blows strongly, wind energy supplies more than half the electrici-ty in the western half of the country.

Lester Brown, of the Washington-based Earth Poli-cy Institute, said more than 70 countries are now developing wind resources. “Between 2000 and 2010, world wind electric generating capacity increased at a frenetic pace from 17,000 megawatts to nearly 200,000 megawatts,” he wrote in “Harnessing Wind, Solar, and Geothermal Energy,” a chapter which appeared in the book, “World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmen-tal and Economic Collapse.”

The Philippines, home to more than 7,000 islands, is following suit. In fact, wind power now makes up a small percentage of the total ener-gy output of the country. Two of the largest developments are the Bangui Wind Farm in Bangui in Ilocos Norte and the

Wind Energy Power System (WEPS) in Puerto Galera in Mindoro Oriental.

The Bangui Wind Farm, the very first large-scale wind power plant in the country, cost 50 million dollars to build. The windmills were built by Northwind Power Develop-ment Corporation, a private firm headed by a Danish engi-neer. It became operational in June 2005.

According to Northwind, the wind farm supplies up to 40 per cent of the electricity requirement of Ilocos Norte. It also sells the supply to the Ilo-cos Norte Electric Cooperative at a discounted rate.

“Power supply is more re-liable nowadays and that’s be-cause of the windmills,” Elinao Ramiento, a barangay coun-cillor in Taguiporo, one of the barangays being energized by the 25-megawatt wind power plant, told journalist Girlie Lin-ao Mar.

Ramiento recalled that when a typhoon cut off pow-er supply to the barangay one time, it didn’t take long for the service to return after the del-uge. “The windmills apparent-ly made it easier to get power back to us,” he surmised.

As for WEPS (which will generate once completed an estimated 48 MW, thus mak-ing it the largest in the coun-try generating power from the wind), President Benigno Aquino III signed in 2012 the proposed Luzon Mindoro-In-terconnection project, which

would allow for excess elec-tricity to be transported to the nearby is-land of Luzon. “Before I end my term in 2016, I want to see Mindoro exporting its surplus power to Luzon,” the presi-dent said during the signing ceremony.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, there are more than 1,000 wind sites in the northern and central Philip-pines, with a potential capaci-ty of at least 7,400 megawatts - enough to power 19 million

homes.Today, people are realizing

that wind power “is one of the most promising new energy sources” that can serve as an alternative to fossil fuel-gener-ated electricity. Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electrical power, wind-mills for mechanical power, wind pumps for water pump-ing or drainage, or sails to pro-pel ships.

Actually, societies have taken advantage of wind pow-

er for thousands of years. The first known use was in 5000 BC when people used sails to navigate the Nile River. Per-sians had already been using windmills for 400 years by 900 AD in order to pump wa-ter and grind grain. Windmills may have even been devel-oped in China before 1 AD, but the earliest written documen-tation comes from 1219. Cre-tans were using “literally hun-dreds of sail-rotor windmills (to) pump water for crops and livestock.”

The Dutch were respon-sible for many refinements of the windmill, primarily for pumping excess water off land that was flooded. The windmill was further refined in the late 19th century in the United States; some designs from that period are still in use today. The first large windmill to produce electricity was the “American multi-blade de-sign,” built in 1888. Its 12-kilo-watt capabilities were later su-perseded by modern 70-100 kilowatt wind turbines.

“Wind turbines for elec-tricity generation are essen-tially simple devices, though their design requires deep understanding of the proper-ties of wind, aerodynamics as well as mechanical and electri-

cal engineering,” explains Dr. Freris.

The kinetic energy in the wind is intercepted by three or two rotating, slender blades. The action of these blades is to extract energy from the wind by slowing it down. This extracted energy first appears as mechanical energy on the turbine shaft and then as elec-trical energy from a generator coupled to the shaft through a gearbox.

“The power in the wind is proportional to the cube of the wind speed, hence doubling of the wind speed results in an eight-fold increase in electri-cal power generated,” informs. Dr. Freris. “Wind turbines are designed to stop if the wind speed becomes excessive and do not rotate if the wind speed is too low for useful energy ex-traction.”

Wind turbines are usually congregated in wind farms, consisting of few or as many as 100 machines. By installing several machines on a site the costs of connection to the elec-tricity grid and the operation and maintenance costs are reduced.

Aside from wind power being environment-friendly, it is also cheaper. “If a house-

11

Power supply is more reliable nowadays and that’s because of the windmills

EDGEDAVAO

ENVIRONMENTRenewable energy:Blowing in the wind

By HENRYLITO D. TACIO

Banguid Wind Farm (Photo by Benjie S Palisada)

The Green Mountain Energy Wind Farm in Texas (Photo from Wikipedia)

Wind power (Photo by Benjie S Palisada)

F ENVIRONMENT, 10



DAVAO GENSAN PARTNERS


DAVAO PARTNER ESTABLISHMENTS

12CLASSIFIEDS EDGEDAVAO

Yoga has taken hold in Davao in a way that seems unprecedented and pres-ent last March 5 and 6 were just some of the city’s most interested students. Maria Margarita “MM” Lo, the studio director of Yoga Davao, revealed that the idea to hold a work-shop took hold early last year between her and her husband Richard and they had been looking for just the right teacher to lead

their very first one. It was a stroke of great timing when recently certified

pose (astravakasana), fire-fly pose (tittibhasana) and eka pada koundinyasana II - testing the stamina and newly sharpened skill of mindful movement that he had just expounded on. Arm balances in yoga can be as taunting as its col-lective name suggests, as your feet and legs are off the ground and you rely on your arms and wrists to carry the entire weight of your body. However, whether it was fear that was the main hindrance or even for those of us who already felt fairly comfort-able in these asanas, these challenging poses were further demystified that day. Taking flight is of-ten a term you hear when launching into an arm bal-

teacher Jeannie Young joined their studio’s teach-er roster, proving to be the connection that led to Marc. Jeannie had just got-ten her RYT-200 certifica-tion from the YogaWorks Teacher Training program in Urban Ashram Yoga Manila where Marc is a co-founder and both are good friends from college. Marc has been director of faculty development of Ur-ban Ashram since its in-ception and has participat-ed in many trainings with some of the world’s most revered yoga teachers such as Annie Carpenter, Joan Hyman and James Brown.

Jeannie shares that Marc was one of her ob-vious choices. “I person-ally suggested Marc when MM and Richard asked because I know his teach-ing style is very intelligent and challenging yet play-ful.” The participants were immersed in his academic approach to the asanas or poses involved in arm balances, which was the focus of the first day. Marc rightfully lingered on the fundamentals of engage-ment, singling out and then fusing the use of the various muscles needed to achieve the poses. He then marched on to break down the different arm balances almost one after the other - the shoulder-pressing pose (bhujapidasana), flying pigeon (eka pada galavasana), eight-angle

IT HAD TO BE THE MOST YOGA THAT MOST OF US EVER DID IN ANY GIVEN TWO-DAY PERIOD. But that is exactly what we signed up for. Learning about the workshop organized by Yoga Davao to be led by esteemed ERYT-500 instructor Marc Macadaeg was like an answered prayer as a highly experienced teacher was going to help us gain a deeper understanding of arm bal-ances and inversions.

EVENT

EDGEDAVAOINdulge!

Above: Building heat in the core and arms through a variation of the side plank. Left: Marc with Jeannie Young demonstrating the fundamentals of a proper handstand.

Yoga Davao’s MM Lo during partner exercises. STYLE SCRIBE A2

Taking flight is often a term you hear when launching into an

arm balance and Marc had us testing our wings more sure of

ourselves with his clear directions resounding in our heads, rhythmic

as our breath.

Mining strengths with Marc Macadaeg


Fans of the dark knight and the man of steel can now collect toys of their favourite characters from the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie when they purchase a snack-merchandise com-bo meal at SM Cinema’s Snack Time counters na-tionwide. A popcorn tum-bler & drink set, or a hot-dog sandwich & drink set, will entitle one to a mys-tery toy for each purchase. Fans can collect a total of seven different figu-

rines, ranging from dif-ferent versions of the much-loved title heroes, to the showstopper Wonder Woman, and even of the brilliant villain Lex Lu-thor. The collectible hexagon toys are on limited supply from the world’s biggest comics and collectible su-perstore, Comicave. SM Cinema’s Snack Time is the only brand in the Phil-ippines carrying the hexa-gon collection from the international brand.

INSPIRED BY THE MUCH ANTICIPAT-ED FACE-OFF by two iconic superheroes on screen, SM Cinema’s Snack Time will be offering an exclusive Batman vs. Superman hexagon toy collectible set to film enthusiasts beginning February 29.

A2 INdulge! EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT

Batman vs Superman Toy Collectibles at SM Cinema

For fans who prefer a wearable keepsake, Snack Time also has a limited Batman vs. Superman dig-ital touch watch. Durable, waterproof, and lights up when touched, the watch is a perfect accessory during playtime, or when bond-ing with family & friends to see one of the widely anticipated action films in recent years. Batman vs Superman souvenirs will be available in all Snack Time branches located at SM Cinemas na-tionwide beginning Feb-ruary 29. Batman v Su-perman: Dawn of Justice premieres in SM Cinema, IMAX, Director’s Club Cinema and DX Laser Projection on March 26.

Collect the limited Batman vs. Superman Hexagon toys inspired by the widely anticipated action film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Beginning February 29, moviegoers will receive a mystery mini hexagon toy for every Batman vs. Superman snack-merchandise popcorn combo meal or hotdog combo meal available at SM Cinema’s Snack Time.

The Batman vs. Superman digital touch watch available in all Snack Time counters nationwide.

Wonder Woman hexagon toy.

Lex Luthor, the Batman vs. Superman villain, is part of the mystery hexagon toy series.

Snack Time’s Batman vs. Superman popcorn tub.

ance and Marc had us test-ing our wings more sure of ourselves with his clear directions resounding in our heads, rhythmic as our breath. Day two. Promptly starting at half past eight in the morning, we began our foray into inversions with Marc feeling the ef-fects of the day before prodding into our arms and core. However, as soon as that day’s session began with a series of exercises on strengthening the back body, he made sure that there was no errant energy and that our bodies were fully attuned to the pos-sibility of making shapes while upside down. The use of blocks and part-ner exercises continued along with new tools such

as chairs, bringing us into poses that were oft done but took new meaning because of three or four additional reminders that made everything seem un-tried. Lest we felt that we could be babied into try-ing the inversions, Marc geared everything towards the lesson that strength should be built upon and not attained overnight. We were encouraged to slowly

add weight to the head and neck muscles as opposed to just jumping into the inversions with no real in-kling of the proper setup. Hearing him ask us to try us to try out the various inversions was like being confronted with the scari-est ghosts in our closets but the feeling of more steadily holding a forearm stand (pincha mayurasana) or being able to keep our arms

straighter for just a frac-tion of a minute longer in handstand (adho mukha Vrksasana) made us feel triumphant and able. Many of us had dedi-cated a year or more to the steady practice of yoga and almost unanimously agreed that Marc’s arrival for even just a mere two days couldn’t have left a greater impact. He was re-ally mining strengths and

revealing to us what we bodily and mentally could do and work toward. MM shared to me that one of their studio’s main goals is to impart how alive, good, calm and focused yoga can make one feel. After the intense flow and positively charged energy of the past two days, their vision for all who practice at their studio and what they of-ten call ‘our yoga’ couldn’t

have been clearer. Yoga Davao is located at the Ranchos Palos Verdes Sports Clubhouse, Riv-erfront Corporate City, Ma-a, Davao City. Hours: 8:00AM to 8:00PM, Mon-days to Saturdays. Book a class or inquire at mobile no. (0922) 897-7779. Check their weekly schedule of classes on their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/YogaDavao.

STYLE SCRIBE A1 Over thirty participants from the Davao yoga community assimilating arm balances.


AFTER HELPING C O U N T L E S S WOMEN COPE WITH BREAKUP with her first book, “Dear Alex, Break Na Kami?! Paano?! Love, Catherine, Alex Gonzaga” is back with her follow-up book that’s sure to be part of her beloved readers’ journeys in life and love. Titled Dear Alex, We’re Dating. Tama, Mali?! Love, Catherine, the second book in the Dear Alex series was launched last March 20 in National Book Store – Glorietta 1, much to the delight of fans who have been anticipating the book’s release. Being the fun and perky host that she is, Alex entertained the crowd as she indulged them with witty tips and hilarious retorts during the Q&A portion. Making the afternoon even more engaging was Robi Domingo, who served as the event’s host. After the program, Alex gamely took selfies with her fans and signed their books.

From “Where to Go” to “How to Act,” the second book will guide one through the different stages of dating. Adding appeal and sense of humor to the book are practical pieces of dating and relationship advice from her daddy Bonoy, mommy Pinty, and ate Toni. “ N a p a k a d a m i n g rules—gawin mo ito, gawin mo ’yan. My

book, however, is not a rule book. This is simply a guidebook,” Alex says about her book. She writes about her dating experiences and learning with the same quotable wit and brutal frankness that fans loved in Book 1, which sold more than 120 thousand copies. Published by ABS-CBN Publishing, “Dear Alex, We’re Dating. Tama, Mali?! Love, Catherine”

is the latest addition in ABS-CBN Publishing, Inc’s successful line of bestselling books. Alex is part of an elite roster of authors which include Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, Georgina Wilson, Solenn Heussaff, Ramon Bautista, and Juan Miguel Severo. The book is exclusively available in all National Book Store outlets nationwide for only 195 pesos.

NADINE LUSTRE was the top winner of the MYX Music Awards 2016, sweeping a total of five awards including Favorite Music Video, Favorite Song, Favorite Artist, Favorite Female Artist, and Favorite Collaboration along with boyfriend and onscreen partner James Reid. Another big winner at the awards night was young artist Darren Espanto who took home two awards for Favorite Male Artist and Favorite MYX Celebrity VJ. RnB princess Kyla also shone brightly at the MYX Music Awards as she won Favorite Remake and Favorite Media Soundtrack for her rendition of “On the Wings of Love.” OPM icon Ogie Alcasid was a big star of the evening as well as he was recognized as this year’s MYX Magna awardee for his tremendous contribution in the local music scene. As a tribute, a mind blowing medley of some of Ogie’s best hits was performed by top OPM artists Jaya, Erik Santos, Christian Bautista, Yeng Constantino, Kyla, Angeline Quinto, Jona, Matteo Guidicelli, Jay-R, Aicelle Santos, and Top Suzara that earned a standing ovation from the audience. International OPM artist Charice even surprised everyone in the MYX Music Awards as she sang Nirvana’s “Smells like Teen Spirit” with Mayonnaise. The 11th MYX Music Awards which was held at the Kia Theater, was hosted by MYX VJs Ai dela Cruz, Robi Domingo, Tippy Dos Santos, Sarah Carlos, Alex Diaz, Jairus Aquino, and Sharlene San Pedro. Among the artists and media personalities who graced the much-awaited awards night were Donna Cruz, KZ Tandingan, Kapamilya Chicken Pork Adobo online star Bretman Rock, Cheats, Callalily, Jason Dy, Silent Santuary, Abra, Paolo and Kiana Valenciano, Morisette, Jayda, Denise Laurel, JK Labajo, The Juans, Jensen and the Flips, and Ella Cruz.

INdulge! A3EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

Alex Gonzaga releases her second book under ABS-CBN Publishing

NOW THAT SOCIAL MEDIA IS A FAVORITE PASTIME OF FILIPINOS, do we still have time for traditional practices such as Visita Iglesia? With GMA Public Affairs’ Holy Week campaign, observing this age-old tradition is just one click away! On Holy Week, GMA Public Affairs’ Social Media Team introduces its first ever, immersive Virtual Visita Iglesia. The campaign offers an interactive video tour to 16 of the most beautiful heritage churches in Metro Manila, Pampanga, and Bulacan via your favorite Public Affairs programs’ Facebook pages. Each virtual tour is made even more special with the ground-breaking 360-degree video technology on Facebook. While past virtual tours use photos, the 360-degree video technology gives Facebook users a different kind of spiritual experience as followers can manually scroll and scan a particular church through its

360-degree view. Each prayer for Stations of the Cross will be narrated by some of GMA Public Affairs’ well-respected personalities such as Jessica Soho, Vicky Morales, Arnold Clavio, Sandra Aguinaldo, and Kara David, among others. Tapping technology and social media, GMA Public Affairs’ Social Media Team offers an alternative yet accessible way of remotely observing the annual Visita Iglesia,

which is also perfect especially for our Overseas Filipino Workers. Virtual Visita Iglesia will launch on Maundy Thursday, March 24, on GMA Public Affairs’ Facebook page (www.fb.com/GMAPublicAffairs). The opening prayer will be voiced by multi-awarded broadcast journalist, Jessica Soho, after which, a link at the end of each video’s caption will lead to the next participating Public Affairs program page.

GMA Public Affairs’ offers virtual Visita Iglesia

Nadine Lustre emerges as top winner in MYX Music Awards

G/*R13

R13

PG12:00 | 2:30 | 5:00 | 7:30 | 10:00 LFS

ALLEGIANT

Shailene Woodley, Theo James

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

KUNG FU PANDA 3/ *THE EXORCIST:

FAITH OF ANNA WATERS

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

LONDON HAS FALLEN

Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman

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

Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman / * Matthew Settle, Elizabeth Rice

MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN

Jennifer Garner, Queen Latifah

March 22 – 23, 2016


A4 INdulge!FOOD

EVERY GREAT FOOD CITY IN THE WORLD HAS FOOD CEN-TRES.These are places where hun-gry urbanites and get-together, re-lax, and have a good meal at an affordable price and Davao City has quite a num-ber or these in the city center within malls and some-times within busi-ness parks. Venture more to the north of the city and one will notice the opening of Eskina at the Lanang Busi-ness Park. Launched last March 5 in simple ceremonies, Eskina is a food center which offers a wide ar-ray of food choices but at pocket-friendly prices. “We recognise that many of our tenants’s of-ficers and staff are look-ing for an affordable al-ternative to have lunch or dinner.” said Lanang Business Park’s market-ing manager John Irene del Campo. “Not every-body can afford to have

Northern exposureLaunched last March 5 in simple ceremonies, Eskina is a food center which offers a wide array of food choices but at pocket-friendly prices.

a meal at a fancy res-taurant, which is why we came up with Eskina where the office workers within as well as beyond the compound can come and have a good food at an affordable price.” Tenants already locat-ed at Eskina include To-rii Grill which serves de-

licious Japanese grilled meat on a stick, as well as other Japanese favourites (I suggest their teriyaki chicken); Sa Gae Korean BBQ & Resto Bar; and Kuya’s Kambingan Atbp. which serves a wide ar-ray of goat dishes.“We expect a few more tenants to join the ex-

isting tenants soon, this will give diners at Eskina more food choices for lunch as well as dinner and all in one location.” added John Irene. Aside from the food, Eskina also promises to be a great place to chill out and relax as bands are scheduled to perform on the evenings of Friday and Saturday, breath-ing life to Durianburg’s northern business dis-trict. Eskina is located within the Lanang Busi-ness Park compound. Follow me on Insta-gram or on Twitter at @kennethkingong for trav-el stories, more foodie finds, and happenings in, around, and beyond Du-rianburg.

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 9 ISSUE 15 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016


We are now hiring for the ff. job vacancies:

1. CUSTOMER SERVICE OFFICER (C.S.O.)Scope of Work:• Handling of customer services (e.g. inquiries, complaints, scheduling

of services)• Preparation of quotation for clients• STARTING SALARY: P12, 000 (BASED ON PRIOR EXPERIENCE)

2. TECHNICAL ENGINEER (T.E.)Scope of Work:• Installation/Programming/Configuration for the ff. products*CCTV, PABX, PABGM, INTERCOM, BIOMETRICS, ACCESS CONTROL,

FIRE ALARM • STARTING SALARY: P13, 000 (BASED ON PRIOR EXPERIENCE)

3.ACCOUNTS MANAGER (A.M.)Scope of Work:• Sales & Marketing for New Clients• STARTING SALARY: P15, 000 UP (BASED ON PRIOR EXPERIENCE)

4. STORE SUPERVISORScope of Work:• Responsible for daily store operation • Handling of manpower

Please email your resume to: [email protected] or [email protected]

For walk in applicants, you may call the ff. branches:Cebu Office: (032) 2380912

Globe: 09173293471 • Sun: 09255014723

Davao Office: (082) 2212789 Globe: 09177952469 • Sun: 09322448030

MALACAÑANG has de-nied the claim of Sena-tor Grace Poe that the

administration is practicing “selective justice” for not filing charges against their allies.

During the second presi-dential debate at the University of the Philippines campus in Cebu City on Sunday, Senator Poe told Liberal Party stan-dard-bearer Manuel Roxas II that the administration does not file cases against important members of the Liberal Party (LP), such as Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya.

“It is a simple matter of due diligence to look at the case files or the cases filed by

the Ombudsman. As (former) Secretary Roxas pointed out, (Presidential Spokesperson) Secretary (Edwin) Lacierda, the President himself has pointed out: Where the evidence goes, the administration will not stop where it leads to. And where the evidence goes, those are where the cases will be filed,” Under-secretary Manuel Luis Quezon III of the Presidential Communi-cations Development and Stra-tegic Planning Office said during a press briefing at the Palace on Monday.

“Those have included mem-bers of the Liberal Party and the ruling coalition, just as it has included those who are consid-ered stalwarts of the opposition

and the camps of the various other candidates,” he said.

During the debate, Poe said, “Ang kinakasuhan lang ng [Liberal Party] ay ang mga latak nilang miyembro. Pero ang mga miyembro nila na importante sa kanila, katulad ni Secretary Jun Abaya na pumirma ng mainte-nance contract ng APT Global, ay nandiyan pa rin, at hindi man lang kinasuhan,” she said.

Roxas replied that the ad-ministration is not engaged in selective justice.

“LP, non-LP, lahat ay naka-kasuhan, natatanggal sa pwesto. At makikita ninyo yan. ‘Yan ang record, ‘yan ang totoo, hindi po ‘yan kathang isip,” he said. (PNA)

NEWSPalace denies selective claim by Poe

the Magic have now lost three in a row and trail the Chicago Bulls by six games for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.

NOWITZKI POURS IN 40 POINTS

In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki joined an elite group as he poured in 40 points to lead the Mavericks to a 132-120 overtime triumph over the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Mavs snapped a five-game home losing streak and clinched the season series against Portland -- a fact that could come into play with the teams battling for playoff seeding in the bottom half of the Western Conference standings.

“We’re still in the same posi-tion where we’re fighting for our playoff lives,” Nowitzki said after his 20th career 40-point game. “Our goal before the season was to make it into the playoffs. We’re still fighting for it.”

Raptors ... FROM 15 (sports)


EARTH Hour, organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF),

rolled across the world last 19 March as millions came together to shine a light on the climate action our planet needs. The 10th edition of the movement’s signature switch-off saw individuals, communi-ties, organizations and land-marks in an unprecedented 178 countries and territories switch off in solidarity with global efforts to change cli-mate change.

Taking place months after the historic climate summit in Paris, Earth Hour 2016 was celebrated across seven conti-nents, aboard the Internation-al Space Station and served as a strong visual reminder of the globe’s determination to tackle our planet’s biggest environmental challenge yet. As more than 400 iconic land-marks dimmed their lights, a collective hope that our ac-tions today can create promise for the planet and future gen-erations shined through.

“The past 24 hours have shown us yet again the impact we can achieve when we unite for a cause,” says Earth Hour

Executive Director Siddarth Das. “Every light switch turned off represents a call to switch on our collective power and be the first line of defence for our planet as we form the front-lines of climate change.”

While the Earth Hour movement has grown from a one-city event in Sydney in 2007 to the world’s largest grassroots movement for the environment, the need for cli-mate action has also accelerat-ed. This year, WWF and Earth Hour teams used the Earth Hour movement to engage people in critical climate con-versations and solutions.

“As new climate records are broken month after month, the record-breaking participation of Earth Hour re-minds us that we are also wit-nessing mounting momentum to change climate change. The grassroots are meeting the governments in their ambi-tion for strong climate action, sparking hope for the future we can shape for generations to come,” Das added.

These words were echoed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a video statement recorded for the movement

in which he states that Earth Hour 2016 comes at a pivotal moment when the road ahead requires commitment and am-bition and we all have a role to play.

To date in 2016, WWF’s Earth Hour has been the force behind more than 1.23 mil-lion individual actions taken to help change climate change including participating in on-the-ground activities for refor-estation and recycling, digital petitions for climate-friendly policy and online campaigns to promote climate awareness and action.

As part of the Donate Your Social Power campaign, sup-porters around the world also donated their social feeds to WWF and Earth Hour to shine a light on climate action. With automated posts and custom Earth Hour profile pictures ap-pearing in personal newsfeeds worldwide, supporters helped spread awareness and action on climate across a potential social reach surpassing 18.7 million people.

Philippine Switch-offs Celebrate Climate Solutions

The Philippines has been

championing Earth Hour since 2008 and has topped participation records from 2009 to 2013 – earning it the title of Earth Hour Hero Country. A growing list of al-lies have pledged to support this year’s efforts, led by gov-ernment partners such as the Quezon City Government, Department of Energy (DOE), Climate Change Commission (CCC), Department of En-vironment and Natural Re-sources (DENR), Department of the Interior and Local Gov-ernment (DILG), Armed Forc-es of the Philippines (AFP), Commission on Higher Edu-cation (CHED), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Depart-ment of Education (DEPEd), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of National De-fense (DND), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Sci-ence and Technology (DOST),

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Trade and In-dustry (DTI), Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Transportation and Com-munications (DOTC), Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), League of Provinces of the Philip-pines (LPP), Metropolitan Manila Development Author-ity (MMDA), National Eco-nomic Development Author-ity (NEDA), National Youth Commission (NYC), National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), Philip-pine Economic Zone Authori-ty (PEZA), Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Corporate champions include Philips, Banana Peel, Arthaland, Healthy Options, H&M Philippines, White Gold Club and Pru Life UK. Event partners include Anakata, Bamb Ecological Technol-ogy, BEMAC, BNB Racks, Deanworks, Global Electric Transport, Enfinity Imperial Solar Homes, Motolite, Pivot Edutainment, Renewable En-

ergy Association of the Philip-pines, Solar Solutions, Smart Communications, Bayani Brew, Coca-Cola, Gelatissimo, Jamba Juice, Krispy Kreme, Max’s, Max’s Group, McDon-ald’s, Pancake House and Yel-low Cab.

Earth Hour is a me-dia-driven campaign and is being promoted through strong alliances with ABS-CBN, ABS-CBN RNG, ABS-CBN Sports and Action, A & E Network, BusinessMirror, BusinessWorld, Click the City, CNN Philippines, Eagle Broad-casting Corporation, Eagle News, DZUP, FleishmanHil-lard, FocusMedia, Global News Network, Leo Burnett, Net-25, Nyxis, Philippine Daily Inquir-er, Philippine Star, Orange Magazine TV, QCreativs, Radyo Pilipinas, Radyo Agila, Radyo Veritas, Rappler, Tech2Go, TV5 and Yuneoh.

“More important than switching-off are our personal commitments to fight climate change by reducing our use of electricity and other resourc-es,” explains Earth Hour Phil-ippines Director Atty. Angela Ibay. “Now that Earth Hour is over, the real work begins.”

EDGEDAVAO

COMMUNITY SENSEMillions shine light on climate action for Earth Hour 2016

EARTH HOUR IN DAVAO. A glimpse of the more than 535 registered riders of Davao's cycling community who graced the Earth Hour activities in Davao City. Monica Ayala FB photo

THE Kiwanis Clubs of Agila Dabaw visited the House

of Hope, a cancer cen-ter for children located at the Southern Phil-ippines Medical Cen-ter compound, Bajada, Davao City on Saturday.

The visit is the kick-off activity of the club’s 2nd year founding an-niversary celebration with its theme: Sharing Love, Care and Happi-ness to the Children. The activity was spear-headed by its president Erdsan Rene S. Suero and the kiwanis inter-national division 7 lieu-

tenant governor Angel T. Torrejon.

Erdsan Rene S. Su-ero, Agila Dabaw Pres-ident said that there were 22 children and 29 caregivers in the house during the visit that were treated with meals, gifts and sur-prises. The exposure visit centered in this free shelter for indigent cancer patients from all over Mindanao with no place or family to stay while undergoing treat-ment in hospitals here in Davao, Suero added.

House of Hope staff Loranie A. Celmar grate-

fully said that they were very happy to be part of the club’s founding celebration and that the visit simply created an impact in the lives of the children and give them hope.

Kiwanis club of agila dabaw was chartered on March 14, 2014 and is part of Kiwanis International, a global organization of mem-ber-volunteers working to change the world, one child and one communi-ty at a time. Its prima-ry focus is serving the children of the world. KCAD_PR

Kiwanis visits Kids Cancer Center

VOL. 9 ISSUE 15 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016 15EDGEDAVAO SPORTS

LEBRON James scored 33 points and recorded his 41st career triple-dou-

ble as the Cleveland Cavaliers clinched their second straight Central Division title with a 124-91 victory over the Den-ver Nuggets on Monday night (Tuesday, Manila time).

James added 11 rebounds and 11 assists before checking out with 6:02 left to a thunder-ous ovation. He scored 17 in the first quarter, helping the Cavs build a 19-point lead and erase the memory of an em-barrassing loss on Saturday in Miami.

The Nuggets fought back and briefly led before the Cavs regrouped, scored 68 after

halftime and easily notched their 50th win.

J.R. Smith added 15 points and Channing Frye 14 for Cleveland, which played with-out starter Kevin Love (illness).

Will Barton scored 27 for the Nuggets, who concluded a 1-4 road trip. Denver’s Ken-neth Faried missed his third straight game with a sore low-er back.

The Cavs were playing for the first time since being bat-tered by the Heat, who led by 33 in the fourth and won by 21. It was a humiliating night for James, who sat out the final 12 minutes against his former team, and the loss raised more questions about Cleveland’s

chemistry and chances of re-turning to the NBA Finals.

James got the Cavs back on track and to 50 wins, a mile-stone coach Tyronn Lue said shouldn’t be taken for granted.

“It’s something we em-brace,” he said. “It’s not every year that you can do that, un-less you’re the San Antonio Spurs and teams like that. It just shows the hard work the guys have put in to get to this point. All is not bad.”

Cleveland has more work to do but this is a start.

James was aggressive from the outset and finished the first quarter with 17 points, five re-bounds and three assists. The Cavs had their highest-scoring

opening quarter of the season and it appeared they would be able to rest some starters in the second half.

But with Barton leading the way, the Nuggets went on a 17-0 run and took a 43-41 lead in the second quarter while James was on the bench.

James returned and with Lue using a lineup that fea-tured the four-time league MVP, Frye, Smith, Timofey Mozgov and Matthew Dellave-dova, the Cavs reeled off nine consecutive points and led 56-48 at halftime.

Cleveland’s starters blitzed Denver to start the third and the Cavs pushed their lead to 30 before James left.

THE annual 79th Araw ng Dabaw Cycling Chal-lenge will be held this

Sunday, March 27 in Barangay Langub.

Organizer Salvador “Jun” Paholio Jr., interim president of the Citywide Cycling Asso-ciation of Davao (CICAD) said there will be six categories for the mountain bikes and one for the road bike.

The MTBs will have the Open Elite, Veterans (35-40 yrs. Old), Masters (41 and above), Junior (18 under), Boys 15 Under and Ladies Open. The road bike is for the Executives only.

The race will start and end at the Barangay Hall in Langub.

“Each loop is 15 kilome-ters with the Elite, Masters and Veterans to all have five loops,” Paholio said.

The Executive and Junior will have three loops while the Boys and Ladies will make only two loops.

The race, which is still part of the Araw ng Dabaw Sports Festival 2016, is sponsored by the city government and sup-ported by the Nature’s Spring Water.

The champions in the Open Elite, Veterans, Masters, Ladies and Executive will each earn P3,000 cash plus a mug.

The second and third plac-ers will win P2,000 and P1,000 with mugs, respectively. The top three finishers in the Junior and Boys will receive P2,000, P1,500 and P1,000 with mugs.

Entry fee is P350 inclusive of a cycling jersey and pack lunch.

“The riders in the age cat-egories must bring their orig-inal NSO birth certificate for authentication,” said Paholio Jr.

Registration is now on-go-ing at the CICAD office, alley ground floor, Jaltan Bldg. II, Magallanes St., Davao City.

For more inquiry, call or text mobile no. 09989931954.

THE Philippine Superliga selection left on Monday for Bangkok, two days

before action starts in the Thai-Denmark Super League women’s volleyball tourna-ment at the MCC Hall of the Mall in Bang Kapi.

Rachel Anne Daquis of RC Cola-Army and Cha Cruz of F2 Logistics skipper the Petron-PSL All-Stars, who will battle teams from Thailand and Hong Kong.

Also suiting up for the PSL selection in the tournament

organized by SMMTV are Rhea Dimaculangan and Maika Ortiz of Foton; April Ross Hingpit and Jeanette Panaga of Cignal; Jen Reyes, Mina Aganon, Fran-ces Molina and Aiza Pontillas of Petron; Melissa Gohing and Michelle Gumabao of Philips Gold; and Stephanie Mercado and Aby Marano of F2 Logis-tics.

George Pascua, who led Petron to back-to-back titles, will be calling the shots while Michael Carino of Cignal will

THE Toronto Raptors moved within one game of the Cleveland Cavaliers for top

spot in the Eastern Conference on Sunday with a 105-100 NBA victo-ry over the Orlando Magic.

DeMar DeRozan led the Rap-tors with a game-high 25 points and five assists.

Luis Scola added 20 points and eight rebounds while Kyle Lowry chipped in with 18 points and seven assists as the Raptors notched their fourth straight win and improved to 13-4 since the All-Star break.

Scola said the pursuit of first place in the East was important, but not the overriding motivation as the post-season approaches.

“Of course we want to win

games, of course we want to finish first, but the most important thing is to be able to build good momen-tum going into the playoffs,” Scola said. “Eventually, when we get to the seventh game of the confer-ence final, if we get there, we’ll worry about that then.

“We’re fighting for (first), be-cause it’s the right thing to do, but we can’t lose sleep over it.”

Orlando, connecting on 51.6 percent from the field, took an 82-80 lead into the fourth quarter.

But the Raptors used a 10-0 scoring run to take a four-point lead with 5:22 to play and held on.

Victor Oladipo led Orlando with 21 points and six rebounds. Evan Fournier had 21 points, but

PICE BALLERS. Members of the PICE Davies basketball club after a break in regular matches.

LeBron James comes up with 33 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. AP

Change is also coming in basketballCALL it an eye opener.

The recent win by the City Mayor’s Office-Roy-

al Mandaya Hotel basketball team powered by players from the De La Salle Universi-ty (DLSU) is an eye opener for basketball in Davao.

The coming to fore by the youngsters from Taft brought to us the lesson that basket-ball is an evolving sport where fresh legs, team concept, phys-ical condition, and defense are key factors to success or fail-ure. This changing basketball concept is starting to open many eyes in Davao from the time the San Sebastain College

squad came to play under the Phoenix team in a local tour-nament, then to the San Beda Red Lions squad brought in last year by CMO-TRMH, and now, DLSU Green Archers.

It paid a lot that DLSU won the title this year in a fashion so convincing that it now poses the question to the rest of the basketball stake-holders here. Are we shifting to a change in basketball pro-grams or are we staying put with the old?

The other two Davao franchises, equally supported by generous and passionate sponsors like Winston Ho of

Goldstar Hardware and Ar-mand Quibod of Montana Pawnshop, must be starting to think about their next steps after the old formula of bring-ing in imports, composed mostly of ageing veterans from the PBA and a couple of

American or African imports, has been proven inadequate and ineffective.

Co-managers Glenn Es-candor and Bong Go both managed to secure the ser-vices of the Green Archers for the short tournament and won. In the long haul, the bas-ketball development program anchored on youth will be a message to all stakeholders in Davao most specially the high schools and colleges who should be inspired by the DLSU program and their game patterns after watching them play for four days here. Schools and their basketball

varsity coaches and sports program directors can take a slice of the DLSU lesson and develop it in their territory.

As for the other squads, the change in the basketball landscape could be inevitable but still a matter of choice—whether to stick to the old formula of picking up players and reinforce them wit lo-cals or directly draft a varsity school, not necessarily from Metro Manila, Luzon or the Visayas.

We can start by launch-ing farm teams out of varsity squads. Goldstar, Montana, and yes CMO-TRMH or Phoe-

nix and other basketball stakeholders may start by throwing their support to the Davao varsity squads.

With a strengthened pool of teams supported by gener-ous firms, the local basketball backyard under the watch of the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas 11 under Regino “Boy” Cua can flourish under a new atmosphere.

It is arguably the best move and direction to go.

(For comments, email to: [email protected]. Listen to “Let’s Get It On with Neil Bravo” every Saturdays at 8-10 am at 105.9 Balita FM.)

Neil Bravo

LET’S GET IT ON

Araw ng Dabaw CyclingChallenge March 27

Cavs clinch Central

Raptors close in on East title

Cruz, Daquis lead PSL in Thai tourney

F CRUZ, 10

F RAPTORS, 13


MONSTROUS MBALA

16

[email protected]

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

CALL it monstrous. Ben Mbala is be-ginning to come

of his own in the De La Salle University line-up.

For four games in a week’s stint for a short tournament in Davao, the 6-foot-9 Cameroo-nian center tabbed by the Green Archers from Southwestern Univer-sity in Cebu, unveiled a monstrous game ev-eryone should be con-cerned about.

Mbala averaged 30.5 points a game in four outings for the Green Archers, who donned the colors of City Mayor’s Office-The Royal Mandaya Ho-tel (CMO-TRMH), en route to leading his team to the champion-

ship of the 2016 Araw ng Davao Basketball Tournament on Satur-day night.

He had nights of 23, 25, and 36 in the eliminations and a tournament-high 38 in the finals. His A game earned for him the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

Mbala feasted on alley-oops with a little twist. His was one off a bullet pass, catching the ball in the air for a rim-rattling slam.

“It’s different. It’s not a lob pass, It’s a bullet alley-oop pass. That’s more difficult to catch and slam,” said Glenn Escandor, co-manager of the CMO-TRMH squad. “The guy

will be a factor in the UAAP.”

Mbala also proved steady in the free throw line hitting 80% from the stripe. No exact stats were available but Mbala could have easily came down with 8 to 10 rebounds a night.

The Green Archers won the title 80-61 over defending champi-on Goldstar Hardware who had PBA veterans in the lineup in Jojo Tangkay, Marlon Basco and Pong Escobal along with African reinforce-ment 6-9 Steve Akomo.

New coach Aldin Ayo steered the Green Archers to victory with assistant coaches Siot Tangquincen and Glenn Capacio.

Cameroonian DLSU center unfurls monster game in Davao tourney

EDGEDAVAOSports VOL. 9 ISSUE 15 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016

3 ON ONE. Ben Mbala battled through nights like this--

three defenders thrown at him. Lean Daval Jr.

Edge Davao 9 Issue 15

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Transcript of Edge Davao 9 Issue 15