edge davao 4 issue 43

figures of the week

A & A Securities, Inc.JIFFYCAR Bldg., Ecowest Drive

(Beside SM City Davao), Davao CityTel. Nos.: 299-0199, 297-7233,

303-0555, 297-8090, 0917-7000911, 0922-8831358

Important: The information contained herein is based on sources which we believe are reliable but is not guaranteed by edgedavao and A & A SecuritieS, inc. This report is provided for information purposes only and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the security mentioned herein.

stoCk MArket PerforMANCe

PhIlIPPIne Stock Index

US dollAR = PhIlIPPIne PeSo

As of December 23, 2011

VOL. 4 NO. 43December 26, 2011 -JANUArY 01, 2012

T h e B u s i n e s s P A P E R

www.edgedavao.nete-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]

THIS ISSUE: P15 20 PAGEShighlights

COMMUNITY SENSE P14

AGRITRENDS P6

No to onion importation

Giving back

As of December 23, 2011

NOw O

PEN!

The Eco-friendly Hotel

Andreliz Bldg., Km. 7, Lanang, Davao CityTel. Nos.: 234-0733 • Fax No.: 234-8153

website: www.northpalmhotel.com

NOw O

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Rates:De Luxe P1,900

Family Suite P3,500Executive Suite P3,000

Rates:De Luxe P1,900

Family Suite P3,500Executive Suite P3,000

Function Room is now open for all occasions

in all Roomsin all Rooms

Rainfall, floods likely to become more intense

EDGEDAVAOTHE BUSINESS PAPER

2 December 26 -JANUArY 01, 2012VOL. 4 NO. 43

On the coverIt fIgures

P5-B GSIS housing fund now availablefor members, pensioners thru Pag-IBIG

4thTHE PHILIPPINE NATION-

AL BANK will become the fourth largest private domes-tic bank of the country once its merger with Allied Bank is formalized by the first se-mester of 2012. PNB will then have a total of 646 branches nationwide and combined total assets of P514 billion.

P832 billionESTIMATED worth of vari-

ous infrastructure projects to be undertaken by the Philip-pine government next year, according to the National Economic and Development Authority. Neda Director General Cayetano W. Pad-eranga Jr. said these projects are part of the 2011 to 2016 Public Investment Program (PIP).

P3 millionAMOUNT approved by

the Davao City Council for the purchase and delivery of emergency relief goods for victims of killer floods spawned by Typhoon Send-ong in Northern Mindanao. The money will be taken from the city’s calamity fund.

$10.29 billionSURPLUS in the Philip-

pines’ balance of payments (BOP) as of November, sup-ported by inflows from port-folio and foreign direct in-vestments, and remittances. According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the BOP surplus exceeded the 2011 estimate of only $10 billion.

$300 millionSTAKE in Twitter Inc., the

microblogging service with about 100 million users, that Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Ta-lal agreed to buy. The prince, a nephew of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, is an investor with stakes in Apple Inc. and Citigroup Inc.

P14.9 billionCORPORATE operating

budget (COB) of the National Power Corporation approved by the House of Representa-tives for 2011. The COB was originally only P7.5 billion. The additional budget is needed to cover fuel, pur-chase power, rental of gener-ating sets, new power provid-ers’ subsidy, related input VAT, debt service and capital ex-penditures for the entire year.

$455,000GRANT from the World

Bank-housed Cities Alliance, a global coalition of cities and development partners, to bankroll the National Slum Upgrading Strategy (NSUS) project that would aug-ment government efforts to improve living conditions of informal settlers in poor com-munities in the Philippines, according to Vice President Jejomar Binay, the country’s housing czar.

RAINFALl, river flow and flooding in various parts of the country are likely to be-

come more extreme in the com-ing years.

This, according to the study recently released by World Wild-life Fund (WWF) entitled “Busi-ness Risk Assessment and the Management of Climate Change Impacts.”

The study by the leading organization in wildlife conser-vation and endangered species pointed out that the Philippines sits on a portion of the planet that experiences the strongest and greatest number of tropical cyclones.

“These storms are another phenomena that are expected to continue and intensify,” it said.

“Over the last century, glob-al precipitation data has shown a clear and steady increasing trend. The inter-annual variability of monsoon rainfall in the Philip-pines is likely to increase. Some parts of the country are likely to experience an upward trend in rainfall. Inversely, some other parts of the country are likely to experience an intensification of drought associated with highly unpredictable rainfall deficits. These two poles of climate will make it increasingly difficult for traditional agriculture and aqua-culture to remain viable,” it said.

Likely to changeThe study pointed out

that traditionally, the Philippine climate map breaks down our weather into four climate types, but this climate map is likely to change.

“The specific mix of climate impacts will vary from place to place, and from year to year. These impacts will be non-linear. In a manner echoing El Nino, high inter-annual variability and, therefore, increasingly difficult predictability, will be one cross

cutting pattern characterizing cli-mate change in the Philippines,” it said.

“All aspects of normal life, for that matter, will become in-creasingly prone to disruption and dislocation,” the study added.

It said that data from the Manila Observatory have pre-dicted that, following historical patterns and inter-decadal trends, there is an indication that the northern portions of the Archi-pelago are more likely to experi-ence climate impacts relative to an intensification of cyclones and rainfall. In contrast, the southern portions of the Archipelago are more likely to experience inten-sified climate impacts relative to increased temperatures and drought.

The study clarifies that his does not mean that the northern portion will stay wet, and the southern portion will go dry.

Multi-decadal trends“These are multi-decadal

trends. The confounding feature of this scenario is that “peaks and troughs” between wet and dry will persist as inter-annual vari-ability. These dramatic swings in weather, from year to year, become increasingly evident or pronounced with time,” it said.

The study also used as ref-erence the findings of the report released by WWF in May 2009 entitled, “The Coral Triangle And Climate Change: Ecosystems, People And Societies At Risk.”

The report was a compre-hensive study involving over 20 experts and based on 300 peer-reviewed scientific articles.

The Coral Triangle includes all or part of six countries in Southeast Asia and Melanesia: Indonesia, the Philippines, Malay-sia (Sabah), Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. The total area of the Coral Triangle is 6.8 million km2,

By Greg G. Deligero

Rainfall, floodings likely to become more intense

consisting of 5.4 million km2 of ocean and 1.4 million km2 of land. Most marine areas are deep (4.6 million km2), with shallow coastal shelves (less than 200m deep) occupying approximately 840,000 km2.

The Coral Triangle also comprises over 18,500 islands, of which only a few thousand are inhabited. It lies between the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean, and the two continents (Asia and Australia).

At the apexThe report said the Philip-

pines sits at the apex of the Coral Triangle. The report spelled out six likely climate scenarios for the countries in the triangle, includ-ing the occurrences of more in-tense rainfall and flooding.

The other five scenarios are:1. El Niño Southern Oscilla-

tion Events (ENSO) are likely to continue as a significant source of inter-annual climate variability in the Coral Triangle region.

“Although inter-decadal annual averages may remain relatively constant in some areas,

the extreme “peaks and troughs” that characterize ENSO-related phenomena will make it in-creasingly difficult to accurately predict weather patterns for pur-poses of planning and normal business operations.”

2. Sea Surface Tempera-tures are likely to be between 1 to 4 oC warmer by the end of this century.

“In a pattern similar to ENSO phenomena, evidence from the Philippines already indicates annual 4oC to 5oC spikes above what has long been regarded as normal sea surface temperature. As this continues, the negative impacts on coral reef health as well as demersal fisheries will be profound and systemic. Fish will no longer abound as a wild food. Protein scarcity may emerge as a societal concern.”

3. Ocean Acidification will likely make the aragonite satura-tion state “marginal”, within the period from 2020 to 2050, for coral reefs and marine life that require calcium carbonate.

“In essence, this shift in the ocean’s Ph levels will lead to widespread coral reef death. Shrimp cannot develop skins. Oysters cannot develop shells. Fish larvae may no longer be able to develop bones.”

4. Sea Levels are likely to rise from +4 to +6 meters due to the possibility of the melting of the large land-based ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland.

“In parallel to increases in sea surface temperatures, current data already shows increases in sea surface heights, particularly in El Nino episodes in tropical lat-itudes – such as the Philippines. This will contribute to sea level rise, as well. The possible timing remains uncertain.

5. Tropical Cyclones are likely to become more intense.

“Although there is no clear consensus, whether the location or frequency of tropical cyclones will change in a warming world, tropical cyclo-genesis is already being recorded in areas that had previously been inhospitable for the birth of storms.”

The recent flooding in Cagayan de Oro City

MEMBERS and pension-ers of the Government Service Insurance Sys-

tem (GSIS) may now apply for a housing loan through the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund).

The GSIS said the Pag-IBIG Fund drew down the en-tire Php5 billion last Wednes-day which will be used to aug-

ment the funds available for housing loans of the pension fund’s members and pension-ers.

This, after GSIS President and General Manager Robert Vergara and Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Darlene Berberabe signed a Php5 billion credit facility agreement on No-vember 14.

The facility was made available to Pag-IBIG in line with the GSIS’s decision to wind down its direct lending program last April in favor of forging partnerships with key shelter agencies (KSAs).

“We engaged with Pag-IBIG because of its proven ex-pertise and housing infrastruc-ture,” PGM Vergara said.

In 2010, the GSIS ex-tended only Php600 million in housing loans to its more than 500 members against Pag-IBIG Fund’s Php5.5 billion to over 11,000 government employ-ees, ten times more what GSIS lent for housing to twenty times more government employees.

“This home lending program affirms our institu-

tion’s commitment to helping our stakeholders realize their dream of home ownership.”

“We invite all our mem-bers and pensioners, who want to avail of a housing loan to go to our partner Pag-IBIG. The GSIS has given Pag-IBIG more than enough funds to accom-modate their housing needs,” Vergara said.

THE House of Representa-tives will immediately re-view tackle the tax levied

on alcohol which has been ruled by the World Trade Organization (WTO) as illegal upon the re-sumption of Congress in January.

This was reported by Rep. Isidro “Sid” T. Ungab (Davao City, 3rd District), newly elected chair-man of the House committee on ways and means.

Ungab said that the WTO upheld an earlier ruling on the complaint filed several years ago by the European Union and United States that the Philippines had violated global trade rules by taxing foreign alcohol beverages at rates 10 to 40 times higher than brands made in the Philippines from home-grown materials such as cane and palm sugar.

A WTO dispute settlement panel found the Philippines guilty in August. A WTO appellate body

upheld the decision last Wednes-day.

Ungab said the Philippines has 30 days to present its plan to comply with the ruling.

He said Congress has to amend certain tax laws in the country in order to conform with the ruling.

“We will act with dispatch and hope to resolve the issues within the first half of next year,” Ungab said.

As the new chairman, Ungab will consult the House of

Representatives leadership and the majority coalition on how to deal with the WTO (World Trade Organization) decision.

“I will also discuss the matter with the executive department,” he said, adding “we have at least 12 months to comply with the de-cision of WTO on distilled spirits.”

The WTO ruling disappoint-ed members of the Distilled Spirits Association of the Philippines, but DSAP president Olivia Limpe-Aw said local distillers with work with the government on the legislation to implement the ruling.

The United States has urged the Philippines to open its market to U.S. alcohol products like Jack Daniels and Jim Bean by eliminat-ing a discriminatory tax system which has already struck down by the WTO.

The EU and the United States are the world’s top two ex-porters of distilled spirits.

House to tackle ‘sin’ tax levied on alcohol in January: Ungab

THE government has tapped eight banks in its planned global bond sale, probably

in January 2012. These are: Citigroup, Credit

Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc, JP Morgan Chase and Co., Standard Char-tered Plc, and UBS AG.

Finance Undersecretary Rosalia De Leon declined to say whether they would sell up to US$ 1.5 billion worth of the debt paper overseas, saying that this depends on the demand.

“We’ll know when the mar-kets open in January. (We still) don’t know how Europe and US would pan out,” she said.

Reports said the govern-ment is keen on selling 10- and 25-year dollar-denominated bond and De Leon said the plan is to sell bonds with these tenors because there are “outperforming the other tenors.”

The government has a US$ 4-billion programmed foreign borrowing next year and US$ 2.25 billion of this would be com-mercial and the balance would be sourced from official develop-ment assistance (ODA) loans.

Meanwhile, National Trea-surer Roberto Tan said they are looking at next month as the ear-lier possible time to tap the over-seas bond market.

He explained that “right now, the dollar borrowing seems to be more attractive for position but that does not mean we are doing it,” he said.

“Right now, the dollar bonds are better than the GPNs in terms of pricing and demand,” he stressed.

Tan added that the central bank’s policy-making Monetary Board (MB) has given the na-tional government the flexibility to issue dollar bond with tenor of up to 25 years. [PNA]

8 banks tapped for global bonds

Ungab

EDGEDAVAO THE BUSINESS PAPER

3December 26 -january 01, 2011 VOL. 4 NO. 43



the economy

MoNthlY AVerAge eXChANge rAte (January 2009 - January 2011)

Month 2011 2010 2009Average 45.11 47.637December 43.95 46.421November 43.49 47.032October 43.45 43.44 46.851

September 43.02 44.31 48.139August 42.42 45.18 48.161

July 42.81 46.32 48.146June 43.37 46.30 47.905May 43.13 45.60 47.524April 43.24 44.63 48.217

March 43.52 45.74 48.458February 43.70 46.31 47.585January 44.17 46.03 47.207

1. GNP Growth Rate(At Constant 1985 Prices) 2. GDP Growth Rate(At Constant 1985 Prices)

3. Exports 1/

4. Imports 1/

5. Trade Balance

6. Balance of Payments 2/

7. Broad Money Liabilities

8. Interest Rate 4/

9. National Government Revenues

10. National government outstanding debt

11. Peso per US $ 5/

12. Stocks Composite Index 6/

13. Consumer Price Index 2006=100

14. Headline Inflation Rate 2000=100

15. Core Inflation Rate 2000=100

16. Visitor Arrivals

17. Underemployment Rate /7

18. Unemployment Rate /7

iNDiCAtior lAtest1.9 %

2nd Qtr 2011

3.4 %2nd Qtr 2011

USD 4,128 million

Jun 2011

USD 4,503 millionJun 2011

USD -376 millionJun 2011

USD 222 millionJun 2011

P4,423,849 millionJun 2011

4.48%Apr 2011

P100,139 million Jun 2011

P 4,777 billion May 2010

P 42.81Jul 2011

4,503.6Jul 2011

126.4

Jul 2011

4.6Jul 2011

3.7Jul 2011

317,443Apr 2011

19.4%Apr 2011

7.2 %Apr 2011

stAt wAtCh

cebu Pacific Daily 5J961 / 5J962 5:45 manila-Davao-manila 6:15Zest Air Daily Z2390 / Z2390 5:45 manila-Davao-manila 6:25cebu Pacific Daily 5J593 / 5J348 6:00 cebu-Davao-Iloilo 6:30Philippine Airlines Daily Pr809 / Pr810 6:10 manila-Davao-manila 7:00Philippine Airlines Daily Pr819 / Pr820 7:50 manila-Davao-manila 8:50cebu Pacific Daily 5J394 / 5J393 7:50 Zamboanga-Davao-Zamboanga 8:10cebu Pacific Daily 5J599 / 5J594 8:00 cebu-Davao-cebu 8:30cebu Pacific Daily 5J347 / 5J596 9:10 Iloilo-Davao-cebu 9:40cebu Pacific mon/Tue/Thu/Fri/Sun 5J963 / 5J964 9:40 manila-Davao-manila 10:10Philippine Airlines Daily Pr811 / Pr812 11:30 manila-Davao-manila 12:20cebu Pacific Daily 5J595 / 5J966 12:00 cebu-Davao-manila 12:30Silk Air mon/Wed/Sat mI588 / mI588 18:55 Davao-cebu-Singapore 13:35cebu Pacific Thu 5J965 / 5J968 12:55 manila-Davao-manila 13:25cebu Pacific Tue/Wed//Sat 5J965 / 5J968 13:35 manila-Davao-manila 14:05

Silk Air Thu/Sun mI566 / mI566 18:55 Davao-Singapore 15:20cebu Pacific mon/Tue/Wed/Fri 5J507 / 5J598 15:00 cebu-Davao-cebu 15:30Philippine Airlines August 15:55 mani2mani 16:50Zest Air Daily Z2524 / Z2525 16:05 cebu-Davao-cebu 16:45cebu Pacific Daily 5J967 / 5J600 16:35 manila-Davao-cebu 17:05Philippines Airlines Daily Pr813 / Pr814 16:55 manila-Davao-manila 17:45cebu Pacific mon/Tue/Thu/Sat 5J215 / 5J216 18:00 cagayan de Oro-Davao-cagayan de Oro 18:20cebu Pacific Daily 5971 / 5J970 18:40 manila-Davao-manila 19:10cebu Pacific Tue/Sat/Sun 5J973 / 5J974 20:00 manila-Davao-manila 20:30cebu Pacific Daily 5J969 / 5J972 20:30 manila-Davao-manila 21:00Airphil express Daily 2P987 / 2P988 20:30 manila-Davao-manila 21:00Philippine Airlines Daily except Sunday Pr821 / Pr822 21:20 manila-Davao-manila 21:50Philippine Airlines Sunday Pr821 / Pr822 22:20 manila-Davao-manila 22:50

as of august 2010

DOLE 11 implements amended rules on service contractors, subcontractorsDEPARTMENT of

Labor and Employ-ment regional di-

rector Joffrey Suyao an-nounced that the regional office began implement-ing last December 5 the amended implementing rules concerning service contractors and subcon-tractors.

The Department Or-der No. 18-A known as “Rules Implementing Ar-ticles 106 to 109 of the Labor Code, as Amended clearly states some chang-es that were brought

about the department’s effort of providing protec-tion to workers employed by service contractors.

The order clarifies that contracting and sub-contracting arrangements are allowed by law and are subject to regulations for the promotion of em-ployment and observance of workers to just and hu-mane conditions.

However, certain provisions in the new di-rective order shows how the DOLE tightens the re-quirement to ensure that

only legitimate subcon-tractors can subcontract jobs or services.

It also reiterates the prohibition on labor-only contracting and the test for legitimate engage-ment as set in the previ-ous D.O. 18-02.

Starting last Decem-ber 5, applicants need to pay P25,000 as payment for registration. Along with this amount is a long list of requirements that should be complied with by the applicant.

The Certificate of

Registration will be effec-tive for three years unless cancelled by due process.

Applicants for reg-istration renewal will also have to pay another P25,000 to the DOLE Re-gional Office. The applica-tion must be made thirty days before the expiration of the registration certifi-cate. This is a requirement to remain in the roster of legitimate service contrac-tors.

It was also required that companies (a cor-poration, partnership, or

cooperative) engaging in subcontracting, must at least have a minimum fully paid up capital of P3 million, as a requirement.

A single proprietor-ship on the other hand must have net worth of at least P3 million.

The DOLE says that this directive is a result from a consensus-based approach from several years of tripartite consul-tations and separate sec-toral and organizational sittings. [PIA 11/MAI GEVERA-MA-

CAPAGAT]

A total of 4,319.02 cubic meters of illegally cut or

transported forest prod-ucts with an estimated market value of over P19.6 million were seized in the Davao re-gion this year.

The forest products were mostly in the form of lumber, flitches, logs and logbolts of mixed dipterocarp species, lauan, kamagong and yakal, among others.

Most of the con-fiscated items came from Compostela Valley

province which gath-ered about 2,200 cu.m. forest products valued at around P9.8 million.

In Davao del Norte, about 1,067.05 cu.m. of forest products with an estimated vslue of P5.5 million were appre-hended.

Some 328.68 cu.m. confiscated logs amounting to about P2.3 came from Davao del Sur, while 717 cu.m. logs with a market price of around P2 million were from Davao Ori-ental.

Some 80 percent of the confiscated forest products were report-edly sourced outside the region.

DENR-11 regional executive director Jim O Sampulna disclosed that even before Execu-tive Order No. 23 was implemented, the fight against illegal logging and timber poaching activities had already been actively pursued.

“Fighting against forest despoilers is tough because even with the laws at hand,

they fearlessly and cun-ningly continue their illegal acts,” Sampulna said, adding that the DENR has strengthened its partnership with var-ious sectors to “help us in our campaign for for-est protection.”

The seizure/confis-cations of the illegally cut or transported forest products was made pos-sible through the joint efforts of DENR-11, the National and Regional Anti-illegal Logging Task Force, the Philip-pine National Police

(PNP), Philippine Army, LGUs, other sectors and concerned citizens.

Part of the 2011 confiscations was do-nated to the Depart-ment of Education (DepED-11) for manu-facture of school arm-chairs, desks, teachers’ tables and other school fixtures.

To date, DENR has already donated a to-tal of 2,788.67 cu.m. of confiscated logs to DepEd, 138.31 cu.m. to the AFP/PNP and 350.94 cu.m. to LGUs.

THE wage hike grant-ed to workers in Re-gion 11 is set to take

effect on January 1, 2012.Department of La-

bor and Employment regional director Joffrey Suyao bared over Talk-ing Points, a weekly ra-dio program aired over DXRP- Radyo ng Bayan, said the wage order inte-grates into the basic wage the cost of living allow-ance or COLA of P15 as provided for under Wage Order RB XI-16.

It provides for a P15

cost of living allowance P5 of which will be given out starting January while the P10 remaining bal-ance will follow in May 2012.

Suyao also explained that based on Wage Order No. RB XI-17, minimum wage earners in the non-agriculture sector in the Davao region will begin to receive P291.00 daily wage by January, while workers in the agriculture sector will receive a daily wage of P281.

Workers in retail/

service companies with more than 10 workers will receive P291.00 daily pay, while those in estab-lishments with not more than 10 workers will get P260.00 in daily pay, af-ter the wage order takes effect.

By May 1, 2012, workers should expect a new minimum wage of P301 for the non-agri sec-tor and P291 daily wage for the non-agri sector. Workers in establishment with more than 10 work-ers will get P301 daily

while those with less than 10 workers will get P270 daily.

Suyao also cited the wage order as to cover “all workers and employ-ees in the private sector receiving the minimum wage regardless of posi-tion, designation, or sta-tus of employment and irrespective of the method by which their wages are paid.”

“The only exemp-tion was given to house-hold or domestic helpers, family drivers, persons

employed in the personal service of another and workers in registered Ba-rangay Micro Business Enterprise.

The DOLE tells the public that the wage or-der is a product of series of deliberations, debates, and public hearings which have always involved rep-resentatives of the labor sector, government, and employer sector.

“It was decided unanimously by all representatives of the board. The granting of

New wage hike in effect by new year

P19.6 M worth of illegal forestproducts seized in Region 11



agritrends

A group of onion farmers has asked the Depart-ment of Agriculture

(DA) to put off any issuance of import permits to protect the local December harvest that is now reaching the market to the tune of 10,000 bags.

In a statement, the Sibuyas ng Pilipinas Ating Alagaan (SIPAG) said it had submitted data showing a stable national inventory of 500,000 bags of 25 kilos each of onion, which is more than enough to supply the 350,000 bags of the country consume s monthly.

Ilocos farmers have a separate production of an estimated 10,000 bags for red shallots in December consisting of 4,000 bags from the north and 6,000 from the south, it said.

“DA Secretary Proceso Alcala has been very sup-portive of our farmers. We understand that he has to hear others who want an im-

port permit now. But we will be making farmers sacrifice for us if imports are allowed now,” Francisco Collado, SI-PAG president, said in the statement.

While government may be concerned about suf-ficiency of supply during the holiday season, SIPAG said onion prices have been relatively stable at P45 to P50 per kilo at farm gate for small onions and P55 to P60 per kilo for medium to large onions.

“Even if prices go a little higher, our money just goes around the economy, from a farmer’s hand to another. But if we allow imports de-liberately, it will be Chinese farmers who will benefit from it. That will not benefit our economy at all,” Collado said.

And even after Ilocos farmers shall have been done with harvest by end-December, Collado said, on-ion farmers in Pangasinan

and Nueva Ecija will start harvesting by January.

“We will not have a shortage because even be-fore the older inventory from Ilocos runs out, har-vests in other areas of the country are already ap-proaching,” he said.

Collado said SIPAG takes the position that gov-ernment should not at all allow anymore onion impor-tation in order to help the industry survive.

“How can we make the industry self-sufficient if we allow unrestricted importa-tion every time? Because of imports, farmers are hesitant to plant. Imports give farm-ers reason to stop planting because imports push down local onion prices,” he said.

SIPAG is concerned that containers with import-ed onion are already in port areas and just need import permits so that they may be taken out of the ports.

Onion farmers nation-

Farmers ask DA to hold back onion importation

wide have been pleading for government support since they have already lost their garlic industry to imports from China and Taiwan.

They said the govern-ment should regulate the

industry so as to protect the remaining onion industry even in Ilocos which pro-duces shallot onions that have some special uses for salads and fresh dishes.

The industry is con-

cerned that imported onions have been prolif-erating in Mindanao so much so that some stocks may be seen in front of regional DA’s office in Davao, Collado added. [PNA]

THE country’s bioethanol industry has the poten-tial of generating about

180,000 jobs and foreign ex-change savings of nearly US$ 800 million by 2015, according to the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) of the Depart-ment of Agriculture (DA).

Over the last five years, the BAR has been funding field testing of sweet sorghum variet-ies in different sites of the coun-try with the hope of making the Philippines less dependent on expensive, imported ethanol oil and at the same time generate rural jobs, its director, Nicome-des Eleazar said in a statement.

Through this initiative, Eleazar said it is estimated that bioethanol has the poten-tial to generate jobs totaling to 179,386 by 2015 and 289,611 by 2020. It may also gener-ate foreign exchange savings placed at US$ 789.3 million in 2015 based on a study of the National Sweet Sorghum Pro-gram (NSSP).

“Sweet sorghum is a good alternative to other ethanol feedstocks. It can stand alone as a life-giving crop to farmers in far flung areas because it is used to make many food prod-ucts like juice and syrup. But we will maximize its economic value by producing ethanol from it,” Eleazar, said.

BAR has already obtained outstanding varieties of sweet sorghum through its partner-ship with the International

Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and a distillery has also been developed with assistance from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

The machine was devel-oped by scientist Sergio Capa-reda following his recent return to the country after a long stint with Texas University in the United States.

Capareda designed the distilling column and guided its fabrication, while Maria-no Marcos State University (MMSU) Material Science ex-pert, Samuel Franco, designed the furnace.

The NSSP, Eleazar said, already sees hope of Philip-pines’ commercial production of sweet sorghum ethanol as several large companies have also positioned themselves for its processing. Among these are Seaoil’s Fuel Inc. and Philippine National Oil Company-Alterna-tive Fuels Corp. (PNOC-AFC).

The Green Future Innova-tion Inc. (GFII) is also presently completing an ethanol plant in San Mariano, Isabela which will have a capacity of 250,000 liters per day. While its feed-stock will primarily be sugar-cane, it intends to use sweet sorghum as a complementary crop which may be used as feedstock in between sugar-cane milling seasons.

An NSSP master plan be-ing drafted indicates that from the collection of hydrous etha-

nol from the village level, this product should be transported to a Central Dehydrating Plant (CDP) near a fuel depot.

At the CDP level, the BAR director said, bigger processing firms are expected to partici-pate in this potential industry that is hoped to be supported by many government agen-cies. More investments may be required at the CDP-fuel depot level.

The “bench-type”distillery that processes sweet sorghum into ethanol in Ilocos Norte is seen to pave the way to Philip-pines’ mass production of biofu-el that is using sweet sorghum as feedstock among small hold farms which will create jobs in rural areas.

The National Econom-ic Development Authority (NEDA) has financed with P1 million through its KR2 pro-gram the establishment of the village-type distillery and now in its commission, the distiller has a capacity of 50 liters per day, merely a pilot scale. How-ever, the government has a vi-sion of massively replicating it in a bigger scale, Eleazar said.

“When they saw that it’s possible to put up this village-type distillery, NEDA saw the potential for sweet sorghum to create jobs in rural areas and create an industry since its low cost can enable its replication elsewhere,” Dr. Heraldo Lay-aoen, the NSSP head said in the same statement. [PNA]

Bioethanol generates 180,000jobs, foreign exchange savings

IN the urgency to curb the dreaded Panama disease in the region, the Department of

Science and Technology offered to banana industry stakeholders its science-based interventions against the disease.

DOST recently presented to various key players of the region’s banana industry its solutions and approaches in managing the Pan-ama disease or Fusarium Wilt.

In its proposed action plan on Fusarium Wilt disease man-agement in the Davao region, DOST recommended the ap-proach of preventing further spread of the disease through ear-ly diagnosis, appropriate eradica-tion techniques and quarantine.

It also said an effective ir-rigation and drainage system should be put up to prevent sur-face run-off.

“We are looking at all pos-sible solutions,” DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo told local me-dia, referring to the campaign to help the Department of Agri-culture and the banana industry deal with the Panama disease that has severely hit the region.

For mmediate rem-edy, Montejo cited the use of three biological control agents like such as Trichoderma harzianum,Vesicular arbuscular mychorrhiza (VAM) and Plant Growth promoting rhizobacte-ria (PGPR).

Montejo explained that the micro-organisms will help strengthen the banana roots to be able to resist the disease.

He told the local media here during a consultation meeting with the banana industry stake-holders on December 8 that the

micro-organisms will be tested in fields by early part of next year.

For the long term ap-proach, DOST raised the use of Foc (Fusarium oxysporum f. Sp. Cubense)-resistant varieties such as GCTCV 119 and 218.

Montejo said they are plan-ning to immediately conduct on-site trials of the Foc-resistant varieties in the mostly hit areas in Davao Region.

He said that DOST is also eyeing to request the assistance of the science community of Taiwan where the varieties were taken.

A Banana Research Cen-ter which will initially focus on the Panama disease will also soon be put up in Davao City as part of the long-term strategy, the DOST Secretary disclosed. [PIA 11/CARINA L. CAYON]

DOST offers offers interventionsagainst dreaded Panama disease

THE exotic aquarium fish called Red Pacu (Collusom bidens) can now be intro-

duced sporadically in fresh water streams and lakes teeming with water hyacinths or water lilies through a method of culture called surgical stocking.

Director Westly Rosario, chief of the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Develop-ment Center (NIFTDC), said not all fresh water streams and lakes would be stocked with Red Pacu yet as environmentalists are still cautious of the possible effect of the fish to other plants, like rice.

It was learned that in a na-tional fish symposium in Manila, a few regional directors of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) still issued some reservations about Red Pacu, fearing that if stocked in all

fresh water fish farms, it would run berserk there and become uncontrollable.

But Dr. Rosario assured that Red Pacu would not follow the ways of the Giant Snails, which were introduced in 1990s, to

boost the protein food of the Fili-pinos.

The reason for this is the fish sexually matures only after two to three years and when it does, it had already grown into one kilo and might have been entrapped

by fish farmers and thrown over burning charcoal and eaten.

Red Pacu, a cousin of the deadly piranha, is herbivorous unlike the latter which is carnivo-rous. Pacu feeds only on plants, especially water hyacinths, and grows up to 0.6 meter when fully matured.

NIFTDC started conducting research on Red Pacu 10 years ago through some fingerlings turned over by a hobbyist.

These fingerlings grew into adults and with the use of hor-mones injected in the male and female species, the center was able to produce some offspring.

It was only during the Fish Conservation Week in October this year that NIFTDC finally in-troduced Red Pacu both as a food fish and cleaning agent in fresh water ponds.

Red Pacu fish can now be propagated thru surgical stocking

HERE’S one tip for the coun-try’s rice farmers: “Do not use one and the same rice

variety over and over again. That is, if you want to increase your yield.”

This advice was offered by a biotech expert of the Phil-ippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice,) who emphasized that pests become immune when ex-posed to one and the same rice variety for a long time.

Planting same rice varietyin farms decreases yield

Thelma Padolina, chief of the PhilRice’s plant breeding and biotechnology division, said resistance of rice plants to pests decreases principally because of two reasons: one due to intensive cropping and two: the use of the same variety every season.

“If pests are continuously exposed to the same variety, these might evolve into more powerful types that would over-come the resistance of the variet-ies,” she said.

Padolina said not all out-standing traits are present in one rice variety such as high-yielding, resistant to pests, ex-cellent grain and eating quality among others.

She said PhilRice breeders

keep on improving varieties to help the farmers keep pace with the evolving pests and diseases, changing climatic conditions re-sulting in various stresses such as low and high temperature, submergence, salinity that re-duces yield, and changing pref-erences of farmers, millers and consumers.

She said modern rice va-rieties yield higher than tradi-tional ones as they are more effi-cient in absorbing nutrients and more effective in photosynthetic activities owing to plant physi-cal traits such as short upright leaves and more tillers.

Many modern varieties, she said, are resistant to “bi-otic” and “abiotic” stresses. [PNA]

BizQuiPS‘I need to ask myself,

did the government do enough to prevent this kind of tragedy? I don’t think I can accept that we have done everything.’

--President Aquino before flood

victims of the Cagayan de Oro City.



ENERGY conserva-tion is everybody’s re-sponsibility. Even the

little ones can do their own share in helping the envi-ronment. Kids look up to adults, so while they are still young, teach them on different yet simple energy saving tips that they can do at home. Here are some tips that Davao Light and Pow-er Company consolidated which can be done at home by the young ones.

• Encourage kids to turn off the lights when they leave their rooms or the bathroom by taping signs (turn-off) to light switches as a reminder to turn them off. Before leaving the house, see your child conduct a light check by turning things off.

• Teach children to re-duce, re-use and recycle.

Segregate your trash bins where your kids can put their used cups, plastic bottles and cans. Explain to them how much energy it takes to create new products and to transport trash to a landfill. You may also make a game and reward them for every correct item of trash they designate to a specific bin.

• Ask help from your kids to open your blinds or curtains on sunny days to let the sun shine in to your home. In this way, you no longer need to use your lights, thus saving your elec-tric bills.

• Encourage your chil-dren to play outside instead of at the computer or with video games. You may also consider scheduling family outings and participate in

outdoor activities to remind your kids that they can have a great time without elec-tronics.

• Walk with your kids in going to near places to save on gas and encourage physical activity.

Getting children in-volved in saving energy and money by leading as an example in making some specific changes in habits at home will make them re-sponsible persons.

This practice will not only make a change in the environment but will also develop a stronger relation-ship among family members. But more importantly, if we continuously teach our chil-dren on these simple and fun saving tips they will conse-quently pass this on to their would-be children.

Teach kids to save on energy

THE municipality of Esperanza in Sultan Kudarat warmly wel-

comed One Network Bank’s newest branch, the sole bank serving the locale.

The 83rd addition to the widest banking network in Mindanao is ONB’s re-sponse to the municipality’s yearning for the ONB brand of rural banking. The branch inauguration in December 8, 2011 was a meaningful town affair as local residents, busi-nessmen and government of-ficials flocked to the branch.

Spearheading the rib-bon cutting ceremony was Esperanza Municipal Mayor Helen T. Latog, assisted by

ONB’s valued clients Ms. Annabelle Midtimbang and Dr. Pedro Aquino. The bless-ing rite was officiated by the Most Reverend Antonio P. Pueyo of the Archdiocese of Cotabato.

In her speech, Mayor Latog expressed her ear-nest gratitude to ONB for its determination to render Esperanza the unparalleled service that has benefitted majority of countryside Min-danao as this was, in her words, “a sign of progress of the municipality”.

Just a stone’s throw away from the municipal hall, Esperanza Branch guar-antees hassle-free banking

transactions with its wide parking area and spacious interior. Now, Esperanza joins the growing number of municipalities in Mindanao to enjoy in the modern and convenient banking experi-ence that ONB offers.

True to its commitment of providing the latest bank-ing innovations to the rural communities of Mindanao and in support of its aggres-sive branch expansion, ONB also inaugurated its bigger and more accessible branch-es in Monkayo, Compostela Valley and in Surigao City and Cabadbaran City, Cara-ga Region last December 3, 2011.[ARA LARGO]

ONB opens new branch in Sultan Kudarat, inaugurates branches in Compostela Valley, Caraga



EDITORIAl

Vantage PoInts

Natural and man-made horror

I found myself one after-noon stuck in front of the television set. The reason:

I was mesmerized watching young students – from grade school to college – present-ing their inventions. Their new creations are not at all new ideas. They are simply the products of combining old technologies with new ones and creating a set of new products. That’s what I call ingenuity – pure imagination put into reality, an upshot of creativity and the application of technical know-how.

The most amazing thing is that these are mere prod-ucts of young minds. Time has greatly changed. There was a time when practical arts or vocational subjects were focused on the use of indig-enous raw materials to create and recreate things. It was plainly reproducing existing objects into something more beautiful but functionally the same. Science then was more on observation and learn-ing about the existing world – what it was. Today, there is the integration of science, technology and practical arts. It allows young minds to chal-lenge the existing order by recreating and improving it.

Young minds can eas-ily generate new ideas sim-ply because they think about “what-ifs” and other possi-bilities. They can go beyond existing norms, set rules and standards. Their only guides are logic and science. Conse-quently, they produce some-thing different. Wonderful! Consider for example the car fueled by solar energy pro-duced by college student of a university in Manila. To some, this may not seem very new as the principles that guided the production of the solar energy-powered vehicle have long been in existence. The guts and daring spirit of these students to combine different technologies and principles that enabled them to produce it made all the difference.

It’s not merely the pro-duction of new things. It’s about the application of knowledge to produce rel-evant, useful and globally competitive new products. To me, that’s the real essence of invention.

We claim that Filipinos are great inventors. We claim that certain products were invented by well-known and not-so-well-known Filipinos. Some of these claims were contested; some were sim-ply ignored. The fluorescent lamp is a classic example.

In another television show, some old Filipino sci-entists and inventors were aired as they call the atten-tion of the government to provide them with funding support so that they could continue to harness their in-ventions or creations. The inventions that struck me most were: the super kalan (cooking stove) fueled by the traditional charcoal but more effective in producing the needed heat; a dust pan with wheels so that you can simply drag it as you clean the house; and a disposable plastic cover for toilet bowl rim to protect you from un-necessary infection when us-ing public toilets.

Are these the type of “new” creations that require funding support from the government? There’s really nothing new with the super kalan which I had heard about some 20 years ago. It just evolved into something physically more attractive, and perhaps, more function-ally effective, but it applied the same basic principles in each stage of its evolution. No addition or introduction of new knowledge. No inte-gration or combination with new technology. Call it a Filipino brand cooking stove; it doesn’t make sense.

What about the dust pan with wheels? Why not invent a remote controlled vacuum cleaner by combining the principles of robotics and the usual operation of a vacuum cleaner. Yes, this is already in existence. The challenge is to make it a Filipino brand with the materials it is made of and the source of power to operate it. The idea is to ad-vance what we have original-ly invented into something that projects intelligence, knowledge and technology – something that we can be proud of in the international market. We then have to think global – becoming at par with the quality of prod-ucts of the rest of the world.

I am not trying to be-little old inventions. It is just that I don’t feel comfortable by having these products as eternal novelties of Filipino ingenuity. I believe that we can do more; we can do bet-ter.

If the government needs to invest, let it be for the further development of the young minds. Invest in schools as they advance their curricula in research and de-velopment, and in science and technology.

THE continuing horror that the entire world, not just our country, is witnessing

in the disaster caused by the December 16 floods spawned by Typhoon Sendong should haunt us for the rest of our lives.

Simply put, the catastrophe, which has killed more than a thousand people and left a wide swath of destruction worth billions of pesos in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan alone, is indubitably caused by the continuing rape of the forest cover up in the mountains of Lanao and Misamis, small-scale mining and the unchecked occupation by informal settlers of flood-prone and other low-lying, hazardous areas. Why, one community swept by the rampaging floodwaters carrying felled logs and other debris from the uplands was a densely-populated accretion island in the middle of a river in Cagayan de Oro.

There are many lessons to be learned from the disaster, easily the worst during the last decade. Sorry, but as always the blame-game points to the local and national governments’ culpability, specifically their failure to implement the surfeit of pertinent laws. These laws specifically address the problems of illegal logging, irresponsible mining and human settlement in places identified to be dangerous to the lives and limbs of settlers.

Right now, the most urgent task is coming to the succor of the victims who are hungry and lacking in the bare necessities. Next is finding safe places where they can be relocated. The next intervention is providing them with means of livelihood.

The lives of the victims will be back to normal when all these are done. But will the lessons learned enable authorities to have the political will to enforce the pertinent laws at last?

science and the young mind

BizQuiPS‘ BEWARE of the clouds

that are accumulating in European skies.’

--International Monetary Fund Director Christine Lagare urging developing countries to prepare against possible European recession in 2012.


9December 26 -JANUArY 01, 2012 VOL. 4 NO. 43

IT’S true what they say that age is just a state of mind. I feel I have not gotten old. Al-

though I admit, I do see physi-cal changes. My older friends talked to me about spider veins 10 years ago and I didn’t have them then. Now, I am thrilled that I finally have them! I know, it’s weird of me to have that kind of reaction. Maybe I think differently about age..and ag-ing.

I see some lines on my face but I know they ought to be there. But it doesn’t mean that I don’t care. I do! There are ways to slow the aging process down. I’m just blessed to be friends with the owners of Am-mara and they are one with me on this endeavor. I call it that because it needs time and a little effort too.

I’ve thought of a perfect analogy for taking care of my skin. Or the perfect justifica-tion so as not to feel guilty. When we were in school, we had leather shoes. I remember my mom telling me to polish them two or three times a week for it to maintain its shine and suppleness. She told us this be-cause we could not buy a pair anytime we want. We HAD to take good care of it.

The same should go with our skin--the largest organ in our body, right?

But more than taking care of the physical is taking care of relationships…but now that I think about it, it is also physical because it involves the HEART. Turning 38 means I

am blessed with another year to spend with my family, loved-ones, true friends. When I was younger, we were surrounded by family, and as kids, it was sort of required. How time flew and as one of my nieces (Jazz-ie) said when you are older and are marred by responsibilities, you seldom get the chance to get-together. Reminisce about the old times, remember em-barrassing moments and just… LAUGH!!! Like little children again!

I tell myself now, with some friends dying too soon, I need to be reminded always that life is fleeting. You will never know when your time will come. I know it’s cliché: to live like it were your last day. Constantly, I think about it.

We came from Zambo-anga a few days ago. It was the first time that my sons met their relatives there. They are cousins, aunts and uncles of my former husband. The first time I went there was in 1999. Over the years I visited, slowly each time, I hear news

of the death of one of the el-ders. Uncle Mil, Auntie Margie, Auntie Meng, may they all rest in peace. Uncle Mil called me a few days before he passed and he said, “It is nice to hear your beautiful voice” and he tried to listen to my stories over a long-distance call… it brings tears to my eyes! Auntie Meng’s letters are still in my keeping. I was able to see her two years ago. She would call to greet dur-ing Christmas or New Year. Little gestures to make me feel loved and that I was a part of their family. They were able to leave a legacy. They were able to touch my heart. They have truly lived well and their lives indeed remain an example to me. I still call them my own. I feel I belong even if I am tech-nically no longer a member. I cannot thank them enough for making me feel welcome over the years.

This is what life is about! Love for family, love for friends and even love for the “unlove-able”. A real test and a tough challenge! God has given me

good and bad times. I some-times question Him why He sends them my way. I want to believe it’s because He has such faith in me that I would be able to overcome them. At times, I tell Him, “wag naman ma-syado, Lord”. (Not too much, Lord!).

I would like to share this guide for starting successfully from John Maxwell. I try to live it. I am not there yet but I hang this where I can read it every day.

1.) Know Yourself2.) Settle your family

life3.) Determine your pri-

orities4.) Develop your phi-

losophy of life5.) Get physically fit6.) Learn your trade7.) Pay the price8.) Develop solid rela-

tionships9.) Prepare for the fu-

ture10.) Find purpose for

your life I’m already 38. I have to

start living life and I feel that there’s not enough time!

Final words? Estar con amor y familia

kada tiempo puede. Kada Hora preciosa!

(Be with love and family whenever possible. Every hour is precious!-translation care of Michelle E.)

Until my next chapter! Amor con amor se paga! (Love begets love) – (Sorry, hang-over from Zamboanga.)

WHEN places in Davao City like Ma-tina Crossing, Mati-

na Aplaya and Matina Pamhi were hit by a killer flashflood on June 29 this year, the damage to property and the number of fatalities—31—shocked even the most staid Dabawenyo. How could such a thing happen in their be-loved city, one of the most livable in the country, if not in the whole of Asia? It was unthinkable.

In retrospect, little do those who reside in the area realize at the time how lucky they were to survice. Less than five months later, in the dead of night last December 16, mother nature unleashed its full fury on parts of North-ern Mindanao—particularly the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan—where flash-floods triggered by unusually heavy rains brought by Tropi-cal Storm Sendong ravaged whole communities.

As the rest of the country, nay, even the world watched aghast, transfixed by the run-ning television coverage of Sendong’s fury, the images seemed surreal. The rampag-ing torrents had smashed houses like they were made of toothpicks. Vehicles of all types looking like so many toy cars were piled up in vari-ous positions of suspended animation, candidates for the scrap heap. Scattered all over the ravaged landscape were hundreds of illegally cut logs that had smashed into houses and crushed bodies of victims. Corpses of what were once upon a time warm bodies full of life, now cold in death, were strewn every which way awaiting identifi-cation and decent burial. On the third daythe stench of death filled the air.

At last count, the death toll was estimated at not less than one thousand overall—

and counting if one takes into account the hundreds of vic-tims still missing—even en-tire families. A pall of gloom was everywhere, grim re-minder that what had trans-pired was for real.

Everywhere in the world there have been grim reminders the past few years of what scientists call “climate change” or “global warming”. Whatever. Our own “experts” continue to scare us with their predic-tion of more weather tan-trums, be it drought in cer-tain places or more excess rains in other areas of the ar-chipelago. Scary scenarios of what the future has in store for us. Unless mankind does something drastic to avert what today seems inevitable.

Nearer to home, per-haps there is a need for our leaders to take stock of our surroundings. That June 29 disaster for example. Until our City Council repeals the law in physics that mandates water to seek its own level, such low areas like Matina Pangi, Matina Aplaya and Matina Crossing remain in the path of another flash-flood should it rain cats’n dogs like what happened in June. While many of the vic-tims of that flashflood have relocated elsewhere, those who have stayed put don’t have any guarantee that there will be no repeat of that occurrence. Because wa-ter seeks its own level, such low-lying areas are a con-stant invitation to disaster should the weather act up again and dump two or mil-lions of tons of rain and swell the Pangi River once again.

You think that won’t happen? Better think again before it’s too late. It’s not only lightning that strikes twice in the same place. Bet-ter to be sure than sorry is no tired cliché.

EDITORIALEditor In Chief | Antonio M. AjeroAssociate Editor | Gregorio G. DeligeroEditorial Consultant | Ramon M. MaxeySection Heads | lifestyle | Kenneth Irving K. Ong sports | Moses P. BillacuraStaff Writers | Maria Teresa UngsonCartoonist | Arlene D. Pasaje Columnists | Alex C. Roldan • Aurelio A. Peña • Nicasio

Angelo J. Agustin • Nikki Gotianse-Tan • Edcer Escudero • Zhaun Ortega • Jet Villamor

Photos | Joseph Lawrence P. GarciaPre Press | Alven Flordelis

Door 14 ALCREJ Building, Quirino Avenue, 8000 Davao City, Philippinese-mail:

[email protected]@edgedavao.net

tel: (082) 301-6235telefax: (082) 221-3601

Printed weekly by Zion accuprint Publishing Inc.T h e B u s i n e s s P a p e r

MARKETING & ADVERTISINGGeneral Manager | Olivia D. VelascoDirector of Sales | Jocelyn S. PanesAdvertising Specialist | richard C. ebona imelda P. leeFinance | Rogelia E. MamaedCirculation | Cheree P. Pajarillaga

Marketing Manager | Angelica R. GarciaMarketing Manager | Liezl A. DelosoBlk. 1, Lot 10, La Mar Townhomes, Apitong St., Marikina Heights, Marikina CityTel. No.: (02) 942-1503

Unit 6, Southbank Plaza Velez - Yacapin Sts.Cagayan de Oro CityTel. No.: (88) 852-4894

Manila Marketing Office:Cagayan de Oro Marketing Office:

HELPING YOU MAKE INFORMED BUSINESS DEcISIONS.

vantage PoInts

fACe off remember June 29, 2011!

‘IF this impeachment succeeds, what do you think will happen? Very simple, my dear countrymen- Mr. Aquino already has his Cabinet, he controls Congress and he will have the Supreme Court in his hands.

‘..The real objective is to destroy the judiciary, destroy democracy and impose the will of the ‘beloved king.’

‘I oppose this relentless persecution, intimidation and bullying. I oppose this dictatorship that President Benigno Simeon Aquino III is slowly establishing.’

--Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona

‘IF Arroyo’s original sin was the rigging of the 2004 elections, Corona’s original sin was when he accepted his midnight appointment. The minute he wore the crown of a midnight chief justice, he already undermined the credibility of the Supreme Court.

‘Corona’s argument that this is an attack of the executive on the judicial branch is pure fallacy. This is the people attacking Arroyo’s legacy of corruption and impunity. This is the people’s use of a constitutional measure to restore the credibility and independence of the high tribunal and to rebuild democratic institutions.’

-- Akbayan Party spokesperson Risa Hontiveros

BizQuiPS

‘ONE problem that plagues the National Police is the lack of equipment, more particularly firearms, that are needed to combat criminality in the country.’

--Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez questioning why only one-third of the country’s 140,000 policemen have government-issued guns.

what turning 38 means


10 December 26 -january 01, 2011VOL. 4 NO. 43

eVent

DECEMBER 17 marked a special day for the management and

staff of Edge Davao and Zion Accuprint, Inc. as they held a Christmas Party together with their respective families.

With their husbands, wives, children and even grandchildren, the employ-ees shared the celebration with the management of the weekly business paper and the publishing company with delicious food, parlor games, gift-giving and a

dance contest.The Christmas Party

was more of a family re-union as the employees are encouraged to bring along with them their respective families, thereby giving them a rare opportunity to introduce their respective partners and children to each other.

Aside from enjoying and receiving prizes in the parlor games, all the chil-dren brought home gifts while the adults also re-

ceived theirs on top of the prizes they won from the raffle. An in-house choir also rendered a special presen-tation to the delight of the guests and visitors.

The production team won the dance contest with P5,000.00 as prize while the combined team from marketing, accounting and administration departments and the combined team from editorial and circulation de-partments received their consolation prizes.

Meaningful Christmas with the family

Nanay Lora, the mother of general manager Olivia D. Velasco, also marks her 81st birthday

during the Christmas Party. Surrounding her are the immediate family members.

Ms. Velasco’s grandson, Uean, playing guitar in his special number.

Some of the family members enjoying the party

Ms. Velasco Editor-In-Chief Antonio M. Ajero

Staff members

The in-house choir

Ms. Jessica Padillo and Mr. Richard Ebona hosting the parlor games

Children participating the parlor games



event

MORE than a hundred children trooped to the office of PIADI (Print-

ing Industries Association of Davao, Inc.) Multi-Purpose Co-operative along Araullo Street to partake of the free meals shared by the cooperative to its neighbors last December 10.

“It is with great pleasure to share with you our time and humble resources as our mod-est way of celebrating the true spirit of Christmas. We are glad that you have provided us with the opportunity to serve and spend this special moment with the community where the PIA-DI particularly belongs,” said

PIADI director Olivia D. Velasco in her opening remarks.

Although PIADI has sup-ported previous advocacies such as the Operation Smile, Velasco said it is the first time that “we have initiated this kind of undertaking.”

“It is our hope that this is only the beginning of nurturing a more fruitful and mutually beneficial relationship with our community,” she said in refer-ence to Barangay 11-B where the PIADI office is located.

PIADI ordered the food and hired the services of Jol-libee which sent party hosts and mascots to entertain the

children.Aside from Velasco, PIADI

officers who graced the affair were chairman Eladio E. Avi-ola, vice chair Nenita Milana, treasurer Juan V. Ramirez, board directors Marissa C. Ate-ga and Romy Chan and general manager Anita Dayanghirang.

The activity was made possible with the assistance from barangay officials includ-ing barangay councilors Jesus Basuil, Martina Fe Arabiana, Yolanda Ibay and Joy Castro. Also lending their assistance are barangay tanods Jun Ibay, Limwell Salinas and Jover Ce-lestino.

Sharing the joys of Christmas

The management and staff

The production staff

The marketing, accounting and admin staff

The editorial and circulation staffThe party scene

The children enjoying their delicious meal

Board of director Romy Chan and vice chair Nenita Milana with officials of barangay 11-B

The children with Jollibee mascots

Board of directors Marissa C. Atega and Olivia D. Velasco, chairman Eladio E. Aviola and treas-urer Juan V. Ramirez.



gOVernance

republic of the PhilippinesreGIONAL TrIAL cOUrT

11TH Judicial regionbranch 12

Davao city

SP PrOc. NO. 11, 448-11

IN THe PeTITION FOr ADOPTION OF mINOr KIerSTeN DOmINIQUe eLcANA ArANA WITH PrAYer FOr cHANGe OF NAme FrOm KIerSTeN DOmINIQUe eLcANA ArANAS TO KIerSTeN DOmINIQUe

eLcANA ANDrADA,

SPS ERNESTO C. ANDRADA AND MELANIE E. ANDRADA Petitioners

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

OrDer

Petitoners filed a verified petition praying that they be allowed to adopt as their own child, KIerSTeN DOmINIQUe eLcANA ArANAS, a minor, whowas born in Davao city on may 27, 2008, that the proposed adoptee is the illegitimate child of Petitioner melanie e. Andrada having been born out of lawful wedlock of the child’s parents; that Vic Donald Aranas, who is the biologi-cal father of the proposed adoptee has abandoned the subject child from the time of her birth, and that her name be changed to KIerSTeN DOmINIQUe eLcANA ANDrADA.

In the child Home Study reports previously file by Social Welfare Officer Nelsie A. mag-salay of the Office of the clerk of court, regional Trial court, Davao city, she favorably recom-mended the adoption of said child by the petitioners.

Wherefore, let the petition be set for hearing on February 8, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. at which date and time, all persons concerned may appear to show cause, if any, why the prayer in the petition shall not be granted.

Let this Order be published,at the expense of the petitioners, in edge Davao, a newspa-per of general circulation in the city and three (3) provinces of Davao, once a week for three(3) consecutive weeks.

Notify all parties concerned and the Solicitor General through this Order

SO OrDereD

Davao city, Philippines, November 18, 2011

(SGD) PeLAGIO S. PAGUIcAN Judge

Edge 12/12,19,26

BizQuiPS

republic of the PhilippinesreGIONAL TrIAL cOUrT

11TH Judicial regionbranch 12Davao city

IN THE MATTER OF PETITIONFOR ADOPTION OF MINOR

MENCHIE PADILLA VALDEZ

SP. PROC.NO.11,423-11

SPOUSES ELMER D. BERDIN andMA. LUZ V. BERDINPetitioners

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

OrDer

Petitioners filed a verified petition praying that they be allowed to adopt as their own child, meNcHIe PADILLA VALDeZ, a minor, who was born in muntinlupa city on June 14, 2000 and the illegitimate daughter of petitioner ma. Luz P. Valdez-berdin; and that her surname be changed to that of the petitioners. In the child and Home Study reports previously filed by Social Welfare officer Nelsie A. magsalay of the Office of the clerk of court, regional Trial court, Davao city, she favorably recommended the adoption of the said child by the petitioners. WHereFOre, let the petition be set for hearing on February 28, 2012 at 8:30 a. m. at which date and time, all persons concerned may appear to show cause, if any, why the prayer in the petition shall not be granted. Let this Order be published, at the expense of the petitioners, in edge Davao, a newspaper of general circulation in the city and three (3) provinces of Davao, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks.Notify all parties concerned and the Solicitor General through this Order.

SO OrDereD. Davao city, Philippines, November 28,2011. (SGD) PeLAGIO S. PAGUIcAN Juge

Serve on:The Solicitor General Makati CityPros. Minerva P. Pepino-Estremos, Davao CityAtty. Edgard B. Cuanan, Jr.DSB Law, Door No., 4 Babao Bldg. San Pedro St. Davao CityOCC-RTC, Davao CitySps. Elmer D. Berdin and Ma. Luz V. BerdinB18 L24 P3, Pag-ibig Wellspring Catalunan Pequeño, Davao City(Edge 19,26,Jan. 2)

STATE-PENSION fund Gov-ernment Service Insurance System (GSIS) on Tuesday

approved the grant of P20,000 emergency loan to eligible members residing and/or work-ing in areas severely affected by tropical storm “Sendong.”

The loan, which should be applied between December 21, 2011 to January 20, 2012, is open to qualified members residing and/or working in the provinces of Misamis Oriental and Negros Oriental, munici-palities and cities of Dipolog, Zamboanga Del Norte; Polanco, Zamboanga Del Norte; Ozamis, Misamis Occidental; Clarin, Mis-amis Occidental;

Also qualified to avail of the loan are those who are re-siding and/or working in Asun-cion, Davao Del Norte; Tagbina, Surigao Del Sur; Hinatuan, Surigao Del Sur; Bislig, Surigao

Del Sur; Lingig, Surigao Del Sur; Talacogon, Agusan Del Sur; Va-lencia, Bukidnon; Nabunturan, Compostela Valley; Montevista, Compostela Valley; Compos-tela, Compostela Valley; New Bataan, Compostela Valley; Monkayo, Compostela Valley; Iligan, Lanao Del Norte; Bu-bong, Lanal Del Sur; and Kapai, Lanao Del Sur.

Qualified to avail of the loan are members who are em-ployees of the agency located in the declared calamity area or are resident of the declared calamity area; are in active ser-vice and not on leave of absence without pay; have no pend-ing criminal or administrative charges; have no arrears in the payment of mandatory social in-surance contributions; and have no loan that has been declared in default.

GSIS said members who

are employed in agencies that are not suspended because of non-payment and non-remit-tance of premiums and loans can avail of the loan.

Member-applicant can ap-ply for the loan through GWAPS kiosk using their eCard or their UMID eCard.

“Members who do not have an eCard Plus or UMID eCard but who are eligible to apply for the loan can apply via over-the-counter (OTC),” the state pension fund said.

“Proceeds of emergency loan applications filed via OTC will be credited to a temporary eCard which the GSIS has be-gun to issue,” it said.

GSIS said the loan pro-gram carries an interest rate of six percent per yeaar computed in advance, and is payable in three years in equal monthly in-stallment. [PNA]

GSIS okays emergency loanto members hit by ‘Sendong’ A non-government organi-

zation catering to migrant workers has urged leg-

islators to enact a law against Overseas Filipino Workers who abandoned their families in the country.

The Mindanao Migrants Center for Empowering Ac-tions Inc. (MMCEAI) called on lawmakers to pass a legislation that would run after OFWs, and would ensure that OFWs would face charges in the country where they work for abandoning their families.

The call was among the recommendations of MMCEAI based on its research findings in 2009 on the State of Abandoned Families of OFWs in Davao Re-gion.

MMCEAI executive direc-tor Inorisa Sialana-Elento raised the concern on the increasing cas-es of abandoned wives, husbands and children not only in the view of physical separation but also in the perspective of economic ne-glect.

In Davao City, Elento

Congress urged to enact law vsOFWs who abandon families

told the local media here that MMCEAI has catered to 55 cases of abandoned families from the 65 cases documented by the city government’s Integrated Gen-der and Development Division (IGDD).

She said only 12 cases were filed to court, mostly concern-ing charges on multiple mar-riages, economic abuse such as non-remittance of earnings and intermittent support, and child custody.

The other forms of aban-donment include non-communi-cation, loss of care and eventual disappearance, she added.

Elento said most of the cases handled involved abandon-ing parties who work as seafarers and domestic helpers in countries such as United States of America, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, among others.

The abandoned members of the family, she said, are as young as two years old and the eldest in age is 50 years old.

While MMCEAI has recog-nized the government’s adop-tion of positive measures in as-sisting and protecting migrant workers, it brought up other pro-posals to address the distressing plight of the abandoned families of OFWs.

MMCEAI urged for the review and amendment of Re-public Act No. 8042 or Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos

Act of 1995 that would provide favorable terms to abandoned families of OFWs.

It urged the government to execute the processing of remit-tances to ensure that allowances will directly be sent to children and direct family.

The Department of For-eign Affairs was also called to lead in the handling of cases against OFWs and to facilitate the tracking down of missing OFWs.

MMCEAI also looked for-ward to the local government of Davao City to enact a local or-dinance that would ensure full assistance such as psychosocial interventions and medical needs and protection for families aban-doned by OFWs.

Elento raised the propos-als from MMCEAI’s briefing pa-per on the state of abandoned families on Friday during a press conference as among the activi-ties in observance of the Inter-national Day of Migrants on December 18.

MMCEAI has been provid-ing free counseling and psycho-social services for abandoned families and assisting returning migrants and their families as well as communities for liveli-hood opportunities.

The NGO has also orga-nized Anak OFWs groups in schools and communities. [PIA 11/

CARINA L. CAYON]

THE Mindanao Commis-sion on Women recently launched a “Women’s

Peace Table” signifying Mind-anao women’s desire to take part in peace negotiations.

MCW chair emerita and chief executive officer Irene M. Santiago said the “Women’s Peace Table” aims to connect the formal peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to the women not only in Mindanao but also the rest of the country.

Santiago said they want to convey to the two panels that Mindanao women are “eager to participate in the negotiations as a vital actor and to be a partner in the tremendous task of post-war reconstruction and recovery.”

She explained that the peace table intends to serve as a third table that will “harness women’s tremendous capacities to generate many alternatives, mediate, mobilize, and educate for peace.”

“And because peace is a national concern, the Women’s Peace Table is a national table,

open to all women who yearn for and are willing to work for peace,” she stated.

Santiago raised the impor-tant role of women in the peace negotiation undertakings, saying “We know that women have the capacity and the commitment to be a significant actor to bring about a sustained and just peace in Mindanao.”

She lauded the recent an-nouncement of the Philippine Government Panel and the MILF to hold a substantive discussion in January next year.

“We rejoice in this positive direction the two parties are tak-ing. Women have suffered too long and too much,” she said.

The “Women’s Peace Ta-ble” was formally launched on December 8 in time for MCW’s 10th year anniversary celebra-tion that featured the Kamind-anawan, an annual Mindanao women’s congress.

Anchoring on MCW’s slo-gan and goal “for women to be taken seriously,” the congress carried the theme: “Women. Se-riously!” [PIA 11/CARINA L. CAYON/MCW]

Women’s Peace Table aims to participate in peace negotiations

conGReSSIonAl InteRnShIP ceReMonY U.S. Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr. and House of Representatives Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Sr. (seated, center) spoke at the completion cer-emony for the 12th cycle of the Congressional Internship Project for Young Mindanao Lead-

ers (CIPYML), which is implemented through a partnership involving the House of Representa-tives, Mindanao State University in Marawi, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Also participating in the ceremony were (seated, l-r): USAID Mission Director Gloria

Steele, House Secretary-General Marilyn Yap, and Deputy Secretary General Ramon Roque. To date, 273 interns have participated in the rig-orous four-month internship, which gave them the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in public policy formulation, and broaden their un-

derstanding of national issues and democratic governance. CIPYML is managed by USAID’s and implemented under the oversight of the Min-danao Development Authority (MinDA).

‘HE doesn’t understand what government is. He thinks good intentions justify doing anything.’

--Senator Joker Arroyo, in criticizing President Noynoy Aquino

13


December 26 -JANUArY 01, 2012 VOL. 4 NO. 43icthub

BizQuiPS‘THE legal profession is

not necessarily composed of lawyers who are fearful of the Supreme Court even if the Supreme Court is wrong.’

--Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares on the involvement of private lawyers as prosecutors in the trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona

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email or send comprehensive resume with recent 2x2 picture and Transcript of records to [email protected] or

The manager, mP blue gate, Opposite Granland bldg.,r. castillo Street, Davao city

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contact Raf Vlummens at 092 0675 2754 or [email protected]

trv business consultancySMe center - chamber building

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leGAl notIce

Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late PER-FECTO CABASAN DAGOON and CYNTHIA SARION DA-GOON has been EXTRA-JUDICIALLY SETTLED ex-ecuted by their heirs per Doc. No.65; Page No.15 ; Book No. XIII ; Series of 2011 of the NOTARY PUBLIC AURELIO R. CORTADO III.

(Edge 12/19,26, Jan.2)

PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and wholly-owned subsidiary

Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) are set to launch a new wireless Internet service next year.

Called “carrier-grade WiFi”, the service will allow mobile device users to log on the web using indoor and outdoor WiFi hotspots, through the use of a prepaid or postpaid account.

Unlike regular public WiFi hotspots, which are present in malls, shops, and schools, carrier-grade WiFi can be made present even in local neighborhoods.

“We will make this possible by installing access points in our base stations, thus allowing us-ers to connect to our WiFi even in their ownhomes,” Rolando G.

Pena, PLDT Technology Group head said in a statement.

“All they need to do is sign in with a username and pass-word which they can purchase online or in retail stores. In the near future, we would make au-tomatic authentication through the use of the subscriber’s SIM [subscriber identification mod-ule] card,” he said.

As the service uses standard WiFi technology found in most portable devices, the carrier-grade WiFi service can be used by all mobile users regardless of their carrier networks. This makes Smart’s improved network acces-sible to all Filipinos who are look-ing for a more stable and reliable wireless connection.

“We are taking all possible steps to make our carrier-grade

WiFi service the best option for Filipinos to connect to the In-ternet.There will be no need for them to purchase additional equipment and eventually, the same log-in credentials can be used to connect to our 3G ser-vices,” Pena said.

With the nation’s widest coverage and the most extensive and most modern infrastructure, PLDT and Smart’s combined net-work is the best prepared to take on the digital demands of the modern Filipino.

Upgrades amounting to P67 billion aim to take the Inter-net experience to even greater heights with the introduction of both fixed and wireless broad-band technologies such as Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) and Long Term Evolution (LTE). [PNA]

PLDT-Smart to roll out new Wifi service in ‘12

THE next generation of BlackBerry phones will be late. RIM said today

in a quarterly earnings call that phones running Black-Berry 10 -- based on the same software on the PlayBook tablet -- won’t be arriving un-til the second half of 2012.

The news marks the low point in another lousy quar-ter for RIM. Although it’s still making money with $5.17 billion in revenue, that’s

down from $5.49 billion the year before.

[More from Mashable: RIM Executive Faces Charges Over BlackBerry ‘Stampede’ [VIDEO]]

Looking at profits, how-ever, the picture gets darker. The company recorded a profit of $265 million com-pared with $911 million last year. The current quarter took some big one-time hits, though, the largest being a

$485 million write-down on the PlayBook.

Many of the company’s tablets went unsold this quarter, even after deep discounting. RIM shipped just 150,000 tablets over the entire quarter, down from 200,000 the previous quarter. For comparison, Apple reported selling (not shipping) 300,000 iPads in the first day of its release in 2010.

BlackBerry phones not coming until late 2012

EVEN if you love the iPad, you’re probably not keen to write your next

novel using its on-screen virtual keyboard. You may not be thrilled to type up a lengthy email with it, either.

Steve Isaac felt the same way. So the Seattle-based software designer got to work on a way to make the iPad easier to type on. Using a stretchy silicone, he invented a keyboard that sits atop the tablet’s on-screen keyboard when the device is turned on its side. He called it, TouchFire.

Isaac, who worked on an early tablet at comput-ing startup Go in the ‘90s, isn’t unique in dreaming up this type of device. But his invention has garnered in-tense support on Kickstarter — a website where entre-preneurs and artists solicit funding for their projects and often give rewards in exchange, such as a limited-edition poster or first version of a product.

In Isaac’s case, he

A device for elevating the iPad’s keyboard

turned to the site to raise money to transform his pro-totype into a real device, of-fering the first run of Touch-Fires to Kickstarter backers. His effort raised $201,400 by the time it ended last week. That was more than 20 times the $10,000 that he and his business partner had hoped to snag.

The TouchFire’s birth as a consumer product shows the growing importance of sites such as Kickstarter. They offer a new way to fi-nance bright ideas and usher them to the masses. Kick-

starter visitors can search through a bevy of proposals for everything from graphic novels to consumer electron-ics, coming from creators who must meet their stated funding goal in a specified period of time in order to ac-tually use the money.

About 45 percent of the projects meet or exceed their goals, Kickstarter said. This year, site visitors pledged about $79 million to projects that either succeeded, in-cluding Isaac’s, or were still in the process of soliciting funds.

FACEBOOK is “winning the battle for eyeballs and advertising in the

internet display arena,” ac-cording to a report by Enders Analysis. While Google is still “the king of internet advertising” with greater global reach than the social network, Facebook’s more dynamic growth, and rising rates of engagement and us-age, suggest it will continue to dominate the display ad market going forward.

Google’s net display ad revenues totaled $1.5 billion in 2010, according to Enders Analysis, and will rise to $2.5 billion in 2012. Face-book, on the other hand, will report 2011 display revenues at about $3.5 bil-lion, and can expect those to rise to about $5.3 billion in 2012.

While Facebook is clearly the market leader in display, Google remains the internet’s largest advertising player. In 2012, its revenues will hit $35 billion, 90% of which come from Google’s search operations.

Bringing all these num-

Facebook beats GoogleinBattle for Eyeballs

bers together is the fast-growing display ad market. The company founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page has proven its capacity in transforming the search ad market, becoming practical-ly a monopolistic force. But display remains underdevel-oped. According to former Google CEO, and current Chairman Eric Schmidt, the display market could grow to $200 billion in coming years. “Despite Google’s and Facebook’s growing strength, the online display market remains highly frag-mented, [Enders Analysis] project[s] their aggregate share of global spend will be just over 25% in 2012.”

There are four major players in the display ad world: Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo. Google and Facebook exert their dominance via reach and consumption. In terms of monthly unique visitors, Google beats its competitors with 1.1 billion users, about 75% of the global audience. Facebook counts with 770 billion, but is growing at an impressive pace, accounting for 18% of the net increase in internet usage in Q3, com-pared with a combined 1% for Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo combined.

Mark Zuckerberg’s social network derives its strength from engagement. Users spend an average 12 minutes per day on Face-book, a figure that is up 40% over the last 12 months. That’s about 15% of total time spent online, compared

with something like 10% for Google (which ranks second among the big display play-ers).

Facebook’s “expanding reach and rising time spent on the site” are the keys to its display ad success. Rev-enues will continue to grow faster than over at Google, particularly given the rise of the social media ad format and the surge in program-matic ad buying (through the use of exchanges, net-works, demand side plat-forms, etc) which will make it easier to “programme [sic] and optimize large-scale ad campaigns.”

Also playing to Face-book’s favor is Google’s weak-ness in the social sphere. “At this stage, Google’ late entrant look-alike social net-work, Google+, looks set to remain niche,” explained the analysts.

Facebook has slowly opened up its display ad platform to outer players, and will continue to improve it through the addition of new products, such as the “rumored rollout of ads on its highly popular mobile apps” (which run on Apple’s iPhones and Google’s Android OS). But these don’t neces-sarily play against Google. As mentioned above, the market is fragmented and small, and still has room to grow. “Ris-ing advertiser demand for both scale and performance will make many publishers increasingly reliant on one or both of the internet giants for traffic and revenue growth,” explained the analysts.



BizQuiPS‘CEBU Pacific looks

forward to expanding its network in China, especially with Xiamen and Fujian Province being hometown of about 85 percent Filipino-Chinese, including the Gokongweis.’

--Cebu Pacific Vice President for marketing and distribution Candice Iyog.

Good Samaritans pour in for Sendong victimscOmmunitysense

Tulip Drive, Ecoland, Davao City

You can now buy your favorite Business Paper from any of these

establishments still at Php 15.



F. Torres St., Davao CityTel No. 227-3773 - (72)

Fax: 295-3485

PartnerEstablishments

DavaoLOCAL government units

and various private orga-nizations in Davao Region

sent financial and other forms of donation to help the Tropical Storm Sendong victims in Cagay-an de Oro and Iligan City.

Starting Tuesday morning, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte sent off P3-million assistance; P2-million of which was in the form of relief goods while the remain-ing P1 million was in cash as fi-nancial assistance to the victims.

That same day, Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo del Rosario led the send-off of four dump trucks filled with P1 mil-lion worth of relief goods. As chair of the Confederation of Local Chief Executives in Mind-anao, he then asked all governors and mayors of all LGUS in the is-land to send donation to victims of Sendong.

Seeing the needs of the flashflood victims in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City made the local government of Mati City , Davao Oriental through Mayor Michelle Rabat send P200,000 cash assistance for both Cagayan and Iligan calamity victims.

Other initiatives from the private sector also surfaced after they’ve learned about the catas-trophe that hit both cities. Pro-fessional photographers in the city like Jojie Alcantara, Rene Lu-mawag, Rhonson Ng, Bob Mata, Paul Borromeo is organizing Shoot for Hope on December 30, a photography workshop aimed at raising funds for the victims of

the typhoon Sendong.Private establishment like

the Mail and More has become a drop off point for bottled wa-ters, clothes, noodles, biscuits, coffee, canned goods, medicines, blankets, mats, mosquito nets. Donations will be sent directly to DSWD 10 which will be airlifted by Air 21.

Other drop off points are LBC Express branch, Davao Peacebuilder Community lo-cated at the 2nd Flr. Coffee for Peace, McArthur Highway, Mati-na, Davao City (beside EastWest bank, across McDonalds), JCI

Davao Region, Philippine Red Cross, ABS CBN Davao,

Smart subscribers all over the country may send help to those affected by typhoon Sen-dong. Smart Money users can instantly transfer funds through their mobile phones to the offi-cial Baha Fund account number 5577 5130 6822 1104. Donors may also deposit cash to the same Smart Money account number in any Banco De Oro branch nationwide or through Hapinoy and Cebuana Lhuillier outlets. Subscribers may donate to #Sendong victims via text.

Just send RED to 4143. Valid donation amounts are 10, 25, 50, 100.”

Globe Subscribers may also send donation through GCASH by texting DONATE and send to 2882.

Also, the Cebu Pacific Air-lines is offering free shipping of donations.

The Mindanao Develop-ment Authority shares this di-rectory information to guide the public who want to send in their cash or kind donations through these institutions. [PIA 11/MAI GEVERA-

MACAPAGAT]

ABOUT 225 people, mostly children, flocked to the barangay hall of Barangay

Sto. Niño, Tugbok District to avail of the free medical consul-tation and medicines from the medical mission organized by masterplan developer Camella to benefit indigents this Christmas season.

The Davao mission was part of a simultaneous activity conducted last December 18 by Camella covering its selected communities in Davao, Iloilo and Manila.

«Instead of a simultaneous Christmas lighting of our projects in these cities, we decided in-stead to conduct this activity for a good cause,» said Camella Davao GM Marlon B. Escalicas.

The medical mission in Davao was held at the Relocation Area, being the needy commu-nity nearest to Camella’s master planned development in Mintal, Camella Cerritos. The missions

Camella Davao gives back for Christmas

in Manila and Iloilo also belong to the same barangay where Ca-mella’s communities are located.

“This is a call to other com-panies and organizations to also give back to their communities to contribute in improving and uplifting the conditions of people who need them most,” said Es-calicas, adding that apart from the free consultation and medi-cines, they also handed out give-aways, arroz caldo, and juice.

Escalicas said this commu-nity outreach activity exhibits their company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) and is Ca-mella’s way of giving back to the city for its over 16 years of suc-cessful existence in Davao.

The Villar Foundation—whose head Sen. Manny Villar is the sponsor of the CSR bill—partnered with Camella in the simultaneously held missions in the three cities. Other partners

include the Davao Medical Soci-ety through the leadership of Dr. Malou Monteverde, GMA-7, and the barangay officials.

The medical consultations were made by volunteer doctors, namely Olive De Castro MD, Jose Ray Ramirez MD, Gina Al-varez MD, assisted by volunteer nurses, Ma. Louisa Jane Dayot, Nico Adrian dela Cruz, Johnrell Gabuya, Mabelle Rizally Ticon and Carolyn Acedo.

The mission was made possible with assistance from Brgy. Capt. Carlos del Rosario, barangay health workers led by Hessy Amatong, barangay tanods, policemen from Station 9, Mintal, Tugbok District, as well as volunteers from Camel-la’s contractors, such as MGS Construction.



E-mail: [email protected]

YOUTH TRENDSThe renaissance brand P16

UP AND ABOUT

THE HOLIDAY shopping frenzy is not over yet. SM City Davao opens its Year End Sale with up to 70% off on great selections on December 26! Find your favourite things at SM City as joyful holi-day shopping continues until January 15, 2011. Mall hours extend until 10 PM on Dec 26-30! On December 31, Saturday, SM Davao opens early at 9 AM and will close at 7 PM while SM Supermarket opens to serve its customers as early as 7 AM. SM Davao is open on January 1, 2012 from 12 NN to 9 PM. For inquiries, please call 297.6998.

THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON, Fishtank Produc-tions and Starr DinePartyShine have yet an-other installment of their mashup/rnb party series! On the deck, DjSteal of Izakaya and Davao’s DjTorch! Both deejays are in demand for their amazing skills and intense musical productions. Steal, with his distinctive sound and versatile style is recognized across the Philippines – truly a headliner to make any party a memorable experience! Tickets are P250 each with one free beer. For reservations please call (0922) 8436764 or email us at [email protected]. Tickets are limited

ENJOY a refreshing tea drink with a twist at 360° Hand Shaked Tea. Oolong, red and green—take your pick from your favourite tea mix! Oolong tea which is also called wu long tea, is one of those types of tea that is in between green and black. It is a sweet, floral, woody brew that consists of large leaves. This tea has also proven in studies that it can facilitate weight loss, and even decrease the progress of wrinkles and aging of the skin. Red tea is a popular South Afri-can beverage made from the oxi-dized and dried leaves of the Aspal-athis linearis plant. This beverage is also sometimes called rooibois, a reference to the parent plant. Na-tive Africans have been using the leaves of this bush to prepare tea for centuries, and when European explorers were introduced to red tea, they acquired a taste for it. Green tea is another well-known type and also offers great health benefits too. Grown and highly consumed in both China and Japan, this tea branches off into literally hundreds of varieties. Visit the freshest tea concoction in town 360° Hand Shaked Tea, now open at the Ground Floor, East Gallery of SM City Davao.

THE HOLIDAY HUSTLE of shoppers came to a few stops as models in their El-lesse shirts livened the afternoon with surprise performances. Italian brand El-lesse opened its first stand-alone store in Southeast Asia. Defining contemporary lifestyle wear, Ellesse merges simplicity and intri-cacy in its designs while taking influence from its strong Italian heritage with a modern twist. Each product boasts of premium materials, clever details and distinct construction that will satisfy the fancies of the active and stylish indi-vidual. This five-decade old brand is being revived by the Primer Group of Companies, the same company that exclusively dis-tributes popular international brands like Fitflop, Bauhaus, Sledgers and The North Face in the country. Seeing the Philip-pines as a great venue to continue expanding the brand in the Asian market, Ellesse Italia together with the Primer Group of Companies, decided to open its first-ever store in Davao. Driven by the same core values, which include “con-tinuous innovation”, the companies are excited and optimistic about exploring the potential of their market in Davao–a city that has progressed into a busy center for vacations, shopping and local delights. Ellesse is definitely the store to visit during the holidays. With a wide selec-tion of items, finding the perfect gift could be easier than expected. Find El-

Year end sale is on at SM City Davao

Party like its the New Year

Italian brand Ellesse comes to Davao

360° Hand Shaked Tea now at SM Davao

The New Year is just around the corner, and if you are not

yet excited for it, here are some things that are sure to keep you waiting in anticipation for the year that is sup-posed to signal the end of the world.

8The new wing of SM City Davao in ecoland is slated to open in 2012. More impor-

tantly, the new SM Mall in La-nang is also said to open within 2012. what does this mean? It means more jobs for Davaoe-nos so we could have money to spend in new shops and res-taurants that are also slated to invade the city because of this brand new mall. Better news: shops that will open in the new SM mall will be targeted to wider demographic and social strata. This means, more stuff that are budget-friendly.

7The invasion of brand new flavours of alco-pop beverages is also one of the more ex-

citing things that 2012 holds for us. If you have not yet been informed, Tanduay Ice has actually released red and Blue variants that are sure to be as popular as their origi-nal alco-pop outing. antonov also released antonov Ice and antonov Mandarin Orange: two enticing flavours that follow the original antonov apple. These new flavours are the same price as the original which means that we have more affordable options to get us to that happy place we call Land-of-Non-Sobriety.

6although I absolutely adore my Blackberry, one of the things I dis-like about it is the fact

that I can’t make free calls over the internet with it. Thank god, they have now contracted Skype to provide online calling and maybe even video stream-ing for Blackberry handhelds. Skype for Blackberry is said to be launched on May 2012.

5every self-repsecting urbanite has a slew of cool gadgets that make life easier and make

communicating a staple. here is a list of some of the most an-ticipated gadgets to watch out for in 2012: iPad 3: The follow up to the iPad 2 is said to run on iOS5

and features their new assis-tant, Siri. It is also rumoured to have a retina display, wiFi, 3G, and 4G LTe Connections, and a sleek new design. iPhone 5: we have all waited anxiously for the iPhone 5 last year and to find out that what we have been holding out for was the iPhone4S. 2012 how-ever marks the coming of the iPhone 5. why is it so special? I don’t really know yet. I know nothing about the new iPhone which is said to come out dur-ing the last quarter of 2012, and neither do you. why are people interested about it? well, I guess they would like to greet the end of the world in style. Dell Peju Tablet: To compete with the iPad, Dell is creating the Peju tablet which is slated to run on windows 8. It may come out during the first quar-ter of 2012 in the States but there is no telling as to when it will reach our humble shores. wii U: The new frontier in gaming seems to be more com-pact, and without wires. The

wii U is supposed to act as the wii remote control but has its own LCD. how does it work? I have no idea.

4There are also exciting movies to watch out for this 2012 includ-ing:

The Dark Knight rises: The new Batman movie which still stars Christian Bale as the caped crusader. The avengers: which, ac-cording to critics, feels more like Ironman 3 rather than a movie made for a team of superheroes. Obviously, the biggest star in this outing is robert Downey Jr., but it also starts Chris evans and Scarlett Johansson. The hobbit: an Unexpected Journey is a spin-off of the Lord of the rings franchise. It still stars elijah wood accom-panied by the gorgeous Cate Blanchett and the effective Martin Freeman. The amazing Spider-man: It tells the tale of how Peter Parker dealt with his powers during his younger years as a teenager. expect it to be awk-ward and filled with mushy teenage love troubles…and of course some action. Starring andrew Garfield and emma Stone, this outing is definitely one to watch out for.Underworld awakening: If you did not enjoy the previous Un-derworld outing, chances are, you will not enjoy this one as well. The good news is, Kate Beckinsale is back in her tight leather ensemble and hard can-

dy attitude in this tale about vampire warriors.

3Diaspora*: The new so-cial networking site is now already fully-func-tional but is said to hit

it big in 2012. Diaspora* makes it easier for people to protect their posts, screen who can see whatever they are posting, separate friends and categorize contacts, and keep ownership of all your posts, photos, vid-eos, and everything else you post on their site. You hear that sound? That is the sound of Facebook scrambling to kill the competition.

2The Peak at Gaisano Mall has already opened but there are more exciting things

to come. First off, the opening of one of my all time favorite Mongolian Barbecue-style res-taurants are, Kubali Khan, is said to happen during 2012. also, happy Lemon and red Mango are supposed to hit Gaisano Mall’s the Peak really soon. Oh, and there are talks of a new party place opening at the topmost level of the peak in 2012.

1Music makes the world go round, or so they say. Nicki Minaj’s Pink

Friday: roman reloaded; Jus-tin Beiber’s Believe; Madonna’s new album that is slated to come out early next year; wil-low Smith’s Knees and elbows; Ke$ha’s new album that is yet to be titled; T.I.’s Trouble Man and No Doubt’s reunion al-bum are just some of the most anticipated albums that are slated to come this 2012: Listen to Confessions of a Par-typhile on the radio on 105.9 Mix FM every Wednesday nights from 6 to 9 in the PM. For comments, suggestions, and more confes-sions from this partyphile check out http://party.i.ph or follow the columnist on twitter.com/zhaun

Watch out 2012



is always at obvious play at el-lesse. as that day was open-ing day at abreeza, striking models in ellesse shirts were seen in different locations of the mall and gathered every other hour with their boom box to lead mall-goers to the newly-opened store. The first ten shoppers were treated with premium gifts while a minimum purchase of P2,000 equaled a pair of ellesse pants, a jacket or a top. The next 50 shoppers each received a P500 discount that they could use for their next purchase at the store. If at first glance the clothes don’t seal the deal, it is extremely helpful to know that ellesse’s price range hits the sweet spot between paying for something of obvious qual-ity but is nothing too ridicu-lous or exorbitant. Just like its Italian forebears that lead the world into a cul-tural movement, ellesse is a brand with enough verve and panache to inspire its own re-naissance. and this time, the site that it is set to conquer is Davao. Find Ellesse at the 2nd level of Abreeza Mall, J.P. Laurel Av-enue, Davao City.

ellesse was currently all about, as I had seen little and knew even less about it over the years apart from what I sur-mised was an association to sportswear. Meeting Cindie Cheng, ellesse’s brand man-ager of the Primer Group of Companies, in her discreet yet fun gingham print cotton but-ton down from ellesse slowly brought me up to speed. as we made our way to the ellesse store at the sec-ond level of abreeza Mall, the bright lights and modern do of the store interiors instant-ly conveyed that this was a brand on the road to revival. as I fingered the lightweight fabrics and took in the clever little details of the clothes, it was like seeing Cindie’s earlier explanation of ellesse’s thrust to concentrate on contem-porary lifestyle wear come to vibrant life. each piece was a merger of simplicity and intri-cacy in design that took influ-ence from its five decade-long heritage with a modern twist that I was immediately taking to. There were basic tees with bold prints alongside smart lightweight jackets that made one imagine the wearer astride a scooter roaming the cobbled streets of rome. Incidentally, the pulse and character of Italy’s capital is the scene and inspiration behind the brand’s current Fall/winter collection. There will be no pigeonhol-ing of this brand as something strictly sporty. although the clothes still give a nod to its earlier history as being popu-larly patronized by interna-tional celebrities and sports personalities in the 1970s up

until the 90s, there is what they call an emotive quality to the clothes that place them above the cut of ordinary sleek sports apparel. although the snap buttons and waterproof fabric are in place, they come covered in fashionable wrap-ping – punchy colors and great construction – that beckons to the fancies of active, stylish individual. Lest we not forget either that the passions of Ital-ians govern the brand’s design

philosophy, the spirit of “La Dolce Vita” that is essentially about vitality and confidence

MY earLIeST MeMOrY of ellesse was from back when I was 6 years old in hongkong. My dad bought me my very first watch from the brand, a simple sporty one with a white face and green strap that befitted my age. I remember gazing at the brand’s logo every so often and committing its half-tennis ball shape to memory, a little unbeliev-

ing that I had a timepiece to call my very own. Fast forward to last week when my editor Kenneth told me that ellesse was setting up shop in Davao and that we were invited. I was intrigued and a little surprised to hear from a brand that I considered an old friend. I was eager to find out what

The renaissance brandEVENTS


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You can now buy your weekly paper fill of in-depth business news and features from any of these

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17December 26 -JANUArY 01, 2012 VOL. 4 NO. 43

if you’re up to hauling those carry-ons everywhere you go. Planes (and overhead com-partments) are going to be at their fullest capacity. If you take regular medication, make sure you take this with you on the plane just in case your lug-gage is delayed. • Keep the kids happy (and well fed). Travelers with young children will want to plan for amuse-ments and distractions for long waits, drives, or flights. hav-ing a few “sur-prise” novelty items to hand out at inter-vals is a good technique to combat bore-dom and fussi-ness. Since chil-dren (and adults!) tend to be more anxious and stressed when hungry, bring along some snacks (prefer-ably of the non-sticky, non-melting variety) and a bottle of water. Don’t count on the airplane meal appealing to your child’s tastes or even be-ing served when you’d like it. Likewise, plan for long

highway stretches and traffic jams, which mean you won’t have instant access to food vendors. another advantage is that you yourself won’t fall into the trap of be-

c o m -ing cranky due

to hunger pangs. • Think about

changes of cloth-ing. If your children

belong to the baby/tod-dler set, consider having an accessible change of clothing for you as well as for the little ones, since your little frequent flyer may decide to spill his food on you rather than on himself. You can also dress in layers which can be removed if necessary. If you must ar-rive looking your best, think

about traveling in comfortable clothes and changing on the plane or at a rest area before you reach your destination. • Plan ahead for next year’s holidays. This is the last thing you’re likely to want to do in the midst of holiday stress. But if you find that your holiday travel is unbearable, use this year’s get-together to

discuss alternate plans for next year. If fam-

ily “tradition” dictates that you meet at a far-off or inconve-

nient location for you, sug-gest a change

to a more ac-cessible place

for next year (or offer to act as host

yourself). You may even feel you need to skip

travel and family gather-ings altogether next year. a tactful announcement that you’re planning to do some-thing different next year is much easier to make now than three weeks before next year’s festivities. If you remain committed to travel-ing at holiday time, make a note in your calendar to ar-range plane reservations for your trip months in advance to avoid inconvenient flight times and connections. with these travel tips, I wish all a safe travel to your Christmas destinations and a Merry Christmas to each and everyone! Cheers!

FOODHEALTH

TraVeLING is an inte-gral part of the holi-day season for many people. while travel-

ing any time can be a major source of stress, holiday travel (loaded with gifts and baggage, with the kids along, through possible rainy weather, and on common crowded pre and post-holiday travel dates) is even more nerve racking. al-though you can’t eliminate the stress associated with holiday travel, these tips can help you lessen the impact of holiday travel stress. • Accept the situation and plan ahead. Crowded airplanes and highways, rainy weather, harried personnel, and unexpected delays are all aspects of your trip which are beyond your control. assume you’re likely to encounter most or all of these obstacles and that you aren’t going to be able to change them. Instead, focus on your reactions to these stressors. anticipation of stressful occurrences, and forming a mental plan for re-maining calm and dealing with them, will greatly reduce your perception of stress. • Give yourself enough time. whatever your mode of travel, allow yourself more time than you can possibly imag-ine that you will need when traveling for the holidays. This is particularly important for heavy-travel days. On these days, just about everything in-cluding check-in lines, finding a cab, and airport parking can be expected to take longer than usual. Business travelers accus-tomed to a travel routine may also find that traveling with the family along doesn’t run quite as smoothly or efficiently as when traveling solo. Knowing that you have adequate time to deal with any unexpected occurrences can help prevent anxiety and stress. Should you arrive at the airport early, re-member that sitting in an air-port lounge working or read-ing is far more relaxing than sitting in a traffic-stalled taxi 20 minutes before your flight departs. • Make a few contingency plans. Consider the truly un-expected circumstances. For examples, you drive to the air-port and the parking lots are full, or a typhoon is approach-ing your destination city. al-ways check weather, traffic, and parking reports before de-parting, and have some backup ideas (leave earlier, leave later, use another mode of transpor-tation) ready to prevent panic. • Check your bags. If you’re traveling by air and dedicated to your carry-on, consider the advantages of checking your luggage. The risk of delayed or lost baggage is actually very small, and the freedom of movement gained during your journey is often worth the risk. Think about possible delays and decide

Destress holiday travel



PROPERTY Forum

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CAMELLA whips up an exciting Christmas offer to homebuyers eyeing

Camella Northpoint as a pres-ent for themselves and their loved ones this yuletide sea-son. It is making huge slash offs in rates to make it easier for buyers to own a unit in this British colonial-themed condo development.

“If you’ve always wanted to live in Camella Northpoint, now is the best time to make your move. The Christmas Condo Rush for Nottingham is on until December 31,” said Bella Comidoy, Camella Mar-keting Staff.

Nottingham is the third building of Camella North-point, and the only 10-storey condo tower in the city, a midrise structure that is easy to navigate up or down, and yet offers a splendid view of the city.

With only two weeks to go before yearend, homebuy-ers can hurry over to Camella offices and reserve their pre-ferred studio, 2-bedrrom, or 3-bedroom units in Notting-ham with the reduced reser-vation fee of only P8,000.

All units will also have

extended down payment terms of up to 18 months. A 20% initial down payment is spread out, with P8,000 pay-able in the first 10 months and the balance payable with-in the next eight months.

“What’s more, we will give our homebuyers a P50,000 outright discount for a studio unit,” added Co-midoy, urging buyers to call Camella offices at 222-0963, 222-5221,222-5223 (telefax) and 0917-8576572, or visit them at 2/F Delgar Building, JP Laurel Ave., Bajada, Davao City.

Making this Christmas condo rush offer more irresist-ible is the free interior design schemes for studio units that homebuyers can choose from, eliminating the guesswork on how to best design their new homes. The designs were cre-ated especially for Camella Northpoint by two of Manila’s renowned interior designers, Michael Pizarro and Katrina Jacildo.

To up the ante in their Christmas giveaways, Camel-la’s “Home for the Holidays” promo will also give away big-ticket items such as a House

& Lot, brand new car, Asian Cruise for four, cash prizes and exciting freebies to buy-ers this season.

Camella Northpoint is the only masterplanned com-munity in the city with a lush green environment filled with imported Caribbean pine trees that can grow to a hundred feet tall. These all-weather pines will infuse Northpoint with a pine-scented ambiance that makes it a one-of-a-kind natural haven within the heart of north Davao’s emerg-ing urban center.

Its stately clubhouse named Wakefield Manor takes centerstage within the condo property, its posh fac-tor enhanced by world-class facilities and amenities, such as the city’s first salinated wellness pool, fitness gym, cabanas with grill pits, multi-use hall, charming parks and pocket gardens, playground, sculpted landscaping, and a grand entry gate equipped with closed circuit TV camer-as bolstering the condo’s 24/7 security system.

All these make North-point the only condo devel-opment in the city that fuses

modern condo living with a sub-urban community charm afforded by its outdoor fa-cilities, verdant environment, and the neighbourhood ca-maraderie enjoyed by its se-lect group of homeowners whose social interaction is encouraged by the condo’s professional property man-agement.

Also making this land-mark condo development clearly a cut above the rest is its own lifestyle commercial development located a few steps outside the condo com-munity. The elegant White Mansion, a local landmark preserved by Camella, is un-dergoing work to accommo-date a fine dining restaurant, heralding the start of the distinct lifestyle that makes Camella Northpoint the place to be, a condo community like no other in Davao, and a future lifestyle destination in the city.

To have a feel of the season and see the splendour of Camella Northpoint all dressed up for the holidays, everyone is welcome to visit and view its Christmas decors and lighting spectacle.

Christmas condo rush for Nottingham

19


December 26 -JANUArY 01, 2012 VOL. 4 NO. 43

games

team Zoelo Diesel oil, champion of the trip TEAM Zoelo Diesel Oil

emerged champion in the second season of the Trip

Ko Phoenix Fuels Basketball Cup held December 18, 2011, Sunday, at the Davao City Rec-reation Center (formerly Al-mendras Gym).

Zoelo Diesel won against this season’s 1st runner-up Accelerate Vega with a score of 73-68. Teams Cyclomax Titan and Cyclomax 4T Force landed on the third and fourth place. Their score was 66-62.

John Von Lester Lacorte of Zoelo Diesel, a native of Samal, was proclaimed as this

season’s Most Valuable Player. “This was my first tournament and I’m so happy we won. I thank Phoenix for giving me the opportunity to be part of this basketball cup,” said La-corte.

Lacorte’s teammate Josh-ua Damag, along with Acceler-ate Vega’s Eric Patrick Dulay and Geevy Guianan, Cyclomax Titan’s Sean Africa and Phillip Yaco, were named the basket-ball cup’s Mythical Five.

Special prizes were also given to the top three winners of the ‘3-Point Shoot Out’.

Coach Rhoel Josol of

Team Zoelo Diesel Oil said their practices really paid off. “These kids really wanted to win. Before every game we practice hard because we know other teams are good too. I always tell them to give their best and enjoy ev-ery game. I’m thankful to my team for believing in me, and to Phoenix for organizing this tournament. I also thank God for another victory,” Coach Jo-sol said. He was also the coach of last season’s champion Team Cyclomax Titan.

Phoenix Petroleum Phil-ippines is set to bring a better

basketball cup with the Trip Ko Phoenix Fuels Basketball Cup Season 3 which will start on January, next year.

The Trip Ko Phoenix Fu-els Basketball Cup Season 2 opened on November 12 with six teams: Cyclomax Titan, Cyclomax 4T, Zoelo Extreme, Zoelo Diesel, Accelerate Vega, and Accelerate Supreme. Each team was led by professional coaches and was composed of 15 players of age 13 to 15, mostly from public schools. It is the first and only non-school based tournament for the youth in Davao City.

Team Zoelo Diesel Oil, champions of the Trip ko Phoenix Fuels Basketball Cup Season 2

THE newly-crowned Phil-ippine Air Force Football Team is probably just

one of several soccer clubs in the country’s United Football League which does not em-ploy the services of Filipino half-breeds.

But fans of the Air Force team laden with pure-blood-ed and less fancied Filipino booters did not stop believing that local talents have what it takes to upend heavy favorites, such as Loyola-Meralco and Global, both teams boasting of Phil-foreigners in their cast.

Duffie Botavara, a rated national player back in the late 70s, gushed with encourag-ing words when he said that homegrown talents could clash head-on with half-Fil-ipinos playing for European clubs, given the right motiva-tion, training, as well as fi-nancial support. And most im-

portant of all, the lusty cheers emanating from a growing, enthusiastic Filipino crowd.

Avid fans are familiar with the names of Chiefy Ca-ligdong, Ian Araneta and Yanti Bersales of the Philippine Az-kals. They are all stalwarts of the Air Force juggernaut. But who has heard of the Leonora brothers, Mark Ferrer, Jimmy Bayona, Randy Bela-ong, Jim-my Bermejo, Elmer Tonog, to name just a few? Yes, they all play for Air Force; and about 15 of them are of Ilonggo origin, mostly coming out of Iloilo’s football-crazy town of Barotac Nuevo. The coaching staff composed of Edcel Bra-camonte and Leo Jaena are also products of Barotac’s foot-ball pitch.

“Native Filipino foot-ballers can be on a par with foreign players,” Botavara said. [PNA]

homegrown talents hold promise for Phl football

THE Philippine junior golf-ers brought honor to the country by topping three

divisions of the 3rd BMW Guam Junior Golf League Tournament last December 17 and 18 at the Leo Palace Re-sort in Yoña, Guam.

International Master Marlon Bernardino said Aidric Chan ruled the boys’ 10 and below, Kyla Nocum in the girls’ 10 and below, and Arnie Tagu-ines in the girls’ 8 and below.

Samantha Martirez, meantime, placed second in the girls’ 14 and below in the annual event which lured junior golfers from Guam, Saipan, The Marianas, Micro-nesia, Korea and the Philip-pines.

“I was inspired by what Kuya (John) Lester (Lagman) did in Malaysia where he fin-ished with gold,” said Aidric, a grade 4 pupil of Ateneo, refer-ring the bronze medal finish of his best friend John Lester

Lagman who averted what could have been a medal shut-out in junior golf by capturing the bronze in the 10th Sutera Harbor Junior Amateur Open 2011 in Kota Kinabalu, Malay-sia last December 5 to 6.

“I did my best in Guam and it paid off,” added Aidric, also the 2010 champion who is celebrating his 11th birthday on December 23.

He was coached by Juan-ito “Pago” Pagunsan, father of Juvic, who was named the Players’ Player of the Year at the Asian Tour Awards Gala to go with the prestigious Or-der of Merit crown held at the St. Regis Hotel last Sunday in Bangkok, Thailand.

“Even if it was difficult, my son reached his goal of be-ing a winner. If (John) Lester Lagman was included in the team, he could have given us another gold,” Chan’s father, Deo said.

John Lester failed to com-

pete in this year’s 3rd BMW Guam Junior Golf League Tournament due to earlier commitment to play in the Secretary of National Defense Golf Cup held at the Veterans Golf Club in Quezon City.

Lagman, the 12-year-old nephew of businessman Mikee Romero, topped the Secretary of National Defense Golf Cup tournament sponsored by Secretary of National Defense Voltaire Gazmin in close co-operation with Veterans Golf Club general manager Brig. Gen. Patrick Madayag (ret.).

The Philippine Junior Golfers are preparing for the junior world qualifying this coming April 2012 in San Di-ego and U.S. Kids Qualifying tour on May in North Caro-lina.

All of them are sched-uled to play in the Philippine International Jungolf Tourna-ment in January 2012 in Ma-nila. [PNA]

Phl junior golfers win 3 gold medals in guam tilt

team Phoenix Moto-X Davao tops in lanao int’l MotocrossMEMBERS of the Team

Phoenix Moto-X Davao bagged top honors in the

just-concluded Lanao Interna-tional Motocross held in Tubod, Lanao del Norte.

Kimboy Pineda of Phoenix Moto-X Davao ruled the Expert Open by beating Donark Yuson and Ted Conde who finished sec-ond and third, respectively.

Pineda’s teammates Jeven Lagrada, John Almerino and brother Jesse Pineda shared the limelight by topping their respec-tive divisions. Lagrada won the Intermediate category, while Almerino dominated both the Be-ginners Local Enduro and Open Local Enduro events.

Jesse Pineda, on the other hand, captured the Novice cat-egory while Kimboy also placed

4th in the Pro Open won by the country’s no. 1 rider Glen Agui-lar followed by Donark Yuson and Team KTM Davao’s Bornok Mangosong as second and third, respectively.

Four other Phoenix Moto-X Davao riders Abu Mata, Kent Jeri-cho Dimaano, Vince Penalosa, Mark Mosquera and Tristan Lou Galanto earned honors in their respective events.

Mata, son of team manager Bok, settled for second place be-hind Mclean Aguilar in the 85cc Beginners Local while Dimaano placed fourth followed by Pen-alosa.

Mosquera finished fourth in the Beginners won by fellow Dabawenyo Christopher Bandiga of KTM Davao. Galanto earned fourth place both in the Begin-

ners Local Enduro and Open Lo-cal Enduro.

American Tiger Lacey lived up to his billing by winning the International category. Dennis Stapleton of USA finished sec-ond while Mangosong, Nathan Tieney and Aguilar placed third, fourth and fifth.

Actor-singer Sam Milby showed his riding prowess by winning the Celebrity category. He was followed by Jordan Her-rera, Mikael Banaag and Buboy Fernandez in that order.

The other champions were Ompong Gabriel (50cc), Pia Ga-briel (Ladies), Dexter Bacabac (Executive A), Ryan Oliveros (Ex-ecutive B), Jay Lanit (Executive C), Jungle Cabuco (Underbone Novice) and Paing Unahon (Un-derbone Open). [LDR]

BASKETBALL star Kobe Bryant’s wife, who stood by her husband

when he was charged with sexual assault in 2003, filed for divorce on Friday from the Los Angeles Lakers star, citing irreconcilable differ-ences after a decade of mar-riage.

Vanessa Bryant signed the papers on Dec. 1. Kobe Bryant signed his response on Dec. 7 and it was filed Friday, documents revealed.

“The Bryants have re-solved all issues incident to their divorce privately with the assistance of counsel and a judgment dissolving their marital status will be entered in 2012,” according to a statement from a repre-sentative for the couple.

In the filing, Vanessa Bryant asked for joint legal and physical custody of the couple’s two daughters, Na-talia, 8, and Gianna, 5. Kobe Bryant asked for the same in his response. Vanessa also requested spousal support.

Bryant met his future wife in 1999 on a music video shoot when Vanessa Laine was 18 years old. Six months later, she and the then 21-year-old Bryant be-came engaged. They mar-ried on April 18, 2001.

The Bryants have been through trying times to-gether. Vanessa appeared at a news conference with her husband when he was charged with sexually as-saulting a 19-year-old woman who worked at the exclusive Lodge & Spa at Cordillera near Vail, Colo-rado, in 2003. She held his hand and stroked it tenderly as the NBA star admitted he was guilty of adultery—but nothing else.

Bryant’s wife files for the divorce

BASKETBALL fans will have their fill of high-octane basketball action

when the PBA welcomes the year

2012 with eight games in eight nights to usher in the Phil-ippine Cup semifinals.

To give the viewing public a better chance to see all the Fi-nal 4 games, from January 4 to 11, one

semifinal game will be played each night at 6:45 p.m.

“This nightly semifinal schedule makes it easier for the fans to be able to watch all our games

live,” said PBA commis-sioner Chito Salud. “Those coming from work or school can catch the games

from the start and because there’s only one game, they can also go home earlier.”

The 8-game stretch is a first in the rich 37-year history of Asia’s first play-for-pay bas-

ketballleague.Games 5 to 7, if necessary,

will revert back to the usual PBA schedule, with Game 5 to be played on

January 13, Game 6 on January 15 and Game 7 on January 18.

Game 1 of the Finals will be played in Digos City in Davao del Sur on January 20. Then, breaking

from the traditional game-day, Game 2 will be played on the Chinese New Year holiday, January 23, a

Monday, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The suc-ceeding games will be played on traditional PBA

gamedays, with Game 3 scheduled on January 25, Wednesday. If the champion-ship series goes to a Game

7, the last game of the conference will be played on February 3, 2012.

PBA welcomes year 2012 with 8 games in 8 nights

Philippine athletes to the 27th SEA Games in Myanmar in 2013 are to compete only in sports that are also offered in the Asian and Olympic Games, according to Phil-ippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia.

Garcia said this would help lower the cost of partici-pation in the biennial event as well as stop the practice of fielding athletes in non-Olym-pic events where they have no chance of winning any medal.

“In the SEA Games, it has been the practice for host countries to include indig-enous or traditional sports which the host nation tends to dominate,” he said.

Garcia, who had just re-turned from the Asean Sports Ministers meeting in Indo-

nesia, said most of the SEA Games participating coun-tries have agreed to limit the events to sports that are actu-ally in the Asian and Olympic games.

Acknowledging that it may be a little late to adopt the changes for the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar, he said what is important is that the proposal had been introduced to Asean members.

“We will discuss the mat-ter with the Philippine Olym-pic Council,” he added.

At last month’s 26th SEA Games in Jakarta and Palem-bang, Indonesia organized 43 sports, the highest number ever offered at the biennial games. It was not surprising that host Indonesia won the most num-ber of medals [PNA/BERNAMA]

Phl to vie only in olympic, Asiangames events in Myanmar seAg

‘LIFE may be difficult, but still it is no reason to patronize toys that are cheap but dangerous to their (children’s) health.’

--Secretary Ramon Paje of the Department of Environment and

Natural Resources

BizQuiPS

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