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 January 13, 2012

VOL. 4 NO. 46JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012

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

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EDGEDAVAOTHE BUSINESS PAPER

2 JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012VOL. 4 NO. 46

On the coverIt fIgures

US BPO firm to expand in Davao, Cebu 1.6 millionNUMBER of Social Security

System (SSS) pensioners whose eligibility will ne validated start-ing this year. To validate eligibil-ity, pensioners will be required to report or appear to their depository bank of nearest SSS branch as part of the process.

141,616 unitsVEHICLE sales last year,

showing a 4-percent decrease compared to the 147,488 units in 2010, due largely to disrup-tions in the supply of vehicle units and automotive parts. Sales of all types of vehicles posted declines by the end of 2011, according to a report jointly made by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and Truck Manufacturers Association.

19.4 percentDROP in Philippine export

receipts in November 2011, from the $4.146 billion report-ed in the same month in 2010. The sharp drop in outbound shipments of electronic prod-ucts pulled down overall sales in November to $3.342 billion, according to the National Sta-tistics Office.

5.8 percentAVERAGE annual contribu-

tion of the tourism sector to the Philippins’ gross domestic product from 2000 to 2010, ac-cording to the National Statisti-cal Coordination Board. In 2010 alone, direct gross value added from tourism reached P518.5 billion, or 13 percent higher than the P459 billion reported the year before.

P1.626 trillionALMOST the entire or 98.9

percent of the P1.645-trillion national budget for 2011 re-leased as of December 31, 2011, according to Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.

P1.62 billionTOTAL contributions of

Pag-IBIG members in Southern Mindanao in 2011, showing an increase of 14.59 percent over members’ contribution made in 2010 which reached P1.415 billion. Davao City, which ac-counted for P644.002 million, increased its contribution by 13.79 percent.

n 402 landslide-prone areas in the Davao Region

City exceeds tax goals in 2011 Exports growth contractedfurther in November 2011

Bill professionalizing Customs Bureau filed

Sara gives all-out supportto local tourism industry

NEW York-based busi-ness process outsourc-ing (BPO) provider

ExlService Holdings Inc. will expand its operation in the Philippines by putting up ad-ditional facilities in the cities of Davao and Cebu.

“We are also looking at other cities in the Philip-pines. There’s a large sup-ply of talent in Cebu and Davao,” said ExlService transformation services head Rembert de Villa.

Davao City has the larg-est talent pool of all the Philippines Next Wave Cities with more than half of the city’s population in the 17-24 age bracket—currently estimated at 225,478—are in college education.

The city is host to more than 40 colleges and universities, producing be-tween 12,000-15,000 gradu-ates each year in the fields of math and information technology, business man-agement, engineering and technology, fine and applied arts and medical and allied fields.

A favorable business en-vironment, access to a good supply of talent, good qual-ity of life and lower costs of utilities are some of the fac-tors that are being sought out by Information Technol-ogy-BPO companies invest-ing in emerging locations.

Currently the IT-BPO sector in Davao City has

around 11,000 full-time employees. Around 8,000 people are working for the voice sector and the remain-ing 3,000 employed as medi-cal transcriptionists, software developers, process engineers and other allied professions in the non-voice IT sector.

De Villa said the com-pany is growing its local workforce before the end of 2012 as it takes advantage of the large supply of talent the Philippines has to offer.

ExlService, a New York-based outsourcing and transformation services com-pany, delivers highly com-plex operations in insurance, healthcare, customer service, finance, accounting and legal support services.

It officially opened its second site in the country at the SM Mall of Asia’s Two E-Com Center in Pasay City last Wednesday attended by no less than President Aquino.

ExlService’s expanded facility is expected to cre-ate 1,000 high-level jobs in the rapidly growing BPO industry. Its pioneer site in the Philippines currently em-ploys more than 1,500 pro-fessionals.

The opening of the facil-ity comes just days after US President Obama’s allies on Capitol Hill filed a bill to dis-courage the outsourcing of work to countries like India and the Philippines.

De Villa said that while

the measure should be a cause for concern for the Philippines, the country’s BPO industry was also no stranger to such calls.

“Mr. Obama is up for reelection. But in our expe-rience, this is very typical in a political environment,” he said.

Incidentally, he said ExlService’s most recent ex-pansion would help support one of the Obama adminis-tration’s key projects: univer-sal healthcare.

The new site would serve as an “international care center” from where the company will offer “health-care advocacy” work for its newest client: a US-based health insurance firm that De Villa declined to identify.

He said the new health-care laws in US were forcing insurance companies to keep their costs down to be able to take in more customers with-out increasing premiums.

President Aquino thanked the ExlService lead-ership for expanding its oper-ations in the Philippines, not-ing that its bigger operation is a good start for the country as it enters a new year.

ExlService expansion in the Philippines is a manifes-tation of the renewed inves-tors’ confidence in the Philip-pines under the new govern-ment, the President said.

“Since I assumed office many expressed confidence

in our country. But like I’ve said in inaugurations like this there is no greater expres-sion of confidence than actu-ally doing business here,” he stressed.

“Rest assured that as you continue doing business here, we will continue doing what we can to make things easier for you,” he said.

Aquino expressed con-fidence that ExlService, like other business process outsourcing (BPO) compa-nies, would be able to hire enough qualified personnel that is why the government launched the industry based training-for-work scholarship program under the Technical Education and Skills Devel-opment Authority (TESDA).

The program provides free training to potential BPO workers in the contact cen-ter, software development, animation and medical tran-scription sectors, the Presi-dent said.

He reported that as of January 4, 2012, the gov-ernment released more than P140 million of the P500 million allocated for the BPO sector under the disburse-ment acceleration program, which is equivalent to over 23,000 scholarships.

The government also continues to work with the Business Process Outsourcing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) for the training and job generation program, the

President said. The Department of Sci-

ence and Technology (DOST) is also working to improve the English proficiency of the country’s college students in preparation for BPO and call center jobs, he added.

To create more jobs outside Metro Manila, the President said, the govern-ment has been promoting next wave cities initiative to expand call center and BPO locations in the country that include the cities of Cebu, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro, he said.

“We are doing what we can for the BPO sector be-cause we believe that your success goes hand in hand with national development. Your continued confidence has allowed us to be a global leader in the industry,” the President said.

As long as there are people who lack job oppor-tunities and as long as there is prevalence in poverty, the government will continue to work to improve the lives of the people, the President said.

“We will strive to be-come even better, to have more streamlined processes, to have an even more skilled work force, to create an even more viable economic space so that we will be leaders in this industry in the foresee-able future,” he said. [WITH

GREG G. DELIGERO AND PNA]

THE city government of Davao exceeded its tax collection target of

more than P200 million for the year 2011.

City Treasurer Rodrigo Riola bared that since he assumed as treasurer, this is the first time the city had collect this much from the various collection depart-ments in Davao.

The actual tax collec-tion reached P4.5 billion, with the bulk coming from business taxes which

reached P766 million in 2011, a target accom-plishment rate of 111 per-cent.

“We hope to surpass or even duplicate this amount for 2012 because the city needs money to implement some projects,” he said.

Meanwhile, Business Bureau head Atty. Tristan Dwight Domingo reported that the office accommo-dated 16,553 applicants for business permit renewals as of January 11.

In previous years, the office received up to 22,000 applications in the same period. However, with the number of applicants who renewed more than a week before the January 20 dead-line, the official projects more applicants this year that may even reach 25,000.

“We are still halfway before the deadline, but we have already receiveed this many,” he said.

The Business Bureau continues to urge business owners to renew their per-mits as early as possible so as to avoid penalties and congestion in designated

paying stations.Applicants for business

renewal may proceed to the Sangguniang Panlungsod office from 8am to 5 pm and on the last day up to 12 midnight. The office has also opened a one-stop-shop for this particular transac-tion at the NCCC Mall, Maa.

Riola wants to have the renewal process also con-ducted at the district level.

“This way, we could decongest traffic and it also benefits business owners who need not travel far to reach the Business Bureau office to pay renewal fees. [PIA/MAI GEVERA-MACAPAGAT]

DomingoRiola

MAYOR Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio said she is giv-ing her all out support to the tourism industry after induct-ing the new set of officers, board of directors and mem-bers of the Dabaw Tourism Operators Association (Dab-toa) Thursday.

“Tourism is the biggest industry that brings in money from outside Davao City,” she said, adding that her admin-istration fully backs Dabtoa which is composed of tour op-erators and business establish-ments involved in the tourism business.

The new Dabtoa officers are Charito Aranda of 829 One World Travel, president; Lino Lee of John Gold Group, vice president; Susan Alvarado of

109 Ticket Zone, secretary; Aida Avila of Pacific Blue Trav-el, treasurer; Estrelita Jagonia of Jewelry Express, assistant treasurer; Jerome Camina of RCBC, auditor; press relation officers Darius Relatado of GMA Davao Channel 7 and Lito delos Reyes of Mindanao Daily Mirror.

Board directors are John Baricuatro of John Gold Group, Domingo Ang of Marina Tuna, Ronald Go of EcoTrans Car Rentals, Evelyn Elemino of D’Leonor Hotel, Jaime Llames of Philippine Retirement Au-thority, Elizabeth Dureza of Seagull Mountain Resort and Alma Uy of Tagum Tourism Council, who was represented by Edith Julian of Haven’s Peak Mountain Resort.

Inducted as new mem-bers were Mary Vic Alvarez of Sunny World Travel, Ronelyn Llanos of Miso Spa, Ray Irwin Rubio of Cubepixel, Abegail Dionela of Bonjee Clowns, Jazmine Middleton of Bluejaz Resort and Queenie Fukuoka of Oriental Restaurant.

Dabtoa, which has 30 of-ficers and members, will cel-ebrate its first anniversary on June 14 at the D’Leonor Hotel in Bajada at 2 pm.

Among Dabtoa’s activi-ties held last year were the first Davao Tourism & Trade Expo at the NCCC Mall in August, Kayak Summerfest at Bluejaz Resort in Samal in May and participation in the Philippine Travel Mart at the SM Mega-mall last September.

THE National Economic and Development Author-ity (NEDA) said that the

weak performance of merchan-dise exports in November last year is in large part a result of high cost of raw materials, the lower global spending, and sup-ply chain disruptions caused by the floods in Thailand.

The agency made this statement after the National Statistics Office (NSO) report-ed that the country’s export revenue in November 2011 amounted to $3.342 billion, or 19.4-percent lower than the $4.146 billion figure in Novem-ber 2010.

Secretary Cayetano W. Paderanga Jr. noted that ex-ports of manufactures declined on account of the poor perfor-mance of semiconductors, elec-tronic data processing unit, and automotive electronics.

“However, this trend is not unique to the country as worldwide sales of semicon-ductors suffered a 2.4 percent decline in November 2011,”

said Paderanga, who is also NEDA Director-General.

Paderanga said that ac-cording to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the floods in Thailand have dis-rupted supply chains, which impacted on semiconductor sales.

He added that Thailand also posted a negative exports growth of 12.5 percent in No-vember 2011, as most indus-tries temporarily scaled back their production because of difficulties in exporting and importing goods from flood-hit areas in the country.

Looking at the perfor-mance of other countries, “in addition to decelerating exports growth, the very small share of the Philippines in the exports market is also worth noting. In contrast, the neighboring coun-tries are experiencing higher exports growth rate and the revenues from exports were also at much higher levels in November 2011,” the Cabinet official said.

A measure seeking to pro-fessionalize the Bureau of Customs was filed in

the House of Representatives.House Bill 5631, prin-

cipally authored by Rep. Ru-fus Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro), amends Republic Act No. 9280 also known as the Customs Brokers Act of 2004.

Rodriguez and co-author Rep. Maximo Rodriguez Jr. (Partylist, Abante Mindanao) moved to professionalize the BoC to enable the Philippines to comply with its commit-ment to the International Convention on the Simplifi-cation and Harmonization of Customs Procedures otherwise known as the Revised Kyoto Convention.

They also sought to make

customs brokers more aware of their responsibility and ac-countability as professionals.

In filing the bill, Rodri-guez noted that “Section 6 of RA 9280, which covers the scope of practice of customs, the broker profession in its present form does not consider employment in government as practice of profession unlike other regulatory laws on ac-countancy or mechanical engi-neering, among others.”

They proposed to amend Section 6 to make exclusive the Customs Broker Licensure examination (CBLE) and BAR Examination converted into professional level civil service eligibility under Republic Act 1080 for second level positions requiring expertise in customs and tariff administration.

EDGEDAVAO THE BUSINESS PAPER

3JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012 VOL. 4 NO. 46

EDGEDAVAOTHE BUSINESS PAPER

4 JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012VOL. 4 NO. 46

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

PHL car, parts makers seek gov’t tie-up

DOH prioritizes health infra in Mindanao

THE Export Pathways Program (EPP) of the Department of Trade

and Industry (DTI) 11 gen-erated US$53.92 million in export sales in 2011.

Based on the prelimi-nary annual report of DTI 11, the said export sales is 54 per-cent higher as compared to last year’s EPP performance. This is even higher by 67 per-cent of the agency’s annual target.

The EPP is DTI’s banner program for export develop-ment, wherein entrepreneurs are being nurtured and given the appropriate and tailor-fit package of assistance for

them to penetrate the inter-national trading arena and sustain their export activities. This package of assistance includes export mentoring, product development con-sultancy, and market intelli-gence, among others.

Since it started in 2006, the program has already served more than 300 ex-porters in the region.

Top exports cited in the 2011 EPP report included banana, which contributed 52 percent of the total fig-ure; coconut at 32 percent; construction materials of the Nakayama Technology Corporation in Digos City at

nine percent; and other sec-tors (wood and furniture, gifts, toys, and housewares, fresh and processed fruits, and processed food) at seven percent.

EPP’s innovative and emerging products such as cacao/tablea, coco coir/peat, virgin coconut oil (VCO), coco syrup, granulated char-coal, and Cavendish banana from the small-scale produc-ers generated much of the trade transactions.

Apart from its export performance, the EPP also reaped other impressive ac-complishments like generat-ing P509.87 million worth

of domestic sales, infusing P146.80 million of invest-ments, and providing 3,210 jobs.

DTI 11 Regional Direc-tor Marizon S. Loreto said that DTI 11 is determined to sustain these major ac-complishments and will even implement some more inno-vative strategies in order to meet its goal of unleashing the region’s full economic potential. First pilot-tested in Davao, the EPP is now implemented in all export-ing regions of the country.

“It is our constant quest to continuously pro-vide a conducive environ-

ment for business to keep on flourishing in the region and of course without sac-rificing the welfare of con-sumers,” she said. [DTI 11/JEN-

MENDOZA]

DTI’s export programgenerates $53.92 M

REPRESENTATIVES of the local vehicle and parts manufac-

turing sector called on the government to work with them for expansion of the domestic market to cap-ture a significant share in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) single market starting 2015.

“Auto and parts manufacturing in the Philippines is both viable and sustainable. An ambi-tious but realistic strategy can take it to the next level,” Feliciano Torres, chairman of the Philip-pine Automotive Com-petitiveness Council Inc. (PACCI), said.

“To achieve that, we

must develop and sustain a public-private partner-ship (PPP) that creates reforms and public poli-cies that support industry development and encour-age investment,” Torres said.

Besides generating new jobs and providing substantial export rev-enues to support public spending, these policies, according to Torres, could eliminate uncertainty in the regional supply chain.

He cited as an ex-ample the floods that hit Thailand, a major auto production hub in the re-gion, which forced parts manufacturers to slow or entirely suspend produc-tion, including parts for

auto manufacturers in the Philippines.

“We need to act quickly because there is a huge opportunity to grow the domestic vehicle and parts sectors and create jobs,” Torres said.

In a 2010 study by Dr. Cid Terosa of the School of Economics of University of Asia and the Pacific, findings show that a “one-peso increase in consumption or invest-ment spending for motor vehicles will result in 3.67 pesos worth of additional output in the economy.” In addition, a P100 billion worth of investments in the domestic automotive manufacturing industry is estimated to generate

at least 169,061 new jobs. The study also shows

that the output multiplier of the Philippine automo-tive manufacturing indus-try is greater than that of all the investment priority industries of the Depart-ment of Trade and Indus-try (DTI) – tourism, busi-ness process outsourcing and information technol-ogy services, electronics, mining, housing, and agribusiness.

PACCI members recognize that the bar-riers to investment and industry development are high, but they believe that they can be effectively ad-dressed. “With renewed and strong government support, we are com-

mitted to do our part to invest in the Philippines and create tens of thou-sands of new jobs,” Tor-res said.

PACCI was estab-lished to support the domestic auto and auto parts manufacturing in-dustries and increase their overall future com-petitiveness. The group is composed of auto manufacturers Ford Mo-tor Company Philippines, Honda Cars Philippines, Inc., Isuzu Philippines Corp., Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp., Toyota Motor Philippines Corp., and parts maker Motor Vehicle Parts Manufac-turing Association of the Philippines. [PNA]

THE health de-partment has an-nounced 90 percent

accomplishment in the building and develop-ment of district hospitals and rural health centers in Mindanao .

Health assistant sec-retary for hospitals Ro-mulo Busuego told Davao media that starting 2011, some 1,500 rural health centers were put up to ca-ter to the health needs of Filipinos, especially in the barangays.

A budget of P7 bil-

lion was allotted by the national government for health infrastructure de-velopment alone.

However, Busuego said the improved health facilities cannot serve the target beneficiaries well if patients still opt to be treated in regional hospi-tals or big private hospi-tals in the city, even if they are afflicted with simple illnesses treatable in the rural heath centers.

“This is when we urge local government units to invest in training

programs so that the hu-man resource in provin-cial and rural health cen-ters can be at par with the medical doctors in the re-gional hospitals,” he said.

Busuego added that part of the regular pro-grams of the DOH is the constant training of medi-cal doctors from the prov-inces to learn from the experts.

He said the the na-tional government is pro-viding for the poor finan-cial risk protection, add-ing that nationwide, 10.5

million Filipinos are tar-geted to have Philhealth insurance cards.

In Mindanao alone, 2.5 million Filipinos iden-tified by the Department of Social Welfare Develop-ment (DSWD) may avail of the No Balance Billing Policy of Philhealth. Not a single centavo will be asked of them even if they have excess charges in the hospital or medical bill.

“The national gov-ernment didn’t have a budget for health insur-ance program in the

local level after local government units were devolved. But this time, you will notice that it al-locates a budget along with the budgets provid-ed by the provincial gov-ernment, congressmen, and mayors.” Busuego explained.

The government is also eyeing to double the premium contribution of Philhealth members so as to increase coverage and elevate the support value of the Philhealth benefit. [PIA 11/MAI GEVERA-MACAPAGAT]

Marizon S. Loreto

EDGEDAVAO THE BUSINESS PAPER

5JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012 VOL. 4 NO. 46

Camella welcomes New Year with ‘Lucky 888’Partner

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USHER in the Chinese New Year with Camel-la’s “Lucky 888” pro-

mo, the lowest packages ever for studio units of Camella’s British colonial-themed con-do development, Camella Northpoint.

“Set your lucky streak this year by getting your Ca-mella Northpoint studio units with our triple Lucky 8 pro-mo available now up to New Year’s day only, January 23,” said Anna Mae dela Pena, Camella Davao Marketing Head.

Camella’s “Lucky 888” is a triple offer promo that gives buyers a sweet deal when getting their Camella North-point studio units. Buyers can get their preferred studio unit for an all-time low res-ervation fee of only P8000, a steep drop from the usual P30,000.

Camella also gives a New Year’s treat of an 8% discount on the down pay-ment, that’s more savings for

homebuyers. As if that wasn’t enough, Camella has further lowered the down payment to an affordable P8000 for the first eight months of the 18-month stretched down payment term.

It’s unmatchable as far as selling propositions come this early in the New Year, as Camella leads the way in making a homebuyer’s dream come true. Homebuyers can call 222-0963, 222-5221, or 222-5223 for any inquiries about “Lucky 888”.

Camella Northpoint studio units remain the wis-est choice for those eyeing a single-room abode. These choice units offer its owners incomparable privileges such as possessing a premier ad-dress that gives them the best of both location and ameni-ties.

Camella Northpoint is located in the heart of all the excitement that north Davao offers, being minutes away from major locators, public

utilities, and the throbbing business and commercial dis-trict this part of the city.

Its location at the heart of north Davao’s growth area makes it the perfect choice of any type of homebuyer, from newlyweds, startup families, young professionals, empty nesters, businessmen and en-trepreneurs, even transient students and their families. Everything they need to live, work, and play are right out-side the condo property.

Its location alone makes Camella Northpoint studio units a sound investment. Business savvy unit owners can grab the opportunities their studio units give them, as these command a higher rental rate with its very de-sirable location. With North-point’s increasing market val-ue, its studio units can also fetch a higher resale value for its owners in the future.

It’s not only location though, that sets Camella Northpoint apart from all

other condo developments in the city. It is the only condo community dotted with im-ported Caribbean pine trees on its vast open spaces, turn-ing it into a veritable pine grove with a fresh, pine-scented ambiance and natu-ral green surroundings.

Imagine coming home to the sight of towering pine trees and the scent of fresh-ness enveloping your home, not one minute away from the city’s hustle and bustle. That’s the unmatchable liv-ing proposition that Camella Northpoint offers its resi-dents.

Its world-class facilities and amenities are enough to make Camella Northpoint stand out, with its club-house, Wakefield Manor, as the centerpiece. The stately multi-purpose function hall is complemented with an al fresco café, a fitness gym, and cabanas and grill pits around the city�s only sali-nated wellness pool.

EDGEDAVAOTHE BUSINESS PAPER

6 JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012VOL. 4 NO. 46

agritrends

Two-year Pacific tuna fishing ban extended

Bill proposed to help CARP farmersuse their CLOA as collateral for loan

Rural program makes good progress in 2011

Davao City to boost cacao production

Coffee Beans Medium

GENUINE land reform is not just giving land to farmers but empowering them to

make it productive, said Rep. Diosdado Macapagal Arroyo. “We should take steps to strengthen their capability to avail of long-term and com-mercial loans from banking and other financial institu-tions,” Arroyo said as he urged Congress to pass HB 825 which lifts restrictive provisions of R.A 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988. Arroyo is proposing that the sub-mission of the Certificate of Land Ownership Award be made suf-ficient collateral for loans en-

tered into with banks and/or other financial intermediaries. HB 825, which he filed together with Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, proposes the lifting of the restriction on the right of farmer-beneficiaries to mortgage and/or encum-ber the lands awarded to them under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. The Arroyos pointed out that the country’s experience with the implementation of the agrar-ian reform law has shown that the mere distribution of land to farmers does not fully secure their livelihood and productivity. “Indeed, many of them have

found it difficult, if not, nearly impossible, to maximize their shares due to deficient fund-ing and the unavailability of credit,” the young Arroyo said. Even as they acknowledge gov-ernment’s efforts to address this problem by making credit more accessible through mi-crofinance and other similar schemes, they also noted that credit accommodations ex-tended under these programs are short-term and limited which could not sustain farmers’ pressing credit requirements. Since present provisions of the law prevent farmers from using the lands awarded to

them as collateral for any loan transaction, there is an urgent need to lift such provisions to make land reform genuine. This prohibition, the authors said, effectively impairs the farmers’ right to avail of credit from different sources and consequently limits their op-tions for a better life and future. “Lifting these restrictions in the law would be a welcome re-prieve to our farmer-beneficia-ries. Not only will this enhance their chances of gaining credit but it will also equip them with the necessary tools to improve their living conditions,” the Ar-royos concluded.

THE two-year ban on purse seine tuna fish-ing in the Pacific

Ocean has been extended for another three months following the deferment until March of last month’s scheduled annual meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commis-sion or WCPFC, a tuna in-dustry leader here said.

Marfenio Tan, director of the Socsksargen Federa-tion of Fishing and Allied Industries Inc. (SFFAII), said the 8th regular session of the Commission for the Conservation and Manage-ment of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean or WCPFC8 was moved to March 26-30 in Guam from its December 5-9, 2011 schedule in Koror, Palau.

He said the postpone-ment of the meeting extend-ed for another three months the resolution of the purse seine fishing ban in pock-ets of the Pacific Ocean that practically slowed down the tuna fishing industry here in the last two years.

“The WCPFC will con-vene on the last week of March in Guam and part of the discussions will center on whether the fishing ban will be extended or (purse seine fishing in the Pacific) will be totally banned,” Tan said.

The WCPFC, a treaty-based organization that leads the conservation and management of fish stocks in the Pacific Ocean, im-posed a two-year fishing ban starting on January 1, 2010 in two pockets of the

high seas in the western and eastern areas to replen-ish the dwindling stocks of the highly migratory tuna species.

Pocket one covers Pa-lau, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, which are the areas closest to the Philippines and where local purse seine tuna fish-ing companies operate.

In an official notice to its members, cooperat-ing non-members and par-ticipating territories dated December 22, WCPFC ex-ecutive director Prof. Glenn Hurry noted that the WCP-FC8 meeting will take place on March 26-30 at the Hy-att Regency Hotel in Guam with logistical and adminis-trative support from the US (United States) and Guam officials.

The notice did not cite the reasons for the post-ponement of the meeting but a report posted last week at the global tuna re-source website www.atuna.com said WCPFC8 “has been shifted to Guam after a fire in November at Palau’s

tuna

GAINING broad-based sup-port from the national and local governments,

the Mindanao Rural Develop-ment Program (MRDP) can look back 2011 as a year where the program has made a good progress in its implementation.

The program has released a total of P1.60 billion across the six regions of Mindanao for the various subprojects of its major components: Rural Infrastruc-ture (RI), Community Fund for Agricultural Development (CFAD) and Natural Resources Management (NRM).

RI component has is-sued Certificate of Availability of Funds (CAF) amounting to P2.11 billion out of its P4.85 billion portfolio. The rest of the amount was already obligated to those subprojects under the procurement stage.

Of the CAF issued, P821.58 million has been downloaded to a total of 215 LGUs as of Decem-ber 2011, about 58% increase of the downloaded funds in May of the same year. Bulks of the funds were allocated on farm-to-market roads, communal irri-gation projects bridges and post harvest facilities.

Region 11 as of yearend has raked in a total of P573.11 million worth of subproject with CAF. Of which P204.51 million was already downloaded to its LGUs, a dramatic increase from its downloaded amount of only about P42.51 million in the first semester.

Region 10 has accessed a total of P203.49 million out of its issued CAF of P483.58 mil-lion. Caraga region ranked third which has distributed among its LGUs a total amount of P143.

30 million from the CAF issued of P351.72 million . Region 9 has total CFA of P319.76 million and 121.08 has been accessed by its enrolled LGUs. While Re-gion 12 was issued total CAF of P266.27 million and has so far downloaded P112.95 million and ARMM has accessed 39.93 million from the CAF issued of 176.32 million.

Of RI funds, P489.73 million has been completed, P1,299.89 billion are on-going while P2, 753.11 billion are un-der the procurement stage.

The sudden surge in RI proposals is attributed to the Co-Financing Agreement (CFA) – a support extended by the nation-al Department of Agriculture (DA) to shoulder at least 40% of the 50% equity requirement for the covered LGUs. This trimmed-down the LGU’s equity to only 10% making it more af-fordable and manageable both for the LGU and the Program.

Putting money where the mouth is DA Secretary Proceso J. Alcala in his meeting with the Mindanao local chief executives in the early part of the year as-sured them of his agency’s sup-port in fast tracking the imple-mentation of infrastructure proj-ects under MRDP.

“True to his commitment, Secretary Alcala had been put-ting money where his mouth is. A total of P752.91 million had been released as part of the CFA which triggered the fast imple-mentation of the projects,” said MRDP program director Lealyn Ramos.

Ramos said the national government’s support led by Secretary Alcala was instrumen-tal for the program to meet its

2011 target. “As of the yearend, the

program has attained 29.40% disbursement of the loan port-folio, enough to meet the World Bank’s 29% midterm require-ment,” she said.

Into the big ticketFor CFAD, the program’s

livelihood portfolio has also made significant improvements in its implementation as the component embarked on big-ticket projects increasing the for-mer P2.5 million CFAD fund to P5 million for municipal benefi-ciaries and P10 million-budget for the provincial government-initiated projects.

The component has downloaded to LGUs the total amount of P752.91 million in as of December last year out of P1.80 billion cost of subprojects issued with CAF.

The Program has released for Region 12 have been re-leased the aggregate total of P117 million as of December 2011 out of the P180 million CAF issued. Region 10 was downloaded a total of P115.50 million from the CAF issued of P165 million. Caraga region LGUs have been downloaded a total of P 105.50 million; Region 11 with P81 million; ARMM with P79 million; and Region 9 with P56.56 million.

The Program noted the 66% increase of CAF issued to the municipal and provincial beneficiaries as well as 42% in-crease of total fund release to LGUs from June to December of 2011.

Ramos said active involve-ment of the LGUs particularly in mobilizing its technicians and administrative staff in organiz-

ing and training PO-beneficia-ries helped push the livelihood program forward.

“Such developments have been attributed to the active in-volvement of the provincial and municipal counterparts in the CFAD implementation as well as the string support of the lo-cal chief executives, the timely response of the regional coor-dinating offices and the better social marketing system of the Program,” she said.

Funding nature The program has released

a total of P70.21 million for the total 24 covered sites un-der the NRM component. The subprojects funded under this component are at various level of implementation.

Year 1 sites has physical accomplishment of 96.29% of its 24 subprojects with the total projects cost of 33.54 million for the six covered sites.

Year 2 sites which have been released P24.45 million for the total projects cost of P33.60 million has accomplished 43.15% of the proposed envi-ronmental protection subproj-ects.

While, the 12 sites under the year 3 implementation have been downloaded an aggregate total of P12.55 million. As of this writing its physical accomplish-ment is yet to be reported.

“The projects in NRM focused on protecting and con-serving the critical food produc-tion areas as well as applying the watershed management approach in its interventions that looks into the connectivity of the upland, the lowland and the coastal areas,” Ramos said. [MRDP]

THE city agricultur-ist office is eyeing improved cacao pro-

duction via additional hectarage. City agriculturist Leo Avila said they intend to plant 2,000 hectares of cacao a year after having identified 22,000 hectares as potential planting sites.

The city government-run central nursery has propagated 80 thousand cacao seedlings while pri-vate nurseries have about 200,000 seedlings in their inventory. For the intensi-fied cacao program the city would need about one mil-lion to 1.5 million cacao seedlings, said Avila.

They are also talking with Small Medium Enter-prises Development Coun-cils for financing that could benefit cacao farmers in the city.

Assistance of the Cocoa

Foundation of the Philip-pines (CocoaPhil) and Ag-ricultural Cooperative De-velopment International/Volunteers in Overseas Co-operative Assistance (ADCI/VOCA) will be availed of for training farmers to grow cocoa and provide the right seedlings.

Aside from producing high grade cocoa beans the city is eyeing to purchase an extruder which can process higher value cocoa powder and butter.

Davao City aims to become the largest cocoa producing area in the coun-try. Currently the city has an area of 1,139 hectares planted to cacao. The mu-nicipality of San Isidro in Davao del Norte is the lead-ing producer of cacao in the Davao region with 4,000 hectares planted to the crop. [PIA/RG ALAMA]

main power plant.” The incident, which

forced electricity rationing in Palau’s capital of Koror, reportedly prompted the commission to move the meeting to Guam in March.

The national govern-ment earlier constituted a team composed of officials from the departments of Ag-riculture, Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry, Mindan-ao Development Authority and fishing industry lead-ers to push for the country’s agenda in the WCPFC meet-ing, among them the lifting of the fishing ban.

The team was tasked to present country’s position in the discussions on the stock status of key tuna species and evaluation of the WCP-FC’s Conservation and Man-

agement Measure (CMM) 2008-01, which provided for the two-year fishing ban.

The Tuna Canners As-sociation of the Philippines earlier reported that the country’s tuna production dropped by 20 percent in the first three quarters of 2011 as a result of the continuing fishing ban.

The city, dubbed “Tuna Capital of the Philippines, hosts six of the country’s seven tuna canneries.

Around 2,000 workers from tuna fishing compa-nies in this city who were affected by the fishing ban have been displaced and availed of livelihood and emergency employment as-sistance from the Depart-ment of Labor and Employ-ment since early 2010. [PNA]

‘WE have to take into account that this is an election year, and so it may be an election-related statement.’

--President Aquino on the support of US President Obama to the proposed US Call Center Worker and Protection Act.

BizQuiPS

7

EDGEDAVAO THE BUSINESS PAPER

JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012 VOL. 4 NO. 46

Gov’t rejects SMI mining bid

BFP to get support

Nominations for outstanding healthresearch awards extended to Jan. 31

Council to tackle proposed traffic code soon Davao to remain mining-free: Sara

PNoy revises guidelines on suspension of classes, gov’t work due to disasters

gOvernance

THE Philippine energy and natural resources depart-ment last week thumbed

down the application of Sagit-tarius Mines Incorporated for an environmental clearance for its planned commercial production of copper and gold in Tampakan, South Cotabato.

The department of energy and natural resources (Denr) cited the ordinance of South Co-tabato which banned open pit mining method in the province as basis for rejecting the applica-tion.

“We are returning herewith the application documents with instruction to deny the same without prejudice to resubmit until the issues and concern on the use of open-pit mining meth-od shall have been clarified and resolved by the company[SMI] with the provincial government of South Cotabato,” Denr secre-tary Ramon Paje said in a memo-randum dated January 3, copy of which was obtained by the

local Catholic diocese in South Cotabato.

Juan Miguel T. Cuna, direc-tor of the Environmental Man-agement Bureau, then ordered Sagittarius Mines “to refrain from undertaking any development activity in the areas mentioned in the application for ECC” until it will be able to obtain the neces-sary permit.

The order was dated Janu-ary 9 this year, several days after Paye issued his memorandum denying SMI’s ECC application.

The ECC is a mandatory requirement before any mining project could proceed.

To appealSMI president Peter For-

restal said they were disappoint-ed by the Denr decision but said they will seek reconsideration.

“SMI intends immediately to file an appeal for a reconsider-ation of the decision as permitted under the ECC application pro-cess,” he said even as he claimed the decision “was not made on

the merits of our Mine Project En-vironmental Impact Statement (EIS), which fully complies with the requirements of the DENR’s own ECC process and is backed by a world-class environmental impact assessment study.”

SMI’s minority partner In-dophil Resources, which only in December said it was confident the company will get an ECC, also confirmed the ECC rejection in a disclosure to the Australian bourse.

SMI held several public scoping and at least five pub-lic hearings during the last two years in a bid to obtain an ECC. These hearings drew partisan reactions from both pro-mining and anti-mining groups

Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of the Diocese of Marbel hailed the decision, however.

Gutierrez, along with two other bishops in the areas where SMI planned to operate, is a strong advocate against open pit mining. [ EDWIN ESPEJO]

InAUGURAtIon. Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Enrique Ona and Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario lead the unveiling of the marker during the

inauguration ceremony last January 8 at the Davao Regional Hospital, Tagum City. [PROVINCIAL INFORMATION OFFICE]

THE city government of Davao is looking forward to a better

working relationship with the Bureau of Fire Protec-tion this year as it prepares to give additional monetary and other assistance to the national agency.

Mayor Inday Sara Duterte said the local gov-ernment has plans of donat-ing some of its firetrucks to the Bureau.

“We can give firetrucks to the BFP but not all as the Urban Search and Res-cue unit of the City’s 911 will also need firetrucks,” Duterte said.

However, the mayor clarified firefighting is not the job of 911 but the re-sponsibility of the Bureau of Fire Protection. The 911, according to Duterte, has a Fire Auxiliary Service (FAS) unit, which only augments the BFP in fire-related emer-gencies.

Duterte said it is unfair for the Fire Auxiliary unit of 911, which allegedly has

been receiving flack for late response, when they are merely a backup unit of the BFP.

The Central 911 Web-site states that “To comple-ment the fire-fighting ability of the Bureau of Fire Protec-tion, Central 911 has estab-lished its own Fire Auxiliary Services Unit. These highly technical and well trained fire fighters operate and fol-low the incident command system during fire cases for the efficient operation and collaboration with the Bureau of Fire Protection and other Volunteer Fire Groups. The 911 Fire Auxil-iary Services Unit is trained and equipped to respond to high-rise fires and even the dreaded inner-skirt fires in highly populated areas.”

Meanwhile, Duterte, who also heads the City Peace and Order Council, said she and the CPOC have thrown their full support behind the BFP. She added the Council has in passed a resolution asking the na-

tional government to allo-cate more fire engines for the City’s different fire sta-tions.

The local BFP reported-ly has 13 working firetrucks. Davao City, which is consid-ered one of the largest cities in the world, should have at least 64 firetrucks.

The City has also giv-en financial support to the BFP and has in fact turned over P1 million in 2011 for the purchase of communi-cation equipment like two-way radios and computers for the data banking and records.

This year, Duterte added that the city has al-lotted another P1 million for the BFP and that the city is just waiting for the agency’s response as to how they will use the mon-ey and what to buy with it.

“But we asked them to use it for improving their response in firefight-ing and answering related emergencies,” Duterte said. [CITY INFORMATION OFFICE]

THE deadline for nomina-tions for the 2012 Out-standing Health Research

Award (OHRA) has been extended until January 31, a health research consortium of-ficial announced.

Dr. Warlito Vicente, chair of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Devel-opment (PCHRD) Region 11, said the search is open to all Filipino health researchers or in groups in either biomedi-cal research or health services research.

Vicente said nominations may be made by individuals, scientific, technological and professional societies or associ-ations, research institutes and universities and colleges.

He clarified that self-nomination is not allowed.

The OHRA is given to a qualified health researcher “who has been able to dem-onstrate the link between re-search and practice through the absorption or utilization

of his/her research project in the health delivery system,” Vicente explained.

The recognition “rewards those whose research ef-forts are relevant to prevalent health problems,” he stated.

He further said that the award would like to encourage researchers to be “sensitive to the scientific and technological requirements of the health de-livery system.”

Each awardee for the bio-medical research and health research categories shall be conferred of a trophy and a cash prize of P500,000.

Nominations for each of the category should be made on the prescribed nomination form, with document attach-ments such as one copy each of the technical reports and publications of the completed projects leading to the technol-ogy.

Another required docu-ment is a write-up on the im-pact of the project on health

delivery highlighting how the results were utilized and the benefits derived from their uti-lization.

The third document is a statement from the technology user(s) describing the contri-bution of the technology in im-proving health delivery.

Vicente said that nomina-tions and documents should be submitted to the Office of the Executive Director of PCHRD, 3rd floor Administration Bldg. of the Department of Science and Technology, Gen. Santos Ave., Bicutan, Taguig City.

Nominations should reach PCHRD not later than January 31, 2012, he added.

For more details and information, interested indi-viduals or institutions may visit PCHRD website at www.pchrd.dost.gov.ph or re-gion11.healthresearh.ph, or may call the regional office through telephone numbers (082) 221-5971 or 227-1313. [PIA-11/CARINA L. CAYON]

THE city council is scheduled to tackle the traffic code, considered a pet project of

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio who sees it instrumental to the sound management of the city’s road network.

City councilor and commit-tee chair for transportation Pilar Braga announced that the traffic code is on the deck now. With these laws in place, Duterte sees a more efficient traffic flow and safer streets for Dabawenyos.

Salient features of the code includes the expansion of Republic Act 4136 or the Land

Transportation and Traffic Code which will allow for operation of motorized tricycles for-hire, des-ignation of one-way streets, and public-pay parking zones.

The code provides for the creation of a rationalized and unified City Transport and Traf-fic Management Office (CTT-MO). “At present, we do not have an office that oversees the entire traffic management like planning, traffic education and other concerns,” Braga said.

If approved, the city will then be allowed to hire city-paid traffic enforcers other than the

Police. The city government can then issue city traffic cita-tion tickets apart from the LTO-issued TOP.

From the penalties of the erring motorists and their regis-tration fees, the Traffic Manage-ment Trust Fund will be put up and used for traffic improve-ment projects.

Another salient point that Braga shared is the institution-alization of traffic impact as-sessment as requirement for selected establishments. This way, even if new infrastructures are built the traffic flow would

remain smooth flowing.It also enshrines the policy

that urban road space is scarce resource whose usage must be allocated judiciously through sound traffic management.

The proposed Rational-ized City Transport and Traffic Management Office will then be composed of divisions like ad-ministrative and support, traffic engineering, traffic enforcement and street management, trans-port planning and management, facilities management and oper-ations, and franchising and regu-latory. [PIA 11/MAI GEVERA-MACAPAGAT]

PRESIDENT Benigno Aqui-no has expanded the exist-ing protocol on the cancel-

lation or suspension of classes and work in government due to typhoons to include flooding, calamities and other weather disturbances in order to avoid the unnecessary loss of lives.

Executive Secretary Pa-quito N. Ochoa Jr. said on Thursday the President issued Executive Order No. 66 on January 9, streamlining and simplifying the procedures for the cancellation or suspension of classes in public and private schools and work in govern-

ment offices due to calamities.EO 66 has set the follow-

ing guidelines in the cancella-tion or suspension of classes in public and private schools and work in government:

• Signal No. 1 - Classes at the pre-school level, in the af-fected area, shall be automati-cally cancelled or suspended.

• Signal No. 2 - Classes at the pre-school, elementary and secondary levels, in the affected area, shall be automatically cancelled or suspended.

• Signal No. 3 - Classes at pre-school, elementary, secondary and tertiary levels,

in the affected area, includ-ing graduate school, as well as work in all government offices, shall be automatically cancelled or suspended.

President Aquino directed the PAGASA to issue weather forecasts through various me-dia outlets, including radio and television, not later than 10 p.m. of the previous day and 4:30 a.m. of the day of the in-tended cancellation or suspen-sion of classes and work.

The President, however, said that in the event where there are classes and work in the morning and suspension of

classes and work is only effec-tive in the afternoon, PAGASA should issue the forecast not later than 11 a.m. of the said day.

At the same time, EO 66 provides that in the absence of typhoon signal warnings from PAGASA, the local chief execu-tives shall implement localized cancellation or suspension of classes and government work in coordination with the weath-er bureau and the National Di-saster Risk Reduction and Man-agement Council (NDRRMC), particularly in flood-prone or high risk areas.

IN light of the recent tragedy that hit a mining site in Pantu-kan, Compostela Valley, Davao

City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte has made a firm stand against the setting up of mining and mining-related operations in the city.

The mayor said the entry of mining corporations in other local government units “totally depends on their officials if they will allow mining corporations to enter their areas of responsibility. We cannot stop them from allow-ing that to happen,” Duterte said when asked what she would ad-vise other LGU’s.

Duterte, who chairs the Re-gional Development Council11 (RDC 11), clarified that it is not the Council’s policy to interfere with decisions of other local gov-ernment units.

“We in the RDC only issue resolutions asking the concerned local government to follow the guidelines set by the Mining Law

of the land,” Duterte said.She stressed, however, that

no mining corporation can enter Davao City and operate here dur-ing her watch, adding that she had already asked Environment Secretary Ramon Paje and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau to keep mining operations out of Davao City.

“Davao City is mining-free and I have made representation to the Department of Environ-ment and Natural Resources and sent letters to the Secretary explic-itly saying that Davao City is a no-mining zone,” she said.

Instead of allowing mining investments, the city instead is focusing on agro-forestry, agri-fishery, and agri-tourism.

Duterte also said that Davao City 3rd district Rep. Isidro Ungab has the same stand and will in fact file a bill in Congress declar-ing Davao City as a no-mining zone. [city information office]

‘MUCH like what the US Congress is doing to protect its people, we must focus on creating opportunities from within the country, and the agriculture sectors hold the most promise and potential.’

--Senator Francis Pangilinan

BizQuiPS

EDGEDAVAOTHE BUSINESS PAPER

8 JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012VOL. 4 NO. 46

eDIToRIal

vantage PoInts

water Dragon imageries

CHINESE New Year, the most important of the Chinese traditional holidays also known

as the “Spring Festival,” will not start until January 23 and culminate 15 days later. This early, though, everybody and his uncle are occupied with talks about what kind of year will 2012 be and topics related to the festival. Thanks to the highly commercialized nature of the celebration, even before the end of the calendar year, we already knew that 2012 is the Year of the Water Dragon.

According to feng shui, the ancient Chinese practice of foretelling the future by interpreting symbols and colors, the Year of the Water Dragon brings many possibilities for good fortune.

Unfortunately to most Filipinos who are clueless about geomancy, after that December catastrophe in the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and Dumaguete, and other places hit by earlier typhoon-spawn floods, water now conjures images of death and destruction that continue to traumatize tens of thousands of hapless victims in the mentioned places.

Yes, many of us are afraid that 2012 will simply be the year of the water, with no need for a dragon, to bring untold miseries to residents of inundated

communities and settlers buried alive in landslides brought about by the loosening of the soil after continuous rains.

As we were writing this piece last Saturday, floodwaters continued to rise as high as one meter in the towns of Laak, Asuncion, New Corella and Kapalong due to the continuous rain since Friday, prompting the Armed Forces to activate the disaster relief and rescue units of the 10th Infantry of the Philippine Army, the Naval Forces, Eastern Mindanao (NFEM) and Eastern Mindanao Command to help municipal disaster relief and rescue councils.

So you see, we need no feng shui expert to tell us that in the Year of the Water Dragon, our attention and especially that of the authorities must be focused on the present and real dangers of natural calamities brought about by climate change. Government authorities, the private sector and the citizenry in general must at all times be mindful of risk reduction, disaster preparedness and be ready for forcible evacuation if such a need arises.

Indeed, ignoring the angry aberrations of an avenging nature is just like committing suicide.

real prospects

BizQuiPS‘WE think our presentation

of evidence will not be more than three weeks for all eight articles. We don’t known on the part of the defense, but we think that delaying the proceedings is part of their strategy.’

--Rep. Lorenzo “Erin” Tanada

YEAR 2012 is said to be the year of the Water Drag-on. Most predictions in-

dicate a favorable year ahead in terms of economic growth for most countries worldwide. Unlike last year, which was the year of the Rabbit, this year will be a lot better – accord-ing to forecasts based on what feng shui experts call the paht chee chart. I don’t know what that is but that is how they call it.

If we look inward to our country and assess what actu-ally happened in year 2011, we would probably wish that the feng shui predictions for this year would really come true. We did not have a very bad performance in terms of economic growth last year but it nonetheless needs some sig-nificant improvements. Hence, we can give our country and our economy another chance to do better this time. This however seems to be a repeat of our wish last year and all the years past.

According to the most recent Pulse Asia survey, 38% of all respondents believe that our economy deteriorated in the last 12 months between October 2010 and Novem-ber 2011, and 18% said it improved while 40% said it has remained unchanged. To put it simply and to quote the survey result, it says: “the percentage of Filipinos saying the economy is better now de-clined by 12 percentage points while the percentage of those who observe a deterioration in the Philippine economy increased by 22 percentage points.”

The result of the survey further says: “Among those who say the Philippine econ-omy is in a worse state now than a year ago, 66% were strongly affected by this per-ceived economic deterioration, 31% were somehow affected and only 3% did not feel the impact of the worsening eco-nomic situation in the coun-try.”

I will stop there because the figures alone could already tell the real story.

On the other hand, if we look at what the economists and leading development in-stitutions have to say about our prospects for year 2012, we find the following: (a) ac-cording to the Bank of Amer-ica Merrill Lynch in its “Global Economic Weekly” released last week, the Philippine economy is expected to grow faster this year; (b) according to the First Metro Investment Corporation (FMIC) and the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) in their joint 2012 Economic Outlook Brief-ing also held last week, “the country’s GDP is projected at 5%-6% anchored on an antici-pated increase in government spending, robust dollar remit-tances from OFWs and higher

consumption spending”; and (c) according to UA&P econo-mist Victor A. Abola, “…the domestic sector will do well and the lagging sectors last year will bring the economy into the fast lane,” referring to the agriculture, mining, con-struction and manufacturing sectors.

In terms of investments, gaming, infrastructure and consumer sectors are expected to also remain favorable for investors.

Further, many econo-mists believe that government spending is expected to con-tribute in sustaining economic growth this year owing to its big-ticket items under the pub-lic-private partnership (PPP) program and the DPWH’s other infrastructure projects slated for construction this year. Hopefully, this scenario will create more jobs and em-ployment opportunities which in turn are expected to boost personal consumption and consumer spending to higher levels this year.

Likewise, it is foreseen that international trade perfor-mance will also improve with export earnings growing by 5%-7% coming from a “nega-tive performance” last year, while import earnings will likely grow by 10%. Inflation this year, on the other hand, is seen to ease within the 3.5%-to-3.7% range.

On the whole, the fore-casts on the economic perfor-mance of the country for this year offer some rays of hope to all of us. What seems to be the only negative prospect for the year is the exchange rate which is projected at P43-P45 per dollar - as the US economy is expected to continue to out-perform the euro zone. With the economic rebound of the US, it is anticipated that the peso will depreciate against the dollar. As of this writing, the peso-dollar exchange rate is now P44 per US dollar, com-pared to P43.8 per US dollar just a month ago, or P42 per US dollar some 5 months ago. While this may seem negative, it has positive effects to OFW remittances and international trade.

As the year further un-folds, most of these positive projections and prospects will not happen without leader-ship, hard work, persistence and policy stability. Many believe that starting the year right would also mean a year of good disposition and pros-pects. And starting the year right means doing what we need to do – facing squarely the problems of the nation and moving it towards economic progress that is felt by all. If we just let things unfold, the positive forecasts and projec-tions will remain fictional and illusionary, just like the Drag-on – the only fictional animal in the Chinese Zodiac.

EDGEDAVAO THE BUSINESS PAPER

9JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012 VOL. 4 NO. 46

I’M past the stage of being impressionable, so there are only a few people I re-

ally admire. My admiration for Margie Moran Floirendo stems not only from the fact that she is an accomplished individual and a celebrity at that, but also because she chose to go beyond the trap-pings of her name and stature to do good for others.

As you have seen, heard, and read about her on TV, newspapers and magazines, I›ll refrain from talking about her public accomplishments and instead share with you a few anecdotes that can give you some glimpse into the person behind the celebrity name and stellar reputation.

In the course of working on her many advocacies, Mar-gie goes on regular sojourns around Mindanao. Three years ago, we went to Aleo-san in North Mindanao, site of an armed encounter between government forces and Moro fighters just a few weeks back. Margie showed no signs of sharing my queasiness about taking a road trip to this con-flict-ridden part of Mindanao.

Leaving Davao early that morning, we made a stopover at a municipality for a late breakfast. Ever the multi-task-er, Margie had arranged for it to be a working breakfast, meeting with several munici-pal mayors to whom she pre-sented the goals of Friends of Habitat to drum up support for housing for the needy.

By the end of the meal, Margie had the pledge of some hectares of land in the mayors’ areas of responsibil-ity—on which Habitat houses will be built—donated to HFH to benefit their most needy constituents. It was a good

way to have breakfast: enjoy a hot meal and provide decent housing to people at the same time.

When we got to Aleosan, the barangay captain with a handful of people welcomed us. One of the men gestured towards the slopes of a nearby hill, saying MILF soldiers were up there, probably looking down at us. While I choked up, Margie was unperturbed, buckling down to work and discussing building more houses for barangay folks and strengthening their livelihood projects.

I was further impressed when the barangay captain asked her to intervene on their behalf and talk to their congressman—whom they had difficulty reaching—to re-build their broken bridge, an important artery to their ba-rangay. I don’t think they do that to every visitor they get.

In General Santos City, we had to cross a river to get to a remote barangay. I cringed when her Expedi-tion traversed the knee-deep water and trudged on loose rocks. I did the same when the vehicle navigated a nar-row winding dirt road, up the side of a hill. I glanced at her and instantly felt sheepish. She was quite calm, like tra-versing treacherous rivers and traveling up dangerous, wind-

ing roads was a typical part of her day.

When we got to the com-munity, Margie was all busi-ness as usual, talking with the barangay folks about housing, livelihood, capacity-building, and programs addressing their socio-economic condi-tions. On the side, there were people giving me folders, ask-ing me to make sure Margie gets them. These were pro-posals asking for assistance for basic needs such as clean water and livelihood projects.

In Lake Sebu where she spoke to tribal women weav-ers, Margie was having break-fast when she saw a group of people tentatively approach-ing her, asking “Ma’am Mar-gie, puwede magpa-picture sa iyo (can we have our pic-ture taken with you)?” She casually left her breakfast and obliged the group.

It was the same thing in Midsayap, where a group of women leaders from far-flung barangays told me they sim-ply wouldn’t go home without having their pictures taken with her. Although Margie was already in meeting, she obliged the group, gamely posed for the camera, and re-turned the smiles and hugs the women eagerly gave her.

I have seen Margie in her element when giving keynote speeches in national conven-

tions, receiving prestigious film awards, or guesting in celebrity game and talk shows. The Margie I saw in the coun-tryside was a total departure from all these. With her name and reputation, Margie could easily intimidate people in the countryside, but she was sur-prisingly comfortable dealing with people from all walks of life, and was pleasantly accom-modating and accessible.

My musings on this ex-emplary woman came to an ‘aha’ moment when we went to another community in South Cotabato. The barangay hall was filled to the rafters, and I asked the woman beside me why they were excited to see Margie. She said they were grateful Margie came all the way to their remote barangay, and knew that “naa siya’y gi-dala nga kaayohan para sa amo (that she had brought something good for us).”

It struck me then that they weren’t there to ogle at a celebrity; all these people saw her as a beacon of hope, an in-strument that could help give them decent housing, access to clean water, opportunities for livelihood, even improvement of local infrastructure, to name a few.

When I looked at Margie giving a message in the small, crowded barangay office, too hot even for me, I saw her with different eyes. Margie moves people and makes things hap-pen for those who need help the most. In her, I saw an am-bassador of goodwill—with-out the title.

This is the power that I see in Margie Moran Floiren-do. Not the fame or the trap-pings of a privileged life, but by what she does for others, and because she does for others.

I have been told that the current statistics show that there are now more men

than women—in the world’s 7 Billion population. In Chi-na, it is said that the ratio is 120 men to 100 women. What will this mean to wom-en nowadays?

I guess for my daugh-ter, she will not have trouble finding a partner later in life. Haha! But joking aside, I feel that it does not make so much difference. Women have now taken on two roles, or maybe three or four. Women have now entered the arena which was once a man’s world. I, for one, have been on the rat race right after graduation up to this time. And even as I married, became a mother, separated, I am still in-charge of the financial aspect of my family’s life.

What a challenge to be-come a female or a woman in this day and age…

During my mother’s time, when she got married, she stopped working to be-come a full-time mom to her children. She was there

on most of my activities in school, prepared our “baon”, make us a reviewer when exam time comes. While papa on the other hand is ex-pected to bring home the ba-con. Men take pride in being the provider and breadwin-ner of the family.

But today, the scenarios have changed. While women should also be proud of what we have achieved, I could not say that we are totally fortu-nate.

I would still love to, once in awhile be, dependent. This is coming from someone who would think not once

but a thousand times be-fore she buys that designer item. Because if she does, it would mean she would have to work doubly hard for the groceries, electric and water bills, the stuff the kids need, food, clothing ,shelter…al-though with a little exaggera-tion.

What a wondrous time when husbands surrender their ATM’s to their wives…where has that time gone??

With a dual-income household, sometimes there is the tendency for women to provide for most of the needs at home and less for

herself. With the women in the workforce, some children are left in the care of help-ers. Yet for other mothers abroad, they are taking care of other people’s children and their own children in turn are taken care of by relatives…I remember the news about a child beaten, scorched and burned with boiling wa-ter and left for dead on the street. The child’s aunt and uncle were later brought to jail for the monstrous deed.

My cousin’s wife has been working abroad for years, so it is my cousin who takes care of 2 female chil-dren. One of which has been diagnosed of kidney problem. She is spending a thousand pesos a day for meds and her dialysis…it is heartbreaking to see a man cry in despair. The father now stands as the mother? Why have the roles been reversed?

I also strongly feel that the distance will take its toll on any relationship. A family should be together…in tact . This is just my opinion. (To be continued…)

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 | Raymund R. Lumapas

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vantage PoInts

Dying for goldChallenges of a woman (1st of 2 parts)

SINCE I last covered the gold rush and land-slides of Diwalwal,

Compostela Valley in the late eighties for the now de-funct Asiaweek magazine, the stories of the dead and dying coming out of the mining areas there have always been the same: the do-or-die determination of hundreds of small miners to find gold --- or die trying.

If you’re someone who’s jobless and so desperate to feed your family and aren’t afraid to take risks digging for gold in the Compostela mountains (whose soil is often so soft it may collapse anytime) then you’re prob-ably are one of those small-scale miners who are ready to die for gold.

True stories of cops, traders, vendors, hoodlums, soldiers, army officers, etc who made hundreds of mil-lions from gold out of the gold-laden, landslide-prone mountains of Compostela--- from Diwalwal to Pantu-kan--- abound every where in Davao, it has become a boring cliché.

Compostela is a place where you can still find many “rags to riches” sto-ries. Some powerful politi-cians and a number of Davao business tycoons started out with barely nothing in their pockets before they discov-ered the rich “mother lode” of gold in the bowels of Di-walwal and Pantukan in the late sixties.

A recent United Na-tions report also confirmed that several towns of Com-postela Valley are sitting on top of a “mountain of gold” so rich that it’s valued in bil-lions of US dollars based on today’s price of gold in the world market. In fact, one of the world’s biggest gold deposits is found right in the mountains of Compos-tela, according to the UN report.

That’s why the recent news of the Pantukan land-slide that killed more than 30 people plus an undeter-mined number still miss-ing wasn’t really surprising to us. Government mining officials had already been warning and banning min-ers from going back to that same mountain area after a series of earlier deadly land-slides that killed many.

With the world price of gold settling around US$1650 (P75,000) an ounce , it’s a very tempting

prospect for people who are either greedy or desperate to risk their lives because it looks so easy to simply dig under that mountain to find a huge fortune and completely change people’s lives....

(Comments? Email me at: tradingpost_davao@ya-hoo.com)

I’ve read your column on doing business with gov-ernment and it was so time-ly i was on the way to ac-counting office of davao city hall to follow-up my long overdue bill for payment.

FYI, we are new en-trant as bidder, being a Philgeps accredited and engage in the business of manufacturing customized shirts and other uniforms. We belong to what is called as “micro-enterprise” with meager capital.

If delays in payment is happening to big con-tractors and providers, I thought, how much more for us small businesses.

Bringing a copy of EDGE DAVAO, i showed it to CTO personnel and they themselves agreed and were somewhat resigned to what they are also experiencing these times- too much delay in the processing of vouch-ers.

When we participated the open public bidding, we presumed there is sufficient budget to back it up. to my dismay and quandary, until now, nahilis na lang ang ligid sa akong lowly fx sa cge balik2 ug cge ko kahut-dan load sa cge tawag mga end-users. initially, pas-alig cla dali ra au process. ngaun dili na halos manub-ag. nairita na guro sa ako pestering.

But what should a businesswoman do to col-lect her receivables except to pester and kung pwede pa unta mag mura para lang akakolekta. pero ac-cording to grape vines, kung mag cge ka ug follow-up ug pester mosamot daw ug kagahi sa pag pa irog sa papeles. Sa totoo lang, mu-rag nakakaon ko ug tagam.

Dunno if i have to participate future biddings with these unfortunate experiences im suffering. Anyway, thanks to a per-son like you who in a way is able to expose the snail-pace movement of docu-ments at Davao City Hall.

ATTY. CRISTETA A. DUMAGAN-ROLDAN

BizQuiPS‘WE are calling

on all our Unicef supporters not to forget the children affected by Sendong. Any amount you give will go a long way to ensure that these children get on their feet. Please go to unicef.ph to learn how you can help.’

--Unicef National Ambassador Gary Valenciano

Margie

EDGEDAVAOTHE BUSINESS PAPER

10 JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012VOL. 4 NO. 46

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Cebu Pacific targets flying14M passengers in 2012

DOST offers energy consumption audit in workplaces

SSS announces April launchof amnesty on loan penaltiesSSS announces April launchof amnesty on loan penalties

ICTSI orders new equipment for PHL, Mexican operations

THE need for environ-mental awareness is es-sential now more than

ever, and AsiaTemp is giving consumers a way to cut back on energy costs with its lat-est offering, Low E glass.

The E stands for emis-sivity, which is the ability of a surface to absorb heat. Natural light is able to pass through Low E glass, but long-wave solar radiation is filtered, reducing heat and keeping a building’s interior cool. This lessens the need for constant air condition-ing, translating to energy and money saved.

In addition to its ther-mal efficiency, Low E glass can also be tempered to abide by building codes that call for strengthened

glass. Tempered Low E glass makes for an unrivaled per-formance in energy saving and strength.

For a smart and eco-friendly solution to your glass needs, contact Asi-aTemp today and ask about Low E glass.

AsiaTemp Glass Cor-poration officially launched its tempering services last June 2011 with the prom-ise of speed and quality. Its Tamglass furnace is the larg-est that serves the VisMin market’s demand for safety glass.

For more information call (032) 239-2398, 422-1166 or 422-1188. You can also e-mail asiatempered@yahoo.com, and find Asi-aTemp Glass on Facebook.

AsiaTemp goes green with Low E GlassINTERNATIONAL Container

Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) recently placed orders for new

state-of-the-art container han-dling equipment for its operations in Mexico and the Philippines.

“The new orders signify our commitment to further improve terminal operations and services across the ICTSI Group. We are doing this multi-million USD investment because we see the growth potential of our Manila and Manzanillo operations,” says Brian Oakley, ICTSI global engi-neering vice president.

Finnish equipment maker Cargotec was tapped to sup-ply four quay cranes (QC) and 10 rubber tired gantries (RTG), which were booked during the fourth quarter of 2011.

In Mexico, ICTSI has started the construction of the Special-ized Container Terminal-2 in the Port of Manzanillo in the country’s Pacific coast. Contecon

Manzanillo S.A., ICTSI’s Mexican subsidiary, is expected to receive four super post-Panamax Kalmar QCs and 10 Kalmar RTGs during first half of 2013.

The QCs will have an out-reach of 63 meters, a 30.5-me-ter rail span and a maximum lift capacity of 65 tons using twin-lift spreaders. The RTGs will be 6+1 wide and 1-over-6 high with a lift capacity of 41 tons.

The terminal is projected to have an annual capacity of 450,000 TEUs in its first two year operation.

In the Philippines, eight RTGs are due for delivery in its flagship Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) in 2012. The purchase of the new container yard equipment is part of the Berth 6 project, an ongoing terminal expansion at the Port of Manila, the coun-try’s largest trading gateway.

CEBU Pacific is targeting to carry 14 million pas-sengers this year, with

the country’s healthy tour-ism industry, an executive said in a press statement.

Candice Iyog, Cebu Pacific vice-president for marketing and distribution, said the airline is hopeful it would exceed last year’s number of passengers.

Iyog said Cebu Pacific flew close to 11 million pas-sengers form January to November last year, an im-provement of 14 percent of the same period in 2010.

The airline also report-ed flying one million pas-sengers each for the months of April, May, October, and November last year, the first for any Philippine carrier.

Iyog credited the healthy growth of the air-line to its low fare rates and extensive route network, as well as the country’s ag-gressive push in promoting Philippine tourism to other countries.

With the strong outlook of the industry this year, the airline announced it will in-crease its capacity, add more flights and open new desti-nations.

Iyog said the airline ex-pects delivery of six new Air-bus 320 this year.

The airline will also continue to add manpower, infrastructure, automating systems and airport stations to accommodate their grow-ing fleet and network.

Cebu Pacific also an-nounced a USD3.8 billion deal last June 2011 for new orders of 30 Airbus A321neo and seven A320 aircraft for delivery from 2017 until 2021.

”As we accept delivery of more brand new aircraft, we will add more flights and open new destinations and routes such as additional flights from Cebu to Bora-cay, Dipolog, Legazpi, Ma-nila, Pagadian, and Siargao this year,” Iyog said.

Starting Feb. 8, Cebu

Pacific will add flights from Cebu to the following desti-nations: Manila, 11 weekly flights; Boracay, 4 weekly flights; Dipolog, 3 weekly flights; Legazpi, 4 weekly flights; Pagadian, 2 weekly flights; and Siargao, 1 week-ly flight.

Cebu Pacific will also be reopening its Cebu-Kalibo route thrice-weekly starting Feb. 24.

Apart from increasing capacity, Iyog said the airline will also be working closely with government agencies regarding EO 29 or the open skies policy, additional seat entitlements to countries they want to open routes or add flights to, and air traffic congestion out of Manila.

”We believe the low-cost carrier model is still a strong business model that fits perfectly with the low-fare, great value travel trend in Asia now. People will always look for the lowest airfare and extensive route network,” Iyog said. [PNA]

THE Social Security System (SSS) said employees, self-employed workers and

voluntary members with over-due loans can settle their unpaid principal and interest without paying the full amount of pen-alties under a new amnesty program that starts on April 2, 2012.

SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emilio de Quiros, Jr. said the amnesty «dif-fers from SSS loan penalty con-donation programs in the past» and its terms and requirements for applicants will depend on the type of delinquent borrower.

“SSS will waive 100 per-cent of penalties of qualified applicants whose loan delin-quency was not their fault, such as members whose employers failed to remit their amortiza-tions to SSS despite deducting loan payments from their sala-ries,” he said.

Members must have at least three contributions within the last six months before the month of application and pres-ent proof of deducted loan

amortizations such as pay slips, company certification and nota-rized affidavits to be eligible for full condonation of penalties.

“They can pay their loan principal and interest in full, or avail of a three-year installment payment scheme at an annual interest rate of three percent,” De Quiros said, adding that SSS will take legal action against employers that fail to remit their workers’ deducted amortiza-tions.

SSS will also offer amnesty to beneficiaries of deceased borrowers who will file their death claim applications within the availment period. SSS will waive 100 percent of penalties and the member’s delinquent loan principal and interest will be deducted from the death benefit.

De Quiros said delinquent borrowers who paid at least three amortizations can also ap-ply for amnesty, provided that they have remitted a minimum of three monthly contributions within the last six months prior to the month of application.

“Members with at least three paid amortizations will have 90 percent of their penal-ties condoned if they pay in full. Those who will pay in monthly installments over three years at a three percent annual interest rate will have 80 percent of their loan penalties waived,” he said.

Borrowers filing total dis-ability or retirement claims within the availment period will have 50 percent of their penal-ties condoned under the am-nesty program. The outstanding loan balance and remaining penalties will be deducted from their retirement or disability benefit.

“The deadline of applica-tion for the amnesty program will be on September 30, but beneficiaries of borrowers who passed away without settling their delinquent obligations can apply until March 30 next year,” De Quiros said.

The amnesty program covers overdue salary, calamity, emergency, educational, study-now-pay-later, stock investment and privatization fund loans. [SSS]

WITH the looming power shortage in Mindanao is, the

Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Re-gion 11 is all set to send its DREAM Team to audit ener-

gy consumption of business establishments and other sectors in the region.

“If we can’t add power, then let us reduce power consumption,” said DOST-11 assistant regional direc-

tor Elsie Solidum in last week’s Club 888 at The Marco Polo Davao.

Members of the DREAM Team or the Davao Region Energy Audit and Management Team, mainly

engineers and private indi-viduals were given proper training, equipment, and instruments to capacitate them do energy audits in establishments that request for that particular service.

DOST believes that an energy audit is a good starting step to earn more savings by way of ensur-ing efficient appliance and electronic uses in the work-place.

This is considered a ne-cessity by most industries that want to reduce input cost by ensuring the use of highly efficient gadgets and appliances.

DOST has started its au-diting in its own workplace and it has replaced ordinary fluorescent lights with T5 lights aimed at an eventual thirty percent lighting con-sumption reduction.

The DREAM Team has also started doing energy audits in small and medium enterprises which make up the bulk of the business community in the region.

DREAM Team is a multi-agency group with members from the Institute

of Integrated Electrical En-gineers (IIEE), the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP), the Uni-versity of Mindanao (UM), and DOST 11.

The team is ready to provide energy audit ser-vices to all interested indus-tries in the region.

It will help industries in setting energy conservation goals, identify areas where energy wastes can occur, relate energy consumption to production, improve the process/equipment efficien-

cies, and recommend ener-gy saving opportunities.

The DREAM team sug-gests the replacement of old appliances with new but efficient ones as this could result to a remarkable re-duction of electric consump-tion.

Experts can determine the savings that an estab-lishment can achieve after following recommendations provided by the team.

The DREAM team is accepting requests for this particular energy audit ser-vice. [(PIA-11/MAI GEVERA-MACAPAGAT]

BizQuiPS‘…IF the tragedy of Tropical

Storm “Sendong” has made him (President Aquino) finally pay attention to the monumental challenges of climate change and its impac t mainly on the poor, we may yet get the transformational leader this nation deserves.’

--Professor Solita Collas-Monsod

11

EDGEDAVAO THE BUSINESS PAPER

JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012 VOL. 4 NO. 46competitive edge

DTI to revive Philtrade, garment industry

Sun Business sponsors PhilippineSME and Franchise Expo 2011

Pag-IBIG runs after employersnot registered with the Fund

Background information on Pag-asa

Pag-asa turns twenty!

The most recent picture of Pag-asa. Taken on January 10, 2012.

PAG-ASA, the first Philip-pine Eagle successfully bred and hatched in cap-

tivity, turned twenty years old last January 15.

The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) celebrated the hatchday of Pag-asa with a Family Day inside the Philip-pine Eagle Center in Malagos, Davao City with several fun-filled and educational activities for the kids and their parents throughout the day.

The celebration started with a Holy Mass, followed by the Cake Presentation and Candle Blowing with Pag-asa’s keeper Eddie Juntilla. After that, Pag-asa’s visitors enjoyed the various booths inside the center including Face Paint-ing, Henna Tattoo, Color Our World and Food Booth. Eco-

games, photo sessions with the Raptors and Keeper Talks were also held for the families to get to know more about the eagles.

In 1992, Pag-asa became the most popular symbol of Philippine Eagle conservation in the country. To date, PEF has already bred and hatched 24 eagles. The Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) is a gi-ant forest raptor endemic to the Philippines. It is considered one of the largest and most powerful eagles in the world. Unfortunately, it is also one of the world’s rarest and certainly among its most critically en-dangered vertebrate species.

Pag-asa is an important re-minder not only of the success of the conservation breeding program of the PEF, but also of the greater challenges that lie

ahead in saving the Philippine national bird. The

program was started so that eventually, captive-bred birds could be released to the wild to augment eagle popula-tions there. However, mortality rates in the wild remain alarm-ing and are largely attributed to hunting. The PEF, apart from the conservation breed-ing program, is also engaged in community-based conservation programs that include enforce-ment of the Wildlife Act which protects wildlife species and their habitats.

The registration fee for Pag-asa Family Day was pegged at Php350 for adults and Php330 for the kids inclu-sive of lunch, souvenir item, souvenir photo and access to all activities.

Republic of the PhilippinesREGIONAL TRIAL COURT

11TH Judicial RegionDavao City

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE JUDGE

NOTICE OF HEARINGPETITION FOR NOTARIAL COMMISSION

Notice is hereby given that a summary hearing on the petition for NOTARIAL COMMISSION of:

1. BEHN JOSEPH O. TESIORNA 2. JOEL D. BANCALE 3. JEFFREY JEFFERSON Y. CORONEL 4. RENATO S. BARTOLO JR. 5. PAQUITO G. BALASABAS 6. FORTUNATO M.MARANIAN 7. CONRADO O. MACASA, SR. 8. JOHN GARY U. TEVES 9. MELBA NIDEA-DONAIRE 10. EFREN L. DONAIRE 11. DENNIS G. DAGOHOY 12. ARTURO V. AGUDO

Shall be held on JANUARY 18, 2012 AT 1:30 P. M. at the courtroom of Regional Trial Court, Branch 12, Hall of Justice, Ecoland, Matina, Davao City.

Any person who has any cause or reason to object to the grant of the petition may file a verified written opposition thereto, received by the

undersigned before the date of the summary hearing.

Davao City, Philippines, January 10, 2012.

PELAGIO S. PAGUICANExecutive Judge

(BATCH 4)PUBLISHER EDGEDAVAO

COMMON Name:Philippine Eagle Scientific Name: Pitheco-

phaga jefferyiSex: MaleAge: 20 years old (as of 2012)Origin:Philippine Eagle Center Malagos, Baguio District, Davao CityDate of Hatch: 15 January 1992Parents:Junior (male) and Diola (female)

On November 11, 1991, Diola laid her third fertile egg that hatched after 56 days of combined natural and artificial incubation. The eaglet was named Pag-asa (Hope), the first Philippine Eagle bred and hatched in captivity through artificial insemination. Pag-asa

is the result of 14 years or re-search.

Pag-asa passed through the process of rearing by humans. He stayed in the laboratory and ate through “forcep feeding” until he was old enough to feed by himself. During the first two months, he was already ob-served practicing his innate eagle abilities such as wing flapping and grabbing. At four months old, he was transferred into a big-ger aviary where he can exercise his skills both in flight and other raptorial behavior.

On August 31 and on Sep-tember 3, 1995, Pag-asa at the age of 3 years and nine months issued sex vocals several times upon seeing his caretaker and

surrogate mate - Eddie Juntilla.His early breeding behavior

reflects adaptability to captive condition as a result of excel-lent rearing and caring. Pag-asa started copulating with his care-taker during the 1996-breeding season at the age of four. Dur-ing the 1997-breeding season, Pag-asa was mounting but still no semen/seminal fluid was pro-duced even up to this moment.

We learned from the more senior members of the Philippine Eagle Foundation that though he is much celebrated now, fact is, we almost lost Pag-asa. Thirteen years ago, people like Dennis Sal-vador, Doming Tadena and Lito Cereño, who now head PEF and its various programs, were but first-time “fathers” who didn’t quite know what to do with the small hole that Pag-asa made on its shell on its 58th day of incuba-tion.

Pag-asa was only the third fertile egg in their years of eagle breeding research. At that time, they didn’t know that after its first pip, a baby eagle takes about 36 hours to rest and gather strength before resuming work on its shell and breaking into the world. There was a bit of panic in the air, for all they knew was that the baby was silent and unmoving for 30 hours. Feeling both pan-icked and eager, the team, along with Dr. James Grier, who in 1992 was already a respected zo-ologist but like everyone else was a first-timer with baby Philippine Eagles, decided to help the chick out of its shell. “A Caesarean op-eration,” Cereño jokingly said.

The “Caesarean operation” was a big mistake. The opera-tion hit some of Pag-asa’s blood vessels that had not yet come off the shell. “We feared his life was literally draining out of him,” Cereño recounted. They slowed down their work on the shell and hydrated the chick continu-ously by wiping him with cotton swabs dipped in water. Gradu-ally, the vessels regained their color.

They didn’t know they were very lucky. They didn’t know they were assisting the chick too early and it was just getting its own body ready for the outside world. As fate would have it, they completely re-moved Pag-asa from its shell at the exact time that the last stage of its hatch process, the retrac-tion of the yolk sac, occurred. Had they pulled him out before the sac retracted, Pag-asa would have died. Without knowing it, their timing was perfect.

Caltex Philippines, Pilipi-nas Shell, remain contributors to the Pag-asa Support Fund to this day. As Pag-asa’s adoptors, they provide for his needs as well as funds that go into research on the breeding behavior and rear-ing of Philippine Eagles. Thir-teen named and two unnamed eagles at the Philippine Eagle Center are without benefactors.

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in a move to boost exports and

investments this year, plans to re-vive the Philtrade as a permanent venue for exporters to showcase their world-class products.

DTI-Public Relations Direc-tor Thelma Dumpit Murillo and Undersecretary for Trade and Investment Promotion Cristino Panlilio said talks were currently underway between the DTI and the owners of the property, So-cial Security System (SSS) and Philippine National Bank (PNB).

Once re-established, Phil-Trade Center will be a perma-nent exhibition center open year-round for buyers of products such as garments, housewares, furniture, Christmas decors and others.

It will also serve as a venue for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to exhibit their goods, as well as to assist buyers find local products.

Another strategy to boost exports and investments is the reorganization of the Foreign

Trade Service Corps (FTSC), DTI’s trade and investments pro-motion arm abroad which will focus on specific markets by geo-graphic location such as Europe, North America, India-Pakistan-Sri Lanka-Nepal market, and others, Panlilio said.

Each market will be served by a team of experts in the area of export, importation, invest-ments, commercial intelligence and data gathering. This move, which will start this month, is ex-pected to make the FTSC more efficient and deliver results.

DTI constantly holds talks with export groups to seek their suggestions on how the govern-ment can improve the depart-ment’s programs and services.

Panlilio said one of the cur-rent initiatives of the department was the establishment of Shared Services Facilities in various re-gions in the country.

This project, which is under the Regional Operations Group headed by Usec. Merly Cruz, aims to provide MSMEs afford-able means to package their

products and eventually turn these enterprises into world-class exporters.

On investment promotions, Panlilio said that good gover-nance under the Aquino admin-istration encouraged investors to put up their business in the Philippines.

One of DTI’s priority sec-tors is the revival of the gar-ments industry. Murillo said DTI is still hoping for the passage of the Save our Industries Act, which will provide preferential duty treatment to certain Phil-ippine-made garments exported to U.S.

She said the garments sec-tor is making a comeback as garments manufacturers from China are transferring their op-erations here.

The rise in the labor costs and the lack of skilled workers in China provide buyers an alterna-tive investments destination for apparel makers. Its revival will mean creation of about 200,000 jobs and export receipts of three billion dollars. [PNA]

SUN Cellular, through its cor-porate solutions arm Sun Business, continues to sup-

port the country’s businesses and enterprises. Proof was its recent sponsorship of the Philippine SME and Franchise Expo 2011 held at the PICC and organized by Tradecon and the Franchise Institute of the Philippines.

Beyond providing Call & Text Unlimited, Sun Business is a company’s complete telecommu-nications partner that provides value-for-money wired and wire-less voice, data and specialized services so enterprises can do more for their business for less.

Sun Cellular’s Frontline Training Manager Martin Na-varro presented two of the com-pany’s most effective business solutions: Message Cast and Mo-

biserve. Ideal for advisories or an-nouncements on office updates, emergencies, company activities and events, recruitment, pricing updates, staff notifications, traf-fic updates, info-on-demand and campaigns, Message Cast helps a business update clients and employees with company devel-opments via text messages to in-dividual or multiple recipients in just one click. Mobiserve, on the other hand, features SMS-based ticket creation and tracking; on-line customer database; and SMS customer registration and hot-line. It also offers personalized categories; keywords, auto-re-plies, footers and templates; and can monitor agents’ performance and support hundreds of CSRs, all with hassle-free installation.

To achieve its goal in pro-

viding inspiration to and em-power business owners to follow the footsteps of the successful entrepreneurs, the organizers invited business gurus who gave useful and informative talks. These included Franchise Guru of the Philippines, Armando “Butz” Bartolome; Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and DTI Secretary Gregory Domingo, to name a few. To add more fun and ex-citement to the three-day event, Sun Business took charge of the games and raffles for the partici-pants.

For more of Sun Busi-ness and its mobile solutions for ventures, log on to http://sunbusiness.com.ph or call the Sun Business Hotline 395-8PRO (395-8776) or visit The Sun Shop nearest you.

PAG-IBIG has announced that the Fund will be inten-sifying its efforts to enforce

the mandatory provision of Re-public Act 9679.

Under the said law (the Home Development Mutual Fund Law of 2009), membership in Pag-IBIG Fund is mandatory for all employers and employees covered and should be covered by the SSS and the GSIS.

By end of 2011, Pag-IBIG said there are some 250,000 employers around the country who are not registered with the Fund.

“These employers are de-priving their personnel of the benefits of membership in the

Fund – benefits which include long term savings with better than usual earnings, access to housing finance, and easy access to short-term cash loans in times of need,” Pag-IBIG Chief Ex-ecutive Officer Darlene Marie B. Berberabe said in a statement.

To help enforce the law, Pag-IBIG has forged agreements with local government units which provides for making Pag-IBIG registration a pre-requisite to securing or renewing a busi-ness permit.

“We, however, recognize that some employers are unable to register with the Fund due to the accumulation of penalties on uncollected and unremitted

contributions,” the Pag-IBIG CEO added.

“Thus, Pag-IBIG is imple-menting a penalty condonation program for unregistered or de-linquent employers beginning January 2 until June 30, 2012 only.” Since the program will only run for a limited period, Berberabe encourages employ-ers who have yet to register with the Fund to take advantage of this program. “After June 30, we have no other recourse but to file cases against unregis-tered employers as part of the Fund’s Intensified Membership Enforcement and Collection Campaign (IMECC),” the official said. [PNA]

EDGEDAVAOTHE BUSINESS PAPER

12 JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012VOL. 4 NO. 46cOmmunitysense

BizQuiPS‘OUR assessment is that

even if some of the euro zone countries are in a recession technically for some or all of 2012, the whole of the zone might not technically be in a recession.’

--Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund head

Dolefil sends “Caravan of Hope”to victims of Typhoon Sendong

Tagum resumes distribution of school furniture in towns

6 NorCot towns to benefitin Unicef’s CPC7 program

DOLEFIL’S Caravan of Hope left the Dolefil gym recently for the second

wave of relief operations car-rying with them the hope of all Dolefil employees for a better future for victims of Typhoon Sendong in Northern Mind-anao.

During the first wave of relief operations, 45 volunteers consisting of members of the Dolefil Kaugnay, Dolefil Moun-taineering Club, as well as the company’s partner coopera-tives, left on-board three com-muter vans on a ten-hour trip to Cagayan de Oro. Soon after,

three ten-wheeler trucks from Jomaray Trucking followed, carrying relief goods consisting of Dole canned pineapple prod-ucts, rice, other canned food items, noodles, plastic mats, blankets/quilts, water all val-ued at an estimated P4.5 mil-lion, sufficient for 3,120 family-beneficiaries.

The volunteers themselves distributed the relief goods to various evacuation centers in Cagayan de Oro City, bringing smiles to families left homeless by Tropical Storm Sendong. And only recently aid amount-ing to P1.2 million was extend-

ed to calamity stricken families in Valencia City, Bukidnon.

Lawyer Melquiades L. Hernandez III, Dolefil HR di-vision director, said, “In this season of love and sharing, it was heartwarming to note the outpouring of support from the Dolefil employees, unions, cooperatives and other busi-ness partners who unselfishly shared their blessings for the benefit of the typhoon victims just in time for the Holidays.” Dolefil employees alone raised over P1 million to purchase ba-sic necessities such as rice and water for family-beneficiaries.

THREE schools in Ka-palong, Davao del Norte received 337 pieces of

brand new school furniture as the distribution of yellow school furniture resumed January 11, 2012, the first to be done this year, after the school’s holiday hiatus last December.

Tagum City Mayor Rey T. Uy led the distribution of the yellow armchairs, desks and kiddie chairs along with Ka-palong town Mayor Edgardo Timbol and Vice Mayor Romy C. Estrada.

Luan Elementary School was given 25 kiddie chairs, 84 desks, 60 armchairs while Semong National High School 75 armchairs and Mabantao National High School each re-ceived 93 armchairs.

In Tagum, First Councilor De Carlo “Oyo” Uy led his col-leagues in the 5th City Council of Tagum in the distribution of the same to day care schools in Barangay Bincungan last Janu-

ary 10, 2011. Joining him were City Councilors Mylene Baura, Nickel Suaybaguio and Bong Aala.

Magangit Elementary School in the Municipality of Maco in Compostela Val-ley Province also received 20 armchairs and 10 desks last January 10, upon the request of their school head. Lapulapu Elementary School, also in the same town, was given 50 arm-chairs, 30 desks and 20 kiddie chairs.

Jay F. Arguilla, president of the Supreme Student Gov-ernment of Semong National High School in Kapalong said the newly-delivered school fur-niture could really help them in their studies since most of their armchairs need major repairs.

Luan Elementary School Principal Adronico D. Lara, Jr. expressed gratitude since his problem of the lack of school chairs is now resolved.

“At least, we can now concentrate on improving our rank in the national achieve-ment test,” the principal said referring to the yearly exami-nation given by the Depart-ment of Education to assess the learning of school children.

This is still part of the city’s “Care for School Chairs Program” which fabricates school furniture out from con-fiscated logs, as compliance to Executive Order No. 23 of President Benigno S. Aquino III.

Ended, the City Govern-ment of Tagum had already distributed school furniture a total of 14,635 since August 2011 to present to the Provinc-es of Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Compostela Valley and Davao City. As of this writ-ing, 6, 427 pieces of school fur-niture are in stock at the city’s motorpool which are ready for distribution in the coming days. [CITY INFORMATION OFFICE- TAGUM]

MoRe SchoolS. Students of Tapudi Elemen-tary School in the remote coastal municipality of Lebak, Sultan Kudarat, are awed by the fea-tures of a desktop computer that was provided by the school’s parent-teacher association (PTA) and the U.S. Agency for International Develop-ment (USAID). Through its Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, USAID matches the funds raised by PTAs to establish mini librar-ies, multimedia centers, science and computer laboratories, and other education improvement

projects. This collaboration has helped to raise public awareness of the value of education, while providing students and teachers with resources needed to make learning more fun and creative. To date, PTAs have collaborated with USAID’s GEM Program on 1,077 matching grants, ben-efiting 949 schools and more than 645,000 stu-dents throughout remote, conflict-affected areas in Mindanao. The USAID’s GEM Program is im-plemented under the oversight of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA).

GIVen hoPe. Almost 5,000 families were given hope this by the Dolefil Caravan of Hope, which

visited both Cagayan de Oro and Valencia cities doing christmas.

MAYoR’S Son. In Tagum City, Councilor De Carlo “Oyo” Uy, son of Mayor Rey T. Uy, led his colleagues in the 5th City Council of Tagum in the distribution of yellow school furniture such as

2 teacher’s table, 60 Kiddie Chairs and 11 kiddie table to day care schools in Barangay Bincungan last January 10, 2011. [Leo Timogan/CIO Tagum]

SIX municipalities in North Cotabato have been identi-fied as candidate partners

for the implementation of the Seventh Country Programme for Children (CPC7) of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

After a series of thorough situation analyses and workshops conducted by Unicef on 1,500 municipalities in the country, the towns Aleosan, Arakan, Banisi-lan, Midsayap, Pikit and Pres. Roxas have been considered as beneficiaries of the program due to their inclusion in several na-tional government priority lists.

To be officially included in the program, they were advised through a letter signed by OIC-Deputy Representative of Unicef, Abdul Alim to place considerable emphasis on the role of the mu-

nicipality in the delivery of social services critical to the protection and promotion of children’s rights during the implementation of the CPC7 which will officially start this January 2012.

The CPC7 has been spe-

cifically designed to assist munici-palities that have identified their gaps in social development and have initiated work to address those gaps through Sanggunian-approved development program budgets. [EDV]

13

EDGEDAVAO THE BUSINESS PAPER

JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012 VOL. 4 NO. 46

icthUb

BizQuiPS‘THE one ordered

to try and decide impeachment cases is the Senate so I don’t think the Supreme Court can interpret the Constitution.’

--Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, reacting to petitions urging the Supreme Court to stop the trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Maersk Line taps Ericsson to deploy mobile connectivity to vessel fleet

Nokia ushers in the New Yearwith Dual SIM Nokia Asha 200

Apple discloses suppliers Thinnest laptop computer unvieled

Davao in ‘Top 100’ outsourcing sites

Hotel chains team up for one-stop booking shop

MAERSK Line, the world’s largest ship-ping company, has

tapped Ericsson to deploy mo-bile and satellite communica-tion to its entire vessel fleet.

Under the agreement, Ericsson will provide seven years of global managed ser-vices support, including 24/7 network monitoring and on-board maintenance services in a large number of ports across all major regions.

The Maersk fleet com-prises more than 500 contain-er vessels.

Over the next two years, Maersk will outfit 400 of these vessels with Ericsson anten-nas and GSM base stations, with upgrades to be made to the remaining vessels soon after.

“We’re proud to be able to connect Maersk Line’s fleet with our technology. We be-lieve in a Networked Society,

where connectivity will only be the starting point for new ways of innovating, collabo-rating and socializing. The result will be automated and simplified processes, higher productivity, real-time in-formation allowing quicker, more informed decision mak-ing and problem solving,” Hans Vestberg, president and chief executive of Ericsson said.

For the shipping indus-try, mobile communication provides the opportunity to employ new and efficient ways of addressing fleet man-agement, managing delivery times, improving interaction with vessels, enabling pro-active issue resolution and prompt information sharing with customers and even im-proving energy efficiency.

Until now, Maersk’s high-tech modern container ships have been equipped

with satellite connectivity pri-marily intended to support communication for vital ship-board functions.

Ericsson’s integrated maritime mobile and very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) satellite solution will bring extended connectivity to the entire fleet, allowing for new ways of communicating and contributing to efficiency, reliability and cost reduction.

It also paves the way for immediate access to remote expertise, resulting in extend-ed access to information and, in turn, improved efficiency in the vessels’ daily operations.

“We’re quite pleased to be the first fleet to be connect-ed with mobile communica-tion technology. We believe it would provide us good oppor-tunities to run our fleet more efficiently.” Soren Toft, vice president Maersk Operations said. [PNA]

NOKIA has announced the availability of the Nokia Asha 200 in

the Philippines – a colorful Dual SIM phone with a full QWERTY keypad for fast mes-saging.

The Nokia Asha 200 of-fers Nokia’s Easy Swap fea-ture for convenient changing of SIM cards without the need to turn off the phone or re-move the battery. The phone allows up to five SIM cards to be personalized and man-aged, so that calls, texts or web browsing can be enjoyed with minimized costs and maximum network coverage.

Available in a wide range of vibrant colours – includ-ing Graphite, Pink, Aqua and Pearl White – the Nokia Asha 200 is the perfect phone for staying connected. It includes a dedicated key for immediate access to favorite email and chat services through Nokia Messaging, and features an SMS view that shows an en-tire text message chain on the screen, to make chatting with

friends easier than ever.The pre-installed Nokia’s

Communities application allows one-click sign-in to multiple social networks, let-ting users view, post, com-ment and update their status as well as share photos from networks such as Facebook and Twitter directly from the homescreen.

With support for up to

32 GB of additional memory, music lovers can take their en-tire collections with them, en-joying favorite tunes through high-performance 106 phon loudspeakers and enhanced stereo FM radio, as well as an FM recording feature that allows users to record songs directly off the radio.

“Consumers are calling out for the right mix of style and substance – phones that look great, but also give the richest possible experience in calling, texting or browsing the web,” said Mike Smith, Device Portfolio Manager, Nokia Philippines. “The new Nokia Asha 200 with Easy Swap Dual SIM helps people enjoy more affordable and connected chat, while new features like Nokia Messaging and Communities place social right on the phone’s homes-ecreen.”

The Nokia Asha 200 is available in Nokia Stores na-tionwide with a suggested re-tail price of PhP3,500.Republic of the Philippines

Department of Transportation and Communications

LAND TRANSPORTATION FRANCHISING AND

REGULATORY BOARDRegional Office No. XI

Davao city

Petition for Renewal of Certificate of Public Convenience to operate a

FILCABOrdinary Regular Service.

BeRnARd l. olAlo, case no.2009-xI-00093Petitioner

x- - - - - - - - - - - - -- - -- - xnotIce heARInG

Petitioner is a grantee of a Certificate of Public Convenience issued in this case authorizing the operation of a FILCAB Ordinary Regular Service on the route: SASA VIA R. CASTILLO ROUTE with the use of ONE (1) unit, which Certificate expired last November 7, 2011. In the petition filed on November 14, 2011, petitioner requests authority to extend the validity of said certificate to operate along the same route with the use of the same units previously authorized. NOTICE, is hereby given that this petition will be heard by this Board on February 01, 2012 at 10:00 a. m. at this office at the above address.

At least, TEN (10) days prior to the above date petitioner shall publish this Notice once in a one (1) daily newspaper of general circulation in Mindanao

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

This petition will be acted upon by this Board on the basis of its records and the documentary evidence submitted by the parties, unless the Board deems it necessary to receive additional documentary and/or oral evidence.

WITNESS the Honorable BENJAMIN A. GO, CESO V, Regional Director, this 17th day of November 2011 at Davao City.

teReSItA delA PeÑA-YÑIGUeZChief Transport Development Officer

/hocCopy furnished:Petitioner, Ber nard L. Olalo, Km.12, Bolinao Site, Sasa, Davao City Counsel, Atty. Magin C. Natividad, Balusong Avenue, Matina, Davao CityNOTE: Affidavit of Publication and newspaper where notice was published must be submitted three (3) day before the scheduled hearing.

APPLE has disclosed a list of its suppliers for the iPhone, iPad and other popular

gadgets for the first time amid growing criticism over labor and environmental practices, espe-cially in China.

The list for years has been strictly and fervently protected. Even a glimpse of an Apple iPhone or its components before a public release became a source of intrigue and controversy. In-vestors have played a guessing game about which contractors would become Apple’s next sup-plier, or who was on the outs.

Apple disclosed its list of its suppliers responsible for 97 per-cent of its procurement expendi-tures worldwide. Some examples are Intel Corp., Broadcom Corp., Amphenol Corp. and Sanyo Elec-tric Co.

The transparency may be a sign of changes coming to the Cupertino, Calif. company in the post-Steve Jobs era under CEO Tim Cook.

The 2012 “Supplier Respon-sibility Progress Report” released Friday, documents 229 audits throughout its supply chain last year by Apple Inc. That’s up 80 percent from 127 audits in 2010.

The audits found labor, health, health and environmental violations, including instances of underage labor and discrimina-tion based on pregnancy. Apple also outlined its response to each of the violations that were uncov-ered, which included ending its relationship with repeat offenders and requiring companies to come up with measures to prevent them from occurring again.

The report was issued a day after distraught workers who make Microsoft’s Xbox video game consoles at Foxconn

Technology Group climbed to the top of a six-story dormitory and threatened to jump to their deaths. No one did, but the in-cident highlights growing labor unrest in China. Foxconn is a unit of Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision In-dustry Co. that makes iPads and iPhones for Apple.

There was a rash of suicides at the massive Foxconn plant in 2010 in the city of Shenzhen. About 300,000 people work at the plant and industrial park. Plant managers installed nets to prevent more people from com-mitting suicide by jumping from the roof.

In its report, Apple found that 78 of the company’s suppli-ers complied with antidiscrimina-tion standards it has set for them. But only 61 percent of them had systems in place to prevent dis-crimination from happening.

Nearly all — 97 percent — prevented underage labor. But only 72 percent had policies in place keep it from happening.

Just 38 percent of the sup-pliers observed Apple’s working-hours policies, and 69 percent followed its code for wages and benefits.

In all, the audits found 74 percent of the suppliers to be in overall compliance with Apple’s policies. Examples of violations included testing job candidates for Hepatitis B, conducting preg-nancy tests and exceeding weekly limits of 60 working hours. Apple said 109 facilities it audited did not pay proper overtime wages.

In another shift, Apple also joined the Fair Labor Associa-tion, a group of companies and universities focused on improving labor practices. It conducts unan-nounced, random audits on its members’ factories.

SEVERAL major hotel chains have launched a new web-site in an effort to increase

their online booking revenue and lower costs associated with third-party travel services.

This week, six hotel compa-nies announced roomkey.com, a hotel search engine that routes consumers straight to participat-ing hotel companies’ websites to book rooms.

Equity partners, who stand to share in proceeds once the Room Key venture generates profits, are currently Choice Hotels International, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Ho-tels, Marriott International, InterContinental Hotels Group and Wyndham Worldwide Corp.

Britain’s InterContinental

said it expects the website to boost its business in the United States.

John Davis III, chief ex-ecutive of Room Key, said the site would help ease the com-plexity of finding hotel rooms for consumers while helping the hotel companies lower their distribution costs. He said the service was targeted to leisure and small-business travelers.

Davis told Reuters that fees the hotel companies pay to list on Room Key were cheaper than what they pay online trav-el services such as Expedia. He also said consumers would find the lowest rates on Room Key, and would have an easier time making changes to itineraries than when using online travel agencies.

ACER unveiled the world’s thinnest lap-top computer as an

array of “ultrabook” rivals prepared to debut this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The Taiwan-based computer titan will begin shipping Acer Aspire 5 mod-els in the second quarter of this year, with prices to be disclosed in coming weeks.

“That S5 is quite signif-icant,” analyst Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies said after the Acer press event.

“It looks like the thin-nest and lightest, and it sets the bar for the rest of the ultrabook vendors,” he con-tinued.

The Aspire S5 has a 34-cm (13.3-inch) screen and is 15 mm at its thickest point. The ultrabook weighs slight-ly less than 1.35 kg (three pounds).

“We are committed to evolving this technology,” said Acer chief executive J.T. Wang. “By the second quar-ter of this year we will have

four models of ultrabook and more to come.”

Ultrabooks powered by Windows 8 will be released by Acer after Microsoft re-leases the new version of its computer operating system later this year, according to Wang.

He estimated that ul-trabooks would make up at least 35 percent of the Acer product line by the end of this year.

Since Aspire S5 is Win-dows based it is not likely to be a direct challenge to MacBook Air laptops, which have been winning converts to the sleek machines pow-ered by Apple software, ac-cording to Bajarin.

“The real battle is not with Apple, it is with all the other vendors coming out with Windows ultrabooks,” Bajarin said.

“Apple will still do great with MacBook Air, but in the Windows world it is great news that five years after Ap-ple set the tone the industry is finally getting something

equal,” he continued.Acer also announced

plans to launch a free service that will let users of its com-puters store video, photos, music, and documents in the Internet “cloud” and access files from any Windows 8 or Android software powered gadgets.

“We believe Microsoft will take care of Windows devices; Google will take care of Android devices, and Acer will take care of in be-tween,” Wang said.

“We will make Win-dows work very well with Android and other platforms too.”

Bajarin described Aspire S5 as the first viable Win-dows equivalent of popular MacBook Air laptops built by California-based Apple.

Acer Cloud appeared to be a Windows version of the Apple’s freshly-launched iCloud service that lets peo-ple access their content from iPads, iPhones, iPods, and Macintosh computers, ac-cording to the analyst.

Five cities in the Philip-pines were cited among the top 100 destinations for in-formation technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) services in a report by technology investment and research firm Tholons.

Tholon›s January 2012 report states that the South-east Asian region, particular-ly the Philippines, remains a “dominant figure” in the global outsourcing industry.

Metro Manila is in fourth ranking in the Top 100, followed by Cebu City (9th), Davao City (69th) and Sta. Rosa, Laguna (86th). Iloilo City, meanwhile, is ranked 92nd improved by six notches.

The top three cities are in India, which accounted for 13 locations in the Top 100.

According to the re-port, voice-based contact support services continue to be a pillar for the outsourc-ing industry in the Philip-pines.

It also highlighted on the growth rate of IT-BPO employees for Metro Manila (pegged at 10.6 percent), as well as the establishment of delivery centers for major technology brands such as HP, IBM, Dell, Convergys, and Teleperformance.

The IT-BPO industry in the Philippines generated at least $11 billion in 2011, up by around 20 percent the

previous year. Bulk of this is contributed by the contact center industry, which em-ploys at least half a million Filipino workers.

The Tholons report also forecasts that Southeast Asia would remain strong in 2012, though more growth is expected from areas in in Europe, especially Poland and the Czech Republic. [LO-

QAL.PH]

EDGEDAVAOTHE BUSINESS PAPER

14 JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012VOL. 4 NO. 46subUrbIa

Mal-Mar irrigation projectmore transparent- Gov. Lala

Sarangani’s poorest get cash grants

Glan earns ‘Seal of Good Housekeeping’

NGO urges help for undocumented workers in Sabah IGaCoS, 3 Davao towns benefit from the challenge fund

BizQuiPS‘WE make sure we

don’t only build roads and dams – we build them better, monitor them more closely and ensure they serve the purpose for which they were built.’

--Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala

THE multi-billion peso Malitubog-Maridagao (Mal-Mar) irrigation proj-

ect in North Cotabato is being implemented faster and with more transparency. This was the report of North Cotabato Gov. Lala Talino-Mendoza to Davao-based media practitio-ners.

It may be recalled that last year, the lady governor had asked for the auditing of the Mal-Mar project, saying the project was much delayed and people, including local govern-ment unit (LGU) officials, were kept in the dark as to what was happening with it.

“I am glad to report that no less than Commissioner Hei-di Mendoza of the Commission on Audit is on top of the audit-ing of the project,”the governor said.

“I was informed that as

a result of the audit, from the original amount of P6.2 billion, the cost for phase 2 of the proj-ect is now only P6.1 billion,” she said.

Also, from the original target of only 6,000 hectares, the area to be irrigated will be 9,000 hectares, she added.

“Because of everyone’s vigilance, we have established the concept of monitoring the project as sanctioned by the Mindanao Development Au-

thority,” she said.Members of the the Re-

gional Development Council in Central Mindanao meet every Friday to get updates on the project as to accomplishments, slippage, and if there is any de-lay, the problem is addressed immediately.

Initiated by then President Fidel V. Ramos in 1989 (when Governor Mendoza was still in her teens), the Mal-Mar project was designed to irrigate a total of 16,957 hectares to benefit 6,312 farmers in 56 barangays in the provinces of North Cota-bato and Maguindanao. Phase 1 was designed to irrigate 10,840 hectares and cost P3.1 billion while Phase 2 was to cover 6,117 hectares and cost-ing P6.2 billion.

Presently, only 2,578 hect-ares have so far been irrigated in Phase 1.

n Cost reduced; area increased

Talino Mendoza

cASh tRAnSFeR BeneFIcIARIeS. Sarangani Governor Migs Dominguez encourages responsible parenthood to the 268 family-beneficiaries of local Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) project on its first sortie at barangay Domolok Thursday, January 12.

This project is patterned after the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), a poverty alleviation strategy that invests in human capital to improve their living conditions by providing a cash grant of P500 per month. [RUSSell delVo/SARAnGAnI InFoRMAtIon oFFIce]

SARANGANI province released cash grants on Thursday (January 12)

to augment the income of the poorest families in barangay Domolok thru the conditional cash transfer (CCT) project, a local initiative patterned after the Pantawid Pamilyang Pili-pino Program (4Ps) of the na-tional government.

4Ps is a poverty alleviation strategy which provides poor families cash assistance for the health and education needs of their children 0-14 years old.

A total of 268 families re-ceived P500 monthly assistance each covering July, August, and September 2011. The first re-lease entitled each beneficiary family the sum of P1,500.

Governor Migs Domin-guez urged beneficiaries to reli-giously submit to the conditions required of them, like sending their children to pre-schools and for pregnant women to avail of pre-natal services in ba-rangay health centers.

Community affairs officer Rene Punzalan said among the seven towns of Sarangani, only Alabel was not covered by the 4Ps program which

prompted the provincial social welfare and development office (PSWDO) to initiate local inter-vention using the community-based management system (CBMS) as a tool to identify the poorest families.

CBMS is an organized process of data collection and processing at the local level and of integration of data in local planning, program implemen-tation, and impact monitoring.

CBMS identified the ba-rangays of Alegria, Domolok, Datal Anggas, and Paraiso with the most numbered constitu-ents that fall below the poverty threshold.

A social welfare indicator revalidated the level of well-being of the 1,261 households of these barangays which re-vealed that 1,199 or 95 percent did not meet the minimum household income. In short, “these households could hardly eat three meals a day,” Punza-lan said.

Punzalan, however, point-ed out only the remaining five percent or 62 households that belong to the “subsistence” lev-el have met the required daily meals, family bonding, and

participated in the community development activities.

Punzalan said this initia-tive became a convergence task of PSWDO, Provincial Health Office, Provincial Envi-ronment and Natural Resourc-es Office, and Provincial Agri-culturist’s Office in responding to the basic needs in the com-munities.

Basic requirements like pre-school education and health services are among the conditions that have to be met under CCT.

Punzalan said beneficia-ries would also be provided poverty reduction interven-tions such as family develop-ment sessions, organization of parent leaders, provision of livelihood trainings and assis-tance, provision of sanitary toi-let, potable water supply, and enrolment to PhilHealth “to ensure that communities are resilient and capable” when they will be out of CCT’s list. For more news and updates, please visit the <a href= http://www.sarangani.gov.ph/ > Province of Sarangani </a> [BEVERLY C. PAOYON/SARANGANI

INFORMATION OFFICE]

By Beverly C. Paoyon

THREE municipalities and a city in the Davao region benefited last year from

the Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) subsidy, an incen-tive fund given to local govern-ment units for passing the Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH).

The PCF recipients were the 4th class municipalities of Braulio E. Dujali and San Isidro, the Island Garden City of Samal, all in Davao del Norte; and Sa-rangani town in Davao del Sur.

The Department of In-terior and Local Government (DILG) in Region 11 reported that each of the three town-beneficiaries received P1 mil-lion, while IGACOS got P3 mil-lion.

Braulio E. Dujali used its PCF to develop its public mar-ket. Dujali was the only town in the region to be bestowed the SGH in 2010, and got a P1 mil-lion PCF.

San Isidro undertook sev-eral projects such as the con-struction of three solar

dryers, rehabilitation of farm-to-market road, installa-tion of pre-painted roofing of multi-purpose building and construction of multi-purpose building.

Sarangani, also a 4th class municipality, used its incentive for road maintenance.

IGACOS’ funding was spent for the construction of ac-cess road and drainage outfall.

IN recognition of its exem-plary performance in gov-ernance, transparency and

accountability, the local gov-ernment unit (LGU) of Glan, Sarangani, has been chosen as one of recipients of the 2012 Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH) awards of the Depart-ment of Interior and Local Gov-ernment.

A mechanism that rec-ognizes good performance, the SGH is given to LGUs that have excelled in the areas of planning, budgeting, revenue mobilization, sound fiscal man-agement and budget execu-tion, procurement and resource mobilization, transparency and accountability, and giving value to performance management.

An SGH award means that a recipient LGU has reli-giously complied with all the provisions of the Anti-Red Tape Act as well as the Full Disclo-sure Policy of the DILG with re-gard to project implementation

and financial transactions. Aside from topping the

standards on full disclosure and transparency, LGU-Glan bagged the award because of its “no adverse findings” from the Commission on Audit, and because of the efficiency in the implementation of its programs and projects.

A P1 million incentive from the Performance Chal-lenge Fund (PCF) is usually given to the best performing LGUs, but, for one reason or another, DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo had decided to up the PCF incentive for Glan to P2 million, according to Zorayda Grafilo-Labos, chief, DILG-Glan.

“Surely, this is something for Glan to be proud of and an-other feather in the cap of the administration of Mayor Victor James Yap, Sr.,” she said.

The incentive is in line with the Millennium Devel-opment Goals for the imple-

mentation of priority projects designed to boost tourism and local economic development as well as comply with the Philippine Disaster Risk Re-duction and Management Act of 2010 and the Ecological and Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

For tourism and local economic development, the projects include school build-ings, rural health units, health centers and birthing facilities, roads, bridges, tourism facili-ties, irrigation systems, post harvest facilities, cold storage facilities, ports and wharves and other economic infrastruc-tures.

On the other hand, projects--such as flood con-trol, reforestation, solid waste management facilities, storm drainage and related flood protection---are on tap for Ad-aptation to Climate Change and Disaster Preparedness. [GLAN INFORMATION & NEWS SERVICE]

THE Center for Overseas Workers (COW) has called on the govern-

ment and other sectors in the society to help address the increasing numbers of undocumented Filipino mi-grant workers and their con-dition in Sabah, Malaysia.

In a multi-sectoral forum on Monday, COW raised the call after present-ing the situation of the many Filipino migrant workers who have sought greener pastures in Sabah, but ended to become “illegal workers.”

Religious of the Good Shepherd Sr. Alice Andres of COW said many are simply undocumented due to either having expired passports and working permits, or they entered Malaysia without any proper documents, or they were survivors of traf-ficking and bonded labor.

After an exploratory five-month immersion with over a hundred Filipino workers in Sabah, Andres described the undocument-ed migrants’ state as dis-heartening, saying that the migrants are experiencing varied forms of violations.

The Davao City-based COW catering to the wel-fare of migrant workers has assigned Andres in Sabah, Malaysia starting July to No-vember last year to look into

the situation of the reported undocumented Filipino mi-grants and explore possibili-ties of helping them.

Being called as “illegal workers” in said country having no legal documents in possession, she said Fili-pinos are subjected to crack-downs, denial of rights, low wages, abuses, exploitation, trafficking, and are being discriminated, stigmatized and criminalized.”

Andres said most of the undocumented or irregular migrants living in irregu-lar situation in Sabah are women, unskilled workers, indirectly hired workers, vic-tims of Trafficking in Person (TIP), children of undocu-mented parents, overstay-ing migrants, and holders of fake passports.

She said that the mi-grants work as plantation workers, domestic workers, professionals, construction workers, waitresses, and fac-tory workers, as well as en-tertainment industry work-ers.

There are also directly hired laborers, but most of them had run away after an experience of maltreatment and abuse from their em-ployers, Andres reported.

This particular situa-tion, she said, forced many Filipino migrant workers to

become undocumented not-ing that employers in Ma-laysia have full control over work permit and are permit-ted to hold passports of their workers.

Andres cited a situa-tion wherein workers are re-quired to deposit as much as 500 Malaysian Ringgit in or-der to get their passports so they could go out and enjoy a day-off.

She said the workers would complain quoting them saying that “What is the use of having the pass-port, if we no longer have the money to go out and send to our families back home?”

Based on her inter-views, Andres said that most undocumented Filipinos want to go home but could not do so because its either they have bonded contract, or they are indebted with their employers, or they have no money for the fare back home.

The RGS nun disclosed that Malaysia’s 2010 Census Population data shows that there are 800,000 non-Ma-laysians living in Sabah.

About 200,000 are un-documented workers, while the 600,000 cover legal workers, expatriates and for-eigners who married locals, she said.

However, she said that Malaysia’s 5P programme that involves a program on registration, amnesty, moni-toring, enforcement and deportation of migrants has listed only 161,370 undocu-mented persons or 85% of the 200,000.

Andres shared the story of Edith, Linda, Elma, Susan and many other workers in sawmills who are stuck inside their compound, say-ing that the workers could not go for fear of being ap-prehended since they do not have the legal documents.

She said the workers were not able to register dur-ing the 5P registration pe-riod, because their employers did not want to sponsor them for the reason that the regis-tration process is expensive.

She stated that Malaysia is the largest receiving coun-try of migrant labor in Asia, having more than three mil-lion migrant workers from 14 countries including the Phil-ippines.

COW executive director Sr. Diane Cabasagan, RGS said that they are seeking concerted efforts from the government and other sec-tors to address the problems on migration, particularly on undocumented Filipino workers in Sabah. [PIA 11/CARINA

L. CAYON]

EDGEDAVAO THE BUSINESS PAPER

15JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012 VOL. 4 NO. 46

Philippines: More Fun?It’s More Fun

in the Philip-pines—the new tagline for Phil-

ippine tourism that was launched a cou-ple of weeks back was received with gen-eral favour especially from social network-ing sites such as twit-ter and Facebook. Almost instantly, it became one of the hottest topics of con-versation in every social gathering and was blasted all over the waves in news re-ports and talk shows. of course, it was not long before some controversy erupted. People started com-paring the new Philippine tourism slogan to that of switzerland’s from a while back, 1950s to be exact. The uncanny similarity between the new Philippine slogan to our foreign friend’s “More fun in switzerland” slogan seemed to leave a bad taste in the general public’s mouth. However, it is something that I think should be a non-issue. First of all, if anyone seriously thinks that the people in the Department of tourism still remember this slogan from the 1950s, then you are over estimating our public servants. The thing is, I think the Dot has so much more to worry about than simply looking for taglines used by other countries to re-hash it and use it as our own. Plus, we are the only nation that seems to care. Malaysia is popular for their truly Asia campaign, while truly tusca-ny is also running. Incredible India and Incredible India are identical, but nobody seems to mind. so maybe instead of creating controversy and

talks about the new slogan for our tourism, what we should do is to support it and help tell the world why it is more fun in the Philippines. But why is it more fun in the Philippines? The Dot Website www.itsmorefun-inthephilippines.com says “Wherever you go in the Phil-ippines, it’s the Filipinos that will make your holiday unfor-gettable.” Here is what other people think: “It is more fun in the Phil-ippines because travel itiner-aries here are adjustable to your budget.” – Zac Ferrero, Indie Actor

“Because of siesta time and salons in every street corner, it’s more fun in the Philippines!” – Irene Pacana-Liwanag, Assistant Producer for GMA “It’s more fun in the Phil-ippines because Boracay is here!”- Kiko rustia, Model, tV Host “It’s more fun in the Phil-ippines because you will never run out of dialects to learn”- Yasmin Fabricante, Virtual Assistant “It’s more fun in the Phil-ippines because of our Jeep. Plus, almost every place has their own version of trans-portation like the motorella, skylab, and habal-habal.” – nadia shami, Beauty Queen “Because of you, me, and all of us here in the Phil-ippines. Pure hospitality, smiles, talents, and sense of humour make the Philip-pines more fun than any oth-er place on earth” – Harold Geronimo, Lifestyle Colum-nist, Pr Manager “We have great local bands“ – enzo Villegas, Vo-calist for eevee no matter what you think makes the Philippines more

fun than any other destina-tion in the world, it still sticks that how we appreciate our own land, how we support our tourism campaign, and the pride we have as Filipi-nos dictate how people from other nations will view our country. Listen to Confessions of a Partyphile on the radio from six to nine in the evening on 105.9 Mix FM or www.mixfm1059.com. For comments, sugges-tions, and more confessions from this partyphile log on to http://party.i.ph or follow the columnist on twitter.com/zhaun

E-mail: edgedavao_editorial@yahoo.com.ph

UP AND ABOUT YOUTH TRENDS

THE DRAGON is the fifth sign of the Chinese Zo-diac. A creature of myth and leg-end, it represents power. It is the ul-timate auspicious symbol signifying success and happiness. According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2012 is the Year of the Dragon. It begins on January 23, 2012 and ends on February 9, 2013. To usher in the Year of the Dragon, exciting activities are lined up at your favorite mall. From January 12-24, strike a pose at the Enter the Dragon Garden and discover your fortune at the Chinese Zodiac Horoscope. Enjoy a sumptuous meal with your family and friends at SM Foudcourt’s Chinese Food Bazaar on January 16-24 and learn how to prepare your own Chinese treat with Grand Achievers Training Institute on January 22 at 11AM. Catch Infinity More than Medals as they showcase Chinese martial arts Wushu on January 22. On January 23, welcome the water dragon with a bang as Lion and Dragon dancers cover the entire mall wishes of good health and prosperity. Also, feast your eyes on the colourful Chinese Dance Presentations from Colegio de San Ignacio and the city’s Chinese schools. Plus, Feng Shui expert Richard Yu will help you in attracting everything that is good on January 23 and 24. Welcome a new year of good fortune. Celebrate new beginnings at SM City Davao! For inquiries, call 297.6998 local 126. Visit www.smcitydavao.blogspot.com and like SM City Davao on Facebook for event and promo updates.

MARCO POLO DAVAO welcomes the Year of the Dragon with a unique showcase of Chinese cultural arts and cuisine. Lotus Court opens the celebration on January 22 with the traditional Lion Dance, live musi-cal performances, and a dinner feast. The pre-mium buffet is a 2-day dining special featuring Roast Peking Duck, Chili Crabs, Yin Yang Garoupa, and other seafood best sellers. Sweet cakes and set menus will be offered from January 15 to 25. Cafe Marco joins the festivity as it includes selected Cantonese delights on the regular buffet lineup from January 16 to 30. They’re also adding more deli-cacies on the carvery on Chinese New Year’s Eve and Day. For reservations and inquiries, please call, (082) 221 0888 local 7222 or 7233.

A STRONG PARTNERSHIP with Tagum City Major Rey T. Uy bolsters Water-front’s effortsin coastal rehabilitation particularly its Mangrove Tree Planting Project. So it was the prestigious hotel’s turn to lend its support by sending staff members to volunteer at Tagum City’s Care for School Chairs Program last December 17, 2011. Encouraged by the generosity of Major Rey, as much as 17 volunteers traveled to Tagum to lend a helping hand. This group included several members of the ho-tel’s managerial team who were the Executive Chef, Fran-cis Joseph Tugnao, the F&B Manager, Adelo Marquez, the Safety & Security Manager, Roldan Sacay, the Executive Housekeeper, Jose Rheniel Jamilaren, the Sales & Marketing Man-ager Jennifer Romero and IT Manager, Wilbert Aquino. They were also joined by another trusted eco-partner, the proprietor of Carmel Green Landscaping, Evelyn Calonzo. After working up a sweat painting almost 30 armchairs, the Waterfront volunteer team met up with Vice Mayor Allan L. Rellon to extend its regards and appreciation for their continual support in Waterfront’s Man-grove Tree Planting Project.

Enter the Dragon at SM City!

Welcome the Year of the Dragon at Marco Polo Davao

Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao helps Tagum’s Care for School Chairs Program

Nadia Shami

Enzo VillEgas

KiKo Rustia

Zac Ferrero HAROLD GERONIMO

A fashion explosion at Abreeza P18

EDGEDAVAOTHE BUSINESS PAPER

16 JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012VOL. 4 NO. 46

to greet the new year, from preserved meats, to flowers, to lucky bamboo, lucky trinkets, and red paper charms. There is an air of excitement and I can feel the energy and effort the ethnic Chinese do to prepare for the coming year of the Dragon. “everything becomes more hectic as one approaches Lunar new Year. The market becomes more jam-packed with shoppers preparing for everything they need at home because every-thing has a meaning,” beams tiger Airway’s senior manager for customer communications sharon Cheong “tangerines mean long life and good health, persimmons mean happiness and wealth, sweet sticky rice cake brings people and family together, and fish brings pros-perity.” Chinatown was also awash

with activities like nightly stage shows, a lion dance competi-tion, and street and stage per-formers. And as we left chinatown, I felt a sense of relief and amaze-ment. relief in the sense that I was able to touch base with my Chinese roots and amazement

that everything is just a short flight away. Tiger Airways is Singapore’s largest low-cost airline and flies direct from Davao to Singapore three times a week. For more de-tails or to book your flights, you can check out www.tigerairways.com.

HELPING YOU MAKE INFORMED BUSINESS DEcISIONS.

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8100 PhilippinesTel. No.: (084) 216-3003Cell No,: 0939-243-8539

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WHen tIGer A I r W AY s sent an in-vitation to

experience singapore Chinatown’s Lunar new Year Celebrations, I glad-ly said yes being the cul-ture freak that I am. I had been to singapore Chi-natown before and as before, the sights and scents came wave after wave bringing me back to my childhood in Manila China-town, albeit more festive and frantic thanks to the upcoming Lunar new Year. We first arrived at the Bud-dah tooth relic temple that was gaudily decorated with plus flowers and red lanterns as in-cense from people wishing for a more prosperous new year per-fumed the air around it. I tried my luck at the wishing tree at the adjoining courtyard where one can make a small dona-tion for the temple and literally throw their wishes onto the tree. From the temple we headed on to the night market that flourishes in Chinatown. The the bright and festive streets are lined with everything one needs

TRAVEL

The flying tiger and the year of the dragon

Romping about Singapore’s Chinatown for a unique Lunar New Year experience.

TEMPLE IN BLOOM. Flowers and red lanterns adorn the courtyard of the Buddah Tooth Relic Temple. HARBRINGER OF GOOD HEALTH. Tangerines.

ENTER THE DRAGON. The giant dragon lantern at New Bridge Road.

AM I LUCKY? Wishing for a year of good fortune at the wishing tree.

SEEING RED. Good luck charms fill a stall along Sago Street.

SPRING IN THE AIR. Nightly performers enliven the areas around Chinatown.

ROMPING ABOUT. Me and Sharon Cheong at the start of our Chinatown walk.

PLANT YOUR LUCK. A shopper picks a lucky bamboo and flowers for the new year.

DRIED MEATS. Dried meats, fish and ham of every kind line the wall of this stall .

A MILE OF EATS. Every corner of Chinatown had food items symbolising good luck.

EDGEDAVAO THE BUSINESS PAPER

17JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012 VOL. 4 NO. 46

It’s JAnuArY 2012! After all the parties and cel-ebrations in De-

cember 2011, it’s time to get back to reality. It’s time to be mind-ful of what we eat and we need to start mov-ing to get into shape. Here are twenty fit-ness crazes that you can choose from (if available in your gym or area) for your exer-cise routine in 2012.Airobics: High Flying Calorie Burn - Does your workout have you jumping for joy? springing into the air on a trampoline will. Airobics, a cardio class on trampolines, offers fat-burn-ing fun that’s gentler on your joints. Check out these new exercises that can make your workout more fun and chal-lenging. remember, regular exercise has many benefits, including boosting your mood and controlling your weight.Suspension: strength train-ing - A navy seAL created trX suspension training, so you know it’s a tough workout. sus-pension devices use your own body weight and gravity to cre-ate resistance. You should be fit and have strong core muscles to take on trX. If you’re 45 or older or have a medical condi-tion, be sure to check with your doctor before starting a fitness program.ViPR: Whole-Body Movement - ViPr stands for “vitality, per-formance, and reconditioning.” It’s a 40- or 48-inch rubber tube that comes in seven weights, from 8.8 pounds (4 kg) to 44 pounds (20 kg). Like the mo-tions of everyday life, lifting, pushing, and twisting exercises with the tube work your whole body, not just isolated muscles. You can change the intensity of your workout depending on how you use the ViPr.Elite Fitness: Muscle Confu-sion - ready to break through your fitness plateau? Then you might like cross-training programs that aim to cause “muscle confusion.” These switch up exercises, add new moves, and may include jump training (plyometrics). P90X and Insanity Workout are two popular programs. Ask your health care provider before trying these intense workouts, especially if you have joint problems.Jumping Shoes: Low-Impact Cardio - Putting a spring in your step can take stress off your joints. Kangoo Jumps are boots with springs on the soles -- like grown-up moon shoes. You can jog or do aerobics in them, burning calories while being gentle on your body. But if you are pregnant or have high blood pressure or balance problems, stick with springless shoes.

Pole Dancing: Vertical Work-out - Interested in gyrating in gym shorts instead of a G-string? Dance, spin, and do poses with a pole. You’ll burn calories while working your abs, butt, thighs, and more. You can make the workout as easy or intense as you like. risks include falling, rotator cuff strain, and tendonitis.Boot Camp: Back to Basics - This is basic training without a drill sergeant sneering and shouting in your face. There’s no fancy equipment -- just a se-ries of push-ups, squats, kicks, other calisthenics, and aerobic movements. You’ll burn about 10 calories a minute or 600 an hour. The payback: total-body fitness.Floating Yoga: Balance on a Board - Put the serenity of a still lagoon together with the challenge of balancing on a paddleboard and you get the serene challenge of floating yoga. Doing yoga moves on a paddleboard, which is larger than a surfboard, takes muscle control to keep from making a splash. The board is either anchored down or tied to a buoy to keep you from getting swept away by the experience.CrossFit: High-Intensity training - You can burn about 15 calories per minute with this intense workout, which includes timed challenges with squats, push-ups, gym-nastic rings, intense runs, and weightlifting. CrossFit is used to condition athletes, military forces, police officers, and fire-fighters. Be ready to work to your limit. But also be aware that fatigue can cause poor technique while exercising, which can lead to injury.Exergaming: Aerobic Play - Who said playing video games turns you into a couch potato? You can burn as many calo-ries exergaming as working out at the gym -- about 270 calories vigorously dancing or 216 calories virtual boxing in a half-hour. exergaming is a

great way to get kids moving. And slower-paced activities can help older adults be less sedentary.Zumba: Dance Fitness - Zum-ba wants your workout to par-ty! This high energy dance-fit-ness class moves to a Latin and international beat, instead of counting repetitions. And it’s one of the most popular work-outs, according to the Ameri-can Council on exercise. Plus, some classes focus on toning and strength training.Boxercise: A Workout Knock-out - Among exercises, box-ing is a knockout -- delivering agility, balance, muscle tone, strength, and cardio benefits. sparring also improves hand-eye coordination and mental agility. Boxercise, which start-ed in england, includes danc-ing, skipping, shadow boxing, kicking punching bags, and more. Be sure to protect your thumbs and knuckles, and consider wearing shin sup-ports.Kettleballs: A new Weight to Lift - A vigorous workout with a kettleball -- a cast iron ball with a handle -- can burn 272 calories in just 20 minutes. swinging the kettleball works muscles in a way that weight machines and barbells can’t. start with a light kettleball -- 8 to 15 pounds for women and 15 to 25 pounds for men. Form is critical to prevent in-jury, so it’s a good idea to get a trainer to show you how to properly use them.Hulas: Whittle While You Work out - If the last time you swung a hula hoop around your waist was in fourth grade, it may be time to give it another whirl. It’s easier to swing the new weighted hula hoops than the flimsy plastic ones. And hooping can burn more calories than step aero-bics and raise your heart rate as much as cardio kickboxing. It works your waist and core muscles, and can tone your thighs and biceps.

Cheerleading: Cardio With Pep - Missed out on being a cheerleader? Here’s a chance to raise your spirits and reap the athletic benefits -- with-out the risk of being cut from the squad. Cheerobics -- work-

outs inspired by cheer-leading -- include dance moves, jumps, and clas-sic cheer positions. You get fun, flexibility, and a heavy dose of cardio.Aerial Yoga - Yoga blends are a huge fit-ness trend. This one’s name says it all: You do variations on traditional moves while hanging in “hammocks” suspended from the ceiling. The weightless poses re-lieve aching joints and stretch muscles as well as strengthening your

core. For other fun twists, try Cy-Yo, a yoga-indoor cycling combo, or YogaFit, which includes squats, sit-ups, and other fitness moves.Barefoot-style running: soft Gait - These shoes may be the next best thing to run-ning barefoot. They have less cushion on the heels than most running shoes, though. so you’ll need to change your running gait to land near the ball of your foot instead of the heel for less impact and risk of injury. some experts think less pounding on the heel may help prevent injuries. Walk before you run to strengthen your feet and get used to the shoes.Weighted Vests: Power Walking - Adding weight may be the simplest way to boost your workout. extra weight raises your heart rate and makes you burn more calo-ries. Instead of walking with hand or ankle weights, which can strain muscles and joints, consider wearing a weighted vest. Choose one that is 5% to 10% of your body weight.Techno Trainer: An App for exercise - What if you want help losing weight and get-ting fit, but you can’t afford a personal trainer? no prob-lem. Apps can help too. Fit-ness trackers such as the Fit-bit and GoWear Fit measure your steps, calories burned, and calories consumed. They can even monitor your sleep. The information can also be downloaded and tracked on your computer. There are also apps that explain proper exer-cise form, a common problem among beginners.Finding a Good Trainer - When you try a new style of exercise, getting instruction from a trainer helps -- espe-cially if your workout is more intense. Choose a trainer with experience or special training in that type of workout. Look for someone who is certified by an accredited program.

HEALTH

Fitness crazes

EDGEDAVAOTHE BUSINESS PAPER

18 JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012VOL. 4 NO. 46

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DavaoAB r e e Z A

MALL, in part-nership with M Magazine

recently held a larger-than-life fashion show featuring designs by the Davao elite Fash-ion Group (DeFG) ti-tled runwAy - Fashion Preview 2012 last Jan-uary 7 at the Abreeza Mall Activity Center. The DeFG, composed of established Davao fashion de-signers - Aztec Barba, Dodjie Batu, edgar Buyan, Popoy Bar-ba and emi englis, gave fash-ionistas present at the Abreeza Mall’s Activity Center a peek into luxe wear with a unique Dabawenyo twist. The fashion show also featured collabora-tions between the designers and Abreeza Mall’s homegrown boutiques: Chimes specialty store, Mags, soul Lifestyle and The Maze, bringing ready to wear clothes to a more stylish

level. “This will be the first and biggest fashion show tat we will have in Davao. Collections were taken from what we had presented during the Philip-pine Fashion Week last year in Manila and due to fashionistas’ demand, we are happy that we will be able to bring and share our collections to our fellow Da-bawenyos” expressed DeFG de-signer emi englis. “The collec-tions will also be interpreted by our local brands here in Davao” Complementing the fea-

tured clothes on the ramp are the newest looks in hair and make-up by otoi Mercado, Hairzone salon and spa Pro-fessionals by Angelo Falconi III and salon de rose.MAlso unveiled during the show was M Magazine’s “Im-ages of M” exhibit that show-cased M Magazine’s best covers and feature photographs all in one colorful display. runway Fashion Preview 2012 is also supported by ranchero Grill, trellis and Vines and Gourmet Bites.

STYLE

A fashion explosion at Abreeza

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EDGEDAVAO THE BUSINESS PAPER

JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012 VOL. 4 NO. 46

gamesgolfer of the weeklee checks skid, seals open crown

Barangay ginebra’s uichico to coach PhP national team

Volcanoes’ coach to guest at the sports tourism forum

AseAN Para games silver medalist thanks taliño-Mendoza for support

McDonald’s extends olympicgames partnership to 2020

Paula Creamer

PAULA Creamer is an Ameri-can professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.

As a professional, she has won 11 tournaments, including 9 LPGA Tour events. Creamer has been as high as number 2 in the Women’s World Golf Rankings. She was the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open champion, and is undefeated in three years of singles play in the Solheim Cup.

As an amateur, Creamer won numerous junior golf titles, including 11 American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) tourna-ments. Creamer joined the LPGA Tour in the 2005 season, and her victory in that year’s Sybase Clas-sic made her the LPGA’s second-youngest event winner.

Creamer was born in Mountain View, California[3] and raised in Pleasanton, the only child of an airline pilot father and stay-at-home mother. The fam-ily’s home overlooked the first tee of the Castlewood Country Club’s golf course. Creamer participated in acrobatic dancing and gym-nastics during her childhood,and started playing golf when she was 10 years old. At the age of 12, she won 13 consecutive regional ju-nior events in Northern Califor-

nia, and the following year she became the top-ranked female junior golfer in the state.

During Creamer’s ama-teur career, she won 19 national tournaments, including 11 American Junior Golf Association events,and was named Player of the Year by the AJGA in 2003. On two occasions (2002 and 2003), Creamer played on the United States team in the Junior Solheim Cup. She was a semi-finalist in the 2003 U.S. Girls’ Ju-nior and U.S. Women’s Amateur, and reached the same stage of both events the following year.In June 2004, Creamer placed sec-ond in the LPGA Tour’s ShopRite LPGA Classic, finishing one stroke behind Cristie Kerr. Later that year, she tied for 13th in the U.S. Women’s Open and represented the United States in the Curtis Cup.

In December 2004, Cream-er won the LPGA Tour Final Qualifying Tournament by five strokes to secure membership on the Tour for the 2005 season.[8] She opted to turn professional immediately after the event at the age of 18.

In 2000, Creamer moved to Bradenton, Florida to attend the

IMG Golf Academy, where she graduated from the IMG-affiliat-ed Pendleton School the week after her first LPGA victory.She relocated again in 2007, this time to Isleworth, a gated community in Windermere, Florida.[19] As of 2009, she remains a resident of Isleworth, where PGA Tour golfer Tiger Woods is among her neighbors.

Creamer has endorsement deals with many companies, including TaylorMade-adidas, Citizen Watch Co., and NEC.[46] Golf Digest estimated her 2009 endorsement income to be $4.5 million, an amount that is second-highest among female golfers.Her likeness has been featured in EA Sports’ Tiger Woods PGA Tour series of golf video games.

LEE Jeong Hwa checked an impending skid with clutch par putts in the

last three holes to thwart Princess Superal and an-nex the golden crown of the Philippine Ladies Open de-spite a closing three-over 75 at Wack Wack’s East course Thursday.

Lee looked headed for a cruise after making the turn with a 35, hiking her over-night four-shot lead to as many as five over a charg-ing Lovelynn Guioguio, who, however, reeled back with a 7 at the par-4 11th. But the 17-year-old Korean also made a triple-bogey on No. 11 and dropped another stroke on the next, enabling Superal to close within two with a birdie on No. 15.

But the Busan native hung tough and matched Superal’s pars on Nos. 16 and 17 inside five feet then knocked down another par from three feet on the final hole which Superal bogeyed to complete a three-stroke romp at 217.

“I didn’t mind the score and never felt threatened. I just played my game and stayed focused,” said Lee, who thus became the first Korean to win the country’s premier championship in a victory on the event’s gold-en staging.

The win also erased the stigma of Lee’s failed title bid in the 2009 edition of the event at home at South-woods and augured well for her pro debut in March.

“I’ve decided to turn pro and join the Korean Tour this March,” said Lee.

Superal, 14, settled for a 74 and a 220 for her best finish in a tournament of this magnitude.

“I had that feeling that I could win after the 15th hole,” said Superal, the newest member of the ICTSI golf team. “I gave it my best but I just fell short in the

end.”Guioguio, winner of

last week’s Philippine Ama-teur title, also made a 7 on the final hole but still wound up at third with a 224 in the 54-hole champi-onship sponsored by Cham-pion Infinity and presented by Pacsports.

“I was doing great in the first 10 holes before that triple bogey on the 11th killed my chances,” rued Guioguio.

Sunshine Baraquiel fired a 73 while Claire Ame-lia Legaspi had a 74 as they shared fourth place at 226 while Savitree Thavong emerged the top Thai finish-er with a 227 after a 75 in a tie with former champion Jayvie Agojo, who sputtered with a 78.

Thai Supamas Sangchan ended up solo eighth with a 229 while

erstwhile contender Feli-cia Medalla cracked under pressure and skied to an 83 to drop to joint ninth with Sarah Ababa, who carded a 78, at 231.

Four ahead of Superal at the start of the day, Lee pulled away with birdies on Nos. 1 and 5 although Gui-oguio, eight behind after 36 holes, tried to make a run with four birdies after eight holes before settling for a 33 with a bogey-mishap on No. 9.

Guioguio, also the reigning Samsung Am champion, birdied No. 10 to close within five but made an errant drive on No. 11 and needed two shots to get out of the stymied lie for that 7.

Lee also dropped three strokes on the tricky dog-leg hole when she hit it into the threes and dumped her ap-proach shot into the hazard. She failed to shake off that mishap and made a bogey on the next but recovered her bearing in time to fend off Superal’s late-hole rally.

Lee Jeong Hwa holds her Philippine Ladies Open trophy

and with WGAP president Rio Co.CONTRIBUTED PHOTO]

Gov. Taliño-Mendoza, Rosalie Terrofiel and coach Jemelita Galaroza

GINEBRA San Miguel, Inc. (GSMI) Thursday said multi-titled Barangay

Ginebra champion coach Jo-seph “Jong” Uichico is joining the Philippine men’s basketball team coaching staff to help the country regain prominence in the world basketball scene.

GSMI president Bernie Marquez wished Uichico well in his new endeavor after the former La Salle and national team stalwart provided San Miguel Beer with six champi-onships and Barangay Gine-bra with two, the last coming during the 2008 Fiesta Confer-ence, in his professional coach-

ing stint that spanned over a decade.

“With a heavy heart, we are sending coach Jong Uichico to the Philippine men’s basketball team because we feel that the national team is in need of someone like him to improve its performance in international tournaments. It is the national interest at stake here and we believe that the Philippines will be very for-tunate to get the services of a coach with the intelligence and experience of Jong,”said Mar-quez about Uichico, who also coached the 2002 Philippine men’s basketball to a fourth-

place finish in South Korea. “We thank him for provid-

ing so many championships, the last two with the Ginebra franchise,”Marquez added.

Uichico was part of the Northern Consolidated-spon-sored national men’s basket-ball team under coach Ron Jacobs and later moved up to head coach for the San Miguel Beermen in 1999, ending San Miguel’s five-year title drought with the Commissioners and Governors Cup titles.

Before his release, Uichico shared head coaching duties with Siot Tangquincen with Barangay Ginebra. [PR]

THE Philippine Rugby Foot-ball Union coach Matthew George “Matt” Cullen will

be present in the annual Sports Tourism Forum on January 31, 2012 to be held in Davao City. Cullen will talk about his experi-ence with the Philippine Rugby team, also known as Volcanoes, and the road to the success the team is now enjoying.

Matt Cullen, an Australian national, is currently employed by the Philippine Rugby Football Union in a dual role, as an admin-istrator (general manager) and coach to the men’s 15 and under 20’s team.

The Philippines national sevens rugby team won the gold medal in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games rugby sevens beat-ing Indonesia. The Volcanoes played its very first international match in 2006 and went unde-feated in the Asian Rugby Foot-

ball Union (ARFU) Under-19 Second Division Tournament. Since then, the team continu-ously impressed in other Asian tournaments.

The team finished second place in the 24th Southeast Asian Games in 2007 against the home side Thailand. In 2008, the team dominated the Division 4 ARFU title. During the game, the team defeated Brunei in a crushing 101-0 and the home side Guam. During the inaugural Asian 5 Na-tions Divisions III rugby tourna-ment last 2009, the Volcanoes defeated Iran and Guam, this vic-tory promoted them to Asian 5 Nations Divisions II. By 2010, the team competed in this division which they won, beating India in the final score.

In his interview at the Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP) last 2011, Matt Cullen was quoted, “In 2008, 2009, and

2010, we beat India, we beat China, we beat Thailand, we beat Guam, we beat Iran, and we beat Pakistan,” pointing out the impressive wins of the Vol-canoes.

Volcanoes’ most recent feat was last September 2011 during the Asian Men’s Rugby 7s Cham-pionships where they bagged second place against Japan in the final round. Considering that the team is ranked last (No. 7) amongst other teams, the sec-ond place finished goes to show the team is capable of competing with Asia’s best.

The success of Volcanoes, headed by its coach Matt Cullen, is an inspiration to other Philip-pine teams. Once an unknown sport, the Philippine Rugby Team is happy to be recognized by their fellow countrymen and the support that it has garnered from them.

ASEAN Para Games silver medalist, Rosalie Ter-rofiel visited Governor

Emmylou “Lala” J. Taliño-Men-doza last December 5, 2011 to thank her for the support she had given to the 30-year old visually impaired Para Athlete from Magpet, Cotabato.

Terrofiel, who developed glaucoma, a visual impairment when she was 16, was accom-panied by her local coach, Mrs. Jemelita Galaroza and her cousin during her visit to Gov-ernor Taliño- Mendoza at the latter’s office where she proud-ly presented the silver medal she won for the Javelin Throw event during the 6th ASEAN Para Games held December 12-20, 2011 in Surakarta (Solo), Central Java, Indonesia.

She also thanked Vice Governor Gregorio T. Ipong and Congresswoman Nancy

Catamco of the 2nd district, for the financial aid that they gave her which enabled her to be one of the 46 athletes who represented the Philippines in the Asean Para Games.

The only delegate from the Province of Cotabato, Ter-rofiel bested several other com-petitors from the countries of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sin-gapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam where Philippines landed on the fifth spot in over-all ranking in the competition of athletes with mobility and visual disabilities, amputees or those with cerebral palsy from ASEAN member nations.

Galaroza claimed this did not surprise her. Being Ter-rofiel’s SPED teacher since she was in elementary and as her local coach and mentor over the years, she had witnessed

the athlete’s determination and hard work.

While working as a mas-seuse at the DSWD-accredited Massage and Reflexology Work Center with other visually im-paired individuals in Magpet, Terrofiel underwent a diligent two-week qualifying train-ing before she was chosen as a delegate for the Asean Para Games. She was then given two more months of additional specialized training in Manila by professional coaches of the Philippine contingent when she passed the qualifications.

Before joining the ASEAN Para Games 2011, Terrofiel had already participated in many competitions both locally and internationally. In fact, she had won medals in other Para-lympic events held in Vietnam last 2002 and in Manila last 2005.//IDCD-LAF//

THE International Olym-pic Committee (IOC) and McDonald’s Corpora-

tion announced last week that McDonald’s has extended its global sponsorship agreement until 2020.

The announcement was made at the first ever Winter Youth Olympic Games in Inns-bruck, Austria, in the presence of IOC President Jacques Rogge and McDonald’s President and Chief Operating Officer Don Thompson.

Commenting on the an-nouncement, President Rogge said: “We are delighted that McDonald’s, our long-time and valued Olympic Partner for more than 35 years, is con-

tinuing its ongoing commit-ment not only to help fund the Olympic Games but also to sup-port the Olympic Movement around the world and ultimate-ly the athletes themselves.” Chief Operating Officer Don Thompson commented: “We share the Olympic ideals of teamwork, excellence and be-ing your best. Those ideals are at the heart of what McDon-ald’s stands for and how we’ve brought the Games to life. Feeding the athletes is a tradi-tion we are extremely proud of, and we look forward to con-tinuing our role in helping to make the Games possible.”

As a TOP Sponsor and Of-

ficial Restaurant of the Olympic Games, the agreement with the Olympic Movement includes sponsorship of the National Olympic Committees and their Olympic teams for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, Rio 2016 Olympic Games, PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games and the 2020 Olympic Games, for which the host city has yet to be elected. The agreement also includes the Youth Olympic Games (YOG): the current Innsbruck 2012 Winter YOG, Nanjing 2014 YOG, Lillehammer 2016 Winter YOG and the 2018 YOG and 2020 Winter YOG, for which the host cities have yet to be elected.

EDGEDAVAOTHE BUSINESS PAPER

20 JANUARY 16 - 22, 2012VOL. 4 NO. 46

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