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DAVAO

POWER STILL ‘VERY CRITICAL’Davao Light warns of blackouts a week after coal-fired power plant’s inauguration

EDGEDAVAOSportsTHE Davao Light and Pow-er Co. franchise contin-ues to experience “very

critical” power supply situ-ation due to the extended El Niño phenomenon forecasted until May 2016.

In a statement, Davao Light said rotating power interrup-tions may be implemented again if power supply remains lower than the franchise’s de-mand despite the contingency measures it is undertaking.

The statement came just a week after President Benigno

Aquino inaugurated Therma South, Inc. (TSI)’s 300-MW coal-fired power plant in Davao City. Both Davao Light and TSI are subsidiaries of AboitizPower.

The coal-fired power plant has been touted as one of the solutions to the power crisis in Mindanao. In his speech during the inauguration, Mr. Aquino emphasized the need to build more baseload power plants that can be tapped any-time “rain or shine, with very minor fluctuations.”

The new plant, howev-er, appears to be of little help during the current drought. In its statement yesterday, Davao Light said its contract with the National Power Corpora-tion-Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Cor-poration (NPC-PSALM) has al-ready been reduced from 289 MW to 140 MW.

“Davao Light is not getting in full its contracted power supply as major hydroelectric power plants in Mindanao were greatly affected by El

Niño,” the company said.Davao Light said as of

yesterday (January 14, 2016), supply allocation from the Na-tional Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to Davao Light was reduced to 108 MW from Wednesday’s 124 MW.

“The reasons cited were the reduced capacity of the Agus & Pulangi plants due to low water inflow. Meanwhile, two Agus plants remained to be isolated,” it added.

Davao Light said it is man-

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

F POWER, 10

LET ME THINK. Southern Philippines Medical

Center (SPMC) chief of hospital Dr. Leopoldo

J. Vega seems to be gathering his

thoughts as he talks to reporters in a press briefing yesterday to give the institution’s

side on the syringe-stabbing incident in the emergency room of the hospital. Lean Daval Jr.

Injury crisishits Aussie Open P16

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 20162 EDGEDAVAO

NEWS

HOLY INFANT. A vendor spruces up an image of the Child Jesus at the religious items area inside San Pedro Cathedral compound yesterday. Thousands of Catholic devotees in Davao City are expected to attend today’s feast of the Holy Infant Jesus of Prague in Shrine Hills. Lean Daval Jr.

DAVAO City council-or Rachel P. Zozob-rado-Nagayo urged

the city government to look into the road repairs that have sprouted in a number of streets in the city because some of them “seem to be lack-ing in proper management and housekeeping.”

In a statement, Zozobra-do-Nagayo said she has already pointed in several City Council sessions that some contractors of the public works continue to leave dug-up soil, construction implements, and even garbage in their construction areas.

“These do not only con-tribute to traffic problems, worse, these are potential haz-ards to the safety of the public,” she said.

Zozobrado-Nagayo said the purpose of declogging drainages is defeated if these repairs leave soil and dirt un-attended alongside the roads, because these soil and dirt have nowhere to go but back to the drainage whenever it rains.

“Please do not get us wrong, we welcome road re-pairs and drainage repairs as they contribute to the city’s growth and development, as well as to the people’s safety,” she said.

But she said this matter and recurring problem should be addressed immediately by the proper authorities.

At the same time, Zozo-brado-Nagayo said the City Transport and Traffic Manage-ment Office (CTTMO) should

ensure that there are enforcers in these areas to manage the traffic and the flow of vehicles especially during rush hour.

“One of the most obvious causes of traffic is the growing number of vehicles that ply our city streets,” she said.

She said while the people of the city see it as part and parcel of the economic growth that Davao City is experiencing now, it is also being realized that development has its cost and in the part of the people.

“It means facing the build-up of vehicles every day from morning to night time. No mat-ter how many roads we build in our peripheries, we have to accept that we only have lim-ited points of entry which at this time would be difficult to

expand given the existing com-mercial establishments in the area,” she said.

She said the move of the CTTMO to hire additional traffic enforcers to manage traffic in Mintal, Toril, and in Tibungco areas is a welcome development.

“It helps that our CTTMO chief has often been seen per-sonally manning the traffic very early in the morning as this has given our enforcers a boost and our commuters a hint of hope that there is a rainbow at the end of the tun-nel, or should I say, long line of vehicles,” she said.

Zozobrado-Nagayo, how-ever, said there is much to be done to ensure the safety of the

JAKARTA’S police received threats from the Islamic State (IS) terrorist orga-

nization before a series of explosions that rocked the Indonesian capital on Thurs-day, Al Jazeera TV channel reported citing a spokesman for law enforcement agen-cies.

According to latest re-

ports, at least six people were killed in the blasts, including three policemen.

It was earlier on Thurs-day reported that the In-donesian capital of Jakarta was hit by six explosions on Thursday followed by a shoot-out between the po-lice and suspected attackers. The part of the city were the

attacks took place was cor-doned off by the police.

Explosions in the Indone-sian capital Jakarta were due to grenades, not bombs, po-lice spokesman Anton Char-liyan told reporters.

Charliyan said that the attackers used grenades, and then a shoot-out ensued. He noted that police are follow-

ing the suspected attackers as they have hid on the roof of the Sarinah shopping center.

Local television also re-ported of several explosions in Jakarta near the embassies of Turkey and Pakistan. No information is yet available on whether anyone was in-jured in the blasts. (PNA/TASS)

SENATE President Frank-lin Drilon on Thursday said he respects the de-

cision of President Benigno Aquino to exercise his veto power over the proposed measure that would have granted a P2,000 across the board increase in the month-ly pension of the Social Secu-rity System (SSS) retirees.

“It is within his prerog-ative as President to do so and this is part of the system of check and balance that is a critical component of our democracy,” Drilon said in a press statement.

Drilon said if the Presi-dent believed the enactment of the House Bill No. 5842 would, in the long run, have

a negative impact on the SSS fund life “then we fully re-spect his judgment.”

“We may have a different opinion with the President on this particular matter, but I am confident that the exec-utive branch is looking into other alternatives that will help the pensioners, without compromising the viability of the SSS as an institution tasked by the State to estab-lish, develop, promote and perfect a sound and viable tax-exempt social security system suitable to the needs of the people,” Drilon said.

Drilon said the Senate, for its part, will continue to legislate measures that it be-

COMBINED police and military operatives have arrested an Abu Sayyaf

member who was involved in the Sipadan raid 15 years ago, an official announced Thurs-day.

Chief Insp. Rogelio Ala-bata, Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9) information officer, identified the arrested sus-pect as Mentang Munap alias Said.

Alabata said Munap was arrested around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday near City Hall along Don Pablo Lorenzo Street downtown.

Alabata said Munap has standing warrant of arrest for 21 counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with

ransom issued by a court in Pasig City.

He said Munap was al-legedly involved in the April 2000 kidnapping of 21 people in a dive resort in the island of Sipadan, Malaysia.

The hostages consisting of eight Europeans and 11 Asians – nine Malaysian and two Filipinos – were herded to the hinterlands of Sulu where they were released in batches.

Alabata said Munap was turned over to the custody of the Western Mindanao Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) for documen-tation prior to court presenta-tion in Pasig City. (PNA)

Look into road repairmess, councilor urgesBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

Drilon respects Aquino’s vetoon bill increasing SSS pension

Sipadan raider arrested

At least 6 killed in Jakarta blastsF LOOK, 10

F DRILON, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 2016 3EDGEDAVAO NEWS

SUMILAO BROOMS. A vendor sells brooms made of grass at the side of the Sayre Highway in Sumilao town, Bukidnon. MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO

To address ‘growing threat of religious extremism’

Congress urged to pass BBLCONGRESS must pass the

proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law to meet “the

growing threat of religious extremism not only locally but even among international communities,” Secretary Ter-esita Quintos Deles, of the Of-fice of the Presidential Advis-er on the Peace Process said

Wednesday.“[T]he success of the

Bangsamoro peace process can help us arrest the spread of extremism around the globe by showing clearly that an Islamic movement can address its grievances and pursue its interests through a legitimate mode of demo-

cratic political engagement while still remaining within the country’s territorial integ-rity and constitutional frame-work, and without losing their culture and identity,” Deles said in a message during the Regional Consultative Meet-ing for Heads of Posts in Eu-rope delivered by Undersec-

retary Luisito Montalbo.The event was organized

by the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila.

Deles said passing the BBL would show to the world that the Philippines recogniz-es and respects Islam.

“[The completion of the peace negotiations] can show

the global ummah that even Muslim minorities can thrive and contribute to develop-ment through the mutual-ly-beneficial interaction of dis-tinct cultures,” she stressed.

The OPAPP head cited the support of the international community to the peace pro-cess, especially the passage of the BBL, as a solution to the decades-old Bangsamoro armed struggle in Mindanao.

“[J]ust in October of last year, top diplomats represent-ing at least twenty-four (24) countries led by ambassadors from the European Union, United Kingdom, and the Unit-ed States released a strong statement of support for the peace process,” she noted.

She added that late last year, the EU pledged 275 billion pesos “to allow for a smooth transition and to cre-ate conditions for the estab-lishment of the autonomous region of the Bangsamoro, through the BBL.”

Deliberations on the BBL in both chambers of Congress were stalled after the Mama-sapano encounter on Jan. 25 last year which left 44 police commandoes, 17 Moro Islam-ic Liberation Front guerrillas and five civilians dead.

On that day, close to 400 members of the police’s Spe-cial Action Force sneaked into a village in Mamasapano, Ma-

guindanao to get Indonesian bomber Zulkipli bn Hir alias Marwan and his Filipino aide Basit Usman.

Late last year, attempts to resume deliberations on the BBL again failed due to lack of quorum in the House of Rep-resentatives.

In the Senate, Sen. Ferdi-nand Marcos Jr. introduced a version of the proposed Bang-samoro law that the MILF said has departed from the essence of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsam-oro.

In a media forum in Iloilo City on Dec. 4 last year, MILF chief peace negotiator Moha-gher Iqbal he was no longer optimistic that the BBL would be passed before President Aquino’s term ends.

Deles, however, said she remained optimistic the BBL would be passed under the Aquino administration de-spite the quorum woes in Congress that have caused the delays.

“Delays are, understand-ably, of great concern for com-munities on the ground. With every passing day of delay, they grow more anxious. With each new unmet deadline, they ask – will this mean a re-turn to war? With firm hope and unwavering courage, we say: no, not under our watch,” she said. (MindaNews)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 20164 NEWS EDGEDAVAO

THAT COULD’VE BEEN US. Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) employees watch intently as the video of the syringe-stabbing incident in the emergency room of the hospital is played during a press briefing with SPMC chief of hospital Dr. Leopoldo J. Vega yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL. Davao City Traffic and Transport Management Office (CTTMO) head Rhodelio Poliquit announces that 80 traffic enforcers will be hired before the local election ban on March 25. Poliquit was a guest in yesterday’s I-Speak Media Forum at City Hall. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

CIVIL Service Commission (CSC) 11 regional direc-tor Annabelle B. Rosell

yesterday warned that gov-ernment employees who will be caught engaging in partisan activities for the 2016 election will face administrative sanc-tions.

Speaking to reporters in yesterday’s I-Speak Media Fo-rum, Rosell said as a general rule, government officials and employees, “especially those that we call career and those who are not holding office… are prohibited from engaging

directly or indirectly in any electioneering or partisan po-litical activity.”

Rosell defined election-eering as any act that will sup-port the candidacy of certain politicians and the defeat of their opponents.

She said prohibited acts include forming a group showing support for certain candidates, being a member of a political party, and soliciting money for or against certain candidates.

Rosell said making speeches, advertisements, or

interviews in support of any candidate or even the simple act of wearing t-shirts with the name of the candidate are con-sidered as electioneering.

“Wearing pins and now there are ballers are also con-sidered as partisan activity,” she said.

She also reminded gov-ernment employees not to en-gage in political issues in social media.

“We also advise govern-ment employees to refrain from commenting, sharing, and liking because it may be

interpreted as you supporting this particular candidate,” she said.

Rosell said under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, all government employees and officials should not be parti-san. This is also stipulated in Republic Act 2260 the Civil Service Act of 1959, she added.

Rosell said the employees found guilty of committing the violation on the first offense faces up to six months of pre-ventive suspension. For the second offense, the penalty is dismissal from the service.

SEN. Alan Peter Cayetano has vowed to push for the construction of the

P86 billion Mindanao Rail-ways once elected Vice Pres-ident.

Cayetano, who made the statement during a meeting with local business groups here, said the construction of the Mindanao Railways has been identified as among the regional economic inclusive-ness projects of his political platform.

The running mate of presidential candidate Rodri-go Duterte, Cayetano said that the proposal to construct the Mindanao Railways was done 20 years ago. “It is time to ink it in 2016,” Cayetano said.

He said that the first phrase of the Mindanao rail-way system would be in Re-gion 10, straddling the cities of Iligan to the west and Gin-

goog to the east.The railroad would have

a 2,000 kilometer circumfer-ence to be built in six phases with an estimated cost of P86 billion, Cayetano said as he cited the initial studies conducted by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

He said that a proposed P1 billion regional economic inclusiveness to serve as seed capital fund per region of the country and the decentraliza-tion of central offices of cer-tain Cabinet agencies outside the National Capital Region (NCR) would be adopted.

The creation of special-ized medical centers (heart, lung and kidney) in Visayas and Mindanao each, and the creation of growth centers in the countryside is the party’s top political agenda, Cayetano said. (PNA)

THE US committed to maintain its presence in the West Philippine Sea

and vowed to ensure freedom of navigation in the disputed waters.

In a statement, Defense spokesperson Peter Paul Galvez said the US stressed during the Philippine-US 2+2 ministerial meeting last Jan. 12 that it will continue to fly and sail whenever and wher-ever international law allows.

He said the US presence in the disputed waters would include naval, sub-sea, air and special forces.

“The 2+2 meeting exten-sively discussed the South Chi-na Sea issue, with the US side reiterating the US ironclad commitment to the defense of the Philippines while the Philippines batting for joint patrols. The US also conveyed that it remains committed to the AFP’s (Armed Forces of the Philippines) moderniza-tion program,” he said.

The US also urged the Phil-

ippines to stay closely coordi-nated with the developments in the West Philippine Sea.

“Noting China’s claim that it will not militarize the area, the US suggested the need for parties in the South China Sea to have a common and shared understanding of the term ‘militarization’ to avoid growing tensions. A common sense among the other parties would put pressure on China,” he added.

Galvez said both the US and the Philippines agreed that maritime security and maritime domain awareness have to rise high on the agen-da in PH-US strategic engage-ment, of which the Maritime Security Initiative is a good project.

Both sides also acknowl-edged the usefulness of mul-tilateral cooperation in ad-dressing security challenges and agreed to explore the pos-sibility of the participation of other partners such as Japan

Gov’t employees warnedagainst partisan politicsBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

Cayetano to push for constructionof P86-B Mindanao railway system

US to maintain presencein West Philippine Sea

THE Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) needs almost 3,000 ad-

ditional personnel to be able manage the 1,200-bed capaci-ty of the hospital.

This was admitted by SPMC chief of hospital Dr. Leo-poldo J. Vega in a press briefing yesterday which was called following the syringe-stabbing incident that occurred at the hospital’s emergency room last week.

“I have to tell you this frankly. We are far from ide-al. It was a different time five years ago at this point in time in 2016,” Vega said.

Last week, a man who had brought his son to the SPMC

emergency room went berserk and stabbed two nurses with a syringe. The man later said he was frustrated because his son was being ignored by hospital staff.

SPMC has disputed this, saying the son was given ini-tial attention but was left for a while by personnel who had to attend to other patients.

Yesterday, Vega said the volume of patients has bal-looned in the last five years. He said unlike five years ago when the hospital only catered to 700 patients a day, today it serves 1,000 outpatients, 850 emergency room patients (ER), and a hundred deliveries

SPMC needs almost3K personnel moreBy LEAN DAVAL JR.

F SPMC, 10

F US, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 2016 5EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMY

ENERGY Secretary Ze-naida Monsada said Mindanao has a huge

potential for the development of more solar energy projects which will balance the non renewable-dominated power generation mix of the Mindan-ao grid.

“The potential of solar energy is huge all over the country including, Mindan-ao,” Monsada said in a recent press conference.

Among the efforts of the government to promote the development of renewable energy projects was the set-ting of feed-in tariff (FIT) rate like in solar energy which is pegged at P9.68.

To boost renewable en-ergy projects here, the De-partment of Energy also im-plements its expanded rural electrification which taps the potential of solar energy as source of power in communi-ties and households that are off the grid.

These areas, which are mostly in Mindanao, are not connected to the grid because it would be more expensive to construct transmission lines either because of proximity or other spatial conditions.

Monsada said the funding

of the access to sustainable energy program of the depart-ment is supported by the Eu-ropean Union.

The department envis-aged to achieve 100% baran-gays electrification by 2008 and 90% household electrifi-cation by 2017.

The energy secretary also said the establishment of a virtual monitoring system for the applications of renewable energy (RE) projects will fur-ther promote private invest-ment on solar power projects.

“Soon, everyone will be able to monitor the status of solar projects online,” Monsa-da said.

Data from the Mindanao Development Authority and DOE revealed that 31 solar energy projects with com-bined capacity of 500MW are now pending for approval and implementation.

Twenty-two projects are already given with go signal after it was clearance to con-duct grid impact study.

Nine of these are in South-Central Mindanao, one in Western Mindanao, six in Northern Mindanao Region, four in the Davao Region and one each in the Caraga Region and the Autonomous Region

Huge potential for solar projectscrc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

NAP TIME. A worker takes a nap on a hammock during noon break inside a construction site along R. Magsaysay Avenue yesterday. Business experts said the boom of the construction industry will still be in the upswing this

year as big real estate developers from Manila are expected to continue their expansion projects in the city. Lean Daval Jr.

in Muslim Mindanao.The companies include

The Ark Green Dynamic Re-sources Corp., Del Sol Energy CGS Inc., Energy Development Corp., Enfinity Philippines Re-newable Resources Inc. and Solar Philippines.

The DOE said Solar Phil-ippines eyes to construct two

power project which will have a 50-megawatt capcacity each in Alabel, Sarangani and Tago-loan, Misamis Oriental while Del Sol Energy CGS Inc. will set up 80-MW solar plants in General Santos City.

Both The Ark Green Dy-namic Resources Corp. and Energy Development Corp.

will develop 60MW solar power project in Misamis Oriental and North Cotabato, respectively.

The Enfinity Philippines Renewable Resources Inc. will also construct a 30-MW solar project in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte.

Romeo M. Montenegro, di-

rector of MinDA’s investment promotions and public affairs division, said in the report the agency is pushing for the im-plementation of these within the next five years to balance the energy mix of Mindanao.

At present, it is dominated by energy supplied by coal-fired power plants.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 20166THE ECONOMY

Tourist arrivals in Davao upcrc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

EDGEDAVAO

TOURIST arrival in Davao Region increased by 17 percent during the third

quarter of last year, the De-partment of Tourism (DOT) 11 said.

“There is definitely an in-crease in the number of tourist arrival in the region last year,” tourism regional director Ro-berto Alabado III said during Wednesdays at Habi at Kape in

Abreeza Mall.Alabado said the first

and second quarter of 2015 recorded a 7 and 6 percent growth rate in tourist arrival.

“Everything is on the posi-tive side,” Alabado said.

Alabado attributed the growth in tourist arrivals in the region in the aggressive promotion of the local govern-ment units hosting prime tour-

ist destinations like in Davao City, Davao Oriental and Davao del Norte for the Island Garden City of Samal.

The national conventions held in Davao City shared sig-nificantly in the uptrend of tourist arrivals here, according to him.

The regional director also added that that the MICE in-centives will continue.

“Tayo lang ang meron nito (We are the only one to have this kind of activity),” Alabado said.

The agency has also estab-lished incentives for those who were not able to hold their events here.

He added that the region has become a preferred des-tination for MICE, attributing this to the availability of con-

vention centers that can host big events.

Airline partners have also been tapped to offer discounts for organizers who aim to hold the MICE events here.

Alabado said DOT was looking into partnerships with allied industries, such as hotels and other accommodation ar-eas.

Under the two-year pro-

gram, MICE activities with as low as 300 up to 2,500 partic-ipants and above will receive incentives based on the num-ber of delegates.

The DOT and the MICE execom have designed a incen-tive program that will make Davao City a prime choice for MICE events and one of the prime tourist destinations in the country.

THE Davao Light and Pow-er Co. (DLPC) reduced its contracted power supply

from state-owned renewable energy power plants of the National Power Corporation- Power Sector Assets and Li-abilities Management (NPC-PSALM) due to decreasing generating capacity brought by the extended El Niño phe-nomenon.

“The contract of Davao Light to NPC-PSALM was al-

ready reduced from 289 MW to 140 MW. However, Davao Light is not getting in full its contracted power supply as major hydro electric pow-er plants in Mindanao were greatly affected by El Niño,” DLPC assistant vice president for reputation enhancement division Rosanno C. Luga said in a statement yesterday. The El Niño is forecasted to extend up to May 2016.

As of today, Jan. 14, 2016,

supply allocation from the Na-tional Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to Davao Light was reduced from yes-terday’s 124 MW to 108 MW.

“The reasons cited were due to the reduced capaci-ty of the Agus and Pulangi plants due to low water inflow. Meanwhile, two Agus plants remained to be isolated,” Luga added.

The DLPC is managing the very tight power supply situa-

tion by optimizing on its pow-er supply contracts with the following: 100 MW with Ther-ma South Inc.’s coal-fired pow-er plant, 30 MW with Therma Marine Inc.’s power barges, 52 MW with Hedcor Sibulan, and 4 MW with Hedcor Talomo. Recently, an 18 MW contract with the Western Mindanao Power Corporation has been added to Davao Light’s power supply, according to him.

SUN Life Asset Manage-ment Company, Inc. (SLAMCI) has breached

the P50 billion mark for its assets under management (AUM).

As of December 29, 2015, SLAMCI has accumulated a total of P50.675 Billion AUM for all nine of its Sun Life Pros-perity Funds, marking an im-pressive 7.93% increase in its year-on-year growth from De-cember 2014.

The Sun Life Prosperity Equity Fund continues to be the top performer among all its funds, posting a five-year return of 46.45%. This is fol-lowed by the Sun Life Prosper-

ity Balanced Fund and the Sun Life Prosperity Bond Fund, which marked a five-year re-turn of 36.46% and 21.30% respectively. Meanwhile, SLAMCI’s latest offering, the Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, also debuted strongly when it was launched last May 2015.

According to SLAMCI Pres-ident Valerie “Riena” Pama, the outstanding performance of the Sun Life Prosperity Funds is a result of the company’s effort to reach out to more Fil-ipinos nationwide. “Driven by our desire to help our fellow-men experience prosperity, we launched several initiatives

last year to be able to touch base with them,” she explained. “Client fora and financial plan-ning sessions were conducted nationwide, while our media presence was boosted with a memorable campaign dubbed ‘Fit2LiveFree’ and the launch of our new financial literacy advocate Matteo Guidicelli.”

Guidicelli was the face of SLAMCI’s awareness campaign in partnership with the Securi-ties and Exchange Commission dubbed “Slam the Scam,” which was created to educate Filipi-nos on how to spot dubious investment offers.

This 2016, amid the favor-able forecast on the Philippine

economy, SLAMCI intends to maintain the momentum by debuting two new Dollar-de-nominated funds, launching an auto-debit payment facility, im-proving its digital capabilities, and further boosting its pres-ence in key cities nationwide.

“The outcome of our ef-forts has been very encourag-ing and we look forward to do-ing more,” Pama said. “SLAMCI aims to continuously improve the investing experience for all our clients, as well as intro-duce the practice of investing to those who are not into it just yet, so we may help them get started on their path to finan-cial freedom.”

DLPC reduces contracted power from state-owned NPC-PSALM

Sun Life AUM breaches P50-B mark

THE Mindanao Develop-ment Authority (Min-DA) will refile the bill

seeking turnover of the man-agement of the 982-mega-watt (MW) Agus-Pulangui hydropower complex to the Mindanao Power Corporation from the National Power Cor-poration.

“We have less than two months before the Con-gress ends, so it might not be passed. It might be refiled,” MinDA Director for Invest-ment Promotions and Public Affairs Romeo Montenegro told reporters in a chance in-terview.

He pointed out the Con-gress is not likely to pass the bill due to time constraints.

The director said the rev-enues of the Lanao del Sur-based power complex should be returned to Mindanao than passed of to the National Gov-ernment.

Montenegro stressed the debts of the power complex were settled seven years ago.

He added Mindanao will benefit from the asset turn-over as “if we have control over that cheaper source of electricity, then there’s the opportunity to have it equally, proportionately distributed especially to far-flung electric cooperatives.”

However, the director bared the power complex is not yet commercially viable to be transferred as it still con-tributes to a large part of the Mindanao grid, distributing to pro-rated electric coopera-tives.

Montenegro pointed out the private sector will likely contract the capacity to any firm it prefers.

He said PSALM could offer the power complex through an IPPA contract, to shorthen the process of its turnover and be followed by the asset.

The director added the Mindanao stakeholders, com-posed of the electric coopera-tives, local government units

THE Philippines still en-joys a good economic outlook from investors,

even though the stock market is entering the so-called “bear market”, Communications Sec-retary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said.

A bear market is a market condition in which the prices of securities are falling, and widespread pessimism causes the negative sentiment to be self-sustaining. As investors anticipate losses in a bear mar-ket and selling continues, pes-simism only grows.

Secretary Coloma said that the stock market is a dynamic entity driven by supply and demand.

“Ang supply and demand naman ay bunsod din ng mga puwersang umiiral sa isang ekonomiya na apektado rin naman ng nangyayari sa labas ng bansa,” Secretary Coloma said.

Trade and investments are also affected by the relation-ship between the Philippines and other countries, as well as transactions of companies

based in the Philippines and abroad, he said.

“Marami sa mga kumpa-nyang lumalahok sa stock mar-ket ay mayroong global opera-tions o regional operations, kaya’t ang kanilang galaw at pagnenegosyo ay apekta-do ng mga developments sa iba’t ibang ekonomiya,” he ex-plained.

“Kaya’t iyon naman ay kasama sa dynamics ng isang active na merkado at ang ti-natawag na ‘bear market’ ay maaari din namang magba-go sa darating na panahon at maging ‘bull market’ naman. Kasama ito sa dynamics ng isang stock market.”

When it comes to econom-ic outlook, the Palace official noted that the country has been getting investment grade ratings from global credit rat-ing agencies.

The country also contin-ues to get praises from other countries and wherever the President goes, he always meets with businessmen and industrialists, he said. (PCOO News Release)

MinDA to refile bill for hydro turnover

Phl economic outlookremains good: Palace

F DLPC, 10

F MINDA, 10

DEAR FARMERS. Davao City Agriculture Office head Rocelio Tabay urges the farmers to still plant despite of the threats of dry spell in the city. He explained that the farmers can use the areas near the rivers. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 2016

tion employed around 4,500 people, a good number com-ing from the local community.

Aboitiz Power uses a modern technology in trans-forming coal into power. “The power plant uses the latest circulating fluidized bed com-bustion technology that mini-mizes emissions and ensures that the power plant meets Philippine Clean Air Act stan-dards,” it said in a statement. “It houses the country’s first coal dome, which provides a safe and efficient way to store coal fuel.”

In addition, the power plant also uses an electrostatic precipitator, which electrical-ly charges and removes more

than 99 percent of dust and other particles from the efflu-ents. A Continuous Emission Monitoring System, connected to the Environmental Man-agement Bureau of the De-partment of Environment and Natural Resources, monitors power plant emissions in real time to ensure compliance.

Not only that. A multi-par-tite monitoring team, com-posed of non-governmental organizations, government agencies and regulators, have been in place since the power

plant’s construction stage to ensure that Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) conditions are followed and met.

Relative to this, the com-pany has established a carbon sink management program in upland Marilog district in part-nership with the Matigsalug Indigenous People’s commu-nity. “Indigenous farmers help Aboitiz Power in expanding and maintaining a forest eco-system area that will absorb a significant amount of carbon emitted by the power plant,” it said in a statement.

A day after the inaugu-ration, Malacañang said that coal-fired plants are necessary

to prevent power outages in the country. Kristine Angeli Sabillo, in an article published in Philippine Daily Inquirer, quoted Undersecretary Man-uel “Manolo” Quezon III of the Presidential Communications Operations office telling state-run Radyo ng Bayan that the president already explained the need for coal-fired plants.

A few years back, Presi-dent Benigno Aquino III, who personally came to attend the inauguration, told the lo-cal press that the most viable

source of electricity for Mind-anao is still coal. When asked on how his administration would address environmental groups’ resistance to govern-ment efforts to attract more investment for power gener-ation in Mindanao, the presi-dent reply was: “If Mindanao needs it (power) now, coal is one of the most accessible at this point in time.”

In the Inquirer feature, Quezon was quoted as say-ing, “We need power plants that generate electricity – rain or shine, day-in or day-out – during peak capacity. Because of limitations in technology, base load cannot be provided by renewable sources of ener-gy like wind and hydropower.”

Meanwhile, Aboitiz said the Davao power plant will be a reliable complement to Min-danao’s existing hydro power sources. He said renewable energy will and should contin-ue to contribute a significant portion of the power supply, which is in line with Aboitiz Power’s long-term strategy to provide a balanced mix of en-ergy sources.

Marilou Guieb, in an ar-ticle published in Business Mirror, reported that coal burning “has existed for cen-turies, powering the Industrial Revolution and now providing 29.9 percent of the world’s en-ergy needs and generates 41 percent of global electricity.” Today, the world’s five largest coal users account for 76% of global coal uses; these are China, the United States, India, Russia and Japan.

According to government records, the country has a vast potential for coal reserves waiting to be explored. “As of 2005, in-situ coal reserves of the country was 458 million metric tons, or 18 percent of the country’s total coal reserve potential of 2.53 billion metric tons,” Guieb wrote. (To be con-cluded)

7EDGEDAVAO

ENVIRONMENT

Is coal really the answer?

(First of Two Parts)

LAST January 8, the Aboitiz Power Corporation inau-gurated its 300-mega-

watt (MW) baseload power plant in Davao City. It is “seen by many as an important long-term solution to the Mindanao power supply problem.”

“Over the past couple of decades Mindanao has suf-fered several power crises primarily brought about by droughts that, because of its over dependence on hydro-power, resulted in a shortfall of power with outages extending up to 8 hours a day during the summer months,” observed Erramon I. Aboitiz, the chief executive officer of Aboitiz Power, in his speech.

“With the region’s eco-nomic growth over the years, the island’s need for addition-al capacity fell short because it was not feasible for private capital to put up the required capacity,” he said, adding that it cannot compete with the low selling price of the Nation-al Power Corporation.

“As a result power re-serves in Mindanao dwindled away, hence the power crisis recurring more often as time

went by,” Aboitiz pointed out.In a press statement,

Aboitiz said the power plant currently supplies baseload power to more than 20 elec-tric cooperatives and distri-bution utilities in Mindanao. Among these are Agusan del Sur Cooperative, Bukidnon Second Electric Cooperative, Cotabato Electric Cooperative, Davao del Sur Electric Cooper-ative, Davao Oriental Electric Cooperative, Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative, Misamis Occidental I Electric Coopera-tive, South Cotabato I Electric Cooperative, South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative.

It also supplies baseload power to Surigao del Norte Electric Cooperative, Surigao del Sur I Electric Cooperative, Surigao del Sur II Electric Co-operative, Sultan Kudarat Elec-tric Cooperative, Zamboanga del Norte Electric Cooperative, Zamboanga del Sur I Electric Cooperative and Zamboanga del Sur II Electric Cooperative.

The following distribu-tion utilities also get some of its baseload power from the Davao plant: Davao Light and Power Company, Cotabato Light and Power Company, and Cagayan Electric Power

and Light Company.The baseload power plant

is located in barangay Binugao in Toril and barangay Sirawan in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. The first unit reportedly started commercial operations in September last year while the second unit is undergoing reli-ability tests and will be in full commercial operations next month.

The construction of the P35-billion Davao baseload power plant started in 2012. During its peak, the construc-

President Aquino during the ceremonial switch-on of Davao coal plant. (Photo courtesy of Aboitiz Power)

Davao coal plant (Photo by Henrylito D. Tacio)

Coal dome (Photo by Henrylito D. Tacio)

By HENRYLITO D. TACIO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 20168 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

EDITORIALPreventing election violence

THE Police Regional Office (PRO) 11 on Wednesday initially iden-tified 14 election watch list areas (EWA) in Davao Region, with the town of Monkayo in Compostela Valley considered one of

these places and even escalated to Category 3 this time because of the existence of lawless armed groups and political rivalry. PRO 11 region-al director Chief Superintendent Wendy G. Rosario himself reported this to the media during the regular AFP-PNP Press Corps forum at the Royal Mandaya Hotel.

The inclusion of Monkayo under category 3 came after the 43rd meeting of the Regional Joint Security Control Center (RJSCC) last Jan-uary 10. The RJSCC in the region is headed by Commission on Election (Comelec) 11 along with PRO 11 and the 10th Infantry Division of the Eastern Mindanao Command. The PRO 11 defined Category 1 as ar-eas where politically motivated violence incidents were reported in the past two elections. Category 2 are areas where there are serious armed threats and groups or reports regarding terrorist groups, while an area will be declared Category 3 if the elements of the first two cat-egories are present.

With the May 9 elections coming in, Rosario and rest of the hier-archy of the Philippine National Police (PNP) under Director Ricardo Marquez are now working overtime to monitor and assess areas in the country to set up the needed security plan and prevent the possible

escalation of violence. The PNP, which is now under Comelec control, will have to ensure an honest, orderly, peaceful, and credible conduct of the local and national electoral exercises.

Davao Region has its history of election-related violence in the past and PNP personnel, with the help of the Armed Forces of the Phil-ippines (AFP), are on their toes in trying to prevent a new spate of violence from happening this year. Just hours after the gun ban took effect nationwide, a barangay police was shot dead in Davao City and, although investigators could not yet point to politics as the motive be-hind the killing, the incident created anxiety for the people and dis-turbed the tranquillity of the city.

The law enforces are initially doing an excellent job as the country prepares for the elections, particularly in the city where a number of arrests has been made against violators of the gun ban. Checkpoints have been established in almost all corners and entry and exit points of the city. Motorists are also asked to cooperate with the PNP in the implementation of the gun ban to ensure safety to everyone.

With the PNP and other law enforcement agencies working hand in hand to ensure a peaceful and orderly conduct of the elections, it is the fervent hope of the Filipino people that the candidates themselves and their supporters behave and not to resort to violent means in ad-vancing their cause.

Columnists: MA. TERESA L. UNGSON • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • AURELIO A. PEÑA • ZHAUN ORTEGA • BERNADETTE “ADDIE” B. BORBON • MARY ANN “ADI” C. QUISIDO • LEANDRO B. DAVAL SR., • NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN • NICASIO ANGELO AGUSTIN • EMILY ZEN CHUA • CARLOS MUNDA Economic Analyst: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG • JONALLIER M. PEREZ

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Columnists: CARLOS MUNDA • HENRYLITO D. TACIO • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • ATTY. EMILY ZEN CHUA • GREGORIO G. DELIGERO • JOHN CARLO TRIA • VIDA MIA S. VALVERDE • FRED C. LUMBA • HENRY J. SCHUMACHER • VANESSA KATE MADRAZO Economic Analysts: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG

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IS there some-thing amiss in the PBA these

days?The spate

of rough hous-ing action in the PBA, witnessed by thousands of young minds on the boob-tube, has mush-roomed into a corruptive culture, if I may say so. There are many parents who want their athlete-children to develop great basketball skills and cajole them to keenly watch PBA games to pick up a lesson or two from their favorite cagers, regard-less if the game was played according to Hoyle.

Unwittingly, this unsportsmanlike conduct is often construed as “boldness” and “audaci-ty” even if the same results in deliberate fouls, harsh exchange of words and near free-for-all. I cannot exactly measure how this impacts on the general public.

PBA teams and their management require loyalty from their players. Thus, hotheads and those fiercely loyal to their ballclubs literally fight tooth and nail to claim a victory for their team. Mind you, an attitude such as this could help lengthen a player’s contract with his team.

What causes players to rise above their nor-mal tempers?

Unfair and biased officiating has been pointed to as the culprit. Players as well as coaches react instinctively to an errant call. No-table bench strategists from the Maestro Baby Dalupan, Tim Cone (PBA’s winningest coach ever), former national coach Chot Reyes, Yeng Guiao et have been slapped technical fouls for protesting too much.

Over the decades, the PBA Commission-er’s Office (particularly during the era of Jun Bernardino) had been conducting training and development seminars, even importing noted veteran NBA officials to lecture.

Sad to say, compared to their counterparts of yesteryears, referees officiating in the PBA today do not appear to me to have improved in their appreciation of the game. Neither has the game itself, for that matter. Save for new faces and new so-called “superstars” that arise from time to time, the PBA today is much more me-dia-hyped than it was during the early years be-cause of the advance of media technology.

More than just the entertainment galore it originally expressed to offer the sporting fans when its curtains rose for the first time in 1975, the PBA today has become an arena not too dis-tant from boxing, UFC and other martial arts contests. It measures its success in terms of gate receipts and attendance.

Notice that players, especially those who are prominently written, spoken about and lion-ized by the national sports media, including the broadcasters, often live up to their billing, pre-ferring to “trample” their opponents physically as they soar for a basket. Thus, “boxingball” was coined to refer to the PBA court hooliganism.

Decades ago, just to recall, two superstars of a ballclub then belonging to the defunct MICAA (Manila Industrial Commercial Athletic Asso-ciation, the forerunner of the PBA) ganged up on a referee, punching the hapless chap in full view of the fans and which was also seen live on television. The ref was reportedly making unreasonable calls against the pair. As a result, the two were banned for life from the sport by the Basketball Association of the Philippines. (Three years later, during martial law, the duo was re-instated after diligent apologies, etc.).

In view of this sensitive issue that affects the formative values of children, perhaps, the MTRCB should enter the picture as they have the mandate to regulate as far as TV program-ming and viewing are concerned. The sporting youths of the land put on the pedestal basketball heroes they adore and then emulate what their role models do. Ignorant copycats, aren’t they?

By itself - make no mistake - the PBA has grown into an industry. Credit this to the busi-ness acumen of the companies involved. They are effectively and efficiently using proven glob-al marketing techniques to sell the PBA product, even if it is a recycling of the old.

Still and all, the PBA moguls have a moral responsibility to the viewing public, especially the young athletes aspiring to be sports heroes of the next generation. (Email your feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com). God bless the Philip-pines!

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 2016 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

EL Niño is out; here comes La Niña.That’s what Bloomberg News is

sounding recently. “As the effects of the most severe El Niño in almost 20 years still re-verberate around the world, preparations are already under way for La Niña,” the report said.

The previous La Niña started in 2010 and endured into 2012. “Conditions typically last between 9 months and 12 months, while some episodes may persist for as long as two years,” the US-based National Oceanic and Atmo-spheric Administration (NOAA) said.

I have not heard the Philippine Atmospher-ic, Geophysical Astronomical Services Adminis-tration (PAGASA) sounded the alarm yet but it may issue a few weeks from now.

La Niña is the exact opposite of the phe-nomenon called El Niño, which was known originally recognized by fishermen off the coast of South America as the appearance of unusu-ally warm water in the Pacific Ocean, occurring near the beginning of the year. El Niño means “the Little Boy” or “Christ Child” in Spanish. The name was used for the tendency of the phe-nomenon to arrive around Christmas.

La Niña, on the other hand, means “the Little Girl.” It is sometimes called “El Viejo,” “anti-El Niño,” or simply “a cold event” or a cold episode.

To simplify, meteorologists explain: El Niño and La Niña are opposite phases of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENS0) cycle, with La Niña sometimes referred to as the cold phase of ENSO and El Niño as the warm phase of ENSO.

“El Niño and La Niña result from interaction between the surface of the ocean and the atmo-sphere in the tropical Pacific,” NOAA explained. “Changes in the ocean impact the atmosphere and climate patterns around the globe. In turn, changes in the atmosphere impact the ocean temperatures and currents.”

The system oscillates between warm (El Niño) to neutral (or cold La Niña) conditions with an on average every 3-4 years.

In the tropics, global climate variations in La Niña tend to be opposite of those of El Niño. “If you expect drought in the country with El Niño because of reduced rainfall and less typhoons, there will be more than normal rainfall and the normal but ‘stronger typhoons’ during a La Niña episode that will cause floods and devastation of farms and property,” explains Dr. Rafael D.

Guerrero III, for-mer executive director of the Laguna-based Philippine Coun-cil for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (PCAMRD).

How does La Niña affect the country’s weather? PA-GASA has this answer: “Effects of La Niña could be manifested in above the normal rainfall conditions in major parts of the country, particularly along the east-ern sections. This is mainly due to more intense northeast monsoon and tropical cyclone activ-ities.”

Whether La Niña will happen or not sooner, it would be best for everyone to start prepar-ing for its occurrence. As the old saying goes, a pound of prevention is better than a pound of cure.

Soil erosion would be a common sight during La Niña. “When land is denuded of trees, scorched by burning, and deprived of its humus by intense heat, the earth soon erodes,” explains Roy C. Alimoane, the current director of the Davao-based Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC) Foundation, Inc.

This is very alarming. After all, the Depart-ment of Environment Resources (DENR) once reported that Batangas and Cebu had lost 80-85% of their topsoil to erosion. The erosion rate for Marinduque was 75-80% while for Ilocos Sur and La Union, 60-70%. Other provinces like Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Misamis Orien-tal, Bukidnon, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Ak-lan, Capiz, and Antique had more than 50% soil erosion.

Alimoane says trees contribute to agricul-ture by controlling erosion, conserving water supplies and providing shade, shelter and wind barriers. “Trees are one of the nature’s most efficient weapons of soil defense and are used to tie down steep hillsides, check the growth of

big gullies, stabilize unsteady stream banks and screen cultivated fields from harmful winds,” he said.

Without trees, floods are expected to hap-pen. “Floods are among the most destructive calamities man has to cope with,” the weather bureau wrote in a brochure that explains the how’s, what’s, and how’s of floods. “Even the most minor flooding poses some inconvenienc-es.”

A really big flood can result in millions even billions of pesos of damage to road and bridges, buildings and other economic infrastructure, in the loss of agricultural crops and livestock, loss of productivity in industry, commerce and trade - not to mention the incalculable loss of human life. Remember the Ormoc tragedy in Leyte? More than five thousand people perished from flash floods, injuring 292 others with 1,264 missing.

“With too much rain and floods, agriculture production especially in flood-prone areas will be adversely affected with physical and eco-nomic losses,” Dr. Guerrero said. “Floods will wash away crops, hasten soil erosion and in-crease crop spoilage due to poor storage and distribution problems.”

Dr. Guerrero admitted that Filipino farmers cannot do anything against the onslaught of La Niña except to prepare and plan for it. “Plant-ing in flood-prone areas should be avoided to avert crop losses,” he stressed. “Drainage and flood-control structure should be renovated beforehand.”

Health-wise, people are likely to suffer from La Niña. During floods, food-borne and water-borne diseases accelerate, according to the Department of Health (DOH). “Flooding can contaminate the public water through the disruption of water purification and sewage disposal systems, rupture of underground pipe-lines and storage tanks,” said the disaster man-agement unit of DOH.

Using contaminated water can cause a wide spectrum of illness, among them: acute gastro-enteritis, dysentery, typhoid fever, cholera, and hepatitis A. Malaria and dengue fever, infections transmitted by mosquitoes, are also expected to rise after heavy rainfalls due to an explosive increase in breeding sites.

As the saying goes, forewarned is fore-armed.

Here comes La Niña! The PBA Circus

No wealth, no health

Fred C. Lumba

SPECKS OF LIFE

Henrylito D. Taciohenrytacio@gmail.com

THINK ON THESE!

A VISIT to the Communicable Pavilion of the Southern Philippines Medical Cen-ter (SPMC) left me once again ponder-

ing the state of affairs of our country and of the individuals who end up getting confined in this state hospital. Manang Rosie, an elder-ly woman from our community battling a bad case of pneumonia and diabetes, was blankly facing the wall of a humid ward. A watcher was vigorously fanning her with a cardboard. She is only 56 but looks so much older. My husband and I try to perk her up with stories of the animals she is fond of. We only get a weak nod of acknowledgment. Then, add-ing insult to injury, Manang Rosie’s daughter arrives bringing a local newspaper with the headline, Understaffed, pertaining to SPMC. Apparently, a father attacked a doctor and a nurse when his child could not be given the necessary medical attention at the state hos-pital.

All the wards of the Pavilion are filled to capacity, with a number of beds also lined up along the corridor. The patients are mostly elderly and listless. Sickness is made graver with the look and feel of poverty pervading the

atmosphere. At the risk of oversimplifi-cation, what runs through my head is “Economics , e c o n o m i c s , economics.” Pa-tients are there because they do not have enough money to get focused medical attention that private hospitals can give. Doctors are not there because they are not paid enough money to render valuable service in state hospitals. State hospitals can-not pay doctors good money because, some-where in the system, powers that be took allo-cated money for themselves. As the pop song that irritatingly plays over and over again on the radio goes, “It’s all about the money…”

It seems human dignity is conferred when one has the money and resources. Though ethical theory teaches that human dignity is a

core inherent value of the person, experience shows otherwise. The poor will most likely not get the immediate medical attention and will just be allowed to languish in pain and sickness. If the poor is dying, he may be asked to leave the hospital so that another may use his bed. Life indeed becomes cheap when one does not have the money. The adage, “one who has the economic power has the political power” is manifested even in times of medical crises.

Manang Rosie has been asked to go home. The doctor that irregularly makes the rounds has declared that her treatments are no lon-ger working. Manang Rosie asks if she is go-ing to die because there is a coffin beside her. She says her father, who has long since gone, is asking her to go with him. She seems to be alternating between listlessness and halluci-nations. Her only daughter bravely continues the fight and asks Manang Rosie not to leave her. We pray over Manang Rosie and ask for divine mercy. In the face of sickness and pov-erty compounded by glaring systemic incom-petence, we find our weapons where we can, non-material though they may be.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 201610NEWSPOWER... FROM 1

Drilon... FROM 2

US... FROM 4

MinDA... FROM 6

DLPC... FROM 6

Look... FROM 2

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EDGEDAVAO

aging the very tight power supply situation by optimiz-ing its power supply contracts with the following: 100 MW with Therma South Inc.’s coal-fired power plant, 30 MW with Therma Marine Inc.’s power barges, 52 MW with Hedcor Sibulan, and 4 MW with Hed-cor Talomo.

Recently, an 18 MW con-tract with the Western Mind-anao Power Corporation has been added to Davao Light’s power supply. Davao Light also runs its Bajada Power Plant and activates its Interruptible Load Program in which par-ticipating large companies run their own generating sets in-stead of drawing power from the distribution line.

“Davao City is becoming very attractive to investors which can be gleaned from the entry of players in the real property, manufacturing and business processing sec-tors. However, power supply in Mindanao is still in a pre-carious state with lack or no reserves. As an electric distri-bution utility, the best that we

could do is secure additional power contracts to sustain the bullish business climate,” Davao Light’s EVP and COO Ar-turo Milan said.

Milan said to improve the current state of power and cope with the increasing de-mand, Davao Light has already been negotiating additional power supply contracts with the Southern Philippines Pow-er Corporation for 50 MW and with San Miguel Consolidated Power Corporation for 80 MW, which will start operations in April and in July 2016, respec-tively.

“Thus, between this month and April, the franchise will continue to experience tight power supply. This will also depend on how the NGCP will allocate power to Davao Light and all other distribution utili-ties in Mindanao,” he said.

In the light of the contin-ued dry spell in the coming months, Davao Light encour-aged its customers to conserve electricity and consider using energy efficient appliances and lighting.

road users. “When our traffic lights

conk out either because of power interruption or techni-cal problems, the traffic gets worse as it sometimes lead to accidents since most vehicles try to outdo each other to get through,” she said.

She said city has to adjust

with the current situation and ensure the operation of an efficient traffic management system pending the various infrastructure projects that are expected to widen our roads and provide alternate routes for our vehicles as well as al-ternative modes of mass trans-portation.

lieves are critical and will be effective in uplifting the lives and welfare of the people.

“The Senate will not be hindered by this veto. We will look at it again and we will work hard to perfect the bill and finally give the peo-ple what they so deserve,” the Senate leader said.

Drilon said the SSS pen-sion hike bill was the first measure that was vetoed by the President insofar as the 16th Congress is concerned.

“The President and the Congress – both the Senate and the House of Represen-tatives – have a harmonious and productive working relationship that resulted in the passage of numerous laws that help our people, including the mandatory Philhealth coverage for all senior citizens and the law that raises the tax exemption ceiling on the 13th month pay, among others,” Drilon said. (PNA)

at OB-Gyn daily. Vega said at present the

SPMC employs only around 200 doctors, 20 of whom are assigned at the ER.

“The manpower comple-ment of 1,200 must be there. What is the manpower com-plement? I ask this with the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and they don’t know what a mon-ster 1,200 beds is in terms of manpower complement,” he said.

He said no government hospital serves 1,200 beds a day. The Vicente Sotto Memo-rial Medical Center only caters

to 500 patients a day, the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Cen-ter 400 a day, and the East Av-enue Medical Center 600 a day, he added.

He said based on their computations, a manpower complement of almost 3,500 plantilla positions is needed.

“Right now we are hitting almost 1,700 of plantilla so we’re still not ideal. In 2010 we only had 700 so in other words we are not close to the ideal of 1, 200 beds. But this is what I can tell you: we are 300 Spar-tans and we are able to cut all the challenges that we have,” he said.

Vega said they are now

trying to lobby for more funds through Davao City third dis-trict Rep. Isidro Ungab, the chair of appropriation com-mittee, to help out.

“We really need this in terms of providing an ideal manpower for 3,500,” he said.

Vega also emphasized that even before the syringe-stab-bing incident, SPMC has been looking into how services can be improved, particularly in the emergency room. He said one of the improvements that will be instituted this year is putting in more doctors to be trained as medical specialist in the emergency room.

With the overwhelming

number of admissions a day, Vega said they are putting nec-essary systems to cope. “We didn’t see this coming in 2010 that the number of admission will double and we’re trying to gradually improve our sys-tems, manpower, and strategy,” he said.

Among developments on-going at SPMC is the construc-tion of the centralized inten-sive care unit (ICU) which will open in the third quarter of this year. The building, which has a construction cost of P120 million from the Health Fa-cility Enhancement Program (HFEP) of DOH, will house 40 ICUs.

It also runs the Bajada Power Plant and activates its Interruptible Load Program where participating large com-panies will run its own gener-ating sets instead of drawing power from the distribution line, Luga explained.

“Our franchises remain to experience a very critical pow-er supply situation due to ex-tended El Niño phenomenon,” he said.

DLPC executive vice presi-dent and chief operating office Arturo Milan said the distri-bution utility will continue to bond new contracts with other independent power producers to ensure the power supply in its franchise area.

“Davao City is becoming very attractive to investors which can be gleaned from the entry of players in the real property, manufacturing and business processing sec-tors. However, power supply in Mindanao is still in a pre-carious state with lack or no reserves. As an electric distri-bution utility, the best that we could do is secure additional power contracts to sustain the bullish business climate.” Mi-

lan said in the same statement.To improve the current

state of power and cope with the increasing demand, Davao Light has already been negoti-ating additional power supply contracts with the Southern Philippines Power Corpora-tion for 50 MW and with San Miguel Consolidated Power Corporation for 80 MW, which will start operations in April and in July 2016, respectively.

Thus, between this month and April, the franchise will continue to experience tight power supply. This will also depend on how the NGCP will allocate power to Davao Light and all other distribution util-ities in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, rotating pow-er interruptions may be imple-mented again if power supply remains to be lower than the franchise’s demand despite optimizing its contingency measures.

In the light of the contin-ued dry spell in the coming months, Davao Light encour-ages its customers to conserve electricity and consider using energy efficient appliances and lightings. CHENEEN R. CAPON

BE WARNED. Civil Service Commission (CSC) 11 regional director Annabelle B. Rosell warns government employees that they face administrative sanctions if they are caught engaging in partisan political activities for the May election. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

and Australia in Philippine-US exercises and activities.

The Philippine side stressed that the involvement

of other parties in these ac-tivities shall be in accordance with the Philippines’ national legal framework. (PNA)

and the Mindanao block in Congress, supports the cre-ation of the Mindanao Power Corp. It will allow the Mindan-ao government to retain the power plant as a government asset.

Montenegro stressed the power complex gives Mindan-ao a competitive advantage at PHP8 per kilowatthour (kWh) compared to Luzon and Vi-sayas power rate of PHP10-11 per kWh. (PNA)

TWO college schol-ars supported by the Aboitiz Foundation,

the social development arm of the Aboitiz Group, end-ed 2015 with flying colors, having received academic honors for their strong com-mitment and passion to excel in their respective academic fields.

Adriel Gamier Sanchez, a Bachelor of Industrial En-gineering graduate, summa cum laude from the Universi-ty of San Jose Recoletos, was hailed as one of last year’s Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines (TOSP) at a ceremony in Malacañang.

“We should not focus more on our achievements

in life, but on our character, because recognitions may be forgotten, but the values and the principles that you stand for will surely remain in the hearts of people,” remarked Sanchez, who was supported by the Aboitiz Foundation to-gether with Visayan Electric Co., Inc. (VECO), the coun-try’s second-largest private-ly-owned utility.

Aside from this recogni-tion, Sanchez, together with his classmates, was also the winner of a P200,000 grant from the 1st Aboitiz Corpo-rate Social Responsibility Proposal-Making Competi-tion. He used this to found the Panlambo Bakeshop, which sustains and nourish-

es 200 families in Cambino-cot, Cebu City.

In addition to Sanchez, Aboitiz scholar Armand Henzkel Canoy, a summa cum laude graduate of the Cebu Institute of Technolo-gy-University, was recently cited for an academic accom-plishment. Canoy topped the November 2015 Civil Engi-neer Licensure Examination, besting 3,934 other exam passers across the country.

“We are proud of our Aboitiz scholars and their achievements because we truly believe in their capabili-ty to succeed. Through them, we are further inspired to continue with our various education initiatives as we

advance our efforts to help improve our country’s edu-cational system,” said Sonny Carpio, Aboitiz Foundation Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

The Aboitiz Group cur-rently supports a total of 2,774 scholars nationwide, with the Aboitiz Founda-tion alone supporting 330 scholars in Metro Manila and 1,554 scholars in Cebu. This year, 44 Aboitiz scholars graduated from college, 27 with Latin honors.

In the last 28 years, over 29,000 Filipino students have benefitted from the Aboitiz Foundation’s schol-arship and financial pro-grams.

2 Aboitiz-supported scholars cited for academic excellence

Baldness is caused by a genetic trait that is passed on from one generation to another and usually starts to get more pronounced once one reaches the age of 30 (although in some cases, baldness occurs even in the mid 20s) and oftentimes this baldness may lead to loss of confi-dence for some individu-als. There have been medi-cations and other ways to create a fuller head of hair but the best option for a great-looking, natu-ral, and permanent head of hair is hair transplant

which is one of the ser-vices provided by Dr. Neil Oropesa of OrodermBody Advanced Dermatology Clinic. “There used to be medi-cation to address hair-loss but it was later found out

Oroderm launches robotic hair restoration

EVENT

EDGEDAVAO

Every person’s crowning glory is his or her hair. A healthy head of hair allows an indi-vidual to express oneself through styles and, for the more adventurous, color. But some-times this crowning glory is missing for some people who are predisposed to bald-ing.

INdulge!

that the real solution to address hair loss was hair transplants,” said Neil. “Before we would harvest the hair from the back of the scalp, get the follicles and then transplant them to the area that needs the hair.” Last January 13 saw the introduction of a robotic revolution as Oroderm rolled out its state-of-the-art hair transplant service using the Artas system which fuses precision

robotic technology and high-resolution imaging technology. “The old way of har-vesting hair usually leaves a linear scar at the back of the head.” shared Dr. Oropesa “Artas selec-tive harvests hair directly from the scalp which eliminates linear scaring. At the same time, it main-tains the natural look of the hair donor area.” The system also allows for a faster operation, said Neil, cutting down the procedure from six to 12 hours down to four to six hours. And with the min-imally invasive, robotic procedure, Dr. Oropesa promises a quick and easy recovery, with patients re-turning to their normal activities within just a day or two. The OrodermBody Advanced Dermatology Clinic is located at C.M. Recto Corner Rizal Ext. St., Davao City with tele-phone numbers 227-3643 or 282-0008. You can also check out their Facebook page at OrodermBody.

The Artas system uses high resolution imaging technology to plot out where to harvest hair folicles.

Dr. Neil Oropesa shares the latest hair transplant technology.

Artas’s Practice Performance Manager for APAC Ann Nam demonstrates the features of the Artas system.

Oroderm’s medical staff shows off the microscopes used to prepare the hair follicles for transplant.

The Artas robot in action.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 2016

DAVAO WELCOMED 2016 MERRILY through the 3rd Torotot Fes-tival, an initiative of wireless services leader Smart Communications (Smart). Smart, through the festival, has been supporting the local government unit of Davao City in promoting a safe Yuletide cel-ebration by discouraging the use of fireworks and firecrackers. It has been more than a de-cade since Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte implemented this ordinance. Since then, the Smart-led To-rotot Festival has become a way for the city to show the entire country that being safe doesn’t mean a boring New Year cel-ebration. In fact, with only the use of torotot, Dabawenyos were still able to greet 2016 with loud noises and all-night long party-ing. This year’s Torotot Festival was held at San Pedro Square, Rizal, adjacent to the Davao City Hall, where people started gath-ering as early as 3pm, to witness the parade and competition of beautifully designed, torotot-inspired costumes. These cos-tumes were worn by participat-ing individuals and groups from Davao City and neighboring areas. The most creative, torotot-in-spired costumes were awarded special prizes from Smart. For individual category, it was Rogie Vergara who won the first prize, followed by Junjun Cadne and Melanie Melasco in the sec-ond and third place. In the group category, the Davao Movestruck grabbed the first place, while QA Allstars and Mio Bikers earned the sec-ond and third spots. Another major part of the To-rotot Festival allowed Dabawen-yos to show off their creativity. This year, teenager named John Vincent Estapon designed the most creative torotot, with a length of around 2 feet and embellished with ornaments and organic materials. Estapon’s craft stood out from the rest with its battery-powered fan in the opening of his torotot. The winning torotots will be displayed inside the main office

of Smart in Davao. To make the festival even bet-ter, Smart added a cosplay com-petition in the 3rd Torotot Fes-tival, where cosplayers battled it out not only with their costumes and portrayal, but also with to-rotots that complemented their depicted characters. A demi-human game char-acter cosplayed by Richie Louie Ando impressed the audience, and bagged the best cosplayer award. During the event, the first To-rotot Festival Mass Zumba was also launched by Smart, where people of all ages participated, with outstanding Zumba danc-ers getting a variety of prizes. But the major highlight of the third Torotot Festival is the Smart Jump In Dance Compe-

tition, where five of the finest dance crews of Davao battled for cash prizes — plus bragging rights. After the heated dance-off, it was the all-female crew of Crowns who beat all other con-tenders with their high-energy performance. Every Dabawenyo also got a chance to win a brand new iPhone during the Torotot Festi-val special Smart raffle. Among

the thousands who joined the raffle simply by registering to Smart Prepaid UCT30, it was Norhana Omar who started her 2016 with a brand new iPhone 5c. UCT30 provides unlimited calls to Smart, SUN and TNT

subscribers, unlimited texts to all networks, and 100MB data mobile internet surfing plus. SPINNR is also free when you are registered to UCT30. To en-joy UCT30, simply dial *121#. A regular load balance of 30 is re-quired to access this offer. Torotot Festival instantly went viral on various social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, with Dabawenyos enjoy-ing the ‘Smart Life’ by instantly sharing with the rest of the world the sights, the sounds and the spirit of the festival through their smartphones and tablets -- running on the strength of Smart’s wireless network. To stay updated with Smart events and promos, simply fol-low Smart’s official accounts on Facebook (www.facebook.com/SmartCommunications) and Twitter (@SMARTcares).

A2 INdulge! EDGEDAVAOEVENT

No firecrackers? NO PROBLEM

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 2016

INdulge! A3EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

GMA Network opens 2016 with the launch of the newest Afternoon Prime series, Wish I May. It premieres on January 18 after Eat Bulaga. Wish I May tells the story of how two teens find solace and eventually, fall in love with each other amid tumultuous circumstances surrounding their families brought about by the disease called “chimerism”, a medical condition wherein an individual has two sets of DNA. This fascinating soap opera stars the youngest loveteam of the Kapuso Network: Miguel Tanfelix and Bianca Umali. Armed with their natural acting skills and onscreen chemistry, Miguel and Bianca are all set to tackle mature roles in the series as they portray the characters of Tristan, the childhood best friend of Carina who grew up with a dysfunctional family that’s why he is so independent; and Carina, a charming, kind and sweet lady who works hard to gain the attention and affection of her parents, respectively. GMA Network is proud to present a stellar cast of the country’s most respected artists in film and television: Camille Prats as Olivia, the mother of Carina who has chimerism; Mark Anthony Fernandez as Clark, the husband of Audrey who is greatly in love with Olivia; Mark Herras as Andrew, the loving foster father of Carina, who is secretly in love with Olivia; Alessandra de Rossi as Loretta, the wife of Andrew who is the total opposite of Olivia; Glydel Mercado as Barbara, the loving mother and confidant of Olivia; Rochelle Pangilinan as Audrey, the possessive and alcoholic ex-girlfriend of Clark; Neil Ryan Sese

as Gabriel, a greedy and violent person who will eventually be with Loretta; Juan Rodrigo as Edward, the strict father of Olivia; Marni Lapuz as Doris, the nanny of Andrew; Ash Ortega as Eunice, the arrogant best friend of Carina and the dominating girlfriend of Tristan; Sancho delas Alas as Tope, Tristan’s best friend; Prince Villanueva as Dave, one of Carina’s admirers. Wish I May tells the story of Olivia (Camille) who lost her daughter, Carina (Bianca), because her father was against

her relationship with Clark (Mark Anthony). After many years, she will search for her child but her sickness (chimerism) will prevent her from confirming and claiming maternal rights to her daughter. While Olivia is in the middle of fighting for her rights as Carina’s mother, she will bump into her true love, Clark. Can this help bring Olivia and Carina together? Can Clark and Olivia find their way back to each other’s arms? Or Tristan and Carina will be the ones to continue the interrupted love story of their

THERE IS never enough anime’. The more anime’ shows there are to watch, the better. Otakus (anime and Japanese culture fan in English) can rejoice as Hero TV brings back titles that are both familiar and new to everyone without scrimping on any of the action, comedic moments, or even romantic ones this month of January. As 2016 rolls, Goku is set to return and once more ask for the energy of the universe to defeat a foe that everyone is familiar with in “Dragon Ball Z: Return of F” while the Power Rangers battle their own villains in “Power

Rangers: Samurai.” Otakus should also not miss out on Hero TV’s new offering, “Date A Live II,” which tells the story of Shido Itsuka, a normal high school teenager at Raizen High with the power to seal

spirits that only knew death and violence in their lifetime. Old favorites like “Gintama,” “Vampire Knight,” “Kuroko No Basket,” “Tiger and Bunny,” and “Haikyu” also make a return to the channel to provide more action, laughter, and inspiring moments, as well as romantic in the case of “Vampire Knight.” Not to be outdone, 90’s kids will also feel the love as “Digimon Adventure Season 2” also makes a comeback this January on Hero TV, For updates, visit www.facebook.com/myheronation and follow their Twitter, @myHEROnation.

GMA Network offers an intriguing and compelling drama in ‘Wish I May’

Hero TV unleashes classics, new favorites

parents? Will Olivia and Carina ever know the truth about their mother-daughter relationship? Wish I May will spark the curiosity of viewers about tales of great love finding evidence. It also dramatically narrates Olivia’s (Camille) pursuit of her maternal rights over her long-lost daughter, compounded by the rare condition of chimerism. Neal del Rosario and Mark Sicat Dela Cruz helm the series and Ken de Leon is heading the writing team under the creative direction of Roy Iglesias, Dode Cruz and Denoy Punio. The program is another original creation of the GMA Drama group

under the supervision of Senior Vice President for Entertainment TV Lilybeth G. Rasonable; Vice President for Drama Redgie Acuña-Magno; Assistant Vice President for Drama Cheryl Ching-Sy; Program Manager Nini Matilac, and Executive Producer Jojo Aleta. Wish I May premieres January 18 right after Eat Bulaga on GMA Afternoon Prime. Get the latest updates about Wish I May from the official facebook page of GMA Drama w w w. f aceb o o k .com /GMADrama, twitter account @GMADrama and the GMA Network website www.GMANetwork.com.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 2016

R13

PG

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OUR BRAND IS CRISIS

Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton

PG 1:00 | 4:00 | 7:00 | 10:00 LFS

MACBETH

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

LUMAYO KA NGA SA AKIN

Maricel Soriano, Herbert Bautist,

Cristine Reyes, Candy Pangilinan

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

Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard

STAR WARS VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS

Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher

January 15 – 19, 2016

SKY is giving more choices to match its consumers’ lifestyle with its new unlimited broadband plans - plan 16Mbps priced at P1,999 per month, and SKY-bundles Super Saver Plan that gives you 8Mbps of broadband connection, plus a cable plan with 6 HD chan-nels and 35 standard definition channels for only P1,599 per month. With these fast and af-fordable internet plans, you and your family can enjoy a wide array of content and highest quality of video-on-demand entertainment with no worries of consuming your data allocation and end up paying much more. Subscribers of any of SKY plans above can enjoy ex-clusive unlimited access to various movie players - SKY On Demand and HBO GO. Our movie players give you

the freedom to take control of your viewing experience by playing, pausing, and re-suming your favourite shows and/or movies. Beyond the exclusive offering of SKY, subscribers can enjoy in high quality other online video players such as Netflix, with SKYbroadband’s high speed Internet access. SKY On Demand also al-lows viewers to catch up on their favorite ABS CBN Ka-pamilya TV shows, cable TV channels, and watch the big-gest local and foreign block-busters on their computers,

tablets or smartphones, or even on their TV sets using the SKY On Demand digi-box. HBO GO is an internet streaming service wherein one can get to watch over 1,000 hours of HBO pro-grams and movies. It has an awesome library of Hol-lywood motion pictures, series, shows and documen-taries fir for TV enthusiasts. With HBO GO, subscribers can relive their favorite HBO Originals such as “Sex and the City” and “Entourage” or obtain premium access

to Game of Thrones, Veep, Silicon Valley, and other new originals anytime, any-where. The recently launched Netflix service in the Phil-ippines promises unlimited movies and TV show epi-sodes which you can access via the internet and watch concurrently on multiple de-vices. Unlimited and fast high speed internet, easy access to a wide array of exciting con-tent, and top notch customer service is what signing up with SKY is all about. It’s ev-erything you’d expect from the fastest growing broad-band provider in the country. For details on how to avail any of the home broadband plans and to know more about the services and pro-motions of SKYcable, SKY-broadband and SKYbundles, call us at 381-0000 or visit our website at www.mysky.com.ph.

A4 INdulge!UP AND ABOUT

Enjoy easy access to a world of entertainment from SKY’s unlimited and fast internet service

Win an Asian trip and a hotel stay at SM Lanang Premier’s Great 3-Day SaleON JANUARY 29-31, 2016, shop at the Great 3-Day Sale in SM Lanang Premier and enjoy up to 70 percent off on selected items mallwide. Fantastic prizes are also up for grabs in the grand raffle. Three lucky shoppers can win two Air Asia roundtrip tickets from Manila to any Asian destination. There will also be 6 winners of an overnight stay for two at Park Inn by Radisson Davao. Every P1,000 single or accumulated purchase from The SM Store or from any participating mall establishment entitles a shopper to one raffle coupon. Shoppers can also get one raffle coupon with every single purchase of four SM Cinema tickets or with every P300 worth of tokens from participating amusement centers. Enjoy Saturday and Sunday Specials at the Great 3-Day Sale on January 30 and 31. Get FREE P500 worth of SM Gift Certificates from 10am to 2pm with a minimum purchase of P5,000 single-receipt purchase within the promo period from any participating establishment. Only 100 shoppers can avail of this promo per day. Avail of the best vacation deals at the Great BDO Travel Sale happening at the Atrium on January 29-31. Participating exhibitors include Cathay Pacific, Philippine Airlines, Qatar Airways, Air Asia, Asiana, BDO Investments, and PLDT. For shopping convenience, mall hours are extended from 10am to 11pm on the said dates. Don’t miss out on the great deals at the metro’s premier shopping and lifestyle destination. For inquiries, contact 285-0943. Visit SM Lanang Premier on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for sale alerts, promos and event updates.

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 2016

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 2016 11EDGEDAVAO

CULTURE & ARTS

Oyanguren and MagsaysayHISTORY OF DAVAO

By Antonio V. Figueroa

ONE of the city roads stand-ing out due to its histor-ical link is the former

Uyanguren (Oyanguren) street, which stretches from Quirino Avenue to the tip of Quezon Boulevard. It is one of two thor-oughfares (the other is Claveria) opened during the early devel-opment of Davao, which was an area of settlers who joined the Oyanguren voyage.

Before Oyanguren and Claveria, there were only par-allel roads, namely Magallanes, San Pedro, and Rizal (we cannot figure out its original name), and the streets of Legazpi, Anda, and Bolton, which was a trail. To the western end of San Pedro was the old cemetery (where Oyanguren was buried), while on the other end was San Pedro Chapel.

It was only during US co-lonial rule that Bolton Street, in memory of the assassinated American governor of Davao, and Rizal Street, were given their ‘official’ identities. About this time the old Escario Street (now Bonifacio) was also opened, cre-ating what could be considered as the first systematic adoption of a plan resembling today’s ur-ban planning and development.

Oyanguren, the judgeRecognized as the conquer-

or of Datu Bago, Jose Cruz Ma-ria Ibarzabal y Oyanguren, was born on May 2, 1800 to peasant parents in Villa de Bergara, Gui-puzcoa Province, in northern Spain. He enrolled at the Real Seminaria de Bergara where stayed for six years, and was a student of law. Three years lat-er he was exiled to Guam due to his maverick political stance but managed to request for transfer

to the Philippines.When Oyanguren arrived in

Manila in 1825, Spanish rule in the country was on the decline. His links with Basque officials in the colonial government in Ma-nila while in exile served him in good stead. He was issued three ships which he used for open-ing trade with the Provincias de Moras (Moro Province) in the 1830s. It was in one of his sorties in Tandag that he met Maria Lu-isa Azaola, daughter of a capitan general. The two agreed to live together as partners because Oyanguren, a Catholic, could not marry because he had a wife in Spain.

After a decade of stay in the country, he enrolled at the Uni-versity of Santo Tomas, where he earned his Bachiller en Leyes course in only two years. In 1939 he accepted the position of juez de primera of Tondo, Manila, which he held until 1846 when he was forced to relinquish the judgeship after a Madrid ap-pointee was installed.

This frustrating episode brought him back to his previ-ous business engagements in Palawan and the Caraga region. It was during these mercantile travels that he was apprised about the burning of the trad-ing ship San Rufo in Davao Gulf, which eventually led to the con-quest of Davao.

Deathbed nuptialOn his deathbed, Oyan-

guren, according to records at the San Pedro Cathedral ar-chives, married Maria “mismo el dia antes ala una y media” at 1:30 in the afternoon of Oct. 10, 1858, on the day before he died. Fr. Celedonio Pardos solemnized the nuptial, presumably with the

confirmation that his first wife in Spain had died. His certificate of burial is dated Oct. 11, 1858.

The official entry states: En once dias del mes de Octubre del año del Señor mil ochocientos cincuenta y ocho yo J. Celedonio Pardos, enterre en el cementerio de Bergara el cadaver de D. JOSE OYANGUREN Español adulto natural de Bergara Provincia de Guipuzcoa casado con Dña. Luis Azaola mismo el dia antes ala una y media. Y por verdad firmo ut supra.

Oyanguren, as a street name, was removed following the ap-proval of Resolution No. 413, which the City Council enacted in 1963. The edict came out as a result of the construction of the Magsaysay monument on a reclaimed area adjacent to San-ta Ana Pier, the first port under the American rule. No histori-cal event has closely associated Magsaysay with Davao, save for the fact that he was Philippine president.

Magsaysay, the mechanicOn the other hand, Ramon

del Fierro Magsaysay, who died in a plane crash on March 17, 1957, at Mt. Manunggal, in Cebu, was an automobile mechanic and war veteran before becom-ing military governor of Zam-bales.

For two terms he served as congressman of Zambales be-fore accepting the appointment as Secretary of National Defense during the Quirino administra-tion. In 1953 he won as Presi-dent over the incumbent leader-ship, and the first national lead-er to be born in the 20th century.

He was known to be a close friend of the United States and a strong mouthpiece against the

evolving communist movement. He is credited for laying the foun-dation of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), also known as the Manila Pact of 1954, and was popular among the common tao as the ‘Guy.’

Pre-public lifeBorn in Iba, Zambales, on Au-

gust 31, 1907, Magsaysay attended the University of the Philippines before moving to the Institute of Commerce at José Rizal College (1928-1932), where he obtained a Commerce degree. When war broke out, he joined the motor pool of the 31st Infantry Division of the Philippine Army (PA), became a captain, and was part of the con-tingent that cleared the Zambales coast from Japanese threats.

During his presidency, the cen-tral theme of his leadership was the enactment of an agrarian reform law that led to the distribution of roughly 40,000 hectares for settle-ment and farming purposes. True to his desire to bring closer the public to his administration, he set up a protocol to hear and address citizen grievances, and maintained repute for virtuousness through-out his leadership.

His four-year presidency was “considered one of the cleanest and most corruption-free.”In his honor, the Ramon Magsaysay Awards, the Nobel Prize equivalent in Asia, was founded; it gets its funding from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The award recognizes integrity and courage among individuals and or-ganizations in Asia.

President Ramon Magsaysay

UYANGUREN AS CHINATOWN. The arch at one end of Ramon Magsaysay Avenue reflecting its identity as part of the city’s Chinatown. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 201612CLASSIFIEDS

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VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 2016 13EDGEDAVAO NEWSUS gov’t renews ‘ironclad’commitment to defend PhlAMID China’s aggressive

actions in the South Chi-na Sea, the United States

has vowed to strengthen the defense capability of the Phil-ippines as it renewed its “iron-clad” commitment to defend its long-time treaty ally against aggression.

At the close of their second high-level talks in Washington on Jan. 12, the foreign and de-fense chiefs of the Philippines and US issued a joint statement declaring the need for stronger military cooperation as China keeps expanding its presence in the waters also contested by the Philippines, Malaysia, Viet-nam, Brunei and Taiwan.

To enhance security and defense cooperation, Philip-pine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and US Secretary of State John Kerry, together with Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and US De-fense Secretary Ashton Carter, have committed to enhance the Philippines’ maritime security presence and maritime do-main awareness.

To demonstrate such com-mitment, Washington is trans-ferring a third high-endurance cutter and a research vessel to the Philippines this year.

Both sides also agreed to coordinate closely on the im-plementation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agree-ment (EDCA), a mutually ben-

eficial agreement that will en-hance the United States’ ability to provide rapid humanitarian assistance and help build ca-pacity for the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philip-pines.

They have also declared to boost military-to-military co-operation and inter-operability through joint exercises, capac-ity-building, and intelligence sharing.

The meeting, called Two-Plus-Two Ministerial Dialogue, is the highest level policy con-sultative mechanism between the Philippine and US gov-ernments. This was their first meeting since 2012.

The ministers also dis-cussed regional and global challenges that threaten peace and stability and the rule of law as Del Rosario and Gazmin wel-comed the reaffirmation of the ironclad US commitment to the defense the Philippines.

Recently, China conducted two test landings at the Fiery Cross Reef -- one of the seven features in the South China Sea that was transformed into artificial islands by Beijing, trig-gering concerns from the Phil-ippines, Vietnam and US.

In their statement, the min-isters underscored the need “for all parties to refrain from provocative, unilateral actions that aim to change the status quo in the South China Sea.”

They also noted that the ruling of the UN Law of the Sea Convention arbitral tribunal on Manila’s case that seeks to invalidate China’s massive sea claim would be legally binding on both China and the Philip-pines.

The ministers also high-lighted the importance of parties taking active steps to reduce tensions, including halt-ing the reclamation, construc-tion on, and militarization of outposts in the South China Sea and to refrain from any actions that harass, coerce, or intimi-date other parties in the South China Sea.

“In particular, the Ministers shared concern over recent test flights at Fiery Cross Reef, which exacerbate tensions and are inconsistent with the region’s commitments to exer-cise restraint from actions that could complicate or escalate disputes,” they said.

The ministers also ex-pressed concern regarding large-scale land reclamation of occupied features, as well as the construction of new fa-cilities and airstrips on them, and their impact on the marine environment, recognizing the importance of the South China Sea to the welfare and liveli-hoods of the many people who have for generations depended on the living resources of the South China Sea. (PNA)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 201614CLASSIFIEDS EDGEDAVAO

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VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 2016 15EDGEDAVAO SPORTS

STEPHEN Curry was just about unstoppable in the fourth quarter, except near

the very end.Curry scored 20 of his 38

points in the final period but lost the ball under defensive pres-sure from Danilo Gallinari in the game’s final moments, and the Denver Nuggets hung on to hand the Golden State Warriors their third loss of the season, 112-110 on Wednesday night.

‘’It was a great opportunity to try to tie the game or take the lead,’’ Curry said about the last of his eight turnovers. ‘’Got stuck be-tween looking for the open man and handling the ball, and one lit-tle mishandle and Gallinari got it.’’

The defending NBA champi-on Warriors (36-3) had won sev-en straight since their previous defeat, 114-91 at Dallas on Dec. 30.

Harrison Barnes added 18 points and Klay Thompson had 17 for the Warriors.

Gallinari led the Nuggets with 28 points but it was his de-fense at the game’s critical mo-ment that made the difference, Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.

‘’Gallo has proven this year he can guard most players on the floor,’’ Malone said. ‘’And he did a great job. He got into a stance, forced a deflection, was first to the floor and comes out with the loose ball. Those are winning plays. Those are what separate teams and we had enough win-ning plays tonight where we were able to withstand the furious comeback that they made.’’

Will Barton added 21 points for the Nuggets, who snapped a four-game losing streak to the Warriors despite being outscored 37-29 in the final period.

A dunk by Brandon Rush gave the Warriors a 68-64 lead, but Denver outscored Golden State 19-5 over the last 5 1/2 min-utes of the third quarter to take a 10-point lead into the fourth.

The Warriors, however, kept chipping away as Curry led the charge.

Layups by Curry and Andrew Bogut cut the deficit to 102-97 with 2:05 remaining. Curry and Barton then traded 3-pointers before Darrell Arthur hit a jumper with a minute left for a 109-102 Denver lead.

But the Warriors fought back, getting a layup from Barnes and a 3 from Curry sandwiched around a Nuggets turnover, pulling to 109-107 with 37.1 seconds left.

And it appeared the Warriors had the Nuggets right where they wanted.

‘’That fourth was a barrage of 3s,’’ Denver forward Kenneth Faried said. ‘’Steph stepped over halfcourt and made one and I was just like, ‘Man, not this again.’ But we held them off.’’

With defense.With the Warriors in position

to tie or go in front, Gallinari stole the ball from Curry.

‘’I think he lost the ball and it came towards me and I just dove to the ball,’’ Gallinari said.

He started a fast break that ended in Gary Harris, who fin-ished with 19 points, being fouled and making a pair of free throws.

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors attacks the basket against a Denver Nuggets defender on Wednesday at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.

HOLDERS Barcelona cruised into the King’s Cup quarter-finals

when a side missing sever-al regulars beat city rivals Espanyol 2-0, with Munir El Haddadi netting both goals in a thumping 6-1 aggregate success on Wednesday.

Lionel Messi, fresh from collecting a fifth FIFA Ballon d’Or award on Monday, sent El Haddadi clear to round goalkeeper Francesco Bardi with a deft finish in the 32nd minute at Espanyol’s Cornel-la-El Prat stadium.

The academy graduate, who has had limited play-ing time since his promotion from the B team, made it 2-0 two minutes from time with a tap-in from Aleix Vidal’s cen-tre.

El Haddadi was deployed up front in place of Luis Su-arez, suspended for his part in a fracas after last week’s bad-tempered first leg, with the likes of Neymar, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique rested.

Felipe Caicedo caused some problems for the Span-

ish and European champions’ defence but keeper Marc-An-dre ter Stegen was equal to anything the Ecuador striker could throw at him.

“We already had a big ad-vantage and we just tried to protect it,” Barca centre back Javier Mascherano told Span-ish TV.

“We played a good game and I think the victory was de-served. Let’s see who we get now in the draw,” added the Argentina international.

Athletic Bilbao, whose 23 Spanish Cup triumphs are

only bettered by Barca’s 27, also progressed when for-ward Inaki Williams struck to secure a 1-0 win at Villarreal and a 4-2 victory over the two legs.

Bilbao, who lost to Barca in the final last season and in 2012, have reached the last eight for three consecutive seasons.

Third-tier Cadiz, who went through to the last 16 af-ter Real Madrid were expelled for fielding an ineligible player, fell 2-0 at Celta Vigo and were eliminated 5-0 on aggregate.

Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi vies with Espanyol’s defender Alvaro Gonzalez during the Spanish Copa del Rey (King’s Cup) round of 16.

RUSSELL Westbrook’s final line against Dallas: zero baskets, zero foul shots,

one ejection.Westbrook got tossed early

after tangling with J.J. Barea, but Oklahoma City had little trouble Wednesday night. Kevin Durant had 29 points and 10 rebounds as the Thunder, helped when

the Mavericks sat out their usual starters, romped 108-89.

Westbrook was ejected in the second quarter after getting his second technical foul follow-ing skirmishes with Barea.

Westbrook shot 0 for 3 from the field and 0 for 4 on free throws. He had eight assists and seven rebounds in 14 minutes.

JORDAN Spieth has an en-dorsement with another major company, signing on

with Coca-Cola as a brand am-bassador.

Coca-Cola announced Wednesday a multiyear part-nership with Spieth in which the world’s No. 1 player will be used in television adver-tising, digital and social me-dia, packaging, point-of-sale and other areas. He also will be promoting the company’s Dasani brand of water.

‘’Coca-Cola has always been associated with iconic sporting events and some of the world’s greatest athletes, so this is an incredibly cool op-portunity for me,’’ Spieth said.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Before the deal with Co-ca-Cola was announced, Golf Digest estimated his 2015 in-come from golf (earnings and endorsements) at over $50 million, tops among golfers.

Spieth now has two For-tune 100 companies for en-dorsements. The other is Dal-

las-based AT&T.Peggy Loos, the vice presi-

dent of connections activation for Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, said the company has been talking to Spieth for more than a year, long before he won two majors and rose to No. 1 in the world. She described him as an ‘’incredible athlete who exemplifies our brand.’’

Coca-Cola is the pre-senting sponsor of the Tour Championship, which Spieth won at East Lake to capture the FedEx Cup and cap off his big year. Loos was on the 18th green when Spieth received his trophy (and the Coke ma-chine). She was struck by how the 22-year-old Texan, after the questions ended, made sure to thank every sponsor involved.

‘’Today a lot of his appeal is within the golf culture,’’ she said. ‘’We believe, and he be-lieves, that he has the poten-tial to transcend that and be a cultural influence. He has the capability and the attraction to do so.’’

Nuggets rip Warriors

Durant lifts Thunders over MavsAsked about what hap-

pened, Westbrook wouldn’t an-swer questions about Barea or their skirmish.

‘’I thought we did a good job tonight. Great win for us. The Dal-las team came in without a lot of their guys. They did a good job competing,’’ he said.

It was only the second time in his career that Westbrook didn’t score in a game, and the first since March 21, 2010, against Indiana.

A game that rarely was com-petitive after the opening min-utes quickly turned chippy, with six technical fouls and two ejec-tions. Barea and Westbrook were at the center of it all.

‘’It’s a physical game and it’s emotional and both teams com-pete, so things like this happen,’’ Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. ‘’The officials got it cleaned up to some degree and we finally got the game over with.’’

With the Mavericks on the second night of a back-to-back af-

ter an overtime loss to Cleveland on Tuesday, Carlisle chose not to play his five regular starters - Dirk Nowitzki, Wesley Matthews, Chandler Parsons, Deron Wil-liams and Zaza Pachulia.

Serge Ibaka posted his fourth double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder. They are 13-1 this season at home against Western Conference opponents.

Barea scored 18 points, Salah Mejri had 17 - the first points of his NBA career - and Raymond Felton added 14 to lead Dallas. Charlie Villanueva started for the Mavericks and was ejected.

The trouble began with 5:17 left in the second quarter when Barea appeared to throw a blind elbow toward Westbrook, which led to pushing, shoving and jaw-ing among all 10 players on the court. No bench players came onto the court, but many coaches and security officials from both teams helped the game officials break up the scrum.

Barcelona cruise into King’s Cup quarter-finals

Spieth signs another major endorsement

VOL. 8 ISSUE 208 • FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 - 16, 201616 EDGEDAVAOSportsMaria Sharapova is one of

the players who have pulled out of the 2016 Australian

Open build-up tournaments because of injury concerns.

Injury crisishits Aussie OpenA CATALOGUE of injuries threatens

to play havoc with the Australian Open and put more pressure on

women’s tour organizers to reform the playing schedule.

Injuries or illness have felled most of the women’s top 10 in recent weeks, in what is either a hefty dose of bad luck or something more avoidable.

World number one Serena Williams is chief among the injury concerns after she pulled out of the Hopman Cup exhibition t o u r -n a -

ment with a sore knee.

But the 21-time Grand Slam-winner is not alone, with only her sister Venus and Flavia Pennetta -- who has retired -- unscathed among the women’s top 10.

Simona Halep, Garbine Muguru-za, Agnieszka Radwanska and Maria Sharapova have all pulled out of build-

up tournaments because of injury con-cerns.

Meanwhile Petra Kvitova and Angeli-que Kerber have been hit by gastroenteri-tis, while Lucie Safarova is skipping Mel-bourne because of a problems linked to a bacterial infection.

While illness is largely uncontrol-lable, Williams, Halep and Sharapo-va are all still hampered by injuries which affected them last season, whose tail-end was unusually busy.

Problems on the men’s side are also comparatively light, suggest-

ing a link between the injuries and the women’s tour

-- whose schedule

has repeatedly been criticised by play-

ers.Incoming Women’s Tennis As-

sociation CEO Steve Simon has already promised “fundamental changes” to the demanding calendar after a rash of inju-ries and withdrawals towards the end of last season.

“Clearly one of the big issues that we have right now is

dealing with... getting our athletes through the season healthy,” he said at the WTA

Finals in Singapore.