P 15.00 • 12 PAGES@EdgeDavao edgedavao@gmail.comwww.edgedavao.netf EDGE Serving a seamless society DAVAO SPORTS P 8 VOL.15 ISSUE 111 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, AUGUST 20-21, 2022 BATTLE OF THE BIRDS Fake robbery reports online irk Mayor Baste Sindac Anib Performing Ensemble from Bislig City, Surigao del Sur performs in front of the crowd along Acacia Rotonda in Davao City on Saturday morning. The group retained its crown after capturing the Open Category of this year’s Indak-Indak sa Kadayawan. Edge Davao BOGUS CRIMES STORY ON PAGE 2
Galvez says MILF and MNLF ‘united’ under the new BTA GALVEZ, P7
EDGEDAVAO NEWS
One of the highlights of the 37th Kadayawan sa Davao, this year’s Indak-In dak was participated by 10 contingents vying for the Davao City school-based category and open catego ry competitions.BernardoD. Carpio Na tional High School Perform ing Ensemble is awarded as this year’s champion for the Davao City SchoolbasedSta.category.AnaNational High School Performing Arts Guild, champions in 2019, ‘Indak Indak winners give best performances of their lives To diffuse the impact of false reported rob bery incidents circu lating online, the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) assured Dabawenyos that the city is safe. It also denied the al legation posted on social media regarding the re port of areas where al leged robbery incidents are Informationprevalent. of holdup and robbery incidents in Davao City are circulating online these past few days. In a statement, the DCPO also states that it has already validated and conducted investigation relative to this matter and found no reported rob bery/hold-up incidents that happened in the areas mentioned on a social me dia post. In fact, the estab lishment mentioned in the post had already denied the claim. “It is very unfortunate that there are some misin formation and unvalidat ed reports made by some individuals that paints a negative picture of our safety and security status in the city,” DCPO said in a statement. In a radio interview on Thursday, Davao City Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) head Angel Sumagaysay said it is also necessary to check the veracity of the information posted online. Sumagaysay also told to accept criticisms from the public and act on the reported holdup incidents and other crimes happen ing in Davao City as being circulated on social media. “We ask everyone to refrain from sharing such malicious and fake news as it will just cause panic and fear to the public. Let DCPO assures Davao City is safe, denies holdup reports online
FBOGUS, P7
Fake robbery reports online irk Mayor Baste BOGUS CRIMES
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By MAYA M. PADILLO
VOL.15 ISSUE 111 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, AUGUST 21-22, 2022
An irate Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte warned the public not to post unverified holdup and robbery incidents online and not to believe uncon firmed reports. He told the public to verify the reports from the media and get confirma tion from the police. “Naa koy datus pero bisan 50 pa na ka robber ies, let the media report them, let the police give a reply. Katong mga nituo sa mga post na kabulukan,
Bernardo Carpio National High School bests four other schools to win this year’s Indak-Indak sa Kadayawan Davao City School-based category. Edge Davao Contingents of this year’s “Indak-Indak sa Kadayawan” braved the scorching heat to dish out their best performance regaling an appreciative crowd who missed this spectacle for two years due to the pandemic.
salamat para dili mo mang gawas, lesser people on the road, you can save money and spend time with your family and stay at home,” Duterte said over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) on Thursday.Duterte reminded Dabawenyos to report for a blotter to the police any holdup and robbery inci dents in Davao City. “I-report ninyo sa pulis, ipa blotter ninyo para kaba lo mi sa insidente ug para maimbestigahan ug masul bad ang problema. Pu@@ ng ina Facebook gago man seguro mo. It could be naa moy agenda or simply stu pid,” he said. He also told the public
F’INDAK INDAK’, P7 FDCPO, P7 Presidential Peace Ad viser Carlito Galvez sees a “brighter out look” for the Bangsamoro now that the Moro Islam ic Liberation Front (MILF) and the two factions of the Moro National Liber ation Front (MNLF) are together in building what he describes as a “united” Bangsamoro Transition Authority. Galvez told a press briefing here on Friday that he is “very happy that we were able to unite both the MILF and MNLF factions” in the new BTA, the interim government of the Bangsamoro Au tonomous Region in Mus lim Mindanao (BARMM) during the extended tran sition period until June 30, 2025.
VOL.15 ISSUE 111 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, AUGUST 21-22, 2022 EDGEDAVAO 3
VOL.15 ISSUE 111 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, AUGUST 21-22, 20224 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 OLIVIA D. VELASCO General Manager Printed by Zion Accuprint Publishing Inc. Door 14 ALCREJ Building, Quirino Avenue, 8000, Davao City, Philippines Tel: (082) 301-6235 Telefax: (082) 221-3601 www.edgedavao.net editorial@edgedavao.net marketing@edgedavao.net CAGAYAN DE ORO MARKETING OFFICE LEIZEL A. DELOSO | Marketing Manager Unit 6, Southbank Plaza Velez-Yacapin Sts. Cagayan de Oro City Tel: (088) 852-4894 RICHARD C. EBONA Advertising Specialist SOLANI D. MARATAS Finance EDGEDAVAO Providing solutions to a seamless global village. ANTONIO M. AJERO Editor in Chief Columnists: ANTONIO V. FIGUEROA • HENRYLITO D. TACIO • JOHN CARLO TRIA • MUJAHID NAVARRA • FRED C. LUMBA • DENNIS R. GORECHO GREGORIO G. DELIGERO • VIDA MIA S. VALVERDE • HAROLD CAVITE ANA MARIE G. SILPAO Layout ATHENA JILLIAN BRAVO NIKKI MEGHANNGOTIANSE-TANSTA.INESFERINASANTOS Lifestyle edgedavao@gmail.com MANILA MARKETING OFFICE RICHARD C. EBONA Product Development officer Address: No. 18 Purok 4B, Madelo Street, Lower Bicutan, Taguig City Mobile number: +63 947 265 2969(smart); +63 916 955 8559(globe) NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO Managing Editor ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR. Correspondent OLIVIA D. VELASCO President SOLANI D. MARATAS Finance JASPER V. BACSAL General Manager / VP Operations JOCELYN S. PANES Director of Sales PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTE the national association of newspapers LEANDRO S. DAVAL JR. Consultant MAYA M. PADILLO Senior Reporter EDGEDAVAOEDGEDAVAO OnVANTAGEthenecessityto check the veracity of the information posted online: We ask everyone to refrain from sharing such malicious and fake news as it will just cause panic and fear to the public. Let us also be reminded to be responsible in reportsunconfirmedpostingonline to avoid any CommandDavaoANGELimplications.”legalSUMAGAYSAYCityPublicSafetyandSecurityCenter(PSSCC)head
IBP DAVAO CORNER
POWER FROM THE WATER HENRYLITO D. TACIO THINK ON THESE!
VOL.15 ISSUE 111 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, AUGUST 21-22, 2022 EDGEDAVAO 5VANTAGE POINTS
“A man’s house is his castle, where his right to privacy cannot be denied or even restricted by oth ers.”
Salamat Anti-Marites.po, Dear SinceAnti-Marites,bothofyou live in the same neighborhood, under the law, all disputes between parties actually residing in the same ba rangay are to pass through the Katarungang Pambarangay sys tem for amicable settlement. Be fore you can go to proper courts, a prior referral of a dispute to the Katarungang Pambarangay is mandatory. A case filed in court without compliance with prior barangay conciliation may be dismissed upon motion of the defendant, or the court may sus pend proceedings upon petition of any party and refer the case to the appropriate barangay author ity. This is in accordance with the Local Government Code of 1991 (Republic Act 7160), the Kata rungang Pambarangay (KP) or the Barangay Justice System. This is an extra-governmental mech anism aims at perpetuating the time-honored tradition of amica bly settling interpersonal disputes in a community without recourse to the formal legal system or con frontational social behavior. As regards the issue of CCTV cameras pointed at your house, this act might violate your right to privacy. In the case of SPOUSES BILL AND VICTORIA HING, PETI TIONERS, VS. ALEXANDER CHO ACHUY, SR. AND ALLAN CHO ACHUY, ,G.R. No. 179736, June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court stated that the installation of a stationary camera directly facing petitioners’ property and a revolving camera covering a significant portion of the same property constitutes a violation of petitioners’ right to privacy. Under Article 26(1) of the Civil Code, persons are enjoined from prying into the private lives of others, particularly to the priva cy of another’s residence. You can bring this matter of spying into your residence before the barangay. The right to privacy is enshrined in our Constitution and in our laws. You have the right to be free from unwarrant ed exploitation of your neighbor from intrusion into your private lives. A man’s house is his castle, where his right to privacy cannot be denied or even restricted by others. It includes “any act of in trusion into, peeping or peering inquisitively into the residence of another without the consent of the latter.” In ascertaining wheth er there is a violation of the right to privacy, courts use the “reason able expectation of privacy” test. This test determines whether a person has a reasonable expecta tion of privacy and whether the expectation has been violated. In Ople v. Torres, G.R. No. 127685 July 23, 1998 the Supreme Court enunciated that “the reasonable ness of a person’s expectation of privacy depends on a two-part test: (1) whether, by his conduct, the individual has exhibited an expectation of privacy; and (2) this expectation is one that so ciety recognizes as reasonable.” Customs, community norms, and practices may, therefore, limit or extend an individual’s “reason able expectation of privacy.”
ATTY. DIMPNA D. BERMEJO-DULAY
Dear NakatiraIBP, po ang pamilya ko dito sa isang malawak na village sa siyudad. Napansin po namin na yung kapitbahay namin, nagpal agay ng mga CCTV camera. Kaso ang camera nila, lahat po, nakatu tok sa bahay namin. Meron pong dating alitan ang pamilya namin, kaya hindi kami mapalagay sa ginagawa ng kapitbahay namin lalo na at napaka-marites po nila. Mahilig po sila gumawa ng kwen to. Napakadaldal po nila. Mahilig talaga sa mga tsismis at lagi kami sinisiraan. Sa tingin ng Nanay ko, mga spy cameras ang mga CCTV na yun dahil wala namang CCTV camera sa ibang direksyon kundi sa amin lahat naka-tutok. Ano po dapat gawin namin upang tumigil na kapitbahay namin sa pag bantay or pag spy sa bahay namin gamit CCTV camera?
cally changes the surrounding ecosystem,” Shea wrote. “Nutri ent-bearing sediments, instead of being deposited on agricultural floodplains and providing food for downstream fish, accumulate be hind turbines and dams. Hydro electric dams may also change the temperature and oxygen content of downstream waters, altering the mix of aquatic and riparian species.”Smaller hydropower plants, however, do not necessarily re quire dams. They use a series of pipes with turbines inside which are turned by the current. During his lecture, Bomasang said that “we have the mini-hydro and mi cro-hydro plants, with a potential of as much as 200 megawatts in the Cordilleras alone.” He added, “No rice fields are flooded – just a very short dam to collect and divert the water, use it to turn the turbines, and then re turn the same amount of water to the Indeed,creek.” they have less nega tive impact on the local ecosys tem. But are hydropower plants re ally environment-friendly? Some scientists believe that hydropow er from man-made dams produce significant amounts of carbon dioxide and methane, which are greenhouse gases closely con nected to climate change. “Large amounts of carbon bound up in trees and other plants are released when a res ervoir is initially flooded and the plants roots,” Worldwatch points out in a report. “And as plant mat ter settling on the reservoir bot tom decomposes without oxygen, it leads to a buildup of dissolved methane, which is released into the atmosphere when water pass es through the dam’s turbines.” To operate well for many de cades, hydro projects require sound management, not just of equipment, but of entire water sheds. “Hydroelectric power will not be truly renewable until the func tions of flood control, irrigation, transportation, power produc tion, tree planting, fisheries man agement, and sanitation are coor dinated within the overall goal of maintaining healthy and produc tive rivers,” Shea reminded. In the final analysis, howev er, “hydroelectric power creates virtually no pollution problems,” writes H. Steven Dashefsky, the man behind Environmental Lit eracy: Everything You Need to Know About Saving Our Planet. “Small-scale projects cause little harm to the environment, but larger projects are environmen tally destructive.”
“If we want to be a global lead er in climate action, we can start with rehabilitating the Agus-Pu langi power plants in Mindan ao. This long-term measure will eventually reduce Mindanao’s re liance on coal, and accelerate our shift to clean energy sources.” The statement came from Davao City First District Repre sentative Paolo Z. Duterte. The rehabilitation of the Agus-Pulangi hydropower com plex (APHC), he said, should be among the top priorities of the Marcos administration so that a clean and reliable energy source in Mindanao can be ensured. In like manner, the rehabilita tion will also be beneficial in fight ing climate change. “The rehabil itation project would initiate the transition process to low-emis sion energy sources and will contribute to the country’s com mitment toward climate change adaptation and mitigation,” Dute rte said in a statement, which was quoted by Philippine News Agen cy (PNA).TheAPHC consists of seven run-of-river hydropower plants with a total installed capacity of about 1,001 megawatts (MW). Six of the seven plants are built along the Agus River (whose flows start from Lake Lanao and ends at Il igan Bay) while the seventh is situated on the Pulangi River in Bukidnon. Water is one of the renewable energy sources that has not been fully tapped until now. Water covers over 70% of the earth’s surface. Electricity produced by water movement has been used for decades. About 16% of the world’s electricity is generated by hydropower.According to the Washing ton-based Worldwatch Institute, the world’s top five producers are Canada, China, Brazil, the United States and the Russian Federa tion. Several countries, including Brazil and Norway, obtain almost all their electricity from this one source.Hydropower can be generat ed by water falls (the first hydro electric plant was built on Niagara Falls in 1878), rushing rivers and streams, and man-made dams, all of which allow a controlled amount of water to pass through the pipes that spin turbines – cre atingElectricelectricity.power is measured in units called watts. A watt is equal to one joule per second. The total generating capacity of a power plant is measured in kilowatts (KW) for 1,000 watts and mega watts (MW) for one million watts. Enormous dams such as the Hoover (1,455 MW) and the Grand Coulee (6,180 MW) pro duce large quantities of power. “Growing interest in developing hydroelectric power is largely an outgrowth of governments’ de sire to be more self-sufficient in energy and to provide low-cost electricity,” wrote Cynthia Pollock Shea in Renewable Energy: To day’s Contribution, Tomorrow’s Promises. A World Bank report in the 1980s showed the Philippines as one of the “thirteen largest addi tions to hydroelectric capacity in developing countries.” From an operating capacity of 940 MW in 1980, it went up to 2,195 MW in 1985. In 1998, the total hydro power capacity stood at 2,304 MW or almost 20 percent of the country’s total installed capacity. According to the Department of Energy, there are 1,081 hydro power potential sites scattered throughout the country. “Hy dropower can produce a lot of megawatts,” then energy under secretary Rufino Bomasang told a group of community journalists in 994. Most of the hydropower plants in the country are in the form of a dam that backs up the water and raises the level. The released water falls into a turbine that generates “Impoundingelectricity.ariver radi
In the same case, the Supreme Court further stated that even when video surveillance camer as are installed practically every where for the protection and safe ty of everyone, the installation of these cameras, however, should not cover places where there is reasonable expectation of privacy, unless the consent of the individ ual, whose right to privacy would be affected, was obtained. Nor should these cameras be used to pry into the privacy of another’s residence or business office as it would be no different from eaves dropping, which is a crime under Republic Act No. 4200 or the An ti-Wiretapping Law.
VOL.15 ISSUE 111 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, AUGUST 21-22, 20226 EDGEDAVAO
VOL.15 ISSUE 111 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, AUGUST 21-22, 2022 7EDGEDAVAO Bello, a candidate for vice president in the May 9, 2022 elections, is facing two counts of cyber libel filed by Jefry Tupas, a for mer information officer of the city government. The Regional Trial Court in Davao granted Bello’s motion to suspend proceedings, and reset the arraignment and pre-trial from September 8 to Octo ber 27. Bello was arrested in Quezon City last August 8 on the strength of the war rant of arrest issued by Judge Retrina Espe of Re gional Trial Court Branch 10. He was released the following day after posting bail of P48,000 for each count.Lawyer Luke Espiritu, Bello’s lead counsel, told reporters in an interview Thursday that his client is determined to prove his in nocence. But he added Bellos’s legal team would prepare for trial in case Justice Sec retary Jesus Crispin Remul la would not act on the pe tition for review they filed last July 29 or sustain his indictment before the City Prosecutors’ Office. Espiritu added that the filing of charges against Bel lo, a staunch government critic who was chairper son of the Laban ng Masa, “merely fueled his fighting spirit to win the struggle for democracy.”“Professor Walden is very much into the fight. It has never affected him negatively, in a sense that it would not dampen his fighting spirit,” he said. He added the legal team would exhaust all available remedies, including a pe tition before the Supreme Court to dismiss outright the case on grounds of “po litical EspirituCitingpersecution.”ajurisprudence,saidtheCourt previously held that “any attempt at persecution us ing prosecution” could be subject of a permanent in
BOGUS...
DA promotes food sufficiency among 5 youth orgs in Caraga
FROM 2 “Our MNLF brothers wanted to relay their message to Kagi Murad (interim Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim and concurrent MILF chair) saying he is not just the Chief Minister of the 41 BTA, but he is also the Chief Minister of the 80 BTA members and the Chief Minister of the entire Bangsamoro. He is the father of all Moros living in the Philippines,” said Galvez, who met with the MNLF under Nur Misuari and MNLF under the Sema-Jikiri factions on Thursday.TheMNLF under Misuari did not partici pate in the previous BTA (2019 to 2022) or the BTC (2017 to 2018) even as Misuari was asked to nominate members. It is the first time that the Misuari-led MNLF is rep resented in the MILF-led BTA.“Masaya ang MNLF at MILF at ang ating at ating mga partners, we are so happy na now they all agreed now they are unit ing as One Bangsamoro,” Galvez stressed. He said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has assured that his admin istration will implement all agreements signed by the government with the Moro liberation fronts. “He shows his com mitment to pursue the completion of the im plementation of all the signed agreements in the Bangsamoro, from the 1976 Tripoli Agree ment (and) the 1996 final peace agreement with the MNLF and the 2014 Com prehensive Agreement of the Bangsamoro” with the MILF, Galvez said. He said a reorganiza tion, reorientation and repackaging of priorities are now being prepared as instructions from the President Marcos is to fin ish the four remaining ba sic laws and codes as soon as possible.“Ineed performance. I’m asking you na ipaki ta and performance na pinapangako ninyo noon” (I’m asking you to show us the performance you promised before), Galvez quoted the President as saying. He said Marcos wants an equitable distribu tion of projects in the BARMM’s five provinces, three cities and 63 baran gays in North Cotabato. Galvez said the Presi dent wants the education aspect in the Bangsam oro to improve, he wants better Mardaris (schools), and to improve as well agriculture and tourism destinations, as part of the economic recovery following the COVID-19 lockdowns. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera / MindaNews)
Five youth groups from the different cities in the Caraga Region are currently participating in the Urban Gardening Con test for the Youth being carried out by the region’s agriculture department. In an interview Friday, Emmylou Presilda, Depart ment of Agriculture in Cara ga Region (DA-13) informa tion chief, said the activity aims to challenge the young generation in the region to contribute to the overall efforts in food security and sufficiency.“Thefive youth organi zations started to develop their vegetable gardens in June this year, and after three months, we will eval uate the progress of these endeavors,” Presilda said. The groups are applying various gardening strategies and farming techniques to ensure high vegetable pro duction from their projects. The clusters include the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) of Butuan City; the SK of Bayugan City in Agusan del Sur; the 4H Club of Bislig City; and 4H Club of Tandag City, all in Surigao del Sur, and also the SK of Surigao City in Surigao del Norte. “This will be concluded by the second or third week of September, where win ners of the contest will be announced,” Presilda said. The projects of the par ticipants will be showcased in their respective localities to encourage more youth groups to engage in urban farming.Presilda said the activity has gained the support of the local government units, seeing it as a potential de velopment project for the different youth organiza tions in their respective ar eas. (PNA)
DCPO... FROM 2 us also be reminded to be responsible in posting un confirmed reports online to avoid any legal implica tions,” DCPO said. It also encourage Dabawenyos to exercise vigilance and report any unlawful acts to the near est police station or place their complaints to the official social media ac counts so that the police could promptly act and address the matter appro priately. “We assure everyone that Davao City is safe as we are doing our best ef forts to secure and protect everyone who lives and sojourn the City,” it said. Sumagaysay also re minded the public to re port to the police stations any crimes happening in the city and not just share them on social media. “Mas maayo mag co operate ta sa pulis ug mag call sa ilang hotlines and Central 911 call cen ter para maiabot nato sa mga police kaning issue. Ato pud ginapakusgan kung tinuod man ni o may nakita mo magsumbong gyud mo dapat, magpar ticipate ta ani. Shared responsibility man ang peace and order pero dako ang responsibility sa law enforcers. Ato su portahan ang atong mga pulis,” he said. By Maya M. Padillo
1.5 million pesos worth of drugs on November 6, 2021. Now, the Mayor’s ex cuse that she did not know that she was sheltering a drug dealer does not wash, it is notEspiritucredible.”maintained that there was no basis for Bello’sHeindictment.saidthedrug raid was an “established fact” and had been widely re ported by news outlets on which Bello based his “opinion.” He said the post on so cial media was intended to challenge then candidate and now Vice President Sara Duterte to attend the debate and address the is sues posed by her political opponent.“Itismatter of interest for the general public to know why is it a candidate at the time for vice pres ident would be involved or be dragged in this issue because no matter what we do they cannot deny the connection between Jefry Tupas and Sara Duterte,” he said.In a statement last Au gust 9, Duterte denied any involvement in the two counts of cyber libel that were filed against Bello who accused her of being the “force behind this bra zen effort” to subvert his freedom of aremindedIgingcalanblame,“Insteadspeech.ofdeflectingplayingthevictimofimaginarycaseofpolitipersecution,anddragmeintohislegalwoes,suggestthatMr.Bellobeofthefactthatcivilizedanddemocratic society does not respect hu bris,” she Espiritusaid. said public officials must not be “on ion-skinned.”“Canyou imagine pub lic officials asserting that they experience moral shock, mental anxiety and emotional distress? The SC is clear that you cannot be too onion-skinned; it was your choice to become a public official. You must un derstand your own conduct becomes a matter of public interest and even curiosity that you will be subjected to criticisms,” he said. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
GALVEZ...
FROM 2 ‘INDAK INDAK’... FROM 2 and Doña Carmen De nia National High School grabbed second place and third place respectively. Fourth place is TESDA Region 11 and 5th place is Mabini National High School. Meanwhile, Sindac Anib Performing Ensemble from Bislig City, Surigao del Sur is this year’s champion for the Open Category while CFCST- Palabuniyan Cul tural Dance Ensemble from Pikit, North Cotabato and Youth Olmag Performing Arts Guild from Kidapawan City are first runner-up and second runner-up respec tively. Third runner-up is Samal Island City College from IGaCoS and fourth runner-up is Kasinag Sid lakan Performing Ensem ble from Malita, Davao Oc cidental.Everyone was in a fes tive mood. Dabawenyos did not mind the large crowd and heat while watching the performances. Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte thanked all the participants, or ganizers, sponsors, and Dabawenyos who went out and watched the competi tion. By Maya M. Padillo
Davao court suspends proceedings of cyber libel cases vs Walden Bello The court in Davao City handling the libel cases against Walden Bello on Thursday granted his motion to sus pend proceedings pending his petition for a review of his indictment before the De partment of Justice. junction.“The general rule is, an injunction cannot be issued to stop prosecuting certain alleged offenders. But, as an exception to that rule, if the Supreme Court finds that the prosecution is a form of persecution to silence political opponents, then the judiciary can step in in order to issue a permanent injunction to stop the pros ecution,” he said. He said they are willing to go to trial if these rem edies would not work in their favor but added they would ask the Supreme Court to change the venue of the trial to a more neutral place, considering the polit ical influence of the Duterte family in Davao. “If all of these measures will not work out, we’re hellbent on preparing for trial, and one of the defens es that we are exploring is to prove the truth, because truth is a defense in libel,” he said.Lawyer Danilo Balucos said Davao could not be a neutral place considering the local council declared Bello a “persona non grata.” “We have to remember that Walden has been de clared persona non grata by Sanggunian Panlungsod of Davao. It’s not a mere per ception because there was an official act of the legisla tive body declaring Walden as persona non grata. That in itself says that Davao City could not be a neutral ven ue,” heEspiritusaid. said the trial should be done in a venue “where there is no Duterte dynasty where courts can at least act and decide with relative“Thefreedom.”SCshould recog nize that and transfer the venue to a more neutral place because the court may want to be neutral but the political context in the place cannot but affect the hearing of a particular case,” he said. Last June, the Office of the City Prosecutor here found “defamatory” Bel lo’s statement, delivered during a live interview and later posted on his veri fied Facebook account last March 1, 2022, alleging that Tupas and her friends were “snorting P1.5 mil lion worth of drugs” and describing him as a “drug dealer.” Bello’s post that led to his indictment read in part: “Mayor Duterte’s Press Information Officer, Jefry Tupas, was nabbed at a beach party where she and her friends were snorting not to take the job of the police. He advised those who spread unverified re ports that if they want to be noticed online just make “Tiktok” posts. “Ayaw ninyo kuhaa ang trabaho sa pulis kay naningkamot na sila, mu mata na ug sagodpamalikasmomopu@@nggustogobyerno.Nagapaningkamotkadlawon.angTungodlangmomagpapansin,inapanayawugTiktok.Kahibawdilimangyudkotignataokaytundilikogustomakuhaakongmgaanakang akong baba. Pero muin gon mo walay ginabuhat ang gobyerno, what do you expect? Unsa mi batman? Nga kung naay muabot na insidente muabot mi ug kalit ug mangarate mi ug kriminal? Nabuang naman seguro no,” he said. The mayor also issued a warning to the robbers in Davao City. “I have to admit , there are crimes, these are hap pening, naa tay mga akyat bahay ug pu@@ng ina pud ninyo, padayon lang mo pero wala tay hilakay. Gikapoy nako,” he said.
The Department of Trade and Indus try (DTI) targets to start the operation of the Industry 4.0 pilot factory that features advanced technologies in Calabar zon area by next year, a senior trade official told the Philippine News Agency on Friday. DTI Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba said ini tial cost for the Industry 4.0 pilot factory will be around PHP300 million to PHP400 million that will cover capital and operat ing expenditures to build the government artificial intelligence (AI) sandbox. As part of the agen cy’s Inclusive Innovation Industrial Strategy (i³S) to make Philippine indus tries become innovative and globally competitive, the Industry 4.0 pilot fac tory will house advanced technologies like robot ics, intelligence-of-things, drones, and virtual and augmented reality, among others.“The expenditures in clude installation of mod ular cyber physical proof of concept line, technolo gy and advanced analytics software, R&D (research and development) train ing subsidies, etc.,” she told the PNA in a Viber message. Aldaba said the facility would also have a demon stration and tech space. “We are partnering with tech companies who would bring in ad vanced manufacturing equipment like robots, intelligent manufacturing systems, cyber physical systems, etc.,” she added. The DTI official said tech company Siemens and Union Bank of the Philippines are among the initial partners of the agency for the Industry 4.0 pilot Duringfactory.the SGV tax symposium in Makati City on Friday, Aldaba said DTI is partnering with large companies to bring in cut ting-edge trytechnologiesmanufacturingtotheIndus4.0pilotfactory.
After series of rollbacks, oil prices to go up again
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ing of inflationary pres sures and headline infla tion, going forward.” Oil prices and oil fu tures have gone below USD100 per barrel in re cent weeks due in part to demand worries because of recession fears in the US and the lockdowns in China. Ricafort said these concerns, along with ex pectations for further hikes in the Federal Re serve’s key rates, are ex pected to further increase volatility in both the lo cal and global financial markets “that could lead
Diesel prices are ex pected to increase by P2.50 to P2.80 per liter next week, while kero sene rates are set for a P2.70 to P2.80 increase. Gasoline prices will have a slight increase es timated between P0.40 to P0.70.According to indus try estimates, the de mand for oil is starting to pick up.
People chooses from a display of colorful head accessories along P. Bangoy Street in Davao City on Saturday. Edge Davao
Drop in oil prices to benefit PH’s balance of payment position
A1 EDGEDAVAO ECONOMY FDROP, A3 FDTI, A3
After nearly two months, oil prices are set for another increase, ahead of the resumption of in-person classes and preparations for the influx of passengers expected next week. Lesser demand, paired with China lock downs and reeling con sumers due to looming economical recession fac tored into rollbacks over the past few weeks. Most schools are set to resume in-person classes after two years of dis tance learning methods due to the COVID-19 pan demic.The Land Transporta tion Franchising and Reg ulatory Board recently allowed the operation of more routes suspended due to the pandemic. However, transport groups have pointed out that such routes are not enough, on top of the number of drivers quit ting due to the surge in gasoline prices brought by the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
The decline in oil prices in the inter national market is expected to help lessen the country’s trade deficit and boost the balance of payment (BOP) position, which posted a USD1.8 billion deficit last July. In a report Friday, Rizal Commercial Bank ing Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort traced the BOP deficit in the seventh month this year partly to trade deficits, which was due to higher importa tion because of increased domestic demand as well as the jumps in the prices of oil and other commod ities. He said continued Russian invasion with Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022 could still lead to relatively higher imports of oil and other commod ities that could still result in near record high trade deficits/net imports, thereby partly leading to weaker peso exchange rate against the US dollar as seen in recent months. “However, an import ant bright spot is the fact that global crude oil and wheat prices (have) already erased all their increase since the Rus sia-Ukraine war started, amid risk of recession in the US, which is the world’s largest econo my, and some lockdowns continuing in China,” he added.BOP refers to the sum of a country’s total trans actions with the rest of the world in a certain pe riod. Ricafort said these fac tors “could lead to some easing in the country’s trade deficit/net imports for the coming months, which, in turn, could also lead to some improve ment in the country’s BOP data, as well as some eas
But the facility is in tended to provide these advanced technologies to local micro, small and medium enterprises (MS MEs) and startup enter prises who do not have the capital to invest in this kind of equipment, DTI to open P400-M cuttingedge tech factory in 2023
DTI,
This is a reversal from the $642 million BOP sur plus recorded in the same month last year, the BSP said in a statement. “The BOP deficit in July 2022 reflected outflows arising mainly from the National Government’s foreign currency with drawals from its deposits with the BSP to settle its foreign currency debt ob ligations and pay for its various expenditures,” the BSPThesaid.cumulative Janu ary-July 2022 balance of payment deficit is now at $4.9 billion, higher than The Philippines’ overall balance of pay ments (BOP) position posted a deficit of $1.8 billion in July 2022, the Bang ko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.
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With the enactment of the Electric Vehicle Indus try Development Act (EV IDA) into law, Aldaba said the government is hope ful that it will stimulate the expansion of e-vehicle industry in the country, which include local man ufacturing of e-vehicles and components, pro duction of e-vehicle bat teries and establishment of charging stations, and usage of e-vehicles across the Throughcountry. the EVIDA, the DTI will be leading the crafting of the Electric Ve hicle Incentive Strategy, which Aldaba said would be a similar program to the Comprehensive Auto motive Resurgence Strat egy (CARS) Program. Started in 2015, the CARS Program provides fiscal incentives to car manufacturers that will commit to sell at least 200,000 units of automo tive vehicles, of which ma jority of the components are locally produced. This subsidy program worth over USD570 mil lion aims to jumpstart ve hicle assembly and parts production in the country the $1.3 billion deficit re corded in the same period a year“Basedago. on preliminary data, this cumulative BOP deficit reflected the wid ening trade in goods defi cit,” BSP said. This means the gross international reserves (GIR) level declined to $99.8 billion at the end of July 2022 over $1 bil lion less than the $100.9 billion at the end of June 2022. “The latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidi ty buffer equivalent to 8.3 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary in come. Moreover, it is also about 7.2 times the coun try’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.6 times based on residual maturi ty,” the BSP said.
PH posts $1.8B balance of payments deficit in July ‘22
Tourists buy hats to protect themselves from the scorching heat during Indak-Indak sa Kadayawan 2022 along P. Bangoy Street in Davao City on Saturday. Edge Davao The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Unit ed Nations Industrial De velopment Organization (UNIDO) are partnering to deploy electric vehicles and charging infrastruc ture in five major cities in the country from 2022 to 2027.During the SGV tax symposium in Makati City Friday, DTI Undersecre tary Rafaelita Aldaba said this initiative is part of the USD3.8-million DTI-UNI DO E-mobility Project. Aldaba said the lead cities for the e-mobility project include Baguio City, Davao City, General Santos, Clark Freeport, and Subic Freeport. “The mayors of these different cities have al ready signified their com mitment to be our part ners in implementing this particular project,” she said. She added the part nership with UNIDO will also provide technical assistance to both nation al and local government units to create the neces sary e-vehicle policy en vironment and ecosystem for them.
Domestic travel recovery nearing 100%; PH ready for rising demand The country’s domes tic travel recovery is now close to 100 percent, and airlines are ready for the pent-up de mand, according to Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) Executive Director Car melo Arcilla on Friday. In a public briefing, he said international recov ery is at about 70 percent, which is still quite good. Pent-up travel is there, but there are still markets that are yet to open, he added.“China is an example because of its zero (coro navirus disease 2019) policy. There used to be more than 100 flights per week between the Phil ippines and China. Now there are only six flights between the two coun tries,” Arcilla said. China, he said, is the Philippines’ main market, with about 1.2 million to 1.3 million Chinese enter ing the country in 2019. Other recovering mar kets are Singapore, the USA, and the Middle East, which heavily contribute to the country’s labor market. Turkey is an other recovering market since it is a hub for flights going to Europe, where the country also deploys workers, he added. “The unpredictability of markets hinders air line companies from ful ly lessening the airfare. Because if the demand is predictable, the aircraft becomes full,” Arcilla said. He, however, pointed out that the airlines have been ready for a peak in travel.“Ngayon kung makiki ta ninyo sa mga balita sa ibang bansa nagkakagulo sila – cancelled, delayed -- dahil hindi nasabayan ng mga airport sa ibang bansa at ng mga airlines iyong balik ng pasahero. Awa ng Diyos dito naman sa atin, nakahanda ang mga airlines natin. (If you’ve seen in the news, there were chaos in other countries due to canceled and delayed flights. Some airports abroad were not prepared for the passen ger influx. By God’s grace, our airlines are pre pared,” he said. While he acknowl edged that the country also had many flight can cellations, Arcilla said the situation was not as bad UNIDO to deploy e-vehicles, charging infra in five key cities
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OVP: P63M medical, burial aid processed P524-M Amazon office in PH to open in September
The Board of In vestments (BOI) said Friday it has approved the PHP524.33 million project of Amazon Op eration Services Philip pines, Inc. (AOSPI) lo cated in the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City. This will be Ama zon’s fourth office in the country after the two in Cebu City and one in Metro Manila. The new AOSPI of fice will offer such ser vices as remote tech nical support services, information technolo gy (IT) development, customer support, cus tomer care services, business process out sourcing (BPO), and back-office support. Trade Undersecre tary and BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said this fresh invest ment of AOSPI reflects that the country re mains an attractive destination for IT-BPO investments.“Trueenough, the approval of this project shows that we are not faltering in our efforts to advance the IT-BPM (Business Process Man agement) industry in the country. This is just the start of more in vestments being inject ed into the country’s economy, specifically into the IT-BPM indus try. We are making it happen in the Philip pines,” Rodolfo said. The virtual cus tomers services (VCS) project of AOSPI will be a 100-percent workfrom-home set-up. (PNA) The Office of Vice President Sara Duterte has already processed a total of P63,048,273.75 in the medical and buri al assistance program since she assumed of fice on July 1. Vice presidential spokesperson and lawyer Reynold Mun sayac, during the OVP and Department of Education Joint Press Conference here Friday morning, said a total of P57,928,273.75 and P5,120,000.00 have been processed for medical aid and burial assistance, respective ly, with a total of 4,955 recipients served in all seven OVP satellite of fices and OVP main of fice.On August 10, the Vice President visit ed Limasawa Island in Southern Leyte where she led the distribution of pagbaBAGo bags, containing school sup plies and hygiene kits to students and parents. The pagbaBAGo bags, according to Mun sayac, was Duterte’s initiative project when she was still mayor in Davao“‘YungCity. pagbaBAGo campaign po ay dati na’ng program ng Vice President noong siya ay mayor pa ng Davao City, pero sinusubukan po nating ipagpatuloy ngayon sa pamamag itan ng ating mga pri vate partners,” Munsay ac said. He added that the OVP is considering to expand the program when resources be come“Hangga’tavailable. meron po tayong resources para itulong at i-dis tribute lalo na doon sa mga area na kailangan na kailangan talaga ng school supplies at hy giene kits ay i-e-expand po natin ang operation ng program na ito,” Munsayac said. Munsayac added that the “Peak Hours Augmentation Bus Ser vice (PHABS) - Libreng Sakay has already re corded a total of 17,458 passengers who have availed the free service since it started on Au gust 3. He said the two bus es intended for National Capital Region has the most number of people served plying the EDSA carousel route. “Tuloy-tuloy pa rin ho ito, at sinisigurado naming marami pang pasahero ang mapag sisilbihan nito sa mga susunod na linggo,” Munsayac said. OVP MEDIA
HOW... FROM A4 to slower growth in the country’s structural in flows such as OFW (over seas Filipino workers) re mittances, thereby could be a potential drag on both BOP and gross inter national reserves (GIR) data.” He, however, said that continued inflows of for eign direct investments (FDIs) into the Philip pines, along with reform measures such as the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for En terprises (CREATE) law, the amendments to the Public Service Act (PSA), and the Foreign Invest ment Act, help boost the country’s BOP position. (PNA)
“The principle of SALT is the same as that used by the Ifugao tribes,” said Watson, referring to the rice terraces. “All we are doing is suggesting using ipil-ipil trees instead of rocks.”The SALT scheme still requires careful manage ment. Every 15 days, the hedgerows are cut and the cuttings are placed under the crops as mulch ing materials and as fertil izer. Crop rotation is also practiced. “Crop rotation helps to preserve the regener ative properties of the soil and avoid the prob lems of infertility typical of traditional agricultur al practices,” said Jethro P. Adang, the current MBRLC director. (Wat son retired in 1996 and is now back in the United States.)SALT is considered an agroforestry, a collective name for all land-use sys tems and practices where woody perennials and crops are planted togeth er in the same area. As such, SALT offers many valuable ecological ad vantages.“SALT greatly reduc es the risk of drought, landslides, floods, and the silting over of low-ly ing land, all of which are linked to the radical transformation of the nat ural environment and the destruction of upland ar eas,” Adang said. “It also replaces ugly eroded and denuded slopes with the luxuriant beauty of abun dant inshowedederosion.SALTButvegetation.”moreimportantly,helpscontrolsoilAstudyconductattheMBRLCfarmthatafarmtilledthetraditionalman ner erodes at the rate of 1,163.4 metric tons per hectare per year. In comparison, a SALT farm erodes at the rate of only 20.2 metric tons per hect are per year. “The rate of soil loss in a SALT farm is 3.4 metric tons per hectare per year, which is within the toler able range,” Adang said. “Most soil scientists place acceptable soil loss limits for tropical countries like the Philippines within the range of 10 to 12 metric tons per hectare per year. The non-SALT farm has an annual soil loss rate of 194.3 metric tons per hectare per year.” Indeed, the SALT sys tem is very timely as the country is experiencing the problem extensively. In fact, the hilly agricul tural lands under cultiva tion have lost about twothirds of their valuable topsoil.The Department of Environment and Nat ural Resources (DENR) reported that 22 provinc es in the country had an “alarming” soil erosion rate. In Mindanao, those provinces with more than 50% of their soil eroded include Zamboanga del Sur and del Norte, Lan ao del Sur and del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Bukid non, North Cotabato, and the five provinces of Davao del Sur. “Soil erosion is an en emy to any nation – far worse than any outside enemy coming into a country and conquering it because it is an enemy you cannot see vividly,” said Watson when he re ceived the 1985 Ramon Magsaysay Award for in ternational understand ing. He described soil ero sion as a creeping enemy that possesses the land. “We must consider our selves in a state emergen cy,” Watson pointed out. “Our topsoil is all going…” This alarm has been going on since the time of Franklin Delano Roo sevelt. “The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself,” the American pres ident said. A soil can be formed in as little as 200 years, stud ies show. But the process normally takes far longer. Under most conditions, soil is formed at a rate of one centimeter every 100 to 400 years, and it takes 3,000 to 12,000 years to build enough soil to form productive land. “Without soil, there would be no food apart from what the rivers and the seas can provide,” said Edouard Saouma, former director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Or ganization (FAO). “The soil is the world’s most precious natural re source,” he added. “Yet it is not valued as it should be. Gold, oil, minerals and precious stones com mand prices which have led us to treat soil as mere dirt.”
DTI... FROM A1 she said. Aldaba said industry transformation is at the forefront of the govern ment’s strategy to pro vide quality jobs for Fili pinos. To attract these kinds of investments into the country, she said the Stra tegic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP) focuses on investment activities that are science and technolo gy-based and will stimu late innovation in Philip pineAldabaindustries.said the more high-tech the investment is, the more incentives it can get from the govern ment.(PNA)
UNIDO... FROM A2 compared to others. “Hindi matugunan ng airports at mga airlines iyong surge ng pasahero dahil hindi nila akalaing ganiyan, na magri-re bound. (Some airports and airlines were not able to handle the passenger surge because they did not expect the rebound in travel,” he said. Meanwhile, Arcilla said the public should not be reluctant to travel, since health protocols are in place.Apart from relaxation, he said traveling is also important for the econ omy so that there would be consumer spending to help businesses and live lihood. (PNA)
DOMESTIC...
VOL.15 ISSUE 111 • SUNDAY-MONDAY, AUGUST 21-22, 2022A3 EDGEDAVAO plant different crops like cereals (corn and upland rice) vegetables (beans, tomato, eggplants, etc), root crops (sweet potato and taro), and semi-per manent crops (cacao, cof fee, and banana).
FROM A2 to generate employment, attract investments, build domestic scale, and devel op the Philippines into a regional auto manufac turingJapanesehub. carmakers Toyota and Mitsubishi have applied for the tax perks under the CARS Program, as they com mitted to locally assem ble 200,000 and 230,000 units,Therespectively.companies have invested PHP9.26 billion under the CARS Pro gram.The DTI aims to rep licate or exceed the gains in investments, jobs, and industry development under the CARS Program for the e-vehicle industry. “We’re really serious in terms of building the EV industry in the coun try. We’re lagging behind. We lag behind in terms of the ICE (internal combus tion engine) but this time around, we really want this right,” Aldaba said. (PNA)
HOW SALT HELPS CONTROL SOIL EROSION
The Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Cen ter (MBRLC), located in Kinuskusan, Bansalan, Davao del Sur, is known for Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT), an upland farming scheme that helps control soil erosion and provides Filipino farmers a decent income.
Text and photos by HENRYLITO D. TACIO
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A4EDGEDAVAOEDGEDAVAO AGRITRENDS
the problem of the farm ers: erosion of the topsoil. The topsoil is the pri mary resource of agri culture as it provides the necessary nutrients to the crops. As the farm has no cover except for the crops planted, the topsoil is eroded when there is strong rain. Once topsoil is depleted, the crops can not bring the optimum production. “In the past, produc tion was great as the farm had topsoil in them. But as years went by, the production started to de crease. This was due to the disappearance of top soil,” contend Laquihon. After knowing the root cause of the prob lem, Watson gathered his technical staff and pre sented the problem to them. During the discus sion, they all agreed that erosion must be stopped in order for the crops to have the necessary nutri ents they need for grow ing. But how can erosion, a natural phenomenon, be curtailed? Watson said the farm needed some barriers to control the erosion. Laquihon sug gested planting shrubs following the contour lines of the farm. Calixtro agreed the idea was good. But the question is: what kind of shrubs could accomplish such a Watsontask?suggested ni trogen-fixing trees like the giant “ipil-ipil” (known in the science world as Leu caena leucocephala). “I have brought some seeds from Hawaii,” he said. “We can try it. Aside from pos sible soil erosion control, the leaves can be used as mulching materials and as organic manure.” And that was what they did. They planted two rows of “ipil-ipil” following the contour lines (they located them through the aid of an A-frame). In between the rows, called alleys, they FHOW, A3
But there’s an inter esting story on how SALT came to Americanbe. missionary Harold R. Watson is an agriculturist from Mis sissippi. He came to the Philippines in the 1960s and with his knowledge gained in the universi ty, he introduced mod ern farming techniques when the Foreign Mission Board appointed him as MBRLC director. The MBRLC attract ed some attention from nearby upland farmers. They visited the farm and were impressed by the farm machineries. But they came to the center because of the problem they had: low production from their farms. Despite the fact they were plant ing high yielding vari eties of corn and even provided the necessary inputs like chemical fer tilizers, the yields still didn’t“Areimprove.theresome pos sible solutions to our di lemma,” the farmers in quired.Watson and his Fili pino associates, Warlito Laquihon and Rodrigo Ca lixtro, visited the farmers. After thorough investiga tion, the three found out
The Falcons punched the first ticket to the finals with a 90-84 win over Zamboanga Valientes. Team Davao followed the Falcons to the finals with a hard-earned 86-83 win over GenSan in the second match. Relying heavily on the prolific Fil-Am recruit Jeremy Arthur, Team Davao moves into the finals with the mindset of taking the hardware in the first ever major basketball event in the city after two years of the pan demic.“It’s going to be an exciting finals and we hope the fans will come and support their teams,” said Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP) Davao regional director Glenn Escandor. FEU Tamaraws will face Davao Occidental for third place. SBP is the event’s organizer with the city government as the main backer.The event dangles P100,000 for the champion while the runner-up will take home P50,000. Third plac er will receive P30,000 while the fourth and fifth finishers take home P20,000 and P10,000, respectively. The tournament MVP will re ceive P5,00 along with the slam dunk champion.
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By NEIL BRAVO
Team Davao survived a hard-fighting Gen San team 86-83 to advance t the finals.
It’s Davao vs Adamson in Finals
Eagles or Falcons? Who will soar higher? The race for the other finals berth in the 37th Ka dayawan sa Davao Invitational Basketball Tour nament was settled on Saturday night after host Team Davao and Adamson University notched their third straight wins to arrange a “battle of the birds” finale.
EDGEDAVAO
BATTLE OF THE BIRDS
