The
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will be adopting state-of-the-art modern technology in the construction of the deep foundation for the sea-crossing bridge for the Samal Is land-Davao City (SIDC) Connector Project to allay concerns that the project will have an adverse effect to marine life and the en vironment.
In a statement, DPWH emphasized that the align ment will not also affect the
mountainous terrain of the Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCoS).
“Compared to sug gested alignment by some group,” it said.
The statement also cit ed DPWH Senior Under secretary Emil K. Sadain who stated that the final alignment of the proposed main bridge including the connecting eastern/west ern offshore and onshore approach bridge, the Davao interchange ramp bridge, and the approach road has been exhaustively studied
with the most beneficial effects in terms of techni cal, financial, economic, environmental and social impacts.
“Although, DPWH con sidered several proposals for the bridge alignment including the one (1) sug gested during the recent meeting at DPWH Head Office between DPWH Sec retary Manuel M. Bonoan, Davao del Norte Governor
FTECH-DRIVEN, P10Vice President and Education Secretary
Sara Duterte said that learning mode options for the originally sched uled implementation of full in-person classes on November 2 are being dis cussed at the Cabinet level.
In an interview, Duterte said the Department of Ed ucation (DepEd) is prepar ing a report to be present
ed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“Sa ngayon ay meron pa pong discussions at the Cabinet level kung bibigyan pa rin ba ng options ang mga schools with regard to kung anong klaseng dis tance learning or mag-i-im plement ba sila ngblended learning (As of now, we still have discussions at the Cabinet level if we will
still give schools options regarding the kind of dis tance learning or if will they implement blended learning),” she said.
“Mayroon kaming re port na ginagawa ngayon para sa Pangulong Marcos at makapag-desisyon siya kung ano po iyong ways forward natin with regard to the options na binibigay natin sa ating mga eskwela
han (We are finalizing a re port for President Marcos, so he could decide on the ways forward regarding the options to be given to schools).”
The DepEd has earlier been firm in pushing for the full implementation of face-to-face classes on No vember 2, after allowing flexible learning options for
The Davao City Bantay Dagat Association, in partnership with the UN-Habitat Healthy Oceans and Clean Cities Initiative, will establish a Php 5-mil lion Material Recycling Fa cility (MRF) that will help recycle plastics and bottles collected from coastal areas.
This was bared by Raffy Bermejo, Head of the Bantay Dagat, in an interview with the Davao City Disaster Ra dio on Thursday.
“Ang plastic makuha nato sa baybay, kadagatan, sa atong kasapaan, ang problema man gud ang pet bottles dili na sya gina palit karon, kung ginapalit seldom kaayo so kaning Healthy Oceans and Clean Cities initiative, nakig alay on kini sa Bantay Dagat Association, gihatagan kita nila og 5 million pesos nga ayuda gikan sa Government of Japan, ang funder Govern ment of Japan, para atong mugnaon bahalag gamay lang kining atong material recycling facility para mag amit nato ma-reuse reduce, recycle ang plastics nga makuha nato sa atong bay bayon (We get plastics from the coastal areas and rivers, and the problem is some of it like pet bottles are no longer being bought, so the Healthy Oceans and Clean
Cities initiatives partnered with the Bantay Dagat As sociation and gave us Php 5 million worth of assistance from the Government of Japan, the funder, to create a material recycling facility that we can use to reuse, re duce and recycle wastes that we get from our coastlines),” Bermejo said.
He added that the pro cesses necessary are already accomplished and they are waiting for the release of the Php1.6 million as the first tranche, and they will also utilize the second tranche to be released 60 percent in early October or late No vember to establish the MRF.
Bermejo said that they intend to use the remain ing 10 percent to fund their social enterprise activity, which is to use the pro cessed recycled shredded plastic as an ingredient for hollow blocks and grills.
“Ang mga produkto nga atong ginalantaw, ang paghimo og hollowblocks og bricks. Galingon nato o ishred nato [ang plastic] unya kadtong mga botelya.. atong i-crush isagol sa bal as mao na ang himoon nato nga grill blocks and bricks ibaligya nato og balik sa construction (The product
P5 million recycling facility for coastal areas to be established
The joint Coordinat ing Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) of the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) managed to stop the skirmishes between two warring Moro fami lies in remote Barangay Sambulawan here, a po lice official said Thurs day.
Maj. Rolly Oranza, municipal police chief, said the CCCH, in coor dination with concerned agencies and represen tatives of the two Moro armed groups, initiated the dialogue at the bor der of barangays Sambo lawan and Lomopog here on Wednesday afternoon.
Midsayap Mayor Rol ly Sacdalan led the local government counter parts in the talks that stemmed from a land dis pute.
“The dialogue was successful and prevent ed the escalation of skir mishes for the safety of the civilians,” Oran za said, adding that the
parties agreed to the in stallation of a temporary neutral post for govern ment peacekeeping forc es near the area.
Sambolawan forms part of the 63-village special geographical area of the Bangsamoro Au tonomous Region in Mus lim Mindanao (BARMM) in North Cotabato.
The warring clans in volved those of Lampu din Tawali of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and MILF commander Rene Tuku ran.
“Affected residents have started to return home after they received the advice from local counterparts,” Oranza said.
The skirmishes broke out Tuesday dawn, forc ing about 300 families in Sambolawan to flee their homes.
A fleeing civilian, identified as Ustadz Has san Abdullah of Sambo lawan, was injured by a stray bullet during one of the clashes. (PNA)
By MAYA M. PADILLOrying pointed objects and backpacks inside the cem eteries.
The Davao City Police Office (DCPO) reiterated on Friday that staying over night at cemeteries is not allowed on All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2).
said that although the se curity cluster is still wait ing for the final protocols to be implemented by the Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) in cemeteries, they are set to implement prohibitions on staying overnight, car
She said since Davao City is under Alert Level 1, all cemeteries are open to the public. However, DCPO advised Dabawenyos to still strictly observe the minimum public health standards (MPHS).
“For the security cluster, gihinay hinay na namo ug provide ang security dinha
sa umaabutay na kalag ka lag. Initially sa mga nahimo na mga miting, mag start ta ug October 30 to Novem ber 3. Since Davao City is under Alert Level 1 na ta, open na ang mga sement eryo para sa tanan unlike sauna na by batch lang ang pasudlon pero i-maintain gihapon ang minimum public health standards,” she said over Davao City
FSTAYING, P10
Conrado Baluran of the third district of Davao City wants the extension of truck ban hours in Davao City to reduce the traffic along Ma-a Crossing and Bypass roads.
“Puhon ato pud isulod ang increase sa oras sa truck ban tungod ang atong mga traffic karon nagka grabe kay giguba ang Ulas,
makita nimo diri sa bypass road traffic kaayo dinha. Kini pud sa Ma-a mao pud gihapon,” Baluran, chair of the Committee on Trans portation and Communica tion of the City Council, said over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) on Friday.
Baluran said from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., the truck ban should be 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
“Sa hapon wala naman kaayo problema sa man guliay naman na so mao lang gihapon 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. ang truck ban. Para ni makunhudan ang mga traf fic na mag build up gyud dinha sa Ma-a crossing ug bypass road,” he said.
He added that extend ing truck ban hours will prioritize students and those who will go to work.
“So ang atong himoon i-prioritize nato ang kining mga mangadto sa opisina, eskwelahan, ug hangyoon nato ning mga mangadto sa eskwelahan na magsayo sayo para dili pud ma-late, ug kaning naa sa gobyerno ug pribadong opisina ato pud hangyuon na musayo sila para dili ma-late,” he said.
The prohibition on staying overnight in cemeteries during ‘Undas’ is still in effect.
Morethan 1.6 million international travelers arrived in the Philippines since it reopened leisure travel in February this year, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Thursday.
tration have led to an up surge in arrivals and will allow us to exceed present projections of 1.7 million by the end of the year,” she said.
The ASEAN+3 Macro economic Research Of fice (AMRO) reported Thursday that it maintained its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for the Philippines at 6.9 per cent for 2022 while revising downward the outlook for next year from 6.5 percent to 6.3 percent.
The latest GDP growth projections for the Philip pines for 2022 and 2023 are still above the revised out look for ASEAN+3 (China, Japan, and South Korea) at 3.7 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively.
The Philippine economy is also expected to expand at a faster pace compared to the Asean region, which growth for this year and next year seen at 5.3 percent and 4.9 percent.
During AMRO’s latest quarterly update Thursday, its chief economist Hoe Ee Khor said the strong eco nomic performance in the first half of 2022 made the organization keep its GDP outlook for the Philippines
for the year despite the im pacts of inflation and peso depreciation.
“This year is—again, you have a very strong start in the first half of the year, and because of that, and with the low base, we expect growth to be at 6.9 percent,” Khor said.
However, GDP outlook for the Philippines along with the other ASEAN+3 economies next year is softer due to the stronger headwinds the region has to face. These include deep ening energy crisis, more aggressive monetary policy tightening, sharper slow down in the United States and Europe, more virulent coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) variants, sharp er-than-expected slowdown in China, and heightened geopolitical tensions.
“External headwinds have intensified since AM RO’s July 2022 update. Infla tionary pressures are high, global financial conditions have tightened considerably,
At the Senate commit tee hearing, DOT Secretary Christina Frasco reported that the county has wel comed a total of 1,664,550 international arrivals as of October 5.
This was an increase from the 163,879 inter national tourist arrivals in pandemic-hit 2021.
“Please note that for
the internal projections of the DOT, we projected that we would only receive 1.7 million tourists by Decem ber of this year,” Frasco said.
“Therefore, this shows an upward trend in arriv als and the present strate gies we have recalibrated and applied since the be ginning of this adminis
Frasco said that among the top source markets this year were the United States with 315,279 tour ist arrivals; followed by Korea with 220,402; Aus tralia with 77,249; Canada with 70,159; and United Kingdom with 63,533.
Also, Frasco said that the trend has led to the increase in employment of tourism-related industries
with 4.9 million employed, which is 4.6% higher than the 4.68 million in the pre vious year.
She said that, at least, 8,310 job vacancies were offered in 157 establish ments across Manila, Cebu, and Davao in a “Tra baho Truism Asenso,” a job fair organized by the Tourism department in partnership with the De partment of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in September.
Moreover, there were 8,305 applicants found to
The global e-commerce volume is expect ed to reach USD5.5 trillion by the end of this year, up 14 percent from USD4.9 trillion in 2021, ac cording to the head of the World E-Commerce Forum (WORLDEF).
The global e-commerce sector’s share in overall retail sales was 21 percent last year and it is expect ed to reach 24 percent by 2026, Omer Nart told Anadolu Agency.
Next year, the volume is expected to reach USD6.5
trillion globally, he added.
The e-commerce sector has been developing since the 2010s, he said, noting some infrastructure and security problems before 2010.
With contributions from governments and de
veloping technologies, the sector gained significant ground and customers have warmed to the com fort.
The coronavirus dis ease 2019 ( Covid-19) pandemic was a triggering
The number of jobless Filipinos rose in August from the prior month, data released by the Phil ippine Statistics Authority showed.
PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa reported the prelim inary results of the Labor Force Survey which revealed that there were 2.68 million unemployed individuals— ages 15 and above—in Au gust, higher than the 2.60 million jobless Filipinos in July.
This translates to an un employment rate of 5.3%, higher than the 5.2% record ed in July.
Year-on-year, however, the number of unemployed Filipinos was lower in Au gust this year than the 3.88 million jobless in August 2021.
The top-five sub-sec
tors in terms of the level of month-on-month drop in employment from July to Au gust were the following: - Fishing and aquacul ture (-286,000) -Construction (-258,000) - Arts, entertainment, and recreation (-64,000)
- Human health and so cial work activities (-37,000) - Real estate activities (-37,000)
Despite the rise in jobless persons, employed individu als still grew to 47.87 million from 47.39 million in July.
This translates to an em ployment rate of 94.7% in August, slightly lower than the 94.8% employment rate in July.
The rise in unemployed persons despite the increase in the employed ones was due to the more Filipinos joining the labor force at
Amidissues on sugar shortage, the Department of Agriculture In Davao Region (DA-11) assured Thursday that the area has a sufficient supply of the commodity.
In an interview, DA-11 Director Abel James Mon teagudo said the region’s sugarcane areas have not ed an increase in supply.
Based on DA-11 data,
the region’s production area for sugarcane has been increasing in the last two years, or 8,740 hect ares in 2020 and 8,767 hectares in 2021.
“Yes, we have enough supply in the market. As to the price, if the supply is low, the prices would be affected, but so far, Davao Region is still good,” Mon teagudo said.
Data by the Philippine Statistics Authority also showed that Region 11 is one of the producers of sugar in the country with a 1.15 percent national
contribution.
The volume of pro duction in 2020 stood at 275,021 metric tons (MT) while 301,596 MT or 9.66 percent were noted in 2021.
“We are one of the producers of sugar in the country. Based on the data, our production has increased,” Monteagudo said. (PNA)
The World Bank Group has identified three clusters of sectors where the Philippines could expand its participa tion in global value chains (GVCs) post-pandemic.
The World Bank launched in Makati City on Thursday its report “A New Dawn for Global Val ue Chain Participation in
the Philippines”, provid ing policy recommenda tions for the country to attract more investments that would help boost the country’s participation in international trade through sectors where it has the ad vantage.
“The Philippines has an opportunity to diversify into three GVC clusters that
are being restructured by the Covid-19 pandemic,” the report said.
These industry clusters identified by the World Bank are the industrial, manufacturing, and trans portation (IMT) sector; the technology, media, and tele communications (TMT) sector; and the health and life sciences (HLS) sector.
The report noted that the Philippines is already globally positioned in the IMT sector with its strong semiconductor, automo tive, and aerospace indus tries.
Being one of the glob al leaders in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, the Philippines
On the final alignment of the proposed main bridge including the connecting eastern/western offshore and onshore ap proach bridge, the Davao interchange ramp bridge, and the approach road:
“Although, DPWH considered several proposals for the bridge alignment including the one (1) suggested during the recent meeting at DPWH Head Office between DPWH Secretary Manuel M. Bonoan, Davao del Norte Governor Edwin I. Jubahib, and the Rodriguez-Lucas family – the owner
of Samal’s Paradise Island Park and Beach Resort and Costa Marina Beach Resort, the approved final alignment for the sea crossing bridge is a product of a comprehensive study by experts and with important consideration to the environment and the necessary naviga tional safety management for seacraft and height restriction for air transport.”
MOSES BILLACURA
Editor
*******
From the root word “fis cal,” it is defined by the Merri am Webster dictionary as “of or related to taxation, public revenues or public debt”; or “of or relating to financial matters.”
Fiscalizing has been the posture of all opposition par ties to ensure that the gov ernment spends taxpayers’ money accordingly - which is for the benefit of the citizen ry.
This, however, must be dif ferentiated from fault finding where the opposition uses various forms of black pro paganda as its template to grab power by “weakening’ the credibility and effectively destroying the authority and integrity of the national gov ernment.
Just recently, the Lib eral Party, already sweeping ly regarded as on the throes
of death and disintegration, re-appeared in the political horizon with the published election of Albay Representa tive Edcel Lagman as the new LP president.
Weakened by three suc cessive election defeats in the 2016, 2019 and 2022 ballot ing, the “resurrected” politi cal group has left out LP chair and former VP Leni Robredo who lost miserably in her at tempt to win the 2022 presi dency.
This is understandable as the Lagman-led Yellow Party would not want to be identi fied with Robredo, already a lameduck who has lost all her political influence which she once wielded during her VP stint.
Intrinsically, the govern ment cannot operate without taxes which is a basic tenet of democracy. Taxes are a form of financial support from the people who expect efficient public service from the gov ernment.
In this regard, therefore, the role of the opposition is
to strategically fiscalize gov ernment spending which must explain to the people the whys and the wherefores of every government project funded by taxpayers’ money.
But, as you will note, over the decades, the political temperament has invariably changed.
When the multi-party sys tem evolved and party-list representation was allowed by the 1987 Constitution, fis calization became moot and academic as political butter flies conveniently switched affiliations and made a bee line to the incumbent Mala canang tenant to individually enable them to secure favors.
During the era of the two-party system, a politician is either an NP or an LP.
If a politician does not be long to either bloc, he declares himself an independent.
Today, this political princi ple is no longer in vogue.
The reality is that if you belong to the minority, you will find it difficult to seek funding, start and complete
your projects for your constit uency.
So, for practical reasons, a politician worth his salt must wear the colors of a political butterfly and preserve his po litical interest and career.
The LP is solely to blame for the dilemma it finds itself today.
Its leaders failed to firmly consolidate its prime position in the six years of the Noynoy presidency.
Despite enjoying the full exclusive support of the main stream Metro Manila-based media, the late Pres. Benigno Aquino 3rd and his manage ment think tank obviously mishandled the “felt needs” of the Filipino people.
The Noynoy administra tion failed to solve or curb the increasing threats of the ille gal drugs trade which became the top campaign battle cry of Rodrigo Duterte that cata pulted him to the most covet ed top post of the land.
This is not to speak of the Mamasapano massacre of 44 SAF members who gallantly
fought and fell without get ting any military reinforce ment from the Pnoy govern ment at that time.
If you ask me, that was the biggest blunder of the Aquino administration which the Fili pino people never forgot and clearly validated how weak the national leadership was at that point in time.
We are not yet talking of the Luneta hostage incident that much earlier marred the beginnings of the six-year Yel low regime.
If the LP of today is able to wash away this stigma in a very fluent fashion, they may be able to “come back with a vengeance” come the next polls.
However, three years are too short a time to recover valuable lost ground.
Unless the incumbent ad ministration self-destructs which is hard to believeLagman and his fellow LPs are entitled to their dreams.
(Email feedback to fredlum ba@yahoo.com.) GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!
The making of Davao as a judicial district is a creation of Act No. 3107, passed by both chambers of Congress and approved into law on March 17, 1923, by American gover nor-general Leonard Wood. Prior to this, Davao was under the Court of First Instance of Zamboanga and Sulu, which was under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes.
The judicial branch is im bued with the function to in terpret ‘the meaning of laws, how to apply them to real situations, and whether a law breaks the rules of the Consti tution.’
The formation of the new district was prompted by re ports of the rising number of cases in the provinces of Davao, now the 27th judicial district, and Cotabato. With this, the statute, as a way of
improving the administration of justice, relieved all Philip pine Constabulary (PC) of ficers designated as deputy governors from taking over the duties as ex-oficio jus tices of the peace if there were qualified civilians willing to assume the function.
Prior to this, Davao, Cota bato, Dapitan, Sulu, and Zam boanga were under the 26th Judicial District, with each area being assigned an escrib ano or clerk of court. Overall, the 26th judicial district had a total of eighteen (18) person nel, including the judge.
The creation of judicial branches, known as the Court of First Instance (CFI) and Jus tice of the Peace, is embodied under Act No. 136, entitled ‘An Act Providing for the Organi zation of Courts in the Philip pine Islands,’ which the sec ond Philippine Commission
passed on June 21, 1901.
As an aftermath of the re alignment, a two-story build ing that would house the city court and the city jail (which was erstwhile hosted by the PC headquarters, the former Spanish cuartel, since 1901) was constructed in an area where the Mindanao head quarters of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas now stands.
Under Act. No. 3107, a CFI judge of Davao received a yearly salary of P8,000 while his clerk of court, P1,200. The assistant and deputy clerks, meanwhile, got P600 per an num; the interpreter, P700; clerk I, P480; and clerk II, P240. Overall, the 27th judi cial district had a staff of five personnel.
The enumeration of judi cial districts changed after the war following the enactment of Republic Act No. 298, the Ju
diciary Act of 1948. CFI-Davao was placed under the Six teenth Judicial District but to minimize confusion adopted, the numbering later followed the geographic partition. This makes Davao the 11th Judicial Region.
Given the cumulative number of cases reaching the courts, statutes like RA 4353, RA 5107, and RA 10243 were passed, adding more regional trial court seats to the judicial region. Under RA 1404, which modified Act No. 296 and was approved on September 9, 1955, three judges were as signed to preside over the CFI courts in the undivided prov ince of Davao and Davao City.
Over a decade later, un der RA 6092, which amended Act 298 and approved on Au gust 4, 1969, the provinces of Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, and Davao del Norte, now part
of the expanded Sixteenth Ju dicial District, were assigned the following:
‘[F]our judges shall be sta tioned in the City of Davao; two judges in the Municipal ity of Mati, Province of Davao Oriental; two judges in the Municipality of Digos, Prov ince of Davao del Sur; two judges in the Municipality of Tagum, Province of Davao del Norte; one judge in the Mu nicipalities of Nabunturan and Samal, same province; one judge in the Municipal ity of Baganga, Province of Davao Oriental.’
By 2022, the 11th judicial region, with a far bigger juris diction that includes Davao Region, and the provinces of Sarangani, South Cotabato, and Surigao del Sur, has fif ty-one (51) trial court branch es, thirteen (13) of these based in Davao City.
“In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.” - NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
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NUEVA ECIJA – The Land Bank of the Philip pines (LANDBANK) de ployed two (2) mobile au tomated teller machines (ATMs) in the Munici palities of Sta. Rosa and Cuyapo to respond to the emergency banking needs of residents, following the
damage and disruption caused by the recent super typhoon “Karding.”
A LANDBANK Mobile ATM was deployed to the Municipal Hall of Sta. Rosa on September 29, 2022, to serve the urgent cash re quirements of locals in the area.
Meanwhile, another Mobile ATM was stationed at the Municipal Hall of Cuyapo the following day, September 30, 2022, in time for the payroll date of mu nicipal employees and oth er LANDBANK customers.
The LANDBANK Mo bile ATMs are designed to be deployed in areas with disrupted or limited access to banking services due to disasters or calamities, in line with LANDBANK’s commitment to provide un hampered banking services.
As of 03 October 2022, LANDBANK operates a total of 20 Mobile ATMs nation wide.
The Pantaron Mountain Range (PMR) – also known as the Central Cordillera of Mindanao – may soon be added to the list of protected areas in Davao Region. The range straddles across the provinces of Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur.
“In the province of Davao del Norte, it covers almost 32,000 hectares, whereas the municipali ty of Talaingod covers the largest land area,” said the regional office of the De partment of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in its website.
The regional DENR of fice, through its Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) of New Corella, conducted a 4-day Protected Area Suit ability Assessment (PASA) recently. This was in line with the establishment of Pantaron Mountain Range (PMR) as a protected area.
According to the DENR, the mountain range “man ifests high ecological value and diffuses immense ben efits to the community.”
The Mindanao Devel opment Authority (MinDA) has identified PMR as “one of the country’s largest re maining forest blocks.”
The environment de partment agrees. “PMR serves as the last remain ing old growth and residual forest in Davao del Norte,” DENR said. “It is identified as the headwater source of Tagum-Libuganon River, Lasang River, and Davao River in Region XI.”
During the PASA, among those that were as sessed were site observa
tion of the biophysical fea tures of the PMR in terms of its geological formation, hydrologic value, vegetative cover, types of ecosystems, and identification of flora and fauna. All of these form part as bases for its protect ed area establishment.
While doing the assess ment in the area, the partic ipants sighted several dip terocarp species, almaciga, malabayabas, and species of nepenthes, as well as sightings of moss, lichens, several bird species, bats, and insects.
Earlier studies con ducted by the Foundation for the Philippine Environ ment showed the moun tain range is home to rare species of flora and fauna, including the endangered Philippine eagle, Philippine brown deer, Philippine fly ing lemur, and a Mindan ao-endemic gymnure.
“The DENR will contin ue to put conscious efforts to preserve the Pantaron Mountain Range, its natural ecosystems including the wildlife species inhabiting it,” the environment depart ment assured.
The forests of the mountain range, according to a Bulatlat report, “are threatened by mining and logging.”
The DENR said, “With the persistent threats, se
One distin guishing fea ture of PMR is its mossy forest.
curing our environment, natural resources and eco system services has always been a challenge. Thus, we call for the participation and commitment of our part ner agencies, stakeholders, and lowland and upland communities to help carry through the endeavor.”
The protected areas in the Philippines are admin istered by DENR through its Biodiversity Management Bureau under the National Integrated Protected Ar eas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992.
In Davao Region, the en vironment department has listed nine protected areas:
Mount Apo, the coun try’s highest peak (at 10,311 feet above sea lev el), is located between Davao City and Davao del Sur in the Davao region and Cotabato in Soccsksargen.
With the approval of Re public Act No. 9237 on Feb ruary 3, 2004, Mount Apo was declared a protected area under the category of Natural Park with an area
of 54,974.87 hectares.
Four areas are listed under the category of Pro tected Landscapes: Aliwag wag, Baganga, Mainit Hot Springs, and Mati.
The Aliwagwag Protect ed Landscape is part of the country’s National Integrat ed Protected Areas System and was established in 2011 through Proclamation No. 139 issued by then Pres ident Benigno Aquino III. Both Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro claim parts of it.
The Baganga Protect ed Landscape is located in Davao Oriental. It was established in 1987 as the Baganga Watershed Forest Reserve with an area of 114 hectares. In 2000, it was declared a protected land scape.
The Mainit Hot Springs Protected Landscape pre serves the sulfuric hot springs and surround ing forest in Nabunturan, Davao del Oro which also contains the headwaters of the Manat River. In 2000,
then President Joseph Es trada signed Proclamation No. 320 making it a protect ed landscape.
The Mati Protected Landscape protects the wa tershed in Mati City, Davao Oriental which is the source of water supply for the city’s Mati Waterworks System. It was declared a protected landscape when then Pres ident Gloria Macapagal-Ar royo signed Proclamation No. 912 in 2005.
Davao Region has two Protected Landscapes and Seascapes: Mabini and Pu jada Bay.
Mabini Protected Land scape and Seascape in Davao de Oro, is a terres trial and marine protected area established in 2000 to protect ecologically signif icant habitats in the Davao Gulf. The protected area is situated in the coastal barangays of Cuambog, San Antonio, Pindasan, Ca dunan and Taganan.
The Pujada Bay Pro tected Landscape and Sea scape, located in Mati City,
Davao Oriental, covers 21,200 hectares protecting the bay and its coastal area including its four islands. It was declared through Proc lamation No. 431 on July 31, 1994 by then President Fidel V. Ramos.
Davao City, the coun try’s largest city in terms of land area, has only one pro tected area. Malagos in Cali nan District was declared a Watershed Forest Reserve in 1993. It covers a total land area of 235 hectares.
Mount Hamiguitan Range, one of the most di verse wildlife populations in the country, is classified as a Wildlife Sanctuary. Among the wildlife found in the area are Philippine eagles and several species of Nepenthes. The range is also noted for its unique pygmy forest of century-old trees. It was declared a wild life sanctuary in 2003 and was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scien tific and Cultural Organiza tion (UNESC) in 2014.
Edwin I. Jubahib, and the Rodriguez-Lucas fami ly – the owner of Samal’s Paradise Island Park and Beach Resort and Costa Marina Beach Resort, the approved final alignment for the sea crossing bridge is a product of a compre hensive study by experts and with important consid eration to the environment and the necessary naviga tional safety management for seacraft and height re striction for air transport,” it said.
DPWH stressed the project has all the neces sary permits and require ments from concerned local government units and national government agencies and both the local government units of IGa CoS and Davao City have expressed no opposition to the current bridge align ment.
It also mentioned the Infrastructure Develop ment Council (IDC) of Regional Development Council (RDC) 11, which approved as early as 2019 the bridge’s alignment and landing points from Samal Circumferential Road in Barangay Limao, IGaCoS to Davao City in between R. Castillo-Daang Maharlika junction, citing its econom ic and logistical benefits.
On Wednesday, Dean Ortiz, spokesperson of DPWH 11, maintained that the chosen alignment is the most cost-effective route for the project.
“Talking about the oth er alignment, diagonal siya so kaning gipili nato na alignment is the shortest and the most cost-effective na ruta kay ang elevation sa dalan didto sa Samal ug el evation diri sa pikas are al most the same. The short er is the cheaper and in this case, this is the shortest route,” he said.
This is concerning on the call of the landowner’s Rodriguez-Lucas family for its realignment. The fam ily is offering to donate to DPWH their Lumos beach property as an alternative landing site in Samal Island to save the Paradise Reef, which the family has pre
served for almost a century.
“The family questions the lack of prior consulta tion. The present alignment was chosen in a workshop in Manila without the par ticipation of local land owners and stakeholders,” the family emphasized in a statement also.
It also stated that “a broad multi-sectoral al liance of concerned resi dents from Samal Island and Davao City together with students, media prac titioners, scuba divers, environmental advocates, and non-government orga nizations such as Ecoteneo, Sustainable Davao Move ment (SDM), and Interfac ing Development Interven tions for Sustainability has joined the family in actively campaigning for the re alignment of SIDC Project to save Paradise Reef.”
Meanwhile, DPWH as sured protection of the en vironment because part of the requirement that has been complied with before the issuance of the Environ mental Compliance Cer tificate (ECC) for the SIDC project is the creation of the Multipartite Monitor ing Team (MMT) and the establishment of Environ mental Monitoring Fund (EMF) and Environmental Guarantee Fund (EGF), which shall be established and used exclusively for the immediate rehabilitation of areas affected by damages to the environment and the resulting deterioration of environmental quality as a direct consequence of proj ect construction, operation and abandonment.
DPWH explained that the EMF is a fund that the proponent shall commit to establishing to support the activities of the MMT. This fund is for the contin gency clean-up activities, environmental enhance ment measures, damage prevention programs, and social equity measures such as livelihood, and so cial development programs including the necessary in formation-education-com munication and capa bility-building activities related to the project.
the gradual transition since August 22.
However, classes in some areas previously hit by the magnitude 7 earth quake in Abra and Super Typhoon Karding returned to temporary distance learning.
Moreover, Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos expressed his support for the DepEd to ensure a safe transition to full face-toface classes.
“Kung ano pong sabi hin sa amin ng DepEd ay kami ay nakikipagtulungan kami nang husto. But what is important, nung tayo’y nagkaroon ng blended, ng inano ng ating Vice Pres ident Secretary ng edu kasyon, nakita natin wala halos glitches. Maganda ang pagkaka-implement ng DepEd (Whatever the instruction the DepEd will give us, we will coordinate closely with them. But what’s important, when we started blended learning as directed by Vice PresidentSecretary of Education, we saw that there was almost no glitch. The implementa tion of DepEd was good),” Abalos said.
The education chief underscored the need for in-person classes to
that we eye to produce is hollow blocks and bricks.
We will crush it and shred it [the plastics] and the bottles, we will also crush it and mix it with sand and use that to make grill blocks and bricks and sell as construction ma terials),” Bermejo said.
Bermejo said that the bottles he mentioned are those that are often hoarded to be sold to recycling facili ties. They plan to incentivize households that will gather the plastic and bottles.
“Kadtong mga botelya nga walay gusto mulabay, walay gusto mupunit or mupalit, iincentivize nato ang panimalay ato na siyang kuhaon (Bottles that are not thrown away, and those that are left unattended, and cannot be sold, we will give incentive to our households and we will get those bot tles),” he said.
address learning gaps in curred during distance learning at the height of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Duterte said the re sumption of in-person classes nationwide is con sidered the most signifi cant achievement of the DepEd for its first 100 days.
“Ang pinakamahalaga na masasabi ko na nagawa natin as a country is naiba lik natin ‘yung ating in-per son classes sa ating mga eskwelahan. Napakahalaga na nabalik natin ang option na mag-conduct ng five-day in-person classes dahil na kita rin nila na mas napa padali ang pagtuturo (The most important thing that we have done as a nation is we were able to bring back the in-person classes in our schools. It is very important to have the option of fiveday, in-person classes, be cause we see that it makes teaching easier),” she said.
Latest data from the DepEd show that about 60 percent of 47,000 pub lic schools nationwide are conducting full in-person, five-day classes, while about 90 percent are al ready implementing either in-person or blended learn ing. (PNA)
will teach the sari-sari stores where they will gather the wastes and we will make them part of the collection areas. The wastes gathered by people, they’ll bring it to the store and these will be weighed and they will select the goods to buy, of course, it will be equivalent to the value of plastic bottles, for example, if it is worth Php 10.00 they can buy soy sauce or oil which will be re leased by the store. The Ban tay Dagat Association will pay the store,” Bermejo said.
He also underscored that incentivizing the collec tion of waste is the way to go, to really persuade people to collect waste.
Baluran has earlier pro posed for the amendment of the speed limit on Diver sion Road from the current 60 kph to lowering it to 30 kph to 40 kph to avoid ve hicular accidents mostly involving trucks.
“I-reduce nato ang speed limit dinha from 60 kph to 40 kph paingon sa crossing Matina Pan gi. Gikan dinha paingon na pud sa crossing sa Maa, atoa na i-reduce para ma-minimize ang mga dis grasya dinha kay sa atong obserbasyon kung muagi ta dinha usahay ang mga dagkong truck makiglumba sa mga four-wheel vehicles. So karon ato silang ibutang
sa inner lane ug ang ilang speed limit ibutang nato sa 40 kph,” Baluran said.
Baluran is also propos ing establishing a truck lane on Diversion Road.
“Butangan nato ug truck lane ang Diversion Road kay daghan kaniadto pa ug bisan karon na dis grasya involving mechani cal failure (truck) or failure sa driver mismo,” he said.
He emphasized that it is not enough just to put signs reducing speed on Diversion Road. He said there should be a law so that the enforcers have the authority to appre hend the violators.
By Maya M. PadilloFROM 3
Disaster Radio (DCDR) on Friday.
Last year, former Mayor Sara Duterte has advised Dabawenyos to visit their dead loved ones earlier as the city plans to close cem eteries, memorial parks, and columbariums for two weeks in observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.
The former mayor also urged the public to pick any day except weekends to avoid the influx of people to the cemeteries. This was also aimed to prevent mass gatherings and the spread of Covid-19.
Meanwhile, Dela Rey said DCPO will provide se curity in the 37 cemeteries in Davao City and will be
50.55 million in August from 49.99 million in July due to easing of restrictions and entry of younger job seekers, according to Mapa.
Labor force participation rate stood at 66.1% from 65.2% month-on-month.
This is the highest recorded since start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
deploying a total of 300 police personnel plus aux iliary.
Cemeteries will be opened from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. during ‘Undas.’
For the health clus ter, Dr. Michelle Schlosser, spokesperson of the Davao City Covid-19 Task Force, earlier said that they are also awaiting the final pro tocols/guidelines to be an nounced by the PSSCC.
However, she said that, although, protocols are lenient already following the lifting of the Covid-19 restrictions through Exec utive Order (EO) No. 11, wearing the face mask and hand hygiene are still being imposed specially at the cemeteries.
of the new entrants in the labor force were first timers and within the age group 15 to 24 year-olds and 24 to 35 year-olds.
In particular, youth la bor force participation rate was estimated at 38% —the highest reported rate since January 2022.
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be initially qualified and needing further assess ment, while 530 applicants were referred to the Tech nical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for further train ing.
“In my discussion with DOLE Secretary [Bienveni do Estudillo] Laguesma, he said there was a workforce shortage in the tourism in dustry of over 12,000 jobs and considering that over 8,000 jobs were offered in the job fair, then we are on our way [to] addressing this workforce shortage,” she said.
“Since this will be a multi-month campaign, we will be conducting un til the anniversary of the DOT next year. We hope to be able to fully address the 12,000 job fair shortage by next year,” she added.
Improve heritage sites
Meanwhile, Senator
Loren Legarda urged the Tourism department to include in its priority the improvement and reha bilitation of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country in order to boost tourism.
Legarda said that ac commodations nearby the heritage sites and re strooms must also be pri oritized.
“It is a humble sugges tion to include in your pri orities the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the infra structure going there, and accommodations nearby, and clean restrooms. That is very basic and I think we can see the culture of the people and we see how clean we are, sanitize in the way we live,” Legarda said.
“So [build] clean re strooms with running wa ter, because sometimes they build [restrooms] walang tubig, walang flush,
Bermejo said that their idea of incentivizing involves the sari-sari stores in coastal areas. Sari-sari stores will be the collection areas of the wastes.
“Tudluan nato ang sa ri-sari store kung asa sila magtapok, himuon nato ni sila nga collection area. Ang basura nga matapok sa mga tao dad-on nila sa tindahan puhon ilahang ipatimbang tapos mupili sila sa tindahan unsa ilahang gusto paliton, siyempre i-equate pud nato sya sa kilo sa plastic bottles, for example, one kilo nga plastic bottles ang kantidad 10 pesos, pwede na nila ip alit og mantika or toyo, ire lease sa tindahan. Ang Ban tay Bukid Association, ilang bayaran ang tindahan. (We
I know this is so basic [to] discuss in committee hear ing but, yes, it shows mind fulness,” she added.
Frasco acknowledged
“Iincentive na nato ang gusto mutigom og basu ra kay importante na para kanato (We would like to give incentive to those who want to collect waste be cause it is very important for us),” he said.
Bermejo said that they collect about 8 tons of trash along coastal areas. He said that Bantay Dagat volun teers usually collect mixed waste, about 10 percent of which is plastic, and the re maining percent are mate rials such as “shoes, clothes, and slippers, and more”.
The Bantay Dagat vol unteers work four hours every Saturday and are given Php 1,000 every Sat urday for their work. These Bantay Dagat volunteers also put up their own as sociation, the Bantay Dagat Association which is al ready registered with the Department of Labor and Employment. CIO
the suggestions of the sen ator, saying that they will make sure to incorporate it into the department’s pro grams for the coming year.
“‘Pag tumataas ang la bor force participation nang substantial… tumataas ang employment at unemploy ment pareho kasi may mga nag-participate na hindi na kahanap ng trabaho,” Mapa said.
(When labor force par ticipation increases substan tially… both employment and unemployment figures increase because some of the participants failed to find jobs.)
The PSA chief said most
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can further expand its GVC participation in the TMT sector.
The HLS, on the other hand, is an emerging sector for the country, the World Bank said.
“The HLS sector could take advantage of the re turn of health care workers during the Covid-19 crisis and emerging telehealth and telemedicine activities to complement the tradi tional BPO sector,” it added.
For the country to har ness the benefits of expand ing its GVC participation in these clusters, constraints
Underemployment rate — the percentage of per sons with jobs or livelihoods but expressed desire to have additional hours of work or to have an additional job — increased to 14.7% from 13.8% in July.
In a separate news re lease, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief and Socioeco nomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the country is “reaping the gains of the safe and gradual full re opening of the economy.”
related to trade, foreign direct investments (FDIs), and skills along with oth er bottlenecks in access to financing, high cost of en ergy, speed of Internet ser vices, and red tape should be addressed.
“Policies are needed to reverse the Philippines’ missed opportunities and strengthen its position in key GVCs. Decisive policy action to ensure that in vestment is channeled into priority sustainable devel opment sectors has never been so critical,” the World Bank report added.
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) on Thursday slapped TNT coach Chot Reyes with a P50,000 fine for his post-game actions in his team’s tough loss to Magnolia in the PBA Commis sioner’s Cup.
Reyes quickly went to the officials’ table at the final buzzer to confront
them about a late foul against Calvin Oftana that led to Paul Lee’s game-win
ning free throws. That alone violated a league rule, which states that “no member of any team may approach the commissioner’s row (now the technical group table) or talk to the supervisor of officials (unless otherwise requested) before, during, or after a game in full pub
lic view.”
A violation of the rule usually merits a PHP20,000 fine.
However, Reyes, de spite already being pac ified, still hurled some choice words at the of ficials, which the league described as “incessantly shouting invectives/pro
fanities at game officials”, leading to the additional fine.
Reyes quickly left the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City still fum ing about why the referees ruled a foul against Oftana.
A video replay shown by the PBA, also on Thurs day night, confirmed that
Oftana indeed fouled Lee while going for the tear drop and that the referees made the right call.
Tropang Giga team manager Jojo Lastimo sa was not spared too as he was fined PHP20,000 for joining Reyes in con fronting the table officials. (PNA)
Coach Chot Reyes and team manager Jojo Lastimosa were re cently fined P50,000 and P20,000 by Com. Willie Marcial for their outbursts in the aftermath of TNT’s close 92-94 loss to the Mag nolia Hotshots.
Reyes was protesting the foul called on Calvin Oftana who chal lenged the shot of Paul Lee in the dying seconds.
Lee calmly sank the two char ities that gifted Magnolia with the victory.
Reyes, with emotions flowing, dropped down on all fours in a dramatic protest and poured out his feelings - like in a tear jerking Pinoy telenovela to display his
dissatisfaction with the call.
Of course, Reyes and Lastimo sa were only the recent ones who got fined. They have been preced ed by many other coaches and team officials who have strongly raised their voices against what they read as “biased” officiating.
The PBA penalty is not new as the Commissioner is empowered by league rules to impose fines on coaches, players and the bench in general against “irrational” pro test actions to prevent them from undermining the integrity and credibility of the league.
Doubtful calls and inaccurate officiating have been - and still are - the bane of basketball, whether
in the amateur or professional level.
Even the world-renowned NBA has not escaped this predic ament but the ever-increasing technology has adequately helped the league in raising the standards of officiating.
Today, there are very few oc casions - and they are very rare - where players and coaches con test refs’ calls on even the most significant and tough situations.
Coaches, team officials and even players, dare the fines they know will be forthcoming when they protest against a question able call.
But this is only the legitimate
way they have as a recourse to bring attention to the inefficient and inaccurate officiating.
In fact, a coach, who sees that his boys are getting the shorter end of the rope, often intention ally incurs a technical foul just to stress his point.
The truth is that Filipino basketball players complain too much.
This on-court behavior has become an exasperating vice that the PBA has seen fit to de-cali brate to ensure the fluid flow of the game.
As you can see, a 48-minute PBA match takes two full hours to complete.
And more, if a five minute overtime ensues.
Whether we like it or not, Pi noy basketball fans are enduring the state of basketball officiating because they so much love the game and get emotionally in volved with their pet teams.
Therefore, the PBA has the burden of improving league offi ciating.
Else, in the future, basketball fans may cease patronizing the PBA games that have become an integral part of their sports lives for the last 50 or more years. (Email feedback to fredlumba@ yahoo.com.)
NBA aspirant Sotto’s weaknesses in his game were fully exposed against a ‘real’ NBA challenge on Friday.
The 7-foot-3 undrafted rookie went scoreless in nine minutes of play as the Adelaide 36ers were sent crashing back to earth by Oklahoma City Thunder with a 33-point blowout, 131-98, in the NBLxNBA exhibition games Friday (Manila time) at Paycom Center.
Sotto missed all of his three shots but grabbed four rebounds as the 36ers split this United States odyssey.
In his one on one with fellow seven-footer Aleksej Pokusevski, Sotto was outsmarted twice that led to breakaway dunks in the lane.
Oklahoma City was quick to assert dominance with its 27-9 start and never looked back, pushing the lead to its biggest at 40, after Darius Baszley made it
108-68 late in the third period.
Tre Mann led the Thunder with 26 points on 8-of-10 shoot ing from deep with five others scoring in double figures.
Josh Giddey poured 10 points built on three treys, to go with six assists and five boards against his old team.
It was a tough night for Ade laide, which paled in comparison to its 134-124 win over the Phoe nix Suns last Monday where the Aussie side shot 24-of-43 from deep.
This time, the 36ers only shot 11-of-36 from beyond the arc.
Craig Randall paced Adelaide with 27 points, seven assists, and three boards, as Robert Franks got 20 points and seven re bounds.
