By MAYA M. PADILLO
There is a notable rise in cases against trafficking-in-person in Davao Region according to Peter John T. Cabanilla, victim witness coordinator of the Depart ment of Justice-Regional Prosecutor Office 11 (DOJ-RPO 11).
Cabanilla told media during the Kapihan sa NCCC on Friday at NCCC VP mall, that based on the record in Region 11, there are a lot of cases of sexual
abuse filed for this year. He said online sexual abuse or exploitation of children was rampant specially during the height of the pandemic.
“Kay ang mga tao naa sa sulod sa balay, naa ta’y internet connection, and the perpetrators are online as well so mas dali ma-lure and daghan ang family spe
cially tong mga low income family ang affected gyud sa pandemic. Mao nang mag resolve sila sa idea of selling their own children through online,” he added.
Atotal of 40 Muslim religious leaders par ticipated in the first ever Ulama Peace Summit at the Paglas Compound, Mamay Road on Thursday.
The summit, spear headed by the Task Force Davao, aims to provide a venue for the participating ulama to “address miscom munication, misconcep tion, and discrimination” among the Muslim commu nity in the city as well as to voice their aspirations for peace.
angan nating hingin ang su porta at kooperasyon nang sa ganon ang ating culture of security maging maayos ang pagapatupad sa lahat ng sec tors dito sa Davao City. (We need to ask for their support and cooperation so that our culture of security can be fully implemented across all sectors here in Davao City),” Comia said.
Comia, who presented the Summit’s workshop outputs to Mayor Sebastian Duterte, said that because the Ulama Peace Summit was a success, it will most likely become an annual event that can enhance the peace and security situa tion of the city.
GladysA. Credo, social welfare officer II and focal person for the Recovery and Reintegration Program FON, P10
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Thurs day expressed his ex citement over his upcom ing state visit to China in his first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which he described as “a pleasant exchange.”
The two leaders met in a bilateral meeting during the sidelines of the 29th Asia-Pacific Economic Co operation (APEC) Leaders Meeting in Bangkok where
they discussed the state vis it and other regional issues, according to a press state ment from Malacañang.
“It’s the first time that I’ve met President Xi Jin ping and I was very happy that we were able to have this opportunity here in the APEC Meeting in Bangkok to have a bilateral meeting,” Marcos said after the meet ing.
He described their bi lateral meeting as “a kind
of getting-to-know-you” between him and the Chi nese leader.
Marcos and Xi also discussed strengthening and expanding the Philip pines-China relationship, particularly in the areas of agriculture, energy, infrastructure and peo ple-to-people connections.
He said other details about Philippine-China discussions will be brought up during his state visit to
Beijing on the first week of January 2023.
They both agreed to hold more bilateral talks to have a more comprehen sive discussion of regional and global issues.
According to Mala cañang, Xi congratulated Marcos for winning the May 9 presidential polls.
Marcos likewise said Xi was “surprised” to meet his old friend, former pres
Strengthening the ties between the Muslim reli gious leaders and the lo cal government towards peace-building, the summit also centered around the propagation of Davao City’s culture of security.
The summit was also attended by the six Muslim deputy mayors of Davao City, Task Force Davao Commander Darren Co mia, Grand Mufti Region XI Mufti Alem Mohammad Yusop Pasigan, President of Mercy Islamic Foundation Shiekh Abu Muhammad AlKholaqi, and other public and religious functionaries.
Thursday’s summit in cluded a workshop through which the ulama discussed and created their own ac tion plans on how to cham pion peace in their congre gation and community, and a signing of a Manifesto of Support for the summit and its goals.
“We found it necessary na puntahan ang mga kasa mahan nating (to go to our friends) ulama since they are the religious leaders and because we believe that they are the influencers of their own community. Kail
“May susunod pa ito kasi nagpropose sila (There will be another on because they asked) to continue this kind of engagement with them. This is just the begin ning.”
One of the outcomes of the workshop is the ula ma’s request to craft a city ordinance that will protect them from hostility and discrimination. Another is the creation of a higher in stitution to perpetuate the ulama’s mission of peace among the coming genera tions.
Duterte said he sup ports the ulama’s proposal for an Islamic higher insti tution in the city.
He said that in Davao City, religion shall not be used as a tool by which one’s propensity to do evil is measured. He reminded the participants of the ex isting anti-discrimination law, which he said, should be utilized by anyone who experiences any form of discrimination. CIO
Seven local govern ment units (LGU) in Davao Region were recognized by the Region al Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clear ing (ROCBDC) as “drugcleared towns” on Thurs day.
Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. led the distri bution of plaques here to the drug-cleared LGUs of Malalag in Davao del Sur, Malita, and Sta. Ma ria in Davao Occidental, Talaingod and San Isidro in Davao del Norte, Bos ton in Davao Oriental, and Mawab in Davao de Oro.
Azurin commended the LGUs for their efforts in “waging war against drugs,” noting that the collaboration between the government agencies made it possible.
“I hope the concerned agencies will continue helping each other along with the local chief exec utives in order to clear all the barangays in Region 11 totally,” he said.
To sustain the drugcleared status, Azurin said a regular dialogue among the barangays and visibil
ity of the police personnel are essential.
“In our quest to clear the different barangays, we need to understand, we need to conduct a so cial investigation into why there are drug peddlers, and why there are drug pushers so that the gov ernment will provide the necessary intervention whether from the LGU or from the national govern ment,” he said.
Meanwhile, Aileen Lovitos, regional direc tor of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Davao Region (PDEA-11) and chairperson of ROCB DC, said the seven LGUs were the first in Davao Region to be cleared of drugs.
Lovitos said before declaring that an LGU has been cleared of ille gal drugs, all of their ba rangays must not have the availability of drug supply, absence of drug transit and drug shipment activity, no laboratories, no chemical warehouse, no marijuana cultivation sight, no drug den resort, no drug pusher, user, and
By MAYA M. PADILLOArepresentative of US-based Full Po tential Solutions (FPS) disclosed that the company is eyeing highly skilled outsourcing professionals in Davao City as it expanded its hub at Damosa Diamond Tower in Damosa Complex, Lanang.
In his message during the recent inauguration of the company’s new office, FPS chairman and presi dent Amit Basak said the expansion will help bring the kind of excellent ser vice that FPS is known for to more customers not only
in the Philippines but also worldwide.
The expansion also sig naled the start of official operations after launching its recruitment hub in the city in July this year with the goal of hiring at least 1,000 professionals by the
end of 2022.
The company brought to Davao City its experi ence in developing technol ogy-powered innovations in Solution Architecture, Software Development and Administration, and Con versational Artificial Intel ligence, among others.
Dabawenyo profession als will also benefit and grow from Full Potential’s capabilities in API integra tions, Omnichannel, and SDKs, as well as expertise in Amazon Connect, RingD NA, Genesys, Cisco, Service
Cloud Voice, Vicidial, Fast Call.
FPS is occupying three floors at Damosa Diamond Tower and the branch in Davao City is the second FPS site in the Philippines and its opening comes in the company’s fifth year of operations in the coun try. The original office was launched in 2017 in Metro Manila.
Rex Arenas, FPS vice president for operations, said the company intends
US-BASED, P10
Governor Emmylou
“Lala” Taliño Men doza of the Province of Cotabato directed bus companies to follow the ordinance on loading and unloading passengers in designated areas to ensure their safety.
This developed following the recent bombing of the unit of Yellow Bus Line in Ta curong City, Sultan Kudarat, that killed one passenger and injured 11 others.
Mendoza also recom mended the passing of the following resolutions: re questing the Land Trans portation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) that all buses traveling in the province are required to install CCTV; and en couraging all bus compa nies/operators traveling in the province to contact
the local chief executives (LCEs) of the towns they pass through to properly lay out security plans and measures to ensure the safety of commuters.
Mendoza said she also recently met the bus com panies that ply on different routes in the province and LTFRB to the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) for an executive meeting.
Among the bus com
panies that were invited to the meeting were YBL Company represented by YBL Operations manager Bernardo Bolaño and Min danao Star Bus Transport Inc. represented by MSBT field supervisor Roy Olivo. Mendoza strongly con demned the bombing and called on the authorities to immediately conduct an in-depth investigation right after the incident.
By Maya M. PadilloThe City Government of Davao, through an executive order (EO), has reconsti tuted the Public Financial Manage ment (PFM) Team effective November 15, 2022.
EO 61, Series of 2022, provides that Davao City adheres to the policy of the State for political sub divisions to enjoy genu ine, meaningful local au tonomy, which is why it should have an efficient and dynamic organiza tional structure and oper ating mechanism that will meet the priority needs and service requirements of its constituents.
“In the exigency of public service, there is a need to reconstitute the Public Financial Man agement Team to ensure better coordination and sustainability of Public Fi nancial Management Re forms,” the new EO states.
EO 61 cited the De partment of Budget and Management issued Lo cal Budget Circular (LBC) No. 147 dated July 29,
2022 entitled “Adoption of the Enhanced Public Financial Management Assessment Too (PFMAT) for LGUs and its Elec tronic Version”, which prescribes the guidelines for the official adoption and use of the enhanced PFMAT for LGUs to check the state of their PFM sys tems, and as an instru ment to correct systemic issues identified in the PFM assessment.
City Government of Davao representatives attended the DBM Region 11-led PFMAT for LGUs and its Electronic Version seminar workshop on Oc
tober 5 to 7, 2022.
The PFMA Tool, ac cording to EO 61, can be used in creating the re quired Public Financial Management Assessment Improvement Plans (PF MAIPs) to meet stake holders’ priority needs and services.
The City Government of Davao will formulate the needed PFMAIPs through the PFM Team, which consists of the city administrator as the rep resentative of the local chief executive.
Its members are the city budget officer as PFM
FDAVAO, P10
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has released guidelines on the implementation of the vape law which sets the floor price for heated, vapor, and other electronic cigarette items.
The bureau on Thurs day issued Revenue Reg ulations No. 14-2022, which performs as its implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for Re public Act No. 1190 or the Vaporized Nicotine and
Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act.
In line with BIR regu lations, the P131.04 is the floor price for 0.7 milliliters (ml) pod of nicotine. For 1.8 ml and 1.9 ml nicotine salts, the minimum price are P306.88 and P318.08, respectively.
Meanwhile, the floor price for a 15-ml bottle of conventional freebase nico tine is P207.2.
The bigger bottle that contains 30 ml of classic
nicotine has a P352.8 min imum price.
According to BIR East NCR director Edgar Tolenti no, the new guidelines will help the economy and en sure the health of Filipino minors.
“BIR will have exclusive jurisdiction over taxpay er registration, setting the products’ floor price, draft ing and publication of rev enue regulations covering vape items,” Tolentino said.
He said it is also the
mandate of newly-appoint ed BIR Commissioner Ro meo Lumagui Jr. to crack down on illicit vape traders.
“We need to support the plans of the commission er—- one thing is to focus on illegal vape sellers be cause if smuggling persists we will be losing huge rev enues from vape products,” he said.
Data revealed that the government has collected about P15.3 billion in vape taxes since 2019.
Both local and foreign business groups have welcomed the recent amendments to the imple menting rules and regula tions in the Renewable En ergy Act, which allows 100 percent foreign equity in renewable energy projects.
In separate statements, the Makati Business Club (MBC) and the German-Phil ippine Chamber of Com merce and Industry (GPC CI) said the recent move of the government will attract more foreign investors to pour in their capital in the development of the coun try’s renewable energy re sources such as solar, wind, biomass and ocean.
“Because of our limited generation capacity, invest ments in renewable energy will make us leapfrog to a power mix that is low er-cost, better for the envi ronment, and even win us a slice of the industry,” MBC executive director Francisco Alcuaz Jr. said.
The MBC said the chang es in the IRR of the Renew able Energy Act is a “timely reform given the global shift towards renewable energy” amid the volatile oil market.
According to the Inter
national Energy Agency, the shift to renewable energy will help a country to lessen its dependence to oil and it is also the most effective way to reduce energy costs for consumers.
The local business group said the projected increase in foreign investments in the renewable energy sector will create additional jobs for Filipinos.
It said this will continue to support the Department of Energy’s goal to increase the renewable energy share in the country’s energy mix to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.
Meanwhile, the GPCCI said refining the renewable energy policy stimulates the interest of German investors in the country.
“The renewable energy sector has always been an interest for many German investors when they con sider doing business in the Philippines,” GPCCI exec utive director Christopher Zimmer said.
Zimmer added that Ger many could help in the de velopment of the Philippines’ renewable energy sector with its technical know-how and experience. (PNA)
Upward adjustments in the Bangko Sen tral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) average inflation for this and next year are expected as another sign for the possibility for fur ther hikes in the central bank’s key rates, an econ omist said.
On Thursday, the BSP adjusted to 5.8 percent from 5.4 percent its aver age inflation forecast for this year and to 4.3 per cent from 4 percent the 2023 forecast, after not ing that risks to inflation remain on the upside.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort forecasts infla tion to peak in the last quarter of this year at around 8 percent.
“Thus, further local policy rate hikes could still be possible for the coming months, as sup ported by generally
strong economic data; also as a function of fu ture Fed rate hikes as well as the behavior of the peso exchange rate, going forward,” he said.
On Thursday, the BSP’s policy-making Monetary Board (MB) hiked by another 75 basis points the central bank’s key rates, mirroring the adjustment in the Federal Reserve’s key rates earli er this month.
BSP Governor Felipe Medalla cited the im portance of maintaining interest rate differen tial between the United States and the Philippines to cushion the impact of the stronger dollar on the peso and ensure price stability, among others.
Ricafort said the pro jection for another hike in the BSP rates next month “could also be again a pre-emptive move
“The talents that we have groomed here and grew here are more than capable of being able to build something of value to the global stage,” says John Naranjo, owner of Ingenuity, a Davao Citybased software develop ment company.
Naranjo said ICT MS
MEs (micro, small and medium scale enterpris es) like his Ingenuity are thriving because of these talented and creative ICT workers. He said near ly all of their clients are overseas companies.
“I would say 80 to 90% of their clients are inter national clients, it was
actually during the pan demic we got busy with local projects because we felt we were needed by our countrymen during that time,” Naranjo said.
Local software de velopers are creating capable solutions on healthcare specifically COVID-19and hospital management, Learning Management System, Lo gistics solutions among many others applications for local and overseas cli
ents.
One of their clients is a New York-based company which contracted Ingenu ity for a COVID-19 man agement platform.
“There are a lot of tal ents here in Davao and we are ready for the world,” Naranjo said.
However, the ICT tal ents in the city is not enough as there is a big demand around the world.
The Department of En ergy (DOE) said that a number of foreign investors have signified interest in the country’s offshore wind (OSW) en ergy sector amid its plan to rationalize the regulatory framework for the industry.
“There have been vari ous expressions of interest. There are various national ities including Europeans who have expressed their
interest because as you know, it’s the Europeans that have had extensive ex perience in offshore wind and so this in particular area,” Energy Secretary Ra phael Perpetuo Lotilla said at a virtual press briefing.
“I think last time a Dan ish group, for example, was here and we expect an other foreign company to be coming in and meeting with us in a week or so. I
think we just have to wait for that new opportunity,” Lotilla said.
In particular, the Ener gy chief said, one of the big gest projects is in offshore Ilocos by Buhawid Energy Philippines—a joint ven ture of Copenhagen Ener gy, a Danish company, and PetroGreen Energy Corpo ration, a Filipino-owned company.
It has an indicative po
tential of 1.65 to 2.2 giga watts (GW)n of installed capacity for the first stage.
Last week, the DOE said it is crafting an executive order “in view of huge in terest” in the offshore wind potential in the country.
The DOE is tweaking policies, framework and guidelines governing the administration of Wind Energy Service Contracts
Information Communication Technology (ICT) stakeholders in Davao City believe that the Dabawenyo talents in the ICT in dustry are already world-classA porter pulls a metal cart carrying Chinese onions along Bangoy Street in Davao City. The prices of onions, specially the native variety, went sky-high this week in Davao City’s public markets. Edge Davao
(Vice President Sara Duterte’s key note address at the Kusog Mindanaw conference at the Waterfront Insular Hotel in Davao City on 11 November 2022).
Ladies and gentlemen, Assala mualaikum! Madayaw ug maayong buntag kaninyong tanan. Magandang araw po sa inyong lahat.
First off, I’d like to thank you for your invitation for me to join you in this opening program and I am tru ly honored, I am happy to be with all of you here this morning. I am truly honored to stand beside you, here this morning.
Congratulations and daghang salamat to Kusog Mindanaw for spear heading this gathering of peace ad vocates, former combatants, govern ment officials, private organizations, grassroots representatives, and civil society groups and international orga nizations supportive of the Mindanao Agenda.
Over the years, Kusog Mindanaw and its partners provided the country and the international community with a platform to look at Mindanao from the perspective of the Mindanawons, highlighting the struggle for recog nition of the Moro and Lumad rights over their lands and territories, the longing for peace and the end of wars, or the dream of experiencing mean ingful development and progress.
I know that many of you here have advocated for the end of the Moro re bellion all your lives — working tire lessly, and fearlessly with leaders of the Moro groups, leaders and mem bers of your communities, grassroots organizations, and other peace advo cacy groups and institutions, and the so-called “Peace Doves.”
Peace Doves, I was told, were top government officials, maybe members of the cabinet, or ranking military offi cials, who were supportive of the calls for the end of war.
And there were War Hawks — also top government officials, maybe members of the cabinet, or ranking military officials, who were exactly the opposite of Peace Doves.
Some of you here may have wit nessed the signing of the peace agree ment between the Moro National Liberation Front and the Philippine government under the leadership of the late President Fidel Ramos in 1996.
And some of you have also been there when the Comprehensive Agree ment on the Bangsamoro was signed between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Philippine government under the leadership of the late Presi dent Benigno Aquino Jr. in 2014.
Both presidents are no longer with us, but I believe that some of those who worked with their Peace Doves con tinue the Mindanao peace advocacy works even today.
Mindanao had been considerably
quiet for quite a time now.
After the signing of the peace agreement between the MILF and the Philippine government in 2014, there have been no major wars in Mindanao.
During the time of President Ro drigo Duterte, with the exemption of the foiled siege of Marawi City by sup porters of a notorious international terror group, Mindanao has been rel atively silent.
The incidents of kidnapping by Abu Sayyaf Groups under President Duterte was zero.
While we had to deal with radical ized groups behind terror attacks in Mindanao, including the bomb attack that killed civilians in Davao City (on) September 2, 2016…and the inten sified military campaign against the New People’s Army, practically, we have seen zero deployments of mas sive number of soldiers to Mindanao for a government-initiated all-out-war.
We have been told that there’s al ways a time for everything. I believe it’s ‘peace harvest season’ for us in Mind anao.
The seeds of peace that you have planted all these years, the seeds of peace watered by the blood of Filipino martyrs who fought against each oth er, the seeds of peace nurtured by your sacrifices and bravery and that undy ing fire I see in your eyes — they have grown and their flowers in bloom.
You have all the reasons to be proud of the job that you have done for Mindanao and your fellow Min danawons and for our future.
After all, as we all know already, it takes many years and many wars and countless lives of armed fighters, sol diers, and civilians — all of them Filipi nos — to grow peace, watch it bloom, and hopefully celebrate in glory.
Peace is a delicate, fragile beauty. It needs constant attention. In the case of Mindanao, it does not only need our continuous attention. It needs our con stant, collective attention.
If causes of conflicts are left un resolved, a minor clash, perhaps be tween an armed group and govern ment soldiers, perhaps somewhere in Maguindanao, could quickly escalate into a war that could potentially result in deaths and displacement of civilians.
If ignored, a terror group’s activity, although it might appear harmless on the surface, could explode into some thing deadly — and may reduce a proud city into decay.
Why I am emphasizing Mindanao peace in this conference today? Be cause peace in Mindanao remains to be on the top of the Mindanao agenda.
Mindanao continues to hold so much promise. I know this for a fact being a Mindanawon as well.
I was born here, I was raised here and I lived all my life here in Davao City. And Mindanao, my home, our home, will forever be trapped in a miserable
state of underdevelopment, and most of its people living in various condi tions of poverty, if we do not protect the gains of peace that you have pains takingly labored for all your lives.
Born, raised, and having moved around many places of Mindanao — reaching former conflict areas and seeing battle scars around — I know that Mindanao has had enough of the madness of wars.
It should be a thing of the past, a dark chapter in our history as a people. War in Mindanao should be remem bered only to remind us of why we should all work together and commit, protect, and defend peace at all costs.
Harvest time — peace time — is a good time for all of us. It allows the government to address problems that, if not given appropriate attention, could be exploited by terror groups to foment anger and incite people to re sist the government, resort to violence and join their cause.
Poverty is a mainstay in the play book of the NPAs in their recruitment of people to join their cause against the government.
That’s the reason why we im plemented Peace 911 program in Paquibato District (applause) — and with the help of ma’am Irene Santiago (applause) —we succeeded in elimi nating the insurgency problem in the area.
I would like to share… this is some thing that I am an expert about be cause this is my personal experience, with my work as mayor of Davao City when I first became mayor in 2010.
When I was a very young child in the 1990s, late 1980s, I would remem ber the conflict in the downtown, in the urban areas of Davao City and it continued on. We were somewhat in a bubble, we were living in Matina and the other areas that were problemat ic areas were far from Matina, in the mountainous barangays but when I first became mayor, I realized that the problem of the 1990s were still there during my term and it was already 2010 and I was already 30years old
And so during my next term in 2016, I had two personal experiences as mayor, of deaths. First was the death of Larry, the fish vendor, tinamaan noong shrapnel ng bomba na iniwan pagkatapos sinunog ang box plant ng Lapanday.
Larry was going to Mandug be cause Mandug is an interior barangay, there are less wet markets there so ang trabaho niya, araw-araw, magdala sa iyang bukag, ibutang niya sa iyang motor, dad-on niya ang presko nga isda sa Mandug, ibaligya niya. When he’s done, he goes home. So that was his business. And then unfortunately on that morning, naigo sa shrapnel and when I learned there was an inci dent, I went to the area, and I was told, I asked, “duna bay patay.” And then
they said “Dunay naigo.’ And then they said “Nag motor man to.” Where is he? He’s in Southern Philippines Medical Center. Regional Hospital. And then I went there.
Naabtan pa nako siya nga ginata bang sya sa mga nurses and doctors. And then I asked one nurse, “kinsa iyang kauban” and they said walay kauban, gibilin ra na sya diri sa am bulansya. And then I said, “where are his things,” so they gave it to me and so I went through his things, I took his cellphone, walang password, so I went through his messages.
I looked for a message that would reveal some sort of intimate relation that would reveal that this is a a loved one and I found, the very first message was “I love you.” sa sent messages niya. “I love you.” And then I found out it was their wedding anniversary that day he died.
It was a traumatic experience for me and I think I still have that stress traumatic ano. I have not debriefed myself but I always share this story of why, why I invested so much time sa Peace 911 in Paquibato.
And then I called her, “Kaila ka ni Larry?” “He is my husband.”
I said, can you just come to the hos pital because we need you to be here. And he died. Larry died. And then the next time I talked to his wife, the only thing I could tell her was “I’m sorry.”
I felt responsible for what happened and then the next time was another death. It was the death of Jay. He was a young officer who was operating in Paquibato. I think na-ambush ata. And then he died.
And then I went to the funeral home to make sure everything was ar ranged going back to Antique and then I asked the AFP, “may anak ba ito, may asawa?”
I wanted to call. And they said, “no, he is single. You may talk to parents.” So I talked to his mother and I said “I am sorry.” And then she said, “You know Inday Sara, our sons have been dying there in your area in Davao City.” Ana sya, “hindi pwede na lagi na lang ganyan dyan sa inyo.”
And then I had to tell her na “I’m sorry, I’m sorry and I will just go there to you and personally say sorry. So I did that, I went to Antique, I sat down with the family and after that, I felt anger because I was asking myself, “why am I the one saying sorry, hindi naman ako gumawa ng bomba, hindi naman ako ang sumunog, I did not ask anyone na sunugin yung box plant, I did not ask anyone to ambush Filipinos. Why am I saying sorry?” And so I decided that in my second term as mayor, I said na I will not let this one term of mine pass again without doing something.
I might fail. I thought about that, because gaano ba katagal problem sa Paquibato?
Since, I would guess, even before I was born. Maybe. And then I said, if I fail, because there was never a solu tion there, but I said I will not let this pass without me investing my name, my work and my work na hindi na ako mag sorry next time. And so I don’t know what happened but God, I had to relate this kwento.
There was a – was it supposed to be me who was invited or you Ma’am. Ako no? Yes, There was an art exhib it by a Mindanawon in Abreeza. And somehow the organizer made a mis take of inviting Inday Santiago kasi nung sinabi na imbitahin si Inday (laughter) and it was her group, her people, her network. They invited In day Santiago. They made a mistake of inviting her. And of course realizing their mistake, they invited me as well. So of course, I have always been a sup porter of Mindanao artsists so I went and when – the program, the blessing, and I was standing sa gilid, we hap pened to stand by each other, si Ma’am Inday and then I asked her. “I’m not with the office anymore in the national office,” (she said). So what are you do ing. I’m planning to come back here in Davao City.
Can you please help me –Ma’am because this is something new for me.
You know Ma’am, I am not a peaceful person (crowd laughs), that is why I need someone to help me navi gate this peace talk.
And then she said. “Okay. Okay, Davao City, I will help,” And then she sat down. She asked me for people. I gave her people. These are the best I think that can help Paquibato. These are people magagaling sila, maayos kausap, di paligoy-ligoy yung sinasa bi nila. So I gave her people, they sat down and then they worked back and forth there in Paquibato and I had to make, include this in my story na
during our work, nagalit pa ang isang barangay captain sa akin. Galit talaga siya sa akin. He was so mad at me that he was calling President Duterte and he was telling President Duterte to talk to Inday Sara because she is making it very difficult for him in Paguibato. And I said, I told the intermediary, can you just ask the President to allow me as mayor to do what I think is right at this point in time, at this point in making sure that there is peace in Paquiba to. And so yun yung experience ko sa Peace 911.
I was recently in Borongan, Samar and I explained to them, I narrated to them what I narrated to you this morn ing and I said, “you know it can be done because I am standing here in fonrt of you, sharing my experience in what I did. It only needs a heart, a very strong heart to start it and continue on when things become difficult.”
Ang ating problema sa mga taga Davao City ngayon is sustaining that fragile peace that we have in Paqui tabo because one mistake there as I said earlier in my speech, one mistake there could undo the four years that we invested in winning peace in Paqui bato district of Davao City.
And I would just like to share ev eryone, with everyone, no this is not in my speech because this is my work for the Department of Education and this is not about Mindanao but the entire country.
But I just wanted to share with you that we are currently talking about a National Peace Culture, National Cul ture of Peace in the curriculum of the Department of Education (applause). We are currently developing that and of course we welcome your input when we are ready to present it to our stakeholders, to our partners, to every one.
Just right now, we are not ready, we are still internally discussing every thing but sinabi ko sa kanila, doon sa mga kasamahan ko, my colleagues in the DepEd, you know what, I am the expert here in talking about peace be cause I am not peaceful but Paquibato is now peaceful.”
So that what we are working on right now. A program about peace that is embedded in the curriculum from Kindergarten to Grade 12 And this is what we are telling Congress no, alam myo na sa Kongreso, di ba. So this is what I am telling Congress now. ‘Wag, ‘wag, Kami muna bago you give us the legislative framework so that hindi masira yung vision, yung gusto nating mangyari sa basic education learners. And this I said to them, before you teach about being a reserved officer, you teach them first about peace and that is our trabaho, trabaho yan ng basic education to make them peace builders first before you put them in military training to serve the country.
So that is what we are currently cooking in the Department of Educa tion and we hope to be able to catch the first, the first new or the 2.0 curric ulum of the K to 12 program in 2024 but if not, definitely we will be able to catch the framework 3.0, the third curriculum in 2025 because we are doing another review right now of the K to 12 curriculum that is intended to dovetail from the current review of the administration of Secretary Liling Briones.
So that is my personal experience about conflict and peace. And I have re alized that the antidote to war is good governance (applause). And good gov ernance builds public trust. And that is what I learned doon sa Paquibato. Yun lang naman ang sinabi ng mga tao. That is also where I learned to create satellite offices.
Sabi ng Paquibato, ‘why will we trust you, we don’t see you here, we don’t feel your presence here. Sino ba andito para sa amin? Mga NPA” (New Peoples Army). And then I said na, ah, okay, I’ll put up an office dito sa Paqui bato district so you will know who is mayor, anong ginagawa ni mayor, anong pwedng magawa ni mayor sa problema ninyo.
That is something that I learned sa Paquibato. Good governance breeds public trust
When people see government offi cials working with integrity, with pro fessionalism, and dedication to public service — they no longer see sense in causes that espouse violence.
The Mindanao Agenda is a Philip pine Agenda.
How do we sustain that requires unified action and our collective voice.
And only through that that we will be able to keep the flowers of peace in Mindanao forever in bloom.
Shukran.
What’s with the Korean culture that Filipinos are going gaga?
From K-Pop music, to fash ion, K-dramas and even food, Filipinos are swept away and ad dicted to anything Korean.
This influence is sweeping like a pandemic and it grows each day in every Dabawenyo’s heart.
Even a simple scene from a K-drama where an oppa buys and eat food such as samgyupsal
That’s why it is no surprise that Korean restaurants are now
sprouting and thriving in Davao City.
Enter Samgyupsalamat Quiri no at the Rogen Inn compound, the newest Korean BBQ restau rant in Davao City. The name itself is a fusion of Korean and Filipino.
Samgyupsalamat Quirino re cently inaugurated with no less than Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, Rogen Inn’s Gene Ban gayan, and young entrepreneurs Katrina and Renzo Bangayan.
The resto serves everything that you are craving for.
The unlimited Samgyup has 12 kinds of meats for P549 per head. For pork: dae-pae, bul-jib, yangnyum daepae, gochujang samgyup, and yangnyum buljib and for beef: beef samgyup, yan gnyum beef, boolgogi, gochujang beef, and gravy beef; chicken: yangnyum galbi, gochujang dak galbi, and fried chicken ball.
There’s also the refills of rice, the side dishes, lettuce, sweet baby potatoes, fish cakes, a salad, kimchi, etc and iced tea, which was apparently also unlimited
“We will always be proud to say that we use high quality meat, our side dishes freshly made and we never sacrifice quality,” said Michelle Bangayan, co-owner.
The resto uses hardwood charcoal so the grilling is quicker, which makes the meat juicy and melts in the mouth.
Samgyupsalamat Quirino is the newest place to hang out with co-workers, friends, and family after a hard day’s work and social gather while enjoying barbecue together. A stress relieving mo ment to be thankful for.
The restaurant is open from 11 am to 9 pm.
“But we are planning to extend to 10pm na on Fridays and Satur days soon,” Bangayan said.
Christmas is just around the corner! Adding to cart your Christmas shopping items before the green light is on for 11.11 sale is a way of planning ahead. That’s how a madiskarte do it to save more!
Another diskarte to de feat price hikes and infla tion is having a well-crafted plan in your investments and choosing a brand that offers a wide range of solu tions from commuting to business needs, just like Ba jaj Three-wheelers!
Seeing the challenge brought about by inflation in 2022 did not stop Fili pinos from seeking their own diskarte in com muting and livelihood. In fact, Bajaj Three-wheel ers recorded a total sales growth of 71% as of Oc tober 2022, compared to the same period last year.
Here are some examples of madiskarteng Filipi nos who planned and achieved success with Bajaj:
Upgrade to the No. 1 Three-wheeler
Allan Martin, a driver in Tagaytay, upgraded his tricycle to a Bajaj RE –cur rently the top-selling Bajaj Three-wheeler unit com posing 85.5% of the total unit sales in 2022. For over a decade, TODA drivers like Allan endured a “Pwede na” type of vehicle. But Bajaj RE made him recognize that a powerful, safe, comfortable and durable last-mile land transportation with an af fordable maintenance cost is the upgrade he is looking for.
Not to mention, the av erage monthly maintenance cost for Bajaj Three-wheel ers could get as low as Php
906 only (approximately, excluding tires).
Diskarte to the Max Smart cost-cutting is crucial for businesses to maximize profits. One ex ample is our latest partner, DC Tech. They adopted Bajaj Maxima Z as their First Response Vehicle. Equipped with a Fuel Injec tion system and a full-tank capacity of 8L, you can save on gas, making it the best business partner. This en ables them to serve more efficiently without worry ing about fuel consumption. This multi-purpose busi ness partner contributes 11.4% to the total sales, as of October 2022.
Bajaj Maxima Cargo’s highly modifiable body makes it perfect for busi ness owners who want to
grow their operations. CM Tea Hub managed to ex pand its operations with Bajaj Maxima Cargo. All they needed was to plan their investment and a little bit of creativity. To them, Bajaj Maxima Cargo became a self-liquidating asset available for as low as
Php 25,000 down payment.
With the rising demand for a business-friendly vehi cle, 3% of the total sales of Bajaj three-wheelers were from Bajaj Maxima Cargo.
These individuals and businesses are just some stories out of all the Ka-Ba jaj, who planned properly
to make their dreams a reality. As the Bajaj Phil ippines EVP and COO, Mr. Raul Jay R. Manglapus said, “Without a plan, we are set ting ourselves up for fail ure". Start planning your investment today with Bajaj via this link: https:// bit.ly/planwithbajaj
The recent opening of the BDO Network BankMalalag branch in Davao del Sur generated excite ment from the residents and business owners as they now have accessible bank and ATM to serve their financial needs.
According to Munic ipal Vice Mayor Ervin S. Emphasis, BDO Network Bank will help improve the lives and livelihood of his kababayans as bank ing products and services such as savings/deposit account, MSME loan, Sal ary loan, are now within reach.
For one, MSMEs in the municipality can se cure financial support from BDO Network Bank for their business needs, helping them grow and
further expand their livelihoods. BDO Net work Bank recognizes the importance of MS MEs in generating jobs within the communities.
BDO Network BankMalalag is the bank’s 15th branch in Davao del Sur. BDO Network Bank, the community bank of BDO Unibank, aims to reach and help the fisherfolk, miners and farmers to enhance their lives and secure their future.
For more information about the products and services of BDO Network Bank, please visit their website (https://www. bdonetworkbank.com. ph/) and official facebook page https://www.face book.com/BDONetwork BankPH).
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For Trafficked Persons (RRPTP) of the Depart ment of Social Welfare and Development 11 (DSWD 11), said cases of sexual abuse involving children are being referred to their office.
She said this year DSWD 11 has conducted entrapment and rescue op erations in the region.
“Ang nature of cases ani is the online sexual abuse or exploitation of children wherein nitaas tungod sa pandemic maskin ang re strictions nato karon nilu ag luag na but still naa gi hapon,” she said.
She said DSWD has conducted one rescue op eration in Davao City, three in Davao del Norte, and en trapment and rescue oper ations in Panabo City.
Kate Dianne Opimo, advocacy officer of Talika la, Inc., said there are also unreported cases of sexu
al abuse including against men.
“Nganong unreport ed? Because not all know na na-traffic sila mao na ang dapat campaign natin is awareness campaign about trafficking because wala sila kabalo na na traf fic na sila. During our one community education, even men are victims of trafficking ug dinha lang nila nahibal-an during the community education that we gave to them. Others nalaman nila na traffic sila ay dahil tinatago nila dahil takot sila na malaman ng kanilang family and also because it is their source of income,” Opimo said.
Police Regional Office 11 (PRO 11) spokesperson Major Eudisan Gultiano said it is the role of PRO 11 to assist the DSWD and other concerned agencies in investigating trafficked persons.
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ident now Pampanga 2nd district Rep. Gloria Ma capagal-Arroyo, who ac companied him during the meeting.
“...They had a few min utes of recollecting the meetings that they have had, which I think helped the tone of the meeting. So I am looking forward to Jan uary and the state visit to China,” he added.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez earlier said Ar royo gave Marcos “advice” on his meeting with Xi. However, he said he was not privy to what these were.
He said Marcos’ meet ing with the Chinese leader was significant given that the global power is a large trading partner and a ma jor source of investment.
Gala dinner
On Thursday night,
Marcos and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos joined leaders, delegates, and oth er guests at a gala dinner at the Royal Thai Navy Con ference Hall in Bangkok.
Hosted by Prime Min ister Prayut Chan-o-cha of the Kingdom of Thailand, 21 Economic Leaders from the Asia-Pacific region are currently treated with the best of Thai culture and cuisines.
Earlier in the day, Mar cos urged his fellow APEC leaders to continue allow ing and encouraging in novations and structural changes during the APEC CEO Summit.
Marcos also urged APEC member economies to address present chal lenges, highlighting the re gional bloc’s role as a driv er of the global economy. (PNA)
to grow even further in the next few years by employ ing 1,000 to 2,000 more employees.
He also said FPS is eye ing another site in Davao City.
Meanwhile, Chiqui Manuel, vice president for Performance Support of FPS, said the company has also partnered with Malay an Colleges for curriculum development to equip the students with the knowl edge and skills to prepare them for employment in the BPO industry.
“It is a new partnership and what we are doing is we are working with them
protector.
to develop a curriculum that will develop senior high graduates and college students for the BPO space. We are partnering with them not just to hire them but prepare them ahead of time so that when they are ready to be hired they can assimilate themselves into the culture of the company. It’s mainly curriculum de velopment partnering with them, teaching them the knowledge and the skills for call center space and at the same time provid ing them the opportunity and eventually hiring them once they graduate,” she said in an interview.
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Apart from that, she said a town must also be active in their involvement in anti-drug activities and must have a “Balay Silan gan,” a reformation facility for drug offenders.
Around 1,162 baran gays in the Davao Region were assessed for drug clearing and 894 of which
were cleared, she said.
“We’re aiming to clear all barangays in Region 11, but there are a lot of fac tors why some of the ba rangays are not yet ready. But we are already there and all the local govern ment units are in collab oration to look into these barangays,” Lovitos said. (PNA)
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(WESC) to cover the tech nical, financial, operational, and administrative risks and challenges of OSW de velopment.
“The DOE has been receiving a considerable amount of interest both from local and foreign in vestors in the OSW poten tial,” Lotilla said.
Underscoring the eco nomic potential of OSW, Energy Undersecretary Alessandro Sales said, during the briefing, that the cost of putting up a floating offshore wind facility could stand at $157.5 billion (about P9.04 trillion) or $5 million (about P286.98
million) GW.
To date, the DOE said it awarded 42 OSW service contracts with an indicated 31.5 GW of installed capac ity.
The prime areas identi fied are in northern Luzon, the Verde Island Passage, northern Mindoro, and southern Mindoro.
“A robust OSW requires a long-term vision, sup port infrastructure devel opment, investments, and sound policies. Therefore, it is deemed critical to have a well thought out regulatory framework to enable suc cessful growth of this newer technology”, Lotilla said.
focal person and team leader, city treasurer, city accountant, general services officer, Bids and Awards Committee chair man (goods and services), Bids and Awards Commit tee chairman (civil works and infrastructure), City Planning and Develop ment coordinator, and the Internal Audit Service Di vision head.
The Secretariat/Tech nical Working Group is composed of representa tives from the City Trea surer’s Office, City Accountant’s Office, City General Services Office, Bids and Awards Com mittee, City Planning and Development Office, and Internal Audit Service Di
vision. The PFM Team is man dated to convene and dis cuss the contents of the PFM Assessment Tool to establish a common un derstanding of the context and the specific contents of the same; orient the local chief executive and the Local Legislative Body on the PFM assessment tool; ensure availability of access to required data or information based on performance indicators set on the tool; and con duct periodic evaluation of the City’s Public Finan cial Management System.
PFM Team’s funds will come from the budget of the City Mayor’s Office.
CIO
“This is also what we are trying to address as members of ICT-Davao,” Naranjo said.
ICT Davao is an um brella organization of ICT groups in Davao City and was established in 2002 to champion the needs of the growing industry.
According to Belin da Torres, vice-president of ICT Davao, currently (2022) Davao City has 70,000 workers employed directly by ICT firms op erating in the city and in directly supports 210,000 people. The ICT workforce is contributing an estimat ed P1.26 billion monthly to the local economy (cal culated in assumption that the 70,000 workers have an average monthly salary of Php 18,000).
The ICT Davao and the City Government of Davao are targeting to have 150,000 ICT workers in Davao City by 2028.
“Although we have tal ents here it’s not enough considering the numbers we want to look into. The creation of the Metro ICT Industry Board has help us identify the skills that is needed in the next few years in terms of the re quirement of these MS MEs,” Torres said.
on a possible further Fed rate hike of about +0.50 to 4.50% (upper range of the Fed target) on the next Fed/FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) rate-setting meeting on Dec.14, 2022.
“Thus, for the coming months, more local policy rate hikes are still possi ble, if needed, as a func tion of any further Fed rate hikes in the quest to bring down elevated US inflation/CPI (consumer price index),” he added.
The Bank of the Phil ippine Island (BPI) fore casts price pressures to remain up and prevent the rate of price increas es from decelerating to within the government’s target band in the next
“They have identified skills-job mismatch, skills priorities and skills antic ipation. And these are the three things we are looking into so that we can support more of the people and en terprise in this endeavor,” Torres added.
The recently held Inno vation Summit 2022 orga nized by the ICT Davao and the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Indus tries Inc (DCCCII) has put a declaration in writing the things that the ICT stake holders would need to do to move forward.
Naranjo said one of the initiatives done by the ICT Davao and his company is training future talents this include out-of-school youths, and career shifters.
“Of the 20 scholars we onboarded in the compa ny last month a lot of them are career shifters coming from the business process outsourcing industry and the healthcare sector. Many of these from the BPO were doing voice and are virtual assistant, they would want to move the value chain given the opportunity they want to learn program ming and hope to build a career in programming,” Naranjo said. (PIA/RG Ala ma)
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nine months.
“With the absence of structural reforms in the agriculture industry, sup ply constraints will likely persist,” it said in a report on Thursday.
The report said “im portation of food prod ucts may not provide enough relief since glob al prices of food are also high.”
It forecasts inflation for November and December this year between 7.5 to 7.6 percent, and decelerates starting in the first half of next year “if oil prices stay at current levels.”
“We expect full year average inflation to re main above the 4 percent target of the BSP in 2023,” it added. (PNA)
Lester Prosper’s 50-point eruption lifted Terrafirma’s emphatic win to end nine agonizing months of futili ty with a 124-114 overtime victory over NLEX Friday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Responding to coach John Cardel’s challenge, Prosper went on beast mode and scored in bunch es, including seven in ex tra time that secured the elusive win after the Dyip squandered a 10-point
lead in regulation.
The Dyip came out victorious after 10 games in the mid-season confer ence, more importantly tasting victory again for the first time since a 109103 disposal of Blackwa
ter way back Feb. 12 in the Season 46 Governors’ Cup elims.
“I think we got lucky in this game. Struggling din ang NLEX so I told the boys we have to take advantage of that,” said a relieved Car del, whose team is out of it all but is determined to bow out of the conference with a bang.
“I told Lester before this game ‘you gotta get 50 points’ and he did that, “ he shared of his conversation with the naturalized Indo
nesian (19 rebounds, five assists, one block) on the eve of the match.
“I’m also thankful to the players - Juami (Tiong son), Gelo (Alolino) and Alex (Cabagnot). After 25 games, at least nasi ra namin ang sumpa. We can now start again and we hope to carry this to our last two games (in the elims).
Tiongson fired 18 plus nine assists and eight boards, while Eric Camson shot 15, Alolino added 10
and Cabagnot accounted for eight markers, 10 re bounds and six dimes in helping out Prosper.
Cabagnot knocked down a crucial triple and set Cahilig for two clutch layups to spark a 12-2 bar rage that enabled Terrafir ma to break away from a 112-112 deadlock in OT.
Earl Clark erupted for 45 while Don Trollano pro duced a career-high 26 and Brandon Rosser had 22 for NLEX, which fell to its fifth straight loss for 3-7 overall.
(OL)
The Scores:
Terrafirma 124- Pros per 50, Tiongson 18, Cam son 15, Alolino 10, Cabag not 8, Ramos 7, Munzon 5, Cahilig 4, Gomez de Liano 3, Javelona 0.
NLEX 114 - Clark 45, Trollano 26, Ganu elas-Rosser 22, Rosales 12, Nieto 9, Paniamogan 0, Celda 0, Miranda 0, Chua 0, Varilla 0.
Quarters: 40-30, 68-54, 93-85, 110-110, 124-114 (OT)
Not to belittle the individual capabilities of the other collegiate squads in the 85th UAAP season but I think the win-loss record of UP, NU and ADMU speaks for it self.
After 10 encounters in the 15-game, 8 team tourney, the Fighting Maroons have just about clinched a slot in the Final Four with their recent win over the luckless FEU Tamaraws, 7359 Thursday to raise their mark to 9-1.
The Bulldogs and the Blue Ea gles share second spot with equal 7-3 slates. NU got past UE 70-61 while Ateneo drubbed a hapless UST platoon 72-55 in the same schedule.
The Green Archers, mean
while got their heads above the water, exploiting the absence of Falcon shooter Jerome Lastimosa to earn a squeaker over Adamson, 81-78 on a last triple by CJ Austria.
DLSU, Adamson and FEU all sport a 4-6 W-L tally.
But with only one slot left as all appearances seem to portray in this Final Four picture, all three need more than just luck to get it.
The Soaring Falcons may have to settle with the thought that the injured playmaking scorer Lasti mosa created a heavy toll in their struggle.
Sorry but if the present stiff competitions are examined, Ad amson may have to be counted out.
That leaves the Tamaraws
and the Green Archers as the only ones that have the chance to take the last spot.
We are not biased against UE (3-7) and UST (1-9) but their re cent performances do not speak much of their prospects of getting out of the rut.
The Red Warriors have had impressive outings but their end game collapse is very dishearten ing. Pity. The Paranada brothers are impressive but lack able sup port.
I have nothing much to say of the Growling Tigers.
However, it is interesting to note that the battle is actually for the two teams that will have a twice to beat privilege.
UP isn’t certain yet. Even if the
This
In the same manner, coach Tab Baldwin needs to reinvigo rate his boys just as he did with the Blue Eagles who made a his toric three-peat before they got dethroned a season ago. Ate neo is much too tentative these days.
This championship experi ence might save the day for Ate
neo to snare a championship slot which NU is likewise intensely looking to grab.
The Bulldogs have given both UP and Ateneo headaches which is what makes them strong title contenders. Coach Napa knows which button to press when he sees a slight edge.
In the final analysis, the re quired aspects that each coach must imbibe in his team to mus ter point to three factors: a gritty reliable backcourt, a consistent scoring frontline and supremacy in the middle (both offensive and defensive).
In other words: Team chem istry. (Email feedback to fredlum ba@yahoo.com.) GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!
The appointment of Filipi nos to positions in the interna tional chess federation is a wel come development.
Better late than never, actu ally.
You see, the Philippines has
been in the chess map for many years with Eugene Torre as the first grandmaster (GM) from Asia in 1974. Davao City even produced the first IM, Interna tional Master, Marlo Micayabas of Toril, in 1983.
Chess has become a popular sport in Manila because of Torre and in Davao because of Micaya bas. We even had a regular chess tournament at the Osmena Park for many, many years and even tually, during the time of Philip pine Chess Federation regional director Engr. Alex Sempio Ba ruis with the help of Councilor Leo “Happy L.A.” Avila, Davao City hosted a nationwide chess championship.
Councilor Avila even boosted chess development with the cre ation of the Davao City Chess De velopment Program that backs young chess players and even those from the differently-abled sector. Duna gani di ay chess tournament para sa mga buta.
The election of GM Torre as deputy chairman of the FIDE Athletes Commission, the ap pointment of James Infiesto as Councilor in the FIDE Commis sion for the Disabled and the re-appointment of Casto Abun do as member of the FIDE Qual ification Commission is a very welcome development to the Filipino chess community.
This is a clear indication that FIDE officials have recognized the talents and what contribu tion they can make to further the development of the sport.
If you can remember, Flor encio Campomanes was elected president of FIDE in 1982, the only non-European to head the international sports organiza tion.
Campo was our national champion in 1956 and 1960 and competed in five Chess Olympi ads.
The story I heard from the Davao chess community then that Campo was close to Presi dent Ferdinand E. Marcos and that helped him in his rise in the international chess federa tion. And that during the time of Campo, many countries have joined FIDE.
Back to the Torre, Infiesto and Abundo, their appoint ments to important positions, I hope would again open oppor tunities to other Filipinos to oc cupy posts in the future.
What they will learn in serv ing in FIDE, should be well not ed so that this can be shared to those aspiring to become better chess development officials in the different regions of the coun try.
If there are hundreds of books about chess as a sport, there should also be a “book” about becoming chess leaders in the international scene.
This “book” can then be shared to the chess community and be learned by those aspiring to become local leaders.
Yes, better late than never, as to the appointments of these three Pinoys.
It is also an opportuni ty for them to build a team of new young leaders in the sport where Filipinos can excel as a player and as an official.
This is very exciting.
Congratulations to the three of you!
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For comments, send an email to mpb_sports@yahoo.com.