Edge Davao 5 Issue 107

Apil watershed iskwaton na.

EDGEDAVAO P 15.00 • 20 PAGES

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

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Squatters invade watershed area

By ANTONIO M. AJERO

Science/ Environment

The Economy

Sports

Page 4

M

ONEYED LAND speculators numbering about 50 now have bought lands, portions of them still forestal areas, within the watershed area in purok Diolo in Manuel Guianga, a barangay in Tugbok district, Davao City.

n Buying spree of land speculators in sitio Diolo alarms Watershed Management Council

The buyers, mostly belonging to prominent families, business-

men and even police officers of Toril, who reportedly buy the land for

as low as P50,000 per lot of 1,000 square meters.

Reports reaching the Davao City Watershed Management Council (WMC) headed by Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, indicated that a syndicate headed by a lumad who

FSQUATTERS, 13

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DIMENTIONAL MAP. Members of the Watershed Management Council (WMC) yesterday indicate the watersheds of Davao City that need to be protected using the 3 dimensional map at the People’s Park. [LEAN DAVAL JR.]

Ateneo denies class suspension rumors

By Jade C. Zaldivar

Follow Us On

O

FFICIALS of the Ateneo de Davao University (Addu) yesterday denied rumors that an order to suspend classes was given following the mass food poisoning that occurred July 29

(Sunday) at the College campus.

There were shortened class schedules on July 30 and no classes July 31 (yesterday), but Addu assistant to the president, Bong Eliab, explained this was because the uni-

versity was in observance of St. Ignatius Day. “It’s not true classes were suspended because of the unfortunate incident. We regularly celebrate the St. Ignatius Day which is set on

July 31,” Eliab said in an interview.

The suspension talk came out in social networking sites Meanwhile, university president Fr. Joel Tabora SJ, who

FATENEO, 13

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THE BIG NEWS

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

One soldier dies in Comval clash

By Jade C. Zaldivar

O

NE soldier died following an encounter with elements of the New People’s Army (NPA) at 5 a.m.Tuesday (yesterday) in Barangay Parasanon, Maragusan, Compostella Valley Province.

The military is yet to provide the name of the soldier fatality.

“We’re withholding his identity as his family is yet to be informed,” said Lt. Col. Antonino Florendo, commander of the 66th Infantry Battalion in a statement.

He identified the

HELMET LAW. Motorcycle riders cruise E. Quirino Avenue wearing nonstandard protective helmets yesterday. Starting today motorcycle riders need to have their helmets inspected and tagged with an Import Commodity

Certificate (ICC) seal by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). [LEAN DAVAL JR.]

Phoenix to stage Kadayawan Run

By Maybelle Anne C. Yutiamco

DFA summons Cambodian diplomat T over published criticisms on dispute P HILIPPINE officials Tuesday summoned Cambodia’s top diplomat here but he failed to show up.

He was supposed to explain his published criticisms of the Aquino administration’s stance on its territorial disputes with China in a new side dispute to the long-simmering territorial conflicts in the West Philippine Sea. Cambodian ambassador Hos Sereythonh was summoned by the foreign office to ask him to explain his statement.

It said saying the “inflexible and non-negotiable position” of the Philippines and Vietnam resulted to the failure of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to issue its tradition-

al joint communiqué at the end of its ministerial meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia two weeks ago.

The non-issuance of the statement was unprecedented in the regional bloc’s 45year history.

However, Hernandez said Sereythonh did not show up because he was “indisposed” and instead sent his deputy and embassy second secretary Tan Chandaravuth on his behalf.

Chandaravuth was handed a note verbale by Foreign Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio to express Manila’s displeasure over his ambassador’s comments and demanded that he explain his comments published in a local newspaper.

The meeting lasted about 30 minutes.

The Cambodian diplomat was “quiet” and was seen taking notes during the meeting with Basilio, Hernandez said.

Hernandez said the diplomatic note sought the ambassador’s explanation on his statement that the Philippines and Vietnam, two claimants with the most number of confrontations with China in the West Philippine Sea, are playing “dirty politics.”

“We want to know where the ambassador obtained the information on the events as narrated in his letter since these are not consistent with the records of the ASEAN meetings,” Hernandez told a press briefing.

The rift started when ASEAN failed to come up with the joint statement as

Cambodia, a known Chinese ally, insistently blocked moves to mention the Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal standoff between the Philippines and China in the proposed communiqué.

Vietnam also wanted to include in the document recent incidents of China’s incursions in its waters.

“In contradiction, we understand that the chair appointed a committee, including the Philippines and Vietnam, which had full authority if it could reach a consensus on the final draft,” Hernandez said.

Yet even after five final drafts had the approval of all nine ASEAN members, it was disapproved by Cambodia, he said.

ASEAN groups Malaysia,

an important time, as the House of Representatives begins its deliberations on the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2013.”

Valte said that in the proposed budget submitted by the President to Congress the allocation for social equity -- which covers investments in education, health, and welfare -- has increased

by P85 billion to P698.4 billion from last year’s outlay of P613.4 billion.

The move is in line with the administration’s commitment to increase the number of 4Ps household beneficiaries from 3.1 million this year to 3.8 million next year -- for which the administration has increased

the allocation from P39.4 billion in 2012 to P44.3 billion in 2013, she said.

“The 4Ps program is a realization of our commitment to inclusive and equitable economic growth. At its core is the partnership between government and families, and the fulfillment of a pledge that as many Filipinos should benefit from the fruits of our reforms,” she added.

Citing a record from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Valte reported a decline of 1,000 household beneficiaries under the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.

Some of the beneficia-

ries were delisted from the DSWD after a cleanup of its database, discovering that they were not qualified for the program and after the DSWD has cleaned up of its database.

There were some beneficiaries whose benefits have been frozen pending full compliance with the conditions set by the DSWD. As of May 31, 2012, the total disbursement of the government is more than P9 billion for cash grant payments, P4.6 billion in health grants; and P4.4 billion in education grants.

The CCT is implemented in 138 cities, 1,261 municipalities, and 79 provinces in the country. [PNA]

FDFA, 13

SC’s affirmation of 4Ps program hailed

M

ALACANANG welcomed the Supreme Court’s (SC) affirmation of the constitutionality of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) program of the government saying the move will bolster the antipoverty initiative of the Aquino administration.

“We welcome the unanimous decision of the Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the Aquino administration,” said Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte in a statement.

“The affirmation of the government’s flagship antipoverty initiative comes at

enemy as members of the New People’s Army (NPA).

Florendo said his battalion had received reports from civilians of the presence of the enemy in Barangay Parasanon who initiated the firefight and immediately withdrew.

“Despite attempts of the enemy to prevent the unit from bringing peace and development into Maragusan, the men and officers of this unit remain the people’s partners for peace and development,” Florendo said.

HE Phoenix Foundation Philippines will stage a Fun Run as part of the Kadayawan Festival 2012 on August 12 whuch will start from Open Park C, SM City Davao.

The event has four categories: 10 kilometers, 5 kilometers, 4 kilometers, and 500 meters only for kids 12 years and under.

Registration centers are at DCWD Bajada, Duaw Davao Office, Phoenix Damosa, and Phoenix Acacia until August 3.

120,000 pesos worth of prizes will go to the winners.

Profitd from the event will be for the benefit of the Talomo-Lipadas watershed, which is one of the two main sources of water supply in Davao City. One tree will be planted for every registered runner. The run is also an encouragement for runners to practice the 3Rs (Reduce, Re-use, Recycle) aside from being a tribute to Ninoy Aquino and his ideals of freedom and love of country.

More funds set for R&D in 2013

By Lorie Ann A. Cascaro

T

HE Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will spend an additional P1.6 billion for research and development (R&D) in 2013, Davao regional director Anthony C. Sales bared yesterday.

“This is part of the government’s support for scientists and engineers in the country for local technology generation,” he told reporters.

Noting that more R&D funds will produce more researches and inventions, he said this will help the county develop more local talents to produce technology from locally available resources.

He said several Filipino inventions were commercialized abroad in the past due to failure to protect their intellectual property rights.

However, he added that in the region, the Innovation and Technology Support Office, which will be launched on August 6 at the University of South-

eastern Philippines, will provide patenting services for local inventors and innovators.

“Under the Magna Carta for scientists and engineers, they are provided with hazard pay that ranges from 15% to 30% of their salary,” he said, adding that subsistence allowance and longevity pay are also provided by the law.

He mentioned that with the Techno Transfer Act, developers are given a percentage of the sales of their product/s should they be adopted by business enterprises.

The DOST continues to advocate its campaign against “brain drain” or the tendency for Filipino scientists and engineers to leave the country for greener pastures with its “Balik Scientist” program.

Through this program, Sales said, Filipino scientists overseas, including those who are already citizens of other coun-

FMORE, 13

EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

3

Loren seeks Senate concurrence in treaty

S

ENATOR Loren Legarda yesterday underscored her commitment to seafarers’ rights by sponsoring the Senate Resolution to concur in the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), 2006.

“The Philippines is famed for the quality and competitiveness of its seafarers. Filipinos account for an estimated 30% of the 1.2 million seafarers in the global shipping fleet today. In 2011 alone, the country deployed 343,587 seafarers – a number that ushered in $4.3 billion in remittances,” she explained in her sponsorship speech.

She added that the trend does not suggest a waning of seafarer deployment figures. From 2008 to 2010, the number of Filipino seafarers being deployed overseas increased by an average of 16% every year, and in the domestic front, another 40,000 seafarers are employed in local shipping fleets.

The Maritime Labour Convention, adopted by the General Conference of the International Labour

Organization on 23 February 2006, is the seafarers’ bill of rights.

Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said that, “It provides comprehensive rights and protection at work for 1.2 million seafarers worldwide, including nearly 400,000 Filipino domestic and international seafarers.”

“MLC, 2006, is envisioned to spur the modernization of shipping fleets to comply with international standards. By concurring in its ratification, we will join in the call for governments to effectively enforce its regulatory role in ensuring safer and secure shipping, in preventing marine pollution, and in ensuring decent work for seafarers,” she stressed.

Furthermore, she stated, “It also erases ambiguity on the definition of seafarer as the Convention covers not just the crew involved in navigating or operating the ship but also, other workers including cabin and cleaning personnel, bar staff, waiters, entertainers, singers, kitchen staff,

FLOREN, 13

4 SCIENCE/ENVIRONMENT

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

Most northerly bottlenose dolphin population ‘stable’ T

HE world’s most northerly resident population of bottlenose dolphins is “stable”, according to new research.

Almost 200 dolphins are found in the North Sea and the animals are frequently seen in the Moray Firth.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) commissions a report on the health of the population every six years.

Researchers from the University of Aberdeen, drawing on about two decades of studies, have deemed the numbers to be stable, or increasing.

The latest research

work was carried out in the Moray Firth Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

Wildlife spotters who come to the shores of the firth to see and photograph the bottlenose dolphins contribute an estimated £4m to Scotland’s economy a year, according to other work by the university.

‘Considered vulnerable’ Morven Carruthers, SNH policy and advice officer, said: “We can say with some confidence that the population of bottlenose dolphins on the east coast of Scotland is stable or increasing.

Fast Facts

“And the number of dolphins using the Moray Firth SAC between 1990 and 2010 appears to be stable.

“However, this population is considered vulnerable due to being small and isolated from other populations.”

She added: “The east coast bottlenose dolphins are a special part of Scotland’s nature and wildlife and a major tourist at-

traction, and it is encouraging

The Moray Firth SAC extends from the inner firth to Helmsdale

on the north coast and Lossiemouth on the south coast.

Bottlenose dolphins are protected under the European Union Habitats Directive.

t o s e e that the population is currently stable.”

Bottlenose dolphins are protected by European Union rules.

Bottlenose dolphins have large brains and quickly learn new behaviors.

Using a wide range of sounds to communicate with other members of the group, or “pod”, they have been observed showing remarkable individual and social intelligence:

•

One for the team: watch how a single dolphin peels off from the pod to shepherd the mullet into the open mouths of the group.

•

Bubble trouble: initially cautious of the new shapes created by the bubble machine, you can see how quickly the inquisitive dolphins turn this experiment into a game.

•

Mirror, mirror on the wall: from the reaction of these dolphins to their own reflection, scientists believe the animals have a developed sense of self.

•

Thinking out cloud: see how these dolphins off the Florida coast have developed a unique hunting strategy for the shallows off the Florida coast.

Divided dolphin societies now merge ‘for first time’

A

unique social division among a population of bottlenose dolphins in Australia’s Moreton Bay has ended, according to a new study.

The dolphins lived as two distinct groups that rarely interacted, one of which foraged on trawler bycatch.

But scientists think that a ban on fishing boats from key areas has brought the two groups together.

They believe these socially flexible mammals have united to hunt for new food sources.

The findings are published in the journal Animal Behaviour.

The Moreton Bay dolphins were thought to be the only recorded example of a single population that consisted of groups not associating with each other.

The split was dubbed “the parting of the pods”.

But since the study that discovered the rift, trawlers have been banned from designated areas of the bay leading to a 50% reduction in the fishing effort.

A key area of the bay to the south, where the social split was first observed by a previous study, has been protected.

The changes gave scientists a unique opportunity to observe the adaptability of dolphin society.

The “trawler” dolphins from Moreton Bay had previously fed on the bycatch from boats while the “non-trawlers” found other sources of food.

“There’s never been really any experiments looking at social structure... where you can compare what it was like before and what it is like now,” said Dr Ina Ansmann, a marine vertebrate ecologist at the University of Queensland and

the study’s lead author.

Analysing how the population interacted before and after trawling meant the team could assess how the dolphins’ social network had changed.

“The dolphins had basically re-arranged their whole social system after trawling disappeared so they’re now actually interacting again,” Dr Ansmann told BBC Nature.

The scientists identified individual dolphins by the marks on their dorsal fin and recorded which animals were associating with which.

“Each dolphin has small injuries like nicks and notches, cuts and things like that on the fin so they all have a very unique looking dorsal fin.”

This technique meant that Dr Ansmann could observe changes in behaviour, in some cases down to the individual dolphins which had been

Two become one: the unification of these two socially distinct groups of bottlenose dolphin demonstrates the intelligence and social adaptability of the species. studied in the 1990s to reveal the original division.

“Presumably they’re sharing information, cooperating and things like that.”

Dolphins operate in what is called a fissionfusion society, forming groups and then splitting up to form different groups.

Through complex communication and social intelligence, bottlenose dolphins often work as a team when hunting for food and Dr Ansmann believes this may be what lies behind the unifica- The “trawler” dolphins of Moreton Bay benefited from the bycatch thrown back from fishing boats. tion.

EDGEDAVAO

Stat Watch 1. Gross National Income Growth Rate (At Constant 2000 Prices)

5.8% 1st Qtr 2012

2. Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate (At Constant 2000 Prices)

6.4 % 1st Qtr 2012

3. Exports 1/ 4. Imports 1/ 5. Trade Balance 6. Balance of Payments 2/ 7. Broad Money Liabilities

USD 4,931 million May 2012 USD 4,770 million Apr 2012 USD -135 million Apr 2012 USD -209 million Mar 2012 P 4,580,674 million Apr 2012

8. Interest Rates 4/

4.1 % May 2012 P131,403 million May 2012 P 5,075 billion Apr 2012

9. National Government Revenues 10. National government outstanding debt 11. Peso per US $ 5/

P 42.78 Jun 2012

12. Stocks Composite Index 6/

5,091.2 May 2012

13. Consumer Price Index 2006=100

130.1 Jun 2012

14. Headline Inflation Rate 2006=100

2.8 Jun 2012

15. Core Inflation Rate 2006=100

3.7 Jun 2012

16. Visitor Arrivals

349,779 Apr 2012

17. Underemployment Rate 7/

18.8 % Jan 2012

18. Unemployment Rate 7/

7.2 % Jan 2012

THE ECONOMY

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

NCCC more aggressive in next few months

By Carlo P. Mallo

H

OMEGROWN supermarket and department store bran New City Commercial Complex, or NCCC, will be more aggressive in the next few months in its bid to maintain its status as the top of mind brand among Dabawenyos who are looking for cheap, affordable, but good quality products, as well as among wholesalers.

Last Friday, the home division of the NCCC Department Store kicked off ‘Open House,’ their home accessories and furniture fair, at the atrium of NCCC Mall of

Davao.

“This is one of the many events that we have lined-up for our consumers,” Jenny Ang, president of the NCCC Department Store, said in an interview. “The sale will continue until the Kadayawan festivities. Then in September, we will have another fair.”

Ang said that the entry of new players into the city is one of the factors that prodded them to create more events.

“But most importantly, this is for our consumers,” Ang said.

Aside from selling home ac-

cessories and furniture, the event also showcased several celebrity chefs, a feng shui expert, and an official from the Home Development and Mutual Fund to explain the several loans that the government agency extends.

“We do not want to be just another furniture or home accessories fair, we want to be different, thus we are offering a new concept for our consumers,” Richard Tabaranza, assistant manager for marketing, merchandising, and procurement of the NCCC Department Store, said. “It’s not just

about furniture, but everything that one might need in a house.”

Tabaranza added that in terms of maintaining the thought leadership of NCCC as the go-to brand for cheap but quality pieces, it is important for them to also improve their services, especially now that retail giant Puregold is entering the local market.

“We want Dabawenyos to still think of us when they need something basic, but we also want them to think of us when it comes to their fashion and style needs,” Tabaranza said.

private investment. We are finalizing build-operate-transfer (BOT) schemes for upgrading the ports in the towns of Nasipit and Masao,” he said, adding they have worked with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), other government agencies and the local private sector to open up 10,000 hectares of land for development,” Amante said.

Butuan City, which has five weekly round-trip commercial flights to Manila and three to Cebu, has become known in recent years as a Mindanao convention destination, with accommodations available for more than 2,800 guests.

The MinBizCon is expected to draw 300 participants, including senior business leaders, members of chambers of commerce, government policymakers, investors and

foreign trading partners.

The MinBizCon participants will have the opportunity to tour Butuan City’s main attractions, which include the Butuan National Museum housing ancient Asian artifacts, and the Balangay Shrine.

They will also have a chance to visit the on-going archaeological excavation of another centuriesold balangay boat used in Southeast Asian trade routes.

DTI Caraga Director Brielgio Pagaran said that the region has strong competitive advantages in agriculture in addition to its tourism and mining industries.

“Among the newer agri-businesses, we have herbal processing plant for the export market that uses local raw materials, and ventures in sago flour and nipa sap sugar production, to name just a

few,” Pagaran said.

The MinBizCon will have plenary sessions on current publicprivate initiatives in the energy sector in Caraga as well as on improved economic integration within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), through the Brunei DarussalamIndonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMPEAGA).

The business conference is also an opportunity for a broad range of stakeholders to speak with one voice on the region’s most pressing economic policy concerns.

The highlight of the conference is the presentation of the annual Mindanao Business Policy Agenda to President Benigno Simeon Aquino III. The formulation of the policy recommendations contained in the agenda was initiated through broad-based regional consultations held earlier this year by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) in the cities of Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro and General Santos, in collaboration with Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) and United States Assistance for International Development (USAID).

Organized by the PCCI and the Butuan Chamber of Commerce, with support from MinDA and USAID, through its Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, the “MinBizCon” is the main multisectoral platform for fostering competitiveness and accelerating growth in Mindanao.

The MinBizCon is also supported by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Agriculture (DA), and other partners. [PNA]

Fresh investments thru MinBizCon eyed

B

UTUAN City Mayor Ferdinand Amante is looking forward to attracting investment as the city hosts the 21st Mindanao Business Conference (MinBizCon) this year.

The three-day MinBizCon is set to be held from August 2 to 4 at the Almont Hotel Inland Resort in Butuan City, the gateway to the resource-rich Caraga region in Northern Mindanao.

“We are looking forward to hosting this event and drawing attention to investment in Butuan City and surrounding provinces,” Amante said, saying there are several on-going business developments in the city, including the construction of a mall and 150-room hotel and golf course by a nationwide chain.

“This is a good time for public-

MONTHLY AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATE (January 2009 - December 2011) Month Average December November October September August July June May April March February January

2012

2011

2010

42.85 42.70 42.86 42.66 43.62

43.31 43.64 43.27 43.45 43.02 42.42 42.81 43.37 43.13 43.24 43.52 43.70 44.17

45.11 43.95 43.49 43.44 44.31 45.18 46.32 46.30 45.60 44.63 45.74 46.31 46.03

5

JUICY. A lady chooses from the different fruit juices that a kiosk along San Pedro Street offers. [LEAN DAVAL JR.] as of august 2010

Cebu Pacific Daily Zest Air Daily Cebu Pacific Daily Philippine Airlines Daily Philippine Airlines Daily Cebu Pacific Daily Cebu Pacific Daily Cebu Pacific Daily Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri/Sun Philippine Airlines Daily Cebu Pacific Daily Silk Air Mon/Wed/Sat Cebu Pacific Thu Cebu Pacific Tue/Wed//Sat

5J961 / 5J962 Z2390 / Z2390 5J593 / 5J348 PR809 / PR810 PR819 / PR820 5J394 / 5J393 5J599 / 5J594 5J347 / 5J596 5J963 / 5J964 PR811 / PR812 5J595 / 5J966 MI588 / MI588 5J965 / 5J968 5J965 / 5J968

5:45 5:45 6:00 6:10 7:50 7:50 8:00 9:10 9:40 11:30 12:00 18:55 12:55 13:35

Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila Cebu-Davao-Iloilo Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila Zamboanga-Davao-Zamboanga Cebu-Davao-Cebu Iloilo-Davao-Cebu Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila Cebu-Davao-Manila Davao-Cebu-Singapore Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila

6:15 6:25 6:30 7:00 8:50 8:10 8:30 9:40 10:10 12:20 12:30 13:35 13:25 14:05

Silk Air Thu/Sun Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Wed/Fri Philippine Airlines August Zest Air Daily Cebu Pacific Daily Philippines Airlines Daily Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Thu/Sat Cebu Pacific Daily Cebu Pacific Tue/Sat/Sun Cebu Pacific Daily Airphil Express Daily Philippine Airlines Daily except Sunday Philippine Airlines Sunday

MI566 / MI566 5J507 / 5J598 15:55 Z2524 / Z2525 5J967 / 5J600 PR813 / PR814 5J215 / 5J216 5971 / 5J970 5J973 / 5J974 5J969 / 5J972 2P987 / 2P988 PR821 / PR822 PR821 / PR822

18:55 15:00 Mani2Mani 16:05 16:35 16:55 18:00 18:40 20:00 20:30 20:30 21:20 22:20

Davao-Singapore Cebu-Davao-Cebu 16:50 Cebu-Davao-Cebu Manila-Davao-Cebu Manila-Davao-Manila Cagayan de Oro-Davao-Cagayan de Oro Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila Manila-Davao-Manila

15:20 15:30 16:45 17:05 17:45 18:20 19:10 20:30 21:00 21:00 21:50 22:50

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THE ECONOMY

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

Tourism industry players confident about investment opportunities

EDGEDAVAO

Region 12 economy posts 4% growth

T

GRI-TRADE and industry associations have agreed to partner with the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII) in the conduct of the 14th Davao Trade Expo (DATE) slated October 25-27, at the upcoming brand new SMX Convention Center SM Lanang Premier this year.

The parties signed recently a memorandum of agreement (MOA) in time

for the Davao City Business Conference held at The Marco Polo, Davao.

Themed, “Building the Future: Feeding the World through Sustainable Farming”, the three-day event will showcase the role of livestock, poultry and aquaculture in providing food for the table of every family.

The parties agreed to showcase the comparative advantages of the Davao region in the ar-

eas of agriculture, trade, commerce, services and industries.

Among the agri groups who signed the MOA are the Davao Hog Farmers Association, Southern Philippines Egg and Poultry Association, Goat Industry Development Council of Davao, Mindanao Game Fowl Breeders Association, Mindanao Integrated Aquaculture Association, Federation of Cattle Raisers of the Phil-

ippines, Inc., Federation of Davao Dairy Farmers Cooperative and Davao Association of Veterinary Technical Representatives, Inc. DATE 2012 will serve as venue for promotion of the region’s agriculture industry where opportunities are created for local community stakeholders to participate in the development of a progressive agriculture industry in the region. [PNA]

HE economic performance of Region 12 or the Soccsksargen Region significantly improved in 2011 as the area’s agriculture and industrial sectors continued to gain momentum from their expansions and operational improvements in the last two years.

Herlita Caraan, National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Region 12 director, said the region’s increased industrial, agriculture and fisheries productivity pulled up its economic growth or Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) last year to 4 percent or up by 2 percent from 2010.

She said the region’s accelerated growth was slightly higher than the country’s total output last year that reached an average of 3.9 percent. “(Region 12) was one of the five regions in the country that posted accelerated growths from 2010 to 2011,” Caraan said in a press conference here.

She said the region is now drawing closer to its record growth of 4.5 percent that was posted in 2008. Region 12 was then regarded as the country’s third fastest growing region.

Region 12 covers the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotabato and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato.

Caraan said Agriculture, Hunting, Fishery and Forestry (AHFF), which accounts for 30.2 percent of the region’s economy, posted a 2.2 percent growth in 2011 after falling to 2.7 percent in 2010.

She said agriculture and forestry mainly rebounded to a 4.8 percent growth last year from a dismal performance of -1.3 percent in the previous year.

“The improved performance of AHFF was due to higher yields from the region’s major crops such as palay, corn, sugarcane, banana, coconut, rubber and cassava. Poultry, as well as, municipal fishery and aquaculture also turned in better performances in 2011,” she said, citing a report from the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Agricultural Statistics.

Caraan said the industry

L

who will return to the Philippines, we encourage them to stay put in the country because there are jobs available around,” Baldoz said.

She said there are non-wage employment opportunities for OFWs where the income is

greater than their salaries as domestic service workers in Syria.

“If they remain in the country, we could better protect them. It will also minimize the social cost of being away from their homeland which could be higher in vulnerable oc-

cupations like domestic work,” Baldoz said.

At least 100 OFWs, mostly household workers, are set to return home from the Middle East country in the next four days starting Tuesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

This will bring the total number of repatriates from Syria -- since domestic unrest there erupted in March 2011 -to 1,993.

Baldoz said once the OFWs have settled here, the DOLE will offer them livelihood starter kits un-

M

ORE hotel and accommodation establishments in the tourism industry are confident on the investment opportunities in the country in the next five years.

This was indicated by the result of the 2009 Survey of Tourism Establishments in the Philippines (STEP) conducted in 2010 on 21,837 establishments in the Philippines engaged in tourism industries. STEP was recently released by the National Statistics Office (NSO).

The study reveals that 13.2 percent of the tourism industry establishments plan to expand while 20.9 percent of them reported they have plans to renovate.

Much optimism and confidence is seen on hotel accommodation with 19.8 percent and 31.8 percent have expansion plans and renovation plans, respectively.

While for health and wellness, 16 percent; other tourism activities, 14.4 percent; food and beverage service activities, 11.8 percent;

and transport operators, tour and travel agencies, 10.4 percent.

Establishments in tourism industries in 2009 reported total revenue of P526.95 billion, of which 19.6 percent or P103.40 billion were generated from tourists.

Among the five major tourism industries, transport operators, tour and travel agencies contributed the highest revenue generated from tourists amounting to P68.40 billion or 66.2

percent.

This was followed by food and beverage service activities with P16.54 billion or 16 percent; accommodation with P13.33 billion representing 12.9 percent; health and wellness with P2.84 billion or 2.7 percent and other tourism activities.

The highest number of establishments in the tourism industries was engaged in food and beverage service activities with 13,120 establishments or 60.1 percent of the total. [PNA]

Davao City chamber gets agri-trade, industry sectors as partners in expo

WAITING. A plant vendor takes a nap while waiting for customers yesterday at City Hall Drive. [LEAN DAVAL JR.]

A

sector also helped improve the area’s economic performance after it expanded by 5.5 percent in 2011 from 2.9 percent the previous year.

She said the industry sector, which comprised 31.2 percent of the total regional economic output, was mainly carried by the manufacturing subsector, which posted an impressive growth of 14.6 percent from its pale performance of 0.2 percent in 2010.

The significant growth in the manufacturing subsector cushioned the slump in construction and the weaker growths posted by mining and quarrying as well as electricity, gas and water supply, she noted.

Caraan said construction slowed down to negative 15.2 percent from a positive growth of 14.9 percent in the previous year.

Electricity, gas and water supply posted a modest growth of 2 percent in 2011 from a 4.3 percent expansion in 2010 while mining and quarrying posted slower growth of 6.5 percent from a high growth of 27.7 percent in 2010, she said.

On the other hand, Caraan said the services sector, nosedived to a 4.3-percent growth in 2011 from the 5.4 percent growth in ported in 2010.

The lump in the services sector, which accounted for the biggest share of the regional economy at 38.5 percent, was brought about by slower growths in trade and repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles, personal and household goods that went down from 9.4 to 3.5 percent.

Financial intermediation decreased to 4.7 from 7.6 percent while by public administration and defense, compulsory social security went down to negative 1.7 from a robust growth of 11.2 percent in 2010.

“The aggregate adverse impact of these three subsectors was not able to cushion the improvements posted by other services that grew by 3.5 percent from 2.7 percent; transport, storage and communication, posting a growth of 7.4 percent from 1.1 percent; and, real estate, renting and business activity that expanded by 7 percent in 2011 from 4.3 percent in 2010,” she added. [PNA]

der the Balik-Pinay, Balik Hanapbuhay Program.

The livelihood starter kits are for home businesses like sari-sari store, eatery, rice retailing, piggery, fruits and vegetable vending, and other smallscale income-earning ventures. [PNA]

DOLE urges OFWs to avail of gov’t livelihood programs

ABOR Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz has urged returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from war-torn Syria to stay in the Philippines and avail of the government’s livelihood programs.

“For OFWs in Syria

EDGEDAVAO

ICT HUB

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

7

Olympics fans find ways to circumvent NBC lock I T took Jason Legate, a Walnut Creek, California-resident, all of 10 minutes to connect his computer to a Londonbased server and access BBC’s coverage of the Olympics Saturday, thereby circumventing NBC’s lock on coverage in the United States.

The 31-year-old system administrator said he has watched at least 12 hours of live BBC coverage (his favorite sport so far - judo) since he set up a virtual private network (VPN) connection to send all his Internet traffic to a server in London.

Legate is one of many viewers who, turned off by NBC’s ironclad control of access to Olympics coverage in the United States and spotty online streaming, has resorted to a workaround-sometimes legal, sometimes not--to watch the Games when and how they want on feeds from countries such as the UK and Canada.

NBC, which spent $1.18

billion for the rights to broadcast the Olympics on the Internet and on television in the United States, has made it impossible for people without a pricey cable or satellite subscription to watch the Olympics live in the United States. Viewers can receive a complimentary four hours of live content with a temporary pass.

Only those customers who are first “authenticated” as paying cable or satellite subscribers have access to live streaming of every Olympic event, a move that has led to a explosion of anger at the network on Twitter under the unofficial “#NBCfail” hashtag.

Other complaints included NBC streaming that didn’t work and the network bombarded viewers had too much advertising.

For its regular network coverage, NBC, which is owned by cable giant Comcast Corp, has tape-delayed some of the most popular sports for the U.S. prime-

time audience, meaning they air nearly five to six hours after they have happened.

This helps NBC maximize its return-on-investment by saving the top events for the largest audience and thereby the biggest advertising pay-off.

But it has also led to event spoilers and criticism that the network was putting the interests of its business over those of its viewers.

The tape delay and some glitches in the coverage fueled wider criticism of NBC. But NBC spokesman Chris McCloskey, who declined to comment on the matter, pointed to the 7 million live streams, which was a record on the first day of competition. The company is making every event available live online -- except the opening and closing ceremonies.

Enter a small but vocal group of tech savvy Olympics fans who are finding new ways to watch the world’s biggest sports event away from their TV sets.

These fans use techniques that make it seem like their computers are located outside the United States, giving them access to streaming access to the Games held by companies other than NBC in countries such as Canada or the UK. Think of it as a sporting version of how Internet users in China access banned websites by routing traffic through servers in Hong Kong in order to fool government censors.

“Because all of my Internet traffic looks like it’s coming from that box in England, the BBC thinks I’m located in England,” Legate said of the workaround he utilizes.

Like NBC in the United States, the BBC’s Olympic rights only allow it to show the games to users in the UK. For example, when from the United States to watch a BBC or CTV stream for example they are greeted with various messages telling them that they don’t have access.

Google seeks to close book in author copyright case

G

OOGLE asked a US court Friday to put an end to a long-running lawsuit over the Internet giant’s massive bookscanning project, saying the effort is “not a substitute” for books themselves.

The US tech giant offered its defense by arguing that its Google Books project should be considered “fair use” under copyright law, and said the judge should rule in its favor.

“Google Books gives people a new and more efficient way to find books relevant to their interests,” the company said in its petition for summary judgment in the case in a New York federal court.

“The tool is not a substitute for the books themselves -- readers still must buy a book from a store or borrow it from a library to read it. Rather, Google Books is an important advance on the card-catalogue method of finding books.”

Google said the effort is beneficial to readers, authors and the public.

“Readers benefit by being able to find relevant

Apple stokes iPhone talk

A

PPLE Inc is gearing up to unveil a new product at a major September 12 event, a source familiar with the plan said, presaging the long-awaited launch of the redesigned iPhone.

The world’s most valuable technology company typically takes the wraps off its latest smartphones around the fall, allowing the gadget to hit store shelves in time for the peak holiday shopping season.

The fifth iteration of the device that helped revolutionize the mobile industry is expected to sport a thinner, larger screen and a smaller dock connector, among other tweaks, sources and analysts have said.

The company on Mon-

Fake online editorial fools New York Times

T The screen of a computer features a Google Book search on the home page of Internet giant Google’s website.

Google asked a US court Friday to dismiss a lawsuit over books,” Google argued.

“Authors benefit because their books can be more readily found, purchased, and read. The public benefits from the increase of knowledge that results.”

Google has scanned more than 20 million books so far in the project.

Books in the public domain -- without current copyrights -- are made available online to the public for free. For copyrighted books Google offers a searchable database that

the Internet giant’s massive book-scanning project, saying the effort is “not a substitute” for books themselves.

[AFP]

displays snippets of text.

The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers filed the suit in 2005 alleging copyright infringement.

A tentative settlement in the case was reached in 2008 under which Google would pay $125 million to resolve copyright claims and to establish an independent “Book Rights Registry.” But a judge rejected the deal.

Opponents of the agreement have said allowing

Google to proceed with the project raises anti-trust, privacy and copyright issues, while also granting sole rights to Google to digitize millions of out-of-print works whose authors cannot be traced.

Others say copyright cannot be waived unless an author expressly opts out of the deal.

Google said in its argument, however, that copyright is not absolute, and that numerous fair uses exist under the law.

day declined to comment.

Apple’s iPhone launches are among the biggest affairs on Silicon Valley’s calendar, scrutinized by technology investors, enthusiasts and consumers alike.

The September 12 date may shift, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Samsung Electronics launched its latest Galaxy device in recent months, stealing a march on Apple in an intensifying battle for mobile supremacy. The pair now command more than half of global smartphone sales.

Technology blog iMore first reported the debut of the new iPhone at a September 12 event earlier on Monday.

HE New York Times, which famously insists on the accuracy of its reports, was red faced Sunday after being fooled by a hoax online editorial posted under the name of ex-boss Bill Keller.

The editorial, titled “WikiLeaks, a Post Postscript,” was purportedly published over the weekend by the Times and in every way appears to be the real thing from Keller, who until last September was the paper’s executive editor.

The article appeared on a web page built to replicate the Times’ popular website, right down to perfectly working links to the rest of the site.

It was so realistic that none other than the newspaper’s technology editor Nick Bilton posted the link on his Twitter account, calling the apparent defense of Julian Assange’s controversial organization an “important piece.”

Not so.

“THERE IS A FAKE OPED GOING AROUND UN-

DER MY NAME, ABOUT WIKILEAKS. EMPHASIS ON ‘FAKE.’ AS IN, NOT MINE,” Keller, now a writer on the paper, tweeted to set the record straight.

Bilton followed up, tweeting: “I just deleted a tweet sent late last night that was from a fake NYT Bill Keller account.”

One of the few clues to the forgery was the web address of http:// www.opinion-nytimes. com/2012/07/29/opinion/keller-a-post-postscript.html,since the real website’s URL begins with www.nytimes.com.

There was no immediate word on the identity of the pranksters, though the global hacking movement Anonymous has notched up high-profile hits on American institutions over the last year.

The New York Times is certainly no stranger to WikiLeaks: the US daily has been one of the principal outlets for Assange’s mass dumping of hitherto secret government information from around the world.

8

VANTAGE POINTS

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

D

EDITORIAL

Shallow questions in a transparent process

T

HE search for the post-Corona Chief Justice revealed a fresh and welcome process that is not only transparent but also affords the public to take part.

We have seen the 20 candidates for the position as the highest magistrate of the land and they were all outstanding in their fields. Some are constitutionalists, some commercial law experts, some trial practice veterans, and some have track record in the executive department if not law school deans.

The line-up is so deep it’s very hard to say one has the upperhand over the other.

The incorporation of live coverage and social media in the selection process gave the public a bleacher’s view of the interviews and the chance to pick the judicial brain of the candidates.

But while the Judicial Bar Council interviews may have been successful in introducing a new dimension in

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their unenviable task of selecting the country’s judges and justices, it also exposed an old, shallow yardstick.

The questions of most JBC members dwelt on the expected—an investigative journey into the particular expertise of a candidate. The questions were predictable from where the candidates sit. Hence, it became an easy ride save for some very shallow questions bordering on very personal inquiries. The public, being a first-time audience in a process like this, and after being exposed to the impeachment process, are interested not just on the answers of the candidates but also on the questions of the JBC members.

The process gave us not just the opportunity to observe and size up the candidates but also to observe how the JBC performs its mandate. Afterall, it is not just the independence, integrity and moral fitness of the nominees that’s under strict scrutiny but also the integrity and independence of the JBC. ANTONIO M. AJERO Editor in Chief

RAMON M. MAXEY Consultant

GREGORIO G. DELIGERO CARLO P. MALLO Associate Features and Lifestyle KENNETH IRVING K. ONG KARLOS C. MANLUPIG • JOSEPH LAWRENCE P. GARCIA LEANDRO S. DAVAL JR., Creative Solutions Photography LORIE ANN A. CASCARO • JADE C. ZALDIVAR • MOSES C. BILLACURA Staff Writers

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

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EDGEDAVAO RMC, next big thing

ON’T look now, but the next big thing in education in this part of the country is Rizal Memorial Colleges (RMC). RMC, the school founded by the late erudite lawyer Leopoldo “Leo” Abellera with the help of an in-law, the late Dr. Quiambao, a famous medical practitioner who built the now defunct Quiambao hospital in Calinan.

The grapevine has it that Leo A. Magno, grandson of Leo Abellera, a former Court of Appeals associate justice and chairman of the defunct Board of Transportation, has consolidated hold on the RMC, after buying out the children of Vic Quimbao, his uncle, when the sportsman died recently. After the children, the siblings of Vic reportedly also sold their shares, which come to a total of 40 percent of RMC. Magno, son of Dr. Evelyn AbelleraMagno, who was president of RMC for a longtime, will reportedly introduce a lot of new things in the school, including but not limited to offering doctoral degrees in addition to four masteral courses already existing among the current course offerings.

Watch this, Leo will also revived the mothballed RMC college of law. A brilliant young lawyer who is making good in private practice and one of the outstanding law professors of the Ateneo de Davao law school has agreed to become the dean.

Magno, whose position in government as head of the Phividec industrial estate in Cagayan de Oro City bars him from continuing to be RMC president, is now chairman of the school’s board. He is now looking for a president to execute his grandiose plans for RMC. Magno is also said to be interested in entering politics and is rumored to be preparing to challenge Congressman Isidro Ungab in the Third District. Friends like me are however advising him against it, if he is really serious about his grand plans for RMC. Besides, Sid, according to surveys, is unbeatable in the Third District, if elections were held today.

The rumors started when it was verified that Leo had registered as a voter in the Third District, transferring from the Second District, where he was first rumored to be interested to run against the formidable Garcia clan.

--0— There’s so much ado about the broadside that President Noynoy delivered against irresponsible newscasting, zeroing in on the snide remarks that former Vice President Noli de Castro makes while delivering the news in TV Patrol.

I say the President has every right to do it and the best time to do it was during the anniversary of the news program because of its impact to both the news organization and its audience. As a practitioner for almost half a century now, I disapprove of the practice of Kabayan Noli of delivering short critical comments during TV Patrol News. His opinions properly belong in his commentary program in radio which is also being aired on TV. Also I like the idea of giving our leaders a chance to criticize media. We, mediamen, should be gracious enough to face criticisms which we dish out a lot against politicians, businessmen and community leaders. It is only fair.

EDGEDAVAO

T

‘The recollection of the

President of events that led to where we are now – as manifested in his SONA - is superb yet myopic, superficially analytical yet obviously and obnoxiously partial and parochial. ‘ on our slow paced development. Isn’t it true that the dictatorship had been demolished, crashed and shuttered – and that democracy was installed more than 25 years ago? Has the power of that iconic democracy and all its promises been so miniscule that it has not been able to respond to the needs of the majority of people? Or maybe that the democracy that we claim to have attained is

not real such that the spirit of the dead regime of Martial Law continues to haunt us with corruption and impoverishment? I thought that the EDSA revolution campaign had ultimately changed the kind of society that we have – devoid of malpractices in public governance, and that development for all had been attained.

It makes sense to understand the root causes of our problems now for as long as it will help us find some worthwhile solutions. It doesn’t make any sense when it is made to insinuate that emerging leaders such as Senator Bongbong Marcos (the son of the dictator) or Senator ChizEscudero (whose father was one of the dictator’s close allies) and many others are all party to that almost forgotten past and therefore are not worthy to serve the people. Fear? Insecurity?Paranoia for revenge?Political positioning for the elections in 2016? I really do not know how to call it; you be the judge.

Up to now, I haven’t read the whole transcript of the SONA; hence, I could not judge its more substantive content – the agenda for the future. But it has been 4 days ago and I hear no claps, no real applause and cheers. Did I miss anything? The answer of my friend – who has read the transcript – is negative.

The accomplishments are samples of the promises made; that’s par for the course. But the people expect more.

News as PNoy sees it

t’s normal for public officials to worry over negative reports coming out in the media on the economy, peace and order and other matters concerning governance – or the lack of it. And journalists may not find it worthwhile to be worried about occasional gripes from these officials on the supposed tendency of media to focus on the “negative” news, although I’m not sure if it’s proper to define news as either positive or negative.

Problems arise however when a leader, the President in particular, oversteps the thin line between press freedom and censorship.

Last Friday, President Benigno S. Aquino III again chided the media for its “negativity and sensationalism.” There could be no greater irony than the fact that he did it during the silver anniversary of ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol news program where he was the guest of honor.

Although directed at news anchor Noli de Castro, who happened to be Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s vice president, Malacanang’s communication guys were candid enough to say that the target was media itself.

Taking cue from this Palace admission, one may surmise that Aqui-

Monkey Business

people have moved on in their respective lives. The “12-year old boy whose father was incarcerated for 7 years and 7 months”, and whose “family was forced to live in exile for 3 years” is now the President of the Philippines. He apparently was able to move on – happily!

Those in the higher income levels have also moved on for the better. The bitter truth is that majority of our countrymen continue to live in mere subsistence.

I cannot understand how such event in the past could have impacted so much

no delivered his scathing remarks [against media as a whole] with the clear intent to make it come out with sanitized reports about this administration. Why, the President did it not once but twice, to paraphrase Susan Roces, and on the same day at that.

He delivered the same message (read instruction) at the silver anniversary of BusinessWorld.

Aquino’s act was a pathetic case of shooting, I mean shouting at the messenger. My initial reaction to it was to say that media simply reports the events using a lens different from those that shape the view of PR people in or out of government. (Of course, there are PR practitioners disguised as reporters or opinion writers who are content with the cut-and-paste brand of journalism.)

It is not for Aquino, or any official for that matter, to dictate how media should report or interpret events. No one may blame the media for keeping some amount of skepticism and doubt on official statements and statistics on politics, the economy and foreign relations, among others.

Media is not to blame if it cites the growing number of Filipinos going hun-

gry and without jobs amid government claims of an improved economy. It is not to blame if it reports that his “matuwid na daan” has several potholes, and that the fight for good governance does not end with impeaching a chief justice with questionable integrity. It is not to blame if it points out the apparent inconsistency in issuing strong pronouncements on Philippine sovereignty over the Panatag Shoal and withdrawing Navy ships from there, enabling China to strengthen its physical control of the disputed territory.

Finally, Aquino’s still high, albeit slipping popularity rating does not give him the license to tell the media to do away with skepticism – or “negativism” if you may – as a tool of the trade. He has no right telling the media what to do or not do. If he only wants to read or listen to fairy tales, he must be thinking that he is president of Neverland. [MindaNews/ H. Marcos C. Mordeno can be reached at hmcmordeno@gmail.com]

9

Britain’s shaken reputation

Par for the course

HE recent SONA of the President was observably the longest SONA ever delivered in the country. I don’t pretend that I was able to capture every bit of the discourse because when the delivery was just starting I found no “message” interesting enough to catch my rather restless attention. A day after the SONA, the transcript was uploaded in the net available for everyone. I tried to go through the transcript but my earlier suspicion was further affirmed.

SONAs by leaders in previous years were guilty of either full of statements of accomplishments that are not responsive to the needs and aspirations of people or lacking in development direction for the following year, or both. The SONA for 2012 is far from exception. In fact, for the last 3 years, another characteristic of the SONA could be added: pointing finger – in the guise of helping us understand the roots or root causes of our current helplessness and seemingly hopeless situation.

The recollection of the President of events that led to where we are now – as manifested in his SONA - is superb yet myopic, superficially analytical yet obviouslyand obnoxiously partial and parochial.

A swift recall on the promises he made in his Inaugural Speech: the wangwang,the straight and righteous path, corruption and poverty, started the SONA. The Martial Law of 30 years ago was validly yet unfortunately blamed for the persistence of corrupt practices and impoverishment. The dictator at the time has long been dead and many

I

VANTAGE POINTS

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

ANALYSIS

BY JOHN LLOYD

I

(1st of 2 parts)

T was rude of Mitt Romney to cast doubt on Britain’s ability to successfully host the London Olympics, but it wasn’t stupid. His briefers on the London trip will have had files full of stories from the British papers, whose front pages had little else on them for days but forebodings over security lapses because of a screwup by G4S, the company hired to keep the Games safe.

Britain hasn’t, in the past few years, been distinguished for excellence: Why assume the Games would be an exception?

For any foreigner, especially any American, alert to British events over the past year or two, these stories play against a backdrop of the perception of the British capital as “Londonistan,” a place whose tolerance of radical Islamism spills over into fatally dangerous carelessness. A city where, almost exactly a year ago, gangs of young men and women roamed the streets for several days, smashing shops, looting their contents, burning buildings, beating up passersby and isolated policemen. To voice doubts on U.S. television about London’s safety is not stupid, because doubts are in order.

Three institutions central to the world’s opinion of the United Kingdom have been and remain very badly shaken. These are the armed forces, the press and the banking system – three systems that, for two centuries or more, evoked real pride for the British people. The damage done – in two cases self-administered – has projected images of Britain that sharply contradict the sturdy, trusty, intelligently skeptical stereotype that the British like to think is a mirror of themselves.

The military is the outlier: It has not been the author of its own fall from grace, and is still thought of as efficient, wellequipped and well led. The wounds to its pride and efficacy have come from political considerations, of which the most important was to pull out of Iraq with an unconvincing rationale that the job it was doing, around the southern city of Basra, was done. In fact, its exit meant a U.S. brigade had to be deployed to cover the gap in security, despite the U.S. military itself being hard-pressed. In Afghanistan, a British withdrawal – this time in step with a similar U.S. exercise – is scheduled to begin next year. Several senior officers warn that the Afghan forces cannot provide security. Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Helmand, was quoted as saying in May that the local military “are not close to being able to take over from Western forces unaided, and I don’t believe that they would be able to contain the insurgency unaided by 2014, which is the date we are due to leave.”

Back home, the numbers of military personnel and bases and the ability to project force have been slashed so deeply that a slew of senior commanders have resigned, some remaining tactfully silent, others loud in their protest that the British armed forces now lack the capacity to fight even one, let alone multiple, large actions.

Britain, with France, had been an at least partial exception to the somewhat dubious decline of Europe’s ability to pull its weight in military engagements (a cause of increasing concern to a vastly indebted U.S.) From having been a partial solution, Britain joins the problem. It will, said a report last autumn from the Royal United Services Institute, “never again be among the global [military] superpowers.”

EDGEDAVAO 10 COMPETITIVE EDGE CEB launches 6 more inter-island routes to boost Philippines’ most extensive route network VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

O

FFERS P488 all-in introductory seat sale The Philippines’ largest national flag carrier, Cebu Pacific (PSE:CEB) further strengthens its most extensive route network in the Philippines, with the launch of 6 more inter-island routes.

Starting October 4, 2012, CEB will launch thrice weekly flights between Cebu and Busuanga, and between Tacloban and Legazpi. Both routes will operate on a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday frequency, using an ATR 72-500 aircraft.

Starting October 5, 2012, the airline will also launch the following flights using an ATR 72500 aircraft: Davao – Butuan (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday), Davao – Dipolog (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday), and Tacloban – Iloilo (Monday, Wednesday and Friday).

Meanwhile, CEB will

launch an Airbus A319 service between Zamboanga and Cagayan de Oro starting October 20, 2012.

This will be a thrice weekly service, every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

“CEB currently offers 63 domestic routes to 32 domestic destinations, providing passengers with the fastest access to key cities and destinations in the country. With these six new routes, CEB can offer the best connectivity options and the lowest fares to its guests, as well as promote trade and tourism in the destinations it flies to,” said CEB VP for Marketing and Distribution Candice Iyog.

“We will accept delivery of three more brandnew Airbus A320 aircraft in the 2nd half of 2012, and 7 more in 2013. We look forward to expanding our route network to better serve the evergrowing traveling public in the Philippines,” she added.

Kaspersky lab offers free tool to double check security

E

Kadayawan room sale at Eden Nature Park for low as PhP 288!

E

NJOY the bounties and splendor of nature while staying at Eden Nature Park and Resort for as low as PhP 288!

Take part of the festivities in the month of the Kadayawan and avail of great deals on selected accommodations at Eden Nature Park and Resort’s “Kadayawan Room Sale” from August 1-30.

Simply book and buy a room of your choice and avail them anytime between September 1

and November 30, 2012.

You can have a choice of their Aster Room, on sale for only PhP 288; Begonia Room, on sale for only PhP 668; Holiday Lodge, on sale for only PhP 602; Vista Cottage, on sale for only PhP 708; Gardenia Room, on sale for only PhP 577; Camellia Room, on sale for only PhP 722; and Gardenia Room, on sale for only PhP 772.

Rooms are subject to availability. A maximum of 5 gift certificates is given per individual buy-

er. The room sale is now applicable for seminars, corporate events and weddings. Unused ticket after November 30 will be forfeited.

Book and buy now!

For reservations, call or visit the Sales Office at Matina Town Square, Matina or call tel. nos.

299.0313/299.1020/ 296.0791, mobile no.

918.930.7590, email info@edennaturepark. com.ph. Check out their website at www.edennaturepark.com.ph. Like us on Facebook.

VEN with more dangerous forms of malware created by cybercriminals every day, many computer users are still not alarmed enough to secure and protect the data stored in their personal computers.

This prompted Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, to come up with a free scanning tool called Kaspersky Security Scan.

Kaspersky Security Scan is a new utility designed to check a computer’s security status, which is ideal for users who have no software security solution installed in their PCs. The new product provides a unique scanning feature that allows users to check if their currently installed security software is able to detect all malware.

Kaspersky Security Scan is now available for free download at Kaspersky Lab’s official website, www.kaspersky.com.

“The personal computer is still the primary communications device for the majority of consumers. The alarming fact is that millions of PCs around the world have inferior protection installed or use no security software at all,” said Nikolay Grebennikov, Kaspersky Lab chief technology officer.

“What we offer is a solution that checks the security status of users’ PCs, informs them of any threats discovered and helps find the proper real-time protection solution from Kaspersky Lab,” he added.

“We encourage PC users in Southeast Asia, particularly in the Philippines, to protect their valuable data stored in their PCs by using this new, free scanning tool from Kaspersky Lab,” said Jimmy Fong, Channel Sales Director for Kaspersky Lab Southeast Asia.

“The Kaspersky Security Scan will be very helpful for a lot of Filipino users who doesn’t have security software installed in their PCs. This will help to give them an idea of the number of vulnerabilities in their computer that are exposed to serious online threats,” he said.

A consumer survey conducted by Harris Interactive last March shows that a majority of owners do not use any security software to protect their digital assets.

At the same time, 60% of surveyed users are worried about the confidentiality of their most critical financial data, and 80% had directly faced a security threat at least once.

Despite the rise of internet-enabled mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, the traditional PC is still the number one digital device for the majority of consumers as it is most frequently used to go online and store personal and work data.

Kaspersky Security Scan is a small utility, optimized for quick installation with no additional questions asked and no reboots required. It is also compatible with other security solutions, providing users a second opinion on their computer’s security

status. Right after installation, Kaspersky Security Scan is ready to check the device’s system, scan for malicious programs and the status of Windows security settings and vulnerabilities in popular programs.

By default, a system scan is performed automatically three times a week and twice in background mode, but these settings can be modified by the user. It is also possible to perform either a quick or full scan of the system.

As soon as the scan is complete, the utility will display all the detected threats in several categories. However, the free scanning tool would not remove the malware. Instead, it will advise the user about the best possible, fully operative realtime security solution from Kaspersky Lab. As soon as the scan is complete, the tool will display all the detected threats in several categories.

Kaspersky Security Scan will then advise the user about the best available fully operative real-time security solution from Kaspersky Lab. Although the Kaspersky Security Scan is designed only to detect majority of the widespread malicious programs and it cannot detect the most complex malware, such as rootkits and bootkits. As a scanning tool, it is also not designed to provide a full system protection of the PC. To learn more about the utility, visit this page: www. kaspersky.com/securityscan

EDGEDAVAO

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

NAMADACWAD’s tree planting activity.

Members and officers plant 200 Malibago seedlings along the riverbank of Talomo Riv-

er during the celebration of NAMADCWAD’s 26th foundation.

NAMADACWAD plants th trees on 26 anniversary M

EMBERS of the Davao City Water District’s labor union Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Davao City Water District (NAMADACWAD) celebrated their 26th founding anniversary last July 14, 2012 at the DCWD Talomo Sump.

Attended by the union officers and members, the event opened with a short program wherein NAMADACWAD president Rodrigo L. Aranjuez inspired participants with a speech. Aranjuez noted that it was the first time that the union was able to formally celebrate their founding anniversary and they wish to make the celebration an annual event.

“Usa sa mga tumong sa pag saulog sa anibersaryo sa unyon mao ang paghatag ug higayon sa tanan myembro na makatapok nga dili maghisgot ug problema (Among the objectives of

celebrating the union’s anniversary is to give members the chance to gather without having to discuss problems),” Aranjuez explained.

He noted that for the years that the union has existed, members and officers only meet twice a year during general assemblies scheduled every April and November and discussions often center on issues pertaining to labor and social matters. He continued to explain that the event also served as a form of thanksgiving that NAMADACWAD has stayed strong over the years since it was formed in 1982 and formally registered at the Department of Labor in Manila on July 16, 1986.

The program was then followed by a tree planting activity of 200 Malibago seedlings along the riverbank of Talomo River near DCWD’s meter room in Talomo Sump.

In 2010, NAMADACWAD also planted a total of 300 Malibago and Mahogany seedlings in the same area in time for the Earth Day celebration.

A festive boodle fight lunch which emphasized the call for simplicity and equality among members was shared by the participants.

All the while, they were entertained by a performance of environment and labor themed songs by the union’s Agos band whose players are also NAMADACWAD members.

To date, NAMADACWAD has 512 members and still growing. Among the matters that the union wants to emphasize on its members is to continue protecting the interest of the employees, consumers and water district and giving sincere service to the people of Davao City by providing sufficient, quality and affordable water. (JOVANA T.

“The first day of the training will teach the participants an idea on how to encode their musical composition into electronic music using the simple-to-understand Noteworthy Composer,” he said.

“Noteworthy Composer is a Windows-based music notation software that allows one to create, record, edit, print and play back musical scores in pure music notation.”

Pasuelo explained that this tool is proposed to be

integrated in a classroom setting under the Music Arts Physical Education and Health (MAPEH) subject.

Meanwhile, a workshoptraining on songwriting was also scheduled on Monday with the multi-awarded, songwriter, composer and environmentalist, Joey Ayala as the mentor.

“Ayala is expected to discuss the rudiments of music composition and will tackle the tips and tricks or techniques in songwriting,” Pasuelo disclosed.

DUHAYLUNGSOD)

General Santos City students train in songwriting, audio recording

T

HE city government through its SHEEPComputer Literacy Program (CLP) is embarking on another training to empower musically-inclined public high school students here.

SHEEP-CLP head Percival Pasuelo bared that a two-day training-workshop on digital recording and songwriting was scheduled tomorrow and Monday (July 30) to hone the skills of the participants on the art of music using the latest technology.

COMMUNITY SENSE 11

12

NATION/WORLD

NATION BRIEFS Deal

I

N its latest efforts to repatriate Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from strife-torn Syria, the Philippine government gained success in negotiating with top Syrian officials to bring back home 140 OFWs, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced in a statement yesterday.

“This is the largest batch of OFWs coming home from Syria since the unrest started in March 2011,” the statement said.

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

U.N. team to tour U flood-hit N. Korea

WORLD TODAY

United Nations team will visit North Korea from Tuesday to assess damage from recent floods with a view to developing an aid plan, a U.N. official said, although the North’s new leadership is yet to make any detailed response to the disaster.

The team will include some U.N. workers al-

ready in North Korea, Christopher de Bono, chief of communications for East Asia and the Pacific for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), told Reuters on Monday.

The trip follows a meeting between U.N. and North Korean officials on Monday, at which Pyongyang presented its assess-

ment of the damage, he said without elaborating on the meeting.

“We have agreed to send an inter-agency rapid assessment team to the two most affected counties tomorrow (July 31),” de Bono said in an emailed statement.

North Korea remains one of the most isolated states in the world. That

has not changed since new leader Kim Jong-un took power seven months ago, although floods have in the past provided opportunities for contact with the outside world.

“A U.N. response will be devised after the interagency mission confirms the damages and gauges the immediate requirements of the affected population,” de Bono said.

Initial reports indicated the damage to farming areas and its effect on people was devastating.

North Korea’s official media has reported that floods caused by torrential rainfalls from July 25 killed 88 people, left tens of thousands homeless and damaged farmlands.

Apart from a brief statement carried by the official KCNA news agency three days ago, there has been no other word suggesting how the North’s new leadership will help the thousands struggling to survive.

HE United States warned the world was sliding backwards on religious freedoms, slamming China for cracking down on Tibetan Buddhists and hitting out at Pakistan and Afghanistan.

As the State Department unveiled its first report on religious freedoms since the start of the Arab Spring, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday said it was a “signal to the worst offenders” that the world was watching.

“New technologies have given repressive governments additional tools for cracking down on religious expression,” Clinton told a US think-tank, adding that pressure was rising on some faith groups around the globe.

“More than a billion people live under governments that systematically suppress religious freedom,” she stressed.

“When it comes to this human right -- this key feature of stable, secure, peaceful societies -- the world is sliding backward.”

The 2011 International Religious Freedom Report noted that last year governments increasingly used blasphemy laws to “restrict religious liberty, constrain the rights of religious minorities and limit

freedom of expression.”

Highlighting the situation in Indonesia and Afghanistan, the report recalled the case in Pakistan of Aasia Bibi, the first Christian woman to be sentenced to death for blasphemy in the country.

And while in Afghanistan the constitution says that followers of other religions are free to worship as they please it also maintains “that Islam is the ‘religion of the state,’” the report said.

The Afghan government’s “failure to protect minority religious groups and individuals limited religious freedom,” it insisted.

In China “there was a marked deterioration during 2011 in the government’s respect for and protection of religious freedom in China,” the report said.

This included “increased restrictions on religious practice, especially in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and nunneries.”

“Official interference” in traditional Tibetan religious practices had “exacerbated grievances and contributed to at least 12 self-immolations by Tibetans in 2011.”

China and North Korea, where the report noted that religious freedom

does not exist in any form, along with Myanmar are among eight nations designated as “countries of particular concern” for failing to accept religious rights.

They are accompanied

by Eritrea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.

Much of the focus of the 2011 report however was on the countries involved in the Arab Spring, where popular uprisings have ousted autocratic leaders.

Despite gestures by Egypt’s interim military leaders towards greater inclusiveness, sectarian violence had increased, the report said, denouncing “both the Egyptian govern-

ment’s failure to curb rising violence against Coptic Christians and its involvement in violent attacks.”

Clinton, who visited Egypt earlier this month, said she had had “a very emotional, very personal conversation with Christians who are deeply anxious about what the future holds for them and their country.”

Egypt’s new leader, President Mohamed Morsi, who emerged from the Islamic Brotherhood to become the country’s first democratically-elected president, had vowed in their talks “to be the president of all Egyptians.”

Patrol boats

U

NLIKE the decadesold and strippeddown ships the Philippines gets from the United States, the 12 patrol boats the Philippine Coast Guard will most likely get from Japan in 2014 “will all be brandnew”, according to a top official of the Japanese Embassy in Manila.

Minister Shinsuke Shimizu, head of the Japanese Embassy’s chancery, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an interview on Thursday that Japan and the Philippines had begun the paper work for the acquisition of the patrol boats by the Philippine Coast Guard.

Left

O

NLY two of the 20 Chinese fishing vessels that dropped anchor the other day very close to the Philippineoccupied Pag-Asa island in the Spratlys region remain in the area, according to the military’s Western Command (Wescom).

Wescom spokesman Lt. Col. Niel Estrella said yesterday’s maritime air surveillance over Pag-Asa island showed that most of the Chinese fishing vessels were no longer around.

Cancelled

M

ALACANANG has suspended classes in college level, as well as work in government offices in the National Capital Region from 2:30 pm onwards.

Under Circular number 32 issued by the Palace and signed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, the suspension however excludes agencies “whose functions involve the delivery of basic and health services, preparedness/ response to disasters and calamities, and/or the performance of other vital public services.”

T

Cracked

HE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is inspecting the seawall along Manila Bay after receiving reports that cracks were seen on the design of the structure.

DPWH-National Capital Region director Reynaldo Tagudando yesterday said he has ordered the inspection of the newly-repaired seawall stretching from the United States embassy to the Manila Yacht Club.

EDGEDAVAO

North Koreans are seen at a flooded village in Anju July 30, 2012 in this picture released by North Korea’s official news agency KCNA in Pyongyang. [REUTERS]

A

D

Failed

ELEGATIONS from around the world failed on Friday to agree a landmark U.N. arms-trade treaty to regulate the more than $60 billion industry, opting for further talks and a possible U.N. General Assembly vote by the end of the year, diplomats said.

More than 170 countries have spent the past month in New York negotiating a treaty, which needed to be adopted by consensus, so any one country effectively could have vetoed a deal.

Instead, no decision was taken on a draft treaty.

US hits out at Asian nations A over religious freedoms T

Kenza Drider, candidate for the 2012 French presidential election, speaks in 2011 in front of the police tribunal in Paris, after being fined for violating France’s niqab ban. The United States warned the world was sliding backwards on religious freedoms Monday, criticizing violence against Coptic Christians in Egypt and citing European laws banning Muslim veils. [AFP]

Visit

.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton departs this week on a trip that will take her both to Africa’s newest nation, South Sudan, and on a visit to the continent’s elder statesman, 94-year-old anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.

While Clinton’s public focus will be on Africa’s democratic achievements and economic potential, the trip also underscores U.S. security ties in the face of an array of growing threats --from Islamist extremists to narcotics cartels.

Drug haul

USTRALIAN police on Tuesday seized a record half a tonne of the drug ice and heroin worth up to A$500 million hidden in a shipment of terracotta pots from Thailand.

Seven people, including four from Hong Kong, were arrested after a year-long investigation following a tip-off from U.S. authorities, police said. The 306 kg of methamphetamine, also known as ice, was Australia’s biggest seizure of the drug, while the 252 kg of heroin was the nation’s third largest-haul of heroin.

U

Sanctions

.S. lawmakers moved a step closer to finalizing new sanctions aimed at further restricting Iran’s oil revenues after negotiators from the Senate and House of Representatives agreed on a compromise bill on Monday.

The bill includes several new provisions seeking to crack down on those who ship or insure Iranian oil cargoes, or who pay for oil using gold. It also seeks to curtail efforts to evade sanctions by reflagging ships or turning off tracking systems.

S

Shelled

YRIAN government forces used helicopter gunships to strafe rebel-held districts in Aleppo and shelled the area on the third day of a pitched battle for the commercial capital.

The fighting has sent some 200,000 civilians fleeing the northern city, according to the United Nations, which warned of a looming humanitarian catastrophe, while France said it would call an urgent UN Security Council meeting on Syria.

EDGEDAVAO

13

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

Students urged to refrain from joining violent activities

M

WELCOME ADDRESS. Davao City Police Office chief P/SSupt. Ronald dela Rosa delivers his welcome message during Davao City Police Office fiesta yesterday. [LEAN DAVAL JR.]

DOH warns: Don’t wade in flooded waters

H

EALTH authorities wartned the public against the danger of leptospirosis, now reported to have reached 2,002 cases nationwide from Jan. 1 to July 7, 2012.

Dr. Eric Tayag, assistant secretary and spokesman of the Dept. of Health, cautioned in particular those people who have fever and waded in flooded areas for the past three to seven days to seek medical attention for possible leptospirosis infection.

“Those people need to take prescribed antibiotic to prevent the progression of the infection, Tayag said.

He was referring to those who recently waded in flood waters; have had high fever for two to

Squatters...

three days; fever was accompanied by body pains, chills, headaches, and red eyes (like sore eyes); jaundice (yellowing of the skin); decreased levels of urination; and urine was tea-colored (a dark amber color).

Tayag has yet to give the full details of the latest report on leptospirosis.

Tayag said the public should consider flooded waters contaminated or danger of catching leptospirosis infection considering that garbage is everywhere, dead animals or existence of rats.

Accordingly, leptospirosis is an infection caused by direct exposure to bacteria found in animal urine and feces.

Patients can get in-

fected when they swallow flood water or when bacteria enter the body through open wounds, eyes, nose, or breaks in the skin.

As a precaution, the DOH reiterated calls the public should avoid flooded areas and to refrain from coming in contact with flood water, to wear protective clothing like pants, rubber boots, gloves or rubber jumpsuits, maintain their home clean and getting rid of rats.

“Those who wade through floods should protect the skin from bacteria by washing with soap and water the parts of the body that have come into contact with flood water, Tayag said.

Purok Diolo, according to WMC member and lumad leader Datu Eddie Rosete, is an elevated rustic place ideal for vacation houses and could very well be converted into a tourist resort village if not for the fact that it is one of the city’s protected natural sites that ought to be preserved at all cost.

The report reaching the WMC also indicated that some of the lot buyers have started clearing the lots they have bought by cutting the trees therein. It is not known if some buyers have already built horizontal structures like houses in the area.

Expressing alarm over the invasion of the watershed area by speculators, the WMC decided yesterday to ask the Davao City office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to act on the problem and treat the matter with urgency in order to prevent further destruction of the protected area by human encroachment.

Meanwhile, Felizarta formed a team from his office headed by forester Christopher Asibal to go to the area and assess the situation before recommending remedial measures to the WMC in its next meeting.

Felizarta is warning the public against buying “rights” in the Diolo watershed area as it is illegal to do so.

He said buying and introducing improvements into a protected area is against many laws already in place, and therefore would be unnecessarily opening the buyers to criminal prosecution, aside from losing the money they used to buy the Diolo lots.

[PNA]

FFROM 1 is not from Davao City is behind the selling spree in the watershed area to moneyed individuals believed to be speculators who intend to resell their bought lots at much higher prices in the future.

The land-buying spree which began two months ago was first reported during yesterday’s monthly WMC meeting presided by City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) chief Dominic Joseph Felizarta, in behalf of Mayor Sara.

The buyers are not ordinary squatters but astute speculators, the WMC was told.

More...

FFROM 2

tries, are invited to work in the country either for short or long term such as providing trainings and consultancy.

He mentioned that the Davao region had 20 “balik” (home-coming) scientists since the program started five years ago.

He cited that one of the home-coming scientists produced a technology that controls the population of cacao pod borers, adding that the Cocoa Philippine Foundation in Calinan, Davao City has already adopted such technology.

ALACANANG called on the students to refrain from participating in violent activities such as inflicting harm on others, as another case of suspected hazing resulted in the death of a student from the San Beda law school, recently.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte issued the call during the regular press briefing on Tuesday in Malacanang, stressing that no one benefits from such kind of illegal activities.

“Kung totoo man na ito ay biktima ng hazing,

Ateneo...

itigil na po natin ang ganitong cycle of violence, wala namang nagbe-benefit sa ganito,” Valte said.

She further assured that the Philippine National Police will be conducting a thorough investigation of the case.

“Nakagugulat po ang nangyari na meron na namang victim of alleged hazing, wala pa sa atin lahat ng impormasyon… sa aking pagkakaalam ay inutusan na ng hepe ng pulis doon na imbestigahan dahil late yata na-confirm,” Valte said.

Reports revealed that a student of San Beda law

FFROM 1 was among the 169 victims of food poisoning, had asked to be discharged from the hospital.

Office of Student Affairs director Ricardo Enriquez yesterday said that Tabora wanted to attend the Eucharistic celebration held late in the afternoon of July 30 at the Addu Matina Campus.

The university, likewise, attended the blessing of their new school facilities --the swimming pool and oval track.

Enriquez said most of the students will be released

DFA...

school died after going through a suspected fraternity hazing rituals in Dasmarinas, Cavite on Sunday.

In a post on its Facebook page, Lsghotline Sbc, the San Beda Law Student Government confirmed the death of Marc Andrei Marcos.

Pending the completion of investigation, the case is being treated as a “mauling” incident.

If the hazing angle proves true, Marcos would be the second San Beda law student to die from hazing this year after Marvin Reglos, who was killed in February. [PNA]

Loren...

FFROM 3

from the hospital as their 48hour observation period has ended.

Of the 169 victims, 152 are students while 12 are top administrators of the school, two were from the catering agency itself, while three are utility staffs: an elevator operator, janitor, and driver.

The victims were attending the event Sui Generis: Ateneo Student Leaders and had taken their lunch from lunchboxes served by the caterer who is now in hot water and may be facing possible charges for the incident.

casino personnel and estheticians – positions occupied by thousands of Filipinos in foreign vessels.”

“The action demanded of the Philippine Senate is of great consequence to 1.2 million seafarers worldwide, 400,000 of whom are our very own.

I fully support the concurrence in MLC, 2006, and urge this Chamber’s immediate concurrence in the ratification of this Convention,” she concluded.

While some members like the Philippines and Vietnam are aligned with the United States and other Western countries calling for a rules-based and multilateral approach in solving the disputes, others members aligned to China like Cambodia and Laos toe Beijing’s line either by not openly backing a multilateral approach or opposing it outright.

The Philippines and Vietnam have accused Beijing of becoming increasingly aggressive in asserting its claims in the West Philippine Sea, or also known as the South China Sea. The vast waters are strategic and resource-rich waterway where more than 50 percent of the world’s merchant fleet tonnage passes each year.

The area had been a source of conflict among rival claimants China, Taiwan and ASEAN members Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei.

Overlapping claims to the contested waters, islands and reefs, where undersea gas deposits have been discovered in several areas, has been feared to be Asia’s next potential flashpoint for war.

Hernandez challenged

the Cambodian envoy to prove his allegations and asked him to speak the truth on the outcome of the meetings in Phnom Penh.

“As a matter of courtesy to our Cambodian friends, we will ask the ambassador if he can kindly authorize the release to the public of evidence which should end all speculation on what really happened in Phnom Penh,” Hernandez said.

He said the department will keep on summoning the Cambodian ambassador “until he is able to come to the DFA.” “We also intend to show the Cambodian ambassador why the ASEAN chair was being viewed as unduly advancing a NON-ASEAN country’s interest, with a clear prejudice to positions of the Philippines and Vietnam, members of ASEAN,” Hernandez said.

Asked if there is a possibility that the Cambodian envoy would be declared persona non grata or “unacceptable” for issuing offensive remarks against the host government, Hernandez said: “We’re not going there yet.”

“What is important is for him to explain to us what he meant by his statements,” Hernandez said. [PNA]

FFROM 2 Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

After the Phnom Penh meetings, Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio issued a public statement explaining that the ASEAN failed to come up with a communiqué due to Cambodia’s firm position not to reflect the recent developments in the South China Sea. That, despite the view of the majority of the bloc’s members these developments impinge on the overall security of the region.

In response, the Cambodian ambassador sent a letter to the Philippine Star accusing the Philippines and Vietnam of “sabotaging” the group statement because of their insistence on inserting the sea disputes in the proposed document.

The Cambodian envoy’s biting criticisms against the Philippines and Vietnam are the latest twist in the brewing animosity between this year’s host of ASEAN’s revolving chairmanship and Chinese ally Cambodia on one side and Manila and Hanoi on the other over the territorial disputes that is threatening to divide the regional bloc.

14

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VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

Realty

EDGEDAVAO

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7) 116.15 to 245.92 sq meters , at P5.5M to P12.3M commercial/office condo units in Bajada, Davao City.

8) 699 to 1,117 sq m at P4,100/sq m commercial lots at Josefina Town Center, along the National Highway, Dumoy, Toril. 9) Ready-forOccupancy Residential Properties: 4BR/3T&B in a 240 sq m lot with 177.31sqm floor area (2-storey) at P4.8M in an exclusive beachfront community in Dumoy, Toril.; 3BR 2-storey in a 71.25 sq m 2-storey in a 143sq m lot in an exclusive flower village in Maa, Davao City; 180 sq m lots with 71.25sqm to 126.42 sq m floor areas, priced at P3.751M to P5.773M in an exclusive mountain resort community along Matina, Diversion Road. 10) 1BR/2BR residential condo units located in Bolton, Maa, Obrero, Davao City.

11) FOR ASSUME (RUSH): 1BR res’l condo unit in Palmetto, Maa. P600K negotiable. Note: Items 1-9 can be paid in cash, in-house or bank financing. If interested, please call Jay (PRC REB Lic. 8237) at 0922-851-5337 (Sun), 0908883-8832 (Smart) or send email to propertiesindavao@yahoo.com.

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WOMEN

Agnes Locsin’s tribute to trees

DAYS after launching her book, Philippine Neo-Ethnic Choreography (A Creative Process), Agnes Locsin made another mark as a choreographer with her recently concluded dance concert entitled “Puno: Ang Pangatlong Galaw.”

The “Alay sa Puno” series is a dance composition that explores the literal, physical, and symbolical virtues of texture and strength, garnered from the tree trunks that bear the weight of life.

Agnes A4 F

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

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VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

WOMEN ENTERTAINMENT

A revolutionary, a mother, and a woman

By Ruby Thursday More for Mindanews

A plastic bottle of Isopropyl alcohol, ballpens and pencil, cellphone charger, food container, scissor, masking tape, an old issue of a newspaper, and dried wild grass flowers propped inside a rounded cardboard litter the desk of Ka Lima, a 33-year old female New People’s Army (NPA) cadre, as she prepares for another day at their guerrilla base.

Her two-by-three meter makeshift tent, or “posting” as they would call it, has frames made up of small tree branches. Ka Lima meticulously layered blue tarpaulins, sacks, and a nylon taffeta fabric with acrylic coating (the same material used in umbrellas) to drive out the cold.

“Tugnawonon man gud ko” (I get cold easily), she explains. Temperature at their camp can drop to as low as 15 degrees Celsius at times, so Ka Lima has to think of ways to keep herself warm.

Cozy is not the word that one would associate with an NPA camp but this is the feeling one gets upon entering Ka Lima’s tent. Despite their transient and always-on-guard lifestyle, Ka Lima exerted efforts to make her space homey. “Mahilig man gud ko mag kutikuti maong ingon ani ni” (I love to tinker with things that’s why my tent looks like this), Ka Lima says with a laugh.

Ka Lima is in charge of the company’s logistical and financial needs, and her tent also serves as her “office” where she makes reports, answers phone calls and talks with her fellow cadres on different concerns.

A stretcher, made of sacks sewn together, both serves as her bed and chair. Small tree branches tied together with rattan forms her desk.

The only touches of modernity perhaps, inside Ka Lima’s tent are the light bulb, cellphones, and a laptop.

After getting married in 2005, Ka Lima and her husband decided to join the NPA. She was 26 years old then.

Founded in 1969, the New People’s Army is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). It is the longest-running revolution in Asia, waging a protracted “people’s war” from the countryside.

Personal Challenges Ka Lima admits that it was very difficult at first. “Physical kayo ang mga kalisdanan—lakawan, kakapoy, bug-at imong dad-on…Pero madugay, maanad ra diay gihapon ka, ma develop ra imong mga muscles hangtud dili na ka kahibalo na bug-at na diay imong ginadala” (The challenges were very physical at first. You need to endure long walks, fatigue, and carry heavy loads. But you get used to it, until such time you can no longer feel that what you’re carrying is heavy) she says.

She also had to adjust to a new culture and a new environment. She

was first deployed to a Lumad (indigenous peoples) area and by nature, Lumads are reluctant to mingle with people coming from the cities so Ka Lima exerted every effort to overcome this challenge. “Ang pakigrelasyon sa mga kaubang Lumad nay gintang. Kung mailhan nila daan na tagasyudad ka, PTB (petty bourgeoisie) ka, dili jud mawala na dunay gamay na gap pero sa dagan sa panahon, kinahanglan nimo i-cope up, kinahanglan nimo walaon (There is a gap on your relationship with fellow Lumad cadres at first especially when they know that you came from the city, that you belong to the petty bourgeoisie. But you need to adjust to this and work on eliminating this gap), Ka Lima says.

Adding to these challenges was Ka Lima’s longing for her family, who could not accept her decision then. “Ang acceptance dili dire-diretso…pero nakondisyon na sila daan sa aktibista pa ko nga diri gyud ko.

Kanang makit-an bitaw nila ang consistency. Madugay, nadawat ra nila” (Their acceptance was not immediate although they are aware, since I have been an activist, that this is the path that I will eventually take. They saw my consistency. In time, they were able to accept my decision), she said.

Ka Lima added:“Naay mga panahon atong mga niaging tuig nga nakauli ko nakit-an nila na nipayat ko, simple na kaayo akong porma.

Maluoy sila, kay dili baya ingon ana sa una tapos gina provide nila imong panginahanglan pero nakit-an nila na happy ka tapos tanang kalisdana imong naagi-an imong gibarugan.

Madugay, kumbinsi ra gihapon sila” (There had been times before when I was able to come home and see them.

They saw that I have grown thin and lived a very simple life. They pity me because I didn’t look like that before.

They used to provide me with everything. But they saw that I am happy and I stand for what I believe in despite the hardships. With that, they were able to accept my decision).

Motherhood In 2007, Ka Lima gave birth to a son. But due to the nature of the life she has chosen, she had to leave him with relatives. She left him when he was only three months old.

“Lisud gyud kaayo. Kanang effort bitaw nimo nga kanang pugngan ang imong emosyon para makalayo ka sa iyaha labina kay mo smile nabaya

nang three months. Mawili na kayo ka. Pero kay politics in command man lagi, kinahanglan nimo buhaton” (It was very difficult. I need to contain my emotions so that I’d have the strength to leave especially because at three months, a baby would already smile, and that makes me grow fonder of him. But since politics has to prevail, I need to leave him), Ka Lima said.

She gets to see his son or talk to him over the phone once in a while but the child has no idea that she is his mother. It was Ka Lima’s choice to keep it that way though. “Di naman kinahanglan na ipamugos nimo na ikaw ang inahan. Moabot ra man gyud ang panahon nga ilhon ka niya.

Subay pud sa kasinatian sa ubang ginikanan” (You don’t need to force on him that you are his mother.

Time will come that he will recognize you, based on the experience of other parents), Ka Lima explained.

She added: “Para sa ako, wala nay necessity nga ipamugos nimo nga ilhon ka. Para sa ako, bisan kinsa man makahatag ug motherly love sa iyaha.

Sa among distansiya, magpakatotoo na lang gyud na dili nako siya ma hug, dili nako siya makit-an pirmi, ihatag na sa uban”(I don’t need to force on him that I am his mother.

For me, anybody can give him motherly love. With our distance, I have already accepted that I cannot hug him and see him often. The love and care he needs can also be given by others).

His son calls her “nanay” but he

thought that “nanay” is similar to an aunt or older sister. “Dili man pud ko ma-hurt kay kabalo ko nga ingon ani gyud ang dangatan—pwede ko ilhon, pwede pud dili. Ang pinakamaayo kana rang amigohon ka niya, dayon mokatawa siya uban sa imoha kung mag joke ka sa iyaha” (I don’t get hurt because I know this is how things will turn out—he might recognize me, he might not. The best thing is when he befriends me and laughs whenever I crack a joke), Ka Lima said.

But Ka Lima admitted that she longs for her son, just like any mother would. “Pangita-on gihapon nako siya, labi na kung bag-o lang mi nagkita. Mingaw kayo na. Pero madugay, mahulipan ra man pud siya sa imong ka busy sa trabaho” (I do miss him especially after seeing him. I feel so sad. But in time, the sadness goes away especially when you are swamped with work), she said.

In 2009, when his son was only around two years old, Ka Lima’s husband was killed during an encounter. They were not together when it happened. She only saw him when they withdrew. She did not expect to lose him that night. “First time nako makakita ug tao nga nabugtu-an ug kinabuhi” (It was my first time to see someone die), she recalled.

For others, this tragic experience will most likely break their spirit but not hers. Instead, it strengthened her resolve to continue with the struggle and motivated her to be better at the tasks assigned to her.

Challenges to women in the revo-

lutionary movement In the guerilla movement, there is no strict delineation of tasks between men and women as they are tapped according to their strengths and expertise. But generally, women are involved in medical care, sanitation, education, and organizing.

“Depende siya sa imong kakayahan. Naay mga babae nga kaya nila mag sag-ob, kaya nila pang lalake.

Depende man gud na sa iyang namat-an pud. Kung ang training niya sa ilang balay, mamugha ang mga babae, magsag-ob ug tubig, diri, wa man nato na ginapugngan kay ang pinakamaayo gyud, kung asa ka mas produktibo” (Your tasks depends on your capabilities, what you are used to, what makes you most productive.

There are women who can do manly tasks such as fetching water and chopping wood. We don’t discourage that here), Ka Lima said.

But she admitted that it is more difficult for women to adjust to this kind of life than men as by nature, most women are used to light tasks.

“Unang-una, ang babae, daan sa kultura sa gawas, pinakaulahi niyang buhaton ang pagsundalo. Dapat ang babae naa sa balay, ana man na kasagaran di ba? Kung wala siya sa balay, naa sa opisina. Anad kana ang imong trabaho gaan, unya diri sundalo ka— naa kay pusil nga bug-at, lakawan…”

(In the culture that we have been used to, women are either at home or working in offices, doing light tasks.

The last thing that she would do is to become a soldier. But here, women are soldiers--carrying heavy guns and enduring long walks).

Women in the guerilla movement also have to contend with the occasional patriarchal viewpoints and attitudes of some of their male comrades. “Dili pa gihapon mawala ang patriarchal na relasyon sa babae ug sa lalaki—na mas superior ang lalaki kaysa babae. Naa man tay polisiya sa pagrespeto sa kababayen-an pero usahay, imo pa gihapon masimhotan ang mga macho na panan-aw ngadto sa kababayen-an” (Here, we cannot completely eradicate the patriarchal relationship between men and women—that men are more superior than women. Though we have a strong policy on the respect for women’s rights, at times, you can still sense some macho stances against women), Ka Lima admitted.

But she explained that they do not magnify this issue since they understand that this is the culture that many of us have been used to.

Sometimes though, it is the women themselves who doubt and underestimate their capabilities especially when it comes to military duties.

And when this happens, oftentimes, it is also their fellow women who encourage them and push them to continue.

While many would frown at the sacrifices women like Ka Lima has made and endured for the revolution, they completely understand these dissenting viewpoints. “Dili pa man gud nila ma appreciate na ang among pagpaningkamot diri para sa kinatibuk-an kay dili pa man nila mabati karon… wala sila sa base, dili nila makit-an ang kausaban” (They cannot see that our efforts here are for everyone since they cannot yet feel the changes. They do not belong to the poorest of the poor that’s why they cannot see the changes that are happening), Ka Lima said.

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

INdulge! A3

ENTERTAINMENT

Jackson Family saga:

Janet Jackson, siblings barred from mom’s house!

JUST because they’’re family, don’t think they can drop by unannounced.

Michael Jackson’s children, Prince, Paris and Blanket, are currently staying at Katherine Jackson’s L.A. home. But E! News has learned the kids’cousin and temporary guardian, T.J. Jackson, has been advised by estate lawyers on who should and should not be allowed into their home.

T.J.’s lawyer Charles Shultz tells E! News that a letter was given to security and “that letter was in compliance with Judge [Mitchell] Beckloff’s order and is not arbitrary.”

“As for the family members who are on that list, they were either at the house on Monday, July 23, 2012, or in some way participated in the events surrounding that date,” Shultz stated.

It was then that Jermaine, Randy and Janet Jackson arrived at Katherine’s home and, according to multiple sources, forcefully tried to remove Prince, Paris and Blanket from the house. Sources have told E! News that it’s that money that motivated Randy,

Jermaine, Janet and sister Rebbie Jackson to separate Katherine from her grandchildren in an attempt to modify custody and effectively circumvent Michael’s will, which left his estate to his children and provided an ample allowance to their guardian.

Since Michael’s death in

2009, Katherine had been receiving a monthly allowance of $86,000 as guardian of Prince, Paris and Blanket.

For the time being, these funds are going to T.J. While Michael’s four siblings behind the failed family coup aren’t allowed at the house, Shultz said they aren’t forbidden from all

in the big second Britney Spears tribute episode.

“I wasn’t as much a part of it in the first one so hopefully the second one I can because I’ve got some

Britney Spears moves,” he said, adding, “I’d like to do ‘Sometimes’ or ‘Crazy.’That’s from when everyone was on the Britney bandwagon…Those are classics.”

What is Mike Chang’s future on Glee?

HARRY Shum Jr. wouldn’t mind seeing Mike Chang end up in Chicago to study at the Joffrey Ballet School, but that doesn’t mean the Windy City is his last stop on the Glee train.

“I think it would be interesting if he actually gets into the Joffrey ballet, but I also think it might be fun to make that trip to New York or L.A. to become a dancer,” Shum, 30, told me at the Dizzy Feet Foundation’s Celebration of Dance gala.

“Or maybe he wants to be more than just dancing,” he added. “It happens with a lot of dancers. You come and you dance in companies but you see all these other people making money doing all these things like choreographing.”

Dancer or not, Shum insists he doesn’t know what producers have in store for Mike. “I think they’re still trying to figure out where everyone else is,” he said.

In fact, he’s still waiting to hear what he’ll be doing

contact with their mother: “In addition, Mrs. Jackson is completely free to talk to whomever she chooses and is free to come and go from the house with any-

one whom she chooses,” the lawyer says.

On Friday, Katherine’s attorney, Perry Sanders, told the Los Angeles Times that the 82-year-old had reunit-

ed with her grandchildren. “[Katherine] is eager to simply enjoy her great relationship with these children, while deeding over some of the stressors that go hand-in-hand with being a guardian,” Sanders said.

A source told E! News Friday that Katherine would be filing for a shared guardianship arrangement between herself and T.J. (Tito’s son and Michael’s 34-yearold nephew) this week.

And although Katherine was initially “devastated’ to lose guardianship of her grandchildren, a family insider told us T.J.’s temporary guardianship “is good news.”

“It is not about taking [guardianship] away from Katherine. They are trying to protect the kids from the other family...T.J. didn’t step in to remove her. He stepped in because she is not there,” the source adds.

“He is extremely tight with his grandmother.”

For the young kids’ sake, let’s hope the family finds a way to work out this mess.

A4 INdulge!

WOMEN ENTERTAINMENT

EDGEDAVAO

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

Agnes... A1 Her third installment for this series focused on hard and redwood trees such as the Apitong, Yakal, Tugas, Kamagong, Mangkono, Bagtikan, Caimito, Lechiyas and Bayabas trees --- all of which are found mostly in the vanishing forests of the Philippines.

Typical of an Agnes Locsin choreographed piece, the neo-ethnic style that is widely recognized as, solely, her own, she depicted the multifaceted essence and soul of these trees through bold and intense movements to illustrate their strength amidst the fight from extinction.

Award winning dancers, Gaye Galiluyo and Georgette Sanchez, took center stage and gave life to this visual tribute. Their lithe bodies were flexed to strong defensive stances and powerful pelvic contractions, alongside revolutionary and technorock rhythms. Gaye and Georgette channelled themselves into the different aspects of the tree, in multiple portrayals as seen through chapters Tumbang Troso, BahayBahayan, Nakatagong Lakas, Hubog na Dagta, Ugat na Malawak, Kasariang Nakabalot, Armas na Magiting, Bawal Kang Tumubo, Bunong Braso, and Saan Kita Hahanapin.

Typical of an Agnes Locsin choreographed piece, the neo-ethnic style that is widely recognized as, solely, her own, she depicted the multifaceted essence and soul of these trees through bold and intense movements to illustrate their strength amidst the fight from extinction.

EDGEDAVAO

SPORTS

VOL.5 NO. 107 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

She will rise where she falls

15

D

ESPITE falling short in her second Olympics, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz thanked all her well-wishers, hours after her defeat on Monday night in the women’s 58kg category in weightlifting at the London Olympics.

“Thank you sa lahat nasupporta sakin kahit natalo na ako at kahit nazero ako nandyan Parin kayo!! Thank u Talaga guys!!,” Diaz posted on her Facebook account according to a report by Spin.ph..

Diaz failed in her attempt to lift 118kg in the clean and jerk three times after successfully lifting 97kg in the snatch. She cried after the failed attempt. Diaz, 21, was obviously the darling of the crowd as she was lustily cheered on in her second and third attempts.

Philippine Sports Commission executive director Atty. Guillermo Iroy, Jr. told EDGE Davao in a text message, “Hidilyn is a very promising athlete. She could really make it big but along the way, pressure is just too high for her, including the psychological aspect.”

“She will rise where she falls enrote to the road to Rio,” Iroy added referring to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, venue of the 2016 Olympic Games.

Diaz received an outpouring of support from well-wishers through social media and the words “Hidilyn Diaz” were one of the trending topics worldwide while the competition was going on.

One of her well-wishers was cager Chris Tiu who tweeted: “So proud of Hidilyn Diaz! Watching her represent the PHL in the London Olympics makes me proud already! Great effort!

Head up!!”

Hidilyn Diaz in her final attempt at 118 kg.

Phl swimmer shoots for personal best

J

ASMINE Alkhaldi giggled a lot when asked what to expect from her when she competes in one of seven heats in the 100-meter freestyle on Wednesday morning in the 30th Olympic Games.

Maybe that’s Jasmine

way of saying that her chances are as grey as the London skies.

“It’s soooooo tough,” said Jasmine a little louder, drawing attention from some athletes a table away as fellow swimmer Jessie Lacuna, coach Pinky Bro-

sas, Team Philippines chief of mission Manny Lopez and administrative officer Arsenic Lacson laughed.

The 19-year-old Pinay swimmer, who took up the sport when she was only three, sees action in the third heat against Mylene

Ong of Singapore, Nastja Govejsek of Slovenia, Ester Dara of Hungary, Liliana Lopez of Mexico, Karen Torres of Bolivia and Cielia Tini of Mauritius, with none of them expected to go beyond the qualifying heats.

Roger Federer of Switzerland (top) and Carolina Wozniacki of Denmark were among those who advanced in tennis at the Olympics Day 3.

One on one with US Olympic coach

Federer, Azarenka advance

W

ORLD No. 1 Roger Federer advanced to the round of 16 with a 6-2, 6-2 win over France’s Julien Benneteau in Olympic tennis on Monday.

Federer took less than an hour to dispose of his rival at Wimbledon Centre Court and will next take on Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin, a 6-7, 7-6, 7-5 winner over Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.

America’s Andy Roddick also advanced, winning his first-round match against Slovakia’s Martin Klizan 7-5, 6-4 and will next take on world

No. 2 Novak Djokovic, who a day earlier beat Fabio Fognini 6-7, 6-2, 6-2.

Women’s top seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus advanced with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu.

Venus Williams eased past French Open finalist Sara Errani of Italy 6-3, 6-1, while sister Serena scored a 6-2, 6-3 win over Poland’s Urszula Radwanska.

Former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki edged Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

U

S fencing coach Amgad Abd El-Halim Khazbak is a very busy man these days. At the helm of the American’s Olympic campaign in fencing, Coach Amgad has a very unenviable task.

But when the subject matter was Lee Oropilla Kiefer, Coach Amgad lights up and says yes to answer a few questions from this exclusive interview by EDGE Davao.

A day after the Half-Filipino US’ top fencing bet in women’s foil crashed out in the quarterfinals against a taller and experienced Italian, Coach Amgad answered some questions from a private message sent by this writer.

Here is our Q and A with Coach Amgad: EDGE: How do you describe Lee Kiefer as an athlete and student of the sport?

Coach Amgad: Lee (is) one of the best fencers I saw in my life, and she did write her name in the history of fencing as youngest fencer (to) have a medal in senior world championships and as Olympic result too!

EDGE: Having guided Lee to the quarterfinals, what lies ahead for Lee? What needs to be improved in her game?

Coach Amgad: Lee (is) still young, doesn’t believe how much she is good! It has affected her fencing! She can easily be the best fencer in the World and get Gold.

EDGE: What is Lee’s best attribute? Her best move or strong side in fencing?

Coach Amgad: She is great in attacking! When she need to score she score .

EDGE: Let’s break down on the match against Errigo, what is your analysis of that match? Coach Amgad: Errigo is strong fencer, as I said before if Lee have more confidence she can beat her.

EDGE: Three Italians made it to the semis, what is the distinct advantage of the Italian fencers? Coach Amgad: Italians have a great program, we can’t do this according to our budget! We need in US to put more money in the sport.

EDGE: How do you think you can break that advantage by the Italians and go

ahead of them in the team events?

Coach Amgad: Italian will win the Gold! As a team they are very strong against anyone!

EDGE: What are the chances of Lee and her teammates in the women’s team foil event?

Coach Amgad: We have a chance to have medal! We need to work hard and we can do it.

I thanked Coach Amgad for getting back with his answers.

He sure found time despite the hectic sked of the US fencing squad.

Good luck, Coach. The US team is fortunate to have a dedicated coach like you.

Notes: The world no. 5 Kiefer will be competing in the women’s foil team event. Joining her are world numbers 19, 22 and 26, Nzingha Prescod, Doris Willette, and Nicole Ross. As a team, the Americans are ranked sixth in the world, boosted by a Pan-American Championship win earlier this month. Unfortunately for the Americans, they have not finished better than fifth at a

World Cup this season, a position they have occupied in the last two tournaments. In the last Olympics, an underdog American squad that had not finished better than seventh at a world cup that season rose to the moment and stunned the fencing world; but that task will be difficult to repeat, especially with the talent-heavy teams that occupy the first four spots on the world rankings.

The American women shocked the world with a second place finish in the women’s foil team event in 2008, but have since needed to replace the entire Olympic roster.

According to observers, the Italians are heavily favoured to win the gold with Russia and France right behind.

16 SPORTS You can now buy your favorite Business Paper from any of these establishments still at Php 15.

Koronadal

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EDGEDAVAO

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