Edge Davao 5 Issue 194

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VOL.5 ISSUE 194 • FRIDAY -SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

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Serving a seamless society

Indulge

Environment

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Ad Congress, Asean Summit eye Davao D

AVAO CITY today is being preferred by organizers as site of national and international conferences.

This was bared by Cathrine Tzaris J. Pagatpatan, economist of the Davao City Investment Promotion Center while dis-

Number of tourist arrivals growing at a phenomenal 15-20 percent yearly

cussing investment opportunities with the country’s contractors and exhibitors participating in the 3rd Mindanao In-

Wow ha!

ternational Construction Expo which opened yesterday at the SMX Convention Center at SM

FAD, 11

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Sports

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69th IB now in Paquibato

PHILCONSTRUCT. Assistant Secretary Cathy Cabral of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), center, and Engr. Jaime G. Adalin, acting head of the Davao City Building Office, who repre-

By Anthony S. Allada

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ESPITE objection from militants, a Philippine Army official has confirmed that the headquarters of an Army battalion had already transferred to the city’s Paquibato district.

“Yes, we already transferred our headquarters to Paquibato,” said Lt. Col. Inocencio Pasaporte, referring to his 69th Infantry Battalion.

Pasaporte said that the transfer from San Roque, Panabo City to Paquibato district was a good move of the

Army hierarchy to protect civilians from oppression by members of the New People’s Army (NPA), especially the group of Leonardo Pitao alias Kumander Parago Sandoval’s Pulang Bagani Command.

Last week, Lt. Col. Lyndon Paniza announced this development but failed to give the exact date of the transfer.

“The 69th Infantry Battalion will not leave Paquibato. In fact, the unit has

F69th, 11

sented Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio, lead the ribbon-cutting ceremony to formally open the PhilConstruct Mindanao 2012 at SM Lanang Premier’s SMX Convention Center yesterday. LEAN DAVAL JR.

FDAVAO’S, 11

2 THE BIG NEWS

VOL.5 ISSUE 194 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

DCPO chief warns ‘naughty’ barkers

EDGEDAVAO

By Anthony S. Allada

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AVAO City Police Office (DCPO) chief Sr. Supt Ronald dela Rosa has warned “barkers” who have reportedly been “sexually-harassing” female passengers from the NCCC Mall along the MacArthur Highway in Matina here.

“Pagbantay-bantay lang mo nako do. kay kung unsa ng binastos nga gibuhat ninyo labaw pa inyong matagamtaman gikan nako. Ako na silang pang-ukoyon (I warn you that I will punish you more than what you have done to your victims. I’m watching over them,” dela Rosa warned the barkers

through reporters at the sideline of the turn-over of command of the Task Force Davao Thursday noon.

Barkers are self-employed persons soliciting passengers for PUJs usually on street corners. But some female passengers have complained about their butts being touched as they enter southbound jeepneys.

Dela Rosa said that he had earlier instructed Talomo police station commander Supt. Dionisio Abude to make the area free of barkers who had been complained about.

For development

Davao City library among 20 selected in the world

T

HE Davao City Public Library is now at par with international libraries after it was among the 20 selected from among the 120 applications from around the world.

In Thursday morning’s I-Speak press forum, city librarian Nora Fe Alajar said she recently attended a foreign workshop and conference in Washington, District of Columbia how the city library can be turned into the most modern and most effective tool to reach many people.

“It really gave me more insights on how to apply these development practices in our

setting. I was also able to share and stimulate ideas worldwide by interacting with other participants,” Alajar said.

Only Davao City from the entire country was given the opportunity to participate in the event, all expenses paid.

Alajar said that this came after she sent an application, which was later approved, to Beyond Access funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that brings together the fields of libraries and development.

Other countries selected were Bhutan, Uganda, Kyrgyztan, Zambia, Nepal, Serbia, Ven-

FDAVAO, 11

PREPARED. Eladio E. Aviola, president of Printing Industry Association of Davao (PIADI), left, says that the printing industry in the city is prepared for the constant increase in printing demands, especially in the packaging business, during the PhilConstruct

Mindanao 2012 press conference at SM Lanang Premier’s SMX Convention Center yesterday. Seen at right is Commissioner Crispian Lao of the National Solid Waste Management Commission. LEAN DAVAL JR.

Group fears death knell for PHL plastics industry T

HE Philippine Plastics Industries Association (PPIA) anticipates the plastic industry to die once all cities and municipalities in the country implement a ban on the use of plastic.

“I see the death of the plastic industry if all the cities and municipalities will have an ordinance banning plastic as food container,” Peter Quintana, PPIA president, said at a press conference Thursday at SMX Convention Center shortly before the opening of the 3rd Mindanao International Construction Expo.

He said the plastic industry contributes largely to the country’s economy, being a $ 10-billion worth of investments.

The country annually produces 600,000 metric tons of plastic and Styrofoam and employs about 175,000 people, he said.

As of this time, Quintana said there are about 112 cities and municipalities all over the country to have passed an ordinance banning and regulating plastics.

Quintana described as alarming the effect of the ban to the plastic in-

dustry, citing a 50-percent reduction in the volume of production of plastics and 40-percent reduction in the production of Styrofoam or Polystyrene.

The ban also resulted in the loss of job of numerous laborers.

He said about two to three working days is lost for a certain worker in a plastic factory with the ban of plastics.

Quintana criticized the local government units (LGUs) banning the use of plastic, saying that they passed the ordinance without undertaking an infor-

mation campaign about what is it all about.

He said the LGUs just lifted information about plastic from the internet, therefore making the ordinance banning plastic without basis.

Quintana clarified “it’s not the product that is the problem but the attitude of people”.

Some LGUs including Davao City have an existing ordinance banning plastics and Styrofoam as food containers for environment reasons and to ease the problem of voluminous wastes and flooding.

the Armed Forces of the Philippines Command and General Staff College in Fort Bonifacio.

Col. Flores Jr. served as TFD chief for nine months.

He was replaced by Col. Casiano Monilla in a simple turn-over of command ceremony Thurs-

day noon at the task force headquarters at the Sta. Ana wharf here.

Major Gen. Ariel Bernardo, commanding general of the 10th Infantry Division, said Flores’ short stint as TFD commander paved the way for his assumption of a higher post “as a result

of his exemplary performance and good leadership.”

Bernardo added that he was more than satisfied with the way Flores led the elite Army group to make Davao City terror-free. The TFD was created sometime in

said she told the Lumads that arming themselves is not part of their culture.

Banzon and representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees went to Sitio Malingkong, Paquibato on Tuesday to visit 17 families who evacuated from Sitios 26 and Alon after receiving threats allegedly from NPA commander Leoncio Pitao aka Parago.

She said the Lumads

want to become members of the paramilitary Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu) to protect themselves from the revolutionary group.

She pointed out that the Lumads simply want to live peacefully, and it is hard on their part to decide whether they should arm themselves against the NPA. Banzon said there are appropriate measures to address the security

problem of the Lumads, adding it would be better for the government to continue the peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

Mayor Sara Duterte said in a text message that while becoming a Cafgu member is a personal decision “it is a good idea for the community to be trained to secure themselves.” [Lorie Ann Cascaro/MindaNews]

TF Davao chief promoted

T

ASK Force Davao commander Col. Marcos Norman Flores Jr. has been relieved of his post and assigned as the new commander of the 1002nd Infantry Brigade vacated

by Col. Glorioso Miranda who wss assigned as assistant commandant of

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NCIP nixes arming Lumads vs NPA

OPENING. Assistant Secretary Cathy Cabral of the Department of Public Works and Highways [DPWH] and Engr.

Jaime G. Adalin, acting head of the Davao City Building Office, grace the

opening of the PhilConstruct Mindanao 2012 at SM Lanang Premier’s SMX Convention Center yesterday. LEAN DAVAL JR.

A

N official of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in Region 11 is dissuading the Lumads or indigenous peoples in Paquibato district, Davao City, from joining a paramilitary group to protect themselves against threats allegedly coming from the New People’s Army (NPA).

Jane Lopez-Banzon, community affairs officer of NCIP 11, on Wednesday

SUBURBIA

EDGEDAVAO VOL.5 ISSUE 194 •FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

For growth of Davao Region

3

Railway network is a necessity T

HE railway network system is proving to be a necessity for the Davao Region and has been included by the region’s development planners for consideration in the region’s area development plan.

“Aaabutan ko pa yan (it may yet become possible during my term),” Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo del Rosario said in a press conference held at the Bulwagan Hall of the Provincial Government Center in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.

Del Rosario said “kulang na ang road network (we lack road network)” in Mindanao. In the Davao Region alone, he added, there is only one national road which is used to transport both people and products.

“The fastest way to transport people and products is through a railway system and its regime is soon to come,” he said.

He said they have been talking about the es-

ILLEGAL MINING. Aerial view of the devastation made by illegal mining operations along Iponan River in Cagayan de Oro. The photo taken from a Philippine Air Force helicopter last Nov. 24, 2012 showed the ille-

tablishment of a railway system in Mindanao since 20 years ago. But that’s how it works---it will take a long time to put up such infrastructure.

“But when it becomes

a necessity and I think it is becoming a necessity then it will come,” he said.

This is part of del Rosario’s vision to improve the connectivity within

gal miners are operating again despite the arrest and release of two Chinese nationals last month. [MindaNews]

the Davao Region which for now is relegated to the development and improvement of existing road networks. He said the province is in the center of Southern Mind-

anao and he cited the advantage brought about by the Bukidnon-Talaingod road network.

Del Rosario said producers and traders from Bukidnon would find

it easier to transport their products through the Bukidnon-Talaingod Road in Davao del Norte going to Sasa compared to the Buda-Calinan route in Davao City.

EW investments in Sarangani province last year reached P604 million, with the provincial government expecting it to further grow next year with the launching of its revised investment code.

The figure was 118 percent higher from the P276 million posted in 2010, which was fueled by investments in tourism, aquaculture and manufacturing, data from the provincial Department of Trade and Industry showed.

Early this week, Sarangani launched the revised investment code in line with the holding of a business conference that seeks to attract more investments to the province’s seven towns.

Since 2007, this is the second amendment of the code, which specifically polished the granting of incentives and the provision of technical assistance to those who apply for tax exemption for new businesses in Sarangani.

Compared to the 2007 Investment Code, the newly-amended version offers full exemption from payment of a hundred percent provincial government share on tax on sand, gravel and other quarry resources during the construction period of business facilities but not exceeding two years.

Same exemption is being offered in basic real prop-

erty tax for businessmen to enjoy for a maximum of five years.

Also offered is the full exemption from the annual payment of governor’s permit fees for maximum of five years and 50 percent discount on amusement tax and rental rates on provincial government, controlled and/or operated light and heavy equipment during construction of a business structure.

“Our motto is you should be able to sleep well at night even if you’re from Manila or the [United] States knowing that your one million dollars is “extremely safe” in the Philippines, especially in Sarangani,” Governor Miguel Rene A. Dominguez said in a statement.

“I think many locators can probably say that we have walked hand-inhand with them in ensuring that their business would not only be prosperous but business will be snag-free of any external concerns, especially concerns coming from the political sector,” he added.

Sarangani has opened various business opportunities to investors over the last eight years, which already generated more than 90 major investments in the various priority investment areas mostly in tourism, plantation agriculture, aquaculture, manufacturing and support services.

Maguindanao intensifies outreach programs for indigent residents N

T

HE Maguindanao provincial government has intensified its medical, dental and relief missions to cover more needy residents.

Provincial Budget officer Lynette Estandarte led the volunteers on Monday together with the provincial health team as part of the week-long celebration of the 6th Founding Anniversary of Maguindanao.

More than 1,300 patients, mostly women, children, and elderly from

North Kabuntalan received medical services while more than 250 individuals were provided dental services.

Maguindanao provincial governor Esmael ‘Toto’ Mangudadatu graced the celebration and said in his messagea that health services should be made more accessible to the people.

He said he is doubling his efforts to upgrade the lifestyles of every Maguindanaon.

Meanwhile in Sultan Kudarat, the provincial health team also conducted relief distribution and free medical and dental mission in some villages.

Mangudadatu distributed 221 sacks of NFA iron-fortified rice of which 120 were given to residents of Barangays Limbo and Gang.

On Wednesday, the provincial health team also visited barangay Lipawan, in Barira town where 1,659 residents

benefited from the free medical consultation; 282 underwent tooth extraction; 126 patients for the circumcision and 23 for minor surgery.

Around 1,000 children were also given school bags and school supplies while there were 3,000 rubber seedlings given to farmers in the area. The same activity was also conducted in barangay Tantangan in Matanog and barangay Sarmiento in Parang.

HE Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on Thursday launched, through the Regional Commission on Bangsamoro Women (RCBW), the Violence Against Women (VAW) Hotline in observance of the 18-day international campaign to end violence against women.

The VAW Hotline project aims to encourage women who are suffering from any form of violence and abuse in every part of the region to report to authorities their cases through these numbers.

Regional Vice Governor Hadja Bainon Karon, concurrently the regional secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, said while

some of these VAW cases are documented, many remain unreported as an offshoot of the culture of silence among Muslims.

Karon said physical violence is widespread in the region and at times cause the untimely death of its victims.

“The 18-day campaign to end violence against women (VAW) started last November 25, calling for the elimination of all forms of violence and abuses through heightened awareness on gender-based violence,” RCBW-ARMM chairperson Helen Roxas-Balawag said.

With the theme “VAWFree society in times of peace, conflict and calamity,” the activity aims

to raise consciousness within national government agencies, local government units, and the general public about gender-based issues in crisis situations.

Assemblywoman Bai Samira Gutoc, representative to the Regional Legislative Assembly (RLA), stressed that this year’s theme is relevant to ARMM because the region has gone through a series of natural and man-made calamities.

Most recent of these are the confrontations between Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and government troops and the infamous Maguindanao Massacre in 2009.

Gutoc, a renowned

women’s rights defender, stressed that women empowerment had been reinforced with her appointment to represent the voice of the women in the RLA. “Bilang kinatawan nyo, asahan po ninyo, paghuhusayan natin ang pagsulong ng mga karapatan at pagsugpo sa lahat ng uri ng abuso at karahasan sa tulong at pakikiisa ng RCBW at iba pang ahensiya ng pamahalaan (As your representative to the RLA, I encourage you to help me promote the rights of women and efforts to suppress these rights and all kinds of abuses against our sector)” Gu-

Hotline for women launched T

FARMM, 11

Sarangani sees increased investments with new code

4 SCIENCE/ENVIRONMENT

VOL.5 ISSUE 194 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

New land, but also costs, as Nordic nations rise from sea A

Stone Age camp that used to be by the shore is now 200 km (125 miles) from the Baltic Sea. Sheep graze on what was the seabed in the 15th century. And Sweden’s port of Lulea risks getting too shallow for ships.

In contrast to worries from the Maldives to Manhattan of storm surges and higher ocean levels caused by climate change, the entire northern part of the Nordic region is rising and, as a result, the Baltic Sea is receding.

“In a way we’re lucky,” said Lena Bengten, environmental strategist at the Lulea Municipality in Sweden, pointing to damage from Superstorm Sandy that killed more than 200 people from Haiti to the United States.

The uplift of almost a centimetre (0.4 inch) a year, one of the highest rates in the world, is part of a continuing geological rebound since the end of the Ice Age removed a vast ice sheet from regions around the Arctic Circle.

“It’s a bit like a foam rubber mattress. It takes a while to return to normal after you get up,” said Martin Vermeer, a professor of geodesy at Aalto University in Finland. Finland gains 7 sq km (2.7 sq miles) a year as the land rises.

EDGEDAVAO

In the Lulea region just south of the Arctic Circle, mostly flat with pine forests and where the sea freezes in winter, tracts of land have emerged, leaving some Stone Age, Viking and Medieval sites inland.

That puts human settlements gradually out of harm’s way from sea flooding, unlike low-lying islands from Tuvalu to Kiribati or cities from New York to Shanghai. Facebook is investing in a new data centre in Lulea on land that was once on the seabed.

But rising land also means costs. Lulea is planning to deepen its port by 2020 to let in bigger ships and offset land rise at a cost of 1.6 billion Swedish crowns.

“Even if we didn’t have the ambition to have larger ships we would still have to do it on a smaller scale just to compensate for the land rise,” said Roger Danell, head of the port.

SHALLOWER PORT Dredging just for existing ships would cost 400 million crowns as the water gets shallower at the port that was last deepened in the 1970s, construction manager Jeanette Lestander said. Main exports are iron ore and the main import is coal.

But a projected rise in sea levels due to global

warming means dredging to offset land rise for the next 40 years will be slightly less than in the 1970s.

“The rate of sea level fall will be slowing,” Lestander said during a visit to the port. The future sea fall is estimated at 0.7 cm a year from 0.9 cm.

In the north of Swe-

den, 200 km inland and 170 metres above current sea level, archaeologists recently found a 10,700 year-old Stone Age hunters’ camp near Pajala that was originally by the Ancylus Lake, the forerunner of the Baltic Sea. “We carbon-dated burnt bones from a fireplace,” archaeologist Olof

Ostlund at the Norrbottens museum said. The hunters would have been near the retreating ice sheet that was once 3 km (1.9 miles) thick.

Experts examined sediments that showed the camp was on the shore of the former giant lake, briefly isolated from the North Sea by land uplift in

the south before breaking through again.

Lulea’s old town, with a 15th century church and bright red-painted wooden houses, was originally built on an island for safety when it was as an outpost of the then Swedish-Finnish Kingdom to counter Russian influence near the Arctic Circle.

age 3.2 millimetres (0.125 inches) per year, a trio of specialists reported in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

This compares with a “best estimate” by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel

on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007, which projected that by today, the rise would be 2 mm (0.078 inches) per year.

The new figure converges with a widely-shared opinion that

the world is heading for sea-level rise of around a metre (3.25 feet) by century’s end, co-author Grant Foster of US firm Tempo Analytics told AFP. “I would say that a metre of sea level rise by

the end of the century is probably close to what you would find if you polled the people who know best,” Foster said.

“In low-lying areas where you have massive numbers of people living within a metre of sea level, like Bangladesh, it means that the land that sustains their lives disappears, and you have hundreds of millions of climate refugees, and that can lead to resource wars and all kinds of conflicts,” he added.

“For major coastal cities like New York, probably the principal effect would be what we saw in Hurricane Sandy.

“Every time you get a major storm, you get a storm surge, and that causes a major risk of flooding. For New York and New Jersey, three more feet of water would be even more devastating, as you can imagine.”

The investigation, led

by Stefan Rahmstorf of Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), gauged the accuracy of computer simulations that the IPCC used in its landmark

Fourth Assessment Report in 2007.

That report jolted governments into nailing climate change to the top of their agenda, culminating in the ill-fated Copenhagen Summit of 2009, and helped earn the Nobel Prize for the IPCC. The new study gave high marks for the document’s forecast on global temperature, saying there was a “very good agreement” with what was being observed today, an overall warming trend of 0.16 degrees Celsius (0.28 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade.

But it said the IPCC’s projection for sea levels was much lower than what has turned out.

The panel’s prediction for the future -- of a rise of up to 59 cms by 2100 -“may also be biased low,” it warned, a caution shared by other studies published in recent years.

Foster said the bigger-than-projected rise could be attributed to meltwater runoff from land ice, something that was a big unknown when the IPCC reported in 2007 and remains unclear today.

A view of the Swedish Baltic Sea port of Lulea November 14, 2012. [REUTERS]

Seas rising 60% faster than UN forecast: study

S

EA levels are rising 60 percent faster than the UN’s climate panel forecast in its most recent assessment, scientists reported on Wednesday.

At present, sea levels are increasing at an aver-

File photo of flooded Bangladeshi houses in Gabura after a cyclone slammed into the area. The terrible human cost of cyclones and flooding are plain to see in southwest Bangladesh, a low-lying, impoverished region on the frontline of the battle to adapt

to climate change. Sea levels are rising 60-percent faster than the UN’s climate panel forecast in its most recent assessment, scientists say. [AFP]

EDGEDAVAO VOL.5 ISSUE 194 •FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

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6 VANTAGE POINTS

VOL.5 ISSUE 194 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

Mursi’s folly COMMENTARy

By DaviD RohDe

A

EDITORIAL

Larry

L

AURENTE C. ILAGAN, who would be in his mid-sixties were he alive today, served briefly as Davao’s city legal officer. This was after he became president of the Davao City chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

However, Larry is best remembered and loved by those who were familiar with the selfless life he had lived as a fearless human rights fighter. He was one of those who risked life and limb to defend fellow countrymen from the oppressive Marcos dictatorial regime.

For his courage and consistency, he was incarcerated with two other Davao lawyers –Antonio Arellano and Marcos Risonar -- for a number of years, precious time that he could have spent improving his lot and that of his growing family.

Yesterday, the late Larry and 11 other Filipinos were belatedly hon-

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ored by the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation, established by former Senate President and Marcos victim Jovito Salonga, its chairman emeritus, as a tribute to their martyrdom and heroism, at the Bantayog Center in Quezon City. Their names are now engraved on the foundation’s Wall of Remembrance.

It is worth mentioning that another Dabawenyo honored yesterday was Raymundo O. Petalcorin of Compostela Valley.

Larry’s family -- Gabriela partylist Rep. Luz Calolot-Ilagan, children and grandchildren, and freedom-loving Dabawenyos are proud of what Larry had done for his country.

Which cannot be said of those of our countrymen who have tried--and still are trying--to undo it because of their unmitigated lust for political and economic power through foul means.

ANTONIO M. AJERO Editor in Chief

ALBERTO DALILAN Managing

NEILWIN L. BRAVO Sports and Motoring ARLENE D. PASAJE Cartoons

RAMON M. MAXEy Consultant

kENNETH IRVING k. ONG Creative Solutions

GREGORIO G. DELIGERO Associate

LEANDRO S. DAVAL JR. • JOSEPH LAWRENCE P. GARCIA Photography

JADE C. ZALDIVAR • VICky BERDINA M. DE GuZMAN ANTHONy S. ALLADA • AQuILES Z. ZONIO 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 • JONALLIER M. PEREZ

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FTER helping end the fighting in Gaza, impressing President Barack Obama and negotiating a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi has fallen victim to what Bill Clinton calls “brass.”

Mursi’s hubristic post-Gaza power grab on Thursday was politically tone deaf, strategic folly and classic over-reach.

It will deepen Egypt’s political polarization, scare off desperately needed foreign investment and squander Egypt’s rising credibility in the region and the world.

Television images of renewed clashes in Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and Suez will play into stereotypes that the Middle East is not ready for democracy. They will bolster suspicions inside and outside Egypt that the Muslim Brotherhood cannot be trusted.

I disagree with the skeptics and believe democracy can still be established in Egypt. But Mursi’s moves won’t help Egypt make the difficult transition.

“There was a disease but this is not the remedy,” Hassan Nafaa, a liberal political science professor and activist at Cairo University, told Reuters Friday. “We are going towards more polarization between the Islamist front on one hand and all the others on the other. This is a dangerous situation.”

An alarming dynamic is taking hold in Egypt. Power-grabs, brinksmanship and walk-outs are becoming the norm, as a bitter struggle plays out among newly empowered Islamists, vestiges of the Mubarak regime and the country’s deeply divided liberals. Political paralysis is the result — with rule by presidential decree, overreach by the judiciary and a deadlocked constitutional assembly. As polarization deepens, desperately needed economic, political and judicial reforms stall.

Friday’s street protests were relatively small compared to the massive Arab spring demonstrations.. But the trend is in the wrong direction.

“President Morsi has used the nearly absolute authority he assumed last August,” Nathan Brown warned in an excellent analysis for The Arabist, “to try to put that absolute authority beyond reach, at least on a temporary basis. He may very well succeed.”

In a surprising triumph in August, Mursi abruptly ended the Egyptian military’s post-Mubarak rule of the country.

After apparently gaining the support of younger military officers, Mursi forced older, pro-Mubarak officers, led by Field Marshall Muhamad Hussein Tantawi, into retirement. Mursi then seized sweeping powers.

In one positive sign, Mursi used his new authority sparingly. Critics who feared an Islamist crackdown were proven wrong. His boldest move was a failed October attempt to remove the country’s unpopular prosecutor general, a Mubarak holdover widely criticized for mounting lenient prosecutions of Mubarak and other former officials. When the prosecutor, Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, refused to obey Mursi’s order to resign, the new president quickly backed down.

That restraint vanished on Thursday.

Mursi removed the unpopular prosecutor, opened the doors for a re-trial of Mubarak and other officials and granted himself and the country’s constitutional assembly immunity from rulings by the country’ pro-Mubarak judiciary. Critics feared pro-Mubarak judges would dissolve the constitutional assembly, just as they had dissolved the country’s first democratically elected parliament before Mursi was elected president in June.

EDGEDAVAO

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VOL.5 ISSUE 194 • FRIDAY -SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

At 84, FVR is as witty as ever (Feature)

T 84, former President Fidel V. Ramos is as witty as ever with a sharp memory that recalls incidents of old in his illustrious career as a public servant for almost seven decades.

FVR, as he is popularly called, again demonstrated his wits when he spoke before fellow veterans of the Korean War at the launching of the book, “Filipinos in the Korean War,” authored by retired Army Col. Cesar P. Pobre in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City on Wednesday.

He opened up his speech recalling his stint during the Korean War as a member of the 20th Battalion Combat Team (BCT) of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK) in 1950.

FVR recalled how terrible was the 1950-1953 Korean War that devastated Korea, particularly its people who had to seek shelter during heavy fighting when North Korea invaded South Korea.

To win war and attain peace, FVR

B

told his audience to extend a handshake with fellowmen sitting beside, in front and behind them that generated laughter and giggles. The audience complied.

Next, he told his captive audience that an embrace or a kiss may be possible that triggered more laughter.

Then FVR turned around and called on Congresswoman Herminia B. Roman of the first district of Bataan for a “biso-biso” that could be great to be placed on Facebook.

The congresswoman complied as photographers busied themselves clicking their cameras and cellular phones as the audience gave a big applause.

FVR shared several anecdotes that thrilled the audience.

Ramos said that during the Korean War, the Philippines helped South Korea in fighting the North Korean invad-

ers who were supported by the Chinese.

After the war, South Korea was in ruin but through hard work and unity of the South Korean people, the country rose from the devastation and “after 62 years South Korea is a member of the G-20,” an alliance of wealthy nations in the world.

“Today, there are no beggars in South Korea,” Ramos said.

He expressed the hope that the Philippines will also “rise to modernity” soon.

Among the government officials present were Undersecretary for Defense Affairs Honorio S. Azcueta, who represented Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin; Undersecretary for Civil, Veterans and Reserved Affairs Eduardo G. Batac; retired Lt. Gen. Ernesto G. Carolina, administrator of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO); South Korean Ambassador Lee Hyuk, and retired Col. Paterno V. Viloria, president of PEFTOK Veterans Association. [PNA]

must help unemployed people find jobs, maintain softer oil prices, provide basic needs such as food, shelter, education and medical and health services. Not content with that, they still have the temerity to continuously pester and sully the government, and worse, branding it as anti-poor and anti-masses.

Nevertheless according to government economic planners and financial managers the economic fundamentals are rising further and faster as expected. Prudent policies and sound rudiments would continue roaring thanks to currency control that protects the peso and vast domestic resources to fuel the industry. Although the positive growth will be a bit slow, government think tanks are relative optimists and think the economy will bottom out by year end and even beyond. Their forecast springs from government index of leading business indicators that the country’s trade numbers recently have been very encouraging. Most importantly the stronger peso is helping the economy and growing as fast as people had anticipated.

Look closer. The government’s latest forecast predicts a fourth quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 7.1 percent and it actually happened compared to only 3.2 percent in the same period last year. The positive economic growth bounces from the country’s reliance on trade, property market, exports and construction boom. Of

course, the higher GDP growth makes the Philippines one of the fastest growing economies in the BIMP-EAGA Growth Triangle and among the Southeast Asian nations. But with unemployment as predicted by private economists and independent financial experts to approach 30% in the coming months and years, they say the country needs at least 7% GDP growth to avert dangerous levels of joblessness. If there are bright spots in the country’s economy, then government and the business sector are in a position to exploit them to its advantage.

Unfortunately, the same is true in reverse. And exporters lately are threatened as the country’s peso peg to the US dollar has tremendously hurt competitiveness and domestic demand has been chilled by consumers’ fear of over unemployment. Moreover, the most troubling development is the financial status of several thousand of OFWs where their dollar remittances could be directly affected by the present currency exchange rate. And the bad news is that detractors and adversaries of different political persuasions and severe critics of various colors and stripes are knocking louder than expected these days, and it is beginning to edge their foot in the doors of the powers-that-be. In fact, they even charged that the country’s alleged much-ballyhooed economy only looks good – on the surface. In simple terms, putting some fangs to their oft-repeated and worn-out statements that government has engaged in double talk while the marginal sector in society continues to suffer from official negligence and indifference.

SPECIAl FEATURE

By Ben Cal

Weathering the economic storm

OAST MUST SOUND HOLLOW TO SOME GROUPS – Confidence was high that the country could duck the gut-wrenching contractions plaguing its neighboring economies.

Not long ago, buoyant government economists and financial analysts firmly believe the Philippines stood a good chance of engineering an economic “soft-landing” through tight monetary policies. And the Aquino administration is pleased with the country’s economic trend these days, and with good reasons. Under President Benigno Aquino III’s stewardship, the country has so far weathered the regional economic storm with a stable currency and positive economic growth.

Given the peso appreciation the past several days, exports are big changed in US dollars while increasing imports demonstrate strong domestic demand. The peso performed relatively well in the latest currency exchange rate – P40.80 to $1. So far the highest since President PNoy assumed the presidency in 2010. Regrettably, the “boast” must sound hollow to some factions like the political adversaries, some private economists, different militant alliances and progressive transport, labor and farmers’ organizations brandishing red-colored flags and placards at recent street demonstrations across the country.

Indeed, government detractors and severe critics, as their wont, remain skeptical that the Aquino leadership has the political will to carry out socio-economic reforms citing the country’s prevailing interlocking problems.

On their allegations is a plea in the form of a command that government

VANTAGE POINTS

7

What do we know about China’s new leadership?

ANAlySIS By ian BRemmeR

A

S China obsessives know, it is tough to read tea leaves when the water is as opaque as that surrounding China’s Politburo. In the wake of the Chinese leadership transition, we’re left to sift through the news in search of answers.

There is plenty we do not know about the process or what its outcome will bring, but when it comes to underlying themes we can understand, it is possible to make some predictions.

Start with solidarity. In the most telling example of Chinese political unity, the Politburo, the elite political body that makes all of China’s major decisions, went from nine people to seven to consolidate control of the political process. The Communist Party is now more unified than before and is less likely to tolerate dissent from within. The stability of the Communist Party is paramount. All else will fall in line.

Note what happens to those who don’t. If the Bo Xilai incident demonstrated anything, it’s that, in China, nails that stick up will be hammered down. There is no room for leaders who stray from the party platform.

Need more evidence that power is being consolidated? Hu Jintao recently surrendered his military position sooner than expected so Xi Jinping, the incoming president, could have more control.

Li Keqiang, Xi’s incoming deputy, got the nod to run the economy rather than Wang Qishan the most senior and noted market reformer of the lot. Three of five of the remaining standing committee members seem to be protégés of former President Jiang Zemin, a sign that the leadership is looking to past success as much as to the future. Again, it’s about consolidation— the easiest way to prevent another Bo is to limit the number of possible Bos. This new regime will govern a China that is increasingly two different countries. On the coast, the country is developed, with the amenities of a post-industrialized society. In the countryside, China is still a developing country, with hundreds of millions of people living in poverty. In 2010,according to Bloomberg Businessweek, there was a nearly threefold difference in per capita incomes between coastal China and inland China. Likewise, China now has more income inequality than the United States, making China 27th in the world overall.

Those Chinas want different things from their leaders. People making $20,000 a year in prosperous cities don’t need 8 percent growth. They need product safety, government accountability, transparency, clean air and water good government, in other words, without all the lies and the secret wealth. People in the interior, on the other hand, need growth and goods. Government transparency means less to those who live hand to mouth.

This is what the 21st century economy has wrought, but China clings to its 20th century political system. Ten years the expected stint of the current Politburo members (though there will be room for halftime adjustments) is a long time to live with so fundamental a contradiction. Pressures will mount from within and without for China to modernize its political approach to match the economic reforms it must undertake. But those hoping for political reform are sure to be disappointed, no matter how much they pine for them on Weibo or in the halls of the United Nations. The leadership change, remember, was all about solidarity, both for the Communist Party and with the party’s past efforts. Citizens on both ends of the spectrum may grumble, but the Chinese leadership will continue its slow and cautious approach and its focus, first and foremost, will be on consolidating power and eliminating threats to the party’s hold on power. On the Politburo’s list of priorities, political innovations will run a distant second.

8

VOL.5 ISSUE 194 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

EDGEDAVAO VOL.5 ISSUE 194 •FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

9

THE ECONOMy 10 NATION/WORlD 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

P 42.78 Jun 2012

11. Peso per US $ 5/ 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

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

EDGEDAVAO

PH economic mission to promote Mindanao potentials in Malaysia

Stat Watch

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

VOL.5 ISSUE 194 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

A

50-member Philippine economic mission is joining an investment forum today, Thursday, in Malaysia to promote various business potentials in Mindanao, an envoy said.

Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia J. Eduardo Malaya said that Secretary Luwalhati R. Antonino, Mindanao Development Authority chairperson, would head the Philippine delegation that includes entrepreneurs from various parts of the island.

Acting Governor Mujiv S. Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will join the mission, he added.

“The [Philippine] embassy in Malaysia [has] received attendance from 50 Malaysian investors [to the conference],” said Malaya, who attended here last Saturday the ARMM International Investment Forum, themed “Philippine-Malaysia Investments: Fostering Sustainable Development in Muslim Mindanao.”

He said the Malaysian investment forum is part of succeeding activities to promote ARMM and the rest of Mindanao as an investment haven for Malaysian and other foreign investors.

Hataman said the impoverished Muslim region is ready to host investors, particularly in agribusiness, citing vast idle fertile lands in the five-province region.

ARMM groups the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur,

RECYCLING. A vehicle overloads with scrap plastic bottles which will be delivered to a buyer for recycling is seen cruising E. Quirino Ave. yesterday. LEAN DAVAL JR.

Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Effort to promote the investment potentials of ARMM has intensified after the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) last October 15 between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Malaysia is the third party facilitator in the peace process between the government and the MILF. Both sides hope to forge a comprehensive peace agreement before the end of the year.

With the signing of the FAB, seen as Mindanao’s “roadmap to peace,” ARMM is expecting the coming of more investors.

Just recently, a subsidiary of Del Monte Philippines, Delinanas Development Corp., jumpstarted a P569-million banana plantation business in the town of Datu Abdullah Sangki, in Maguindanao province.

Delinanas project, which is targeting at least 1,000 hectares of banana plantation that will be spread to other Maguindan-

ao municipalities, is expected to generate hundreds of jobs.

Hataman said that fresh fruit producer Unifrutti Philippines, Inc., through its chairman John Perrine, has signified intentions to expand its operation in Maguindanao.

The governor said in an earlier statement that Unifrutti is eyeing Talayan town as a banana expansion area as well as site of an oil palm processing venture.

Unifrutti has banana plantations in Datu Paglas town.

buyers will be rewarded with an outright discount of P130,000 for a unit at this 15-storey tower.

Not only that, they are also reducing the reservation fee to only P20,000, just the right price for those looking for affordable rates. Making it more irresistible is the extended down payment terms stretched to 35 months.

For investors of rental condos, Liverpool’s big discounts and extended down payment terms are a boon to their investment. Rental rates around north Davao go for P30,000 to P50,000 for a two- to three-bedroom condo unit with the same amenities like Northpoint. That’s more than enough to cover monthly amortizations.

With extended down payment terms, investors will have an easier time meeting their monthly obligations and will have a bigger ROI on their investments.

There’s no more reason for

condo buyers and investors to pass up this opportunity to acquire the city’s most premier address. The best part is, they get not only the discounts, they’re also acquiring a unique way of life that’s friendlier to both people and the environment.

That’s because Liverpool is the greenest of all the condo buildings of CN, built with green building principles. It will have an Atrium and Sky Gardens that will give Liverpool the ideal indoor environment quality.

These special features of Liverpool will allow the unimpeded entry and exit of natural breeze and wind, cooling off the condo units and the whole building as well. It also allows natural light to illuminate the building interiors, letting sunshine in through the Sky Gardens that will also be decked with real live plants.

These will allow homeowners to live comfortably in their Liverpool units, as well as gen-

erate savings from lower power consumption with lesser use of artificial lighting and air-conditioning.

Enhancing the good feel of living in Liverpool are the fitness gym, cabanas, grill pits, a salinated wellness pool, and a well-appointed function hall with a veranda facing the pool and wide windows that bring in natural breeze and the verdant surroundings of Northpoint.

This setting is further enhanced by hundreds of imported Caribbean pine trees currently growing tall all over the condo property, really a unique feature of CN. They provide cooling shade and the refreshing scent of pine that will permeate all over the condo community.

Invest in your future, invest in Camella Northpoint

I

T’S that time of the year again when people will use their cash gifts and bonuses for shopping this Christmas season.

But instead of splurging it on a shopping spree, why not go for the wiser option of using that extra cash to invest in a new home?

That way your bonuses don’t just disappear; they become an investment that you can enjoy for a long time.

You extra resources are best invested in a condo unit in CN, the landmark condo development of Camella at the junction of Buhangin Road and JP Laurel Avenue in Bajada. This British colonial-themed condo community has world-class facilities and amenities and an unmatchable living proposition.

Camella meets halfway those who opt to invest their bonuses in a Northpoint condo unit by giving homebuyers an early Christmas treat – huge discounts at Liverpool, CN’s 4th tower. Home-

All these await those who will call CN their home. So save up your cash gifts and bonuses and invest it in a Liverpool home. It’s like investing in your future.

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

11

EDGEDAVAO VOL.5 ISSUE 194 •FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

Davao...

AD...

FFROM 2

FFROM 1

Lanang Premier in Davao City.

Pagatpatan also bared the city’s preferred investment areas (PIAs). They are agri-business, tourism and recreational facilities, light manufacturing and assembly, property development, health and wellness, educational and sports facilities, environment protection or green projects, ICT (information communication technology), generation of new sources of energy, and transportation and infrastructure.

Davao City has recorded a surge in the number of conventions and trade exhibitions, she reported, saying this is one reason tourist arrivals, recorded at 744,275 in 2011, have been growing at about 15-20 percent annually.

She said the Davao International Airport now services 449 weekly flights, an 18-percent increase over figures in August, 2011.

“The city has been getting national and international recognition as a preferred destination for MICE (meetings, incentive travels, conventions and exhibition) activities,” Ms Pagatpatan said.

Among those eyeing the city as a preferred site are organizers of the Philippine Advertising Congress, and the ASEAN Summit, she said.

Cognizant of the aspiration of Davao to become a preferred destination of tourists, convention-

69th...

ists and plain visitors, the national government has earmarked billions of pesos for roads, bridges and other facilities leading to tourist destinations, according to Assistant Secretary Maria Catalina Cabral of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), who discussed the department’s budget, plans and strategies for Mindanao yesterday.

With hundreds of projects lined up for Mindanao, Ms Cabral said in jest that there might be a shortage of contractors to do the projects.

As part of its P7.7-billion budget appropriation for 2013 infrastructure projects, she said the DPWH will earmark P1.5 billion for the development of road networks linking Mindanao’s major tourism destinations.

Of the budget, P305 million will go to tourism projects in Davao City, P395 million to Davao del Norte, P365 million to Davao del Sur and P470 million to Davao Oriental.

Among the identified projects in Davao City are the concreting of Lacson-Lamanan-Inayangan-Megkawayan Road and Mintal-Bago-Oshiro-Bago Gallera Road and the asphalting and concreting of Bayabas-Eden Road.

The Island Garden City of the Samal Circumferential Road and the Panabo City Coastal Road are two of the priority projects

in Davao del Norte. Last March, the government approved a P100 million budget for the completion of the Samal Circumferential Road to improve the access point of the city for better tourism.

In Davao del Sur, projects include the paving of tourism roads from Barangay Cogon to Kapatagan in Digos City and the concreting of Padada-Piadi Road, the spot proposed for the new crocodile park of the city.

The roads linking Pusan Point in Caraga town and Mt. Hamiguitan in San Isidro will be paved to boost tourism in Davao Oriental.

Earlier, in a statement, DPWH regional director Mariano Alquiza bared that the paving and concreting of the road networks are only secondary to the main infrastructure projects that the agency will implement in Mindanao, which will involve the paving of its national arterial and secondary roads. The government, he said, allocated over P5 billion for the key projects.

Meanwhile, an allocation of P508 million has also been distributed to certain provinces of the Davao region for bridge construction projects, P137 million worth of flood control projects, and P512-million worth of basic education facilities will also be implemented in the region in the next one to two years. AMA

the troops are not there to wage war but to assist the local government unit in its efforts to deliver basic services to the people which are often held back due to harassment by the New People’s Army.

“Our mandate is to secure the people. As long as there are rebels in the area who are threats to civilian communities, pressures or nuisance will not wane our efforts to protect the people to attain genuine peace in any of our AOR (area of responsibility),” he said.

Paniza also clarified

that soldiers have already left the convergence areas and relocated their temporary patrol bases away from communities even before the passage of the city council resolution.

In its special session on November 9, the Sangguniang Panlungsod passed a resolution calling for the pullout of military detachments from civilian communities in the city and its outlying villages, aimed at reportedly preventing civilians from being caught in the crossfire between government troops and the New People’s Army.

FFROM 1

already identified a strategic area where its battalion headquarters will be transferred in due time,” Paniza was quoted as saying.

He said the move was the result of a consensus among the Army leadership to pave way for more focused peace and security operations “so that the implementation of our Peace and Development Outreach Program in partnership with the local government of Davao City and other stakeholders will prosper.”

Paniza explained that

ARMM...

FFROM 3

toc said.

In a recent statistical data released by the Women and Children Protection Center of the Philippine National Police, an alarming record shows reported data of 9,693 VAW cases for the entire country from Jan-

uary to July 2012 with 9,974 cases infringement on Republic Act 9262 or the Anti-VAWC Law. She stressed that many Moro women have been put in a situation which were very difficult for them, especially

mothers and children.

Gutoc cited the recent conflict in Maguindanao between government forces and BIFF forces where more than half of the 50,000 displaced individuals were women who suffered in evacuation centers. [PNA]

ezuela, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Brazil and Peru.

“Beyond Access is working to show funders and governments that libraries are a valuable development partner,” said Ari Katz, director of International Research Exchange (IREX), the partner of Gates Foundation.

Katz, who also guested at the press briefing Thursday morning, said that it was really their purpose to make public libraries more accessible to a lot of people and they are here to finalize ways on how they can

TF...

fund priority projects.

He said that their group provides leadership and innovative programs to improve the quality of education, strengthen independent media and foster pluralistic civil society development.

Katz said IREX receives funding from both private and public donors, including the US Department of State, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Dr. Angelo Ramos, president of the Philippine-Community Network (Phil-CNet), whose group is also a partner in implementing the project, said that among of their chosen priorities are economic opportunities, specifically access information to look for jobs, skills trainings, and business start-ups.

Ramos said that this would really be a big help, especially for people who don’t have any access to the internet to look for job opportunities.

immediately available whenever the need arose.

For his part, Flores said he doesn’t mind about tha rating, adding that what has been very important was that he was able to maintain the three Ps – purpose, performance and partnership – in the success of implementing his programs and projects.

He said he is thankful foe the all-out support of the city government under Mayor Duterte, Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duter-

te and the city council, the private sector and non-government organizations, civic-oriented groups and the media.

Monilla said he accepted the challenge of not only replicating the accomplishments of his predecessor, but to surpass them.

“I would like to continue the physical security of our city and to help the Davao City Police Office in the campaign against all forms of criminality,” he said.

FFROM 2 2003 as an offshoot of the twin bombings in the old Davao International Airport in Sasa and the Sasa wharf that killed more than 50 people and injured many others.

Mayor Sara Duterte, who witnessed the turnover rites, rated Flores as “9.0”on a scale of 10 because “he did very well in his job in such a short period of time.” Duterte said she rated former task force commander Col. Rey Guerrero “9.5” because he was always

Edge Davao hiring editor, 3 reporters EDGE DAVAO is in need of an editor and three staffwriters/reporters for its expansion program.

The reporters will be assigned to the business, science/environment and political beats.

On the other hand, the editor will supervise the reporters and do gate-keeping tasks.

Applicant must be a graduate of a four- year college course. For reporters, experience is not needed although preferable. The editor should have at least one-year experience in editing.

Interested parties may send their application letter to Mr. Antonio M. Ajero, Edge Davao editor, thru email address ajero_antonio@yahoo.com. For inquiries, please call Mr. Ajero thru mobile phone 09052422686 or landline 221-3601.

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3 + 2 bonus REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT 11TH JUDICIAL REGION OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF COURT-SHERIFF DAVAO CITY

BALIKATAN PROPERTY HOLDINGS, INC., Mortgagee/Assignee,

EJF-REM CASE NO. 13678-12

ELIAS C. GAMOROT III, Mortgagor/s. x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x NOTICE OF EXTRA-JUDICIAL SALE

Upon extra-judicial petition for foreclosure and sale under Act 3135, as amended, filed by Balikatan Property Holdings, Inc., with postal address at the 24th Floor, BPI Buendia Center, Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City, against ELIAS C. GAMOROT III, with postal addresses at Aquino St., Sto. Domingo, Pampanga, DAVAO CITY, and Lot 19, Blk 7, Ph. V. Yakal, Hillside Subd., Brgy. Buhangin,Davao City , DAVAO DEL SUR, the mortgagor/s, to satisfy the mortgage indebtedness which as of August 9, 2012 amounts to Three Hundred Eighty One Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty Seven Pesos and 75/100 (381,767.75),Philippine Currency, exclusive of interest, penalties and charges, plus attorney’s fees equivalent to 25% of the total indebtedness plus other legal expenses incident of foreclosure and sale;the undersigned will sell at public auction on December 20, 2012 at 10:00 A.M.., or soon thereafter, at the main entrance of Hall of Justice, Ecoland,Davao City to the highest bidder for Cash or MANAGER’S CHECK and in Philippine Currency, the following real property together with all the improvements thereon, to wit: Transfer Certificate/s of Title No/s. T-176210 “ A parcel of land of land of the consolidation-subdivision project(Lot 19,Blk.7 of the consolidation and subdivision plan , situated in the Barangay of Buhangin ; City of Davao,Island of Mindanao.xxx containing an area of ONE HUNDRED FIFTY (150) SQUARE METERS, MORE OR LESS. xxx” All sealed bids must be submitted to the undersigned on the above-stated time and date.

In the event the public auction should not take place on the said date,it shall be held on January 24, 2013 without further notice.

Prospective buyers are hereby enjoined to investigate for themselves the titles herein described real property/ies and the encumbrances thereon, if any there be.

Davao City, Philippines, November 12, 2012

FOR THE EX-OFFICIO SHERIFF:

Noted by:

Realty

EDGEDAVAO

Health and Wellness

FOR SALE:

1) 1-hectare commercial lot at P10,000/sq m, along national highway, facing east, beside nCCC Panacan, Davao City. 2) 17,940sq m commercial lot at P2,500/sq m, along matina Diversion Road. 3) 3,831 sq m lot along matina Diversion Road. 4) 41,408 sq m commercial/ industrial lot at P800/sq m along the national highway, Bunawan. 5) 7,056 sq m at P1,200/sq m commercial/residential lot along indangan Road, Buhangin District. 6) 27,411 sq m commercial/ industrial lot along the national highway in Bincungan, Tagum City. 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-for-occupancy 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), 0908-883-8832 (Smart) or send email to propertiesindavao@yahoo.com.

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VOL.5 ISSUE 194 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

South Osmeña, General Santos City Cell No. 09999923588 Tel. No. (083) 552-3297

EDGEDAVAO VOL.5 ISSUE 194 •FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012 COMPETITIVE EDGE

13

Smart backs SMS-based feedback initiative

W

IRELESS communications leader Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) is supporting a short messaging service (SMS)-based citizen feedback initiative to promote the effective delivery of basic services towards the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

TINGOG 2015, an innovative SMS-based service, has been piloted in Tabaco, Albay. The Bicolano and Cebuano word for voice, Tingog emphasizes that this initiatives seeks to provide ordinary citizens with a voice in the development process.

Through the initiative, Tabacoenos can report on, monitor and provide feedback via SMS on the delivery of public health services, including the expanded program on immunization, maternal and reproductive health services, medical consultation, tuberculosis and nutrition.

To have their feedback heard, Tabaco residents can simply text TINGOG <space> TAB <space> NAME OF BARANGAY <space> THEIR COMMENT and send to 2015. Citizen reports will then be fielded to the concerned government agencies for urgent action.

To support the initia-

tive, the telecom industry, including Smart, has agreed to slash the rate to P1 per SMS report sent to the special number 2015, instead of the standard P2.50 per text.

“Smart recognizes the role of wireless technology in addressing urgent gaps in basic social services by enabling communities.

TINGOG 2015 empowers citizens and encourages government to provide efficient and quality social services,” said Smart Public Affairs head Ramon Isberto.

“Through technology, real-time communication and feedback is established between the public and the government. We are very excited to work with the proponents of this initiative to ensure MDG progress in Albay,” added Isberto.

He said it came as no surprise that Albay’s Tabaco City is taking the lead on this initiative.

Albay was the pilot site for Smart’s Infoboard, a web-based group broadcast service. The Albay Infoboard service allows local government units to send out vital information during calamities and emergencies. Using its feedback module, subscribers can also easily send requests for government assistance

ISO CERTIFIED. Hedcor Sibulan was recently awarded an ISO 9001 certification, the international standard for Quality Management System or QMS. QMS is how a company manages its processes to meet customer requirements and expectations. The award

was formally handed over by Renato Navarrete (right), of Certification International Philippines, Inc., an ISO certifying body in the country. On hand to receive the award is Hedcor’s VP Mindanao Operations, Rolando Pacquiao (left). RMN

during disasters.

The Philippines, including fourth-class cities like Tabaco, has been racing towards achieving the 2015 target on UN MDGs on ending hunger, universal education, gender equity, child health, maternal health,

for the MDGs, as it is more critical than ever that they remain a priority in the political and public agenda in the fight against global poverty.

Smart believes that eradicating poverty is not just the government’s busi-

combatting HIV/AIDS, environmental sustainability, and global partnership for development.

Under the UN Millennium Campaign, the United Nations is advocating for increased efforts to effectively promote greater support

ness but everyone’s.

“The country’s race towards meeting the 2015 Millennium Development Goals continues and we are proud to be part of initiatives towards the realization of these goals,” said Isberto.

14 SPORTS

VOL.5 ISSUE 194 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

Azkals not safe into semis yet B

ANGKOK – The Philippine men’s football team vaulted from the cellar to second spot in its group with a 1-0 win over Vietnam on Tuesday night at Rajamangala Stadium, boosting its chances of returning to the semifinals of the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup. Host Thailand has already secured the first semifinal slot after outclassing Myanmar, 4-0, also on Tuesday night.

But a semifinal appearance is far from guaranteed and there are still plenty of “what ifs” for the Azkals ahead of their clash with Myanmar on the last day of the group stage on Friday at the Suphachalasai National Stadium.

Here are the current standings: Thailand which has a 2-0-0 win-draw-loss record is currently on top.

Philippines with a 1-0-1 is in second, Vietnam and Myanmar with a 0-1-1 are tied for third.

And here are the scenarios: If the Azkals defeat Myanmar (regardless of scoreline): The Azkals will finish the group stage with six points and seize the remaining Final Four berth.

Even if Vietnam defeats host Thailand, the Azkals will be safely through as the Red Warriors can only finish with four points at the most and will go out along with Myanmar.

If the Azkals are held to a draw by Myanmar: The Azkals will finish the group stage with four points. They can make it to the semifinals outright if Vietnam loses to Thailand. If the Vietnamese defeat the hosts, they would tie the Azkals’ point total.

With the fight going down to goal difference, the Azkals would have to score more goals than the Vietnamese to advance. (i.e.

Azkals score a 1-1 draw vs Myanmar and Vietnam beats Thailand, 1-0).

If the Azkals and Myanmar play to a scoreless draw and Vietnam beats Thailand by a point, the Vietnamese advance.

If the Azkals lose to Myanmar: The Azkals, unfortunately, will miss the semifinals and gift Myanmar with a trip to the semifinals with four points at the end of the group stage.

Myanmar advances if Vietnam loses to Thailand. If the Vietnamese beat the host squad, the last semifinal ticket will boil down to goal difference between Myanmar and Vietnam.

Phil Younghusband, a marked man in the Suzuki Cup, hopes to recover his deadly form against Myanmar.

Change of venue for Phl-Myanmar

T

HE Supachalasai Stadium in Bangkok has been chosen to replace the Muang Thong Stadium as the second venue for the final match day in Group A of the AFF Suzuki Cup tonight, November 30.

The decision was taken at a Local Organising Committee (LOC) meeting on Tuesday.

Both matches on the final match day in Group A will be played simultane-

ously with kick-offs scheduled for 8.20pm local time.

The Supachalasai Stadium will host the Philippines-Myanmar game while Rajamangala Stadium will see Thailand taking on Vietnam.

After two match days, Thailand have already confirmed their place in the final four of the AFF Suzuki Cup while the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar are all jostling for the one remaining spot.

HE PHILIPPINE women’s football team beat the California Cobras, 5-4, on penalties to capture the LA Viking Cup crown in Los Angeles.

The Malditas fashioned out the win after regulation play ended at 1-1. The Malditas finished the fourteam invitational tournament organized by the LA Viking, a US pro football team, with 10 points on three victories and a draw.

The Filipina booters

nipped Metro Stars, 1-0, before a 3-3 draw with the Cobras. The Malditas dominated Leon, 8-1, to reach the championship game.

The team is composed of skipper Marielle Benitez, Natasha Alquiros, Lowella Amamio, Jowee Ann Barruga, Heather Cooke, Mallory Dayot, Belay Fernando, Angeline Impelido, Patrice Impelido, Abby Komarc, Aiza Mondero, Sam Nierras, and Ashley O’Connor.

Coach is Ernie Nierras.

Midfielder Jerry Lucena will be missing the Azkals’ match against Myanmar tonight after he flew back to Denmark to play for his mother ballclub in the Danish League.

Lucena out of Myanmar match

B Malditas win in California T

ANGKOK – Filipino-Danish Jerry Lucena has left for Denmark on Wednesday to rejoin his professional team Esbjerg, leaving the Azkals with a big defensive hole in midfield just two days before they take on Myanmar in their final group match in the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup. The 32-year-old Fili-

pino-Danish Lucena has been a force as a defensive midfielder along with Jason de Jong in the past two games, especially in the Azkals’ 1-0 victory over Vietnam on Tuesday night at the Rajamangala Stadium.

While most of the credit went to the back four of Dennis Cagara, Juani Guirado, Rob Gier, and Ray Jonsson, the midfield was

managed by Lucena and De Jong, helping resuscitate the Azkals’ hopes of at least replicating their semifinal finish in 2010.

The Azkals are in second spot behind Thailand, but a semifinal appearance is far from guaranteed.

Gier, who wore the captain’s armband against Vietnam, admitted Luce-

na’s absence will greatly affect the Nationals, but noted that there are others in the lineup who can fill the spot.

“Honestly, he (Lucena) will be a big loss,” he said.

“You don’t really know he’s in the game but the amount of work he puts in cannot be measured because he’s just so invaluable to the team.

T

Cyclomax 4T Force, representing Barangay Sasa, Cyclomax Titan-Talomo and 2T Max-Bucana with identical 5-2 win-loss cards.

The semis will start on December 9 with Cyclomax-Sasa facing Cyclomax-Talomo at 7:00 a.m.

followed by 2T Max-Bucana against Accelerate Supreme-Duterte at 8:30 a.m.

“It’s going to be an exciting semifinals,” said Harry Debuzuet, Phoenix Brand Associate, during the weekly DSA Forum at Dexter’s Pizza at the Stadi-

um.

Winners of the tournament will receive trophies and cash prizes, according to Debuzuet.

“It’s an incentive to our players for their passion and commitment,” Debuzuet added.

Accelerate leads Phoenix Cup 5 EAM Accelerate Supreme, representing Barangay Duterte, paced the ongoing Trip Ko Phoenix Fuels Basketball Cup Season 5 with six wins in seven outings.

Locked in a three-way tie for second place are

INdulge!

VOL.5 ISSUE 194 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

EDGEDAVAO STYLE

One night of glamour with SM Accessories In a world where standing out matters more than blending in, one must be able to rise above the clutter. SM Accessories, the Fashion Accessories Authority, is known as the stylesetter and star of wardrobes of the country’s hottest and most stylish set. Aside from being the biggest accessories mecca in the country, SM Accessories boasts of colors, styles, and designs that ultimately make one stand out from the rest. SM Accessories is known for chic, trendsetting items that are consistently spotted on the country’s who’s who.

To seal the brand’s position in the industry, last november 15, SM Accessories gathered the “it” crowd at Republiq Club for a night of fashion, glamour, and sophistication that featured a spectacle of trends to push the fashion envelope from typical, to extraordinary. Fashionistas and partyphiles alike witnessed the grand unveiling of the Supreme Four of SM Accessories: Xian Lim, Georgina Wilson, Richard Gutierrez, and Anne Curtis through an elaborate production which featured the brand’s

Holiday Collection, styled

by Millet Arzaga and celebrated fashion stylist Liz Uy. The Hunter Street Collection showcased pieces with eclectic prints fit for the free-spirited people of the world type; Urban Glam featured sleek, tapered and classy pieces; Baroque showcased pieces highlighting sophisticated elegance; Blue Royale will be a definite standout with its regal and eye-catching pieces. With this, the Holiday Collection became the perfect epitome of the Supreme Four.

The star-studded event was graced by personalities from all over the industry; celebrities like Annabelle Rama, Eddie Gutierrez, Raymond Gutierrez, Tessa Prieto-Valdes, nancy Castiglione, Sarah Lahbati, Frencheska Farr, Kylie Padilla, Rocco nacino, Enzo Pineda, PBB Teens housemates Ivan Dorschner, James Reid, Bret Jackson, and Devon Seron, One Mega’s Sari Yap, Preview’s Lyca Puno and Anna Canlas, and supermodel Danica Magpantay. Also spotted were Marie Lozano, IC Mendoza, Bianca Roque and Chino Lui Pio who were covering the launch.

Guests danced to the beats of crowd favorite DJ Mars Miranda, and were treated to prizes such as SMART Bro Tablets and an iPhone, courtesy of SMART. The event was sponsored by Max Factor and SMART. With the addition of Xian, Georgina, Richard, and Anne to their roster of ambassadors, SM Accessories definitely made its mark as the Philippines’ Fashion Accessories Authority.

A2 INdulge!

UP ANd ABoUT

EDGEDAVAO

VOL.5 ISSUE 194 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

EVENTS

The Face Shop opens two more stores

BorEd of having the same look every single day? do not limit yourself with only one look. Be lovely, cute, sporty, boyish and many more! You may find yourself with various looks through the wide assortments of Face Shop products!

Now open at the Ground Floor of SM City davao the Annex and the second floor of SM Lannag Premier, The Face Shop brings together science and the perfection of nature to deliver the best skin products. The brand is known to help consumers rediscover nature while protec ting health and beauty. discover your natural beauty.

Visit The Face Shop at SM City davao and SM Lanang Premier.

Globe holds 1st Davao Media Excellence Awards

IT was more than an interesting evening as Globe held the first Davao Media Excellence Award last november 23 at the Royal Mandaya Hotel Ballroom back-to-back with their annual Media Christmas Party celAT SM Supermalls, Christmas isn’t Christ- ebrations. mas without the things that make us mer“The Davao Media Exry like laughter, music, colors, good cheers cellence Awards is a fitting and family. This season of merry-making, event to honor the best and SM City davao brings to the city a celebra- the brightest from the print, tion like no othbroadcast, and online meer—a Christmas dia. The Media Awards are in Paradise! conferred to press people

Christmas in Paradise at SM City Davao

Christmas isn’t Christmas without carolling and good cheers. Let the city’s top-notch choral groups bring you Holiday cheers the whole month of december every Saturday, 6PM at the Christmas Wreath located at the 2nd Floor of the Main Mall.

Also, the season is not complete without Yuletide classics which bring back memories that warm the heart. Catch the country’s premier string quartet Manila String Machine as they treat you to an evening of Christmas warmth and joy on december 14, 6PM at The Annex.

Christmas isn’t Christmas without laughter. Make sure you have been nice because Santa Claus is coming to SM City davao with things that tickle everyone’s fancy! Catch the bearded big man in red at SM davao this month of december. Have your 2012 Christmas photo souvenir with Mr Claus and whisper to him your Christmas wish!

Completing Christmas in Paradise is a world-class dance presentation by the Ballet Philippines. Watch excerpts from their most loved performances including the season’s favorite, Nutcracker. SM City davao presents Ballet Philippines in A Christmas Special on december 20, 6PM at the Annex.

Beginning November 29 until december 30, SM City davao will be extending its mall hours until 10PM and until 12 MN on december 14-15 and 21-22. The mall will be open at 9AM-7PM on december 24 and 31.

For inquiries, call 297.6998 local 126. Like SM City davao on Facebook or follow @smcitydavao on Twitter for event and promo updates.

who have demonstrated journalistic achievement in their reportage of issues of local and national significance, ” says Yoly Crisanto, corporate communications head of Globe Telecom.

“We had a great response from members of the Davao media and we look forward to continuing the

yearly event. Globe will always be supportive of the remarkable achievement of the members of the Davao media,” Crisanto added.

The awardees were chosen by a distinguished panel of judges led by Ms. Ma. Margarita “Margie” Moran Floirendo, chairperson of the Mindanao Commission on Women from 24 finalists. Other judges include Philippine Women’s

College of Davao Director Dr. Macario Tiu, University of Southeastern Philippines Institute of Language Executive Director Dr. Patricia Elbanbuena, University of Mindanao Institute of Popular OpinionExecutive Director Dr. Ma. Linda Arquiza, DOT 11 Regional Director Arturo Boncato Jr., ICT Davao President Wit Holganza, Investment Promotion and Public Af-

fairs Office Director III Romeo Montenegro, Yahoo Philippines Country Editor Erwin Oliva, and Investor Relations Global Managing Director of Lito Buñag.

Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A) counted and validated the winners of the Media Award.

The winners of the Davao Media Awards received cash prizes and a trophy.

VOL.5 ISSUE 194 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

ENTErTAINMENT

Kim Kardashian seeks to end marriage ASAP KIM Kardashian and Kris Humphries’ divorce drama is far from over.

More than a year after the E! star filed for divorce from the pro baller, Kardashian’s attorney was back in a Los Angeles court Wednesday asking for a judge to finally put a speedy end to her client’s marriage.

“Miss Kardashian is now handcuffed to Mr. Humphries,” Kardashian’s attorney, Laura Wasser, pleaded with Judge Stephen Moloney.

In response, Humphries’ lawyer, Marshall Waller, told the court that if Kardashian wanted the marriage to be over, all she had to do was agree to his client’s request for an annulment.

It was the first time the ex-couple’s legal eagles were back duking it out in court since the case’s last hearing in May. Back then, as Moloney recounted to the court on Wednesday, Humphries’ camp claimed that Kardashian had no intention of going through with the marriage but had only done it for the benefit of her TV show. Kardashian famously filed for divorce 72 days after their oct. 31, 2011, wedding, citing in court papers that all property and assets would be divided per their prenup. rather than agreeing to the divorce, Humphries

shot back by filing for an annulment, citing fraud.

In this latest legal goround, Humphries’ attorney, Waller, told the judge he plans to depose Kardashian for a day in early december and is in the process of rounding up other parties for additional depositions.

Waller, however, says that he’s encountered several roadblocks in attempting to acquire necessary documents.

Specifically, he claims that Kris Jenner and Kim’s wedding planner have yet to supply him with requested documents, despite having participated in their respective depositions. (Kardashian’s current beau, Kanye West, also reportedly submitted to a deposition.)

Waller indicated that he also has private investigators working on the case and urged the court not to set a discovery cutoff date “This is a fraud case,” Waller told the judge.

“This is a matter that needs to be flushed out.”

Meanwhile, Kardashian’s lawyer, Wasser, argued to stop dragging out the matter and to set a discovery cutoff date.

“Miss Kardashian has a right to have her 72-day marriage—[for] which she has a prenup— resolved,” Wasser told the judge. “She has that right.”

Waller also added that she doesn’t “think [Humphries] has a fraud case” and that “there is a fishing expedition going on. I think there is some kind of strategy.”

Kardashian’s lawyer then asked the court “to give my client some deadline so she can stop worrying about getting deposed…To wait until Christmas to ask for a deposition seems a little disingenuous to me.”

Wasser also wanted to know whether the prenup is something Humphries’ legal team plans to dispute. Waller, however, would not answer.

A trial-setting conference has been scheduled for Feb. 15, when both sides are expected to indicate whether they’re ready for trial.

George Gordon, executive officer of the Alpharetta department of Public Safety, tells us his department received a 911 call at 11:46 a.m. Wednesday from a passerby who reported that a black Camaro had traveled down an embankment.

Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon split Police who arrived on scene discovered Bobbi Kristina’s vehicle with moderate damage and

the reality star standing by the vehicle uninjured.

An investigation revealed that Brown apparently lost control of her car and ended up leaving the road where it tumbled down an adjacent slope and struck a small number of trees before coming to rest near a local park trail.

B.K. was subsequently issued a traffic citation for failing to maintain lane.

A Houston family rep declined to comment.

Bobbi Kristina Brown crashes her Camaro just days after split from Nick Gordon IT’S been a rough couple of weeks for Bobbi Kristina Brown.

First, she issues a series of cryptic tweets basically announcing that she and boyfriend/adopted brother Nick Gordon have broken off their engagement.

Now E! News has learned that the late Whitney Houston’s daughter has crashed her Chevy Camaro not far from her home in Alpharetta, Ga.

INdulge! A3

A4 INdulge!

EDGEDAVAO

VOL.5 ISSUE 194 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

EDGEDAVAO VOL.5 ISSUE 194 •FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

SPORTS15

VMO sweeps AFP-PNP elims

I

T will most likely take all the defense forces to stop a machine gun like Bong Go. The high-scoring Go was in his usual fiery mood ripping the cords in Jack Taylor fashion with 44 points in a 98-81 win against lowly Philippine Air Force on Tuesday, making mincemeat of the defense thrown on him. He was just too hot, the defense may as well throw the entire armory.

With that, title favourite Vice Mayor’s Office swept through the elimination round with ease and moved within arm’s reach from another title run in the Mayor Sara Duterte and Vice Mayor Rody Duterte - 10th AFPPNP Basketball Tournament.

VMO closed out its eliminations assignment with a clean 11-0 win-loss record. Go’s output was his new season-high, erasing his previous high of 38 points in a close win against 10 th Infantry Agila Division two weeks ago.

Dindo Pastor (14), Rodel Bantilan (11) and Greggy Delica (10) helped the cause for the three-peat seeking SP-based dribbers who came out unstoppable on all accounts.

VMO established an 58 – 32 at the turn and that was all they needed to secure the win.

Chok Gacayan had 32 points for the Airmen who absorbed their eight straight loss in the tournament presented

by City Government of

Davao.

Second-running Davao City Police Office drubbed also-ran Philippine Coast Guard, 74 – 50, to improve to 8-1, two wins ahead of the third-ranked Bureau of Fire Protection.

Banking on its much-taller and quicker players, DCPO broke away early en route to its three game winning streak after losing to the VMO last week.

Alexis Alcano shined for DCPO’s victory as the reliable shooting guard sank 14 points.

Playing official Anthony Padua and Jan Cagape contributed 12 and 10 points respectively.

Villanueva had 11 baskets for the winless PCG side.

In the other match, Police Regional Office-XI escaped with a 92 – 89 victory over Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

Jeffrey Tugade, Vicente Reyes, Joswee Torregosa took charge for PRO which tried to go all out one more time to catch up in the race for the hotly-contested No. 4 spot.

PRO, now at 4-4, need to win all its remaining games and hope Regional Public Safety Batallion, 10th ID and Philippine Navy loss in their next assignments.

BJMP dropped to 4-4 despite superb showing of Joemark Opinaldo who finished the game with 29 baskets.

RPSB, Navy and 10 th ID are tied at fourth spot with 4-3 card. (RJB)

Marquez open to dope tests Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico says he is amenable to doping tests in the buildup to his fight against Manny Pacquiao.

J

UAN Manuel Marquez has definitely gotten bigger with the added muscles he gained in training camp for his fourth meeting with boxing icon Manny Pacquiao.

And for those who are in doubt, the 39-year-old Mexican warrior declared himself available for drug testing anytime, anywhere.

“I’m willing to give myself to any anti-doping tests.

Why don’t Manny Pacquiao and I both do it? I don’t care.

To shut everybody up. And of course, my exams have always been clear,” said Marquez in an interview with The Ring, the so-called

Red-hot Melo leads Knicks M

ILWAUKEE — Carmelo Anthony may be playing better than ever.

Anthony scored 29 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 102-88 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night (Thursday, Manila time).

Anthony, who sat out the fourth quarter, was 9-of-18 from the floor and also grabbed eight rebounds in 30 minutes. The second-leading scorer in the NBA has scored at least 29 points in his last four games, including 35 points and 13 rebounds in a 96-89 overtime loss at Brooklyn on Monday.

“He’s playing at an alltime high, I think,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said.

“And it’s a beautiful thing to watch.

“He’s just been solid, and it’s kind of nice to see.

He’s put a lot of time in this summer with the Olympics, and it carried over to the summer program when we got back. He came to vet camp in great shape, and it’s been a nice carry-over to the season.”

Steve Novak added a season-best 19 points in a career-high, 39-plus minutes, and Tyson Chandler chipped in with 17 points and eight rebounds for the Knicks, who snapped a three-game road losing streak.

“Coach gave me good minutes; great opportunity to be out there,” said Novak, who grew up in the area and

also played at Marquette University. “I was feeling good and Coach had confidence in me. There’s no place like playing at home.

That’s just true. Playing at the Garden is unbelievable, and being at home. There’s nothing like those two places.

“I do know these rims well. I’ve shot a few shots on these.”

Jason Kidd missed his second game in a row for New York with lower back spasms. But he wasn’t needed, as New York starters Chandler and Kurt Thomas also sat out the fourth.

No Milwaukee starters played the final period.

Beno Udrih scored a season-high 18 points, as did Brandon Jennings.

Bible of Boxing.

Marquez, who finally arrived in Los Angeles with his entourage led by trainer Ignacio Beristain, had to address the issue about doping after bulked-up frame drew notice when he opened the door to his training camp in Mexico ahead of his December 8 (December 9, Manila time) showdown with his longtime Filipino rival.

Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, was obviously surprised when he saw a series of photos showing Marquez bulging with muscles. While it hardly concerned him, the

52-year-old Hall of Famer suggested there may be more into it than meets the eye.

“If (his body) is natural, I will kiss his ass,” said Roach in an interview published by USA Today. “Marquez has gotten bigger and gained weight – it throws up a red flag. I’ve been accused so many times of my fighters being on steroids (that) I hate to accuse other people. But it is part of our life, part of the world we live in.”

Marquez however, was quick to deny the allegations.

He said the change in

New York’s Carmelo Anthony has scored at least 29 points in his last four games. AP

his appearance had something to do with the work he was made to do by his strength and conditioning coach Angel Heredia.

The controversial strength coach does ring a bell for his involvement in performance-enhancing activities, having once testified in court of supplying track stars Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery with illegal substances.

But Marquez clarified his system is free of illegal drugs, adding Heredia had been working on his strength conditioning since his third fight with Pacquiao last year.

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VOL.5 ISSUE 194 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 30 - DEC. 01, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

Coaches for photo ops only?

I

T has been sometime since Davao has been beaten by a team from M’lang, North Cotabato, and miss out a national finals appearance in men’s football.

Davao City has a very rich football tradition that it is almost a crime to lose to our rivals in Mindanao. I remember that pride and that killer instinct instilled by the late great maestro Joe “Sensei” Te. In the past, once you wear the Davao City Eleven jersey, it’s like wearing a superhero outfit. You become almost invincible.

The reason is plain and simple. There is just too much pride being a member of the Davao Eleven.

Coach Te also exemplified the responsibility of a coach to a team. He was more than a coach even.

He was like a father to the players. He will be the last man to take a defeat. It is not in his dictionary.

That is why I am surprised to see the Davao City ballclub Hooligans FC lose out on a chance to play in the PFF Smart Cup in January when they are heavily favored to make it as Mindanao’s top representative.

Davao lost to M’lang FC right on their first assignment 1-3 and squandered a goal to Dipolog in injury time to be held to a 1-1

draw. Their only win was against Advocates FC of Iligan which did not show up for the tournament.

I asked around why and got the shock of my life.

My informer told me that the Hooligans played without their head coach David Dwight Penano and assistant coach Noel Presto during the entire tournament.

I have seen both coaches in a photograph with the team only. If this were true, these football coaches should be dealt with accordingly by the Davao Football Association (DFA).

Last time I learned, Penano is already an official of another sport—Tchoukball.

Presto is active elsewhere.

That’s why I wonder why these are the officials handling this Davao club.

However, being a clubbased tournament, clubs have the liberty to pick their coaches. So too must they take the responsibility of their setbacks.

However, when the setback is not just personal to a club but pricks the pride of a football-crazy city, it becomes a different story.

If this is true as witnessed by our football community, these men have a lot of explaining to do. Unless the DFA ignores such wanton display of irresponsibility.

DSA FORUM. Dexter’s Pizza manager Bai Lim (extreme right) with members and guests of the Davao Sportwriters Association (DSA) Forum at its new home in Dexter’s

Pizza at the Stadium. The weekly sports forum will be held every Thursdays at Dexter’s Pizza at the Stadium and at Calle 5-Bajada. (NJB)

Davao arnis bets eye golds D

AVAO City’s arnisadors are looking for no less than bringing home gold medals in the forthcoming 2012 Batang Pinoy National Championships in Iloilo City.

The National Finals is set December 5-9.

Mario Pala Zuelo, head coach of the City’s arnis squad, said the 10-man squad is ready to do battle in the Finals.

Guesting at yester-

day’s DSA Forum at its new home in Dexter’s Pizza@Stadium, Zuelo said the team has 80 percent chances of snatching a gold medal. He did not specify how many golds tey are targeting and downplayed his wards chances.

“Hindi ko masabi kung ilan pero talagang lalaban kami para magka-gold,” said Zuelo.

Zuelo was joined in the weekly Forum by Har-

ry Debuzuet, Phoenix Petroleum brand associate, who also announced the semifinals stage of te ongoing 5th Trip Ko Phoenix Fuels Basketball Cup. Davao City topped the Batang Pinoy 2012 Mindanao Leg which was held in Dapitan, Dipolog last November 5 to 7, 2012.

The Davao athletes brought home a total of 50 gold, 37 silver and 19 bronze medals in Arnis,

Athletics, Badminton, Chess, Swimming, Table Tennis, Judo, and Karatedo. Only the gold and silver medalists are qualified to compete in the upcoming Batang Pinoy 2012 National Finals.

The Davao City government through Mayor Sara Duterte will be bankrolling the expenses of the athlete’s participation which covers transportation and allowance.

(NJB)