Edge Davao 5 Issue 64 by Edge Davao The Business Paper

EDGEDAVAO

P 15.00 • 20 PAGES

VOL.5 ISSUE 64 • JUNE 01 - 02, 2012

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Serving a seamless society

Rody to police

Indulge Page A4

Shoot those carnappers! By Jade C. Zaldivar

Science/Environment Page 4

Sports Page 16

AVAO City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has issued to local police a shoot-to-kill order against carnap-

in the city from last January to the present, the most recent of which involved a Toyota Grandia Van along Jacinto St. which was reported missing the morning of May 30. Visibly displeased with the toll,

FSHOOT, 13

ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION. Smiling from ear to ear, at least 1,229 students, both young and old, marched during the graduation exercises of the Alternative Learning System at the CAP Auditorium on Thursday afternoon. [KARLOS MANLUPIG]

‘Fly-by-night’ banana exporters abound By Lorie A. Cascaro

pers who resist arrest. In a command conference at the Grand Men Seng Hotel May 30, the vice mayor directed the police to “hunt down” those responsible for nine carnapping incidents

“F

LY by night” exporters, those

who merely join the industry when market prices are favorable, will be isolated by a group of small banana growers and export-

ers.

Remegio C. Garcia, chairman of the Mindanao Banana Farmers and Exporters Association (MBFEA) Inc. said last Wednesday that they are renewing the list of members and will weed out these exporters.

“We are weeding out from our ranks these exporters as well as packing plants that are not really acceptable to us,” he said, citing those that use drums or bathtubs for washing bananas. He admitted that there are sever-

F’FLY-BY-NIGHT’, 13

THE BIG NEWS

VOL.5 ISSUE 64 • JUNE 01 - 02, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

HR calls for release of wounded rebel By Lorie A. Cascaro

UMAN rights advocates and Karapatan Southern Mindanao have called for the immediate and unconditional release of Vanessa delos Reyes, 27, a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) who has been detained since May 31 last year. Marking the first anniversary of delos Reyes’ detention, the group held a protest action yesterday on San Pedro Street, Davao City, appealing for the dropping of “trumped-up” charges against del los Reyes. The group also held a dinner-for-a-cause in the evening to raise funds to augment her needs for legal and medical assistance. Declared as hors de combat (out of combat) after she was critically wounded in an encounter with soldiers in Davao Oriental in May last year, delos Reyes is confined at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) under hospital arrest due to her spinal injury resulting to body paralysis. She was transported from Bislig, Surigao del Sur to Davao City for medical treatment with the assistance of Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

Mary Ann Sapar, cordinator of the Free Vanessa Movement (FVM) and secretary general of Gabriela Southern Mindanao said delos Reyes faces four counts of frustrated murder cases filed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). The group, in a press statement, said hors de combat, whether AFP or NPA fighters, are combatants who have been injured, rendered incapable of engaging in active combat, and are accorded rights to medical care and other rights under international humanitarian law. FVM is demanding for resumption of peace negotiations between the Government of the Philippines and National Democratic Front of the Philippines, which is set to tackle the plight and unconditional release of all political prisoners, implementation of CARHRIHL, and socio-economic reforms. “We have appealed to the NPA in the past, calling for them to release their prisoners of war on humanitarian grounds. In response the NPA released captured AFP soldiers and officers allowing them to reunite with their wives and families,” Sapar said.

school materials they need, but will also inspire them to stay in school. Abreeza Mall will continue to extend support in the form of initiatives to improve and strengthen the local community.

Abreeza Mall joins Brigada Eskwela BREEZA Mall participated in the Department of Education’s annual National Schools Maintenance Week dubbed “Brigada Eskwela” last May 25. Abreeza donated school materials, like notebooks, crayons, and pencils packed in clear plastic envelopes for 150 kindergarten and grade one students of two public kindergarten and elementary schools in Barangay 20-B, namely Elpidio Quirino Elementary School and San Roque Elementary School. According to Barangay Captain Gina Murillo, the donated materials will be distributed to the students enrolled there with the assurance that the neediest students in the barangay, especially those who have single parents, will have the priority in the distribution. Aside from school materials, Abreeza donated paints for the classrooms of the identified public schools. This project not only helps deprived students get

BUSINESS IS THRIVING. Vendors offer garlands and flowers to well-wishers and families of students who graduated from the Alternative Learning System in the city on Thursday. [KARLOS MANLUPIG]

Maersk Line suggests new markets for banana export

By Lorie A. Cascaro

HE Maersk Line, a shipping company in the region that used to ship 80-90 vans of bananas to other countries, introduced some alternative markets for exporters in the region at the Hotel Tropika, Lanang, Davao City last Wednesday. The company presented different trade lanes outside the traditional markets such as China, Middle East and Japan, showing the transit time and freight costs so that banana exporters can assess and consider the new markets. The new European markets introduced are Turkey, Romania and the Ukraine on the Black Sea. Angela V. Danila, Maersk trade analyst, said, “Essentially, Ukraine

and a part of the Black Sea are covered by Russia, so it’s also an entry point to the middle part of Russia.” Also presented were North African markets, such as Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Lebanon. “We recommend it not because we’re familiar with it as we look at history, we don’t have much trade to those areas. Right after the Arab Spring, we’re seeing a lot of shipments there from China and in Asia. They’re importing everything. So, we’re also recommending that market because they’re not growing anything yet,” she said. Maersk also showed possibilities for the South European market, such as Italy, Spain of the Iberian Peninsula, and some parts of France. The company gauged

Employees of Abreeza Ayala Mall supports Brigada Eskwela with Barangay Captain Gina Murillo (right photo).

the competitiveness of Philippine bananas to the potential alternative markets. A comparison of transit times between bananas from Ecuador and from Davao to the new destinations introduced, shows that Davao to Izmir, Turkey will be faster than Guayaquil, Ecuador to Izmir, Turkey. “We also had estimation on how much would it cost in freight rate versus Ecuador, Guayaquil to Ambarli, Turkey. We also compare the freight rates, how much we expect to pay per box from Davao, and the oay for Ecuadorian banana also,” she said. Danila mentioned that a box of bananas for these new markets will be 18 kilos per box, apart from the usual 13 kilos a box for the traditional markets.

However, other markets, such as some parts of Spain, buy in bulk so the rates are per kilo. A special container van, StarCare, was also introduced during the meeting with banana exporters, which can preserve fruits until 50 days maximum. She said some exporters from Davao use this type of van as the company ships seven StarCare vans in a week, adding that it has an additional cost of one dollar for every box of bananas. “I am positive that banana exporters will consider these new markets. The key at this point is to really follow through with it using push and pull approach. We are positive about their excitement because we have more concrete data now,” she added.

EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS

VOL.5 ISSUE 64 • JUNE 01 - 02, 2012

Anti-terrorism forum set today By Jade C. Zaldivar

ASK Force Davao (TFD) along with other peace-keeping units are set to conduct an anti-terrorism forum involving the private sector today (June 1) at the Almendras Gym. TFD Civil Military Operations officer Maj. Clifton Tangonan said this is part of the Philippine Military’s outreach to the public, seeking support in the fight against terrorism. “We want to know the level of awareness of the participants on anti-terrorism,” Tangonan said in an interview at the city hall where he was one of the guests of the I-Speak media forum hosted by the City Information Office. “Terrorism today is warfare being waged by fanatics who strongly abide by their beliefs. Mahirap pa ngayon hanapan ng solusyon or hindi pa natin masabi kung ano ang effective na panglaban [sa kanila]. For now we can only remind our citizens para mag-ingat at magsumbong sa kinauukulan,” he added. The TFD, the city’s antiterrorism unit, along with the Davao City Police Office have invited participants from the youth sector, the academe, business, and government agencies. Among those expected to attend are from the Ateneo de Davao University, University of Mindanao, University of Southeastern Philippines, and the Holy Cross of Davao College. “The topics will be on the imperatives for stakeholders’ awareness and public participation in thwarting

terrorism,” Tangonan said. “We’ll be talking about the current landscape and evolving trends of terrorism threats in Mindanao. The participants will be considered the representatives from Davao. After hearing their response, their level of awareness, then we can come up with action plans to raise the level of awareness. It’s another step na pagaaralan namin,” he said. Part of the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Division efforts against terrorism is to spread hotline numbers. “We have been distributing calling cards to civilians and groups. One benefit from these numbers is you have direct access to the military when you need to report something,” Tangonan said. “Kung may alam rin kayong may maling ginagawa ang isa sa aming mga sundalo huwag ho kayong magdalawang-isip o matakot na tumawag sa mga hotline numbers na ito. This is also our way of keeping our ranks in line. We know that any misbehavior on our part will hinder our efforts towards our goals,” he added. TFD’s Ilang detachment located at Terminal Facilities and Services Corporation (TEFASCO) wharf this city, can be reached through mobile numbers 0906-2752100 and 0918-7135-965. Sirawan Detachment at Toril district this city is available through numbers 0917-3104-488 and 0928-9480-867 while the Lacson Detachment in Calinan district this city can be reached through numbers 0926-1139-402 and 09999907-961.

ANNIVERSARY. Dra. Domilyn C. Villareiz, co-chair of Davao City Anti-Smoking Task Force, welcomes guests during the ‘10th Anniversary of Smoke-free Davao’ at Rizal Park, Davao City. [LEAN DAVAL, JR.]

Rody hints at running for Congress V ICE Mayor Rodrigo Duterte hinted that he might run for first district representative, saying that he would give priority to benefits for members of the Philippine National Police. During a command conference night of May 30, he said that if ever makes it to the House of Representatives, on top of his list would be seeing the police getting enough benefits. “For the life of me, I have never heard nga ang police nisulti nga sobra ra

Philippine eagles

Public awareness proven by frequency of reports By Lorie A. Cascaro

HE people’s growing awareness on the preservation of the Philippine eagle is shown by the frequency of reports on the bird in recent years, Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) executive director Dennis Salvador said last Wednesday. The reports were not only coming from Davao

City, but from throughout Mindanao, including even from Misamis Oriental and boundaries of Bukidnon, he added. In fact, most of the birds that arrived at the PEF were either confiscated or donated following reports on their whereabouts. The birds have undergone rehabilitation and released to the wild. Citing that the Philip-

Quips

THE OTHER lesson must go beyond the Chief Justice. It is the call for transparency. I echo that call.’ --SEN. PIA CAYETANO (GUILTY VERDICT ON CJ CORONA)

pine eagle population is estimated at only about 400 pairs scattered over the archipelago, particularly in Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao, Salvador said the birds are threatened by mining and logging operations that cause the destruction of their habitats. He said with forest fragmentation, Philippine eagles have become vulnerable to shooting and hunting, adding that persecution by man and deforestation are the major threats to the population of Philippine eagles. The highest concentration of eagles is in Eastern Mindanao and Bukidnon where there is avail-

FPHILIPPINE, 13

n Police benefits would be first on his list

ni ang ginahatag sa amoa. Pag-ampo lang mo nga macongressman ko kay mao gyud na akong atimanon,” he said at the Grand Men Seng Hotel conference. “Wala ko nag-hangdom nga mubalik ko pagkacongressman. Pero kung mahitabo na mao gyud na akong buhaton,” he added. Duterte said there are some agencies that need less manpower while the police need more. “Mag-kulang ang funds

kay naay ubang mga unit nga walay gamit. Daghan kaayong mga office nga useless. Naga-doble lang ang function. Kanang PLEB (People’s Law Enforcement Board) unsay gamit ana?” he said. “He said kanang Marina (Maritime Industry Authority) ipangtanggal ang uban diha ibutang sa police, sa CIDG. Kanang mga batan-on mao nay iparonda sa mga dalan. Sayang kayo ang manpower ibu-

Going bananas

tang lang nimo sa opisina,” Duterte said added. “Do not let your assets go to waste. Kung nay mga daot nga sakyanan ipaayo. Mangutang ta. Total mabayaran man na. Do not let law enforcement become second priority,” he said. However, when asked to confirm whether he would be running for Congress he chose to stay mum. “Lisod na. It has to be God’s call. It has to be manifested by the people,” he said. [JADE C. ZALDIVAR]

Mid-East a ‘doable’ market

ONSIDERING the proximity of the Philippines to Middle East countries, banana exporters in Mindanao refer to it as doable alternative market for their surplus bananas. “What is doable right now is Middle East. And in fact, we appreciate the efforts of the government. They are organizing what we call outbound business matching,” Remegio C. Garcia, chairman of the Mindanao Banana Farmers and Exporters Association, Inc. (MBFEA), said last Wednesday. Marizon S. Loreto, regional director of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 11, said yesterday the mission is tentatively scheduled in the middle of June and nothing is final yet since the initial negotiation has yet to be made. She added that the department’s higher officials

n DTI to lead busi-

ness matching

are making the arrangements for the outbound mission, and definitely the Department of Agriculture will support this. Garcia noted that in this mission, small farmers will be meeting the potential importers in the Middle East, including Jeddah, Kuwait and Riyadh, among other big markets there. He also mentioned that they received some inquiries from Pakistan as well. The problem with small banana exporters with the US and Europe market is the distance as the transit time will be more than 45 days, he said, adding that transit time to the Middle East will only be 21 days. Although they can keep the fruits in refrigerated vans, small exporters worry about the competitiveness

of the price. “Because you know Latin America, Central America are closer to Europe. And, in fact, they are the dominant exporter there. I don’t know if we can compete because of the high freight cost,” he said. As small farmers and growers have organized themselves, they can now negotiate with shipping companies for lower rates as they will assure them a certain volume. The MBFEA initially informed the Maersk line that they have an assured volume of 150 vans per week that may increase up to 500-600 vans per week. “With that volume, definitely, the shipping company cannot ignore us. We can already match the capacity of multinationals and we hope that we would also be given a preferred rate,” Garcia said.[LORIE A. CASCARO]

SCIENCE/ENVIRONMENT

VOL.5 ISSUE 64 • JUNE 01 - 02, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

World living beyond its resources B

IODIVERSITY has decreased by an average of 28 percent globally since 1970 and the world would have to be 50 percent bigger to have enough land and forests to provide for current levels of consumption and carbon emissions, conservation group WWF said over the weekend. Unless the world addresses the problem, by 2030 even two planet Earths would not be enough to sustain human activity, WWF said, launching its “Living Planet Report 2012”, a biennial audit of the world’s environment and biodiversity - the number of plant and animal species. Yet governments are not on track to reach an agreement at next month’s sustainable development summit in Rio de Janeiro, WWF International’s director general Jim Leape said. “I don’t think anyone would dispute that we’re nowhere near where we should be a month before the conference in terms of the progress of the negotiations and other preparations,” Leape told reporters in Geneva. “I think all of us are concerned that coun-

tries negotiating in the U.N. system for an outcome for Rio have not yet shown a willingness to really step up to meet these challenges. Those negotiations are clearly still tangled.” The Rio+20 meeting on June 20-22 is expected to attract more than 50,000 participants, with politicians under pressure from environmentalists to agree goals for sustainable development, in the spirit of the Rio Earth Summit that spawned the Kyoto Protocol 20 years ago. Despite that pact aimed at cutting planetwarming carbon emissions, global average temperatures are on track for a “catastrophic increase” by the end of the century, WWF said. Leape said there were many initiatives governments could take unilaterally without being “held hostage” to the wider negotiations for a binding global climate deal to replace Kyoto, which expires this year. It said the world should move away from “perverse” subsidies on fossil fuels that amount to more than $500 billion annually and ensure global access to clean energy by 2030.

Asked why environmentalists were still struggling to win the argument that something needed to be done, Leape said: “Let’s not underestimate the inertia in the system. “We’ve built an economy over the last century that is built on fossil fuels and on a premise that the Earth’s resources could not be exhausted. You see

that conspicuously in the case of the oceans, where we’ve been taking fish as if there were no tomorrow, as if fish would just always be there. “Secondly, we’re doing it in the context of a marketplace that continues to send the wrong signals. So many of the costs that we’re talking about are not built into the prices you see ... Markets can

work well if prices are telling the truth but at the moment they don’t, in hugely important ways.” Consumers were helping to turn the tide, he said, because of certification regimes that give products a seal of approval, forcing companies to abide by certain standards. “You see a growing number of commodities

in which this approach is rolling out. It’s in timber, it’s in fish, but it’s also now in palm oil and in sugar and in cotton and so forth. I think that’s part of creating market signals, to allow consumers to send signals, to show their preferences and to actually begin to build a market that’s heading towards sustainability.”

the minimum required to limit devastating effects like crop failure and melting glaciers. They believe the 2 degree limit is only possible if emissions levels are kept to around 44 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020. The report by nongovernmental organisation Climate Analytics, consultancy Ecofys and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said many governments are not implementing policies to meet their emissions reduction pledges

for 2020, and could increase rather than close the gap between real emissions and what is needed to limit warming, Negotiators from over 180 nations are meeting in Bonn, Germany, until Friday, to work towards getting a new global climate pact signed by 2015 and to ensure ambitious emissions cuts are made after the Kyoto Protocol expires at the end of this year. Procedural wrangling and a reluctance to raise ambitions to cut emissions due to economic

constraints is threatening progress, however. “It’s clear that many governments are nowhere near putting in place the policies they have committed to, policies that are not enough to keep temperature rise to below 2 degrees,” said Bill Hare, Director of Climate Analytics. “We’ve already identified a major emissions gap and the action being taken is highly unlikely to shrink that gap - indeed it seems that the opposite is happening,” he added. In a separate report, the International Energy Agency said China had spurred a jump in global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to their highest ever recorded level in 2011, offsetting falls the United States and Europe. OFF COURSE The planet is heading to a temperature rise of at least 3.5 degrees, but that could be even higher if 2020 pledges are not met, the report warned. “There would be quite profound effects on developing countries,” Hare told reporters at a briefing.

“And there would be a big impact on Europe with extensive heatwaves, water shortages and health risks we have not seen before.” Even if governments adopted the most ambitious emissions cut pledges and used very strict accounting, the emissions gap would only shrink to 9 billion tonnes, the report said. The forecast is at the high end of some previous estimates. Last November, the United Nations’ Environment Programme said emissions in 2020 could rise to between 6 billion and 11 billion tonnes above what is needed to limit global warming, depending on how stringently policies are implemented. “Most of the policies we have analyzed are not yet concrete enough to be quantified, not yet implemented and/or not yet sufficiently ambitious to ensure countries achieve their pledge. This is a worrying trend,” said Dr Niklas Höhne, Director of Energy and Climate Policy at Ecofys.

Some large emitters are not on track to meet their pledges. Even though the United States expects to lower emissions in 2020, this is mainly due to the impact of economic downturn and a shift from carbonheavy goal to cleaner natural gas. “A significant gap of 384 (million tonnes) remains and it is unclear how the U.S. intends to close the remaining gap,” the report said. Brazil’s deforestation rates are currently at a record low but if it adopts its proposed new forest code on Friday, it could reverse this trend. “Scientific analysis shows that the code could increase its emissions gap substantially,” the report said. Mexico is only on track to achieve 12 percent of its pledged 30 percent emissions reduction by 2020, and it is still not clear whether Japan will cut carbon emissions from its electricity sector as its nuclear reactors have been shut following the Fukushima accident last year, it added.

Trees are reflected in the waters of the Yesa reservoir, about 50 km (31 miles) from Pamplona, northeast Spain.

Countries doing too little on warming – researchers

REENHOUSE gas emissions in 2020 could rise to nine billion tonnes above what is needed to limit global warming as some countries look set to miss their emissions cut targets, a report by three climate research groups said on Wednesday. Countries have agreed that deep emissions cuts are needed to limit an increase in global average temperature to less than 2 degrees Celsius this century above preindustrial levels, a threshold that scientists say is

A forest burns in eastern Sierra Leone April 23, 2012. [REUTERS]

EDGEDAVAO

Stat Watch

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

3.5% 4th Qtr 2011

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

3.7% 4th Qtr 2011 USD 3,342 Million Nov 2011 USD 4,985 Million Nov 2011 USD -1,643 Million Nov 2011 USD -114 Million Dec 2011 P4,442,355 Million Nov 2011

3. Exports 1/ 4. Imports 1/ 5. Trade Balance 6. Balance of Payments 2/ 7. Broad Money Liabilities 8. Interest Rates 4/

4.71% Oct 2011 P128,745 Million Nov 2011 P 4,898 Billion Oct 2011

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

P 43.65 Dec 2011

12. Stocks Composite Index 6/

3,999.7 Sept 2011

13. Consumer Price Index 2006=100

128.1 Jan 2012

14. Headline Inflation Rate 2006=100

3.9 Jan 2012

15. Core Inflation Rate 2006=100

3.4 Dec 2011

16. Visitor Arrivals

284,040 Sept 2011

17. Underemployment Rate 7/

19.1% Oct 2011

18. Unemployment Rate 7/

6.4% Oct 2011

THE ECONOMY

VOL.5 ISSUE 64 • JUNE 01 - 02, 2012

Mining firm still hopeful for ECC approval S AGITTARIUS Mines, Inc. (SMI) is bent on continuing its work to advance its P2.4- billion mining project in Tampakan, South Cotabato, after its application for Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) was denied by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Mark Williams, SMI general manager for external affairs, in a press conference Wednesday here at the Marco Polo Davao, presented its sustainability report for 2011. He said the company was optimistic DENR would favor-

ably act on its motion for reconsideration of the denied ECC filed on January this year considering that the denial decision was not made on the merits of the company’s environmental impact statement (EIS) but due to the existing ban on open-pit mining contained in the South Cotabato provincial environmental code. Williams said SMI disclosed every aspect of the project’s mining procedure, particularly on environment and human safety, that fully complies with the requirements of the Environmental Management

Bureau’s (EMB’s) own ECC process. Kiblawan, Davao del Sur Mayor Marivic Caminero Diamante, in the same press conference, said the municipal governments of Kiblawan, Columbia and Tampakan, which would be covered by the Tampakan copper-gold project, has already filed a manifesto before the office of President Benigno Aquino III. She said in the manifesto that they supported the proposed project, the reconsideration of the ECC denial, and the move to amend the environ-

2011

2010

2009

Average December November October September August July June May April March

43.31 43.64 43.27 43.45 43.02 42.42 42.81 43.37 43.13 43.24 43.52

45.11 43.95 43.49 43.44 44.31 45.18 46.32 46.30 45.60 44.63 45.74

47.637 46.421

February

43.70

46.31

January

44.17

46.03

ment code of South Cotabato . Williams said SMI already contributed P1.8 billion for the Philippine economy through employment, taxes, purchase of local goods and services, community partnerships, sponsorships, donations, and public infrastructure spending. While the country’s policy on mining is still not clear, William still expressed optimism that with the international standards of the mining procedure of SMI, the Philippine government would eventually support its huge copper-gold project in Tampakan.

House Minority supports higher ‘sin taxes’

HE minority bloc of the House of Representatives said Wednesday said they fully support House Bill 5727, a priority bill of President Benigno S. Aquino III. The bill aims to restructure current sin taxes on tobacco and alcohol products.

The minority bloc said the bill would put the government in a “win-win” situation. House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez told a news briefing that passing the proposed measure would not only upgrade the country’s credit rating but the new

MONTHLY AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATE (January 2009 - December 2011) Month

47.032 46.851 48.139

taxes would also address social and health concerns of the country and uplift the plight of farmers. He explained an upgrade in the country’s rating means “in the event the government needs to borrow from international credit facilities or when we would like to roll-over our debts, it would be at a lower rate of interest.” Suarez said the concern on sin tax is not just about the smoker and the drinker but also a question of the sugar, coconut and tobacco farmers. “If we can harmonize all these measures without adversely affecting the plight of sugarcane planters, the coconut farmers and the tobacco farmers, why then would we not do it?” Suarez said. He stressed the House Minority would oppose any watered-down version of the proposed bill. But he said despite their support, he would ask the House majority not to hasten the process and let the deliberations go to their full course. House Bill 5727, if passed in its current form, is expected to raise around P60 billion in new revenues for the government. It will also provide for the social development needs of Filipinos, particularly in the health services area. Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya, chair of House Appropriations Committee and the bill’s main author, said the proposed measure assures tobacco farmers of a bigger share in the tobacco taxes. It also assures the farmers the additional funds allotted to them may be used to improve quality of production for more export opportunities. “If House Bill 5727 is passed into law, the government would be in a win-win situation,” Suarez said.

Quips

48.161

“We pray for a more urgent action from the government to address the ban of Philippine bananas in China.”

48.146 47.905 47.524 48.217

--Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association’s executive director, Stephen Antig on the ban of Philippine bananas in China, which has damaged the industry by P174 million per week.

48.458 47.585 47.207 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

THE ECONOMY

VOL.5 ISSUE 64 • JUNE 01 - 02, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

Meat Holiday

BOC hit for failure to solve smuggling of pork, chicken, and vegetables

OG producers, chicken growers, including vegetable producers on Wednesday threatened to mount a “market holiday” if rampant smuggling of agricultural products would not be stopped. AGAP party-list Rep. Nicanor Briones, in a press conference held at the Sulo Riviera Hotel in Quezon City, said the hog and chicken producers, including vegetable growers have now joined forces in calling on the government, particularly the

Bureau of Customs (BoC), to stop the rampant smuggling of agricultural products which resulted in P20 billion losses in government revenues. Briones said they will give the BoC two weeks to stop smuggling of farm produce or they will launch a five-day market holiday nationwide, which means no pork, chicken, and vegetables will be sold in the market. They also urged BoC Commissioner Rozzano Rufino Biazon to implement the Inward Foreign

EU-PHL trade remains strong in 2011

RADE between the European Union and the Philippines has stabilized at its pre-crisis level of euros 9.1 billion in 2011, it was announced on Tuesday by European Union Ambassador to Manila, Guy Ledoux. He made the announcement following the release of the EU-Philippines Trade Factfile of 2011. Ledoux further said that while Philippine exports of IT products to the EU declined (by 10 per cent), its exports of agricultural products increased by 13 per cent to euros 841 million. EU exports to the Philippines increased by six per cent in 2011. EU trade with other ASEAN members has grown significantly, up to 26 per cent increase with some partners. While electronics account for the bulk of the Philippine exports to the EU, other manufactures and notably agricultural trade have been growing in importance, specifically, exports in coconut oil, fruits and fishery products. EU-Philippines trade in services expanded in 2011 by seven per cent to euros 2.3 billion in 2010, with exports and imports

It figures P25 billion

TARGETED authorized capital of Tanduay Holdings Inc., the listed liquor maker of businessman Lucio Tan. Five times its current authorized capital, the amount will be used by the company to expand its operations, while eyeing new export markets such as the United States.

roughly in balance and a potential for further growth. In terms of foreign direct investments, the EU remains the largest investment partner of the Philippines with its total stock of investments rising further by 16 per cent to nearly euros 8 billion (latest figures of 2010), or about 30 per cent of total FDI stock in the Philippines . Moreover, EU FDI flows into the Philippines quadrupled to euros430 million in 2010, but there is substantial room for further boosting investment relations, as the Philippines has received only four per cent of the euros 193 billion stock of EU direct investments in the ASEAN region as of 2010. EU is one of the largest employer of Filipino seafarers. Filipino migrants living and working in the EU as well as Filipino seafarers manning European ships, together sent US$ 2.8 billion (Euro2 billion) to the Philippines in 2011, keeping the EU as the second largest source of remittances to the Philippines Korea, USA, Japan, ASEAN with the number of EU tourists reaching a record 318,000 and an increase of plus-seven per cent over 2010.

Manifest (IFM), which he earlier agreed on. The IFM provides critical import data two days before the shipment arrives. Briones said the IFM gives the Department of Agriculture (DA) information necessary to confiscate the smuggled goods and charge the suspected smugglers upon the arrival of the imported products. He also hit on Biazon for not conducting investigation on the identified Top 10 meat importers to

check their legitimacy. Rosendo So, Abono party-list chairman and director of the Swine Development Council (SDC), for his part, called on the BoC chief to stop making “palusot” and just go after the big smugglers which had already affected the agriculture sector some P6 million losses daily due to rampant smuggling. He also called for a total revamp at the BoC. On the other hand, Daniel Javellana Jr., chairman, National Federa-

tion of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI), has called for a 100 percent inspection of meat imports with 5-7 percent tariff, which the BoC had also failed to implement until now. The BoC has proposed that a cold storage facility be put up outside the Customs area so they can implement a total inspection of all meat imports. Meanwhile, Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (PAMPI) Executive Director Francisco Buencamino, in a chance interview, said

they are supporting the hog raisers call to stop unabated smuggling in the country. Buencamino said they also want to purge their ranks and are looking for ways to curb technical smuggling in the country. An estimated P8.5 billion was lost from July 2011 to February 2012, with 2.2 million hogs sold each month. Technical smuggling also caused the government to lose some P3.7 billion in revenues annually. (PNA)

Ateneo de Manila economics professor said after the investors’ forum spearheaded by the Institute of Corporate Directors’ (ICD) in Makati City Wednesday. Habito, who also served as head of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), also said investments to the country is expected to increase following the verdict on Corona’s case noting that it showed how committed the government is in putting in necessary reforms in the bureaucracy.

“My own sense is yes (it will add to investors’ confidence) because of the demonstration of the seriousness on the part of the government,” he said. Corona was impeached when the senator-judges voted 20 to 3 after 43 days of the nationally televised impeachment trial. The chief justice was found guilty for not disclosing his bank deposits amounting to about US$ 2.4 million and P80 million in his SALNs from 2002-10.

“The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, having tried Renato C. Corona, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, upon three articles of impeachment charged against him by the House of Representatives, with a guilty vote by 20 senators representing at least twothirds of all the members of the Senate, has found him guilty of the charge under Article 2 of the said articles of impeachment,” Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said after four hours of voting.

Corona conviction good for economy

CONOMIST Cielito Habito is sanguine on the positive result of the guilty verdict on Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was impeached Tuesday for not disclosing all his assets in his statement of assets, liabilities and networth (SALN). “Hopefully it now paves the way for farreaching and fundamental reforms in governance because that is always been the dramatic, that has always been the main impediment to investment growth in the country,” the

GMA IS NEXT. Members of progressive organizations cheer as 20 senator-judges cast their votes for the impeachment of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona on Tuesday afternoon. The group also calls for the imprisonment of former President Arroyo for her alleged cases of corruption and human rights violations. [KARLOS MANLUPIG]

P5 billion COMBINED funds of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.(PDIC) as rescue fund designed to save problematic rural banks from edge of financial ruin.

6 million

NUMBER OF people who die every year due to tobacco use-related killer diseases, according to the World Health Organization. Of these, 600,000 are nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke, the WHO said.

$1.28 billion COST of coal-fired power plant project of the Manila Electric Co., the country’s biggest power distributor, in the Subic Freeport. The company is committed to opening the 600-megawatt cola power plant by 2015 to shore up power supply in the Luzon grid.

17.3 million

NUMBER of Filipinos who smoke, according to the Department of Health. Smoking is one of three major risk factors of cardiovascular disease, cancer and other respiratory illnesses, which make up 60 percent of all the deaths in the country.

SEN. JUAN Ponce Enrile’s bloc of seven senator-judges who sealed the fate of the impeached Chief Justice Renato C. Corona. According to Sen. Loren Legarda, the bloc--composed of herself, Enrile and senators Jinggoy Estrada, Vicente Sotto III, Gregorio Honasan II, Ramon Revilla Jr. and Manuel Villar –met last Sunday night to decide on whether or not to convict Corona.

EDGEDAVAO

AGRITRENDS

VOL.5 ISSUE 64 • JUNE 01 - 02, 2012

Earthworm castings as organic fertilizer By Jims Vincent T. Capuno

ARMING depends heavily on fertilizer to increase crop production. The use of chemical fertilizers, for instance, has been an important part of the Green Revolution in the past. While inorganic fertilizers are essential for high yields, their long-term use produces deleterious effects on the soil. This is the reason why experts are now recommending using organic fertilizers. Earthworm castings or vermicompost is one important form of organic fertilizer, which farmers can readily use in their farms. Vermicomposting in the Philippines began in the 1970s with studies conducted by researchers of the Central Luzon State University in Munoz, Nueva Ecija. However, it did not take off as expected. It was not until Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero III, director of the Laguna-based Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (PCAMRD), took a second look at the technology that it started to gain popularity. Dr. Guerrero wanted to utilize vermicomposting to improve soil fertility, reduce costs and mitigate pollution in the Philippines. “We have a robust

agricultural economy with our extensive land and water resources,” he said. “The production of crops such as rice, coconut and sugarcane, along with fisheries (aquaculture), is the mainstay of our agricultural base.” He found out that one of the major constraints in the production of crops and fish in the country was the high cost of inputs, particularly imported chemical fertilizers for crop production and feeds for aquaculture. Of environmental concern was the widespread burning of crop residues such as rice straw and sugarcane trash. “About 24 million tons of rice straws are generated annually,” Dr. Guerrero said. “Livestock manure poses additional challenges. Approximately 28 million tons per year are generated, and improper discharge into water bodies is causing aquatic pollution and fish kills.” So, he thought of turning these wastes into organic fertilizer using vermicomposting or the process of converting biodegradable wastes from households and farms into compost (organic soil) through the action of earthworms. “With the aid of aero-

Vermiculture bic microorganisms (that is, bacteria and fungi), earthworms digest processed organic materials under favorable temperature and moisture conditions,” Dr. Guerrero further said. “The materials that

Vegetables grown with vermicompost pass through the digestive tract of the earthworms come out in a texturized, sanitized and deodorized form of castings known as vermicompost.” Vermicompost is richer in many nutrients than compost produced by other composting methods. It is also rich in microbial life which helps break down nutrients already present in the soil into plant-available forms. Unlike other compost, worm castings also contain worm mucus which keeps nutrients from washing away with the first watering and holds moisture better than plain soil. There are three earthworm species which have been used to produce vermicompost in the Philippines. Of the three, the African nightcrawler (introduced in 1982 from Germany) is the most efficient for vermicomposting under Philippine conditions. “It matures in six

weeks and can be bred as often as once a week,” Guerrero said. In Davao del Sur, one organization that is promoting vermicomposting is the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC) Foundation, Inc. “We found out that vermicompost is good for vegetables and even fruit trees,” said Ian Ogatis, the person in-charge with the center’s vermicomposting. In an experiment conducted on eggplant, results showed that a combination of vermicompost at 100 grams per pot (6.2 tons per hectare) and 50 percent of the recommended chemical fertilizer application gave a significantly higher yield (15 percent more) of eggplant fruits, compared to that with 100 percent chemical fertilization, after 120 days from planting. The MBRLC offers twoday training on vermicomposting. It also produces

an 8-page manual on vermiculture. For further details, visit the farm or e-mail them at mbrlc@ mozcom.com. The phone number is 064-533-2378. The local markets for vermicompost are big. In 1993, the potential use of organic fertilizer covered 2.5 million hectares in the Philippines. That year, the demand for organic fertilizer in 1993 was 6.25 billion bags (50 kg/bag) compared to actual consumption of only 62,000 metric tons. “Intestines of the soil” was how Aristotle called earthworms while Cleopatra decreed them sacred. “It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly, organized creatures,” Charles Darwin stated. The Chinese character for earthworms translates as “angels of the earth.”

VANTAGE POINTS

VOL.5 ISSUE 64 • JUNE 01 - 02, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

Why sex is like debt

EDITORIAL

Illegal squatting

AGGING social problems in the Philippines cannot be solved simply by passing a law or laws addressing them. Often, it is important how the laws are implemented. A case in point is illegal squatting. A law was crafted to address the problem. It is Republic Act 7279, or the “Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992.” Its other name is the “Lina Law,” so-called because its author was former Sen. Jose Lina Jr. The law is now being blamed for the proliferation of illegal squatting in the country. Lina takes exception to this accusation. He said the law was designed to promote socialized housing for the poor who cannot afford to buy a piece of property on which they can build a decent home. Lina complained that the law is being misinterpreted in favor of vested political or self-serving interests. He, however, failed to explain this point. He was quoted as saying “had the LGUs (local government units) started to implement the law 20 years ago, we would have addressed the problem of squatters already.” In fairness to the former Local Government secretary, some LGUs have been able to implement the Lina law. One of them is Davao City, where thousands of informal settlers, the politically correct term for squatters, have been relocated. Last time we focused on this topic, we learned the city government has been setting aside some P40 million annually for relocation of informal settlers.

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Still, the city’s initiative does not seem enough to totally solve the problem. There are just too many squatters to relocate. The housing backlog is more than 40,000 houses or thereabouts. More squatters will gravitate to the city given due to its widely perceived economic boom. Then, there is this other aspect of the problem—organized squatting. Don’t look now, but the city’s history is replete with stories on massive invasions by squatters – Buhangin, Agdao, Wireless, Talomo, and Piapi-Boulevard. Organized squatting has been responsible for transforming these areas into enclaves of tens of thousands of homeless Dabawenyos, figures that translate into hundreds of thousands of votes. The most problematic, of course, are cases involving squatters occupying titled properties for decades now. Their owners are helpless because government intervention is often not forthcoming. Woe to the landowners, for they cannot enjoy the fruits of their landholdings in their lifetime despite the obvious ongoing property boom. To fine-tune the implementation of the Lina Law this late, a national conference is set at the Manila Hotel, June 14 and 15. It is organized by the Philippine Federation of Real Estate Service Professionals, in cooperation with the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and the Department of Interior and Local Government. It is advisable for the city government to send a sizeable number of delegates to the conference in order to better implement social housing. ANTONIO M. AJERO Editor in Chief

RAMON M. MAXEY Consultant

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

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

JOCELYN S. PANES Director of Sales

SOLANI D. MARATAS Finance

RICHARD C. EBONA IMELDA P. LEE Advertising Specialists

AGUSTIN V. MIAGAN JR Circulation

CAGAYAN DE ORO MARKETING OFFICE

LEIZEL A. DELOSO | Marketing Manager Unit 6, Southbank Plaza Velez-Yacapin Sts. Cagayan de Oro City Tel: (088) 852-4894

MANILA MARKETING OFFICE

ANGELICA R. GARCIA | Marketing Manager Blk. 1, Lot 10, La Mar Townhomes, Apitong St., Marikina Heights, Marikina City Tel: (02) 942-1503

EBT, a little like sex, is a twosided relationship which, when used a p p r o p r i a t e l y, pleases the partners and is good for society. But both are also intoxicating and can easily become excessive and anti-social. The financial bubble of the 2000s was the financial equivalent of the 1960s enthusiasm for “free love”. The delights of nearly free debt set pulses racing. Since the financial collapse, the dangers of uncontrolled borrowing have been recognised, but the bad habits have hardly changed. When debt is used as it should be, lenders receive a just return on their assets and borrowers pay a just price for the use of the fruits of other people’s labour. Loans finance helpful investments and assist governments and individuals to manage periods of adverse fortune. But debt can also be used for promiscuous pleasure-seeking, unaffordable consumption, unjustified corporate investments and excessive government spending. In the recent debt party, the United States led the world. The ratio of total U.S. debt (private, corporate and government) to GDP increased from 256 to 373 percent between 1997 and 2008, according to Federal Reserve calculations. The whole country borrowed from foreigners to fund its trade deficit. The financial sector borrowed cheaply and invested dangerously to increase returns and remuneration. Homeowners borrowed more and more to buy more expensive houses. At first, all this indulgence appeared to be beneficial. GDP growth was strong, consumption was high, unemployment was low and higher asset values – the other side of higher debts – made borrowers feel richer. But when Lehman Brothers failed in 2008, the dangers of frequent debt relations with multiple financial partners became clear. With everyone borrowing from each other, losses on bad loans, and the fear of further losses, spread rapidly around the world. A Lesser Depression set in, and there is no end in sight. Despite much talk about the end of an era of hedonistic borrowing, financial rectitude remains a distant prospect. Governments have stepped up borrowing just about as much as the private sector has cut back. In the United States, debt remains an alarmingly high 359 percent of GDP. What can be done to restore financial order? For irresponsible borrowing, a sudden outbreak of prudence would probably aggravate the economic problem. The economist John Maynard Keynes called it the paradox of thrift. If everyone tries to save more and spend less, the result will be a decline in total consumption, which leads to higher unemployment and then to more saving against rainy days. The desire to prevent such a spiral of decline lies behind the today’s low official interest rates, high government borrowing and generous support for banks.

Quips

‘I, THEREFORE, make this painful decision with a heavy heart but confident that we have given justice to our people. For this reason, I find him to have violated the Constitution.’

--Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada (Guilty verdict on CJ Corona)

EDGEDAVAO

t ro u b l i n g development in the business front is the continued failure of the country’s law-enforcement units and government agencies to solve software piracy. The result of lack of close cooperation among government people and law enforcers involved in the drive is inefficiency and ineffectiveness. The piracy rate in this country, for example, is disconcerting – the illegal trade is accelerating at 70% in 2011 valued at P14.6 billion, up 69% compared with 2010 figures. Software manufacturers admit that they are worried because part of the problem is the ever-growing preference by end-users for pirated software. This is because l the pirated items are sold at cheaper prices aside from being readily available almost everywhere has further spurred a demand. That’s why according to a report prepared by a composite team composed of the Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Optical Media Board (OMB) and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) group, 57% of computer users admit they have ac-

N the end, it was not the evidence presented by the prosecution but the words coming from the mouth of Chief Justice Renato C. Corona himself that sealed his fate in the impeachment trial. So damning was his own testimony that 20 senators saw it fit to judge the highest magistrate of the land guilty as charged. Only 16 votes were needed to convict him. Left with no other option but to testify in open court after Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales brought out documents that proved his ownership of bank accounts that were not declared in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, Corona walked right into the trap laid – ironically – by his own lawyers. His lawyers bluffed Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile into summoning the Ombudsman to testify under oath on her statements concerning those accounts. Unluckily for the chief justice, Enrile called the bluff. The rest is history. Corona sought a way out through a legal explanation: Aside from the P80 million, he concealed the $2.4 million he had in the banks, as he was convinced that foreign currency accounts are protected by the confidentiality clause in Republic Act 6426 (Foreign Currency Deposits Act of 1972). He further argued that this provision stands even with the passage of RA 6713 (Code of Conduct for Public Officials and Employees of 1989) which requires government officials and employees to disclose their “assets, business interests, and financial connections including those of their spouses and unmarried children

Monkey Business

VANTAGE POINTS

VOL.5 ISSUE 64 • JUNE 01 - 02, 2012

Software piracy problem quired pirated software and use them all or most of the time. The revenues of software manufacturers and the effect on the global economy will not rebound abruptly until the clandestine operations of unscrupulous entrepreneurs are not put to a halt. The toughest problem relates to the very nature of the software manufacturing base. Prices of personal computers, peripheral, semi-conductors and electronic components are mired in global slump due to the unabated software piracy. It’s really a double whammy for the industry. Industry sources, on the other hand, intimated that the real solution to the software piracy problem is a massive information campaign, concerted public education and intensive law enforcement drive. Authorities could minimize if not totally stamp out the illegal trade, but until they adopt stringent measures and conduct a no non-sense campaign against software pirates, the same problems are going to keep returning. Unfortunately, at this stage authorities are just treating the symptoms lightly, and too lenient in dealing and confronting the source of the ills with an “iron-hand” policy. Lead government agencies and various law enforcement

units should stop banging with increasingly useless performance reports and achievements. That will be made all painful by shortsighted, self-interested solutions. SIMILAR UNLAWFUL BUSINESS ACTIVITIES– If you want a look at what’s really ailing the software industry, just drive over on any given day along Quezon Boulevard near the vicinity of a covered court at mini-forest. Actually, it doesn’t matter where you go, since the same scene is blatantly displayed in semi-permanent structures, parking garages, mall fronts, bus station and other sites all over Davao City. Software piracy as we all know is worldwide in scope. Perhaps lead government agencies and law enforcement units need not look far and wide. A similar or related mode of business – pirated CDs is rampant throughout the country. Davao City has its own share of the problem. One glaring example is the operations along Quezon Blvd. where sidewalk vendors conduct their trade with impunity and right under the very noses of authorities. This time, different law enforcement agencies are still looking in the opposite direction – for obvious reasons – leaving us wondering why.

Making sense under eighteen (18) years of age living in their households.” (Section 8) Corona also offered an explanation for the enormity of the amount: the funds were commingled with those of his family members, and he started investing in dollars in the late 1960s, when, to his recollection, the exchange rate was still two pesos to a dollar. He must have thought that was convincing enough. But as the Chinese would say, more words, more mistakes. In their closing arguments, Corona’s lawyers extended his explanation, saying the non-declaration of those accounts was made in “good faith” since the impeached official did it in the belief that it was not illegal. Besides, they said, RA 6713 allows for corrections in case of errors or omissions. But while Corona’s lawyers may have shown brilliance and finesse, they ignored two things which may not be found in the statute books but are embedded in human consciousness as essential elements of life and justice – common sense and sense of fairness. Common sense tells us that Corona’s explanation – and that of his lawyers too – defies logic. As an exalted lawyer of the land, it could not have escaped him that RA 6713 provides for no exceptions with regard to the disclosure of assets, that the confidentiality clause in RA 6426 is addressed to the banks, and that a later law prevails over an older one. Common sense also tells us that the law would be useless if it gives thieves in government an opportunity to hide their loot. Sometimes we fail to see the truth because it looks so simple. SALN means statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth. It does not say SOME assets, liabilities, and net worth. Enrile posed a

question to the defense which the latter could not answer because it was already an answer in itself: What harm would it do the chief justice if he declared his dollar accounts? Corona’s lawyers tried to justify his act by invoking good faith. But what good faith are we talking about if huge amounts in the banks were left undeclared over many years and then withdrawn right after the impeachment complaint was submitted to the Senate? As yet, nobody has proved that his dollar deposits came from public funds and other dubious sources. However, the hasty withdrawal buttressed the suspicion created by the nondisclosure. As Senator Gregorio Honasan put it, “We have not proven if the defendant is corrupt. Ang malinaw ngayon ay may duda na. Doubt is the opposite of faith, and faith is the source of hope. I ask the chief justice to step down from the pedestal.” Moreover, the senators were dutybound to convict Corona as an act of fairness to lowly public employees who were charged and dismissed for lesser offenses. It was only fitting that some senators cited the case of Delsa Flores, a court interpreter in Panabo City who lost her job for not disclosing a market stall in her SALN. If Mrs. Flores deserved to be booted out from her low paying job for not declaring a modest business, why should the law be soft on Mr. Corona who did not disclose his huge amounts in the banks and high-end real estate properties over many years? Senator Lito Lapid gave the best definition of fairness – conscience. [H. Marcos C. Mordeno writes mainly on the environment, human rights and politics. He can be reached at hmcmordeno@gmail.com.]

Growing business enterprise SPECIAL FEATURE BY WINFRED RI GABUYO

ATER lily or hyacinth is one of the world’s most beautiful soft plants that is increasingly becoming a big business enterprise in Laguna. In fact,the local government of the province lead its cooperative and livelihood development programs in utilizing water hyacinth as a main product. Emilio D. Casulla, cooperative development specialist, said the program was started by local governments in other places such as Las Piñas and Taguig but was later adopted by Laguna after getting devastated by typhoon Ondoy. Casulla said, “For the people living near the Laguna de Bay, we made them harvest the plentiful water lilies then turn them into raw materials by paying the residents 25 centavos per stalk harvested.” That created a job that kept everyone busy instead of crying over their material and financial losses after being struck by Ondoy. For a start, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) gave P60,000 last October to the local government to start the water hyacinth business with the amount equally divided among the product makers and harvesters. In turn, the product makers such as the Laguna Ina and Canlubang Ina Producers Cooperative trained harvesters and women in several barangays with manual weaving of slippers, bags, hats, wallpapers, vinyl and other products. Being environment-friendly product, the water hyacinths are painstakingly hand woven and untouched by machines. Finished output are dyed or soaked in color to make them qualitywise an attractive to local and foreign buyers. The plant which beautifies the rivers and ponds but sometimes clog and flood water ways, rivers, seas and even embankment rarely runs out. The harvesters usually cut some water lily stalks and replant it back, to allow faster reproduction. The gatherers need not worry about sufficient supply since the plant grows fast and aplenty. Laguna residents know that hyacinth making and weaving may not be a main occupation but there are those who are determined to make it a real business/enterprise. They have gone to the internet to help advertise their products abroad. They also seek help from embassies, consulates and business organizations for additional support or funding if necessary.

Quips

‘ W H E R E OUR Constitution and our laws require disclosure, he chose the path of concealment. He has lost his moral fitness to serve the people. He has betrayed the public trust.’

--Sen. Franklin Drilon (Guilty verdict on CJ Corona)

COMMUNITY SENSE

VOL.5 ISSUE 64 • JUNE 01 - 02, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

Smart, Pagasa launch automatic rain gauge in Tagum S

MART Communications and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) launched in Tagum City yesterday (May 29) its co-location project of automatic rain gauge (ARG). Smart Communications Community Partnerships Manager Nova Concepcion yesterday bared moves of the telecommunication company to do its first launching in Tagum City way ahead of the 62 other Smart cell sites installed with ARGs. Concepcion said the

receptiveness of the local government unit of Tagum on disaster preparedness and the safe location of the ARG were the reasons for the Tagum City launch of the co-location project it had tied up with PAGASA. In his speech read by Interior and Local Government City Director Liza Mendoza, Tagum City Mayor Rey T. Uy said the city government sets its direction towards attaining the standards of the Seal of Disaster Preparedness per instruction of DILG through Memorandum Circular 2012-79.

Sarangani in Photos

In an interview, Uy assured the safety of the weather monitoring equipment of PAGASA placed inside the perimeter of Smart cell site located along the national highway in Barangay Magdum, Tagum City. “Walay manghilabot ana (No one can touch it),” he said. Concepcion said the ARG co-location project with PAGASA formed part of Smart Communications’ corporate social responsibility which it extends to provide communication services even before, during and after a

disaster occurrence. Under the co-location agreement, Smart Communication committed to provide a space for the PAG-ASA automatic rain gauge and to ensure safety and maintenance of such weathering monitoring facility. PAGASA weather specialist and chief of PAGASA Research and Development Esperanza Cayanan said that the ARG uses “Smart sim” to automatically transmit data to the PAGASA electronic server located at its head office in Manila. The ARG helps PAGA-

SA determine local rains situation. Meanwhile, PAGASA Chief Meteorologist Gerry Pedrico of Davao PAGASA Station explained that the presence of more rain gauges substantially helps in coming up with more accurate data on rainfall amount. “With more accurate data, we can come up with more accurate information for the public that would become the basis of their right action,” he said. Aside from ARGs, PAGASA is also working with Smart Communica-

Academe urged to address Mindanao’s research needs

New police regional director visits Capitol Police Chief Superintendent Alex Paul Monteagudo (3rd from right) pays a courtesy call to Governor Migs Dominguez (center) at the Capitol Thursday morning, May 31. PCSUPT Mon-

teagudo was installed as the new regional director of Philippine National Police-Region 12 effective May 17.

Maasim village gets water reservoir from Rep. Pacquiao From left, Vice Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon, Mayor Arturo Lawa, Kabatiolbarangay captain Noel Tapan and Vice Mayor Uttoh Salem Cutan release water from the newly-inaugurated P250,000-water reservoir Wednesday, May 30. The fund was requested from Rep. Manny Pacquiao for the construction of water reservoir at Purok 6, Kabatiol. The water reservoir will benefit Puroks 3, 4 and 6 in Kabatiol covering more or less 1,000 households and it is planned to expand its pipeline to the adjacent area of barangayKablacan.

School building inaugurated in Maasim Vice Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon leads the ribbon cutting ceremony during the inauguration and turn-over of four classrooms for Hilltop Elementary School in barangayKabatiol Wednesday, May 30. The four classrooms were provided by the Department of Education and ready to be used by Grade 2 and Grade 6 pupils for the opening of classes.

Big brother for reformed education Governor Migs Dominguez speaks as big brother for education before a crowd of 2,000 youth volunteers and teachers during the provincial culmination of “Sarangani Big Brother (SBB): Reading is Fun!” program Wednesday, May 30, at Malandag gymnasium. The governor launched SBB five years ago to set the stage for education reforms in public schools throughout the province, along with a special unit under his office – the Quality Education for Sarangani Today.

tions and with Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) to put up more automatic weather stations (AWS) designed to measure atmospheric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity and rainfall intensity and amount. Pedrico bared eight AWS in the Davao Region and these are located in Buda, Davao City; in 911 Davao City station; in Jose Abad Santos and Digos in Davao del Sur; Bangaga and in Mati Davao Oriental; at the PAGASA Davao Station; and in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley.

consortium of local academicians and scholars is urged to take on the role of a think tank that will help steer Mindanao’s journey to holistic development. Sixteen members of the Mindanao Studies Consortium Foundation Inc. (MSCFI) were exhorted by the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) to venture out of their institutions and build their mark in research and policy studies in the region. “Issues in Mindanao are integrated and call for integrated solutions that require lenses from different skills and expertise. Being an institution of thinkers, planners, experts, and social architects, MSCFI can take the lead,” MinDA Executive Director Janet Lopoz said in a message delivered for MinDA chair Sec. Luwalhati Antonino. The Foundation is a clearinghouse of ideas, resources, programs, and projects that help mitigate peace and development issues in Mindanao through scientific and empirical researches that help define and support the region’s development needs. Lopoz said development, industries, and social structures are evolving fast, and Foundation members must determine if they will remain within the walls of their individual institutions and research centers, or “come out and leave a legacy in Mindanao’s history.” “We need to strengthen alliances, expand membership, and create networks and communities, so opportunities for engagement can be expanded, and knowledge is brought to critical industry players, decision-makers, and policy-makers,” she added. Lopoz made the call during a strategic planning session facilitated by MinDA to help the consortium strengthen its capacities as it gears to expand its membership and evolve into the Mindanao Knowledge, Re-

search and Policy Center (MKRPC). The Center will become the repository of knowledge on Mindanao and shall take the lead in coordinating, facilitating, and disseminating researches, bridging theory to practice in the pursuit of peace and development initiatives. It is also envisioned to help higher education institutions produce more scientists and give attention to social and political sciences that can help address complex social and political issues in Mindanao. The planning activity was intended to come up with an enhanced research framework and harmonized Mindanao Research Agenda in relation to the region’s blueprint for development called Mindanao 2020, A Peace and Development Framework Plan for Mindanao. Dr. Ciel Habito of Brain Trust Inc., in his message to the consortium, revealed that in the crafting of the Mindanao 2020, his team saw gaps in defining the knowledge base to support its thematic areas. He said this boils down to the need for a research agenda that will later on cluster into research studies. “What we need is practical research that can be useful and contribute to actual reforms, such as identifying lack of infrastructure to unleash a lot of economic activities,” Habito said. He expressed hope for BTI and MSCFI to work together for possible expansion, networking, and strengthening of both institutions in order to respond better to the needs of Mindanao. Prof. Ricardo de Ungria, MSCFI Chairperson, closed the activity with a rallying call to its members to renew their commitment to the consortium and tackle the challenges ahead.

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VOL.5 ISSUE 64 • JUNE 01 - 02, 2012

COMMUNITY SENSE 11

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Globe and FPE. Main signatories to the MoA are Globe CSR Head Rob I. Nazal (2nd from left) and FPE CEO Atty. Danny Valenzuela (2nd from right).

Globe Telecom, Foundation for Philippine Environment to utilize mobile technology

LOCATION

DENR Assistant Secretary Marlo D. Mendoza (right) talks about the importance of the government’s National Greening Program during the contract signing between

AREA (sq.m.) PRICE/sq.m.

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ITH the common goal and vision of conserving the environment, Globe Telecom and the Foundation for Philippine Environment (FPE) have entered into a partnership that would utilize mobile technology in ensuring the success of the government’s National Greening Program (NGP). FPE is one of two organizations that represent the civil society organizations under the NGP Partnership Agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). It oversees the production, planting and maintenance of 50 million seedlings of indigenous trees species with the help of FPE’s extensive network of indigenous people and nongovernment organizations (NGO). Under the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed by Globe and FPE in the presence of DENR Assistant Secretary for Special Projects Marlo D. Mendoza, Globe Corporate Social Responsibility team shall provide Information and Communications Technology (ICT) support to FPE to enable the quick registration of the seedlings as well as allow ease of payment between DENR and the participating peoples organizations and assisting NGOs.

Monitoring and evaluation of the whole effort will be enabled through Globe donation of mobile phones, Globe Bridging Communities SIM cards with special discounted rates and the provision of a P5,000-monthly Text Connect facility for efficient and real-time monitoring of production, planting and maintenance progress. Specifically, Globe will donate mobile phones and SIM cards to 380 indigenous people organizations, peoples organizations, and NGOs as well as to 88 assisting nongovernment organizations and stakeholders in 51 provinces and 168 municipalities and cities engaged by FPE for NGP. “One of the pillars of Globe Bridging Communities is iConserve where we show active corporate citizenship in the protection, rehabilitation, and conservation of critical environmental areas in the Philippines just like what NGP is doing to mitigate the destruction of the country’s natural resources. So through this partnership, we hope to provide the critical enabling technologies to help FPE see through its support mandate to the implementing community-based partners and local stakeholders,” said Rob I. Nazal, Globe Head

for Corporate Social Responsibility. “We are glad to be working with Globe Telecom in seeing through our commitment to help our network of NGOs towards contributing to the NGP. ICT, particularly mobile technology which Globe is offering, is a critical tool for the indigenous peoples organizations to be actively engaged, for service payment and advisory support to be efficient, and for the program’s over-all monitoring, reporting, and evaluation systems to happen in real time,” said Atty. Danny Valenzuela, FPE Chief Executive Officer. Globe also committed to provide free internet connection, allow use of laptops, and give free calls during critical project activities participated in by the organizations involved in NGP. Aside from the technology support, Globe will also assist the indigenous communities in opening mobile bank accounts through BPI-Globe BanKO Partners Outlets nationwide. Globe will provide subsidy on ATM costs to make it easier for the underprivileged groups to avail of the banking service. BPI-Globe BanKO will be used to facilitate payment of service fees to the indigenous peoples beneficiaries.

NATION/WORLD

NATION BRIEFS Milestone RAQI Foreign Minister,

His Excellency Hoshyar Zebari, is on official visit to the Philippines from Thursday, May 31, to June 2, with the convening of the 7th Philippines-Iraq Joint Commission Meeting this year among the agenda. The Foreign Minister’s visit is considered an important milestone in Philippine-Iraq relations as it is the first visit of an Iraqi Foreign Minister to the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. An estimated 280 Filipinos are believed to be still living in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad while about 190 are in the Kurdistan Autonomous Region.

Confirmed

EVEN appointments as Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (AEPs) in the Department of Foreign Affairs, including that of Sonia Cataumber-Brady to Beijing, were confirmed Wednesday by the Commission on Appointments (CA). Brady’s assignment to Beijing is concurrent to North Korea and Mongolia. China was also her last assignment prior to retiring in 2010. She also served as the DFA Undersecretary for Policy from 2003 to 2006.

Promising

MBASSADOR Guy Ledoux of the European Union (EU) in Manila said on Wednesday the Philippines has many promising players in the creative industries who would get even more boost internationally with the country’s accession in March to the Madrid Protocol on intellectual property. He welcomed the Philippines’ accession to the Protocol, saying it would help companies secure their business rights through trademarks in key export markets and expand their reach, including to Europe, the largest regional economy.

Market holiday OG producers,

chicken growers, including vegetable producers on Wednesday threatened to mount a “market holiday” if rampant smuggling of agricultural products would not be stopped. AGAP party-list Rep. Nicanor Briones said the hog and chicken producers, including vegetable growers have now joined forces in calling on the government, particularly the Bureau of Customs (BoC), to stop the rampant smuggling of agricultural products which resulted in P20 billion losses in government revenues.

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Qatar orders arrest of mall owner, others over deadly fire H

WORLD TODAY

ATAR has ordered the arrest of five people involved in the management of a Doha shopping mall ravaged by a fire in which 19 people, mainly children, were killed, the state news agency reported. The report late Tuesday said that Qatar’s Attorney General, Ali bin Futeis Al-Murri, has “ordered the arrest of the Villagio mall owner ... its manager and its deputy manager.” It said that warrants had also been issued for the arrests of deputy director of mall security and for the owner of the Gympanzee nursery on the first floor which bore the brunt of the fire and where 13 children and four teachers died. The report did not specify if any charges have been filed against any of the five. The report of arrest orders came hours after relatives and friends bade a tearful farewell to

PERISHED. Mourners gathered at the ‘Aspire Zone’ in the Qatari capital, Doha, close to the scene where two-yearold New Zealand triplets among 19 in total perished in a massive fire that tore through a nursery on May 29. Qa-

tar has ordered the arrest of five people involved in the management of the shopping mall ravaged by the fire, the state news agency reported. [AFP]

the victims of Monday’s tragic inferno at a moving ceremony. New Zealand triplets and three Spanish siblings were among the 13 children killed in the fire. Two firefighters also died while trying to evacuate

the nursery. Newspapers in the Gulf state, meanwhile, posed questions over the licensing of the nursery in the middle of the huge mall, while witnesses at the scene accused mall employees of not acting

fast enough when the fire erupted. Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad alThani has ordered a commission to investigate the tragedy, the Doha-based Al-Jazeera television reported.

ia and opposes regime change by force,” foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told reporters in Beijing. Liu added that China urged all parties to implement UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s ceasefire proposal in Syria and to seek to end the bloody crisis through negotiations. With Russian and Chinese support, the UN Security Council on Sunday strongly condemned the Syrian government for using artillery in a massacre in the central town of Houla in which at least 108 people were killed. But Russia, which

along with China has vetoed two UN Security Council resolutions highly critical of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, on Wednesday said it was “premature” for the council to consider new action. “We believe that a review now by the Security Council of any new measures on the situation would be premature,” Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the Interfax news agency in comments that appeared to dash Washington’s hopes of a change of heart in Moscow. The US State Department had said on Tuesday

it hoped the Houla tragedy would spark a “turning point” in Russia’s reluctance to take tougher action against its Soviet-era ally. Annan, during a meeting with Assad in Damascus on Tuesday, urged the Syrian leader to act immediately to end 15 months of bloodshed which has claimed thousands of lives, warning that the country had reached a “tipping point.” French President Francois Hollande had said on Tuesday that he did not rule out military intervention, provided it were approved by the UN Security Council. “An armed intervention is not excluded on the condition that it is carried out with respect to international law, meaning after deliberation by the United Nations Security Council,” he said in a television interview. Australia said it was open to discussion about military intervention in Syria but warned of the significant challenges involved in getting it off the ground. Japan on Wednesday joined the chorus of international outrage at the slaughter of civilians in Houla, telling the Syrian ambassador in Tokyo to leave the country “as soon as possible.”

MASS BURIAL. People watch the mass burial of the more than 100 victims of the Houla massacre in Syria on May 26. China on Wednesday restated its opposition to

military intervention in Syria, as Russia sought to halt fresh UN Security Council action after the massacre of civilians sparked global fury. [AFP]

Bombings

spate of bombings in Baghdad on Thursday killed at least seven people and wounded several more, security and medical officials said. The deadliest attack took place in the north Baghdad neighbourhood of Shuala, where a car bomb killed at least four people and wounded 14 others, an interior ministry official and a medic said.

Russia, China baulk as West T mulls armed action in Syria C HINA has restated its opposition to military intervention in Syria, as Russia sought to halt fresh UN Security Council action after a massacre of civilians sparked global fury. The renewed support by Moscow and Beijing for the Damascus regime came as numerous Western nations, including the United States, Britain and France, expelled Syrian diplomats in the wake of Friday’s massacre and after France floated the idea of armed intervention to protect civilians. “China opposes military intervention in Syr-

Blocked

UNDREDS of Indonesians are using boats to block two rivers vital for shipping coal out of the country’s main producing region to pressure the government to increase their quota of subsidised vehicle fuel, a local official said on Thursday. Indonesia is the world’s top exporter of thermal coal and the blockade of the Barito and Mahakam rivers, which transport at least 15 percent of the country’s output from resource-rich Kalimantan province, is the latest protest by Indonesians who feel disenfranchised by their country’s commodities boom.

Banking

HE Philippines national team will be banking on their reserve goalkeeper Roland Muller to keep a clean sheet against Malaysia in an international friendly here on Friday. The Asean Football Federation (AFF) website quoted chief coach of the Philippines national team, Michael Weiss as saying that he was not perturbed with the absence of their first keeper Neil Etheridge who is facing a suspension by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

EDGEDAVAO

Resume

ALKS between students and the Quebec government aimed at resolving a monthslong standoff over a proposed tuition hike that has sparked mass protests were to resume on Thursday. Talks had appeared to be moving forward earlier in the week but astudent leader, Martine Desjardins, said late Wednesday during a break in negotiations she was “disappointed” the government had not responded to student proposals.

Nuclear-armed ORTH Korea’s new

constitution proclaims its status as a nuclear-armed nation, complicating international efforts to persuade Pyongyang to abandon atomic weapons, analysts said Thursday. An official website seen late Wednesday released the text of the constitution following its revision during a parliamentary session on April 13.

Enrichment

RAN’S president has insisted enriching uranium to 20 percent “is our right” and not a step towards a bomb, as a US envoy warned the window for dialogue over Tehran’s nuclear programme was closing. The enrichment activity, which world powers are trying to curb in fraught talks with Iran, “is one of our rights in terms of international law”, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday in an interview with the satellite television network France 24.

EDGEDAVAO

Shoot...

‘Fly-by-night’...

FFROM 1

Duterte at Grand Men Seng Hotel told the police not to hesitate to shoot carnappers. “Sindikato ni. They go in and out of the city. Pag mainit sa Cebu dito nanaman. Inig madakpan gani ninyo ug manlaban tiwasi. Fight it out. I want the leaders dead,” Duterte told heads of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO), and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) among others. “Nakakahiya. Nine carnapping incidents – that’s too many. This is unacceptable for a hardened city. I am not satisfied with the performance of law enforcement,” he added. DCPO chief SSupt. Ronald dela Rosa said that although there have been carnapping incidents in the city in previous years, recent incidents were clearly the work of a syndicate. “Sunod-sunod kung umatake at ang tina-target yung mga mabenta at mamahalin. Yung mga nacarnap ay naka-park lang sa gilid ng office o ng bahay. There were no signs of forced entry. May susi ang mga carnappers,” dela Rosa said in an interview.

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The DCPO chief said lost to carnapping were all Toyota cars: six Hilux pickups, two Grandia vans, and one Fortuner SUV (sport utility vehicle). Police suspect that the cars were brought to carwash shops or were either used as collateral, leaving the keys to another person. “We have a theory that the keys were duplicated. Kaya kayo (car-owners) mag-ingat kayo. Make sure na pag magpapa-carwash kayo ang susi ninyo ay nasa inyo,” he said. Strengthen monitoring The vice mayor told dela Rosa and his police station commanders to strengthen their monitoring and visibility. “Do something about this. Monitor your areas. Alam nayan ng mga tao kung sino ang may ginagawang ka-ga**han,” he said. “It’s a matter of intelligence work. Know their faces. Madali lang malaman kung sino ang pabalik-balik sa isang area. Sa carnapping matagal nila yan pinag-istudyuhan pabalik-balik. Gi-tanaw kung kanus-a ga uli ang tao ani, ana. Klaro kung kinsa ang

suspetsado,” he added. Asked about his marching orders to police station commanders, the DCPO chief said the police will increase their time monitoring the streets. As for carnappers, dela Rosa gad this to say: “Pag bantay mo (watch out)!” “Pasensya na daan kung ma-engkwentro ninyo ang habal-habal cops. Pangitaon mo,” he said. Meanwhile, CIDG 11 deputy regional director CInsp. Edilberto Leonardo said it is “automatic” for peace-keeping authorities to strengthen their performance. “We, too, know of these incidents and we are already doing our investigation. Kahit hindi pa kami pinag-sabihan ni Vice Mayor Rody alam naming na dapat palakasin namin ang monitoring,” he told reporters when he guested in the I-Speak media forum at the City Information Office. “We have already alerted other CIDG offices. Nagbigay na kami ng word to those sa Cagayan de Oro, Marawi at iba pa para alam nila. Kasali na ito sa monitoring nila,” Leonardo added.

FFROM 1

al “fly by night” exporters, especially when prices in the market are high, adding that their bananas are not of good quality. For instance, he cited a farmer who owns only two hectares of bananas who exports his products by himself by packing the fruits in a makeshift shed in his residential area. “We will not include those exporters in our association. Right now, we are still renewing the list,” he said. As China’s requirement, the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry will submit a list of accredited banana exporters and packing plants by June 1, and small growers in Mindanao are willing to cooperate with the government. Garcia said he told

plant quarantine chief Ramon Meloria to inform the Chinese government that the list to be submitted today is only partial as inspection of packing plants has not been completed yet. Noting that only 10-20 percent of the MBFEA members are accredited, he said, “Given the time constraint, it is impossible for the government to inspect all the packing plants as it takes time to do that with a very short deadline,” he said, adding that he was worried about the disenfranchisement of exporters whose packing plants are not yet inspected. Initially, there were 700 members of cooperatives under the MBFEA which could still increase to 1,500 with

about 18,000 hectares that are not contracted to multinational companies. “There are two associations representing the banana industry now: the PBGEA (Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association) that represents multinational companies, and the MBFEA of the small farmers. We are already independent from the multinationals and we are already exporting our own bananas,” he said. U n f o r t u n a t e l y, most banana trees of the small growers were chopped down in the past two weeks following advice from their buyers in China to stop production to avoid the risk of nonshipment due to stringent quarantine.

energy-efficient modes of transportation or mobilization like cycling, walking, and running to bring attention to the issue of climate change and advocate more eco-friendly lifestyles”. Hailed as the “World’s Noblest Flier”, “King of Birds” and one of the largest eagles in the world, the Philippine Eagle has been listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as critically endangered since 1969. “The 14th PEW celebration is only one of

the activities that we have this year. We also have awareness caravans in Luzon and the Visayas as part of the PEF’s 25th foundation anniversary,” Salvador added. The PEW is a weeklong celebration with a photo exhibit, Eagle Fest, Raptor Up-close, Eco-games and Sayagila Dance Contest all of which will happen at the NCCC Mall from June 2 to 10, 2012. Found in the Malagos Garden Resort at Calinan, Davao City, the Philippine Eagle Center has 36 captives and 24 hatched birds since 1992.

like vitamins, a nurse in every barangay, improvement of feeding program for malnourished children and street children, and sufficient medicines at the “Botika ng Barangay” and school clinics. The Charter also included the call for awareness-raising drive during barangay health forum engaging parents and children to learn on health programs and child health rights. The children urged for the enhancement of financial assistance program for

the purchase of medicines not available at health centers, and for the provision of home visit program for barangay health workers to check on the condition of children who are sick. The other petitions called for the provision of needed facilities such as vehicles for health centers, health books and playground in every community; for government programs to reach out to children with utmost need for health support; and for the passage of laws on proper waste disposal.

Philippine... FFROM 3 ability of forests, adding that five pairs have been identified at the Mount Apo National Park. The PEF will celebrate the 14th Philippine Eagle Week (PEW) starting June 2 with an ecofriendly parade dubbed GreenMob or green mobilization and ending at the NCCC Mall. The PEW is being observed annually to create awareness for, and instigate action on, the conservation of our National Bird, the magnificent Philippine Eagle. According to Salvador, “the GreenMob employs alternative and

Minda young leaders ask for better health services

OME 70 child leaders aged 10 to 14 years old from different parts of Mindanao recently created their Children’s Charter on Health which called for better health services at the community level. The Charter declared ten statements on health which the young leaders themselves drafted and presented to health and development authorities during the Mindanao Children’s Congress held on May 22-24 in Davao City. In a press statement, congress organizer World Vision said the Charter written in Tagalog was the children’s “way of responding to the health issues they experienced in their respective communities” and of unifying their “hopes for better ‘Child Health NOW’!.” The children petitioned for the following: free medical check up and medicines

Quips

‘I ASK the President to instruct the Cabinet to sign the waivers or resign and leave the government.’

--Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano (Guilty verdict on CJ Corona)

SPORTS

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EDGEDAVAO

Manny vows: I’ll return with title

By Eddie G. Alinea

OS ANGELES, California (PNA) -- An extremely happy and contented World Boxing Organization welterweight titleholder Manny Pacquiao is what the entire universe will see when the Filipino ring icon stakes his 147-pound plum against American challenger Timothy Bradley June 9 (June 10 in Manila) in the gambling city of Las Vegas, Nevada. “Yes, I’m very happy and contented nowadays, no problems whatsoever and hope to return home to our country still a champion,” Pacquiao declared in Tagalog Wednesday during his expectedly tumultuous media day session at the Wild Card Gym in downtown Hollywood here. “This is the first time in my boxing career that my entire family came to my training camp to show their support for me in this fight and that alone makes me more than happy that will inspire me no end in defense of my title,” the 33-year-old eight-division belt-owner told this writer in a separate interview prior to a short workout before a huge crowd of international mediamen and supporters that filled the Vine St. sweat shop. The Pacman was referring to wife Jinkee who arrived here last Sunday with children Jimwell, Michael, Princess and Queenie in tow. Jinkee and brood even came in full force Tuesday to watch Pacquiao punished

regular sparring mates Ruslan Provodnikov, Kevin Hopskin and Roger “Speedy” Gonzales. “Of course, their unprecedented presence, most especially my children, elated me no end as this marks the first time that all of them appeared in my training camps before,” he said with eyes glowing with elation. “Sino ba naman ang hindi magagalak na makita na ang maybahay mo at lahat ng anak ay personal na sinusuportahan ka. Nakakataba ng puso, di ba?,” Pacquiao, a selfproclaimed changed man and a Bible-reading disciple and preacher, said. “As I have been saying, I’m now clean in mind, heart and body and I feel very, very good. First time na nangyari ito sa aking preparasyon na wala man lamang bahid ng problema. Pakiramdam ko kaya kong lahat gawin ang gusto kong gawin na walang anumang makahahadlang,” he said. Informed of Bradley’s pronouncement of his capability to wrest the title from his more celebrated foe, Pacquiao retorted: “I’ll rebuke him na lang in Jesus’ name. I respect Bradley as a fighter, I respect his capability to win as he did in his previous unbeaten 28 fights. Roach, for his part, agreed that his ward of 11 years could be unbeatable as he looks forward to improving his rather lackluster performance against Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez last November when he only settled for a majority decision to defend his title for the third time.

Efren Marquez, President of KUPLER DCMC Philippines, and marketing head Krystal Joy Lamique hand the prizes to women’s winners Cynthia Jaro, Judelyn Miranda and Monalisa Ambasa. (MAMERTO AVENTURADO)

Azkals now stronger --Malaysian coach Malaysian national men’s football team coach Datuk K. Rajagopal has picked the Philippines as one of the contenders in the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup ahead of their international friendly at the Stadium Shah Alam in Selangor on Friday. Citing the several foreign-born players in the team, Rajagopal believes the Philippine national football team has a chance of surpassing its surprising semifinal run in the tournament’s 2010 edition. “The Philippines have several foreign-based players plying their trade in Germany, the Netherlands, Iceland, Denmark, England and the

United States,” Rajagopal told Malaysian newspaper News Straits Times. “I believe they will be stronger than their 2010 squad in the AFF Cup.” “They are a different team with better players.” The Azkals, coached by German Hans Michael Weiss and led by Fil-Britons Phil and James Younghusband, are bolstered by several Fil-foreigners on its lineup. Among them are Neil Etheridge and Rob Gier from England, Fil-Germans Stephan Schrock, Manny Ott, Denis Wolf and Roland Muller; brothers Angel and Juani Guirado of Spain, Paul Mulders (the Netherlands) and

RUNNING LADIES. Cynthia Jaro (middle) runs with the lead pack which also included Monalisa Ambasa and Judelyn Miranda in the Mobil 1 Run which she eventually won. At right, Honey Sai of Vantage Sports leisurely takes her strides in the same Mobil 1 race. (MAMERTO AVENTURADO)

Ray Jonsson (Iceland). In its upcoming friendly against Malaysia, however, the Azkals will miss the services of the Younghusbands, who earlier begged off because of prior commitments, and Etheridge, who will serve a one-game suspension he earned in the AFC Challenge Cup last March. Currently sitting at 148th in the FIFA world rankings, the Philippines shocked the region after crashing into the 2010 Suzuki Cup semifinals for the first time in history. Since then, the Azkals have done well for themselves in international football, advancing to the second round of the

World Cup qualifiers for the first time last year, hosting a friendly match against Major League Soccer champions Los Angeles Galaxy, led by football icon David Beckham, and finishing third in the AFC Challenge Cup earlier this year. The Azkals settled for a 1-1 draw in its match against Malaysia last February, making their upcoming friendly against the defending Suzuki Cup champions an exciting rematch. After battling Malaysia, Philippines will face Indonesia on June 5 and Guam on June 12 in FIFA friendly matches that will affect the country’s world ranking.

INdulge!

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EDGEDAVAO

ARTS & CULTURE

Prayers made in silk, wood, silver and stone A culture’s soul is often reflected by the arts and crafts its population loves and cherishes, and the exquisitely beautiful handmade crafts of Cambodia are no exception. It is hard to imagine that the techniques to make these finely carved stone states, beautifully lacquered wooden buddhas, intricately woven silk cloth, and exquisite silver pieces were almost lost in Pol Pot’s Killing Fields. It was during this reign of terror when artists, craftsmen, and intellectuals were put to death, endangering Khmer culture at its core. The dark days are already gone and luckily, Artisan Angkor, a semi-public Cambodian company, was formed to revive, develop and promote traditional Khmer Arts and Crafts. As a natural offshoot of the Chantiers Ecoles de

Buddahs in different stages of production.

Painting on the details.

Formation Professionnelle (CEFP) created in 1992 to give professional skills to young rural people, Artisans Angkor was designed at the end of the 1990’s to provide jobs with attractive working conditions in Siem Reap province. Since then, Artisans Angkor has developed its own training program and now employs both its own apprentices and CEFP trainees. I was amazed the moment I set foot onto Artisan Angkor’s main showroom along Stung Thmey street as it was buzzing with a ca-

cophony of activities. There was a building for Stone and wood carving, where the artisans start working on pre-cut blocks of sandstone or rubber tree wood. Following a very precise technique, they trim, carve and chisel the block with their handmade tools. The carving is then polished with sandpaper. Varnish and patina are applied on both wood and stone items for a beautiful finish. Another workshop is where silk painting is done on tightly stretched and framed handmade silk fabric (The silk production and weaving center is located in another workshop across Siem Reap.) The artisans draw motifs using natural pigments inspired by paintings from the Cambodian Royal Palace and the Wat Bo pagoda in Seam Reap. In another well lit room, I saw craftsmen embossing and engraving copper and then finally plating the finished craft with silver. Too bad I did not have a full day to spend watching works of loving beauty take their final shape nor was I given the opportunity

to try my hand at making something, but at least I was able to take some awfully inspiring memories (and some beautiful silver elephant boxes) home with me. Many thanks to Cebu Pacific, Cambodia Airports, and Artisan Angkor for the wonderful experience. Follow me on twitter @ kennethkingong for more adventures, mis-adventures, foodie finds, and random ramblings.

An artisan works on a silk tapestry.

Putting the finishing touches on a metal box.

Adding details to a piece of metal.

Working with sandstone requires lots of skill.

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A2 INdulge!

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UP & ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT

Back to school brights at SM Stationery KIDS will see the bright side of going back to school with SM Stationery’s colorful selection of school stuff. Indeed, why be drab when you can actually think fab with colorful pens, pencil cases, sharpeners, and erasers that make learning fun and stylish. Notebooks also take the bold and bright route with covers with favorite characters, graphic prints, and statement designs.

Kids can tap their imagination with creative tools for art projects: coloring pencils, crayons, paint pens, watercolor paint sets, and so much more. The world looks bright even for techie stuff like laptop bags and USB flash drives Shop for school at SM Stationery located at all SM Department Stores. Visit www.stationery.com.ph and become a fan of our Facebook page.

FROM TOP RIGHT: Maped Color’Peps Colored Pencils in a convenient metal case. Pebeo 3D Paint in pearl, volume, glitter and gloss finish. Maped Compass Graphic 360° with universal pen holder and ergonomic grip design. Maped Galactic 1 Hole Sharpener has a one-press button feature that easily ejects broken lead. 12-color Li’l Hands Arts and Crafts Watercolor. Angry Birds notebook makes the popular game a learning tool. Imagine a bright world with Elmer’s Mega 3D Washable Paint Pens in five neon colors. Drawing is fun with Elmer’s Paintastics Paint Brush Pens

EVENTS

From toddlers to kids By Carlo P. Mallo

HOW fast time flies, right? One summer goes by and before you know it your baby is now a kid who can walk on his own, play and make friends, and even be the one to ask you to bring him or her to a play date. I may not be a parent myself but seeing tots graduate into preschool is something that makes you realize how precious time is. Kids grow up real fast these days, or are adults getting old faster? During their graduation, the young students of Tumble Tots here in Davao did a summer fashion show with their parents to showcase the latest outfits for summer, and to show that

they are ready for a bigger world. Looking at the parents, their expressions showed that they are beaming with pride seeing their kids strut down the ramp, but at the same time their faces are painted with worry that their kids are growing up too fast. That is why modern educational institutions like Tumble Tots are suited for the modern society wherein they encourage more interaction between the parents and their children. Due to the overwhelming response to the program, Tumble Tots announced that next summer (2013), they will be offering a similar course but for younger kids/tumble tots kids - Tumble Tots Say I Can Bright Confidence Class.

Paulyn Villamar and Germaine Ferrer modeling with TTots Kids

Marjorie Macale and Paulyn Villamar modeling with Ttots Kids

VOL.5 ISSUE 64 • JUNE 01 - 02, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

ENTERTAINMENT

INdulge! A3

Kristen Stewart proud of her topless scene

KRISTEN Stewart doesn’t sound too surprised about all the fuss that’s been made about her going topless in On The Road.

“People are really predictable,” she said yesterday at the MTV Sneak Peek of Snow White and the Huntsman. “I completely expected that.” Not that she has any regrets about doing the racy flick… “I can’t say it’s not a little bit jarring, but it’s jarring in the right way,” said Stewart, 22. “I wanted it to be. I’m really proud of it.” She said she didn’t know what to expect from audiences when the film premiered earlier this month at the Cannes Film Festival. “Everyone could have gotten up and booed, but our row would have gotten up and cheered,” Stewart said. “We all really do love it, so it would be like, ‘Let’s go have a drink!’” Fortunately, the screening was boofree. Sounds like getting naked may have been easier than the pain she suffered while making SWATH. “I would hurt myself every single day,” Stewart said. “The thumbs was really bad, the worst one. But every other day it would be like, ‘Ouch, it’s this ankle or that ankle.’ Or my butt muscle—I would do something

stupid like pull my ass muscle.” And to think she’s up for doing a sequel.

The promise of Prometheus

WHEN it comes to Prometheus, the critics have spoken.

Well, a few of them have, at least, as early reviews are already starting to trickle in for director Ridley Scott’s highly anticipated supposed prequel-of-sorts to Alien starring Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender and Swedish Girl With the Dragon Tattoo star Noomi Rapace. So what’s the initial verdict? “Ridley Scott’s third venture into science-fiction, after Alien in 1979 and Blade Runner in 1982, won’t become a genre benchmark like those classics despite its equivalent seriousness and ambition,” writes The Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy. “But it does supply enough visual spectacle, tense action and sticky, slithery monster attacks to hit the spot with thrill-seeking audiences worldwide.” While “elaborately conceived from a visual standpoint,” notes Variety’s Justin Chang, it nevertheless “remains earthbound in narrative terms, forever hinting at the existence of a higher intelligence without evincing much of its own,” adding that “the film conspicuously lacks the long, drawn-out silences and

sense of menace in close quarters that made Alien so elegantly unnerving.” “It is a muddled, intricate, spectacular film, but more or less in control of all its craziness and very watchable,” offers Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian. “There are also some shrewd and witty touches, and one terrifically creepy performance by Michael Fassbender.” “While Prometheus has

some striking chilling moments it never plays the all-out horror card, instead developing the science alongside the action and punctuating the film with moments that jolt and amaze,” states Mark Adams over at Screen Daily. “[It] should thrill, challenge and provoke audiences ready for [Scott’s] signature brand of intelligent and visceral film-making.”

A4 INdulge!

EDGEDAVAO

VOL.5 ISSUE 64 • JUNE 01 - 02, 2012

STYLE ENTERTAINMENT

Sole style

STANDING out. That is one goal of most partyphiles. Admittedly, it is quite easy to get lost in a sea of like-minded people who happen to talk, think, and spend alike; making it even more novel to stick out like a sore thumb. However, it seems like the temptress that is ‘personal style’ is getting back in the forefront as more and more local partyphiles indulge in vintage, DIY, or customized pieces. Thus, I present to you another option for some latenight fashion: Custom-made shoes. Here’s the culprit: Gab Delos Santos, the maven behind Fabulosa Finds on Facebook. Radio DJ on 105.9 Mix FM by evening, artiste extraordinaire by dawn. The product: customizable shoes that are perfect to wear for partying and are seemingly one of the hottest modes of self expression these days. Imagine owning a pair of shoes that nobody else has. Imagine it being an extension of your own style. Imagine wearing a pair that

somehow acts as a badge of honour for anything you stand for. Imagine having the pair of shoes you’ve always wanted. Seriously, it doesn’t have to be that deep. The concept is simple. You give Gab your sneakers, espadrilles, or even high heels; give her your design con-

cept, and she paints them for you for a measly price that ranges between four hundred moolahs to six hundred ba-dong-dongs. Is it worth the price? Of course. For less than a thousand, you get to show off your individuality and allow your feet to do all the talking. And in the Partyphile World where dance floor happenings matter as much as what you actually arrive on the dace floor wearing; you should seriously put more consideration into your shoes. So pick out a design, any design, and add Fabulosa Finds on Facebook.

EDGEDAVAO

SPORTS

VOL.5 ISSUE 64 • JUNE 01 - 02, 2012

Roger breaks 234 win record

ARIS -- Roger Federer dropped a set before earning his record-breaking 234th Grand Slam match victory to reach the French Open’s third round. Federer eliminated 92nd-ranked Adrian Ungur of Romania 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 Wednesday to break a tie with Jimmy Connors for most career wins at major tournaments in the Open era, which began in 1968. The 16-time Grand Slam champion is now 234-35 in tennis’ top four tournaments, an .870 winning percentage. Ungur, meanwhile, is 1-1; the French Open was his Grand Slam debut. Seeded third this year at Roland Garros, where he won the 2009 title, Federer is on course for a semifinal showdown against No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who won in straight sets Wednesday.

Hornets get first pick NEW YORK -- New owner, and now a new star player. The future suddenly looks bright for the New Orleans Hornets. Meanwhile, it was yet another loss - in a historic season full of them - for Michael Jordan and the Charlotte Bobcats. The Hornets, recently sold by the NBA to Saints owner Tom Benson, won the NBA’s draft lottery Wednesday and the No. 1 pick overall - which they almost certainly will use to pick Kentucky star Anthony Davis. At least that’s what the consensus college player of the year is expecting. Moments after the Hornets won the lottery, Davis said he was looking forward to playing professionally in the place where he led the Wildcats to a national championship in April. The good news for the Hornets comes after a difficult season in which they traded All-Star Chris Paul and a couple of years in limbo where they couldn’t

do much to upgrade the roster while the league was looking for a buyer. ‘’Just a first step for us to winning it all,’’ Benson said in a TV interview after the lottery. The Hornets moved up from the fourth spot, where they had a 13.7 percent chance, to earn the pick. ‘’Everything was surreal once they announced the fourth pick,’’ said Hornets coach Monty Williams, who represented the team on stage. ‘’I said ‘This is pretty cool.’ I knew my wife and kids were home praying that things would go well and they did.’’ The Bobcats, after going 7-59 for the worst winning percentage in NBA history, fell to the No. 2 pick. Washington will pick third and Cleveland fell one spot to fourth. Charlotte had a 25 percent chance of grabbing the No. 1 pick, but instead will have to take the best player after Davis, possibly his teammate, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

Venus exits too

ARIS -- Used to be that Venus Williams was the one who was highly ranked, the one considered a title contender, the one who would dominate foes so thoroughly that matches would be tidily wrapped up in an hour. Now 31, and figuring out from day to day how to handle an illness that saps her strength, Williams was on the wrong end of a lopsided 60-minute defeat in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday. Looking glum and lacking the verve that carried her to seven Grand Slam titles, Williams barely put up any resistance and lost 6-2, 6-3 to No. 3-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland at Roland Garros. Coming a day after her younger sister Serena was

stunned in the first round by 111th-ranked Virginie Razzano of France, the early exit marked the first time in 43 major tournaments with both in the field that neither Williams got to the third round. ‘’I felt like I played,’’ Williams said after making a hard-to-fathom 33 unforced errors, 27 more than Radwanska. ‘’That pretty much sums it up.’’ This one was not exactly an out-of-nowhere upset, considering that Williams is ranked 53rd now, never has been as good on clay as on other surfaces, lost to Radwanska 6-4, 6-1 two months ago, and is learning how to be a professional athlete with Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that can cause fatigue and joint pain.

Boston’s Rajon Rondo’s explosion proved not enough as Dwyane Wade (right) and Lebron James of the Miami Heat survived Game 2 with another win.

Surviving Rondo

Heat survives hot Rondo night, takes 2-0 lead

IAMI -- Back and forth they went in overtime, Rajon Rondo and the Miami Heat. Rondo scored. The Heat answered. Then again. And again. Eventually, Rondo missed, one of the rare times he didn’t deliver on an unforgettable night. Moments later, the Heat took the lead for good, finally able to close out a wild Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.

LeBron James scored 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Dwyane Wade scored eight of his 23 points in the extra session and the Heat rallied from 15 down to beat the Boston Celtics 115-111 on Wednesday night - taking a 2-0 lead in the series by pulling off the biggest comeback in franchise postseason history. ‘’One of the best games I’ve played in, win or lose,’’ Heat forward Shane Bat-

Anezia Radwanska in action against her victim Venus Williams in the Frech Open at Roland Garros.

tier said. ‘’It’s easier said when you win - but it’s unbelievable.’’ Rondo scored all 12 of Boston’s points in overtime, capping a 44-point, 10-assist, eight-rebound effort in which he played every second of a 53-minute game. The Heat expected Boston’s best - and the Celtics didn’t disappoint, yet still head home for Game 3 on Friday night facing a deficit no Boston team has rallied from to

win a series since 1969. ‘’Listen, we played terrific,’’ Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. ‘’I told them, we played extremely hard. I thought we played with great heart tonight, but I didn’t think we played smart all the time. And there’s things we can absolutely fix, and we’ll do that. We’ll be ready for Friday.’’ Mario Chalmers scored 22 for the Heat, who took 47 free throws - 24 by James - to Boston’s 29.

SPORTS

VOL.5 ISSUE 64 â&#x20AC;˘ JUNE 01 - 02, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

KARATE KID. Oona Ysabelle Barnes shows fine form both in kumite (left) and kata(right) as she topped both competitions in the 10-11 years old bracket of the recent AAK Davao Karate Cup at the SM City Annex hosted by AAK Davao. (Boy Lim)