Edge Davao 5 Issue 96

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EDGEDAVAO P 15.00 • 20 PAGES

VOL.5 ISSUE 96 • JULY 17, 2012

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Nation/World Page 12

Sara notes drop of 66% in crimes

By Jade C. Zaldivar

D

avao City Mayor Sara DuterteCarpio yesterday noted a drop in crime incidence in the city during an awarding ceremony for policemen in line with the Unit Anti-Crime Incentive Program.

The mayor said Davao City Po-

lice Office (DCPO) recorded a drop of 66% or 1,147 cases in comparing crime volume for the 1st Quarter of 2012 to the same period last year.

The DCPO also accomplished

FSARA, 13

n Crime solution efficiency rate at 36% n P519,000 cash incentives to police

Science/ Environment Page 4

Sports

Page 15

ANIMAL TRUCK. Paying no heed to the risks, three young boys sit atop a cramped truck carrying goats and hogs along Quimpo Boulevard in Davao City. [KARLOS MANLUPIG]

In marketing vegetables

Farmers to use mobile phones

By Lorie Ann A. Cascaro

Follow Us On

V

EGETABLE farmers in Davao and other parts of Mindanao will subscribe to an extensive information management system in marketing their products with the use of mobile phones, according to

Val Turtur, vice president of the Vegetable Industry Council of Southern Mindanao (Vicsmin) last Monday.

Guesting at the Kapehan sa Dabaw, SM City Davao, with Vicscmin president Ray Acain, Tur-

tur said that through a system developed by the Smart Communications, Inc. farmers can reach out to a wider market by informing consumers available supply in their farmers. At the same time they will also be able

to keep abreast with price fluctuations in the market.

The system to be provided by the Smart Communications is worth P2 million will be rolled out soon.

FFARMERS, 13

2

THE BIG NEWS

VOL.5 ISSUE 96 • JULY 17, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

Operators OK fixed rate for bus drivers

by Lorie Ann A. Cascaro

T MINING EO. Mines and Geosciences Bureau regional director Edilberto Arreza hailed Monday the issuance of Executive Order 79 on Mining by President Aquino. [KARLOS MANLUPIG]

PWDs’ employment pushed

By Lorie Ann A. Cascaro

P

ERSOnS with disabilities (PWDs) should be given equal opportunity for employment as mandated by the law, a regional labor and employment officer said yesterday.

Lawyer Joeffrey M. Suyao, regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) 11, is encouraging public and private institutions and establishments in the region to employ PWDs when he guested at the Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Davao.

Suyao noted that at least five percent of regular employees or plantilla in a government office must be PWDs, as stipulated in Republic Act no. 7277, or an act providing for the rehabilitation, self-development and self-reliance of disabled persons and their integration into the mainstream of society and for other purposes.

Section 5 of RA 7277 states, “Five percent (5%)

of all casual, emergency and contractual positions in the Department of Social Welfare and Development; Health; Education, Culture and Sports; and other government agencies, offices or corporations engaged in social development shall be reserved for disabled persons.”

“It is a reminder to fully implement the law,” he said, adding that a step taken by DOLE 11 was providing local government units (LGU) with a list of PWDs who have civil service eligibility.

Raquel E. nuñez, chiefpolicy and plans division, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 11, said her office does the monitoring whether or not the LGUs and national agencies enforced the law, and to account PWDs who are civil service eligible, and those who are not. noting that it is time to remind LGUs to participate in implementing the law, she said PWDs who are not eligible are

prioritized in livelihood projects provided by the LGUs.

of the Sea to the coastal state owning those waters.

“The Chinese fishing vessels must not intrude in the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. We require China to respect the sovereign rights of the Philippines over the resources within our EEZ,” Hernandez told a news conference.

The 30-vessel fleet sailed from the southern Chinese province of Hainan on Thursday and arrived at the Spratlys on Sunday, reports said.

It is one of the largest deployment of Chinese fishing vessels to date over the resource-rich sea being claimed

by China nearly in its entirety

even as it overlaps with the territories of other countries like the Philippines.

The West Philippine Sea, also known as South China Sea, is dotted by clusters of islands, cays, shoals and reefs and teem with rich fishing areas.

The vast sea is also believed to be rich in oil and gas and is regarded as among the world’s most strategic and busiest waterways.

Others that claim the area in part or in whole are the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.

The territorial disputes have long been feared as

Suyao cited that civil service eligibility is a requirement that’s why as practiced by his office, PWDs who were hired without eligibility are accounted under job orders, leaving some regular positions intended for PWDs vacant.

Every semester, DSWD provides free tutorial classes for PWDs and disadvantaged groups to review for civil service exams.

Also guesting, Teogenes S. Comiling, president of the Davao City Federation of PWDs, said the city government has complied with the requirement of the law to employ PWDs, citing that 35 regular employees and some 160 job orders are PWDs. He said there are 15 hunchbacks hired to assist people who transact business at the city hall while some PWDs are assigned to People’s Park.

FPWDs’, 13

PHL cautions Chinese fishing vessels from entering the country’s territory

C

HInESE fishermen should not poach in the Philippines’ territorial waters and should respect the country’s sovereignty, the Department of Foreign Affairs(DFA)said Monday amid news reports that a fleet of 30 Chinese fishing boats have arrived in the disputed Spratly islands in the West Philippine Sea. DFA Spokesman Raul Hernandez said foreign ships and vessels can pass through any country’s exclusive economic zone but could not exploit resources within those territorial waters – a right exclusively accorded under the United nations Convention on the Law

FPHL, 13

HERE was no opposition from 15 bus operators, who attended the orientation on the recently issued Department Order no. 118-12 of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), mandating passenger bus operators to pay fixed rates to their drivers.

This, according to DOLE 11 regional director Joeffrey M. Suyao last Monday, adding that all bus operators committed to submit their formulation scheme agreed with their drivers.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) also issued Circular no. 2012001 that will cancel the franchises of bus operators who would not comply with

DOLE’s order.

Suyao said the implementation of the order started last July 1, but the regional DOLE is still waiting for the salary scheme required from bus operators while also waiting for the central office’s advise whether or not to continue the implementation.

This was after the Supreme Court (SC) recently stopped the DOLE from implementing its order after petition from bus operators was filed, who reportedly said that paying minimum wage to their drivers and conductors is unconstitutional.

Both the DOLE and LTFRB are required by the SC to submit their comment to the petition, Suyao said,

In Davao Oriental

adding that should the order be implemented, bus operators in the region are already prepared with their formulation scheme.

He cited that their payment scheme may be a fixed rate, which will not be lower than the minimum wage, for the first year, and productivity-based in the following year, such as there will be an increase based on the company’s income and/or reduce of frequency of accidents.

He also mentioned that with a fixed rate, bus drivers will be more careful compared when their remuneration is commission-based, heating up a competition in the streets, thus, increasing the risk of accidents.

2 new commanders installed

By Jade C. Zaldivar

T

HE 67th Infantry Battalion (IB) and the 28th IB stationed respectively in Barangays Salingcomot, Baganga and Corporacion, Lupon in Davao Oriental installed new commanders last July 14.

Installed as the 15th commander of the 67IB was Lieutenant Colonel (Lt.Col.) Krishnamurti Mortela, while Lt.Col. Francisco Lorenzo Jr. was installed as the 25th commander of the 28IB. Mortela replaced Colonel Reuben Basiao while Lorenzo took the reigns from Colonel

Leopoldo Imbang Jr. Both of the new commanders hail from Bulacan and are members of Philippine Military Academy Class of 1992.

Mortela and Basiao are also recipients of numerous awards and commendations from military and civilian entities.

The 10th Infantry Division (10ID) commander Brigadier General Ariel Bernardo presided the ceremony with the presence of Davao Oriental Governor Corazon Malanyaon.

Malanyaon awarded both outgoing commanders Basiao and Imbang with plaques, commended them for their outstanding contribution in creating a peaceful and developed atmosphere in Davao Oriental.

The governor noted that a number of civil-military projects were finished under the leadership of the two outgoing commanders, and expressed that the new commanders will continue and surpass the efforts and achievements of their predecessors.

grading and enhancement of training programs in Davao and the whole of Mindanao.

Villanueva said the P126 million fresh fund assistance will be used to construct the new training facility in Davao City and send abroad trainers for further studies to enhance technical vocational training in that southern part of the country.

“It will build the capacity of TESDA trainers, teach students critical skills and help open up opportunities for employment and livelihood,” he said.

At the centerpiece of the grant is the construction of one additional building -- the TESDA Regional Training Center-Korea-Philippines Vocational Training Center in Davao City that would house the Incubation Center, multipurpose hall and the Korean Language Center. The existing center will also undergo renovation.

Construction and renovation works are expected to begin in november this year up to December 2013.

KOICA also pledged to provide agri-mechanization equipment for the Incubation Center for the use of the trainees. It will dispatch vocational training experts to provide technical assistance on operating the equipment, training the teachers and managing additional support courses.

At the last quarter of the year up to June 2013, several batches of TESDA trainers, totaling 26, will be dispatched to South Korea for training on various courses such as CAD(computer-aided design)/Drawing Design, Automobile Maintenance and Repair, Civil Technology and Incubation Management.

The TESDA chief said the new building will serve to highlight the center as among

New TESDA training center in Davao fosters close ties between PHL, SoKor

T

HE new Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) training facility to be constructed in Davao City would foster closer relationship between the Philippines and South Korea, said TESDA director-general Joel Villanueva.

“The new training center opens a new chapter in fostering close relationship between the Philippines and South Korea geared towards technical education and skills development,” said Villanueva during the recent signing of the project document detailing the cooperation with Kim Jinoh, Korea International Cooperation (KOICA) Resident Representative.

The occasion coincided with the discussion between the TESDA and KOICA firming up the P126 million (US$ 3 million) grant from the South Korean government to jointly work for the continuous up-

FTESDA, 13

EDGEDAVAO

THE BIG NEWS

VOL.5 ISSUE 96 • JULY 17, 2012

Davao eyes 7 M new cacao trees

3

By Lorie Ann A. Cascaro

C

ACAO is the Philippines’ next big thing, following banana.

This, according to Val Turtur, executive officer of the Cacao Industry Development Association of Mindanao Inc. (CIDAMI), saying that by 2020, the Philippines should have at least 50 million cacao trees to contribute to the world’s demand of 100,000 metric tons of cacao beans a year.

He said to become at least equal to Indonesia in terms of volume of cacao production, cacao farmers in the Davao region who contribute 80% of the country’s production, should plant at least seven million cacao trees every year.

The CIDAMI eyed an increase of cacao production in the country by two to three tons a hectare from its usual one ton per hectare a year. At present, the region is producing 7,000 to 8,000 metric tons of cacao beans a year.

Turtur said to achieve the goal, farmers will undergo training provided by the Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA) of the United States Department of Agriculture.

A cacao development center with an initial fund of P635,000 from ACDI/

VOCA has been established at Tulip Drive, Davao City, and will be formally launched on July 18.

Trainings at the center will be every Thursday, Turtur said, adding that anyone interested in planting cacao is welcome to participate.

He also noted that in terms of technology for cacao production, the Philippines has far better technology than Indonesia.

However, he added, it is only in terms of volume of production that the Philippines needs to focus to be Indonesia’s equivalent.

Indonesia has the ability to produce large quantities of cacao beans and is being eyed as the world’s largest producer and exporter, as it was the world’s third largest cocoa producer after Ivory Coast and Ghana in the last two decades.

Turtur said while Indonesia is exporting unfermented raw cacao beans, the Philippines is already exporting fermented beans, citing the post harvest facility at the Puentespina Farm, Calinan, Davao City.

He mentioned that cacao farmers at Subasta, Calinan, Davao City, who are Italy exporters, have one of the best cacaos in the region because the trees are planted on volcanic soil at the foot of Mount Apo.

8-foot croc escapes from flooded Kidapawan zoo

A

n eight-foot crocodile raised in captivity in a mini-zoo here escaped during a heavy flooding Saturday, a tourism official said.

Marife Pame, head of the tourism and investment promotions of the Kidapawan City government, said they learned the crocodile had escaped only after a regular check and clean-up inside the mini-zoo Saturday noon.

The zoo is located in Landmark, located at the boundary of Kidapawan City and Makilala town in north Cotabato, is run by the city government through its Tourism and Investment Promotions Office.

The heavy rains, which caused flooding in some parts of the city and nearby town, started Friday night and continued until the next morning.

Armand Carcallas, zoo caretaker, said the crocodile managed to escape by destroying the cyclone wire of its pen. It then moved towards the Saguing River a few feet away from the mini-zoo, he said.

The Saguing River is one of the longest and biggest rivers in north Cotabato.

Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco has promised cash rewards to those who could bring the crocodile back to the zoo.

Pame has sought help of the police, forest rangers, soldiers, and rescue groups to track dwon he crocodile down. (Malu Cadelina-Manar/Min

VEGETABLE CONGRESS. Vegetable Industry Council of Southern Mindanao Inc. (Vicsmin) president Ray Acain (right) and Vicsmin vice president Val Turtur discuss the 8th Mindanao

Vegetable Congress that will be held in the Davao City on August 13-14. The congress aims to improve the market accessibility of the vegetable products in Mindanao. [KARLOS MANLUPIG]

Sara hands off on Rody-Gavas issue

By Jade C. Zaldivar

D

n Says matter is in DILG’s hands n Mulls filing case against Gavas

AVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is laying her hands off allegations that her father, Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, had forced swindling suspect Manolito Gavas to literally eat his fake documents.

Gavas had reportedly duped with the documents a group of informal settlers into occupying a 3.5 hectare of land owned by one Victoria Reformina on which they put up their dwellings.

Following Gavas’ arrest and detention by police of the Talomo precinct, the vice mayor went to see Gavas last July 10 and scolded him for tricking the informal settlers for his own benefit with the aid of fake documents. It was there that

the elder Duterte allegedly forced the suspect to eat a piece of he had used for his scam.

Mayor Duterte-Carpio confirmed that the matter is being investigated by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

“It’s now in their hands,” she told members of the media in her office.

As for her earlier statement about filing a case against Gavas for usingthe name of the city mayor’s office in his scam, Duterte-Carpio said she may yet do so.

“I want to complain since he used my name, but my lawyer says it’s not action-

able. There’s no case we can file against Gavas,”she said, adding that she instructed her lawyer to explore the possibility of doing so.

“I’m still waiting for a feedback,” she said.

Meanwhile, Gavas and his allies face multiple charges filed by the Talomo Police Station before the City Prosecutor’s Office.

Charges of malicious mischief, trespassing, grave threats, qualified theft, and syndicated estafa through falsification of documents werefiled July 10 against Gavas, 38, native of Bohol, and 30 other people.

The 30 are Maximo

the Philippines in the Tier 2 category in its Global Human Trafficking in Persons (GTIP) report.

In the meeting attended

by De Lima, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman and key officials of other member-agencies of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), CdeBaca affirmed the gains achieved by the Philippines in the campaign against what has been named as “modern-day slavery.”

Other key officials, who

attended the event, included Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse M. Robredo, DOJ Undersecretary Jose Vicente B. Salazar, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Ricardo David, Jr., national Bureau of Investigation (nBI) director nonatus Ceasar Rojas, Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC) executive director Felizardo Serapio, Jr.; Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac, Department

of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Assistant Secretary Joji Aragon, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairperson Loretta Ann Rosales, national Youth Commission (nYC) Commissioner Georgina nava, Philippine Commission for Women (PCW) Chairperson Remedios Ignacio-Rikken and Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) executive director Brenda Virgo.

CdeBaca is a decorated federal prosecutor before he was appointed by US President Barack Obama to manage the activities of the

Binigay, Junjie Grapa, Mallore Linsag, Lorellie Bendijo, Carmencita Arboiz, Glicerio Cayacay, Vergie Cuerda, Benita Montes, Lorena Ecunes, Rosemarie Ungab, Cenisa Pilapil, Praxides Ungab, Felisidad Linsag, Felomina Guardiana, Antonio Saysoy, Rosalinda Maniano, Grace Lumugdang, Emelda Payac, Malyn Dayson, Amelita Villanueva, Manolito Tubio, Joel Tubio, Almira Pinpin, nerio nalla, Criselda Maloloy-on, Rebecca Dumdum, nerly Sacasan, Joel Jalop, Thomas Bendijo and Joji Grava.

Binigay, 49, Grapa, 41, and Linsag, 30, were formally presented before the City Prosecutor while the 27 others remain at large.

PHL cites US recognition of anti-trafficking gains

Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila M. De Lima on Monday said that the visit of Ambassador Luis CdeBaca “affirms the recognition of the United States government of the country’s gains in the campaign against human trafficking.”

CdeBaca, who is incharge of the US Department of State’s (USDS) Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, visited the DOJ on Monday.

He met with top ranking officials at the DOJ just a few weeks after the USDS announced the retention of

US government in its international fight against modern forms of slavery.

He also assisted US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton put together the GTIP report released last July 2012.

De Lima, IACAT Chair, expressed her deep appreciation to the importance given to the country’s antihuman trafficking campaign, as well as, the initiatives of coordinating with the Philippine government by the US Ambassador.

She also assured

FUS, 13

4

SCIENCE/ENVIRONMENT

VOL.5 ISSUE 96 • JULY 17, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

PHL’s greening mission advances T

HE government is advancing the mission skeptics earlier considered impossible to accomplish, fueled by President Benigno Aquino III’s support for this undertaking on addressing environmental, climate change and socio-economic concerns nationwide.

“If we don’t act now, it will be like throwing away millions of Filipinos’ future,” he said, explaining why the government is pursuing the 20112016 national Greening Program (nGP). nGP is the country’s biggest reforestation bid, so far.

The program targets nearly doubling, during Mr. Aquino’s incumbency, total greening accomplishment of the government in the past 30 to 40 years.

Authorities are putting science into nGP to help carry out such seemingly impossible mission.

“We can’t have a businessas-usual approach or it will take us some 280 years to reforest our country,” said Secretary Ramon Paje of the Department of Environment and natural Resources (DEnR), the agency spearheading nGP’s implementation.

He said the government must fast-track greening because about half of the Philippines’ nearly 16 million hectares of total forest land is already unproductive, open, denuded and degraded.

Slash-and-burn practices, illegal logging, land use conversion, forest fires as well as pests and diseases are causes

of forest loss or depletion, DEnR said.

Of the total damaged forest land nationwide, the government targets greening through nGP some 1.5 million hectares using around 1.5 billion seedlings of indigenous and exotic tree species.

Latest available data is bolstering the government’s stand that nGP is not an impossible mission.

“We’re making progress on nGP,” Paje reported a year after President Aquino formally launched this program in mid-2011. nGP data as of June 22 this year show nearly 375 hectares of forest land in regions 7, 10, 13 and Metro Manila have been greened during 2012’s first quarter alone using almost 2.70 million seedlings of various tree species.

Such accomplishment is in addition to the nearly 90 million tree specie seedlings which Paje said have been planted in almost 128,560 hectares of forest land nationwide as of Dec. 31 last year. nGP planting activities in 2011 also covered about 77 kilometers of roadsides and similar areas, the DEnR noted.

Data show nearly 720,000 people participated in both 2012 and 2011 planting activities. nationwide greening accomplishment in 2011 hit 129 percent as output exceeded government’s target of 100,000 hectares for reforesting during that launching year of the nGP. Social mobilization is

“We must protect our natural resources so it is only proper for all to join the NGP” among the requirements of Executive Order 26, which instituted nGP as a government priority program, to help achieve this program’s greening target. nGP’s social mobilization component requires all students and government employees nationwide to individually plant each year until 2016 at least 10 seedlings that the DEnR provides for free.

EO 26 also encourages other sectors’ voluntary participation in nGP. “We must protect our natural resources so it is only proper for all to join the nGP,” President Aquino said.

The program’s partnervolunteers planted seedlings in some 18 percent or 17,897 hectares of total area greened last year, the DEnR reported.

DEnR-funded greening activities accounted for the remaining 82 percent or 82,163 hectares of total area planted in 2011.

“Only 32,382 hectares were covered by DEnR-funded greening activities in 2010 so we were able to achieve a 154 percent accomplishment last year,” Paje said.

The nGP registered such output even if the budget for this program rose 14 percent only to P1.3 billion last year from P1.2 billion in 2010, data show.

The 2011 nGP budget also covers maintenance and protection of materials planted before the greening program’s launch, establishment/repair of clonal nurseries nationwide and production/procurement of seedlings to be planted.

The DEnR is promoting cloning as a means to massproduce good-quality seedlings for nGP. The cloned seedlings are produced from cuttings of the best parts of good-quality parent stocks.

Cloning is among the science-based interventions for the nGP, the DEnR noted.

Such activity is undertaken in nationwide clonal nurseries of DEnR as well as in facilities this agency and State universities and colleges jointly established for the purpose.

The DEnR also reported that nearly 364,100 jobs were created from the nGP seedling production and plantation establishment in 2011.

People’s organizations are among those tapped to produce nGP seedlings and this opens up livelihood opportunities for such marginalized groups, the DEnR noted.

The nGP helped the Philippines earlier gain international recognition for being one of the world’s strong environmental performers.

From 50th spot in 2010,

Paje reported the Philippines rose to 42nd place among 132 countries ranked in the February 2012 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) of Yale University, Columbia University, European Commission and World Economic Forum.

“This only shows our environmental policies and programs are correct,” Paje said.

EPI ranks countries on performance indicators tracked across policy categories covering environmental public health and ecosystem vitality.

Such indicators provide a gauge on how close countries are to respective established environmental policy goals.

“We gained perfect scores in indicators for protecting forest cover, growing forest stock, addressing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per capita, reducing outdoor air pollution and on agricultural subsidies for farmers,” Paje noted. nGP is growing the Philippines’ forest stock and helping increase forest cover nationwide.

Forests help sequester CO2 emissions which experts identified as among greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, raising global temperature.

Elevated global temperature results in climate change, they noted.

Studies show forests in the early 1900s covered almost 70 percent of the Philippines’ total area of some 30 million hectares.

However, such forest cov-

er already shrank to 24 percent by 2004, the DEnR noted.

By implementing the nGP, the government hopes to reverse the denudation trend that characterized forest land nationwide for decades.

The government projects the nGP to increasingly result in more vegetated than denuded forest land beginning 2013.

Experts continue advocating regeneration and sustainable management of forests, noting these perform several functions ranging from water resources and soil protection to natural habitat and biodiversity conservation.

Forests are also sources of food and raw materials particularly for uplanders who generally continue being impoverished.

Earlier, the DEnR reported there are around five million impoverished upland families nationwide.

The DEnR pointed out that such count comprises almost a third of the Philippines’ total population.

The upland families’ average annual income is nearly P23,000 only, the DEnR said.

Aside from seedling production, uplanders can earn from agro-forestry activities which the DEnR already allowed in the nGP production areas nationwide.

In such production areas, trees are harvested for commercial purposes.

Tree species planted in protection areas nationwide are retained to provide muchneeded forest cover. [Pna]

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 96 • JULY 17, 2012

Bishops reiterate opposition to open-pit mining E

ighteen of the 22 bishops in Mindanao have agreed on an eight-point position on mining, which includes banning the open-pit method, Bishop Dinualdo D. Gutierrez of the Diocese of Marbel said.

In a statement sent over the weekend, Gutierrez said the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Plenary Assembly approved on July 8 the request of the 18 bishops from Mindanao to endorse to President Benigno Simeon Aquino an eight-point position, among them the ban on open pit mining and probation of mining in forests and watersheds.

The bishops also said mining should be banned in areas where there are major faults; that it should not be permitted near agricultural lands to ensure food security and that Free Prior and Informed Consent of the people “must be truthfully given by people in mining-affected areas.”

“In case mining is allowed in ancestral domain, mining corporations shall respect human rights, culture and customary laws of the indigenous people,” the bishops said. The bishops said they want a ban on open pit mining and other “methods of mining destructive of the environment.” Mining, they added, should benefit “everyone, not only the stockholders and

some local government officials.”

Forests and watersheds are among the areas closed to mining, according to Section 19 of RA 7942 or the Mining Act of 1995.

Also closed to mining, according to the same section, are “plantations or valuable crops, ‘except upon written consent of the government agency or private entity concerned.’”

Executive Order 79, which contains the new mining policy of the Aquino administration, lists additional areas closed to mining applications, in addition to those listed in Section 19. The EO prohibits mining in “prime agricultural lands, in addition to lands covered

by RA no. 6657, or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988, as amended, including plantations and areas devoted to valuable crops, and strategic agriculture” and fisheries development zones and fish refuge and sanctuaries declared as such by the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.”

Also closed to mining are tourism development areas, as identified in the national Tourism Development Plan; and, “other critical areas, island ecosystems, and impact areas of mining as determined by current and existing mapping technologies, that the DEnR may hereafter identify pursuant to existing laws, rules, and regulations,

such as, but not limited to, the nIPAS Act. E0 79 was signed by the President on July 6 but released to the public only on July 9, a day after the bishops’ gathering.

AMMB endorsed Gutierrez did not name the 18 bishops who agreed on the eight points and the four others who did not endorse it. An archdiocesan administrator in Mindanao also supported the bishops’ stand, he added.

Bishop Broderick Pabillo, national director of the CBCP’s national Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace, presented to the bishops during the CBCP’s 105th Plenary Assembly on July 8 a primer on the Alternative Minerals Management Bill (AMMB).

Gutierrez said that after Pabillo’s explanation, the endorsement form in support of the AMMB was circulated among the bishops for their signature and “72 bishops endorsed the AMMB.” “Let us heed the call of the bishops to protect the integrity of God’s creation and for our sake and for the sake of the future generations,” Gutierrez urged.

The AMMB is a consolidated version of House Bills 206, 3763, 4315 and several mining-related measures. The CBCP had issued statements in 1998 and 2006 urging the repeal of the 1995 Mining

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

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

47.032 46.851 48.139

48.161 48.146 47.905 47.524 48.217

48.458 47.585 47.207

5

MINING POLICY. Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño lauds the Dutertes for their firm position against mining during a press conference in the Davao City on Saturday. Casiño opposed the new mining policy of the Aquino administration and is calling for the enactment of a pro-people and pro-environment mining law. KARLOS MANLUPIG

Act In January, participants to the International Conference on Mining in Mindanao passed the Mindanao Declaration Defending the Dignity of Life, Securing our Future, called for the repeal of RA 7942 and called for the enactment of the AMMB.

Ban on open pit mining Section 12 of EO 79 provides that local government units “shall confine themselves only to the imposition of reasonable limitations on mining activities conducted within their respective territorial jurisdictions that are consistent with national laws and regulations.”

But Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said EO 79 did not invalidate the open-pit ban of South Cotabato.

“It is valid unless invalidated by competent authorities,” Paje said.

South Cotabato passed in June 2010 its Environment Code banning open pit mining, a method that Sagittarius Mines, Inc. wants to use in its gold-copper project in Tampakan, South Cotabato.

Provincial board member Ernesto Catedral, chair of the joint committee on environmental protection and legal matters, said E0 79 dashed the hopes of those wanting a review of the environment code that bans open-pit mining.

“We’ve been waiting for that new mining policy so we can act on the petition. But from the pronouncement of Secretary Paje, we don’t have a reason to act,” he told Mindanews.

A petition to review the Environment Code, particularly on the ban on open pit mining, has been pending with Catedral’s committee. Filed by the Regional Mineral Development Council in September 2010, the petition is anchored on the grounds that the Environment Code is contrary to RA 7942.

Vice Governor Elmo Tolosa said the new mining policy won’t have an effect on the open pit ban of the province. “We are not banning mining, just the method of extracting the mineral,” he said in a radio interview.

John Arnaldo, Sagittarius mines external communications and media relations officer, has repeatedly pointed out that RA 7942 does not prohibit open-pit method. The company, however, has not filed any legal action in the courts to assert its position. (Bong Sarmiento/Mindanews)

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

6

THE ECONOMY

VOL.5 ISSUE 96 • JULY 17, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

Phoenix: ‘IPO opened opportunities for us’

L

eading independent Phoenix Petroleum Philippines celebrated the fifth anniversary of its listing at the Philippine Stock Exchange on July 11, 2012. Phoenix Petroleum President and CEO Dennis Uy and Chairman Domingo Uy led the traditional bell-ringing ceremony that opened the market that day.

Phoenix Petroleum successfully launched its IPO in 2007, becoming the first petroleum company to list since the Oil Deregulation Law was passed in 1998. It is one of the few publicly-listed companies based in Mindanao.

“The successful IPO opened opportunities for us, setting a path to consistent growth, stronger operations, and solid finances,” President Dennis Uy said.

From 2007 to 2011, the company’s revenue posted a compound annual growth rate of 85%, net income 47%, and total equity 50%. Market capitalization grew at a com-

pound annual growth rate of 86% from P383 million to P6.2 billion as of July 10.

In 2007, Phoenix was the 473rd largest corporation in the country based on revenue. Today Phoenix is the 84th largest company. Phoenix Petroleum was recently named one of the best managed small-cap companies in the country by Hong Kong business magazine FinanceAsia.

The 5th listing anniversary also coincided with the opening of the company’s 250th station in Salinas, Bacoor, Cavite.

“We at Phoenix Petroleum are proud to be the leading independent oil company in the country today,” said Uy. “We’ve had an outstanding five years and together we look forward to building the future of the downstream petroleum industry in the Philippines. We will continue to make Phoenix a stronger, dynamic business and a reliable partner in the communities

Phoenix Petroleum Philippines celebrates its 5th listing anniversary at the Philippine Stock Exchange with a traditional bell ringing ceremony July 11. Phoenix Petroleum Chairman Domingo Uy and President and CEO Dennis Uy ring the bell to open the market session with PSE Chairman Jose T. Pardo and PSE President and CEO Hans B. Sicat.

we serve.”

He thanked the Philippine Stock Exchange, investors, shareholders, and business partners for their support to Phoenix Petroleum. “You are truly

an indispensable partner to everyone in the Phoenix family and we will endeavor to always be an indispensable partner to each and every one of you,” Uy said.

Phoenix Petroleum Philippines is the leading independent oil company with an expanding network of operations nationwide. It is engaged in the business of trading re-

fined petroleum products and lubricants, operation of oil depots and storage facilities, and allied services.

of the World award last Friday during the Skytrax 2012 World Airline Awards in London.

Last year, aside from being the world’s best airline, Qatar Airways was also awarded the title of best regional airline in the Middle East and was one of the top ranked airlines in the Best First

Class Airline Lounges, World’s Best Business Class Onboard Catering, and Wold’s Best Business Class Airline Seat.

The Skytrax Awards is one of the benchmarking tools for the airline industry. They measure passengers’ satisfaction levels by surveying passengers in all cabin classes.

The 10-month survey is carried out by telephone among 18 million airline customers from 100 countries. The survey includes 38 key performance indicators including check-in, boarding, onboard seat comfort, cabin cleanliness, food, beverages, in-flight entertainment and staff service. This year the survey covered over 200 airlines, from international to domestic carriers.

Qatar Airways is world’s best

By Carlo P. Mallo

D

oha-based Qatar Airways stumped all other airlines, including Singapore Airlines, and its neighbor, Emirates. This is the second consecutive year that the airline won the top prize in the annual search for best airline.

Qatar Airways was awarded the Best Airline

The World’s Best Airlines 2012 1. Qatar Airways 2. Asiana Airlines 3. Singapore Airlines 4. Cathay Pacific Airways 5. AnA All nippon Airways 6. Etihad Airways 7. Turkish Airlines 8. Emirates 9. Thai Airways 10. Malaysia Airlines

EDGEDAVAO

COMMU NITY SENSE

VOL.5 ISSUE 96 • JULY 17, 2012

DSWD releases P17 M for housing, day care centers in ARMM T

he Department of Social Welfare and Development in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DSWD-ARMM) has released P175 million to Habitat for Humanity for the regional government’s socio-economic development efforts..

DSWD-ARMM Regional Secretary Bainon Karon together with Assistant Secretary Pombaen Kader turned over the amount from the Stimlus Fund for the implementation of the following programs: modified shelter assistance (MSA) for the construction of 1,000 housing units for displaced families; and 1,100 Day Care Construction Project (DCC) to be undertaken in partnership with Habitat for Humanity.

Beneficiaries of the MSA are displaced families in conflictaffected areas in Maguindanao with 699 housing units, Sulu (200) and Basilan (101) at the cost of P100,000 each.

On the other hand, the construction of the targeted 1,100 units of day care centers is distributed to ARMM’s five provinces broken down as follows: Maguindanao-620, Basilan-60, Lanao del Sur A-75; Lanao del Sur B-75; Sulu-70; Tawi-Tawi-175 and Marawi City-25.

Cost for each center range from P617,000 to P670,000.

Estimated cost, however, is higher in the island provinces due to overhead outlay.

Recipients of the ongoing construction of day care center in

Maguindanao include the towns of Parang, Datu Pagalungan, Datu Montawal, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, northern Kabuntalan, Mother Kabuntalan, Talitay, Datu Piang and Guindulungan.

The DSWD progress report on the structural construction of the MSAs and DCCs reveal that as of June 31, 2012, 178 cay care centers had been partly accomplished in the region.In Maguindanao, 43 out of the 140 ongoing construction have been completed. while 25 units have been done in Basilan out of 38 through the support of the 52nd and 55th Engineering Brigade of AFP’s national Development Support Command (nADESCOM).

rambotan, narra (endemic trees) and rubber are amongst the species that Hedcor will plant in the area as requested by the host community.

This week, Hedcor will plant 1000 trees in Barangay Tawantawan, Baguio District part of Talomo Watershed. On

July 21, 2012, over 2000 trees will be planted in a simultaneous tree planting activity with the Aboitiz group of companies.

“Tree planting in partnership with host communities have been observed regularly” Hedcor vice president for

7

DPWH wants to partner with suppliers, developers

P

ublic Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio L. Singson on Friday met with contractors, consultants, suppliers, cement manufacturers, and vendors doing business to keep them partners in the country’s development.

“We need reliable and well equipped contractors for us to achieve better infrastructure in the country,” said Singson, also citing the magnitude of public infrastructure lined up next year with upcoming budget of P152.9 Billion.

Singson urged them to participate in government projects, emphasizing that biddings for government projects particularly in DPWH project are now transparent and

competitive.

In attendance during the consultation meetings were officers of the Philippine Constructors Association (PCA), Council of Engineering Consultants of the Philippines (CECOPHIL), Association of Construction Equipment Lessors (ACEL) , F.F. Cruz, A. M. Oreta Construction, D.M. Consunji Inc., EEI Corporation, R-II Builders, L.R. Tiqui, Foundation Specialists, Katahira and Engineers, nippon Koei, Renardet, SMEC International, Oriental Consultants, Angel Lazaro& Associates, Holcim, Cemex, northern Cement, and others.

“If there are hankypanky procedures in the bidding process in the DPWH, whether in

the Central Office or in the field units, you can report directly to me, said Singson. I have already replaced many DPWH personnel in the bids and awards committee including BAC secretariat whom I found colluding with the contractors to bag the project contracts,”he said.

All projects are advertised for bidding and the results of biddings are published in the DPWH website, he added.

Singson assured that he is open for their suggetions and recommendations to further facilitate the completion of the projects and asked them to compe up with new technologies or construction methodologies.

Business Development Engr. Boy Jabonillo said.

As part of the Watershed Management Plan (WMP) of Hedcor, the company conducts programs like reforestation, roadside rehabilitation and riverbank stabilization in the areas that host its

hydro plants.

Almost 45,000 trees have already been planted this year. Each employee of Hedcor plants at least 20 seedlings annually.

Hedcor’s target is to plant 282, 402 seedlings by the end of 2012.

Hedcor’s concern for the environment does

not stop at tree planting.

The company’s company forester also monitors and maintains the trees planted by Hedcor for up to three years to ensure their growth.

“There is a need to preserve our watershed.

We ensure its protection and preservation by planting more trees each month of every year and ensuring a high survival rate,” added Jabonillo.

Hedcor’s conservation of Talomo Watershed will support the generation of 4.47-MW Talomo Hydro Plants.

Hydropower generation is highly dependent on a healthy watershed. A steady supply of water is the lifeblood of Hedcor’s hydro plants.

Another of Hedcor’s various environmental initiatives is the Raceto-Reduce Program in which Hedcor monitors employees’ daily consumption of water, electricity and paper.

This program encourages individuals to become responsible consumers.

Hedcor also partners with its host communities in eco-market activities and practices proper waste segregation.

The company pays for segregated garbage that it collects from residents of host communities on a quarterly basis.

Hedcor to plant over 3000 trees to protect Talomo watershed

H

edcor, the largest developer and producer of runof-river hydropower plants in the Philippines, will plant over 3000 seedlings this month at Talomo District to support the sustainability of Talomo Watershed.

Cacao, durian,

SUSTAINABILITY. Hedcor targets 87-percent survival rate of trees planted in every quarter of this year. Thus, Hedcor Talomo Hydro plants ensure the conservation of Talomo-Lipadas watershed and the significant volume of water retention from every tree planted by monitoring and maintenance.

8

VANTAGE POINTS

VOL.5 ISSUE 96 • JULY 17, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

50 shades of like COMMENTARY

By John C ABell

W

EDITORIAL

R

Retrogressive proposal

EP. RAYMOnD MEnDOZA of the party-list group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) is opposed to a proposal to deny compensation to mothers while breastfeeding their babies in the workplace.

The youthful lawmaker issued his stand after revealing that there are three bills pending in the House that would repeal a provision in the existing Milk Code which gives working mothers a lactation break of up to 40 minutes for every eight hours of work.

If the bills’ proponents will have their way, Mendoza said, the time spent by a working mother in breastfeeding her baby will not be compensated.

He is quoted as saying “it is antiworker and anti-women to have unpaid lactation hours for working mothers.

It is anti-worker because it prejudices lactating workers who have the right to equal pay for equal work.”

The three proposals are also “reac-

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tionary and unfair because we have a progressive law already in place that is being upheld by the International Labor Organization, the United nations Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization as a model for other countries to emulate.”

“We are moving the clock back to favor multinational milk companies,” he said.

We fully agree with Rep. Mendoza’s stand in so far as the proposal’s being retrogressive. We are certain, too, that most Dabawenyos who were in the thick of past campaigns against infant formula, agree with Mendoza. Once approved, the repeal of the compensation for lactation breaks would in a way force breastfeeding mothers to go back to milk substitutes.

The three bills are retrogressive and counterproductive and we encourage congressman Mendoza to fight the proposal tooth and nail.

ANTONIO M. AJERO Editor in Chief

ALBERTO DALILAN Managing NEILWIN L. BRAVO Sports and Motoring ARLENE D. PASAJE Cartoons

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

e are losing our faith in TV news as fast as those high-speed chases it’s so happy to show us. At the same time, we’re driving like maniacs on the social-media highway, letting it all hang out with the top down.

What do they have to do with each other?

Both are advertiser-supported media. One prints money, the other not so much, at least not yet. And yet one is on the downswing, the other ascendant. What does this say about human nature and tapping into elusive and guilty pleasures?

In its annual poll, Gallup Politics found that only 21 percent of respondents expressed a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in TV news – less than half what it was when the poll was first conducted in 1993, but down only a point from last year.

But then this report, from RTDnA and Hofstra: TV news hiring is up – way up: The survey found that TV news added 1,131 jobs in 2011 to reach a total full-time employment tally of 27,653, representing a 4.3% gain over the previous year. (The highest level of TV news staffing occurred in 2000).

42.9% of stations reported that they increased staff in 2011 and 46.2% said that staff size stayed the same. Fox-affiliates were more likely than any other group to increase staff size, and stations in the South were more likely to have added employees than stations in other regions.

We mistrust TV news, yet ratings and thus job numbers are improving. What’s going on here?

The answer lies in a well-documented disconnect: We are careful about what we say we like. Sometimes it’s to be polite.

Sometimes we withhold our public displays of affection to conceal a guilty pleasure.

Sometimes we have no idea, but need to say something.

Anecdotally, TV news has a terrible reputation. nobody admits to watching it, and yet the average station has five to six hours of news division programming every day – not counting the quasi-news network programs that have grown from two hours in the morning to as many as four.

TV news is a guilty pleasure, and its economic viability in the age of “free” Internet news would seem to make zero sense. The fact that it not only persists but increasingly thrives while being denigrated by its audience is significant, and informs how social networks can and can’t work.

Which gets us back to the disconnect between liking something and saying you like something. Just as we say we don’t think much of TV news and nevertheless watch a lot of it, social networks encourage endorsements – liking, friending, etc. But left to your own devices you only reveal what embellishes your self-image, consciously or not. How does anyone really know what you believe, when even you might not know for sure? As social networks try to become the digital age’s equivalent to TV’s advertising juggernaut, how do you devise a social network-based marketing strategy or justify an ad spend when all you’ve got to go by are the confessions of some inflated egos?

This is perhaps why, as the Wall Street Journal reports, marketers are moving past focus groups and questionnaires to mockups of supermarkets where they observe how test subjects react to products on the shelves.

They’re paying attention not just to where subjects stop and what they pick up but also to their eye movements.

EDGEDAVAO

A

LMOST all the books I have at home are used, second-hand books --- or “ukay-ukay” if you want to call them.

These books are wellkept and neatly arranged in front of my working table after reading them from cover to cover several times.

To be honest with you, I just stumbled into them during those times I spent killing time while waiting for a meeting somewhere. These books have titles that if they were brand-new books, they’d drive me crazy if I won’t buy them on the spot.

But the prices of brand new hardbound books can be too astronomical for my shallow pocket, so I ended up drooling and just day-dreaming of buying the book sometime in the future.

Thank goodness for bargain stores like “Book Sale” or “Book Shop” or the regular “book bargains”by big bookstores like national Bookstore, Velasco Bookstore or Fully Booked here in Davao. Since I have a crazy passion for World War history, novels by big name authors and stock market, naturally I’ll be looking for titles on these topics.

M

O R E THAn B A D ECOnOMICS – nothing could be more a clear signal that the time for change has arrived. To the movie theater patrons, may the independent movie theater business – 1950 to 1990 – rest in peace. But it hopefully won’t be forgotten altogether. After all, the entertainment business that helped fuel the economy for five decades of heady growth, thrift and hard work are likely to be just as critical in the future.

Imagine, the Davao City’s young generation has no idea how their elders enjoyed watching a movie for 50 cents, a bag of popcorn or pack of butong pakwan for 20 cents plus a bottle of softdrink for 15 cents. That was, of course, in the yesteryears when movie theaters dotted the city’s major commercial areas and crowded streets. For decades, melodramas, comedy, classic Filipino action flicks and romantic movies are shown in theaters considered as firstrun cinemas at that time such as Crest, Lyric and Golden Theatres located along San Pedro street, Galaxy at Ilustre street, Queen’s along Bonifacio street, Eagle, Odeon and Garmon situated at C.M.Recto street also popularly known as Claveria.

We are likewise reminded that second or third-rate cinemas like Ace along

Monkey Business

VANTAGE POINTS

VOL.5 ISSUE 96 • JULY 17, 2012

Drooling over titles of ‘ukay-ukay’ books!

Take for instance, a book written in the 1930’s by Edwin Lefevre, titled “Reminiscenses of a Stock Operator”. If you’ve been reading a lot of books on the stock market, almost all the authors cite this book as one of the best novels ever written about a stock trader. I thought I’ll never find this book in Davao unless I order it online from Amazon.com.

But I found this book by accident while browsing some of the old books displayed at Velasco Bookstore right beside City Hall--- of all places! Its price?

Only P250 compared to its brand new price of P1300.

Take another one, a hard bound book titled “Hemmingway on the China Front”

by Peter Moreira who wrote about the travels of writers Martha Gellhorn and husband Ernest Hemmingway during the civil war between the nationalists and Communists in China in the late 1930’s and Japan invasion of Manchuria.

I thought I’ll never find this title here in Davao after seeing the movie “Hemmingway and Gellhorn”--- but after browsing thru big piles of second-hand books at the Book Sale store at little Lachmi Mall along San Pedro street( not knowing what to find) suddenly this book appeared right in front of me. This book costs me only P95 compared to its brand new price of P1,600.

Here’s another one : a new book ti-

tled “The Greatest Trade Ever” by Gregory Zuckerman began appearing on the book shelves of national Bookstore, but I can’t part away with P1100 just to buy it. At that time, I’ve wanted so much to know how the little-known hedge manager John Paulson, bet against the subprime mortgage market in 2006-2008 and caused the collapse of US financial giants like AIG, Citibank, Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns and others, raking in billions of dollars in profits. One day, National Bookstore tossed the book out as a 50% bargain, so I promptly bought it at only P600.

This one is even better: a book titled “Street Fighters” detailing the last 72 hours of Bear Stearns, the toughest firm on Wall Street, written by Kate Kelly, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was tagged at P1089, a price I wasn’t willing to die for. One day again, national Book Store dumped the book along with many others in a big pile of bargain books, “ukay ukay” style outside the main store.

When I rummaged this book out of the pile, it was priced at only P50! I guess this book doesn’t interest anyone in Davao unless one is deeply passionate about the financial markets. It was down-priced from P1089 to P653, then down to P200, later to P100 and finally to P50 because it simply doesn’t interest anyone.

End of an era Ilustre street, Center, Ideal, Life theaters along Claveria street, Clifford and Tagumpay situated at Bonifacio street and Rey Cinema in front of Agdao market are part of the business at the height of its popularity showing the so-called “double or triple” programs. To the Davao old folks, even Filipino films then look great – revealingall the splendor local producers could contrive, though they work on a budget a fraction of Hollywood, until foreign films landed on our shores. The colors of imported movies – glorious yellow, flashing blue and bold red worked well on wide-screen format and give epic dimensions.

Unfortunately, the movie theater business in the city diminished permanently with the introduction of modern technology, but wasstill kept alive in the memories of those who had experienced watching movies in a very simple and economical way. And there’s something else – perhaps more than bad economics fueled the closure of independentowned movie theaters in the city or maybe even throughout the country. One of the biggest reasons for the crisis is the operations of first-class mall-operated cinemas offering movie fanatics state-ofthe-art technology and better amenities such as the three dimensions or 3D movies and the I-MAX system.

Given the burgeoning costs and complexities involved in operating a movie theater nowadays, the fact that IT technology is being embraced by the new

generation of movie lovers is at all evidence of rising exasperation with running a cinema. The competition is, by and large – extremely tough and difficult.

Was there anything else going on in the cinema business especially in the 90’s?

Indeed, there was, but much has been overshadowed by the latest state-ofthe-art equipment – 3D and I-MAX systems, home theater, internet, computers, smartphones and many, many more.

For the movie lovers who thought that mall-owned and operated high-tech cinemas probably will last a lifetime, suitable for the new generation and not ours – they’re absolutely wrong. Again, are high-tech movie theaters really here to stay? This provoking question is actually hard to answer because most of the country’s mall chains have always been early adopters of new technology, be it fax machines, in-room sound system, high-end cash register machines, broadband internet to 3D and I-MAX movie technology. These are the latest in a long line of innovations geared at providing customer comfort.

However, seasoned movie fanatics see the high-tech convenience as a luxury, not a necessity. Speculators predict that in the days ahead a problem in the movie theater business will emerge slowly at first. What had started as merely an innovation in the cinema industry aimed at stimulating the eager senses of movie enthusiasts now turned into a full-blown cut-throat business rivalry?

9

Coffee in different cups, anyone?

COMMENTARY By honor BlAnCo CABie

R

icarte takes an average of 42 cups of coffee every day, which stretches from his breakfast table to near midnight before he retires to bed, spent from giving his full hours in a demanding newsroom.

Edgardo himself takes a cup at the breakfast table, then makes a cruising pace on coffee cups while he is in the office despite the tension and stress he experiences in an accounting firm.

Armando, a highly-paid litigation lawyer, works long hours in the night even before he appears in the court room when he prepares his motions, memoranda and briefs -- a cup of coffee after cup of coffee on his study table well beyond the midnight clock.

Except for Ricarte who takes the “barako” – strong and highly acidic – brand which his province of Batangas is known for, Edgardo and Armando prefer the decaffeinated to the one from roasted coffee beans that have helped define the province south of Manila. ”Barako,” which belongs to the species “Coffea liberica,” is also used to refer to all coffee from Batangas and Cavite, a term for a male stud of an animal, and has become associated with the image of a tough and mighty man.

The three are close friends but Edgardo and Armando are visibly, and audibly happier – following Ricarte’s tales of incessant nightmares he has attributed to cups of steaming “barako.”

But Ricarte admits he cannot just spill off the contents of his cup on to his table placemat.

What Edgardo and Armando don’t realize is there are side effects to drinking even decaffeinated coffee.

According to medical experts, although coffee is decaffeinated, this does not give assurance it is free from caffeine, saying 8 ounces of it may contain 3 to 12 milligrams of caffeine.

This is small amount yet experts point out it has enough psychoactive properties that can last for several hours.

Several milligrams more -– and the drinker may not have the capacity for measurement details -– and experts warn the coffee may already have some negative effects on a person’s mood and might affect his power and even his memory.

Doctors say those who have an intake of 2.5 milligrams are prone to make errors, particularly when they are confronted with visual information.

But there are some benefits from drinking coffee, according to some studies.

If Popeye, the sailor man, had his spinach to make him strong, some studies suggest there is power in coffee, like a freshly brewed espresso is not only a good way to bolster and enhance mood, but now it is known to keep one energized as well.

In one study, an intake of espresso before strength training could make lifting weights a bit easier.

According to the study, 37 people took either a placebo pill or caffeine supplement equivalent to 2 to 8 ounce cup of regular coffee.

An hour later and after doing bench presses, those who had caffeine lifted five-pounds greater that those who had intake of the placebo pill.

In yet another study, women who had an intake of espresso experienced 33 to 46 per cent less muscle pain on their legs.

What then is the verdict on the coffee cup?

One coffee analyst says if contradicting research has the person wondering if coffee is healthy or harmful, the answer is simple: it depends.

10

COMMUNITY SENSE

VOL.5 ISSUE 96 • JULY 17, 2012

EDGEDAVAO

ComVal Round-up

‘Biyaheng Kulambo’ arrives in province

T GROOM HAPPILY WITH A SMILE - Couples on their cake slicing and wine toasting during “Kasalang Bayan” officiated by Mayor Rey T. Uy at Atrium, Gaisano Mall of Tagum last June 28, 2012.

Photo by Leo Timogan of CIO Tagum

36 couples officially wed in Tagum’s ‘Kasalang Bayan’ By: Tagum City Information Office

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he Local Government Unit of Tagum City through the Civil Registrar’s Office in partnership with the United Restaurant and Hotel Owners, Managers Executive in Tagum City (UR HOME TC), City of Tagum Tourism Office and 3G Eventologists Management joined forces for the pursuance of the event which made history as this is the first time that a “Kasalang Bayan” was held inside a

mall of which 36 couples officially tied the knot held at the Atrium of the Gaisano Mall of Tagum last June 28, 2012, as one of the activities of the “Kasalang Tagumeño,” a bridal fair and exhibition.

“KasalangTagumeño” which is now on its 3rd year, is an event that converges key players in hotels and restaurants and wedding planners in one setting for free consultations as well as providing a venue for Tagumeños for a one-

stop-shop in preparing wedding celebrations.

City of Tagum Mayor Rey T.Uy, upon the powers vested on him by the government, officially pronounced the couples husbands and wives to whom he addressed a resounding challenge.

In his speech, the local chief executive highlighted the ups and downs of marriage life as well as emphasizing responsible parenthood that would create a stable family for a much stronger community.

Gowns and barongs worn by the newlyweds were lent for free from the sponsoring boutiques in town. They were also given free accommodation with a meal by the hotels in

Tagum as part of a gift from the organizers.

LGU Tagum is quarterly pursuing this kind of service to Tagumeños, especially unmarried couples and is anchored on the goal of minimizing the number of illegitimate children in Tagum.

First Lady Alma Uy, who also sits as the President of the City of Tagum Tourism Council also attended the event and had personally given gifts to the newly-wed couples.

The couples only spent for their wedding for Certificate of no Marriage (CEnOMAR) that cost P150 pesos at the Civil Registrar’s Office. Louie Jay Losaria CIO Tagum

EXCHANGE OF WEDDING RINGS - Couples on their exchange of wedding ring ceremonial was seriously observed by the administering official Mayor Rey T. Uy during “Kasalang Bayan” held at Atrium, Gaisano Mall of Tagum last June 28, 2012. Gowns and

barongs worn by the newly-weds were lent for free from the sponsoring boutiques in town. They were also given free accommodation with a meal by the hotels in Tagum as part of a gift from the organizers.

Photo by Leo Timogan of CIO Tagum

In his speech, THE ADMINISTERING OFFICIALCity of Tagum Mayor Rey T. Uy sounded like a doting father as he gave an advice to the 36 couples who officially tied the knot in the “Kasalang Bayan” held June 28, 2012 at Gaisano Mall of Tagum. The local chief executive highlighted

the ups and downs of marriage life as well as emphasizing responsible parenthood that would create a stable family for a much stronger community. Together in the ceremony’s crowd are the couples parents, sponsors and guests of the couples. Photo by Leo Timogan of CIO Tagum

he symbolic Traveling net Campaign or “Biyaheng Kulambo,” of the Department of Health (DOH) has arrived in the province on July 9, 2012.

It is a DOH new advocacy campaign which is a public health intervention against Malaria aiming to heighten public awareness in preventing and eliminating such disease.

Using the Long Lasting Insecticide Treated net (LLIn) as the symbol of the campaign, it started to travel in all provinces in the country starting from the malaria-endemic areas until it reaches the malaria-free provinces. It was launched on April 25, 2012 at Banaue, Ifugao during the CAR Region 2 Malaria Summit and will culminate on november 2012.

A ceremonial transfer and acceptance of the traveling LLIn was done

at the Capitol Lobby as a manifestation of the province’s support and participation to the national campaign. There was an unveiling of the scroll containing the manifesto of support and the pinning of the provincial logo to the symbolic LLIn. The campaign is supported by the Global Fund Malaria Component through Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc. ComVal is the 30th province visited out of 40 global funded areas.

According to Cynthia Mecarandayo, Provincial Malaria Coordinator that the 1998 until 2011 Annual Malaria Cases Reports showed that the province had significant reduction of malaria incidence. “From thousands of cases down to hundreds and even to ones, it has reached a zero case as of June 2012,” she said. (grace almedilla, ids-comval)

Capitol launches ‘Adopt-A-Child’ batch 3

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ow on it’s third wave, the AdoptA-Child Program of the provincial government finds another 23 malnourished children to cater with nutrition and health services at Brgys. nueva Visayas and nuevo Iloco in Mawab starting July up to november 2012.

The presentation of the 3rd batch was part of the launching of the 38th nutrition Month celebration on July 9 at the Capitol Lobby. Right after the short program, the focal persons went to the AdoptA-Child recipient areas in Mawab to join the barangay officials, local government unit, and parents for a vegetable planting.

Adopt-A-Child is a nutrition program started by the provincial government with its respective departments and offices adopting malnourished children identified by the Provincial nutrition Office and the employees facilitating a 120-day food supplemental feeding.

The program also serves as an entry point

of the other services and interventions that the provincial government could extend to the family and the community as a whole.

In their first and second batch experiences, the employees had a big heart of not only adopting the malnourished and severely underweight children but the family as a whole.

They extended services like parents’ medication, house repair, giving of basically needed furniture, livelihood provision such as fishpond and sari-sari store, vegetable gardening, and other household support. They even became part of family events such as birthday celebrations of their respective adopted children.

After the successful performances of its first and second series, this initiated program of Governor Arturo T. Uy as the Chairman of the Provincial nutrition Council (PnC), has gone far touching lives that cause government units, private individuals, and organizations to reach out on the same purpose.

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Davao Light: Cool energy saving tips for your fridge I n most homes, refrigerator is one of the largest users of electricity. However, unlike most appliances wherein using them less will save energy, the main way to save money with your fridge is to use an efficient model.

Davao Light and Power Company gathers these simple energy saving tips which can help you cut down the costs on your electric consumption and make your refrigerators energy-efficient. ¤ Make sure that you are using a refrigerator that is appropriately sized for your needs. If your fridge is too small, you may be overworking it. If it’s too large, then you’re potentially wasting energy and home space. ¤ Refrigerators with ice makers and through the door water dispensers tend to use more energy. This type of model may seem cool but it’s not really a necessary feature. ¤ Frost free refrigerators and models with automatic defrosting features consume more electricity than the man-

ual-defrost types. This is something you should consider when buying a new ref. ¤ Give your unit some room to breathe, place it at least 4 inches away from the wall so as not to overwork the motor.

Moreover, move it away from sources of heat such as the stove or oven. ¤ Check your refrigerator seals. Insert a piece of paper or a bill along the edge and close the fridge. If you can easily pull it out, change or fix your refrigerator seals. ¤ Avoid putting hot or warm food inside the ref. Let it cool first before putting them inside. ¤ Remove frozen food in the freezer and let it thaw inside the fridge.

This helps in the cooling.

Do this instead of just putting it outside on the kitchen counter or using the microwave. ¤ Open the fridge as infrequently and briefly as possible. Properly stock the items inside and try to have an inventory list stuck on the door so you won’t waste so much time searching

for what’s inside. ¤ When the refrigerator is almost empty, put in a few bottles of water to help store the cold.

Conversely, internal air circulation is important for the fridge so avoid overloading it with stuff. ¤ Lastly, if your fridge is old, say over 10 years already, do consider getting a new one. Refrigerators nowadays have energy efficiency features and better performing motors that help you in saving electricity.

Refrigerator is very useful to us as it keeps our food fresh. However, if not efficiently used, it could be the source of a high electric consumption.

Whether you need to replace your old fridge or not, it is up for you to decide. Just consider the savings that you can make between having an expensive but energyefficient fridge and using the old one while paying more on your monthly electric bill. You wouldn’t know that the energy cost is already enough to make up for the additional amount you have to spend for energy-efficient models.

panies’ respective initiatives in pushing forward the economy in Mindanao.

The awards honored the Most Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year and the Outstanding Business Leaders in Mindanao (Individual and Corporate categories) in the fields of agri-business, banking and finance, alternative energy development, health food production and marketing, housing and realty development, cooperatives and coop insurance, and hotel/resorts and tourism development.

Eden nature Park and Resort’s award was received by its marketing manager Tina DotimasHuab, who also represented the resort.

A mountain resort located at 3,000 feet above sea level, Eden nature Park is 95% man-made, a great model of how man

can recreate and rebuild what it has lost. The area where the resort is located used to be a loggedover area covered only by blankets of wild grass.

However, its potential was foreseen by Davao businessman, the late Jesus Ayala, since the property provided not only an imposing view of Davao City and Davao Gulf but also a climate best suited for mountain resorts.

Soon after, terraces were carved out of the mountain slopes where various species of pine tree seedlings were planted. As trees grew, it created canopies that allowed other trees and plants to flourish, consequently creating a secondary forest.

Today, there are more than 100,000 pine trees in this 80 hectare nature park, providing a refreshing backdrop to its various nature and tourist attractions.

Eden Nature Park receives biz leadership awards

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den nature Park and Resort received the Most Outstanding Mindanao Business Leader in Hotel, Resorts and Tourism Development (Individual Category) at the 2012 Mindanao Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs Awards held last June 2, 2012 at the Pryce Plaza Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City.

The resort’s leadership not just in tourism but also in its environmental programs and management was cited during the awards.

The 2012 Mindanao Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs Awards, initiated by BusinessWeek Mindanao, Cagayan de Oro-based business publication, was attended by top officials from various Mindanaobased and Mindanaogrown companies who were also recognized for their effective leadership acumen and their com-

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12 NATION/WORLD NATION BRIEFS Affirmed

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he head of US forces in the Pacific reaffirmed American commitment to support the Philippines Monday, amid the country’s continuing territorial dispute with China.

Admiral Samuel Locklear met with President Benigno Aquino and voiced his support in helping modernise the country’s ill-equipped armed forces, considered to be among the weakest in the region, the presidential spokesman said.

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Mining-free

he government is leaving it up to the local government units (LGUs) to decide for themselves whether or not to declare their respective areas of jurisdiction as mining free in line with President Benigno S. Aquino III’s directive laid down in Executive Order number 79 designed to harmonize mining policies and regulations in the country.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said the LGUs are allowed to accept mining applications from firms but should they, as a whole, decide not to allow mining in their areas, then it should be followed.

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Allayed

alacanang allayed public fears after issues were raised that the conditional cash transfer program being carried out by the Aquino administration may be used by local politicians in advancing their political interest in the 2013 election.

A church leader warned that the CCT program may become a political tool by politicians running for the 2013 local election. Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said local leaders don’t have a hand in carrying out or selecting the beneficiaries of the CCT.

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Adequate

esources of banks operating in the Philippines remained adequate to support growth as of the first quarter of this year, according to data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Total bank resources rose 4.08 percent to P7.462 trillion during the first three months of the year from P7.119 trillion in the same period last year. The March result was, however, a decline from February’s P7.541 trillion.

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Joined

arangani governor Miguel Rene Dominguez officially left Lakas-Kampi and joined the Liberal Party in June, ending years of courtship from budget secretary Florencio Abad. Dominguez briefly held the presidency of Lakas-Kampi when he was appointed by former defense secretary and party chair Gilbert Teodoro Teodoro.

Dominguez said as early as 2006, he was already being courted by Abad, then party secretary general, to join the Liberal Party through a common lawyerfriend. Abad would often dropped by the residence of Dominguez in Alabel, Sarangani to have dinner.

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China fishing fleet arrives at Spratlys

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big fleet of Chinese fishing vessels arrived at the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on Sunday, state media said, amid tensions with its neighbours over rival claims to the area.

The fleet of 30 fishing vessels arrived near the Yongshu Reef in the afternoon after setting off on Thursday from the Chinese province of Hainan, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Chinese fishing boats regularly travel to the Spratlys, a potentially oilrich archipelago which China claims as part of its territory on historical grounds.

But the fleet is the largest ever launched from the province, according to the report.

It includes a 3,000-tonne supply ship, and a patrol vessel has also travelled to the area to provide protection, the report said. The vessels will spend the next five to 10 days fishing in the area, it added.

The fleet’s arrival came after China earlier Sunday extricated a naval frigate that got stranded four days earlier on a shoal in the Spratlys, near the western Philippine island of Palawan.

However the Philippines did not lodge a diplomatic protest over the matter, saying the stranding of the vessel in its exclusive economic zone was likely an accident.

China says it has sovereign rights to all the South China Sea, believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits, including areas close to the coastlines of other countries and hundreds of kilometres (miles) from its own landmass.

But Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines also claim

parts of the South China Sea. The Spratlys are one of the biggest island chains in the area.

The rival claims have long made the South China Sea one of Asia’s potential military flashpoints, and tensions have escalated over the past year.

The Philippines and Vietnam have complained that China is becoming increasingly aggressive in its actions in the area -- such as harassing fishermen -- and also through bullying diplomatic tac-

tics.

The Philippines said the latest example of this was at annual Southeast Asian talks in Cambodia that ended on Friday in failure because of the South China Sea issue.

The Philippines had wanted its fellow Association of Southeast Asian nations to refer in a communique to a standoff last month with China over a rocky outcrop known as the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. But Cambodia, the summit’s host and China’s ally, blocked the move.

audi Arabia is studying new regulations to criminalise insulting Islam, including in social media, and the law could carry heavy penalties, a

Saudi paper said on Sunday.

The potential regulations come five months after a Saudi blogger and columnist Hamza Kashgari, 23, was arrested for tweet-

ing comments deemed as insulting the Prophet Mohammad. Kashgari said there were things he liked and disliked about him.

“Within the next two months the Shura Council will reveal the outcome of study on the regulations to combat the criticism of the basic tenets of Islamic sharia,” unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter told al-Watan, adding that there could be “severe punishments” for violators.

Criticism penalised under the law would include that of the Prophet, early Muslim figures and clerics, it said.

“The (regulations) are important at the present time because violations over social networks on the Internet have been observed in the past months,” the sources said.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict version of Sunni Islamic law, referred to as Wahhabism. Blasphemy can be punishable by

death.

A spokesman from the Shura Council, the governments all-appointed consultative body, did not respond to calls for comment.

Kashgari’s case set off a debate in Saudi Arabia, a close US ally for decades and leading world oil exporter, on whether repentance could save convicts from the death penalty.

Kashgari fled the country in February, a few days after his twitter posts, but was later arrested by police in Malaysia en route to new Zealand.

Despite declaring repentance, he was deported back to Saudi Arabia and was taken into police custody to face a trial.

Tension has risen in recent years between religious conservatives and reformers over the pace of gradual political, economic and social reforms in a country with a large young population.

An aerial photo shows Thitu Island, part of the disputed Spratly group of islands, in the South China Sea in 2011.

A group of Taiwanese academics has visited the con-

tested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, defence officials said on Monday, amid continued tensions over rival claims to the area.

WORLD TODAY Odious

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rance’s far-right national Front said Sunday it plans to sue Madonna over a video at the US pop star’s concert in France showing party leader Marine Le Pen with a swastika on her forehead.

“We cannot accept such an odious comparison,” national Front vice-president Florian Philippot said, adding that the legal action would be filed this week.

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Tracked

he nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Centre confirmed Sunday that Laszlo Csatary, accused of complicity in the killings of 15,700 Jews, had been tracked down to the Hungarian capital.

“I confirm that Laszlo Csatary has been identified and found in Budapest,” the centre’s director Efraim Zuroff told AFP. Ten months ago an informer had provided information that allowed them to locate Csatary, 97, in Budapest, Zuroff told AFP by phone.

They had paid the informer the $25,000 promised for such information, he added.

Sabotaged

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orld activists accused the Russian state of sabotaging a probe into the abduction and murder three years ago Sunday of an award-winning campaigner for those struggling in the crisis-torn Caucasus. natalya Estemirova was bundled into a car moments after stepping out of her home in the Chechen capital Grozny on the morning of July 15. Her blood-stained body was dumped near a highway in next-door Ingushetia only a few hours later.

Saudi Arabia considers law against insulting Islam Top-level U S

S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held top-level talks on Monday with Israeli leaders expected to focus on changes sweeping the Middle East, as well as Iran and the stalled peace process.

On the last leg of a 12day, eight-nation tour, Clinton was also to brief Israeli leaders on a weekend trip to Egypt when she met with newly elected President Mohamed Morsi and military leader Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi.

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Fighting

rmoured vehicles headed towards southern districts of Damascus after rebels battled government forces into the early hours of Monday, in what residents said was the heaviest fighting in the capital in a 17-month revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.

Columns of armoured vehicles were seen on the main road leading to the Tadamon district, a Damascus activist said.

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Remittances reach US$ 9.3 B

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a higher crime solution efficiency rate of 36%, a leap from 11% efficiency recorded in 2010.

In yesterday’s flag raising ceremony, the city government awarded cash incentives to police stations for their performance which is part of the incentive program, under the City Mayor’s Office.

For their accomplishments from October 2011 to March 2012, a total of P518,800 in cash incentives were handed over to police station commanders.

Receiving the highest amount was Sta. Ana Police Station (PS) with P113,200 for having solved seven murder cases, eight cases of physical injury, six rape cases, 14 robbery and 21 theft cases, 24 cases of drug peddling, and 35 for drug possession.

The Talomo PS was awarded P105,800 for solving 13 cases of murder four for homicide, 17 physical injuries, nine rape cases, 23 robbery cases, 30 thefts, one carnapping, six drug peddling, and seven cases of drug possession.

Sasa PS received P43,800, including P20,000 for having the least number of crime incidence for 4th quarter of 2011. The police station solved three murder cases, one homicide case, six physical injuries, three rape, three robbery, seven thefts, one for drug peddling, and another for drug possession.

Bunawan PS solved seven murder cases, six physical injuries, four rapes, eight robberies, five thefts, two for carnapping, two cases of drug peddling, and six cases of drug possession, for which it received P42,800.

Toril PS received P40,400 for having solved four murder cases, one physical injury, 10 rapes, three thefts, three carnappings, 15 cases of drug possession and teo cases of

PHL...

drug peddling.

Calinan PS was awarded P39,600 for solving two murder cases, six rapes, one homicide, five physical injuries, teo theft cases, 11 drug peddling and 16 cases of drug possession.

The San Pedro PS received P34,400 for solving one murder case, one homicide, five rape cases, four physical injuries, 13 robberies, 13 thefts, 10 for drug possession and one case of drug peddling.

Buhangin PS received P32,200 for having solved one murder case, two homicides, xeven cases of physical injuries, six rape cases, 13 robberies, two thefts, three carnappings, teo drug peddlings and five cases of drug possession.

The amount of P24,400 was awarded to Tugbok PS for having solved two murder cases, six rapes, five robberies, six thefts, three carnappings, one case of drug peddling and five cases of drug possession.

Marilog PS received P19,600, including P10,000 for having the least number of crime incidents in the 4th quarter of 2011. The police station was able to solve one murder case, two physical injuries, two rape cases and two robbery cases.

Paquibato PS received P7,200 solving one murder case, three physical injury cases, one rape case, and one robbery case.

Baguio PS received P6,400 for having solved four rape cases, three physical injury cases, teo thefts and one case of drug possession.

Also awarded with P9,000 was the Investigation and Detective Management Branch (IDMB) of the DCPO for having solved teo murder cases, one robbery case and four theft cases.

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Asia’s next potential flashpoint for a major armed conflict.

Hernandez issued the warning following a fresh incident involving a Chinese frigate which ran aground last Wednesday.

Chinese salvage vessels have successfully refloated the frigate, a missile-guide warship with bow number 560, Sunday and is now on its way back to China, Hernandez said.

Manila and Beijing are also locked in a weeks-long territorial row over a shoal situated within the Philippines’ EEZ. A standoff erupted when Chinese government vessels

TESDA...

prevented Philippine authorities from accosting Chinese fishermen poaching in Bajo de Masinloc, also called Scarborough Shoal, in April.

It temporarily ended when President Benigno S. Aquino III ordered the pullout of two Philippine sovereign ships facing off with several Chinese vessels due to bad weather.

Hernandez said Philippine and Chinese officials have committed to end the tense impasse over Bajo de Masinloc diplomatically and have been negotiating to end the conflict.

[PnA]

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Davao City’s hub for technical vocational education.

“It will become a landmark in the city as the go-to place for courses that would develop in-demand skills among businesses,” he said.

The South Korea-funded center recently received a silver accreditation from the

SouthCot riverbank P folk alerted of flood

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Asia Pacific Accreditation and Certification Commission, the second highest accreditation given for a technical school.

Earlier, the Korean government also extended a P320-million grant for the construction of a new technical training center in Taguig City that is expected to benefit up to 2,000 trainees. [PnA]

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outh Cotabato officials alerted communities situated along the province’s critical rivers and tributaries following a flashflood in a major river in T’boli town over the weekend that left three persons dead.

Isidro Janita, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office chief, said Monday they issued an advisory directing the municipal and barangay disaster risk reduction and management councils to closely monitor the water levels of rivers and tributaries in the wake of the continuing rains.

On Saturday afternoon, a flashflood hit a portion of the Sapali River in T’boli town, drowning three residents of Purok Everlasting in Barangay Sinolon.

Farmers...

norberto Lapastora, T’boli municipal administrator, identified the victims as Jocelyn Gulac, 23, Jasmin Gulac, 12, and Maricel Buhale, 13.

He said the victims were washing clothes along the Sapali River when they were swept by a flashflood at around 4 p.m. Saturday.

The remains of the three victims were later recovered by local rescuers at a portion of the river in Barangay Lamsugod in nearby Surallah town.

“The river’s water level initially rose and rushing floodwaters suddenly came,” he said.

The official said their initial investigation showed that flashfloods were triggered by landslides at the upper portion of the river that came following the sporadic

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Acain said that the idea is actually to go into internet trading but that this can not yet provided because most vegetable farmers have no access to computers.

He said this is just one of the strategies adopted by vegetable industry to slowly eliminate several layers of middlemen for the benefit of both farmers and consumers.

Turtur said that while the conduct of actual vegetable trading is still being studied, a trading center will be put up in Davao City to cater to the entire region.

They idea is for farmers to bring their products to this trading center with the assurance that they will have buyers who would buy their products at competitive prices.

Turtur mentioned that this concept is the product of a study made in 20042005 conducted by the University of the Philippines and government of Australia.

“There’s no other way to achieve this but for

PWD...

farmers to form an organization to come up with a certain volume of supply,” he told reporters.

He noted that the present situation of farmers in the region is that they are fragmented, thus it is necessary for them to pool their harvests to be able to deliver a significant amount of supply to a particular market.

Ray Acain, president of the Vegetable Industry Council of Southern Mindanao, Inc., said the concept of e-marketing will be discussed during the 8th Mindanao Vegetable Congress on August 13-14 at Grand Men Seng Hotel, Davao City.

Aside from sharing best practices in vegetable industry development and agri-entrepreneurship, the congress will also determine opportunities outside Mindanao and link the producers to viable markets and enhance existing linkages among stakeholders of the vegetable industry in Mindanao.

FFROM 2

Most of the PWDs employed, he added, are polio victims, amputees and those who have other orthopedic disorders.

The visually-impaired were given financial assistance by the city government for training as masseurs, Comiling said, adding that they are now required to hold license from the Department of Health, through a training with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

In celebration of the 34th

national Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week (July 17-23), the DOLE 11 and the local government of Davao City will provide employment to PWDs in the city through an exclusive jobs fair on July 20 at the Sangguniang Panglunsod.

Saying that private companies will participate in the jobs fair for PWDs, Comiling mentioned that some 5,000 PWDs are registered in the city federation, however, they only comply less than two percent of the total number of PWDs identified.

heavy rains in the area since Friday.

Janita said they initially conducted a damage analysis and needs assessment to address the impact of the incident and the immediate needs of the affected residents.

He said the provincial government will immediately release relief goods and financial assistance to the families of the three victims.

As a result of the incident, Janita said they have directed municipal and barangay officials to clear residents off the banks of major rivers and tributaries in the area.

He said they also advised them to keep their disaster response teams on alert and evacuate residents to safer areas when necessary. (Allen V. Estabillo/Mindanews)

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FFROM 3 Cdebaca that “the Philippine government through the Department of Justice has put the full force of the law in prosecuting human traffickers even beyond our borders.”

De Lima further cited in a statement that the government reiterated the Philippine government’s firm resolve to further expand the gains held by the Philippines specifically underscored by the recent allocation of P125 million from the national budget for the operations of the InterAgency Task Force Against Trafficking and the intensified campaign against government employees conniving with or aiding the operations of human trafficking syndicates.

For her part, Soliman, IACAT Co-Chair, expressed the government’s commitment to the welfare of citizens especially those who are vulnerable to being trafficked due to poverty and lack of education.

“We will ensure that the necessary programs are in place so the rescued victims are given due socio-psychological processing to cope with the ordeals they’ve experienced in the hands of trafficking criminals,” Soliman said.

Robredo, sitting as one of the ex-officio members of IACAT, expressed optimism in the efforts of the government.

“In order for us to move ahead it’s not simply coming up with new programs but it’s really making sure that the present programs are working, so from that we are moving forward

ersonal remittances for the first five months of the year totaled US$ 9.3 billion, representing a 5.5 percent increase from the level registered in the same period last year, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. announced Monday.

The steady expansion in personal remittances during the five-month period in 2012 was underpinned by the sustained growth in transfers from land-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with work contracts of one year or more (by 2.7 percent), as well as sea-based workers and land-based workers with short-term contracts (by 14.7 percent).

For May 2012, personal remittances from OFWs rose year-on-year by 5.2 percent to reach almost US$ 2.0 billion.

Meanwhile, remittances coursed through banks during the same period amounted to US$ 8.3 billion, higher by 5.3 percent relative to the level registered in the same period a year ago.

Fund transfers from land-based workers increased by 2.8 percent to US$ 6.4 billion while those from sea-based workers grew by 14.6 percent to US$ 1.9 billion.

to a more preventive and as I have said a more preemptive response,” Robredo said.

He said that the ultimate challenge now is to contend with the continuing sophistication of “violators and also how we can contend with the problems of willing victims,” adding that, “… advocacy and enforcement will help us.”

For his part, Salazar, InCharge of IACAT, said “the Ambassador’s visit symbolizes the US State Department acknowledgment of the anti-human trafficking framework that we have in place in the Philippines.”

“We assured him that we at the IACAT will continue to ensure that no Filipino is victimized wherever they are in the world and that the incidence of human trafficking in the Philippines will continue to be drastically reduced,” Salazar said.

CdeBaca lauded the national Strategic Action Plan of the IACAT presented by the Council. nonetheless, he cited that “without implementation, these are mere words on paper.”

“At the end of the day, the only thing that matters are the victims rescued and traffickers prosecuted and punished,” CdeBaca said.

“Human trafficking is a developmental problem… a problem of law,” CdeBaca said in his statement.

“The Philippine model shows one of the world’s best practices… it is a banner of success, and my job is not to keep it a secret with the rest of the world,” he said. [PnA]

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Vietnam: Azkals a threat

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he team that the Philippines beat to start a football revolution in the country considers the Azkals as a big threat.

Vietnam national men’s football team coach Phan Thanh Hung says the Philippines is now a certified contender in the 2012 ASEAn Football Federation Suzuki Cup in november.

Hung said that the Azkals, which are drawn in Group A alongside Vietnam, Thailand and the top team from the qualifiers, are not the same team that they faced in the 2010 edition of the tournament.

“Philippines has called up many foreign-born players recently. Their national team has turned into a completely different one,” Hung told Goal.com Singapore. “Therefore, we must be careful.”

In the 2010 Suzuki Cup, the Azkals shocked

the then defending champions Vietnam, 2-0, courtesy of goals by Chris Greatwich and Phil Younghusband to pull off what could be the biggest upset in the tournament history.

The nationals then marched into a surprising appearance in the semifinals, which was ended by a 2-0 aggregate loss to Indonesia.

But a lot of changes have been installed to the Azkals since then, making them a more formidable squad in the upcoming tournament. After the 2010 Suzuki Cup, German Hans Michael Weiss took over the coaching duties from British Simon McMenemy, deviating their style from being a defensive team that relies on counterattacks on offense to an attacking squad that allows them to get more chances at the goal.

The Azkals have also

been bolstered by more foreign-based players, such as Fil-German Stephan Schrock, who plays with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga first division, and Fil-Spanish Angel Guirado, who now plays for United Football League champions Global FC, among others.

Hung also picked traditional powerhouse Thailand, who will host the group stages in Bangkok, as a favorite to top the Group A. “ D e s p i t e underperforming in recent years, Thailand are always a strong team with many quality players,” Hung said. “It’s no doubt they are favorite to win the group on their home soil.”

Only the top two teams from the group will advance to the two-legged semifinals, which will adopt a home-and-away format.

hoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. will power the upcoming “27th Kadayawan Phoenix Cyclomax Motocross” with its Cyclomax Motorcycle Oil as main presentor.

The Kadayawan Motocross race will be held at Moto-X Davao Racetrack at Crocodile Park, Ma-a, Davao City on August 18 and 19, 2012.

About 150 riders from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, such as top rider Jessie Salceda of Bukidnon, are expected to join the event.

This is the fourth year of Phoenix Petroleum as event sponsor, powering the Motocross with Phoenix Cyclomax Motorcycle Oils.

The Motocross is one of the events in celebration of the 27th Kadayawan sa Dabaw.

Proceeds will go to the proposed Motorcycle Safety School in Davao.

This School is envisioned to educate prospective motorcycle riders in responsible riding.

The Phoenix Cyclomax Titan 4T motorcycle oil

is a premium quality 4-stroke engine oil designed to provide excellent protection for your bike’s engine, and to ensure dependable transmission function.

Phoenix Petroleum Philippines is the leading independent oil company today with an expanding network of operations nationwide. It is engaged in the business of trading refined petroleum products and lubricants, operation of oil depots and storage facilities, and allied services.

Phoenix backs Kadayawan Moto-X P

The Philippine Azkals will be in the radar of former champion Vietnam in the Suzuki Cup.

PBA legend Brown comes home

R

icky Brown last stepped into the center court of the Araneta Coliseum back in 1984, when Great Taste won its second PBA title against the Crispa Redmanizers.

Some 28 years later, Brown found his way back to the Big Dome to mark another milestone: to receive his award for the PBA Hall of Fame.

Brown is in the country for the first time since he retired from PBA action in 1990. He was part of the 2009 Hall of Fame class, which include former teammates Allan Caidic, PBA legend Ricky Brown gets his recognition from the league.

Samboy Lim, and Hector He burst onto the PBA the feat earlier this year.

Calma, seven-time Best Import Brown won his last Bobby Parks, and late former scene in 1983 as a pioneering Filipino-American star, winning championship with Great commissioner Jun Bernardino.

But if it were up to Brown, the Rookie of the Year award Taste in the 1987 All-Filipino he’d be back in the country and helping Great Taste to two before he was traded to the finals appearances.

San Miguel Beermen the more often.

With the Quick Brown Fox following season. He became a “I’m planning to come back here every year then sooner or leading the way, Great Taste major part of the team’s Open championship later, I am planning to stay in won four straight titles from the Conference 1984 to 1985, including back- run against the Purefoods Manila for good,” he said.

Apart from being feted to-back wins in the All-Filipino Hotdogs.

He battled injuries in by the PBA, Brown was in the Conference. Great Taste was country to get back in touch the last squad to successfully 1989, but still managed to with fans in a series of meet- defend an all-Filipino title contribute enough to San before Talk ‘n Text managed Miguel’s Grand Slam run. and-greet sessions.

Action between Ateneo Blue Knights and Emar Red Staglets in the ongoing Royal Mandaya Hotel Cup at the Genesis 88 Gym. Right, Francis Gabriel Escandor of Ateneo squeezes his way in heavy traffic against Emar.

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ENTERTAINMENT

Tears for the

King of Comedy T

he country’s Comedy King “Dolphy,” Rodolfo Vera Quizon Jr. in real life, was laid to rest on Sunday afternoon at the Heritage Park in Taguig City on Sunday afternoon, five days after he succumbed to lung and kidney complications.

Senior Supt. Tomas Apolinario, Taguig City Police chief, said that more than 100 policemen were deployed inside and outside the park to ensure security.

Apolinario said that there were no untow-

ard incidents on Sunday and also throughout the wake of Dolphy.

Dolphy was laid in bronze casket, wearing his favorite white ensemble with white suit, polo, pants, tie and shoes.

Dolphy’s family, led by

long-time partner Zsa Zsa Padilla, took him to his final resting place at past 2 p.m.

The final prayer for Dolphy was led by Father Larry Faraon. A final viewing was also granted for immediate family members where they had the chance to say their final goodbyes.

Before the tomb was sealed, Padilla delivered a brief but emotional speech.

“Mahal na mahal ka, Dolphy, ng sambayanan. Maraming salamat sa mga ibinigay mo sa amin. I love you, Lovey ko. Until we meet again,” she said.

Dolphy, 83, passed away last Tuesday night following a cardiac arrest at the intensive care unit of the Makati Medical Center (MMC).

His death came just days before his 84th birthday. He was born on July 25, 1928.

Doctors at the MMC, where the comedy king was confined for a month, said Dolphy died due to multiple organ failure, secondary to complications brought about by severe pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and acute renal failure.

He was diagnosed with

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 2009.

Dolphy starred in more than 200 films in his 66year career, starting with a 1946 movie at 19 years old with Fernando Poe Sr., “Dugo at Bayan 1 (I Remember Bataan).”

He received the Grand Collar of the Order of the Golden Heart awarded to him by President Benigno S. Aquino III in 2010.

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EDGEDAVAO

Paulo Avelino shares what makes him ‘gwapo’

Going skin The small things in everyday can actually make us beautiful.

By Carlo P. Mallo

T

here are no aisles like that of the hygiene, oral, and hair aisles of the NCCC Supermarket that can bring a smile to my face when I do my grocery. The sight of rows upon rows of bar soaps, the lingering clean scent in the air, new shampoo brands that promise heaven and earth to the vain

Filipino, and yes, the many imported brands of facial wash, lotion, moisturizers, and a million other things that can make your skin smile.

Over the weekend, NCCC Mall brought their hygiene, oral, and hair aisles to a whole new level by staging the first Health and Beauty Expo wherein

they gave away free facials, foot scrubs, haircuts, hairstyle consultations, hair color, manicure, pedicure, hot oil, and massage at the Activitiy Center of the NCCC Mall Davao. Free medical and dental check ups, facial and skin consultations, including hair and scalp test, and a scalp strip test were

Claudette Centeno, Jojo Canda - NCCC Supermarket director, Tracy Reyes - assistant manager, procurement-non-food

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Valerie Concepcion shares beauty secrets during the Unilever Beauty Chat on July 14 at the Health and Beauty Expo.

n deep also available.

Being beautiful, they say, goes beyond skin deep. But with events like these at NCCC Mall Davao, the pleasant surprise of having these free services for doing your groceries can indeed bring that glow on your face.

The event was sponsored by Safeguard, Palmolive Naturals, Nivea, Hype Ardent, Dove, Pond’s, Juicy Cologne, Tisyu, Pepsodent, Colgate, Clear, Casino Alcohol, Olay, Vaseline, Garnier, Silka, Eficasent Oil, L’Oreal, Myra E, Pantene and Imported hair products were sold at 50 pesos.

Maxi-Peel.

Shopper gets a moisturizing skin session from Ponds.

Maya Padillo on her hair styling service.

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Piolo has high dreams for

son

E

ven if he figured in a biking accident in Ambuklao Road, Baguio City last July 3, Piolo Pascual doesn’t want to slow down on his sports activities.

“Two days after, nagbike agad ko. I’ve also been playing badminton. One thing I realized, it didn’t stop me.

The more I want to ride. Ibang klase. I remember the last time I was injured during a bandminton tourney, nagpahinga lang ako sandal, pero mas naging agresibo ako maglaro. It makes you better at mas nalelegitimize yung pagsali mo sa sports,” Piolo said in

an interview on Sunday, July 8, after Star Magic’s 20th celebration in “ASAP 2012.”

Piolo’s fans were worried when they saw Instagram photos of their idol with the captions “Battle scars” and “show must go on.”

One photo showed his bruised arms while another saw him driving with a bandaged arm.

Baguio were worried.

But Piolo assured them he was okay.

“They were worried, of course my mom and my family. She wanted to see me right away.

Gusto nilang makita gaano kalalim ang sugat, gusto nila akong magpa-check up and X-ray. Pero wala naman akong naramdaman eh. Wala, okay naman,” he said.

Fast healer After the accident, “Okay naman siya, Piolo attended to his Good thing I’m a fast showbiz commithealer. May scratches ments, including Star ako dito. It’s kinda Magic’s 20th celebrahealing fast,” Piolo said, tion in “ASAP 2012” He revealed that his right away. He was son Iñigo and other happy to reunite with members of his family fellow Star Magic talwho were with him in ents.

“Dito lang kami nagkikita-kita. It’s nice and refreshing to see all of them here, just to bond a little. Sobrang dami from before the time we were starting.

Andyan sila Gio Alvarez, Lindsay Custodio, Steven Alonzo, sila Sarji Ruiz, halos mga kasabayan ko sila. So, para kaming galing school na nag-alumni homecoming.”

Dreams for Inigo In a separate interview, Piolo talked about Iñigo, who also shows interest in joining showbiz.

Piolo wants his son to finish his studies first.

“Ayaw ko, ayaw ko talaga. Gusto ng bata, pero sabi ko sa kanya ibigay niya muna sa akin ang high school diploma niya,” Piolo disclosed.

Iñigo studies in the US but visits Manila during school breaks.

“He still has four years before he turns 18. Pag 18, wala naman na tayong ano diyan. Ang gusto ko sana may degree siya.

I’ll be the happiest dad kung mabibigyan degree siya, if he’s able to finish college,” Piolo shared.

But what if Inigo still wants to become an actor?

“When he turns 18,

compromise, kung talagang hilig niya, bahala siya. Pero ako, kung papapiliin ako, pag-aaral pa rin talaga,” Piolo replied.

Now that Iñigo is on a school break, Piolo is happy to bring Inigo with him during tapings and other showbiz commitments. This way, they can spend more time together.

“We make it a point na kapag andito siya, we spend time together because sobra yung trabaho ko. Sobrang blessing na kapag summer, he stays with me. Siya yung pinakamatyagang kasama ko sa trabaho,” Piolo shared. (Yahoo! Omg!)

EDGEDAVAO

US goes from Dream Team to Mini Team

W

ASHInGTOn (AP) -- Don’t call them Shorty.

The U.S. men are tired of hearing about their Olympic basketball team’s size problem. Instead of being called small, they’d prefer to be known as versatile, quick, athletic, or something else that recognizes their strengths and not their, uh, shortcomings.

“Really it’s kind of boring to keep answering the question of what are you going to do with the bigs,” U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said Sunday. “Like, this is who we have. Why don’t we talk about what we’re going to do with what we have, than talk about what we don’t have? I don’t really understand how that’s productive. So I’m trying to dismiss that and concentrate on what we’re doing.”

The U.S. is down to just Tyson Chandler as the lone natural center on the roster.

Dwight Howard is out after back surgery, and big man options such as Chris Bosh and Blake Griffin later joined him on the sidelines.

Yes, the Americans realize that could put them at a disadvantage against the likes of Spain or Brazil, who they will face Monday in an exhibition game. But they’d also like to know what team is supposed to defend a front line of LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony?

“Look, maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think so,” USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said. “I’ll take

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versatility and athleticism and speed and quickness.

That beats size all day long, because size alone can’t get it done.”

If he was going to be wrong, it would seem to be against a team such as Brazil, which has loads of nBA size up front with nene of the Washington Wizards, Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao and San Antonio’s Tiago Splitter on the roster.

The Americans then travel to Europe and play tuneup games in Barcelona against Argentina and the Spaniards, who have nBA stars Pau and Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka along their front line.

Brazil came closest to beating a similarly sized U.S. team two years ago at the world basketball championship, falling by two points when Leandro Barbosa’s shot bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

“We wanted as good a competition as we could get during our pregames and with Brazil because of their front line and their experience and they’re a good team, Argentina and Spain, three out of the five are really good tests for us,” Colangelo said. “So we’re very aware of what they have and it’ll be a challenge and we’ll learn a lot from that game, no question about it.”

Colangelo thinks the days of the traditional low-post center are gone, largely because there are so few talented bigs anymore, and calls the size debate “overused conversation for sure.”

15

Team Shorty

Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant share a hearty laugh.

Maybe he’s right, given men themselves. what just happened at the “If they make it a end of the nBA season. The smashmouth game, I think Miami Heat and Oklahoma they’ll have a hard time City Thunder seemed intent against a team like Spain,” on trying to go smaller than Atlanta Hawks center Al the other, the Heat hardly Horford said. ever using a true center in That was after Horford their five-game victory in the shot 1 of 12 in the finals.

Americans’ 113-59 rout of “That’s how it was,” the Dominican Republic on Durant said. “We were small Thursday, the U.S. wings in the Western Conference swarming the Dominican finals and in the finals. guards with relentless Miami went small almost the defensive pressure and whole (playoffs) with Chris making it tough to enter the Bosh being out, so it proves ball to their big man in a that you could play either spot he would want it. way. Big, it’s tough to stop, Dominican coach John but I think small ball is tough Calipari of Kentucky said to stop as well.” afterward that the U.S. was There are plenty of big enough, agreeing with doubters, many of them big an opinion U.S. assistant

v

Mike D’Antoni had when the Americans faced the same question four years ago: no team with James in the frontcourt is small.

Listed at 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds by the Americans, James has called himself an inch taller and 10 pounds heavier.

Durant is 6-9, but with a wingspan that makes him seem 6-11. The 6-8 Anthony has played out of position as a power forward both internationally and in the nBA, and has no fear of pounding against bigger players.

At least one should have a huge quickness advantage over the man guarding him if an opponent tries to

employ too many bigs. Kobe Bryant said the Americans would try to use opposing teams’ size against them.

And maybe they’ll prove this talk of being too small was really no big deal.

“The quickness of this team, this is the quickest team I’ve ever coached, including U.S. teams,” Krzyzewski said. “We have to build on that. Instead of talking about the fact that we don’t have many centers - it would different if we had Dwight and Chris Bosh. We’d play a little bit differently. We don’t, so we have to rely on our strength, which is versatility, quickness, speed. But our guys are big.”

Is it the end of Linsanity in NY? C

armelo Anthony doesn’t want any blame for the new York Knicks not keeping Jeremy Lin. Carmelo Anthony called Jeremy Lin’s $25 million offer sheet Several sources reveal that the Knicks don’t plan on matching the three-year, $25 million offer sheet Lin signed with the Houston Rockets.

Anthony called the offer sheet – which will pay Lin nearly $15 million in the third year – “ridiculous” Sunday during an interview with reporters after Team USA’s practice in Washington.

“It’s up to the organization to say they want to match that ridiculous contract that’s out there,’’ Anthony said.

Anthony later said that it’s not his fault if the Knicks decline

to match the offer sheet by the deadline set by the league.

“It’s up to ownership to match, not me,” Anthony said.

“I’m tired of people trying to blame me for the fact that the Knicks might not match. I want everybody to get paid if they have the opportunity.”

Knicks coach Mike Woodson declined comment at Sunday’s summer league game against the Phoenix Suns in Las Vegas. A Knicks spokesman said management also would not comment on Lin’s status.

The Knicks were widely expected to match Lin’s offer sheet until they struck a sign-and-trade deal with the Portland Trail Blazers to acquire point guard Raymond Felton on Saturday. The Knicks

also recently signed point guards Jason Kidd and Pablo Prigioni.

Lin had a sensational run as the Knicks’ starting point guard before a knee injury ended his season. Most of his success, however, came when Anthony was sidelined.

Woodson also has made clear that the Knicks’ offense will be built around Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire, not Lin. Lin is expected to have more freedom under Rockets coach Kevin McHale. Lin averaged 14.6 points and 6.2 assists in 35 games for new York last season and scored 38 points against the Los Angeles Lakers.

“He’s a good young player that has a lot of potential and upside with time and experience,” Anthony said.

16

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EDGEDAVAO

WORLD TOServing a Seamless society

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

Davao

By Neil Bravo

Francis Gabriel Escandor (left) of Ateneo recites the oath of sportsmanship.

Ateneo de Davao University athletic director Butch Ramirez and Royal ManTulip Drive, Ecoland, Davao City

Davao’s Cali to defend PXC title in September

P F. Torres St., Davao City Tel No. 227-3773 - (72) Fax: 295-3485

HELPING YOU MAKE INFORMED BUSINESS DEcISIONS.

daya Hotel Cup Founder Glenn Escandor lead the ceremonial toss in the match between Ateneo and Emar.

ACIFIC X-treme Combat flyweight champion Ale “The Young Gun” Cali will face another Filipino in his title defense in September.

The champion from Davao who became the first homegrown Filipino titlist in the promotion last February when he defeated Guamanian Jesse Taitano to win the 125-pound title, is set to square off with Erwin Tagle of Submission Sports Philippines.

Tagle holds an MMA record of 1-win, 1-loss and 2 draws.

“I used to idolize him before,” Cali said of his upcoming opponent.

Going toe-to-toe with somebody he looks up to should make for one interesting matchup, and Cali said he’s looking forward to the September fight.

“I’m really excited for this. And in my opinion, it’s not just us but all of the people who watch

PXC must be excited for this, too.”

Meantime, Cali said he is proud of countryman Crisanto “The Slugger” Pitpitunge for winning the bantamweight belt recently.

Pitpitunge of Team Lakay Wushu entered the ranks of the homegrown champions with a highlight-reel knockout of Justin Cruz at PXC 31 Saturday to win the PXC bantamweight title.

“I’m very proud of him

now that there’s two of us (Filipino champions),” said Cali in Filipino immediately after the main event of the fight card.

“It’s natural that I’m rooting for him,” said the Davao native. “He’s Filipino and the fight was held right here in our country.”

Cali was impressed with Pitpitunge’s knockout punch, though he felt Cruz showed signs of overconfidence in the fight.